October 24, 2020 is a day that will go down in the history books of Long Miles Coffee. The date marks our official launch of Long Miles Kenya, and our first day of coffee harvest in Kirinyaga County. Not long after that, our first fully washed micro-lots of the season hit the drying tables.
Thunguri Washing Station in Kirinyaga County, Kenya
How did Long Miles Kenya start?
In partnership with Haron Wachira from Akili Holdings Ltd., we have refurbished Thunguri Coffee Factory in Kirinyaga County, Mount Kenya (just east of Nyeri County). In the past, the coffee factory existed to serve the Wachira family and a few of their neighbors who grow coffee in the region. While the Akili Group is not solely focused on coffee, we share the same vision of working with small-scale farmers to improve their coffee production, access to markets, and the price paid for the coffee they produce. Long Miles Kenya will be a long-term partnership with the Wachira family, and the communities of coffee growers in the Mount Kenya region.
During a year [2020] in which travel was seemingly impossible, our founders, head of quality control, managing director, and story team were able to visit and connect with a community of coffee growers in Kirinyaga County who are committed to producing high quality Kenyan coffee. Check out the highlights from our team’s visit here. We’ve sown the seeds for our Coffee Scout program, and will soon start building a team of young agronomists whose mission will be to work alongside our partner coffee growers, empowering them with best farming practices and any support that they might need to produce quality coffee.
How did the harvest season go?
In our inaugural coffee season, (a low harvest year for coffee growers around the country), we collected and processed a small volume of cherry from twenty partner coffee farmers living around Thunguri Coffee Factory, modelling how we produce micro-lots in Burundi. While our inaugural harvest season in Kenya may seem low, building trust within a new community takes time. We’re still listening to, learning from, and getting to know the communities of coffee farming families in the region.
Our team also visited and worked on quality control measures with other farmer-owned coffee washing stations as well as private estates in the region, and cupped through the coffees that they produced this season. Our intention is always to produce our own coffee, but in these early days of establishing Long Miles Kenya we will also be sharing the coffees produced by other coffee washing stations that we enjoyed tasting on the cupping table.
Haron Wachira of Akili Holdings Ltd., and Ben Carlson, co-founder of Long Miles Coffee, at Thunguri Washing Station
We’ve also been thinking about the possibility of starting a Long Miles Coffee Farm in Western Kenya for a while. After looking for over a year, we’ve found a piece of land at 2200masl, close to the edges of a national forest park in Western Kenya. Follow the updates that Ben shared during his recent trip to Kenya here. We’ll soon be planting our first SL-28 coffee trees on this piece of land, pursuing regenerative farming practices. We’ll also continue the works of our reforestation project, Trees For Kibira, in this region, planting out green belts of trees, and encouraging the practice of shade-grown coffee.
Where can I find Long Miles Kenya coffee?
We’ll keep you updated on where you’ll soon be able to find a bag of roasted Long Miles Kenya coffee. In the meantime, we’re receiving pre-shipment sample materials of our Kenyan coffees over the next couple of weeks. If you’re interested in receiving samples, please let us know!
We’re often asked the question, “What does a ‘typical day’ in the life of Long Miles Coffee look like?”
The truth? It depends on when you ask. Although coffee harvest only happens once a year in Burundi and usually lasts around three months (sometimes more), growing and producing coffee is a year-round effort. On any given day of the week, the Long Miles team could be spread out between the country’s capital, or upcountry at our washing stations where coffee is grown. For the thousands of smallholder coffee farmers that we work with, a “typical day” is completely different from our own. The time that coffee farmers in Burundi spend on farming activities is divided between a multitude of crops, not just focused on coffee.
Here’s a glimpse at what an “average” year in the life of Long Miles Coffee in Burundi looks like:
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
It’s the beginning of the year. The country is experiencing “impeshi”, which translated from Kirundi (the local language spoken in Burundi) means “small dry season”. Depending on the area and soil structure, farmers are planting a variety of crops in this season, especially beans, potatoes, and peas. If coffee farmers have access to insecticides, they will be spraying them on their coffee trees as well as weeding their coffee farms. Some will even start pruning their coffee trees.
January is usually the time that our head of Production and Quality Control, Seth Nduwayo, leads our annual Coffee Quality and Production Training. It’s also the time when we start preparing the annual calendar for our social and environmental impact projects: PIP (Integrated Farm Plan), Farmer Field School, Trees For Kibira, and Womxn and Youth Empowerment Programs.
Joy Mavugo from the Story team connecting with a partner coffee farmer.
The Story team, lead by Joy Mavugo, is out in the coffee hills, connecting with coffee farmers to hear their thoughts in the weeks that prelude coffee harvest. Most importantly, this is when we start applying for our annual production license- something that coffee producers in Burundi must do at the start of each year. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to open our washing stations for cherry collection or begin processing the first coffees of the season.
Every week, the Long Miles Coffee Scouts are visiting each of the hills that we collect coffee from, checking on the health of our own coffee farms, meeting with Farmer Field School team members and teaching best agricultural practices, making note of the visible effects of climate change in the coffee hills, keeping a record of the number of antestia caught, distributing and planting seedlings from our Trees For Kibira nurseries. To diversify our coffee farms, our team at Heza Washing Station is maintaining the handbuilt cowsheds and laying down new fodder for our two mama cows and their calves.
Together with our washing station managers and production teams, the Coffee Scout leaders are also holding meetings with community development officers and partner coffee farmers, hearing from them if there were any challenges or issues during the previous coffee harvest and discussing ways to resolve this before the upcoming coffee harvest.
MARCH-JUNE
The country is experiencing its biggest rainy season of the year. The coffee cherries are red, ripening, and ready to be picked. The antestiabug (the insect thought to be linked to the Potato Taste Defect) thrives during this time because the cherries are soft and sweet, making it easier for the bug to bore holes into the cherry skins. Farmers are scouting for these bugs in their coffee trees and if they find them, are removing them by hand.
The end of March usually marks the opening of coffee harvest in Burundi, and coffee farmers will spend most of their days hand-picking cherries then walking to deliver them to the nearest washing station or collection point. Generally, other crops aren’t planted in this season because coffee is on everyone’s mind.
April and May roll around, and coffee harvest is in full swing. It’s one of the busiest times of year for our team. The Coffee Scouts spend their days between guiding coffee farmers through selective cherry picking on their farms and at the washing stations or collection points, assisting with farmer reception and cherry quality control. Our team also works alongside our partner coffee farmers, harvesting cherries from the Long Miles Coffee Farms. Each delivery of cherry is processed, either as a fully washed, natural, or honey-processed coffees, and left to dry on raised drying tables.
The Story team spends these weeks following our team’s activities, connecting with coffee farmers on their farms, and documenting their harvest, or at the washing stations following the production of coffee.
This is usually the time that we get to welcome our roasting partners in Burundi to experience a slice of coffee harvest, see coffee in production, connect with our team and partner coffee farmers, and join us around the cupping table to taste a selection of fresh crop coffees.
JULY-AUGUST
The start of July usually signals that coffee harvest is coming to a close in Burundi. Most of the parchment coffee is either off the tables or about to come off. Our washing stations no longer receive coffee cherries, and our team’s focus shifts to the dry mill.
Our Production and Quality team at the dry mill is focused on constructing micro-lots and preparing coffees for export. They are regularly sending samples to our Long Miles Coffee lab, where hundreds of cups of coffee are cupped, analysed, and scored by our team before being sent as samples to our roasting partners the world over. This work starts in July and continues until the end of the year.
The country-wide coffee pruning campaign officially opens, and the Coffee Scouts are helping coffee farmers to identify which coffee trees should be pruned or stumped. All around farm maintenance is happening at the same time: weeding, applying organic fertilizers, and mulching the ground to keep it moist during the upcoming dry season.
At the helm of our Social and Environmental Impact Leader, Epa Ndikumana, the Coffee Scouts are also collecting samples of soil for testing, and analysing the benefits of intercropping banana trees with coffee on our coffee farms. Our Story team is there to capture it all: the dry mill, the post-harvest activities, and most importantly, farmer payments.
Farmer Payday is the one day of the year when all of the coffee farming communities that we work with receive payment for the coffee cherries that they delivered to us during harvest season. The money that most farmers earn from growing coffee is spent on their children’s school tuition and supplies, home repairs, and investing in other income-earning projects. In the weeks leading up to payday, our team works hard behind the scenes, counting money and preparing each farmer’s payment. Hill by hill, each farmer that we work with is paid for every kilogram of coffee cherry that they delivered to a Long Miles Washing Station or collection point.
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER
The country is experiencing “agatas”, which translated from Kirundi means “small rainy season”. These are the months that are considered the main planting season in Burundi. Whatever farmers choose to grow is planted at this time.
The mature coffee trees start to flower- depending on the amount of rainfall in the country- and the coffee cherries are in the early stages of developing. This is the time for coffee farmers to be maintaining their coffee nurseries, planting new coffee trees, and weeding their plantations. Those who have access to lime and fertilizer will start applying it on their coffee farms.
The coffees at the dry mill continue to be milled, bagged, and processed before being loaded onto trucks and headed to our roasting partners across the world.
Meanwhile, the Coffee Scouts are evaluating the growth and survival rate of the Trees For Kibira seedlings in the nurseries. As the year comes to a close, a bonus payment is made to the coffee farmers who delivered high quality cherries throughout the season.
There’s no short way of answering the question, “What does a ‘typical day’ look like for you?” No matter the year, there’s no small amount of words to share with you what producing coffee in Burundi looks like for our team. As we write this, the coffee cherries have already started to ripen, rain has fallen, and our team has started preparing for the upcoming harvest season. We can’t wait to share what this year holds with you!
collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Long Miles Story Team
The first of September usually means the end of the dry season in Burundi, and the start of the country’s second rainy season. During this time of the year, many communities of farmers usually shift their focus from coffee to other subsistence crops (such as maize, potatoes and cassava) that need to be planted by the time rain starts to fall.
“We have to hurry and finish everything before September because once the rain starts, there will be many things to do. You can’t work on activities meant for the dry season during the rainy season. My husband is supposed to be mulching and fertilizing the soil of our coffee plantations while I plant other crops, but he’s still busy pruning our coffee trees. I’ve had to stop what I was doing to help him look for mulch.”
Jeannette Ngendakumana is a coffee farmer from Gaharo hill
Meanwhile, some farmers are still focused on picking coffee cherries. Due to the irregular weather patterns that Burundi experienced this year, the country’s coffee harvest came to an end while many farmers still had unripened cherries on their coffee trees.
“Harvest might be over at the washing stations, but it’s still going on at home. There are many cherries that need to be picked. We are still in the dry season, and the coffee trees aren’t getting much water. The small amount of water they do get is being fed straight to the cherries that are still ripening and haven’t been picked. These leftover cherries also cause the number of antestia bugs found in the coffee farmers to multiply. The only way to prevent this is by picking them. Many farmers can’t accept losing so many cherries after harvest, so they continue to process coffee at home: picking, sorting cherries, hand-pulping and then drying. Coffee traders have permission from the government to buy parchment coffee at a fixed price from coffee farmers. I still have one hundred kilograms of coffee to sell.”
Joseph Haragasika is a coffee farmer from Gaharo hill.
From the Field
written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager for Long Miles Coffee
Previously I talked about how our Lab in Bujumbura was pushing hard to have a lot of samples processed and dispatched at that time to David (in the States where the main Lab is based, because of the threat by COVID-19). Because of the hard work of the Buja Lab Team, our process chain was always active. And today, I am grateful for the step where we are at and I can congratulate Mr. Zebron (Long Miles Coffee Lab Assistant) for having delivered most of our expectations. This week, intensive Lab work was done. All the urgent samples were processed and dispatched to the Lab in the States. This is a good thing as lot construction becomes quicker and milling plans become definite. We can expect to see the activities moving in a faster way, from the beginning of September.
Liar or dreamer, I ignore what you will think of me. Having a container ready in August was done, as promised. But shipping should take place early September, which is good as the earliest, so far, we have been able to make is early October. The reason is that export paperwork is not a quick-do-it-yourself kit. In fact, when we had everything ready, an official in charge of issuing the grades confirmation certificate (taxation report) was out for three consecutive days. When he was supposed to come back, coincidentally it was a day off as it was an election day (for hill leaders). Even for other signatories, we observe similar delays and we never stop learning!
From the Lab
written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations for Long Miles Coffee
Echoing Seth’s message, the busy days in the lab continue. It has been a pleasure to see much of the work from the last two months come to a point of fruition in the form of final, milled lot samples. The milling quality has been excellent and the coffees are so balanced and clean. If you have not received samples yet and are expecting them, do not fret. Our focus at this time is on moving lots through the process as quickly as possible, in order to allow milling and export to happen as quickly as possible. In the end, this will serve everyone in the supply chain.
I so greatly appreciate the tone of optimism and enthusiasm in Seth’s section of this week’s newsletter. The entire team has been pushing hard to move coffee as quickly as possible. Hours after Seth emailed me the copy for his section, however, we did run into what is currently a concerning situation. The dry mill which is contracted to mill and clean our coffees this year has been on strike. The strike concerns the mill owner and specifics surrounding former-employee pensions. In ever humbling Burundi coffee sector fashion, we are monitoring the situation patiently. A report I received just minutes ago relayed that the situation will hopefully be resolved early next week. That said, there is no way to know at this time. I will continue to use this space in these emails to update all of you concerning the situation.
As always, if you feel that you have not been heard regarding your needs for this season, please reach out to me!
Links worth checking out
Long Miles Coffee featured in Imbibe’s article “How COVID-19 Is Rippling Through the Coffee World”.
collected and translated by Joy Mavugo, in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Long Miles Story Team
Every year, when our coffee harvest comes to an end, the Long Miles Coffee Scouts open up the “Pruning Campaign”. During this campaign, the Scouts move between the hills where coffee is grown, guiding the communities of coffee growers that we work with through the practice of pruning and stumping their coffee trees. The Scouts help these farmers to identify older or unhealthy coffee trees that should be pruned, stumped or uprooted from their farms. They also encourage farmers to weed and mulch the land where their coffee is grown to prepare the soil for the next year’s coffee harvest.
“In 2017, I pruned all of the coffee trees in one of my coffee plantations. In 2020, three years later, I picked double the amount of coffee cherry than what I used to harvest before pruning. The Scouts have helped me and the other coffee farmers in my community to understand the different ways of taking care of our coffee plantations. I remember the first time the Scouts told me about pruning and stumping older coffee trees. In my heart, I was thinking: “These young people don’t know what they’re talking about. Cutting coffee trees? No way.” Now, I am encouraging other farmers to prune and stump their coffee trees.
Firmin Niyibizi is a coffee farmer from Gaharo hill. He has two plantations and 300 coffee trees.
From the Field
written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager for Long Miles Coffee
Our washing station that remained opened to farmers the latest closed the harvest on July 31st. Two of our stations have taken all coffee off of the drying tables this week. The station that still has some coffee on drying tables is Heza and with the end of August, at most, every coffee should be taken off the tables. We are proud of what the teams have been able to achieve. There were a lot of challenges but they have shown that they can transform them into opportunities. Briefly, in November 2019, the Government announced that they wanted to come back to operating in the coffee sector (what was interpreted as re-nationalizing the coffee industry). No one knew what had to happen next. The regulations have been made unfavorable. For example, we were obliged to have on our accounts an amount that can pay 75% of expected cherry, in advance. That money couldn’t serve in other operations except for farmers’ payment. Consequently, getting the production license was so difficult. But today we endured and have even the exportation license. I can sit and sigh, whispering to myself and say: “God fought at our side. The harvest was difficult but we made it through. Though we are not sure of the future, we hope to always stand”.
As for the dry milling activities, we are progressing well. Here, also, we have challenges (which is normal). I previously talked about delays in milling program execution, lack of space for hand picking, power outage, forklift breaking down, bag marking that is slower…each of those challenges has happened to us. However, today we are happy that we have close to a full container of hand-picked coffee and 165 bags are already taxed (grade confirmation by the national coffee board: ODECA). If everything goes smoothly, we expect to ship our first container before the end of August, which will be the first year we are able to do so.
written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations for Long Miles Coffee
These are very busy days in the lab. But, they have also been very encouraging days. The coffees are tasting absolutely wonderful. This week, for the first time this season, I received not only table samples in my weekly package, but also some finished, milled pre-shipment samples. Efficiency has been a huge focus this year. Specifically, efficiency surrounding the time it takes to get coffee ready for export. Between the incredible work of our team in Burundi, the execution of new (and ever-evolving) quality control systems, and the strong logistics partners we have lined up in North America, Europe, and Australia, I am very confident that this will be our best year yet from the perspective of shipment timeliness.
It has been such a pleasure to be engaged in ongoing/regular communication with so many of you about your needs for this year. If you feel that you have not been heard regarding your needs for this season, by all means, please reach out to me!
collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Story Team.
It’s been a hard week for Burundi. On Monday 8 June 2020, we heard the news that Burundi’s late president H.E Pierre NKURUNZIZA had very suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. Flags were lowered to half-mast and the country went into a week-long mourning period to remember the person who lead and governed Burundi for close to 15 years.
“When I first heard the news, I couldn’t accept what others were telling me. Two days before, the police stopped people on the road saying that the president was passing by. The second person who told me was my friend who said that the president had died from disease. I asked him: “Who told you that news? Is that disease CORONA?” He told me that he didn’t know. After realizing that it’s true, that the president died, the first question I asked is: “Who will give the presidential chair to his successor at the big ceremony in August?” Death is not afraid. Even if people call themselves great, only God will live forever.” – Céléstin from Mikuba hill.
“It was really scary news, because it happened just after the elections. Burundians, especially from the hill where I live, have bad memories of elections. When I heard the news, I didn’t even ask the cause of his death. Immediately, my heart told me that things will happen again like they did in 1993. I went home and started listening to the radio to hear what the situation is in the country. The good thing is that after his death, no other Burundians have lost their lives. Only…it’s still too early to believe. The lesson I’ve learnt from the president’s death is that there is no great person in the world. God is powerful, and he does what he wants on earth and heaven.” – Bénoit from Mikuba hill.
“When I heard the news, I was very surprised. At first, I didn’t believe what people were saying. I am now wondering: what will happen next? What makes me happy is that things are quiet in the country and there is peace. Nothing is impossible. Three days in the country without a president, and life is normal. The world has surprises in store for us.” – Noël from Mikuba hill
Constructing drying tables at the new Ninga Washing Station
From the Field
written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager
Weather It would sound as if I have an endless repetition of climate stories. One can wonder, “isn’t there anything else more interesting you can be talking about?” However, this is to emphasize how severe and strange the climate is. So, when our partners hear that we have an Environmental Bottom Line among our four bottom lines, they find that it was not a mere choice of words. Rather, it is a real and serious challenge we have to face. While previously I shared with you the lack of rain that caused some berries to dry on the trees, before yesterday we got unexpectedly some rain in Bukeye and a lot of it at Heza, Kayanza. This is not bad as it will help some berries to ripen. However, for trees that didn’t have berries these will start blossoming. And as after this little rain sunny days are going to follow, then the blossoms may dry because they will have sprouted in a wrong period.
Ninga Washing Station I also spoke about how Ninga farmers are so happy that finally Ninga project is in course of implementation and they can deliver close, without the long walks. As Long Miles Team, we share the happiness with those farmers because Ninga has started to bear fruits. In fact, the first lots that were collected in Ninga and surrounding hills have been taken off the table, this week. Though I referred to our infrastructures at Ninga as basic, I believe that the quality of coffee that was processed there is at the same level or even higher than what is produced at our old stations. My fear is that the supply might be too much lower than the demand. However, we expect the next harvest to be good enough to satisfy all Ninga lovers in both quality and quantity.
A No-Visitor Harvest COVID-19, has changed the way humanity lives and works; the coffee industry was not spared. We used to host guests who came to visit our factories (Washing Stations). They came for various purposes but we enjoyed hosting them. Some were customers, others were interns, students who want to be at an origin, Cup of Excellence judges, etc. Personally, I really liked that they were coming. In fact, even when they may not buy our delicious coffees, at least they would tell a story about us or recommend their friends to partner with us. In this way, our reputation kept expanding, with many eyewitnesses. This year no more new visitors so far, except those following on Instagram or receiving our newsletters. I wish COVID ended so that we come back to normal.
Since the last Harvest Update email, I have received two boxes of table samples. Two more are currently en route; one has just made it to New York City the other is in Nairobi. The coffees I have tasted the past two weeks represent the first coffees delivered to our washing stations this season and, as such, are from quite small lots – some projected to be well less than one bag in size once milled.
Every single table sample produced will be coming through our East Coast lab [i.e. my basement] this year. This includes everything from our highest quality parchment, which is destined to become micro-lots, to our “Cherry-B” lots. (Cherry-B being the underripe and overripe cherries delivered by farmers. We are legally obliged to purchase these coffees from farmers but process them separately as to not lower the quality of our micro-lot coffees.)
The majority of my time over the next two months will be spent analyzing green coffee samples, roasting and cupping said samples, and constructing lots based on volumes, quality, flavor profile, hills, and demand. This is some of the most enjoyable and rewarding work I have the pleasure of doing. I could not be more thrilled to report that the table samples I have cupped thus far this season are of absolute stellar quality.
Beyond cup quality, the physical characteristics of the lots I have analyzed thus far have been quite reassuring. Every lot I have measured the water activity of has fallen between our desired 0.45-0.55 aw, with the majority of them being in the lower half of this range. Based on the quality of our landed lots from last year, this is exactly where we want our coffees sitting for optimal longevity and freshness.
Links worth checking out
Our friends at La Cabra recently shared a video shot by Paw Gissel during their 2018 visit to Burundi. Check it out here.
An interesting NPR piece on COVID-19 and Africa can be found here.
A New York Times article on the death of President Nkurunziza can be found here.
An Al Jazeera article on what happens in Burundi following the president’s passing can be found here.
Heading into the 2019 harvest, the mantra amongst our team was a seemingly simple one: get our first container of coffee out of the country by the end of August. By doing this we would be setting a veritable export record in Burundi; we would also make a Long Miles best. While we did not hit our goal, we did load our first container of coffee, destined for the West Coast of the United States, on September 9th. This was the earliest we have ever loaded a container and we were thrilled.
As the ever humbling gods of global logistics would have it, our container was not destined to move with the alacrity with which we would have hoped – or, even, could reasonably expect. In fact, our first USA-bound container landed in the States just two weeks before the second, which was loaded in Burundi on November 7th – nearly two full months after the first box was loaded. An unexpected transshipment in a congested Mombasa port caused delays in berthing the vessel. This, combined with the small print which renders our pleas for action completely inaudible to the shipping line, pushed the transit times to extremes – even for a landlocked East African nation.
Fortunately, there was another mantra for some key members of the team during this past harvest: dry the coffees perfectly. As many reading will know quite well, the proper drying of coffee is critical in determining a coffees’ longevity. Our team in Burundi, lead by the intrepid Seth Nduwayo, was fierce in their dedication of sticking to strict parameters surrounding water activity. Water activity for each lot had to be below 0.55 aw before the coffee could be moved to the mill. For a number of lots, this meant going through the extra step of putting coffee that was in our washing station warehouse back on the drying tables in order to reach the target water activity level. Though tedious at the time of processing, this level of rigor paid off. An extended journey at sea can be a death march for coffee. This is all the more true for coffees whose moisture and water activity levels are above a certain point. Every single lot from the 2019 harvest produced at Heza and Bukeye arrived in North America in excellent physical condition and tasting wonderful.
Pamphile Mpawenayo, manager of Heza and Seth Nduwayo, quality and production manager.
“DESPITE THE DELAY, THE GAHARO IS SHINING AGAIN THIS YEAR, DARE I SAY EVEN BETTER THAN LAST YEAR! I’M ONCE AGAIN IMPRESSED WITH THE QUALITY THAT LONG MILES IS DELIVERING, WHILE DOING SOME REALLY IMPORTANT GRASSROOTS WORK ON THE GROUND IN BURUNDI.”
Though not on the timeline we had hoped for, there is still much cause for celebration when it comes to the timing of this year’s arrivals. Many thanks to our US importing partner, Osito, we were able to land the entirety of our North American-bound coffee earlier than any prior harvest.
“THIS YEAR’S LOT OF LONG MILES COFFEE ARRIVED ON SCHEDULE AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. THE GREEN COFFEE IS DENSE WITH EXCELLENT PREPARATION, PERFECT FOR EASY ROASTING. WE ARE PLEASED WITH THE LUSH FLORAL QUALITY OF OUR MICRO LOT. CLEAR, CLEAN FLAVORS OF BROWN SUGAR, ORANGE, AND TEA. WE FIND THE COFFEES HAVE A VIBRANT CITRIC AND TARTARIC ACIDITY WITH A DENSE SILKY BODY.”
It is important to acknowledge that our European-bound coffees did not move with the same speed that we were able to achieve in the States this year. While the coffee is scheduled to arrive at roughly the same time it has in previous years (the Germany-bound container has a current ETA of March 1st), we very much look forward to improving upon the timing of our coffees into Europe for the next harvest and beyond. The aforementioned mantras of the 2019 harvest will remain the same for our 2020 harvest. We are better suited to do this than ever before, thanks to our importing partners in the States and a newly formed relationship in Europe.
As long-time roasting partners and new relationships alike introduce their 2019 harvest Long Miles lots to their menus, we will make an effort to shine a spotlight on where you can find our coffees. Feel free to reach out to info@longmilescoffee.com if you are interested in finding a roaster in your area who has Long Miles coffee. Keep your eyes on our social media and this blog, where we will be posting further updates about where our coffee can be found.
This post is sponsored by Disney Story. To find out more about this brand-new story-creation app – and how it puts the power of storytelling in your hands – click here.
I asked this blog’s resident coffee guy some questions about coffee cupping. Here’s what I found out.
What is so great about coffee cupping?
What I like best of all about coffee cupping is that it is all about experience. All the forms, procedures and methodologies of cupping make each tasting standardized. The adventure lies in the potential of each new cup in front of me. When I find an amazing cup, it practically jumps off the table. Last year this happened from a handful of washing stations that I cupped, and that is why with this season’s coffees I make sure to do all my cupping “blind.” I never know what coffee I’m cupping. Each coffee has the same chance as the cup before it, no matter what washing station it came from. It has to shine on it’s own and impress me with it’s unique character, and that goes for coffees from our own washing station too. When I do find that “wow” cup, I’ll often pick up the cup and drink it like I would at a cafe (It’s good etiquette to ask the other cuppers first for their ok on this if you aren’t cupping alone).
Hand over the dets! What are some beginner details that aspiring coffee cuppers should know?
For each sample, or lot, of coffee sourced I roast about 150g to a light roast. Before it’s ground, I carefully measure out 12g of coffee into five separate cups. I grind to a course setting and cover with a paper until I have a table of around 8 different lots ground and ready to cup. I have my water boiler turned on with fresh clean water and I get out my Cup of Excellence (COE) cupping form and start smelling the dry coffee grounds. Smelling the dry fragrance is one of the most important steps in cupping. What do I smell? In Burundi coffees I often get bright raspberry and citrus fruits when the coffee is at its best. Next I add about 200 ml of just off boiled water and smell the wet aroma. The key reason for smelling the wet crust is to make sure all cups are uniform and no defects stand out.
What is “breaking the crust?”
After the coffee has been steeping for four minutes, it forms a bubbly “crust” on the top. Beneath that crust is an intoxicating hit of the coffee’s aroma. When you break the crust, you want to stick your nose right next to the cup to capture in short little sniffs all the amazing aromas being set free as you draw back the crust curtain with a cupping spoon. Watch yourself at this stage, burnt noses happen to the best of us.
What is the strangest cupping description you’ve ever noted?
Hmmm… it would have to be “On the nose, grapefruit with warming spice. In the cup, chocolate with roast beef and a lime finish.”
What keeps you motivated to cup?
I’m in it to find the best cups on the table and in Burundi and then to make sure those farmers are rewarded for their great work. That gets me out of bed in the morning even before I’ve had an espresso.
The End.
All images shot with an iPhone4, edited with VSCO .
Following @kristyjcarlson on Twitter and Instagram gets me excited about being part of this family of four that has their hearts set on helping a community in rural Burundi produce amazing coffee. I’m so happy to be a part of it.
Building a coffee washing station in Burundi has meant taking on an obscenely huge amount of challenges and obstacles on the way to realizing the dream. Let’s just say accomplishing something like this in Burundi has few more challenges in it than building that lemonade stand in Wisconsin when I was six.
For months now we have set our sites on building this coffee washing station. Finding the perfect location was key to making it a success. After 3 years of sourcing and cupping Burundi coffee, I knew where we needed to be. The place we were looking for was sitting in the middle of a triangle of the best coffee washing stations producing the best coffee in all of Burundi. Besides the best coffee, it was a place where farmers are too far to carry their coffee to the nearest station forcing them to sell to local buyers at ridiculously low prices. It has one river, bringing plenty of fresh clean water to run the de-pulper. Sitting at the perfect altitude with a micro-climate that is unique and ideal for producing the kind of coffee that makes you (ok, maybe just me) go weak in the knees.
Three years to make certain of this specific spot. Months to get all the paperwork done and meet all the farmers to explain the vision. Weeks to get all the signatures of the owners of the land willing to sell and the neighboring farmers as witnesses. Then, on the last day before signing, we find out that two of the five farmers don’t feel like selling anymore.
What do we do? Tomorrow we go back to the land to talk to the farmers. The area co-op president and commune elder have talked through our vision and are coming with us to make sure that the farmers know the kind of impact this station will have on the lives of all 2,500 families in the four surrounding hills. If they still decide they don’t want to sell are we back to square one? No, the commune elder said that we can have the two hectors next to the spot we want that are owned by the commune. The rivers the same, the slope is great, and the view is stunning. He gets the vision. He has caught hope. He tells us that they will do whatever it takes to see us partner with them.
We have found our spot and started to put down our roots. This challenge is just one of many in our way, but if it was easy we wouldn’t need to do it, it would already be done. Am I Worried? No, but we are weeks away from starting to build on land that we still don’t own with money we still have not raised… It will all happen though, it will all happen.
Well, the Burundi Cup of Excellence has come and gone and now the burning question on everyone’s mind is “how did Ben’s predictions turn out?” That and maybe “who were the top 10?” Those two questions will be answered in the video! Enjoy.
Following @kristyjcarlson on 