Part 2 of our ‘Get To Know Your Coffee’ series from Dan Ericson, Coffee Roast Master at Camano Island Coffee Roasters
One comment we hear over and over again is this: “Your coffee is so smooth!”. In the coffee industry, smooth can be interpreted differently depending on what is being described. Typically, we hear it when someone is referencing the overall acidity of our coffee – that is, the acidity is really low and the flavor of the bean shines through.
Acidity is developed through heat. Now, don’t get me wrong, acidity is a big part of the flavor of coffee. Personally, I’m not one to enjoy toddy coffee (or any method that brews coffee at room temperature) because it removes almost all of the acidity of coffee – which is a lot of the flavor. The problem is that too much acidity ends up harming your body and is also reflected with a harsh bite when enjoying your coffee. It’s widely understood that a mostly Alkaline diet is much better for your overall health <source: MedPageToday> and too much acidity helps the body develop diseases like cancer. Coffee doesn’t have to hurt your body every time you drink it. If you pay attention to this one detail and only drink coffee that is grown in the shade of its natural environment, you’ll have very, very little to worry about.
This is why I feel that it’s important to only drink shade-grown coffee. Of course there are environmental implications as well… but I’m talking specifically about health here.
Those of us who are passionate about our coffee know that it’s more than just something hot to drink. It’s a ritual for many of us to kick off our coming day. It’s an excuse to sit down and connect with another person. Coffee also connects us with the country where the coffee was grown and to the lives of the farmers and their families. It can be the vehicle for farmers and their families to lead self sustaining lives.
The next few entries are dedicated to getting to know our coffee. Brought to you by Camano Island Coffee Roasters…
Part 1: Organics
Most coffee you can buy in the grocery store or coffee shop isn’t organic. What this means is most coffee you brew at home is grown using pesticides. This might not seem so bad, except coffee is naturally one of the most absorbent crops on earth. So when non-organic farms use pesticides like Endosulfan and Carbofuran, the pesticides end up in your cup of coffee. These pesticides are so harmful that the United Nations and US Environmental Protection Agency have banned them, but many third world countries (where the coffee actually grows) still sell these pesticides over the counter. These harmful aspects are commonly known to be Nerve and Neurological damage. Be sure that every cup you drink is brewed from organic beans, free from harmful toxins and pesticides.
Guatemala ranks second in the world in the amount of high grade coffee it produces (after Columbia) and it has the highest percentage of its crops classified as high quality. Pretty amazing considering the country is about the size of the state of Ohio.
But for most of the workers who do the intense work of growing and harvest the crops, life is very difficult. The civil war that wracked the country from 1960-1996 left them landless and impoverished. Trapped in a cycle of poverty, workers are forced in a life of indentured servitude, paying high rents on land and not receiving a fair wage. (see http://www.equalexchange.coop/history-of-coffee-in-guatemala as one source for more in-depth history).
With coffee as the number one export from Guatemala, consumers of fairly traded coffee make an enormous contribution toward breaking the cycle of poverty for these families. Farmers who receive a fair wage for their crop can provide food, shelter and education for their children.
On the flip side, buying coffee that is not fairly traded keeps the cycle of poverty going around and around. Plantations save huge amounts of money by paying the kind of wage that keeps people from access to land, food, health care and opportunity. There is a huge price to buying ‘cheap coffee’.
There’s no middle ground on this one – consumers either support life and hope, or poverty and despair.
As a coffee consumer, you can make your dollars count toward life and hope for farming families in Guatemala. It’s as simple as ordering a regular coffee delivery through our ReThink Coffee website. Camano Island Coffee Roasters offers two beautiful coffees from Guatemala – a light and a medium roast. As always, every bean is fairly traded, shade grown and organic. Not only does CICR purchase the coffee directly from the farmers, but they also return 20% of each purchase to farmers through Agros International and other missions based organizations. When you order through ReThink Coffee, you can choose a non-profit to receive an additional 8% of each order.
Agros has created a beautiful video about one Guatemalan village’s journey from poverty to land ownership and self sustaining lives. Check it out http://agros.org/video_gallery.cfm#agrosvideo17
LOVE YOUR COFFEE • BUY RESPONSIBLY • CHANGE THE WORLD
The Coffee Roast Master at Camano Island Coffee Roasters is the best. He’s a knowledge powerhouse when it comes to coffee and he makes it really fun to learn about more about the coffee in your cup. His ‘Coffee of the Month’ blog posts include notes about the beans, the roast, and the country where the coffee was grown. When I read those ‘Country Notes’ I feel connected to the people who grew the coffee, the people who are leading self-sustaining lives because they are getting a fair price for their crops.
The following blog post is by Dan Ericson, Coffee Roast Master at CICR
This month we are excited to offer a delicious blend of Guatemala Medium and Light roasts. This blend is my personal favorite and is a delightful addition to any occasion. From the village of Trapichitos in Guatemala, comes this wonderfully rich, full flavored, original Guatemala coffee bean. We carry Guatemala all year but for the month of September we’re blending the light and medium roasts of this exquisite bean.The result is a mellow, yet medium/full bodied coffee with slight hints of citrus.
Bean Notes: Sweet, tangy citrus tones give this organic coffee a very distinct yet distinguished flavor and aroma. One of our best morning coffees, this Guatemala coffee bean has both the aromatic qualities and taste complexity to set it apart from many coffees. It is often considered by coffee experts to be among the best coffees in the world.
Roast Notes: The blend of light and medium roasts brings together the complexity of the light roast with the depth and smokiness of the medium roast. Our Guatemala Medium Roast is our darkest medium roast while our Guatemala light is a fairly light roast.
Country Notes: Our wonderful Guatemala Trapichitos bean has more than a great flavor to it. It’s the first coffee CICR has carried that has a direct connection to our relationship with Agros. Check out this link to read about Agros’ work in Trapichitos. The country of Guatemala is bordered by Mexico to the north, Belize to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. It is known for having some of the most desirable coffees in the Americas, producing dense beans from high elevations.
by Jeff Ericson, owner Camano Island Coffee Roasters
Coffee is the second largest commodity in the world, and more than 150 million Americans drink it daily. With coffee being consumed in such large quantities, it is important to ensure your beans are organic, shade-grown, and fairly traded.
First, purchasing organic beans ensures that harmful pesticides are not being used in the soil or on the leaves of the coffee trees. We are excited to be working closely with our farmers to make sure their land remains pesticide-free for a number of years before producing certified organic coffee beans.
Second, shade-grown coffee protects rainforests, animals, and foliage around coffee farms. Shade-grown coffee cherries grow more slowly, allowing for rich flavors to fully develop in the cherries. The shade also protects the cherries from harmful UV rays, which can raise acidity levels in coffee beans.
Third, it is important to pay a fair price for coffee to help create a sustainable cycle for the coffee farmers and their families. Paying fair prices for coffee is a way of showing respect to the farmers, and helps to provide land grants, medical care, livestock and agricultural assistance. When coffee farmers are paid a fair price for their product, they can begin to save money, provide for their families, and eventually own land and rise above poverty. Coffee farmers are doing the difficult work, and all we have to do is pay a fair price.
Dan Ericson of Camano Island Coffee Roasters answers…
There is a lot of debate on this question and the real answer ultimately depends on each person and their individual tastes. In the coffee industry, the generally accepted answer is: French Press. Personally, I also subscribe to the theory that the French Press provides the perfect extraction method to enjoy each and every subtle nuance of the coffee. Typically, if you enjoy really tasting the flavor of the coffee and want to spend more time
thinking about what you are drinking and less time thinking about other things, this is the best way to go. I can’t even begin to describe how many French Pressed cups of coffee I’ve enjoying while having a “What about Bob?” moment (if you’re unsure what that means, watch the movie and pay particular attention to the family dinner that Bob thoroughly enjoys). If you look back on previous blog posts, you’ll see that Matt also really enjoys a good French Pressed cup of coffee.
On the other hand, there is another recently discovered method of coffee brewing that seems to be making waves in the coffee community. I’m sure that many of you have seen the “Pour-over” method of brewing coffee. Here at Camano Island Coffee Roasters, we use a porcelain, cone-shaped filter holder to brew cofee. It’s important that the filter is made of porcelain, because it brings through the specific flavor nuances that will not be present when brewed with a plastic filter. This device should also have ridges inside to separate the coffee filter from the porcelain, which allows the coffee to flow through at a proper rate to prevent bitterness. Even as French Press enthusiasts, Jeff and I both agree that it’s hard to beat a properly brewed cup of pour over coffee!
This morning, when you brew that first cup of the day, try a French Press or Porcelain Pour Over!
Dear ReThink Coffee Customers,
The past year and a half has brought about more postal price increases and numerous green coffee bean price increases. Because of this, we are increasing the cost of our ReThink Coffee, Coffee Lover’s Club Program. We do not want to raise the price of our coffee, as we need each one of our Coffee Lover’s Club members in order to continue our work in other, less-fortunate, coffee growing countries. However, we have no other choice but to adjust the price of our coffee to reflect these increased costs.
Effective June 1, the price of our Coffee Lover’s Club will become $36.90 per shipment, and our “wholesale”, 5 pound program will become $49.90. We will continue to source only the very best quality, certified organic, shade-grown and fairly traded coffee. The only difference is a small price increase that will raise the price of your espresso shots or cup of coffee by pennies per cup.
Decaf drinkers, since the price of decaf coffee has also increased exponentially and we ONLY sell the highest quality water processed decaf coffee, the price of decaf will be increasing a little more. For each pound of decaf added to your club order, there will be an additional $1.50 added to the total of you club. This small increase allows us to continue to offer the same high-quality decaf coffee and continue to work towards land ownership with coffee farmers around the globe.
Thank you in advance for your understanding. We know you have many choices when it come to purchasing coffee, and we are so glad you have chosen to partner with us – loving our coffee, buying responsibly, changing the world.
Thanking you -
Eric and Megan West
Helpful hints for managing your account – coming soon…
As prices for everything continue to rise, Camano Island Coffee Roasters maintains their commitment to purchasing only the best coffee at a fairly traded price. That means a slight increase in the price we coffee drinkers pay for our deliveries. The small increase ensures that we are still drinking the best coffee, farmers are still receiving a fair wage, and the non-profit organizations you have chosen still receive sustainable support.
Instead of just asking ourselves “Where can I get the cheapest coffee?” let’s ask “How can I do the most good with the money that I spend?”.
Answers from Jeff Ericson (owner Camano Island Coffee Roasters):
With the rising cost of food, gas, and coffee, it is becoming more difficult to remain positive about our everyday purchases. Now more than ever, consumers are turning to sustainable options and looking for the best quality items for the lowest prices. Many consumers still want to do their part to make a difference in the world, even though funds are limited. Instead of writing a separate check to charity, we can make a difference through our everyday purchases, especially when it comes to coffee.
Although it seems like no end is in sight for the rising cost of goods, we can be thankful for the opportunities we have to make a difference with our purchases. When deciding which coffee to drink, sometimes it seems easier to choose the cheapest brand. This can have a negative impact on the economy, the environment, and families around the world.
Here are several reasons why you should think twice before grabbing the cheapest coffee on the shelf.
First, most inexpensive coffee brands are made up of lower quality coffee beans, which allow for the lower price. These beans, commonly known as Robusta coffee, are not shade-grown, and therefore do not promote preservation of the rainforest. Camano Island Coffee Roasters shade-grown Arabica beans provide a rich, deep flavor and create a more enjoyable cup of coffee while helping to preserve forest land.
Second, lesser coffee brands are not certified organic and therefore do not require their coffee to be grown in chemical-free soil. Camano Island Coffee Roasters requires that all coffee crops remain organic, and if chemicals have previously been used in the soil the coffee farm must go through a 7-15 year cleansing period to remove all harmful materials.
Third, coffee that is sealed and sold on the grocery store shelf is typically not fresh. Coffee is a highly perishable item and should be brewed within a few weeks of roasting. Camano Island Coffee Roasters labels all bags with a roast date and provides only fresh roasted coffee.
Fourth, coffee that is sold at such a low price is not fairly traded. When you purchase coffee, you can make a difference by choosing beans that have been sold at a fair price. Many coffee companies take advantage of the cheapest coffee crop on the market and pay very little for it. Camano Island Coffee Roasters works directly with the farmers in Central and South America to ensure fair prices are paid for coffee. When farmers receive a fair price for their crops, they can save enough to own land and eventually break out of the cycle of poverty.
When you purchase Camano Island Coffee you are taking the first step toward sustainability. You are paying a fair price for your coffee, helping farmers own land, and receiving the highest quality coffee on the market. When you join the Coffee Lover’s Club, you can experience the convenience of having three pounds of your favorite coffee shipped right to your door.
When your next regular coffee delivery arrives, you’ll get to see some of the beautiful new flyers and stickers on the bags. I still really like the bottoms of the bags best…
“This bag is made from 40% recycled natural Kraft paper (25% post consumer) and lined with PLA, a renewable and composable film made from corn.” Plus, you get to pull the twist-tie off the top before you recycle it and put it to good use. Closing up bags, making twist-tie people, so many options…
