What is it?? COFFEE! Yes, this is traded second in value only to oil. The coffee trade is vital to the politics, survival and economies of many developing nations. But the pricing is decided in conference rooms and on stock exchanges of the world's wealthiest cities. It is the other black gold of this earth. The good thing is that, unlike oil, coffee can and is becoming also a green commodity as well. But like oil and gasoline, it is manipulated by entities such as the IMF and large companies to the point, local growers have a difficult time sustaining their families on its growth, while foreign companies come in and ruin local economies for their own foreign profits. There are cooperatives which attempt to raise quality among local growers in order to get better prices but it is difficult. When farmers learn how their incredibly hard work turns in little for them (.08 cents for 2.2lbs of beans) vs. (there are about 220 cups to 2.2lbs or $660) at the retail end, it is disheartening to that farmer to see how little of the trade he/she receives. Governments which are able to protect growers from ravaging foreign entities can help growers earn a fair price and you the coffee drinker by giving you one of the best cup of coffee you've ever tasted. Of course if you only drink flavored coffee, you may not know that you are not drinking a quality coffee. Such is often the case when buying coffee at a retailer like Starbucks. They sell merchandise like McDonalds has its happy meals. But once you put the sugared catsup on the burger, can you really tell if its good meat? Once you add all the milk, sugar, and flavoring to the coffee, can you really tell if its a good quality bean and roast? Highly unlikely. In fact, in many consummer tests, Starbucks house coffee (non-flavored) rarely if ever gets onto the recommended list in stark contrast to say Dunkin Donuts when it is compared. After all, paying big bucks for a cup of coffee doesn't mean you are getting a quality cup of coffee. In 2008 while Starbucks sales where plumeting, McDonalds had put a better quality coffee on its menu. And during an economy like this, you can buy a quality bean coffee and make your own drinks at home for much less while drinking much more coffee. It may even keep you from getting some old age diseases due to its antioxidant properties. In defense of Starbucks; when it comes to labor relations, Starbucks is embraced by most of its employees as a great place to work. It supposedly fosters a community in its people starting with new trainees throughout the management levels. One employee says: "I could not find programming work after the dot com bubble. Turns out I like working part time at Starbucks immensely. I am an artist and it's given me time to work on my paintings. I have them hanging at Starbucks too, so it's fun to talk to customers about my art as well as their cappuccino." 1st Specialty Coffee Retailers: -Peets 1966 Jerry Baldwin -Starbucks 1971 Owen Shultz -The Second Cup 1975 Frank O'Dea Since this blog is in the United States, one of the closer coffee countries is Costa Rica. If you want to go green in your buying habits, this is a place to start. There are a few distinctive growers. One of which is La Minita.  Tarrazu coffee comes from this area. La Minita uses the minimum amount of fertilizer necessary based on soil tests. This is needed only because of the rainy season and erosion effects of this mountain grown coffee. No insecticides are used at all and insects are few, however minor elements of zinc, boron, copper are applied to the leaf undersides to protect the plant of disease. Harvest is completed by the end of February. La Minita supports its workers with housing for its full time workers and their families, a matching savings plan, at-cost commissary, site-grown vegetables and citris including oranges, grapefruit, lime, avocados, and mangoes. Has its own medical clinic with a 2-day/wk Doctor and patient history, sports programs, and even a choir. Costa Rican growers were one of the first to form micro-mills to ensure quality and consistancy. Coffee is subdivided by elevation producing diverse micro-lots. This type of system is called Direct Trade or Farm Gate coffee which yeilds anywhere from 40% - 100% more than Fair Trade prices. Another close bean is perhaps Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. Though this coffee will cost you a premium. Most of the export goes actually to Japan who are aficionado's of gourmet food and drink. Went to Jamaica on a missionary type trip one year and by God! that was the best coffee I'd ever tasted! I also did a school book trip, to schools in Guatemala with the Cooperative For Education. Found this coffee very special due to the fact that the grower was the brother-in-law to our charity. And the time we had with the adults, children, and schools of the highlands is ingrained in my heart. Returned home with coffee in colorful homemade mini-sacks. The officers at our home airport's international gate gave me a knowing smile accompanied by eyes slightly closed, and inhaling breath motion of their heads.  Coffee May Help Prevent Age-Related DementiaGood news for me and most everyone I know - a new study has linked coffee consumption to a lower risk of developing age-related dementia. Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee-drinking habits in a group of 1,409 men and women for an average of 21 years. After controlling for various socioeconomic and health factors, the researchers found that subjects who drank three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed age-related dementias, including Alzheimers, as those who had two cups or less. Scientists are unsure how or why coffee might have a protective effect against dementia, but speculate that it might be due to an antioxidant effect. Coffee-drinking has already been shown to have a link with lower risk of type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease.  You can go green with your coffee. The first step is to stop putting flavoring agents into your drink. This will allow you to appreciate the real essence of coffee flavor and discern the good from the bad. At home, experiment with the the nuances of water to coffee ratio. Find that perfect amount of ground coffee to pot of cold filtered water. Going green means to learn about which farmers produce an eco-friendly, family & community friendly product, plus gets a fair price for raising such coffee. Know what buying Fair Trade means by watching the video below called "What is Fair Trade?" Then be sure to buy Fair Trade Certified, Direct Trade, or Farm Gate product where at all possible. You'll then be well on your way to going green with your coffee purchases! Support roasters who have a passion for the bean and quality of their roast. You may often find a good roaster/retailer like Sweet Maria's. Following quality from the grower to the retailer provides you a very good chance that you'll get all the taste intended by the good side of this business. In learning about the various coffee regions of the world, learn when the bean is harvested. That way when you shop, you'll be able to have the freshest beans for home use all year round. Good packaging will include the harvest and roasting dates so try to keep close to that date during your purchases. Or ask your retailer. Buy from stock that is in-season. Who wants a product that has been sitting around loosing flavor for six months!
Research on the internet, places like Sweetmarias.com who can educate you as well as provide a high quality unroasted coffee for purchase at a decent price. They will not only educate you on the coffee but on the region and people of that coffee community. Sweet Maria's web site reads like a loyal old friend. Spend the time to look deeper and you'll find that they can be your mentor, one that wishes to improve your knowledge, sharing with you all the coffee nuances that you will certainly appreciate as the end consumer. Their value added approach makes for a very worthy shopping consideration. Why not try your next coffee purchase there and see for yourself. Please note that Sweet Maria's Coffee is a purveyor of unroasted coffee beans as well as a home roasting supplier. Home roasting as seen at left, has gained popularity, as has the type of brewing machines mentioned in the next paragraph. It used to be hard to find not only a great coffee bean but an unroasted bean resource. Sweetmarias.com is one such resource. Take a good look and you'll see the tremendous value they bring to your door! If your love of everything coffee is growing to new heights, you may want a superautomatic machine as one of your valued possessions. To get a fair deal on a quality coffee machine; look at http://www.wholelattelove.com/ which is where they have a great review site and lots of machines. This is where I learned about and purchased my first Jura superautomatic coffee maker. A great superautomatic is a term for a fully automatic machine which grinds the beans, doses, tamps it into the filter, filters the water, brews the coffee, foams the milk, dispenses both the liquids, then dumps the grinds, and cleans the unit all at the push of a button! Yes! Extreme! But a must for the gourmet coffee drinker and party host. They can make the best espresso, cappuccino, latte, macchiato, you've ever tasted, all without having to train as a barista. So simple a good machine is in operation, that a child can make your coffee. An engineering marvel to be sure! There are other good sites on the internet, these are only a couple. Locally you can also give Costco Wholesale a try for good tasting coffee beans. Their house brand (Kirkland) is always a decent bean and sports a low price for house-branded loyalists. If you like the burnt tasting Starbucks, you can buy it at Costco too. Sams Club carries bulk Dunkin Donuts brand as well as Fair Trade Certified brands. I've not personally tried it, and one of my friends is not impressed by it (Dunkin Donuts coffee) but some formerly Folgers fans rave over it while eating their morning sugar fix. Consider these for quick shops, but plan your purchases with a good resource, whether it be already roasted, or ready to roast at home. Internet retailers give you the time to properly plan a good purchase. Once you've found the retailer you trust and coffee you like, save by buying in bulk starting with 5lbs. After all, if you are on the road to becoming an aficionado or just love drinking lots of coffee, 5lbs can go quicker than you think! Remember to think green in your purchases by supporting Fair Trade Certified, Direct Trade, or Farm Gate product where at all possible. Doing so will bring you a better quality of bean that is family and eco-friendly! <What Is Fair Trade?>
<Fair Trade Supporters> This film shows Intelligentsia's work on the Direct Trade Coffee Project "Flor Azul, Nicaragua". It also shows the importance of cupping coffee on-site, in order to bring you the best coffee at home. Much time and work goes into bringing you quality coffee; starting with the grower all the way back to you the drinker. You probably won't get this kind of attention to detail in the mass marketed, lower quality coffees. Direct Trade and Fair Trade supports growers and their families as people, and a vital link in producing a quality product, not just pawns for a quick buck. Farm Gate as told by Sweet Maria's Coffee: "is the name we give to our direct trade coffee buying program. Farm Gate pricing means that we have negotiated a price directly with the farmer "at the farm gate,” so we can easily verify that the good price we pay makes it to the people who do the work, those responsible for the great cup quality of our coffee. Farm Gate is a simple principle that allows coffee producers to make premium prices in reward for coffee quality, and to reinvest to improve quality even more in the future. We guarantee that Farm Gate prices are 50% over Fair Trade pricing, but often they are 100%+ more than FT minimums. Farm Gate coffees are from farms we have visited, and with whom we have an ongoing relationship." Source We hope you've enjoyed the brief look at the better end of coffee. Next time you see someone open a large tin or plastic container, you may stop to think: Is this truly a good coffee or just something I've gotten used to because it was cheaper than these other, more curious ones that I'm seeing more and more of in the stores and online? And..if you still are a tin coffee consumer but you are interested in having at home what you only get occasionally in the cafe', we hope you'll enjoy the road to better coffee taste like we are. The road of life only has one ending, so make the most of it through education. Every day is a learning day! We leave you with an old Frank Sinatra song... |
2nd Most Legally Traded Commodity in the World |