Coffee Is Special

Most of yall know that I’m a bit addicted and obsessed with coffee. Call me a Gilmore Girl and inject it into my veins. It’s crazy though this year I have learned so much about coffee, as a plant, as a process, as a drink, and as an art.  I’m starting to realize most coffee lovers, the daily Starbucks goers, the so-called “coffee snobs” a lot of them don’t understand coffee truly. I haven’t for most of my life. And I’m just now scratching the surface.

For instance, I used to always go for the darkest roast if I really needed to wake up, the darker the coffee the stronger right? Wrong. The darker beans are actually sometimes the worst quality, and the least caffeine; they are basically burnt and have lost most flavor and organic material.

Most coffee varietals fall under three categories, Robusta- the poorest quality but the most commonly drank. Arabusta, a hybrid crop between Robusta and Arabica which is what is mostly grown here, and last Arabica the higher quality bean. (Learn more)

Coffee tastes different depending on the land, the way it was processed and then how it is roasted. Most big companies or instant coffee, mix all their beans, including defect beans, and burn them. Single Origin coffee shops usually sell each coffee plot separately keeping the coffee more pure. This is called Specialty Coffee, single origin, manual brew, and really exploring different flavors not just the generic "coffee taste". 

When I use the word process, I mean how you get it from the cherry (right when it’s picked) to the green bean (before roasted). Roasting is the last step before coffee is bagged up and sold. But the process is one of the most important steps.

I’m learning coffee is a lot like wine, has a variety of types; each coffee plot will have it’s own unique taste and every coffee region will have a different taste.  Most of us have been asked, “Would you like our Sumatra coffee?” It’s a pretty common option at a lot of coffee shops. I never thought about what it meant really, just that I liked the flavor. Sumatra is a region in Indonesia (Where we just went.) It’s so famous for it’s coffee the whole world likes to sell it for it’s unique flavor.  

Not only the region changes the flavor but the processes/fermentation of the coffee. There are endless ways to process coffee, and many people continue to play and discover more ways. One of the most expensive coffee beans in the world is processed by a Civet. It consumes the coffee cherry, poops it out, you gather it and wash/ferment and roast it. Craziness. I got to meet one of these creatures in Indonesia at Mr. Pendy’s a self created coffee roaster and genius.

Mr. Pendy is experimenting with so many processes (including the bearcat) he can smell the textures and flavors of the coffee as he processes and brews it. He started as a goat herder, liked to drink coffee while he worked, but wanted to make it better, so he built his own roaster/coffee lab and started to play. We got to do a cupping with him, taste his coffee and watch him create art. It was amazing.

There is a wonderful movement happening right now called Third Wave Coffee. It is a movement for more quality beans, (not defect, and not green cherries, but perfect ripe and red) for more art involved (Manual brew, instead of just a pot.) and a developed relationship between the final buyer and the farmers that are growing it.

Farmers are simply cheated in this world. They do the most manual labor, feed the world but generally get treated very poorly. They feel their job is shameful. They are used due to the fact these big companies KNOW the farmers have no idea about their crop or what it’s worth, or how to do business. Most farmers are uneducated making them easy targets to abuse. My farmers here have been selling their cherry coffee for so little they barely make it.

As My Farmer was sitting in Mr. Pendy’s lab learning and taking everything in, he said, My people never were taught this. They don’t know what they are even growing. This isn’t right. The farmer must know.

 I’m learning that even without switching to organic there are immediate and simple tactical ways to get them way more money for their crop; and teach them more giving them the power over their plants. Many farmers if they don’t have somebody to come care enough to train and educate them, they will continue to survive and be abused. And this begins with the consumer.

My Farmer and I continue to learn so much about coffee, how to grow it, protect it and create a sustainable small business where we as a community of farmers can begin to produce, PROCESS (Yes we want to eventually process, and play with that art form ourselves,  maybe even wrangle a bear cat!) and roast coffee, selling something amazing, artistic and a bean they can be proud of. Seeds Coffee Company, Leo and Lisa, Brian, so so many people have been so amazing to teach and show us more.

This year we hope to start a community compost, organize farmers beans based on quality and sell according to their value, and if My Farmer and I can get a truck this year we can ship our farmers beans directly to a local company, instead of a collector.

While we make the long shift to organic, and will hopefully purchase our own plot next year, but work as a co-op with other plots. And maybe one day you can be drinking some of our village’s coffee in the USA.

Coffee has been my addiction, but it’s becoming my passion.  This plant is special; it’s connecting us to this land, and this land to the world. So next time you take a sip of that delicious drink, think about the quality, the origin, the roast, and the hands that picked each bean. There is a lot that goes into that special cup. So if you care about coffee, and maybe are starting to care more about farmers, be so picky in what coffee you buy and where you buy it, pay attention to the labels and remember single origin, organic, and go to shops that have stories to tell about their farmers. 

To read more about the steps of coffee click here

If you want to read about two amazing people, Leo and Lisa, doing amazing work with organic coffee and farmers click here

And if you want to check out the coolest cafe in America, Seeds Coffee Company, click here