#fairtradecoffee

Autumn is in the air

Dear Friends , It has been a quick moment since my last post.

I have attended the 2024 Roast Magazine hosted Roast Summit in Schaumburg , Illinois this past October. What fun and inspiration. The Group dynamics were encouraging and the facilitators were very polished and professional. The best part was the feeling of camaraderie amongst coffee professionals and the potential for learning new things came into clear focus. The time I spent this summer season working through the licensing process for food manufacturing has been a challenge , but, however, maybe, we are through the worst of it. I have touched base with one of my coffee growers, a couple from the Cundinimarca Prefecture of Colombia. Their coffee caught my eye initially, because in the biography of the growers, one of them had been raised in Socorro, Santander, Colombia! Since I live in Socorro, New Mexico, USA, It was natural that I purchase the green beans!. Later on I found out that one of the couple went to my alma mater ! So here we are, on the cusp of a brave new world, working our way through the seasons. As Hermoine Granger shared with Harry Potter during the first movie, that “Friendship and Bravery were more important than ” Books and cleverness” It takes bravery to build a business and to maintain a sense of purpose throughout all of our lives’ tribulations. Happy Thanksgiving! to all !,

Cheers,

Brewster Bird

Readying for Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Festival

Roasting a batch of Orangutan Sumatra. It is not from Orangutan scat. It is a traditionally processed Coffee Arabica. The name comes from the efforts to preserve the Orangutan and Sumatra Leopards that allowed humans to farm their lands. This Sumatra is raised at 1600-2000 meters above sea level. The Island of Sumatra has competing agricultural interests with palm oil being predominate. The palm oil industry is fairly ruthlessly mono cropping where they can wiping out rain forest ecology when they ” develop” an area. The bean is roasted past first crack and is full-bodied even at this roast level.

Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Festival 2022

Coffee news : The Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Festival dates are April 2-3 , 2022 to be held at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds ( ” New Mexico Expo”) . My slot -space has been reserved and I am getting my coffee menus ready for the show. This year I have added a theme for my space at the Show. ‘Coffee Lovers Love Coffee”. I am returning with several of my favorite low – acid coffees , Celebes and Sumatra. The Celebes will be a dark roast- as close to French Roast as I will admit, and the Sumatra will be a medium roast . I will also have Uganda Organic Fair Trade rain forest friendly as a dark roast. a Columbia coffee will be the featured coffee as a medium roast.

This coffee comes from the Cundinimarca Prefect District just outside Bogota. The coffee was raised at elevation of 1750 meters above sea level. The flavors are close to apple and kiwi overtones with a vanilla and cocoa scent or nose . The back story is even richer, in that the couple restoring the finca ( or coffee farm ) are from two distinct geographies. The gentleman in the relationship is a Vermonter and the gentle lady is a Columbia native raised in ….wait for it……Socorro, Colombia! Since I roast in Socorro, New Mexico, I could not resist this Love Story! The origin is one farm in Colombia and is harvested in February of each year. This roast is from the 2020 crop.

My hope is that you cup some with me at the Socorro Farmers Market ( Saturdays 9-11 at the Socorro Teen Center 1105 Ake Street Socorro, Cross Street Bullock Ave. ) or at the Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Festival April 2-3 in Albuquerque. Cheers.

Coffee Anyone?

Coffee for the summer

If I were to choose coffee for the summer there are several ways to prepare coffee I have found fun and practical.

First, I have tried iced coffee, black. First ice in a glass , then filtered drip or Aeropress cooled slightly over the ice.

I do not like the current cold -brew mania. I have tried it and find it lacking. I have cold – brewed the Costa Rica Jaguar Honey and found that even though the flavors “pop” in their way it is a bit too acidic for my tastes. Better to either Aeropress at 20 grams coffee to 200 grams 165 F or 80 C water, or drip filter the same.

Cold Brew Recipe # 1:

Start with 1/4 lb or 125 grams medium grind coffee in a pint or quart mason jar. Add 250 ml or 1 cup / 8 oz of water stir in thoroughly, then lid and keep in fridge for 2 days, Stir daily. After 2 days ( at least 48 hours ) filter through a paper filter . It will be a concentrate that will make about three 12 oz glasses of ” iced Americanos ” Of course , you may want to stretch it out to make 4 of them..

Cold Brew Two:

Using a Puck Puck ( tm ) device on an Aeropress you can use a pound of ice drip into the coffee grounds filtered through the Aeropress.

Cold Brew Three: Using the Aeropress ( with the funnel ) and recycling a one liter water jug as a funnel. Fill the one liter jug with water and freeze. once frozen un-cap and hoist upside down over the Aeropress filled with 125 grams of coffee grounds, allow to drip into a one quart cup or mason jar.

The above devices are brands of their companies Puck Puck, and Aeropress received no compensation .