Coffee Prices Soar Due to Shortage

Auction prices on the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) rose, on average, $9/50kg as buyers rallied on quality lots after a glut of sub-par coffee resulting from cold spells and isolated bouts of Coffee Berry Disease (CBD). Prices peaked at $136.91/50kg on Tuesday. Overall, crop estimates are down from 58,658 tons to 53,693. The 10% decrease in crop yields coupled with growing global demand is expected to maintain the higher prices in the near to mid-term. According to Daniel Mbithi, an official on hand at the auction on Tuesday:

“The markets are intertwined and the latest developments on both sides are quite impressive. The overriding factor is demand and we expect this to stay on a little,”

So with increasing global demand out pacing production the shortage in Kenya this year only exacerbates the bigger issue.

Read the full article at All Africa Here.

Share This

Pan Roasting Coffee - Part 2

Our first try at pan roasting was a complete bust, but we had a few tweaks in mind that we thought would be crucial to improving the quality of our pan roasted coffee. Read more

Share This

Pan Roasting Coffee - Part 1

There are certainly many sophisticated methods to roast coffee. Yet, you really only need coffee beans, a heat source and something to contain it.

Stuff you need to get started:

• Cast iron skillet
• Grill
• Cooling tray or wire screen and a hair dryer with a “cool” setting

Continue reading and see more pictures after the break. Be sure to check out all the pictures at full size by clicking. Read more

Share This

The Quest for The Perfect Cappuccino

Amy Ferraris asks…

Have you ever had a perfect cappuccino? Not a latte. Or a frappuccino. But a perfect blend of espresso and milk in that unique, unforgettable texture that can only be described as velvety? If you’re like most Americans, you probably haven’t.

I have a problem. I am obsessed with the cappuccino. I mean, obsessed. I will go miles and miles out of my way just to try a new one. I lie awake at night thinking about them. I even suspect that the cappuccino is the main reason that I keep finding excuses to go live in Italy.

But I’m an American. And every time I go into a new coffee shop here in America, I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. All previous experience indicates that what I’m about to do will be a disaster, but I let myself get suckered into it anyway. American cappuccinos are typically way too large, far too hot, and served in paper cups whose steep sides make it impossible to fully experience the cappuccino in a single sip. They’re also topped with stiff peaks that would be more at home on a key lime pie than a cup of coffee. Occasionally, they have been befouled with cinnamon.

Her new documentary looks pretty promising. We’ll keep an eye open for screening announcements. Be sure to check out the trailer.

[via]

Share This

Africa: Kenya and Ethiopia Making Major Strides

Kenya — The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the branch of the World Bank responsible for private lending, is investing a little over $210,000 in educational programs to increase the knowledge base of local coffee farmers and roasters. The 5 day training seminar will teach the basics of cupping and quality control. The goal is to bolster local coffee producers’ understanding about the quality of their product as well as provide the tools they need in order to demand higher prices on the open market. As Dr Peter K Michori, chairman Coffee Board of Kenya, puts it:

“When Kenya coffee is subjected to specialty grade assessment methods and certified, it will fetch better prices in the international market …”

Ethiopia — Dozens of European and American roasting and distribution companies have finally agreed to use Ethiopia’s specialty coffee trademark. Chief among US companies was The Coffee Co. that shall not be named, which had earlier filed suit to prevent the country from protecting its own property rights. Now the struggling African country will bear a greater responsibility for the logistics of its primary export. However, with a renewed sense of pride and ownership the coffee can only get better.

Read the full articles here and here.

Share This

The NY Times on ‘Direct Trade’

The New York Times has a fascinating piece today on Direct Trade coffee companies.

In the past few years, big coffee companies (e.g., Starbucks, who buys roughly 300 million pounds per year) have started marketing “Fair Trade” and “organic” coffees. Many customers have no problem shelling out a bit more for beans that were more thoughtfully and carefully grown. Yet, these labels - or even the methods - offer no guarantees for the actual flavor or quality of the beans. Even more recently this has given rise to Direct-trade coffee companies such as Stumptown and Intelligentsia and others, who buy their beans directly from the farms and cooperatives that grow them (i.e., not from brokers).

This gives the relatively small roasting companies an unprecedented relationship with coffee farmers, and thus unusually direct control over the quality of their coffee offering.

“It’s an exploration of coffee’s flavor, really” is how George Howell explains his mission. Mr. Howell, who runs George Howell Coffee Company, a roaster based in Acton, Mass., has had a hand in practically every lurch forward in the quality coffee scene since he started out in the business in 1974. “We’re finding flavors we’ve never ever tasted before, different fruit and floral flavors from really pristine, clean coffees. These are flavors that have been lost or diluted in the old methods of blending coffee down to an average product.”

In many ways, the direct-trade roasters are building on the foundation laid by companies like Peet’s and, later, Starbucks, which went outside the commodity system to find superior coffee. But, Ms. Blumhardt said, those companies are too big to comb over every bean in every sack the way some direct-trade companies do. Starbucks bought more than 300 million pounds of coffee last year; Intelligentsia, the biggest of this group, bought 2 million pounds.

Direct Trade companies develop a unique relationship which goes beyond the basic buyer/seller. Duane Sorenson (owner of Stumptown) recently travelled to Rwanda, and after discussing the needs of the local coffee growers, started a nonprofit group called Bikes to Rwanda. This April, 400 bikes specially engineered for carrying heavy loads of coffee over hilly Rwandan terrain were delivered to the cooperative just in time for the harvest.

“It’s not charity,” he said. “Our producers invest back into their workers, coffee shrubs, equipment and land. We know this is happening because of all the time we spend with them throughout the year, on their farms and in their homes.”

The entire article is a great read. Go check it out and while you’re there, view the From Cherry to Cup slideshow.

(via Grendel)

Share This

5 Things You May Not Know About Coffee

• Scientists have discovered more than 800 different aromatic compounds in coffee.
• Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world (oil is the first.)
• One coffee tree yields less than half a kilo of coffee per year.
• In days gone by, Turkish bridegroom had to promise that they would always provide their new wives with coffee.

These internet fact lists are addictive. I ran across one this morning that contained all of the above facts about coffee. It had some interesting tidbits of information. Sadly, none of their sources were cited. However, one “fact” stood out to me as counter intuitive.

• Espresso Coffee has just one third of the caffeine content of ordinary coffee.

So I did a little research of my own and came up with this interesting summary of a study conducted by the University of Florida. They sampled coffee from several major retailers and found that in a 24 oz. sample the caffeine content ranged from 221mg caffeine to 367mg. Now even at the high end, 376mg, that is only about 16mg/oz of caffeine. The same study tested espresso shots ranging in size from 1.4 oz. to 1.9oz. and found the caffeine content ranged from 75mg all the way to 165mg. So the lowest caffeine content they measured was 53.5mg/oz. in espresso! So needless to say you might be getting less caffeine per beverage, but you are ingesting it much faster than you are with the regular brewed cup of coffee. It’s my guess that this rapid ingestion is what produces espresso’s famous jolt.

The entire list of coffee facts can be found here.

The PDF summary of the University of Florida’s study is here.

Share This

Coffee: An International Community

When we first launched Perk-O-Late, we mentioned that the coffee community was a fantastic group of people. After being up and running for a couple weeks, that fact continues to ring true. We have received great feedback, encouragement and tips from fellow coffee fans around the world and it is really exciting. There is a lot to be said about the social aspects of coffee, but I’ll save that for another post.

We’re thankful for everyone that has visited and has been in touch so far. In the 2 weeks since launch, we’ve had visitors from 19 countries: US, Australia, Canada, UK, China, Germany, Russia, Greece, The Philippines, New Zealand, Ireland, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Portugal, Austria, Denmark and Sweden. Whew!

We hope that list continues to grow.

There are many reasons we love coffee, but one of them is certainly its universality. No matter where you are in the world there is a coffee culture, and you’re likely never more than a walk from the nearest cup.

On that note, be sure to check out some of the folks in our blogroll, such as Cafe Grendel (Perth, Australia) and JimSeven (World Barista Champion from the UK).

Share This

Brewing Essentials I: Water & Proportions

Now that we’ve posted some of the basics of storing, grinding and brewing your coffee, we’d like to begin Brewing Essentials 101. These are the essentials of brewing (usually minor changes) that will vastly improve your coffee experience. Read more

Share This

The beans have arrived.

Good news! Our first batch of raw (green) beans has arrived and we’re excited to try roasting for the first time. We’d like to thank Coffee Storehouse for providing the beans.

We’ll be attempting our first few roasts tomorrow using a couple of methods: pan roasting on a grill (as recommended by the folks at Coffee Storehouse) and a hot-air popcorn popper. I also have a bread machine, which I have heard works well (with a heat gun), so we may try that also. You can expect photos and videos of the whole experience, for sure.

If you have experience with any of these methods, we solicit your advice. If not, we hope you can learn along with us! Check out Mark’s photos after the break (be sure to click on each for the full size).
Read more

Share This

Next Page »