Coffee Aficionados and Fanaticos, bienvenidos!
Welcome to our
online "casa", the home of
the knowledgeable and friendly single origin (Bolivia & Costa
Rica) and top-flight (Cup of Excellence®,
National Winners in Rwanda, Nicaragua, El Salvador & Guatemala)
green (unroasted) coffee purveyors. We also sell and service personal and
commercial coffee equipment. We call it Coffee Gear.
Concerning green coffee beans, we take a different tack to satisfy
the needs of coffee lovers worldwide. Instead of diversifying
horizontally (selling coffees from all over the world, and
specializing in one link of the supply chain, namely importing,
wholesaling, distributing, roasting or retailing), we have chosen to
diversify vertically. We started selling coffees from a single
origin (Bolivia) and concentrated on all
links of the supply chain for that origin. Our goal is that
when you think of one of our origin coffees, regardless of what type
of customer you are (commercial roaster, home roaster, distributor,
coffee shop, restaurant, coffee buying club or cooperative, or
retail end user) you will think of us. We work hard to keep
your trust and loyalty.
Because of the tremendous success with our approach to Bolivian
coffee, and the strong urging of our satisfied customers, we have
begun to add, slowly, other origins to our portfolio. In 2009
it is was Costa Rica; for 2010 we plan on Brazil & Ethiopia. We do
not add another origin until we have visited the coffee-growing
region thoroughly, we have become very familiar with the local
customs and norms and we have developed strong, long-term
relationships with growers and logistics service providers. We
believe our success --and our competitive advantage-- is based on
our holistic approach and our ability to improve everyone's stake.
You cannot sell "direct purchase" coffee unless you have met,
several times and regularly, with the coffee growers and her/his
partners. It may sound like an idle boast, but we know our
partners spouse's and children's names and the details of
their farms. Just browse on our websites and read the coffee
stories and the photo galleries.
Because we are vertically integrated, we control quality each step of the way. To put it differently, we can't blame anyone else
for quality lapses! We start by buying coffee beans directly at
the farm gate, by working directly with the farmer and her/his
coffee-grower cooperative. We have a unique (so far) system of
buying coffee based on price per quality, as measured by the
SCAA cupping standards score. When we purchase coffee from
our growers we start with a minimum
price (usually the Fair Trade price), we then complete
payment based on
the cupping score of a random sample. We accept coffee
from farmers and/or their cooperatives "en pergamino" (in
parchment). We store our pergamino coffee in climate-controlled warehouses
in Bolivia & Costa Rica.
Only when we have enough pergamino coffee to fill a shipping
container, and we are ready to export it, we finish processing
by removing the pergamino and separating the beans by size
according to graded screens and by hand-selecting and removing
faults and defects. Our coffee, even at our lowest grade,
is so good because we use these time-consuming but necessary
quality-assuring steps. Ask your current coffee supplier
if s/he knows how their coffee was collected and processed.
Don't accept unsupported
platitudes like "top grade" or "only the best". We follow
--and are responsible for-- our coffee beans from the farm gate
until it is delivered to our customers. This is why we can
tell you with certainty in which terroir our coffee was grown
and who was the farmer that labored and made it its pride and
joy. Cupping
is done first by our own buyers and then by independent coffee
cupping laboratories.
Any coffee with a score below 75 is
rejected. We ask the farmer to replace it with acceptable
coffee, we do not ask for our money back. The rejected
coffee finds its way into the general coffee market. The higher the score, the higher our price. Thus,
our farmers are monetarily incentivized to improve the quality
of their coffee because their coffee will not be blended with
those from other growers and averaged down. Because cooperatives provide
important services (technical assistance, short-tem credit,
moral support and friendship) we provide coffee-grower
cooperatives with grants and percentage of sales contributions
when coffee is bought directly from one of their members. Each
coffee lot is then labeled and warehoused separately. We
also pay the cooperatives separately when we use their
wet-processing facilities.
Almost all coffee in
Bolivia is grown by small farmers, who do not have the capacity
to grow the minimum commercial international shipment (a 20 ft
container with about 40,000 pounds). All our Costa Rican
coffees are bought from small, family farms. Because we do our own exporting, we keep
coffees separated by grower and grade at origin until we
complete a container. Our farmers appreciate our approach and
actively seek us when they have an exceptional crop.
Exceptional (high scoring) coffees are kept separate and bagged
in 15 kilo vacuum-packed foil bags at origin
before exporting them to the US, (a technique we pioneered
commercially). Traditional coffee exporters mix together
coffees from several growers until a container is filled, where
the quality becomes the lowest common denominator. We
believe ours is a better way to supply quality green coffee
beans. Other coffee importers think we are "nuts" for
vacuum-packing at origin. However, our top-flight
beans do not have the typical burlap, baggy flavor and/or smell
found when beans have been stored in burlap bags in warehouses.
Our vacuum-packed green coffee, when opened, still has the
fresh, nutty and flowery aroma of "new crop" beans, even
after a year of storage.
Concerning Coffee Gear,
and because home coffee
roasting is a re-born (and booming) activity, we
inventory and sell the latest-technology home coffee roasting,
grinding and brewing equipment. Prior to World War II, every household
roasted and grinded their own coffee. Grandpa or Grandma
will tell you the family rituals about making and drinking
coffee and proudly show you their, now antique, coffee gear. Let's
go back! With a modern home coffee roaster there is no mystery
to in-home coffee roasting. You will be ready to brew a pot of
the freshest coffee that you have ever made. But we are
not just waxing nostalgic here. Freshly roasted coffee tastes
better than any store-bought coffee, period.. Furthermore, once
you have started roasting your own coffee, you will be able to
savor the truly finest coffees in the world, freshly roasted in
your own home!
And you will
also save money. The price of green coffee is
usually one third of the same bean roasted. So, go ahead, recover
one of the timeless, lost pleasures, save money, and start roasting your own
coffee today. Our goal is
to provide the home coffee roaster with green beans, the latest
coffee gear, knowledge, trivia and information.
For those that find all
the above discussion fascinating, but perhaps overwhelming, and just want
to drink a good cup of single origin coffee, do not despair. Simply
access our roasted-coffee shopping cart, by clicking "Roasted Coffee Store"
on the top navigation bar, make your selection, and
we will quickly ship you our fresh, artisan-roasted, small-batch
coffee. So, sit back, relax and enjoy one of the best
coffees in the world.
Salud! (to your health!).
Please make yourself at home. "Nuestra casa es su casa"
(Our home is your home).
