The purpose of this blog is to make you find your way to Portland as fast as you can. To move heaven and earth to get there before this magical season it currently enjoys is over. It can’t be the ‘it’ place forever.

When you were young, what did you want to be? Something cool, right? Something far out and cool and different and successful all rolled up and slathered with something fantastical from your imagination.

This place exits for grown men and women in the coffee industry. It’s closer than you think and it’s where the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) had their annual conference in late April of the year 2012.

If you haven’t been touched by the Portlandia phenomenon and their too true commentary that Portland is where 20 something’s go to retire-or haven’t seen it for yourself-you simply must. Anything I try to touch on will barely scratch the surface of, let alone do justice to, the reality that is in Oregon at the confluence of rivers.

The SCCA show is the event of the year for folks in Specialty coffee. Everyone who is anyone is there. The best and the brightest, the future and the past, all present and accounted for buying, selling, teaching, learning and brewing, tasting and talking in the hive-like environment of the trade show floor, leaking out into decidedly hipper venues in the evenings.

First off, let’s get some things out of the way.

They are cooler in Portland than you or I are. Sure, you or I might have a slightly longer shelf life (never being in style means you’re never really out of style either) but in terms of being painfully in vogue, Portland and its people are.

If you can eat it or drink it-and care about what you consume-Portland has some intense, hyper-authentic version that is probably better than you ever thought possible, let alone could find the words to request.

There is a forntiersmanship, a get’er done intensity. Service is better. Come as you are but for f#$k’s sake bring it when you do. Make it stylish, make it well, make it better than anything anyone else is doing it.

Phew! Practically scare the Canadianness right out of me.

My presence (suburban, middle class, no tattoos, lacking style and/or vintage clothing), I must look like a hunter in blaze orange camo to these people. That notwithstanding, it was my “politeness” that begetted an inquiry from the bar stool beside me.

“Are you Canadian?”

Shoot. More cussing next time!

I am an outsider looking in. With that said, let’s begin.

I could detail the drive down the I5 (aka the highway of the damned), the minutiae of the show, what I ate each evening (with pictures), the wines poured (this was a work trip after all), the discussions and cuppings, those attended and those that got away – but I’ll spare you.

Rather I will attempt to capture three highly subjective impressions, loosely bound, all coffee related.

Stumptown. Something old.

The quietness of our minds has been ransacked by the internet and the lesser demons of Twitter, Facebook and their ilk. All these influences provide such easy access to so much information that any original thought that might have tentatively unfurled a frond from the soil of your mind and flourished, is now impossible. Rather than the space that used to exist where you could hear or read about a place and then imagine what it might be like. You can go there now and know more about it; images, opinions, streaming video than, ironically, if you were actually there.

In fondly remembered times (pre high-speed modems) there used to be some mystery, some gaps that remained that could only be filled in by actually travelling to a destination that had piqued your interest. Magazines presented beautiful images and text that seduced you and encouraged your imagination to happily foment with the potential. These flirtations in print prompted personal journeys to New Orleans, San Francisco and Portland.

The original lure to Portland was a concurrent interest in both a certain Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir and Stumptown Coffee Roasters whose meteoric growth was unheard of at the time. Then, and probably to a large extent still now, they owned this town. O-w-n-e-d i-t. Sure there were other roasters (we’re going back 10 years here) and they might have even had good coffee but they didn’t have cool like Stumptown did. They were doing it different than any other roaster, anywhere.

To look back at what it was that drew me at the time will make many guffaw, but for the selfish trip down memory lane please indulge me.

• They were espresso focused and their espresso blend “Hairbender,” like it or not, had a reputation as something special.
• They played only vinyl in their cafes.
• The industrial design fixtures weren’t IKEA imitations of good design, they were the real thing.
• They didn’t sell to anyone further than 2 hours away for freshness and quality concerns. Respect.
• Cool, freaky people worked there that cared as much (if not more) about things other than coffee.
• Their brewed coffee was exclusively French Press. Decanted into a self-serve pump pot and sold for a dollar.
• They had machines make by Kees. Every other café was puttering around in their shitty imported Fiat Punto and these guys are rocking custom fabricated units from a Netherlands based atelier. If you have to ask you can’t afford one. If you don’t have his phone number it’s because you weren’t meant to.

All this might say more about me and what pushes my buttons than anything, but if Portland wasn’t exotic enough for a guy coming from the Vancouver coffee scene (liberal for Canada, constipated compared to here) Stumptown was another galaxy.

Are they still?

My memories remain fond but so much has changed. Everyone has gotten better, more, different. It’s harder and harder to stand out. It’s also hard to stay cool. We can’t all be the Beastie Boys. Cool doesn’t necessarily travel well either, and when you’re fighting on multiple fronts (they have landed in NY) it’s got to be tough.

Tactically the Germans shouldn’t have gone into Russia. In hindsight I suspect there will be a similar insight, not obvious at the time but where the power shifts if it hasn’t already.

Regardless, I visit on every trip through.

Coava. Something New.

There are, by knowledgeable comments at the bar, something like 55 micro roasters in Portland.

Read that line again.

Ok actually, it was a salesman I was talking to so cut the number in half and take off a little bit… there are about 20 micro-roasters playing ball down here at the time of this writing.

Don’t forget about the half dozen sizeable roasters already feeding bean to a discerning public.

I could mention at least 6, if not more off the top of my head, that fit the bill for this new-kid-on-the-block-micro-roastery-with-ambition, but only one that I’ll mention today: Coava.

They are a few years old, started by some guys that-best I could tell from initial visits-were Baristas.

Mercy.

Sort of remarkable if you hail from Vancouver where I can think of barely one equivalent quality café that is owned by folks that used to work the bar somewhere else.

The space is a genius marriage of café and bamboo workshop that is off-the-hook gorgeous in all it’s Spartan, industrial chic. There is luminous cabinetry, gorgeous woodwork; it has all the airiness of a well-curated art gallery but in this case it is the coffee that is on display.

I don’t know if smaller is fundamentally better, or if there is some magic that comes from more modest roasters, but these folks have great coffees, beautifully roasted and not so much prepared as performed, by the cup with the now iconic KONE filter. As the water was layered and danced around, the blooming coffee rising in the filter, it was explained that there was a purpose to the pattern and movement of the pour-the all too common goal of so many in this part of the world; a better tasting cup of coffee. Amen.

Have you ever been above someone hanging from the bars at a playground, and then for fun peeled one reluctant finger back at a time? If Stumptown is the gripped hand around this town-places like Coava are slowly, but most certainly relaxing it’s grip, one finger at a time. And it’s all very exciting.

The take home message?

Coava is a must visit.

Courier Coffee Roasters-Something Borrowed

New to me, somewhat new to Portland, my path crossed with Joel from Courier Coffee Roasters at the Synesso booth where roasters ply their wares on the machines, killing two birds with one stone-showcasing both coffee and contraption at the same time.

CCR are big enough to roast on a 25 lb roaster, small enough to deliver all their orders by bike. Big enough to have a café space and baked from scratch daily offerings of yummy yums. Small enough that unless you’re a local, you’ve probably never heard of them.

I was introduced by a mutual friend who sells us both coffee and while on the tradeshow floor, found ourselves in need. Americano for her, espresso for me. Joel had just set up his station and was rolling the first few test shots, get’n’r dialed. Even if you’ve never been to a coffee trade show, it should come as no surprise that there is coffee on offer at every turn. Selective tasting (vs. drinking) is the order of the day, lest you pass out from caffeine related organ failure.

I never made it to the CCR café, which was described as a going concern. A café/bakery with everything made fresh by a crew of two and devoid of any big dollar polish. But what it may have lacked in fixtures, it made up for in real, honest to goodness authenticity. Folks for whom, freshness, flavour and the belief in something (bikes are better) wasn’t a marketing shtick but a get-up-at-4am-and-bust-your-nut reality every single day. It was if there was no division between life and work-the overlap was seamless. Ride hard, eat well, and drink great coffee.

Alleluia.

And so it was on the tradeshow floor, I was presented and drank and enjoyed a CCR espresso. Its provenance was El Salvador, San Luis Farm, Bourbon Varietal from the Menendez family. It was delicious and the most memorable of my time in this coffee Mecca at a coffee saturated tradeshow. I proudly rock one of their (*ahem* loosely borrowed) t-shirts on the weekends.

CCR are but another decidedly different experience in a town with endless examples of different.

Consider all of the above as selective brushes of colour to the vibrant mosaic you will find here. Finishing as we began, I implore you to go soon. Who knows how long this season will last. The good news is that it’s only gotten better since my first visit-encouraging to be sure.

Photo via Asobagri.com

While we tweet, share, and post on all things Fairtrade related during the Fairtrade Fortnight, we’re presented with a great opportunity to dig just ever-so-slightly deeper and talk about why Fairtrade is something worth tweeting, sharing, and posting about. For this blog, I’m going to focus on the organizational model that United Nations has rallied around for 2012, and a key characteristic in coffee, chocolate, and a number of other Fairtrade certified goods. You guess it! The cooperative.

Cooperatives present an alternative to the norm in terms of doing business. For example, cooperatives are owned and controlled by their members, which means that goals tend to balance between the pursuit of profit, and the interests of members and their communities.

For small farmers around the world, cooperatives have provided an opportunity to leverage their land, participate in democratically organized assemblies, and invest in their professional and personal communities. It’s this very part of Fairtrade that producers we’ve spoken with this year – like Esperanza of Pangoa and Baltazar of Asobagri – point to as key parts of Fairtrade. This is what you’re supporting when you buy Fairtrade.

Fairtrade and cooperatives

Okay – quickly to basics. As you likely know, Fairtrade certification guarantees a number of economic, labour, and environmental standards in producing countries. Most famous and most often discussed are the fair price and premium, but beyond this, it’s the cooperative organizing structure, which cannot be quantified in dollars, that has led to many positive changes in producing communities.

For example, when chatting with Esperanza last November (who I had the pleasure of seeing again at the SCAA this year) many of the Fairtrade benefits she identified were due to being part of the cooperative, democratic organization and the savings from the Fairtrade premium. These ranged from scholarships and health care services which benefit the community, to technical support, research, and infrastructure to improve the professional capacity of Pangoa members and producers in Peru.

For members of Pangoa, being part of the cooperative doesn’t just mean a fair price and improved market access, but also means inclusion in the decision-making process, benefits from community social services, and long-term improvements for the cooperative.

These sentiments were echoed during a recent conversation I had with Baltazar, the General Manager of Asobagri in Guatemala (more on this below).

Cooperative change

In both the global North and South, cooperatives have demonstrated clear benefits for their members and communities. For small farmers around the world who balance their plots of land among crops to consume and crops for export, being able to band together with a group of producers in the same situation is a powerful tool. Those who were once at the mercy of intermediaries now have the opportunity to pool their coffee into larger pools and gain market leverage. Those who lacked access to technical assistance, or even educational and health care services, through a cooperative are able fill these gaps.

To close, I have included some excerpts from my conversation with Baltazar and Carlos of the Asobagri cooperative during the SCAA in Portland last month. Thanks for taking the time to learn a bit more about a key part of Fairtrade coffee: the cooperative!

Chat with Baltazar from Asobagri (excerpts)

How many members in your cooperative?

1000 members, and we collaborate as workers in the cooperative office with about 21 people.

And is everyone close to each other, more or less? Or from all around?

The coffee growers are all over in various areas, sometimes four or five hours from the warehouse.

Do you have a coffee plot yourself?

Yes, that’s how I came to be a member of Asobagri.

The important thing is that when a producer know they have a future, and a secure market with an organization like Asobagri, they are happy. Because they know they won’t have to sell their coffee through intermediaries, they know that they’re going to have a better deal, a better price for their product, and services from the cooperative or a supporting organization. This is a big advantage for a small producer.

And we try, all of the workers, all the members of the cooperative know that the struggle for us is to ensure we have the highest possible quality of coffee for the market. This is something that each person, each producer, each picker, knows, that we are trying to collect the highest quality coffee possible, and the best possible product for our customers.

As organized producers, like as we are as Asobagri, we have this advantage and this secure market. And Fair Trade is definitely a support with its premium, and the funds that are going to help various programs like education, scholarships for members and the children of members, programs that can help when people are sick –

Available for all producers?
Yes, exactly. There’s credit to improve the harvest, to improve activities in the fields, because there is a phase when there is no money in the fields. This premium they’re able to use – all members are able to use them. A lot of the time, when there are no funds for this type of credit to improve the harvest, many times producers will sell their coffee through a coyote. He will give them money at that very moment.  Here’s the money, bring me your coffee. And the price? Well they just put what they want. So in this way Asobagri has been a big help for producers, to be able to give them advanced credit, and then that’s factored into the price they receive when they eventually bring in their coffee. So this work that we’ve been doing ever since Asobagri has been fairtrade.

The truth is that it has helped us a lot to strengthen our organization, and to improve the conditions in the fields as well. There are still some challenges and problems that still need to be resolved, but in the case of Asobagri we’re doing the best we possibly can for our producers. This is what we’re working on at the moment.

Thank you for reading and for your support during the Fairtrade Fortnight. Everyone at Ethical Bean hopes you’ll take a moment before May 15th to:

Vote for Canada’s Favourite Fairtrade Product; and

Take a Step for Fairtrade

Just what, you might ask, is the Fairtrade Fortnight?

Running from May 1 to May 15, the Fairtrade Fortnight is a movement to get people talking about Fairtrade in their homes, offices, and communities and helping to spread the word about Fairtrade in Canada. It’s a pretty cool system, actually, and one that’s been growing in Canada and internationally for many, many years.

Coordinated by Fairtrade International, the Fairtrade certification system works with small farmers and supply chain stakeholders to develop fair prices, environmentally safe working conditions, and create capacity to improve local infrastructure in producing countries. The Fairtrade system ensures that when products with the Fairtrade logo are purchased in Canada, the producing partners – potentially on the other side of the world – are benefitting from a fair price, premium, and a host of other benefits. Learn more from us or from Fairtrade Canada.

As a business that has been 100% Fairtrade Certified and Organic since day one, we’re thrilled to be a part of this campaign and pumped to help spread the word.

Join us!

Check out the actions YOU can take to be a part of the movement!

Take a step

Drinking Fairtrade coffee, trying a new Fairtrade product, or helping to spread the word online? Register your step for a chance to win an Ethical Bean 3-pack and a host of other awesome prizes. The first step is yours, but all together the movement is growing!

Vote for Ethical Bean as Canada’s Favourite Fairtrade Product!

You’ve already voted with your dollar in support of Fairtrade and Ethical Bean, now we’re asking you to vote with your MOUSE! Since we’re 100% Fairtrade, we’ve entered our entire collection of coffees into the contest. Click here, cast your vote, and help spread the good brew!

Stay tuned!

Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our blog to stay tuned for ways to win Fairtrade coffee, swag, and learn more about Fairtrade – including blogs featuring our field partners, Asobagri.

Let the Fairtrade Frenzy begin!

It’s hard being a geek.

I mean what with the taped up glasses, daily fashion faux pas and awkward social timing. If that wasn’t bad enough, there exists the burning keenness.

It is a whole world of contagious, let me tell you, ‘cause you’re like really, really into this thing and the ten to the power of nine variations and details and subtleties that said interest has, all compounded by a gear fetish riding sidecar.

The combination of being so far down the rabbit hole in this particular area (let’s say coffee for example) it’s like you’re a horse with blinders on. You can’t fathom that other people might not care about coffee (could be anything of course) in the same way you do. Sure you will be afforded the cursory attention of those who keep polite company but you can tell within six seconds of sharing, they’re not feeling it in their loins like you do. Worse, all your bluster might actually be pissing them off. Oh the tragic comedy of it all.

Now I can barely stand myself sometimes so who’s to say someone else should have to either, but hear me on this-have you ever had a really, really f*!%ing fine cup of coffee?

It’s a yes or no answer. There is no glancing up and to the left in an effort to recall. If you have, you’ll know it.

My guess is that most folks are firmly in the “have not” column-and that is ok. A trifle sad, but ok. Most importantly there is hope….there is also faith and love, with love being the greatest of the three but for now we’re just going to cling to the hope.

When you read about coffee in the media at large it has all the excitement of a communion wafer. Worse than stripping coffee entirely of its passion is that often what is written is just flat out wrong. The only consistent exception is the work of Oliver Strand at the New York Times and his “Ristretto” column. His writing is so damn good and able to capture the purity of the current coffee zeitgeist; he could be the Devil himself.

The aforementioned hope comes not from anything in the media, but from much closer to home, in the form of your friendly neighbourhood coffee lunatic (professional) who may or may not be foaming at the mouth while enthusiastically espousing about coffee. Are they touched? If you lend them your ear you will quickly realize that they are in fact pretty harmless but perhaps just a trifle annoying.

This enthusiasm comes from a pure and genuine place. It comes from that place when we coffee professionals recall that off the hook coffee we’ve all had that makes you exhale, shake your head and dedicate your life to the Perfect Brew.

These remarkable cups have thankfully become more frequent in recent years in large part to the magic wand like powers of the VST MOJO and those who use them. It is a refractometer, software, state of mind that has been effective at getting better cups of coffee to the people and isn’t that what we all want?

Yes. Yes it is, and it’s what many of us in Specialty Coffee think about all day, every day, which goes a long way to explaining the shared desire of the community to deliver that “ah-ha” moment when you wrap your lips around a brew made from the finest coffees on earth.

The catch is that you need to care a little bit more than you have been.

I (and others) often come to the blog table, cap in hand, apologetic with some “suggestions” that I think will “help” you brew a better cup of coffee. But I’m doing you a disservice.

I could of course re-phrase things more emphatically, as words to live by and insist that you must do exactly as I tell you to and…see; I lost you there didn’t I?

The needle we must thread is how to be truthful and still encouraging when it comes to speaking about the best way to brew….

Fact is, special coffee, memorable coffee requires careful adherence to specifics and a bit more effort. Above and beyond clean equipment and pure water one needs the accurate measure of their coffee, water and time.

If the above criteria are unconsidered it won’t work. Period.

If you’re sloppy, or using a brewer/grinder that you bought from Consumers Distributing or some pseudo coffee equipment purveyor it is, impossible to brew a sensational cup. Impossible.

The craziest part is that although it might seem overwrought, incredibly complicated and an exhaustive effort for a cup of coffee the reward is handsome indeed.

By comparison, the simplest of recipes to duplicate a dish from say the French Laundry or Alinea cookbook would require days of prep simmering, searing and saucing. A world-class cup of coffee that realizes as much of the potential the beans possess as possible? Tack on an additional three minutes and you’re there.

You have already been introduced to the Aeropress and my enthusiasm for it. Out of the box it is excellent. To light the tires up and dump the clutch with an Aeropress, get yourself one of these: The Able Brewing DISK.

The sexiness of the packaging alone is enough to make you want to take your clothes off. But don’t, just in case you’re reading this at work.

Do give the included instructions a try. They are specific: get a scale, get a thermometer, maybe a lab coat.

I thought the result was remarkable.

There is a plushness and profundity to the cup that I can only guess comes from the unimpeded transfer of oils which shimmer on the surface like so much sun dappled light, glinting off the Med on a Vernazza afternoon. The flavour is pristine and gratuitous. Come to Mama.

Brewing a cup of coffee naively is a-ok of course but doesn’t a small voice inside you ask if there could be something more, something better? Now you know there is. You just need to roll up your sleeves to get there.

Why, you might ask? Well aside from being a super fun way to spend a Tuesday morning, Vancouver’s own Eco Fashion Week starts today until Thursday. As proud sponsors providing locally roasted, Fairtrade Certified Organic coffee for the week, we wanted to stay true to the Eco by using returned empty coffee bags as upcycling material, and rock an awesome skirt at the same time (nod to our amazing in-house model!).

That’s the name of game at Eco Fashion – make an impact, without making an impact. And while the fashion industry can, at times, seem to be anything but “eco,” a few doses of creativity and collaboration can turn unconventional materials into fantastic new works of art.

About Eco Fashion Week

Myriam Laroche, the brain behind Eco Fashion Week, has done a fantastic job of combining fun and eco-consciousness for Spring 2012. Her and her team has transformed the heart of Vancouver – Robson Square – into a fashion and education hub, where participants can ogle at the fashion wares while learning more about how to minimize their footprint. Here are just a few of the ways Eco Fashion Week is making it happen:

• All participants and members of the audience are invited to clean out their closets and bring their old clothes to the Value Village Donation Centre. One persons trash, as they say…
• See Myriam Laroche herself talk about ReLove, where second hand clothing reigns supreme and consumers can learn more about the labels on their clothing
• View designs and fashion from amazing local and international artists using organic materials and natural dyes

After two days of fashion, shows, day three is devoted to seminars where attendees can learn from great companies making a difference in the textiles industry (see the full schedule here). The Canadian Textile Recovery Effort, for example, are doing a seminar about recovering old fabrics from landfills. De-Brand will also be there, talking about end-of-life product management to keep closed-loop systems. All in all, pretty cool.

Fun with coffee!

To link this back to that rich, smooth product we all know and love, couture is by no means the only way to get creative with coffee. Here’s just a small collection of ideas from the web about how to have fun upcycling and repurposing the coffee world:

• Looking for a low impact, high fun wallet? Check out these step-by-step instructions on how to upcycle your coffee bag into a wallet from Industructables. Nice!
• From the ever-awesome minds behind How It Works here are some great ideas about how to re-use your coffee grounds, from conditioner to ant control.
• They call it “Trashion,” we call it awesome. Get elaborate with coffee filter dresses, complete with delicately stains for the perfect colour accents.

Enjoy the fashion frenzy!

A competitors mise en place

History was made last weekend. You may not have noticed, much less cared but I’m here to mention an event that took place and is worth celebrating.

Those friendly with folks in the industry of coffee, or actually in it themselves, are well aware that it has some lines drawn in the sand. Delicate sensitivities are easy to come by when growing your business can often (but not always) come at the expense of someone else.  Someone you know and heck, might even like.

That said however, we are all bound by a common thread, none more so than those in the inner circle. The keeners, the lifers, the ones that tried, like the Godfather to get out but couldn’t.

“Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in!”

Michael Corleone and I have both uttered that same line.

The tie that binds in coffee is that we love us some good bean and we love us some good brew.

That love has seen an industry intensely refined over the last few years. Techniques and methods of brewing stropped like a straight razor to a finely honed edge. An insatiable interest to realize everything a coffee or brew method has to offer-and I do mean everything.

And so on a sensational sunny Sunday afternoon, inside Revolver (event sponsor), under the gracious and considered eye of their GM John Giannakos, the first Canadian event of it’s kind took place-the 2012 BC Aeropress Championships.

What the huh?

The Aeropress, for those who haven’t got off the couch in a while, is one of the newish, by the cup, brew methods currently in vogue. It is a creation of the folks at Aerobie (also kind sponsors of the event) and can be used to create a bespoke cup for those with the time and inclination to prepare not just any cup but an intentional one. Can I have an Amen?

The Aeropress brews a damn fine cup with very little fuss but also invites experimentation and tweaking for those who can’t help themselves, are Scandinavian or who are just malcontent with merely good with a yen for something that little bit better.

How much better? Indeed wouldn’t you like to know.  The answer to that brings us again to the night in question and the BCAC.

The rules are simple: One coffee used by all competitors. Eight minutes to prepare your brew. Three judges.  Two rounds of heads up style competing-each participant submits their best brew from some signature combination of: water temperature, dose, agitation, steep time and beyond…Best cup moves on. The final round consisted of three competitors, slightly more time to brew but again the merciless dropping of the axe-best cup wins. No excuses. No re-dos. Last one standing carries the heavy blessing of representing Canada at the World Aeropress Championships in Portland on April 20^th, 2012. Add to that the associated swagger and street cred and, oh yes, one more thing.

My precious.

From a limited run and not available for purchase, there exists a 14K gold dipped permanent filter for the Aeropress designed by Able Brewing (gracious event sponsor), the same inspired genius behind the Kone. Only winners of national Aeropress competitions can dream of owning such outrageousness. For the rest of us plebes, we must make do with the stainless steel model which is still an obvious (and favourite) upgrade from the paper filters that come included in the box.

The competition brought people from the Island, the Interior and of course from right down the street. People you might even know. But really, how well do you know them if you couldn’t imagine them drag racing, head to head, their finest Aeropress brewing technique in a closed café in Gastown last Sunday night?

Obviously not well.

The event was a ravishing success. The organization was watertight and what needed to happen, happened on time. The vibe was warm and welcoming. Industry gang colours were refreshingly absent. A shared love of the game was the thread that bound.

Despite some gratuitous grinding of the hips, and one of the competitors showing some leg (a bit much for my tastes) no one got hurt. Physically. Emotionally, I’m still a little shaken.

The event was made more memorable by Azlan Grave’s (of Black Crowe Brewing and a Revolver Barista) Vanilla Porter and Citra Pale Ale (Yum) and some home made ice cream brought by Sheryl Decterow (also a Revolver Barista) that was dolled out-affogatto’s for everyone. There was penny candy, conversation and of course heated yet amicable competition and ruthless judging-as I am a witness.

In the end, though not an easy decision, a top three was arrived at with Cody Smith of Black and White Coffee Roasters getting it done with his deft execution and unique Aeropress brewing recipe.  Congratulations and well done. We of the BC coffee consortium wish you well and hope you can do some damage on the world stage in Portland.

If you couldn’t make it to this year’s event-you were missed.

Don’t let it happen again. Save the date for next year.

*For more on the event see some beautiful pictures and prose from Scout Magazine corraspondent Rommy Ghaly

Sure, on the weekends I’m happy take my sweet time brewing up a nice a cup at home, or meander out to a local café and wait for the good stuff. But that patient, relaxed weekend morning demeanor just doesn’t seem to transfer to my weekdays.

So believe me when I say that I do understand, on the one hand, why single-cup, pre-packaged ground coffees have exploded with such popularity in the last couple of years. I may have even gotten through a few days at previous workplaces on this type of brew before my days at Ethical Bean. On the other hand, by scratching the surface a little we can really see that the trade-offs made for convenience simply compromise too much.

Every once in a while we’ll get inquiries about an Ethical Bean option for the single serve machines. Truth be told the single-cup servings may win for convenience, but continue reading below to hear why we think we – and you- can do a little more to get a way better (and tastier, cheaper, with a smaller footprint) cup of coffee.

The environmental trade-off

The highest criticism of the single-cup coffee makers is the waste they create with every cup. The majority of consumers are using the small, non-recyclable, non-biodegradable plastic cups that end up directly into the trashcan, and then into the landfill. Having taken a lot of flack for this, research and development is now going into creating a more environmentally responsible version of the cup. Unfortunately their attempt to create a reusable option to fill with your own preferred coffee, well, continue below for more on that.

Reusable options

After I started working for a coffee company and began chatting with friends about some bad-office-coffee norms, I began researching the reusable cup options to brew (what I hoped could be) a better cup of coffee with higher quality grounds. Unfortunately this plan didn’t get very far at all, as review after review I found spoke of grounds in the coffee, counter, and a general mess that did not come with a better tasting cup. A big kudos to those who have made reusable cups work for them and are enjoying better coffee because of them. However if you still find yourself yearning for a sharper coffee, read on.

Taste and freshness suffer every time

Mass produced, pre-ground coffee stored in heavily heat-resistant plastic for goodness-knows how long can lack in terms of taste and freshness (surprising, I know). As strong advocates of using fresh green beans, roasting small batches frequently, and then encouraging high turnover of beans on your kitchen counter, it’s hard to imagine how Ethical Bean could ensure good taste and consistent freshness with the limitations of a plastic cup.

Brewing

Despite all of the above, you never really know until you try, right? So that’s exactly what happened in our quality assurance lab. Armed with a single-cup brewer and a reusable cup, our Director of Coffee tried to get a decent cup out of the machine. Instead, he found that over and over – regardless of blend, grind, or the type of reusable cup – a good extraction was next to impossible. A piping hot torpedo of water would come shooting through the cup, leaving untouched, dry grounds in its wake. Conclusion? Cease and desist.

Cost

Time and again, those looking into the cost efficiency of single disposable cups have found it the most expensive way to brew coffee. Second only to visiting a café every time you need a cup, single serving cups have been found to cost the equivalent of over $50/pound. Really what we’re talking about here is the TV dinner of coffee. So it depends on how you spin it. If it’s the single serve cup versus a café experience? Sure, you’ll save some cash. However when compared to every single other way of brewing coffee (all of which can brew a better cup), its cost begins to skyrocket.

At the end of it all, the single serve loses when it comes to environmental responsibility, quality of cup, taste, freshness, and value. Now I understand that when you need that caffeine in your system – you really need it, but c’mon! The fact is that you – yes you! – can have fresher, tastier, higher quality and cheaper coffee if you can find a way to make any other brewing system that exists work for you (and if you need it, we can help you with that).

It’s not easy to see the silver lining when a disaster strikes, but nearly six months after the devastating landslide hit Guatemalan coffee cooperative ASOBAGRI a little bit of sun is starting to shine on the coop.

For those who may have missed our previous blogs or fundraising efforts over the last six months, the small Guatemalan town where ASOBAGRI has built their community and cooperative was hit hard by a landslide on September 20, 2011. Fifteen members of the community lost their lives, and many more worried they had lost their livelihoods with the destruction of the coffee cooperatives infrastructure. In response, a number of ASOBAGRI’s roasting partners – co-led by Vancouver’s Ethical Bean and JJ Bean – banded together to raise funds for ASOBAGRI’s reconstruction in late 2011.

This week the Ethical Bean office was thrilled to receive our second positive update from our partners at the ASOBAGRI coffee cooperative in Guatemala. Their letters and photos proudly reported that both the reconstruction of their administrative offices is completed, and that ASOBAGRI is on track to export their coffee again for the 2012 crop.

General Manager of ASOBAGRI, Baltazer Francisco Miguel, is happy to report that his cooperative and the community members it employs will be able to continue producing high quality coffee for export:

Knowing that we are not alone encourages us to continue our efforts to offer a high quality product, and allows us to keep the connection and relationship with specialty coffee markets. These connections and higher incomes from such relationships improve the quality of life for small producers and their families who rely on coffee as their only family business. 

We continue to recognize the efforts of ASOBAGRI in rebuilding their community and look forward to continuing our connection with them into the future. We further recognize the following local roasting, café, and retail partners for their fundraising efforts in 2011: JJ Bean, Blue Moose, Little Mountain , Caffe Motivo, Laughing Bean, Choices, Famous Foods, Stongs, and the East End Food Coop.

For those of you who read Spanish enjoy the full letter from Baltazar:

Does anybody else ever find themselves never, ever ordering an Americano? Something purportedly concocted for the American WWII soldiers in Italy to approximate their beloved brewed coffee back home. It’s always been a concession from the get go. Neither fish, nor fowl.

Now I’m all for nostalgia and, of course, nothing quite tastes like what you remember from back home, but why not just wait till you get back home? Obviously that might have been less than certain for a GI in Europe at that time and of course any comfort of home would have been warranted. However, is it just my Canadian-ness to see looking at the local culture while abroad and then suggesting something “better” as odd? Embrace the strange while travelling!

I do wonder if they still have “Americanos” on the menu in Italy? Perhaps off menu but reluctantly available?

Imagine you’re in Venice, St Mark’s Square to be specific, and standing there slack jawed drinking in the grandeur of the Basilica. (Which is frickin’ gorgeous, by the way. You think the tile work in your kitchen is nice? You haven’t seen anything.) So after an intense afternoon of culture you need a little refresh, a little something to whet the lips. Are you seriously going to darken the doorway of Café Florian and place your order for an Americano?

Please no.

I can just see the Barista wince with a twinge from the heartburn such an order must induce. Watching his carefully crafted espresso, a national treasure, bleed out as he pours hot water on it to fill the cup.

And then what? Do you stand at the bar and nurse one of these? Do you ask the Barista for a small pitcher of cream? I envision it taking at least three people to actually find the cream and a small pitcher to place it in. Surely accompanied by much muttering under the breath.

No, no, no!

When in Rome…you know what to do!

When in Vancouver, I suggest you do the same and tap into something so right, to mess with it only invites ruin or, at the very least, some sort of fad-like season that is best forgotten soon after it has begun. Neon Sun Ice powder suit from the ‘80s anyone?

What were we thinking?!

And again, one has to ask the question, when you see the Americano. Is it as good as a well-brewed cup of drip coffee? No contest, not even close.

Does it capture even a fraction of the Orion Nebula like brilliance of espresso? Puhleese.

Perhaps what is missing is a critical mass of espresso drinkers in these parts rather than the onesie, twosies that most cafes have.

Imagine a bar crawling like an ant farm with people all drinking from demitasse cups. A kaleidoscope of humanity changing by the minute.

Imagine an espresso machine run like it was meant to – continuously, optimally. Every group pumping out coffee.

Imagine a counter lined up with an honour guard of saucers and spoons, ready and waiting. Baristas serving four orders at a time, cups clasped between knuckles and deftly placed with a clatter. No ceremony, all purpose.

The whole place is boisterous with voice and infectious with the energy of life.

Is this the feverish dream of a coffee professional? Oh no, this is every busy café in Italy. Train station, gas station, neighbourhood café…

Espresso. It’s not about the coffee per se. It’s about life. But perhaps that is too saccharine, grand and trite all at once, so let’s just say it’s about something good. Order an espresso today. Find a place to stand while you drink it. Stand a little closer than you might normally to the people next to you and, of course, enjoy.

I have to admit this letter has been brewing for a while now. I just can’t hold it in anymore and need to tell you how strongly I really feel.

This may come as a surprise to you, but you’ve been the first thing I think about in the morning for years now. Heck, there have even been a few times when you’ve kept me up all night. My very heart beats because of you.

Remember that time when we spent that whole Sunday together curled up on the couch? You kept me so warm, and never let me fall asleep during the movie. Even shopping on the weekends is sweeter with you there. Through exams, those late working nights, and times of stress, I always crave your sweet, mellow, aroma.

You’re everything I’ve ever dreamt of: delicate, but strong. Balanced, but bright. And don’t even get me started on your body.  Sometimes the very thought of you gives me the jitters. I have never felt so stimulated, so spectacular. It’s not just about you when we’re together. It’s about the way you make me feel. I’ve never found anything so exotic, so complex, so lovable. I can’t get enough of you.

Coffee, you’re the crema of the crop. And I swear to you that I always have bean – and forever will be – yours truly.

(Well, so long as you stay rich).

<3 Happy Valentines Day from all the coffee lovers at Ethical Bean <3