How Much is Too Much?

For the last couple of months, the coffee world has been talking about the possible higher prices of coffee, and how various happenings may affect smaller specialty roasters. Coffee rust in Central and South America, as well as drought in Brazil is threatening our pocketbooks. Companies like Starbucks most likely won't be raising prices, because they are able to lock in prices for a period. Smaller roasters are more vulnerable to higher prices, and will have to hike the price for their coffee. The question is....how much is too much for a cup of coffee.

Let me clarify. I'm not talking about espresso drinks, which are already in the $5 arena. I mean a cuppa joe. At the average coffee house, I pay $2-2.50 range. Some places offer a pour over for $3(same size cup as the drip). At what point is that visit too expensive for you?

What about buying beans for home? Currently I draw the line at $18 for a bag of coffee - especially if it isn't a pound.  Just Coffee's Ugandan Pride was $11. Stone Creek is in the $13-$15 range. Intelligentsia is around $20, sometimes more. As much as I love Intelligentsia, they are priced out of range for me. While I understand I am still paying less per cup than if I go buy a cup of coffee, or a K-Cup, I look at what I think is affordable for a weekly purchase.

If coffee gets t o $4 a cup, I may have to find a new drink, because that's a tough price for me to say, that is worth getting everyday.

What is too much for you?

Charlie

Coffee Review: Ugandan Pride

This week the blog has shone the spotlight on Just Coffee Cooperative and their Ugandan Pride coffee.

As you know sales of this coffee will go towards fighting the brutal anti-gay laws in Uganda. This coffee and effort have received a lot of press and attention, and deservedly so. The only thing which hasn't been mentioned is, "How's the coffee?" You can have the best cause in the world behind your coffee, but if the product isn't good, it isn't going to go any further than a supporting good cause. Some coffee with a cause are pretty horrible. Would Just Coffee be one of those?

Come on, this is Just Coffee Cooperative.

Let's start with the basics. Ugandan Pride is a medium roast coffee. According to them, this is "Earthy and assertive with notes of Blueberry and Lemon. It's an organic, shade grown, fair trade coffee. When I interviewed Co- Founder Matt Earley, he mentioned this would be great for the French Press. Well that's our favored way to brew coffee, so that's what I did this morning.

Like a good many African coffees, I get a floral tea-like essence from it. The blueberry taste is very present, in fact I would say it's the strongest flavor you get in this coffee. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't have a blueberry flavoring to it. It's a bright fruitiness which gives you the idea of blueberry.
The lemon flavor felt more like a supplemental taste, it gave the coffee a bit of a tang.

I get a bit nervous about coffee when it's described as Earthy, but this doesn't have an intense Earthy quality. I'm not overly fond of those coffees. As I said, this is a brighter coffee, full of life and body. This is a nice morning coffee, perfect for a slower wake-up morning, or if you're going to have a brunch(it is a gay supportive coffee, and we gays DO like our brunch), this would be a great one to serve to your guests.

How strong is this coffee? As I said this is a slow wake up morning coffee. On our Cher scale of strength(how appropriate for a gay supportive coffee), this is a 7, as in Cher in Burlesque.

The question posed earlier was "Is this more cause than coffee?" I'm happy to say it's a terrific coffee which is supporting a terrific cause. Get this coffee and you will not only enjoy it, but you will be helping many LGBT people in Uganda who are suffering under brutal inhumane laws.

www.justcoffee.coop

Charlie

Ugandan Pride: Matt Earley Interview

Late last year Uganda passed what has been called the "Anti-Homosexual Act." Originally this legislation called for LGBT people to receive the death sentence for being who they are. Family and friends were also at risk for jail time just for supporting or knowing their loved ones who are gay. A worldwide outcry against these human rights violations got the bill "watered down" to where there is jail time, but no death penalty.

As an openly gay man I am outraged that this is allowed to go on. I know Russia got a lot of boycott press around the Olympics for their horrendous laws, but little has been put out there about the plight of Ugandan gays and lesbians. Over a month ago I called for a boycott on Ugandan coffee, to make a point that this law needs to be repealed.

Just Coffee Cooperative, out of Madison, WI did me one better, they have created and are now selling Ugandan Pride coffee. Proceeds from sales of this coffee will go towards the fight against these laws. Just Coffee is known for two things: good coffee and supporting causes. Whether they are supporting farmers in Chiapas, Mexico, or women and children economically affected by the coffee rust epidemic, Co-Founder Matt Earley and his crew are there. I had the opportunity to interview Just Coffee's Matt Earley this week.

Charlie: You have just announced "Ugandan Pride" coffee which raises awareness about and contributes towards the fight against brutal anti-gay laws in Uganda, specifically the so-called “Anti-Homoseuality Bill”, which can mean long prison sentences for LGBT people, their families and friends. How did the idea for this develop?

Matt: A few months ago we received a call from a cafe customer that one of their regulars had told them that it was not right for them to serve Ugandan coffee because of the passage of the "Anti-Homosexuality Act" in Uganda. As the roaster of the coffee, this hit us particularly hard ​because we have a history of being very outspoken and active around Human Rights issues. Our IT guy had recently seen a documentary about the lead up to the passage of the bill and the activists working to overturn it. We decided that we should contribute to their efforts and that we could use this Ugandan coffee as a vehicle to start the discussion here in the US as well as to raise funds for those fighting the law.

Charlie: 10% of sales of Ugandan Pride goes to the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law(CSCHRCL). What made you decide to work with them and what are they doing to fight these laws?

Matt: The CSCHRCL is a group that works on the legal/legislative level to overturn the law as well as supporting outreach work "on the ground" in communities. We liked the fact that they are working to build a more tolerant society on different levels and that they are very established during a time of serious instability within the LGBT community. ​

Charlie:  While supporting the LGBT community is becoming more commonplace, have you encountered any pushback for supporting taking this stand?

Matt: Not a lot of push back so far. We have lost a couple of customers, but we understood that that might happen. We are an activist company and we believe that instead of standing outside of politics or hiding what we believe, it is important to take positions and support our beliefs with our business. Part of our mission stresses transparency in business practices and to trying to help build a more democratic business model. In order to do that we have to be vocal about our beliefs and use our business to support the issues that are important to us.

Charlie: As a gay man, I am with you on this fight for equality and human rights, but as a coffee lover I want to know about the coffee. Tell us about the roasting profile of Ugandan Pride Coffee.

​Matt: Yes! It is a medium-roasted coffee with a mild acidity and a medium body. The coffee has notes of caramel and cherry rounded out with a subtle lemony finish. It is best in French Press and nice as an espresso.

Charlie: Best in French Press? Perfect, that is our favorite brewing method. On his reality show “Dangerous Grounds”, La Colombe’s Todd Charmichel devoted an episode to Ugandan coffee, talking about how difficult it is to find good coffee there. Talk a bit about the farmers you work with and was it difficult to find good coffee there?

Matt: We have worked with a cooperative in Uganda for quite some time and we have been very happy with their overall coffee quality. This coffee is a different one than we have been selling and we feel pretty fortunate to have it-- we think it is very tasty. The entire region-- DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda-- are making huge strides in their production and processing practices and their coffees are starting to score really well in general. Rwanda in particular has really elevated its game and the rest of the region-- especially in the farming cooperatives-- are taking note and learning how to improve their practices. It takes time, but it is happening.

Just Coffee is well known for their transparency. You can trace every bag of coffee back to its origin, the process it went through and the prices paid to the farmers. Because of the sensitive nature of this issue in Uganda, the farmers who are providing this coffee won't be identified, as supporters of the anti-gay laws could retaliate against them. 

Thanks to Earley and the rest of the cooperative standing with the LGBT community. I also appreciate his time for this interview. 

www.justcoffee.coop

Next: Ugandan Pride Review

Charlie

Is It Coffee Yet? Part Three

We have journeyed from seed to processing to milling. There are just a few more steps until we have our cup of coffee. First we have to get the coffee out of the country and to us.

6) Exporting - The coffee is now put into bags, and in some cases plastic lined containers, and shipped. Most of us know these beans as green beans. Millions of pounds of coffee are shipped like this every year.

7) Cupping - If there is quality control for coffee, this is it. A "cupper" first looks at the overall visual quality of the beans. Next they roasted, ground and brewed. At this point the cupper smells the coffee, checking the aroma after grind and brew. Is it as it should be?

The coffee rests for a few minutes, then one more sniff, and then what looks and sounds like a very slurppy sip with a spoon. The coffee is distributed evenly on the tongue, so the cupped gets a full taste and idea of the coffee, then spits it out. This process is designed to check for any flaws in the coffee, figure how the blend of beans is working, and to make sure the roast was done properly.

8) Roasting - This is what coffee roasters, both professionally and the amateur do with the coffee next. The green beans are placed in various kinds of roasters and the beans are roasted to the desired point. This is not done in the origin country usually, because you want to get fresh coffee to the consumer as quickly as possible. Remember the life of fresh coffee is short.

9) Grinding - There are various grinds to a coffee. One thing to note, the finer the grind, the faster you need to drink the coffee for full taste. This is why espresso is such a fine grind. The coarser the grind, the slower you can appreciate the full flavor of the coffee(french press).

10) Brewing - Automatic drip, French Press, Chemex, Single Cup, there are so many methods to brew the coffee, but everyone has their favored way(s) to do it. This is where all the efforts of the farmer, and everyone else who worked with the beans comes to its finale. Now you have your cup of coffee.

11) Drink It! Enjoy It! Savor It!

Charlie

Just Coffee's Ugandan Pride

For the last month you have seen me post #BoycottUgandanCoffee in response to the horrible anti-gay legislation in Uganda, which has many LGBT people and their friends and families in fear for their lives. Just Coffee out of Madison, WI has found a brilliant way to fight back.

Starting today they are selling Ugandan Pride coffee. The coffee is from Ugandan small-scale farmers. This effort is designed to raise awareness of the brutal laws in Uganda, and raise money to fight towards a repeal of the laws. 10% of the revenue from Ugandan Pride will go directly to the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law(CSCHRCL) in Uganda.

While I support an overall boycott of Ugandan coffee, I do support this effort, and I encourage you all to buy a bag and support this fight. Just Coffee Cooperative roasts some excellent coffee, and I can't wait until I try mine.

For more information go to.....

www.justcoffee.coop


Charlie

Is It Coffee Yet? Part Two

This is the second part of a series of how coffee becomes coffee. The first part looked at coffee from seed to processing the cherries. Today we continue.....

4) Drying the Beans - Assuming the beans have been through the wet method of processing, the beans must be dried to get them to that 11% moisture level. Once at that level they can be stored. Because wet processed beans still have parchment on them, the beans are typically laid out in the sun.  This is done on floors or drying tables and are turned regularly. Of course there could also be a machine drying process used. Once they are dry, the beans are bagged and ready for export.

5) Milling the Beans - Before the coffee beans can be exported there is a multi-step process to get them ready.
 
   a) Hulling - This is when the last of the parchment is removed from wet processed beans. For the
   dry processed coffee this involves removing all of the dried husk.

   b) Polishing - This optional process which removes any silver skin which may be on the bean. As I
   said this is an optional process, but polished beans are typically preferred to unpolished, as they are
   seen as a superior bean.

   c) Grading and Sorting - This is the last hurdle coffee jumps before it's exported. The beans are
   weighed and sorted by size. The beans are reviewed for color and any other imperfections. Bean
   size is represented on a scale of 10-20. That number represents the size of a round hole's diameter
   in terms of 1/64's of an inch. The heavier and lighter beans are separated.
 
   Also during this process defective beans are removed. If beans are oddly colored, sized, or
  otherwise viewed as defective - out they go. This can be done by machine or hand.

Next in the series - exporting and the final steps to sipping the coffee.

Charlie

Is it Coffee Yet? Part One

We take it for granted as we sip our cups of coffee, but there is actually a long process to get from seed to cup. It's easy to say the farmer grows and harvests the coffee, then someone buys it, and it gets roasted and sold to you in some form. It's just a bit more than that. the next few posts will serve as a primer/reminder on how coffee becomes coffee. Today I talk about the first three steps.

1) Planting - Coffee is originally Coffee Cherry seeds. Ironically, it's the seed which can be processed and roasted to become a cup of coffee, or it can be developed as a seed to plant and cultivate more coffee.

2) Harvesting - You don't just plant a seed, and boom - COFFEE! It can take 3-4 years for the coffee plants to be mature and ready to harvest. In the time the farmer is caring and making sure all goes with the cultivation of the plants. Harvesting is a labor intensive process. Pickers grow through very narrow rows of trees, in highly mountainous areas, looking for ripe cherries to pick.

There are two ways to pick cherries: a) strip picked, where all the cherries are taken, and the riper ones can be selected later, or b) selectively picked, where only the ripe cherries are being picked. It's the latter which is more labor intensive, and usually done by hand. The former could be done by machine.

3) Processing the Cherries - There are two ways to process coffee cherries. The first is the dry method. Cherries are laid out in the sun, and are periodically raked and turned over to prevent spoilage. This reduces the moisture content to 10% or 11%.

With the wet method, the pulp is removed from the cherries and the beans are dried wit ha bit of parchment still on them. The beans go through a machine which removes the pulp, the lighter beans float to the top of the machine, while the heavier ones are below. They next get separated by size. From there, they are put in large fermentation tanks. In these tanks the parchment is naturally removed. This can take between 12-48 hours.

Next - drying and milling.

Charlie