Goals

It occurred to me on my recent trip to Nicaragua that I had finally achieved a goal that I had set myself 6 years ago. Whilst working for Bewleys Coffee and Tea, I was sent to Ramacafe in Nicaragua 06. It was at this event that I got to go to my first coffee farm and see first hand what it was like at origin. Needless to say the experience stuck with me, the stunning landscape, the people and the journey. I set a goal that I would become a coffee buyer within 5 years.

I wonder if everyone holds as much value in goal setting as I do. Without them I would not have traveled, started a band, become a Barista, Barista Trainer and a coffee Roaster. I have always set short and long term goals for myself, yes sometimes I don’t achieve them (I am not a famous musician) but for the most part I do, eventually.

So upon returning to Nicaragua, after the gruelling days leading up to the trip trying to organise Toby’s Estate Coffee and after the flight. I was sitting in the back of a taxi headed to Granada when it hit me. I am finally back here doing what I have wanted to be doing for so long! I had been working on this goal for so many years that I almost forgot about it. Sure I took one or two wrong turns that delayed me (6 years instead of 5) along the way but I had made it.

I had returned to Nicaragua as a green coffee buyer, a moment I hope I don’t forget for a long time.

Cheers!

A beer to celebrate my return to Nicaragua as a coffee buyer.
Finca San Jose
Nicaragua 2012

Now to set another long term goal.

James Hoffmann – Reinventing Espresso

Yet another great video to grab, worth a watch over a cup of coffee.

Costa Rica Cup of Excellence 2011

This year I was fortunate enough to take part of the Costa Rican COE, I really enjoy doing these events as it gives you a good look at what each country has to offer.

I won’t go into to much detail but Toby’s Estate Coffee, Australia, took a camera along and got some great shots and talked to some great people!

Christmas in July

I can’t believe I only saw this video today…

Happy Xmas in July?

Wet Grinding

This was so good, I needed to capture it.

I am a Craft Beer Drinker!

God bless America! *sniff*

Quirky Coffee Video

This is Coffee (1961)

I just had to put this in my blog, just a great old timey video about coffee.

Cup of Excellence – Costa Rica

At the Costa Rica Cup of Excellence this year we saw this guy load what may well be a couple of containers a day in this manor.

Warning this post did start last night as just the video above, but after a few beers the post meanders on a tad…

It was very interesting to see the opposite end of the Micro Mill revolution in Costa Rica. It is not what we (specialty Coffee) might deal with but you know what, families are being fed…

We did how ever talk with the farmers that just because their coffees are fetching a better price, this does not mean that they should rest on their laurels. For the first time in 15 years or so we may find ourselves paying more for lesser quality, this alone hurts, as we are and for a long time have always been, prepared to pay more for quality.

Conversely for the first time in years the farmer has more money on hand to re-invest, learn and make his farm even better equipped to handle the inevitable drop in prices as people replant over the next 3 years or so. I truly hope that the farmer sees this as the time to make a better business,  a better farm, maybe mill themselves and take control. Imagine if they all did, where would coffee be in the years to come if the bar was truly lifted? If farmers took ownership like vineyard owners and told the market, no, this is how you should represent my coffees.

What will happen to the farmers who don’t care about quality, who don’t taste their coffees, who don’t feed their soils, have a sustainable re-planting procedure in place when the prices drop in a couple of years? They will again be on the back burner when prices drop and may well be the first to claim “hard times” and “foul play” and be planting other cash crops…

It can be seen happening already, farmers are becoming famous like their vineyard partners and soon, will be able to direct the end market a lot more. With knowledge and understanding of what their soils/ plants need, better processing and ultimately knowing what their coffees taste like and how to make them taste that way, they may well hold the upper hand. Imagine what a producer could achieve with this knowledge, backed up with the software prowess of programs like Cropster they could have a lot more influence in a better coffee world.

I believe that even though this is hard times for some in the specialty coffee industry, if climate change does not screw us entirely, we may, with smart producers be tasting much better coffees in the near future.

Just a thought…

Deaton

Alright. Alright.

A short film by Eleven Brothers Productions, based on a real delivery driver who was larger then life.

A crazy man walks into the roast works at Intelligentsia and soon takes control of the show…