Tag: specialty coffee

Are organic farming practices worthwhile for Burundi coffee?

We met Antoine standing barefoot on his farm, surrounded by coffee trees. At fifty-four years old, he’s no stranger to farming coffee. As a young boy, he helped his parents on their farm by collecting leaves for mulch and learned how to prune and stump coffee trees. Since then, there have been significant changes for coffee farmers in Burundi- not all good. ⁠⠀

“Thirty years ago, the soil was good. Even without fertilizer or mulch, our production was enough. Now, the soil is not good. We have to work hard to find mulch and our production is low without fertilizer. We use fertilizer from the government but sometimes it comes late and when it’s late, it cannot feed the coffee trees’ roots.”⁠
Antoine, a coffee farmer from Gaharo hill

Back in 2011, before Long Miles was founded, the coffee farming communities that we were interested in working with were producing less than half a kilogram of coffee cherries per tree. Although it’s not the only solution to improve soil health and productivity, we quickly realized that having access to fertilizer could significantly impact farmers’ annual coffee production and income.

In Burundi, however, fertilizer is a state-controlled product that is only accessible through the national coffee board. One has to apply and pay for fertilizer in advance- something that most subsistence farmers in Burundi can’t afford to do. That first year we put down an advance on fertilizer for the communities that we were working with, but it soon became apparent that there was no guarantee it would arrive in time for the coffee season; no guarantee there would be enough for everyone who needed it.

“Since then, there have been significant changes for coffee farmers in Burundi- not all good.”

By the time the fertilizer did arrive, the rainy season had just begun. Any fertilizer that was used on farmers’ land washed away with the rain, eventually running off into local water sources. It was incredibly frustrating for our team to stand by and watch this happen. Coffee farmers in Burundi have, for years, been paying for a fertilizer that is delivered too little too late to be useful. This realization was the turning point for our decision to “go organic”. By doing so, we could take control of how we address farming challenges and tackle soil health in a way that could be all-inclusive and better for the environment.

Step onto a coffee farm in Burundi and you may take note that coffee farmers are already using organic practices: homemade compost made from leftover coffee cherry skins and animal waste is fed to the soil, stacks of grass and leaves are collected by hand and placed as mulch around farmers’ crops. These commonly found ‘organic practices’ are not always done by choice, but because of farmers’ limited access to farming inputs.

According to the World Bank, eighty percent of Burundi’s 11.6 million population is employed by the agriculture sector (World Bank, 2020). 600,000 of those 11.6 million households are coffee farmers, which means that one in twenty people depend on coffee in Burundi (African Fine Coffees Association, 2020).

“…one in twenty people depend on coffee in Burundi.”

What would an intentional shift towards organic farming look like in Burundi? Some might argue that not much will change. With limited access to fertilizer, insecticides, and pesticides, smallholder coffee farmers will continue using natural resources and finding innovative ways to source the inputs that they need. On the other hand, a farmer’s cost of production may increase with no guarantee that the practice will pay off; a risk that coffee farmers need to ensure they can afford to take.

As coffee producers, we also need to turn our attention to the policies at the country-level. There is currently an ‘agricultural intensification policy’ that is focused on increasing the country’s crop and food production. The government’s expectations of this policy coupled with smallholder farmers’ ability to source the necessary farming inputs may limit their ability to shift towards organic farming practices.

“What would an intentional shift towards organic farming look like in Burundi?”

Is it worth the risk? An organic certification wouldn’t change the quality of the coffee we produce, and it wouldn’t necessarily mean that coffee can be sold at higher prices. The average Burundian coffee producer might get paid more if they sell their coffee on the commodity market, but we’re not producing commodity coffee; we’re producing specialty coffee. As Epaphras Ndikumana, our Social & Environmental Impact Leader points out, “Most of the coffee produced in Burundi is sold as commodity coffee so whenever there’s potential to scale up a coffee farmer’s profit, it is worth it.”

“Long Miles is not necessarily going to recoup the cost that it takes to get a certification- that’s not the motivating factor. The motivation behind our pursuit of organic farming is so that future generations of coffee farmers in Burundi can farm coffee sustainably.”
Ben Carlson, co-founder of Long Miles Coffee.

We’ve recently heard from coffee producers in Honduras, Brazil, and Colombia that shifting to organic farming is yet to pay off for coffee farmers. Knowing that the transition to organic can take years, if not decades, is it worthwhile considering “going organic” in Burundi?

“If you’re talking about one farmer? Yes. If you’re talking about thousands of coffee farming families who haven’t officially farmed organically before? Again, yes, but it’s a long-term investment.”

Getting all 5,500 coffee farmers that we work with within Burundi certified would be incredibly costly and would require a significant amount of inputs. Even then, it would be hard to control every person’s activities to make sure that their actions maintain the integrity of the organic certification.

“For us, it’s not about the certificate; it’s about farmers having the inputs and knowledge to farm organically themselves. It’s worthwhile pursuing if we want to work in other coffee-growing regions, which we do. Long Miles will be producing coffee at a Kenyan washing station this year. We are also starting an organic coffee farm in Kenya, and would like to start one in Uganda too.”

As coffee producers, we can see the value of shifting to organic farming practices, but is buying and drinking organic coffee important to end-consumers?

“From my experience as a high-end specialty coffee roaster and retailer, organic certification matters to the consumer but not enough to make decisions based on the organic certification. I would classify it as a value add, a bonus to drinking delicious coffee which seems to be the higher priority. While certifications clearly matter to a percentage of consumers it does not seem to be the main driver for customers outside of higher priorities like flavor, origin, price, location of the retailer.”
Oliver Stormshak, co-owner, CEO and Green Coffee Buyer of Olympia Coffee

Our transition towards organic farming is moving at a slower pace than a certification calls for. We’re listening to and learning from the communities of coffee farming families that we work with, along with coffee producers in other nations who have gone before us to determine the feasibility of producing organic coffee. Long Miles’ pursuit of organic farming is a long-term commitment to empowering future generations of coffee farmers with the knowledge and inputs that they need to produce coffee sustainably. With Burundi as our base, we’ll be able to take what we’ve learned to start producing organic coffee in other parts of East Africa too.

References

African Fine Coffee Association (AFCA). (2020). AFCA Chapters: Burundi. [online]. Available at: https://afca.coffee/portfolio-item/burundi/. [Accessed 26 October 2020].

World Bank. (2020). The World Bank in Burundi: Overview. [online]. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/burundi/overview. [Accessed 26 October 2020].

November 3, 2020
Long Miles Coffee’s Post-Harvest Update: news from the farm, field, and cupping lab
From the Farm

collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Long Miles Story team

There was much rejoicing at the Long Miles Coffee Washing Stations recently as farmer payday took place. Payday is always one heavy with anticipation, excitement, and chaos of the happiest kind. It’s the one day of the year when all of the coffee farming families that we work with receive payment for the coffee cherries that they delivered during harvest season.

“ Payment day is a special day. It’s a day of building trust between a farmer and a buyer.”

– Honorate Dugunya, a coffee farmer from Ninga hill.

In the days leading up to it, our team works hard behind the scenes filling every person’s envelope with the season’s earnings and preparing for one big reunion with the coffee farming communities that we work with. This year, payday may have looked different from how it usually does but our team is unwaveringly grateful that it took place. We also celebrated a milestone; making our first set of payments at the newly built Ninga Washing Station site.

“To have a washing station on Ninga hill is like a country that fought for independence and got it. I will always celebrate this victory. No one will take it from us.”

– Paul Ntahondi, a coffee farmer from Ninga hill

There is an endless list of things that we are thankful for this harvest season. Paying every single coffee farmer that we work with is one of them.

From the Farm

written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager for Long Miles Coffee

Frequently, I have referred to rain as a big challenge. We could lack it when it was expected and vice versa. For three months, from July to September, there was no rain as it was a dry season. Now we are at the end of September. October is knocking from the horizon. We have experienced some rain yet at Bujumbura and sometimes at Gitega, Budeca, where we took our coffee for dry milling. As coffee is not out on drying beds you may wonder why the blessing (rain) is evoked again as a challenge. In fact, the rain comes with cold weather, and humidity increases in warehouses. Thus, when the relative humidity is higher than that of coffee in storage, the latter start regaining moisture. As you can hear this, the end of one battle opens a door to the next. So, today we fight for having all the remaining lots milled, hand-picked, and sealed in Grain-pro as soon as possible. When all coffee is in Grain-pro, then we don’t have to worry about rainfall the same as before. This is the battle we will be fighting over the next couple of weeks.

From the Lab

written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations for Long Miles Coffee

This week we began our final dry-milling program for the Burundi season. Milling, which involves removing the parchment layer, or, in the case of naturally processed coffee, removing the fruit that has dried around the coffee seed, is, by itself, a speedy process. After the seeds are stripped of their botanical accouterment, they pass through various grading apparatuses. These include devices that separate the seeds by size, density, and color. Many metric tons of coffee can pass through the mill in a single day. The process that follows, however, is low tech and time-consuming. That process is, of course, the handpicking of the coffee. Absolutely critical to the production of top quality specialty coffee, our lots get handpicked upwards to five times! In a few short days, all of our Burundi lots for the year will have been milled. The next two to three weeks will be filled with handpicking the coffee.

It is a race to the finish from here. As Seth mentioned in his section above, we want to get the lots handpicked as soon as possible because that allows us to get them into Grain-pro and thus hermetically sealed and safe from the impending rainy season. Too frequently, as a green coffee buyer, I have seen the onset of a rainy season in any given country of production, as a strike against the quality of the green coffee. This is especially true for coffees that are on the margins of not being fully dried. Coffees for which taking on a small amount of moisture pushes them into territory that encourages the quick degradation of what we perceive as freshness. I am so pleased to know firstly, that all of our lots were dried exceptionally well this year and, secondly, that our timeline concerning getting these final lots into Grain-pro is looking very good.

Once this process is complete we will continue loading containers and sending them around the world. A record year for us, we have already loaded and dispatched two containers from this harvest. In a few short weeks that number will be seven. The past two years have been important ones in strengthening relationships with importing partners in various markets. While we work directly with as many of our roasting partners as possible, we have found it essential to have key relationships in various markets around the world. Not only are these partners service providers, moving the coffees from Burundi to their destination market, but they are also critical in helping facilitate relationships with smaller roasting partners. This year, our coffees can be found with the following importers:
- Osito Coffee, North America – East Coast
- Royal Coffee, North America – West Coast
- List & Beisler – Europe
- Upstream – Australia*
- Seven Oaks – South Africa
If you are in one of these markets and interested in coffee this year, please reach out to me. I will be only too happy to work on a plan with you to either send you samples directly or connect you with one of the above-mentioned importers. Whether we are sending you samples and handling contracts directly or having an importing partner help facilitate the process, it is so important to us that we connect with you personally and work together on and through the process!

*If you are in the Australian market and interested in coffees from this season, please reach out to our Burundi Lab Manager, Jordan, who was not able to make it to Burundi this year due to the pandemic, and is native to and currently located in Australia!
October 5, 2020
Trees For Kibira: encouraging future generations of shade-grown Burundi coffee

There is an undeniable connection between coffee growers in Burundi, the health of their soil, and the coffee we drink. We’ve been dreaming about an indigenous tree reforestation project in Burundi for the last couple of years. For a long time, we didn’t know what it would look like. All we knew is what we saw: a scarcity of indigenous trees, acidic eroding soils and not nearly enough shade for the changing climate.

The Kibira is Burundi’s only indigenous rainforest, tucked away in the North-Western part of the country. The coffee we grow and produce depends on the cool, micro-climates that the forest provides. Whenever we ask neighboring coffee farmers what they think of the Kibira, they often mention fighting and war. The forest was a place where rebel soldiers took refuge during times of unrest. For years, the forest has been stripped of its natural resources and indigenous flora by its surrounding communities. Trees have been cut down for firewood and land cleared by people living on the fringes of the forest, looking for food and land to plant crops. Since the early 1930s, the Kibira has shrunk in size from 123,000 to 74,000 acres, and it’s estimated that deforestation in the region is happening at a rate of 9% per annum.

“There is an undeniable connection between coffee growers in Burundi, the health of their soil, and the coffee we drink.”

Trees For Kibira is a long term project focused on planting indigenous African trees around every hill in Burundi where our coffee is grown, mitigating the effects of a changing climate and encouraging the practice of sustainably grown coffee. Our hope is that these plantings aid the health of the local rainforest, Kibira Forest, and the coffee growing communities that live near its edge. So far, we have planted 322,000 indigenous and agroforestry trees at a cost of $140 per 1,000 trees. Our goal for the upcoming planting season is to plant 500,000 trees.

Since 2018, we have distributed 322,000 indigenous and agroforestry trees to 2,700 farmers. This has created a total of 406 jobs (employing 70 women). Our vision is for all 5,100 coffee farmers who we work to be included in the Trees For Kibira activities. The goal for 2020 is leaning towards extending our reach from 2,700 to 3,500 coffee farmers.

“It’s estimated that deforestation in the region is happening at a rate of 9% per annum.”

What we’ve learnt from nearly a decade’s worth of work in Burundi is that community is everything. Even with all the money in the world, we wouldn’t be able to create a long lasting impact without the support of our Burundian community. We’re working hard to build networks which include local government, village leaders, and conservation networks to create the impact we know Burundi needs. Planting trees is not going to solve climate change, but it can help to mitigate its impact. The statistics are startling. Climate change will reduce the global area suitable for coffee by about 50% (Bunn 2015). Added to that, the livelihoods of 100 million people depend on coffee (Pendergrast 1999), many of whom are vulnerable to climate change (Baca et al. 2014).

“What we’ve learnt from nearly a decade’s worth of work in Burundi is that community is everything.”

Trees For Kibira is focused on seeing nutrients sewn back into Burundi’s soil for the sake of healthier coffee trees, rejuvenated farms and a sustainable coffee growing future. We would like our neighbors to be empowered to grow their coffee for generations to come and to protect their land against the effects of the changing climate. We believe the impact will be great.

September 9, 2020
Long Miles Coffee’s Post-Harvest Update: news from the coffee farm, field and cupping lab
From the Farm

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

Image taken by Julianna Elizabeth Herr

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”.
- Ben Carlson’s two-part conversation with Coffee Radio Japan on founding Long Miles Coffee and the complexities of creating meaningful change in a system that wasn’t built for it.
- This New York times article: “ ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero, Paul Rusesabagira, Is Held on Terrorism Charge.”
September 7, 2020
LONG MILES COFFEE PODCAST: COLOMBIAN COFFEE WITH FELIPE SARDI

Image from Felipe Sardi. Cover art by Abby Fabre.

EPISODE FOUR

Felipe Sardi (La Palma y El Tucán) wasn’t always a coffee producer and exporter. We dig into the early years of failure preluding La Palma as it is today, and what the tipping point was for Felipe and Elisa (co-founder of La Palma). Felipe talks to us about how organic farming practices haven’t paid off for Colombian coffee farmers, and why the specialty coffee industry should be pushing the limits to become more sustainable. 

SHOW NOTES

Felipe mentions Elisa Madriñan, the co-founder of La Palma y El Tucán.

Ben makes mention of Kristy Carlson, the co-founder and Chief Storyteller of Long Miles Coffee.

Ben talks about the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the SCA Expo.

Learn more about La Palma’s Neighbors & Crops program here.

Felipe speaks about Delagua Coffee Project in Northern Colombia, Creativa Coffee District in Panama and Equation Coffee.

Check out the beautiful wooden cabins at La Palma’s Boutique Hotel here.

Read the letter that La Palma wrote about COVID-19 and its effect on Colombian coffee production here.

Learn more about the project Biodiversal.

Abby talks about terroir. Here’s a helpful resource to help unpack this term.

Want to find a bag of La Palma y El Tucán coffee? Check out this link here.

Want to get in touch with Felipe?

Visit La Palma y El Tucán’s website.

Email felipe@lapalmayeltucan.com or info@lapalmayeltucan.com

Follow @lapalmayeltucan on Instagram.

Follow @felipesardi_ari on Instagram.

SHOW CREDITS

Hosts: Ben Carlson and Abby Fabre

Producer: Tommy Fabre

Executive Producer: Robyn-Leigh van Laren

Cover art: Abby Fabre

Imagery: Felipe Sardi

August 4, 2020
Long Miles Coffee Podcast: Brazilian Coffee with Felipe Croce

Image from Felipe Croce. Covert art by Abby Fabre.

EPISODE THREE

Felipe Croce (Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza) grew up on his family’s coffee farm in Brazil. We talk to Felipe about the complexities of organic coffee farming, the misconceptions of Brazilian coffee, how shifting to organic practices hasn’t paid off for Brazilian coffee farmers yet, and what he’s doing to bring the farm to roasting partners in the face of the global pandemic.

SHOW NOTES

Ben makes mention of three specialty coffee roasters: Oddly Correct, Blue Bottle and Passenger Coffee.

Read more about the Croce family’s history with coffee and Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza here.

This is the reference Ben made about organic farms being “messy”.

Felipe makes mention of the late Erna Knutsen, coffee’s feminist pioneer. Read more about Erna here.

Felipe mentions three specialty coffee roasters: Stumptown, Intelligentsia and Counter Culture Coffee.

Visit VIF Wine bar in Seattle.

SCAE is the Specialty Coffee Association Expo.

Here’s a helpful resource on what terroir is and how it relates to your cup of coffee.

Here are a few places where you can find a bag of FAF Brazil coffees in North America:

Linea Caffe – West Coast

Blue Bottle – West Coast

1000 Faces Coffee – Southeast

City of Saints – East Coast

Want to get in contact with Felipe?

Visit FAF’s website

Follow @fafcoffees and @felipecroce on Instagram

Send an email to felipecroce@fafcoffees.com

SHOW CREDITS

Hosts: Ben Carlson and Abby Fabre

Producer: Tommy Fabre

Executive Producer: Robyn-Leigh van Laren

Cover art: Abby Fabre

Imagery: Felipe Croce

July 28, 2020
HARVEST UPDATE
From the Farm, Field and Lab

FROM THE FARM

collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Long Miles Story team.

July is a significant month for the farming communities in Burundi. It’s usually the month that marks the end of harvest season- not just for coffee, but for other subsistence crops too. Some farmers call July ‘the month of resting’, as their focus shifts from coffee towards preparing their land to plant other subsistence crops in time for the next rainy season (expected in September). Other farmers call it ‘one of the busiest times of the year’ as their focus stays on coffee. The short dry season in July means that their soil needs to be protected from the East African sun with mulch and weeding. It’s also the time to start thinking about which coffee trees need to be pruned.

On Wednesday, 1st July 2020 the country also celebrated its fifty-eighth Independence Anniversary from Belgian rule. We asked some coffee farmers what their thoughts were on the country’s anniversary.

“Independence Day is really important to me. I celebrated [the independence anniversary] with my children in Kayanza center. That day, I celebrated freedom; there was no freedom before our independence. I was still a little boy, but I remember many things from that time. During the colonization period, people were beaten and forced to do certain activities. But I’m grateful for the good things that the colonizers brought into Burundi. My father was once beaten for cultivating coffee, but now my family stands on coffee. Even my own children are now coffee farmers, and they’re not doing it by force. It’s because of the benefits they saw in growing coffee. The colonizers also taught us to know God.” Pascal Murengerantwari is a seventy-year old coffee farmer from Mikuba hill. He has ten coffee plantations with 1,000 coffee trees.

“I think that 1^st July is special for all Burundians, especially for those who were alive during the colonization period. I learnt about it in school. Burundians were forced to do labor like building roads, bridges, and other national works. They were also physically punished. Whenever I talk with old people who were alive at the time, they say that it was very hard, but there are many benefits for myself and other Burundians because of it. I also learnt that the colonizers taught Burundians about God. They built hospitals and taught people about health; built schools and taught people how to read and to write. I’m celebrating the country’s freedom and the good things that came from colonization.” Bonaventure Niyibigira is a twenty-two year old coffee farmer from Munyinya hill. He has two coffee plantations with 200 coffee trees.

From the Field

written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager for Long Miles Coffee

Last time, I shared our plans about parchment transfer from the washing stations to the dry mill. This has begun and is still going on. So far, all the trucks we loaded reached the mill successfully. No breaking down during the journey, no delays that result in waiting to offload the following day. Moreover, on July 20th, we were allowed to start milling.

However, some of the challenges I mentioned in the previous newsletter have already prevailed. In fact, we waited longer than expected to be allowed to mill and the handpicking space is almost full. We plan to start handpicking tomorrow, July 22nd, but the space will be so limited that we will only employ around seventy people while before we could hire three hundred. However, seventy is ok as we will be able to manage them well (which is good for quality) and also we can guarantee that there is enough space between each other in a way that respects the social distancing, in this period of COVID-19.

Image taken by Julianna Elizabeth Herr

From the Lab

written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations for Long Miles Coffee

For the past seven weeks I have spent the better part of every day engaged in either analyzing green coffee samples (taking humidity and water activity readings), roasting samples, cupping samples, or logging data associated with one of these activities. I then use this data to construct lots of coffee that are roughly twenty bags in size.

In order to construct the roughly twenty bag lots I first consider the hill from which the coffee was delivered. All of our micro-lots are traceable down to a specific hill (a hill, or colline, being a distinct geopolitical unit in Burundi) from which the coffee came. After that I consider the water activity of the day lots. All of the micro-lots we produce have a water activity reading between 0.45 and 0.55a_w. If the water activity is above this we will re-dry the coffee, if it is below this it will not be sold as micro-lot quality coffee. For lot construction purposes this year I have chosen to blend coffees together based on where in this range they fall. Coffees with a water activity reading between 0.45-0.49a_w are blended together while coffees with a reading between 0.50-0.55a_w are blended together. Finally, the flavor profile of the coffees are considered in blending.

As Seth mentioned above, I am thrilled to note that milling of our lots has begun. Once I receive the finished, milled and handpicked samples from our first run through the mill, our partners can expect samples to begin arriving in the post! We will be milling the remainder of July, all through August, and even into September. As such, I expect to be sending samples from mid-August through October. If you have not been in touch with me to discuss your 2020 harvest needs, please do so! If you have been, know that I will be in touch soon with updates on samples coming your way!

Links worth checking out:
- Episode Two of The Long Miles Coffee Podcast is live! Listen to us talk about Colombian Coffee with Tyler Youngblood here.
- An editorial in The New Times on Burundi and Rwanda’s fifty-eighth year Independence Anniversary.
- A Reuters Graphics article titled: “In Africa, a lack of data raises fears of ‘silent epidemic’.”
- This Global Dispatches podcast episode: “The Sudden COVID Death of Burundi’s Strongman Ruler, Pierre Nkurunziza-and What Comes Next.”
- The New York Times article: “IMF Approves $7.6 Million Debt Relief to Burundi to Cushion Covid-19 Effects.”
July 25, 2020
Long Miles Coffee Podcast: Colombian Coffee with Tyler Youngblood

Image from Tyler Youngblood. Cover art by Abby Fabre.

EPISODE TWO

Tyler Youngblood (Azahar Coffee Company) co-founded an export company and café while on a road trip with friends through South America in 2010. Ben and Abby talk to Tyler about his role in developing the Colombian specialty coffee sector, co-creating “A Sustainable Coffee Buyer’s Guide” and whether it’s affordable to pay a dynamic price for coffee.

SHOW NOTES

Sprudge is a coffee publication and global hub of coffee culture and original journalism.

Here are the New York Times, Washington Post and Bloomberg articles featuring Azahar coffee.

Ben, Abby and Tyler were drinking Madcap Coffee in this episode.

“A Sustainable Coffee Buyer’s Guide” is currently a pilot version and at the workshop stage. It’s not available for purchase (yet).

Watch a recording of Tyler’s presentation at SCA in Brooklyn (2018) here and here.

Find out more about the “Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide”, a project lead by Peter W. Roberts and Chad Trewick here.

Tyler makes mention of FOB Pricing and Farm Gate Pricing. Here’s a helpful resource that helps to unpack these terms.

If you’re in Colombia, you can pick up a bag of coffee from Azahar Café or one of their roasting partners. You can also shop on Azahar’s website.

Here are a few places where you can find a bag of Azahar coffee in North America:

Madcap – Midwest

Saint Frank – West Coast

Sightglass – West Coast

Stumptown – Northwest

Intelligentsia – Midwest

Metric – Midwest

Coffea Roasterie – Midwest

Heart – Northwest

Want to get in contact with Tyler?

Visit the Azahar website.

Reach out to @tyler_youngblood directly or @azaharcoffee on Instagram to talk to one of their relationship managers.

SHOW CREDITS

Hosts: Ben Carlson and Abby Fabre

Producer: Tommy Fabre

Executive Producer: Robyn-Leigh van Laren

Cover art: Abby Fabre

Imagery: Tyler Youngblood

July 21, 2020
Long Miles Coffee Podcast: Honduran Coffee with Benjamin Paz

Image taken by David Stallings. Cover art by Abby Fabre.

EPISODE ONE

Benjamin Paz (Beneficio San Vicente) is a coffee farmer, producer, roaster and exporter in Santa Barbara, Honduras. Benjamin talks to Ben and Abby about what producing coffee during a global pandemic looks like, the challenges facing Honduran coffee farmers and answers the question: is producing commercial coffee more sustainable than specialty coffee?

Show Notes

7 Corners Coffee: specialty coffee shop in the heart of Minneapolis.

USAID Reform of the Coffee Sector in Burundi

Saint Frank Coffee: specialty coffee shop in San Francisco, California. Saint Frank was founded by Kevin Bohlin (who is also mentioned in this episode).

A few places Benjamin mentioned where you find San Vicente coffee in North America:

Coava– North West

Bolt Coffee– East Coast

Verve– West Coast

Spyhouse Coffee Roasters– Midwest

Want to get in contact with Benjamin?

Reach out to @benjaminpaz directly on Instagram.

Show Credits

Hosts: Ben Carlson and Abby Fabre

Producer: Tommy Fabre

Executive Producer: Robyn-Leigh van Laren

Cover art: Abby Fabre

Imagery: David Stallings

July 14, 2020

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