For Coeur d’Alene residents, there is great opportunity to take part in the new developments with the CdA Bike/Pedestrian Committee.  Here is a brief rundown on what is happening and what you can do.

John Kelly, Chairman of the CdA Bike/Pedestrian Committee, has provided the following information:
“Even we as a committee are unclear as to what took place on January 11, 2012.  We and citizens arrived at the Old City Hall, as we always do on the second Wednesday of each month to have our Ped/Bike Advisory Committee meeting.  Upon our arrival, we found notes on the door that stated that our meeting had been canceled.  Since that time, the City Administrator has issued a statement on our Facebook wall.  (Coeur d’ Alene Ped Bike)

Bottom line is this: we were prevented to meet as a committee.  It seems that it has to do with our current “Duties & Responsibilities.”  If we meet, we are subject to take some action based on our current “D&R”‘s, and I get the feeling that this concerns someone at City Hall.

Additionally, the committee has decided to make me Chairman of the Ped/Bike Committee.  If they keep the Committee from meeting, this can’t be finalized.

It is my belief that they will find a reason to cancel the February 8th meeting as well.  The only way this can be avoided is if the community voices their concern and gets involved.  The need to get involved not only in the February 8th meeting, but more importantly the February 24th workshop with the Mayor and Council.  It will be at this workshop that our “Duties & Responsibilities” will be determined.

As it stands right now, the Committee advises the City Council and City Administrator directly in regard to Pedestrian and Bicycle issues.  We also have the authority to advise City Department Heads directly, which means that the Department Heads could be held accountable for their actions by a group made up of citizens that communicates directly with the City Administrator and Council, and this seems to be an issue for some.

On February 23rd at 12 noon, the City Council and Mayor will be holding a workshop to determine what our duties and responsibilities will ultimately be.  In a way, this will be the point where the City Council and Mayor will truly say how committed they are to Pedestrian & Bicycle infrastructure in the City of Coeur d’Alene.  If they change our D&R’s, it would be a devastating setback for the walk, pedal, and roll community.

If this issue is important to you, I would suggest attending our next scheduled meeting February 8th (5:30pm) in the Old City Council Chamber’s in City Hall, and the February 23rd (noon) workshop held at the Library.”

This year we are fortunate to work with Tiffany Patterson from Spokane, Washington.  Although we have known about Tiffany and her unique penmanship for several years, we needed to wait for a Valentine’s Day launch because this girl can draw hearts like no one else.

The collaborative process for Sea of Love was embarked upon long before the season of love was upon us, allowing Tiffany time to define a concept and tweak the art, and time for us to find an amazing coffee to roast.

Chris Dreyer did a great job printing this year’s bag, his 4th Valentine’s bag printing (which makes his relationship with DOMA one of the longest he has ever had, aside from the one with his mother).

This Organic Colombian Coffee has strong notes of cherry, sweet tarts and fleur de sel caramel. Smooth body with a long, clean honeyed finish.

Recommended brew methods are drip, french press, chemex. Works well as a single origin espresso.

Roast level is 3 out of 6

Location in Coeur d’ Alene:

Pilgrims Natural Foods Market

Locations in Spokane:

Rocket Market

Main Market

The Kitchen Engine

Madeleine’s

Locations in Sandpoint:

Winter Ridge Natural Foods Market

Super 1 Foods

Limited Supply - Selling Out Fast!

DOMA Is Participating In CoopSOL’s Annual General Meeting:

The meeting will be held at Maya Vinic, a producer coop in Acteal, Chiapas, made up of 500 coffee farming families located in 38 highland communities in the municipalities of Chenalhó, Pantelhó and Chalchihuitán, in Chiapas, Mexico.   Producers from several of our partners in Latin America will be in attendance, including our partners from Yeni Navan MICHIZA in Oaxaca

Maya Vinic has recently been accepted to the FLO register and is in the second year of organic certification.  Cooperative Coffees purchased the first Maya Vinic coffee to be exported under fair trade terms in 2001.

On The Agenda:

-Visit the Coop (facilities, projects, progress and challenges)

-Celebrate the 10-year anniversary relationship of Coop Coffees and Maya Vinic

-Discuss organic production issues (organic practices, prices and yields).

-Review climate change (experiences/challenges to offset impact)

-Attend presentations from and/or regarding CLAC, FLO Centroamerica, WFTO

-Discuss the future vision for fair trade (understanding producer and roaster needs, a new fair trade)

-Attend the inauguration of the Maya Vinic Café.

**We will post pictures of this trip as they become available**

This week DOMA Coffee is hosting a meeting of executive committee members from our green bean importing cooperative, Cooperative Coffee.  Each member has an inspiring story as leaders in the fair trade movement.  It is truly exciting to participate as we share and learn all that encompasses quality coffee and fair trade practices.

For Cooperative Coffee and the 24 community-based roasters that make up the cooperative, fair trade is represented as:

-Commitment to small-scale coffee farmers

-True partnerships with producer organizations

-Producers contributing with 50% of voting voice

-Total transparency through http://www.fairtradeproof.org/

-Long term relationships that empower farmers and encourage financial stability

-Sustainability

-An ongoing journey

In Attendance:

Mike Moon – Just Coffee

Monika Firl – Producer Relations, Co-oP Coffee

Lee Wallace – Peace Coffee

Tripp Pomeroy (son Hugh) – Café Campensino & Sweetwater

TJ Semanchin – Kickapoo

Chris Treter – Higher Grounds

Janet Utecht – Executive Director, Co-oP Coffee

Glenn Lathrop – Desert Sun

Helen Voogd – Bean North

Finally, you’ve waited all year for this one.  Available Monday November 14th, 2011.

(Or call and pre-order yours today.)

New messenger bags and tote bags available now!

Call AnnE to order @ 208.667.1267

Altura

The Altura: $40

Size: 16″w x 12″h x 4.5″deep

Lining & Pocket – natural canvas made from recycled cotton/plastic bottles

Back – brown canvas made from recycled cotton/plastic bottles

Inside pockets – 16″w x 6″h – divided into 3 pockets

Snap Closure – top of bag under flap

Adjustable Shoulder Strap – 1.5″w automotive seat belt webbing

Our tag – recycled leather branded with DOMA logo

Comments: our largest shoulder bag with plenty of space. 

Sumatra

Sumatra: $35

Size: 12″w x 11″h x 4.5″deep

Lining & Pockets – natural canvas made from recycled cotton/plastic bottles

Back – brown canvas made from recycled cotton/plastic

Inside Pockets – 16″w x 6″h – divided into 2 pockets

Snap Closure – top of bag under flap

Adjustable Shoulder Strap – 1.5″w automotive seat belt webbing

Tag – recycled leather branded with DOMA logo.

Breve

Breve: $23

For those who like to travel light – just enough room to carry a few must haves (cell, keys, wallet, etc)

Size: 8.5″w x 9.5″h x 1″d

Lining & Pocket: Canvas made from recycled cotton & plastic bottles – natural color / light tan

Shoulder Strap: 1.5″ wide Automotive Seat Belt Webbing – one piece / non adjustable

Inside pocket: 6″ x 6″

Tag – recycled leather branded with DOMA logo.

Excelso

Excelso: $16

 Our smallest tote – however, we still wanted it to have plenty of space – so we put a 5″ gusset on the bottom. This gives it extra space without having to make a larger tote.

Size: 8″w x 10″h x 5″d

Lining & Pocket: canvas made from recycled cotton & plastic bottle – natural color / light tan

Inside pocket: 6″ x 6″

Handles: 1″ wide cotton webbing

As you may have heard, our award-winning “La Bicicletta” is getting a new look.  This will be the third version of out iconic bag.  Proceeds still go to support women’s cycling (Team Rep) and it will have cool letterpressed, new art.  Details are scarce on the new art, look for it next month.  I have heard that there will be two different, new designs…

In case you don’t know, Team Rep is a local women’s cycling team.  Here are a few words from their founder, Jenni Gaertner:

The team started in 2009, when a group of ladies came to me asking for mentorship.  They wanted to try out some road racing, and wanted someone to help with the “ins and outs” so to speak.  As word spread, my thoughts of an initial meeting of 10-15 ladies was in reality a meeting with over 60 women present!  In our first season, we had close to 90 women signed up on the team….

Our mission was, and continues to be, to promote women’s health through cycling.  We seek to introduce women, at any and every level, to this sport – and help them pursue whatever cycling goals they may have.  Some women
join so that they can have a group with which to ride.  Some women join because they want to compete, and want skills development and challenges.

Some women join because they just want some new friends.  We have women from age 11 through age 70 on the team, novice to pro.  We are mothers.  We are sisters.  We are daughters.  We are wives.  We are lawyers.  Or doctors. Or housewives.  Or students. Some of us like to ride really fast.  Others like to ride casually to the coffee shop.  Some of us are gourmet cooks.  I can’t cook myself out of a box.  Some of us are cat lovers.  Others prefer the pooches.  ALL of us love to ride our bikes, and all of us contribute something of value to our group.

Since that initial year, we started a satellite team in Boise for the 2010 season, because the women in Boise saw what a great thing we had, and wanted a part of it   For 2011, they were able to secure local sponsorship and become an independent Boise-area team.  Without the structure that we provided, and support from our sponsors, they wouldn’t have been able to complete their mission.

We have sent squads to the premier women’s stage race, the Nature Valley Grand Prix, where we won stage 1.  We have dominated regional stage racing in the Cat 1/2 field for 3 years, and have fielded impressive Cat 4 fields, as well.  But the biggest accomplishment, in my mind, is that we have given women a safe place to explore the sport.  Several friendships have been started, and continued, because of the team.  Women are trying things they previously haven’t had the courage to try before, because they’ve been provided a support system and confidence from riding.  It’s truly amazing to see how some of these women have transformed from the simple act of gaining confidence on a bicycle.

Here is a link to labelled Sumatra 2011 photos.

Sumatra2011_for CC

Jim just got back from a producer visit to Sumatra.  The trip was part of the Farmer-to-Farmer program with USAID, and we met with the 3 producer groups we buy coffee from.  We were able to have cupping sessions with each group, farmer visits, and tours of the processing and export facilities.  We discussed some of the challenges that each group was facing, and planned for the upcoming year’s export season.  We worked with the cuppers from each cooperative and showed them the cup profile that works best for us and how other profiles might fit into the specialty coffee market.  One goal of the project is to help the cooperatives to better market their coffee, find appropriate buyers and avoid quality control issues.

It has been a difficult year for most cooperatives in Sumatra.  The huge jump in coffee prices, combined with fixed price contracts (that some big buyers made them sign) caused many co-ops to lose money.  When a fixed contract is made months in advance, and then the coffee NY “C” market goes up drastically, the cooperative must buy cherries from the farmers at a higher price.  In some cases, this price is more than they will be able to sell the coffee for.  We were happy to find that the cooperatives did not lose money on the contracts they made with us.

We left Medan at 6:30am for Takengon.  After 10 hours on the road, and nearly getting washed off the side of the mountain in a construction zone, we arrived at the Hotel Renggali on Lake Tawar.

Lake Tawar from the Hotel Renggali

Our first meeting in Aceh was with APKO (Asociasi Petani Kopi Organik).  After a cupping session at the main office, we got the opportunity to sit in on the election of their new chairman.  This was a great chance for us to see, first-hand, how our producer partners’ cooperative functions.  When the nominations, stump speeches and voting were finished, Darul Aman emerged as the new chairman.

Former chairman Salman hands over leadership to Darul Aman (APKO)

We visited member farms and several collectors.  The collectors process the coffee from cherries (golondong) to gabah (pergamino dried to 40%).  The coffee is then sent to the export facility in Medan where it is hulled, dried, sorted, and bagged for export.  Below is a picture of our coffee chain.  The three people on the left are producers and members of APKO cooperative, the three people next to them are Cooperative Coffees members, and the person on the right is a cafe owner/barista from Madeleine’s in Spokane.

APKO Coffee Chain: Farmer, Collector, Co-op Rep, Cooperative Coffees staff, Roaster, Cafe owner/barista

APKO plans to add a huller at their pulping facility so that they can process coffee all the way to asalan (green coffee, unsorted, 20% moisture).  The asalan will be delivered to the export facility in Medan where it will be sorted and packed for export.

APKO: Today's price for Cherries (gelondong) and Gabah (pergamino @40%)

Drying area at APKO wet mill

The next day, we met with ASKOGO (Asosiasi Kopi Gayo Organik) for producer visits, cupping and general meetings.

ASKOGO Coffee Chain

ASKOGO producers

At Permata Gayo, they are beginning a program to process coffee all the way to “ready export”.  This would allow the cooperative to export directly from Aceh instead of shipping the partially processed coffee to Medan to be processed for export.

Pulping cherries at Permata Gayo

We are releasing two (yes, I said two) new coffees on Monday, October 3rd.  We realize that having two, brand new, DOMA releases available on the same day might be intimidating.  Don’t worry, though, one sip of either of these new offerings will set your mind at ease.

Brazil Santa Izabel is a new microlot from Minas Gerais.  Great for drip or single origin espresso.

Guatemala El Tambor comes from Cup of Excellence award winning Finca El Tambor.

Click on the links for more information.

Available at the roastery and online starting Monday, October 3rd.