Do you genuflect to the coffee gods every morning? Are you a different person before you have that first cup of "joe"? I am and I also thought I knew how coffee was harvested and made, but I was wrong. I recently returned from one of the most amazing experiences I have had in my professional life. On March 27th, 2008 I flew off to Puetro Vallarta to meet up with Tony's Coffees and Teas.
I was invited to go on a coffee sourcing trip in January by Tony's Coffees and Teas and was pretty stoked to go hunt down some great new beans. I did not know I would have a monumental experience that has forever changed my attitude and perception to coffee.
Tony's Coffees and Teas is a micro-roaster that has been roasting specialty coffee since 1971. Today they exclusively source and roast organically/shade grown Fair Trade coffee beans. I first tried Tony's coffee about two years ago and brought them into Andronico's Market about a year ago. They are one of my favorite coffee roasters in the U.S.A., priding themselves on roasting the beans to the beans' needs, and not just a predetermined roast profile. This means that that each bean is roasted in a way that will highlight its specific flavors and not destroy the essential oils that make coffee great.
A group of West Coast coffee buyers and tasters, some of whom hold Q-taster status—the Master Sommelier to the coffee world—formed our eager group. After bonding over a few Pacificos and some amazing ceviche the night of our arrival in Puerto Vallarta, we set off early the next morning to explore this Mexican Coffee thing in earnest. Our first stop was a wet mill where the process of coffee was explained to me in detail for the first time. I was amazed at the primitive process but reminded myself that some of the most beautiful things in life are simple in nature and need only be nurtured in the right way to produce an amazing product.
After the wet mill tour we were treated to an amazing lunch on the way to our hotel in Tepic, Nayarit's capital. At lunch we were served amazing garlic shrimp, a beef stew that was singular and fresh hot tortillas. Once we filled our bellies we checked into our hotel in Tepic and we ate some more! Over the next 5 days we went to various farms, wet mills, dry mills and even had two lectures about the quality inspection and pest management.
One our hosts on the trip was Jim Kosalos, a pioneer in driving up the quality of coffee in Nayarit. He is a PhD. physicist by trade but has moved into coffee and is using his empirical and analytical skills to help in this endeavor. Jim has created a portable unit called the "porta-table" and he is training a new generation of women and men to become more quality conscious. This portable kit has everything one would need in it to take dried beans from the beginning of the process to roasting. One of Jim's students has almost passed her Q-grading test and is only 25 years old! She and her colleagues are all contributing to increasing their knowledge of quality coffee to help farmers throughout the state select better coffee and demand a higher premium for their beans.
Why do I keep stressing quality? Quality products generally garner higher prices and therefore improve the standard of living for people producing those goods. Jim's company Cafes Sostentables de Mexico is adding in the training of farmers and university students in the region to drive the quality of the coffee up so they can command a higher price per kilo and improve the lives of the community and their own.
The impression made on my by this trip runs to the core of my social values and personal responsibility to be a good person. Meeting the farmers and seeing how eager they are to learn more and work harder to improve the quality of their coffee and create a world class coffee region was truly amazing. To meet native people who literally rode their horse to meet with us and discuss organic farming and fighting broca (a louse that is a major threat to coffee beans) is something I will never forget.
As you go to your coffee shop, local roaster or grocery store to buy a bag of coffee remember the people who work very hard to bring you this precious gift. Also take the time to make the right decision with your pocketbook. It is vitally important to these farmers, their families, and their communities that you buy Fair Trade and/or direct trade coffee from roasters such as Tony's Coffees and Teas.
I now not only have a chemical dependence on coffee bu have also been deeply touched by those farmers who work so hard to provide me with such a great cup of "joe". I look forward to learning more and sharing what I've learned about coffee with all our readers. If you really like learning about wine, coffee has many similarities and tastes great!
Cheers!
Comments