I just got back from two weeks in Nicaragua.  Joe (from Third Coast) and I were there to teach two 1-week courses about coffee quality, roasting and cupping.

The first week was spent with a cooperative called PROCOCER.  Denis, the head tecnico, met us at the airport, took us around for the whole week.  He was a great host.  PROCOCER’s offices are in Jicaro, in the Northern Highlands of Nicaragua and they represent about 800 farming families.  We were there to visit the dry mill at Mozonte and while there, teach a roasting and cupping class to a group of local youth.  These students are studying at the coffee school in Ocotal and most of their parents are producers from PROCOCER.

We showed them what we look for in a coffee sample, taught them how we sample roast and cup.  By the end of the course, they were all roasting great samples and running a very professional cupping table.

We visited organic farms in the Murra region.  A truck dropped us off, and we had to hike for a half hour just to get to the first farm.  No road, no electricity but each farmer we visited was proud of their finca.  One of the farmers we met is the head of a women’s producer group.  Doña Dominga and her family produce about 800 pounds of coffee a year on very steep slopes in a remote valley.  I was only to take one picture because I was ready to pass out from the difficult hike to her house and to see her coffee trees.  She invited us to come back and work for a few weeks during the harvest.  Maybe if I start training now, I might be able to keep up with her.

At the finca of Reynaldo Rivera we saw the new style wet-mill that the government is helping to fund.  It uses less water so the environmental impact is significantly reduced.

Each farmer composts and uses worm bins to help enrich the soil.

Outside of Jalapa, we visited the finca of Ernesto Canales, the president of PROCOCER (whose daughter, Rosibel was in our class) and saw his wet mill and nursery.  He is developing an eco-tourism project at his farm where people could come and see best practices in general farming and coffee processing.

A half an hour or so further up another 4-wheel drive road and strenuous hike (where I, again, almost had a heart attack) we arrived at the finca of Mario (the father of Dunia from our class).  He has an incredible farm right along the border of Honduras.  His plants are extremely healthy and he is very passionate about his finca.  He has just built a new wet mill (carrying the cement up the mountain trail by himself) and a couple of cabins for his eco-tourism project.

Two small cabins (bunks for 6 in each), fresh mountain spring water and an amazing jungle valley.  They have a small family cabin with a kitchen and made us a great meal.  Visitors will be able to stay in the other cabins and participate in the coffee harvest, plant their own coffee trees and eventually harvest their own plants.  It is an amazing spot, and if anyone is interested in visiting, e-mail me and I will give you details.

The next morning we “decided” to walk back to Jalapa …every 30 minutes, Denis would me that it was just another 30 minutes hike.  Four hours later we made it to town.   There we had dinner with Ernesto and Denis and talked of our future plans together.

Coming later, week 2 near Matagalpa.

Our own Survivor (think Eye of the Tiger) was caught on camera in Hawaii.  Greg was seen at Hula Daddy Kona Coffee on their live Web Cam and in the cupping room.

He got a chance to cup with roastmaster Miguel Meza and learn about Kona specialty coffee.

I’m sure he will be sad that he missed the 3 days of record low temperatures here in beautiful Idaho.  Oh, well.

Rebecca, Greg, Shaunett and Ben Tobin were in Seattle over the weekend for CoffeeFest.  This annual meeting is great for checking out new products, meeting your old friends in the coffee industry and general getting-down with the hipster coffee set.

After packing their girl-pants and brushing up on their Kung Fu, the DOMA crew hit the road for Seattle.  They cruised the trade show and went to a great cupping at Atlas.  There would be more writing here, but no one volunteered to give me some words…so here are some photos from Ben Tobin.

The Patano family recently took one of the Dragonfly VW’s out for a test run in Montana.  Loading up the bikes, the boys and the Janis Joplin 8-tracks, they hit the road for the woods.

Besides the fact that the van didn’t have an 8-track player (it actually has a great stereo with CD and i-Pod hookup), the reviews were thumbs-up all around.  Sleeps four and comes stocked with the all essentials of a back-woods campout, these vans are very cool…bike rack, camp chairs, cook stove, cooler, awning, heater, 110V power, etc.

What’s that I hear, Barista Jam 2009 at Vision’s in Seattle?  8 hours of cupping, roasting for single origin espresso, PID with Synesso, tearing Roburs apart, rebuilding steam-wands, tasting the difference between citrus and malic acid. latte art jam–count me in.  No place to stay–no problem.  The back of the DOMA mobile will be just fine.  Yes, friends, the beauty you see in this photo can also be yours–all you need is a five hour drive and 7 hour sleep in the car.  The good news–no taps on the window by the authorities during my sweet night’s sleep.

No one ever said that learning the the complex nuances of the bean would be easy–DOMA is not your grandparents coffee roasting company.

Running water is for sissies.

They say all hotel rooms look the same with the lights out.

The coffee enhancement lounge–Sarah rocks.

Cupping with coffee guru Chris Davidson of Atlas Coffee–seriously he knows the middle names of all the children for every farmer they buy coffee from.  His coffee knowledge is out of control.  We’re cupping COE’s with him in three weeks!

3 coffees: Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Honduras and different processing methods side by side.  Chris was helping us taste the difference between a natural process and washed coffee from the same growing region.  In general, the natural process is more acidic with the fruit flavor being very forward.  The washed is a more clean and balanced flavor with acidity toned down.  Some adjectives we were tasting: granny smith apple, lime, caramel, strawberry, bakers chocolate, spice and more.  This is a great way to discern how differences in processing methods impact the final taste in the cup.

Next up: Espresso roasting workshop with the crew from Victrola.

Here they have five different roast profiles of a Guatemala Huehuetenango called “Palhu.” Above the baristas are dialing in shots so we can taste the differences in flavors when the same coffee is roasted Ideal, too light, too dark, too fast, and too slow.  Perry Hook explained how the bean is affected by these different profiles and the extensive process they go through to find the roast that showcases the natural flavor of the coffee the best.  The differences were sometime subtle and others more pronounced: flavors ranged from being brighter and more frutiy to a bit more vegetal, savory and tasting a bit of the roast profile.  Ironically, they all tasted pretty good.

We tasted all five profiles of the Guatemala as a French press as well.   The coolest part was hearing about their dedication to making the coffee sing.  Huge thanks to these guys for sharing their mad skills and being so friendly.  We gave them some DOMA and are looking forward to their feedback.

Oh the transformation!  Did this guy stay at the Four Seasons???????

Tech wizard Michael Elvin from Espresso Parts works his magic. This guy is also a rockstar barista!  We tore apart grinders and steamwands.  My favorite part was when he spoke about the fissures–and then demonstrated–caused by tapping the portafilter inbetween tamps.  Seriously is it even up for debate up for debate anymore. Tapper’s admit your defeat and submit to Rao.

Next Cam Kellet walked us through a tasting where he put five different acids into coffee for us to taste the different types of acids found in coffee.   We started with Citric–everyone puckered like crazy–and then moved to malic which was different but similar.

I’m not smart enough to read this acid–all I can say is it was more of a body mouthfeel thing than a flavor.

never has spitting been more appropriate.  To simulate at home, grab some cream of tartar and put a spoonful in your coffee.

32 Barista’s jam it out for top honors on latte art.  Chuck from Victrola took the honors.  His pours were amazing.  This was the LA verses Seattle and all was done with live video streaming.  The main difference: Intelly folks were in their lab, and the Seattle baristas threw down in an actual working cafe.  You be the judge.

Lastly, I had to check out the Slayer at Zoka and have some shots.  A really nice barista, formerly of Wisconsin and Alterra, pulled me an outstanding S.O. Brazil.  I wish I could remember her name because she was knowledgeable, friendly, and devoid of any of the pretension that can so often accompany some in our industry.

Above is a great example of how a brew bar station can be utilized in a cafe.  Hot water tower, commercial grinder and multiple drippers. Very awesome.

In conclusion: some coffee events are just worth a night of sleeping in your car.  Cam at Barista Guild and Sarah from Visions put on an outstanding event with amazing contributors.  Our industry is better because of people like these that are willing to share their time and talents.  $35 dollars?  This event would cost easily a $1000 from other consultants.  I forgot to take photos of the session with Mark from Synesso.  He explained the technology behine and then there was a lively chat about PID and how the barista can utilize this variable to make better coffee.

-Greg

The most popular camping vans ever manufactured are now available for rent. Go green and see the Great Northwest, Eastern Washington, North Idaho, or Western Montana in a customized Dragonflyvan™. These classic Vanagon Campers have been completely refurbished and are in top mechanical condition. Check out their website, or stop by…they are right down the street from the roastery.

The guys from Rapha Continental stopped by Le Petit Outre a while ago. In case you don’t know, LPO is the best bakery in our area (even though they are in Missoula, MT…3 hours away).
Check out the full post with some great photos here.

I just spent 9 days in Guatemala as part of a Cooperative Coffees team in the CRS Cafe Livelihood Project.  This is a three year project which aims to improve production practices (organic and shade farming), increase productivity and yields and increase quality.  We are working with groups in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Mexico.

This was Guatemala. I left Spokane at 5:30 in the morning.  After 36 hours, touching down in 6 states, a steamy night in Miami, some great Cuban food and a large quanity of rum I made it to Guatemala City (my bag did not).  From the airport, I headed straight to Transcafe offices to meet up with Bill, Tripp and Maty from Cooperative Coffees and Luis from CRS.

Cupping at TransCafe

I made it just in time for the last part of a cupping. We got to use the excellent cupping lab there and see the operation of a major coffee exporter.

Then back to the car for the three hour ride to Lake Atitlan and San Lucas Toliman where we would meet up with the farmers and the rest of the group. Our group consisted of representatives from 5 different producer cooperatives, about 30 people in all.  We visited 2 different farms (San Lucas Toliman and Santa Anita) and were bringing the producer groups together to share their knowledge with each other about the farming/production side of coffee.  Our Cooperative Coffees team was there to look at local roasting operations and offer feedback and suggestions, to teach a cupping workshop with all of the producers and offer suggestions to improve quality.  We also shared with the producers our experiences in cupping, roasting and marketing Guatemalan coffee.

From the hotel at San Lucas Toliman

We stayed in a great little hotel near the Lake in San Lucas Toliman.  Bill, Caleb, Tripp and I shared a room where I demonstrated my ability to snore loud enough to be heard three rooms away.  I think that at some point during the second night, Tripp was considering smothering me with a pillow.

This is the roof where Tripp slept the third night.

the roof

Even though he slept only a few hours over three days, he was great.

We looked at the coffee farm and beneficio at San Lucas Toliman.  Then we checked out their manual, wood-fired coffee roaster.  Very hands-on, very artisan…oh, and did I mention 90 minutes per batch.

wood-fired roaster at San Lucas Toliman

Did some workshops, drank some Gallo (the beer, not the wine), ate pupusas, took a boat ride, more workshops and then headed out to Santa Anita.

Santa Anita was founded in 1998 by a group of ex-combatants from the 36-year armed conflict in Guatemala. With a loan from the national government land fund (Fondo de Tierra) as part of the country’s peace accords signed in 1996, the group bought a farm in the municipality of Colomba, Quetzaltenango. The organization is Fair Trade Certified and its members’ farms are all certified organic. Cooperative Coffees purchases their annual production of one-half container. The group is currently working on a roasted coffee project for the local market.

Here we took part in workshops for starting coffee from seed, grafting (el injerto), making organic compost (bokashi) and worm compost, planting and the processing systems on the farm.  We also toured their roastery and saw their grinding/packaging operation.  They just received a truckload of new coffee plants.  They are also starting a nursery operation where they can produce these on-site.

Minchu with new coffee plant

Minchu with a new coffee tree, ready to be planted in the afternoon.

lots of coffee plants, still green though

nursery operation and Minchu with his daughter

kids at Santa Anita (they took this picture!)  and explaining el injerto

after the injerto demonstration (l)…..back in the day when the members of Santa Anita didn’t grow coffee.

Rigoberto from Santa Anita explaining the roasting process.  Last day at Santa Anita.

Lots of cupping at the offices of Manos Campesinas.  They have a great cupping lab, and sample roasting set up.

Maty, Caleb and I taught taste characteristics, flavor and aroma notes, and how they are affected by different roast levels.  Then we explained how a formal cupping works.  We split the group up into 3 smaller groups, so everyone could have a chance to participate in a cupping. Only a couple of the group members had ever been in a cupping.

Thanks to Benjamin and Miguel of Manos Campesinas.

Finally another day of workshops, meetings and summing up.  By the end, I think, everybody learned alot about everything from seed to cup.  This is a 3 year project, so this is just the beginning.  I was a bit sad to have to leave.

It only took me 36 hours to get back to Spokane (including another night in Miami).  I had hoped to make it home with at least 1 bottle of Cuban rum… but Miami was really hot.