Kona Coffee

Here I am in Hawaii, eating mango, papaya, and macadamia nuts, and drinking coffee as part of a 100 mile diet.

Monday we toured Greenwell Farms. Kona's oldest coffee farm was established in 1850. 

Some of the trees producing coffee here are 117 years old. While these trees don't produce a lot of fruit, the flavour of the bean is deep and complex, and used to make Onouli coffee. We sampled Peaberry, Full City Roast, Espresso, Jenny K, and Autumn Harvest. A full range of tastes and bodies. Coffee heaven!

As we were driving around the countryside, we saw lots of coffee trees. In addition to growing beans, Greenwell buys from the many independent growers in Kona. 

Beans are harvested August to November, and must be picked by hand, because each bean ripens at a different rate. Then they are inspected for beetles and if there is too much damage, are discarded. On average, a tree will produce 2 - 3 pounds of coffee in a year - and that's before drying. It's a very labour intensive, time-consuming business, which is part of the reason why Kona coffee is so expensive. To order this coffee and have it shipped home would be more than $100 a pound, so when we left with 12 ounces of Jenny K we felt we were leaving with treasure.

Coffee cherries are the new superfood. These are the colourful red casings that have been discarded for years by the industry. Now they've been discovered as a powerful anti-oxidant. The latest superfood is touted to to boost the immune system, protect against free radicals and act as an anti-inflammatory. So within a few days of receiving the bean, Greenwell farms now preserves the fruit and uses it to create a wellness drink called Kona Red.

Coffee beans dry in the sun and are turned so effects are even. At peak harvest, because there are enough beans to fill them, drums are used. Tasters can't tell the difference but the romantic in me will imagine kona coffee sun-dried, always. Once thoroughly dried, beans are roasted.

There is so much difference between coffee beans, which is in part terroir, but also the roasting. Flavour is so much different for the same bean, when roasted to light, medium or dark. Even then, the temperature at which they are roasted and the length of time make a difference. A hotter temperature means the bean will pop that much faster, but sometimes to achieve the proper effect you want to take a bit longer to pull the full flavour from the bean.

Sipping the Jenny K now, and really appreciating the depth of the taste and incredible finish. I would pack my suitcase with it, but roasted beans last only 4-6 weeks. Greenwell sells their green beans in 100 pound bags, so maybe we could get enough people together to make a purchase...

Coffee Cupping

 

Rob and I were at this coffee cupping for an introduction into the systematic approach of learning how to identify and articulate the profile of different kinds of coffee. With some basic knowledge, even a novice can provide an educated guess about the continent of origin.

At a commercial coffee cupping, buyers taste 20 offerings or more, each of their purchasing decisions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, with the potential to impact price listings on the commodities market.

We were at Merchants of Green, where we've been buying our beans since Christmas, when I signed Rob up as a member and gave him a home roaster. Now we taste different beans from exotic locales -  Ethiopia, Columbia, Indonesia - and each is very distinct from the other. But we don't sit down and compare them against each other at the same sitting.

Tonight we would taste three different cups, each a medium roast, served at the same temperature. The grounds were right in the mugs, with hot water poured directly on top. After four minutes or so, a nice coffee crust rose to the top, trapping the gas just underneath. A little nudge of the spoon would release the scent, and we'd have a second or two to try to identify the aroma before slurping on the spoon to try to identify exactly where the coffee was hitting the tongue, how did it taste, and how long did that taste stay with you? 

Derek, who led the cupping, compared the African beans to white wine and the Indonesian to red, a very useful analogy. Turns out that beans from Africa tend to be more acidic, with less body, while those from Indonesia tend to be less acidic, but have more body and a taste that sustains long after the sip.

What happens if you want the nice, bright bite of acidity but you want it with more body, and a longer finish? That's when you get one of the most popular blends in the world, Mocha (from Africa) and Java (from Indonesia).

A darker roast brings out more body and reduces acidity.

We tasted an Ethiopian and Sumatran. The Ethiopian aroma hit my nose with fruity and floral notes, but then I couldn't identify a taste that was on the tip of my tongue. Blueberry! The best beans from that part of the world often have a hint of this fruit. The Sumatran was definitely earthier. As the coffee cooled different flavours emerged in the Ethiopian, but the Sumatran stayed fairly consistent.

The third and last cup was Guatemalan. It had the mellow flavours characteristic of beans from Central America, with medium acidity, nice body, and "just right" for most tastes.

So many variables affect the way your coffee will taste. Country of origin. Elevation. Hand picked vs. mechanical process. How it is cured. How it is roasted. How long ago it was roasted. How it is brewed. The amount of grounds, and how fine. The temperature at which it is served. What kind of cup are you drinking from....

And if you are drinking consciously, how is your choice impacting the environment? The local economy? The birds?

I can see how the quest for a 'perfect' cup will be never ending.

Wake up and smell the coffee

Slept on the boat, and in the morning the cat nudged me awake.  

Rob had made his specialty morning coffee.  We've been enjoying it for months and it's become part of our morning routine. He makes it using the coffee maker we picked up in Tuscany, with skim milk steamed and frothed, topped with grated chocolate.  A daily indulgence!  Somehow it tastes even better on a Friday morning on the boat.

I wonder why that phrase, 'wake up and smell the coffee' is so often used in a negative way?  I guess it is the person is lost in their dreams and coffee is meant to be a sharp smell that snaps them back to reality.  But hey, reality can be pretty excellent sometimes and coffee smells great.

We All Share the Same Backyard

"We all share the same backyard."

I didn't expect to go to this year's Ontario Horticultural Society AGM and come away an advocate for shade grown, organic, fair trade coffee, but that's what happened Saturday.

Nicki and I went to listen to the speakers and pick up some horticultural tips. One of the presenters spoke about Project Chirp, (Creating Habitat In Residential areas and Parkland) a songbird conservation initiative in which the survival needs of songbirds are met through the creation of Canadian Wildlife Federation-certified songbird habitats on residential properties. Lots of great tips for using trees and shrubs to create a welcoming habitat for songbirds and pollinators. One of my favourite things about my backyard are the birds that happen by, like the finches at our feeder on the right.

Toronto is on the major migration route of several species. With so much of the green space on our planet shrinking it is getting tougher and tougher for many of these birds to make their journey.

Much of the boreal and rainforest is disappearing to fuel consumer demand for new 'stuff'. Which is why the personal choices we make are more important than ever.

Which brings me to the coffee. These plantations clear-cut rainforest to make way for profitable cash crops and destroy habitat in the process. The environment is thrown off balance. The bird population decreases, the insect population increases, more pesticides are used and remaining wildlife is poisoned. The impact of large-scale operations on local economies is brutal as well. Shade grown labels mean trees remain for habitat. Organic farming methods mean the food is better for your body, but it's also better for the environment as well. Fair trade practices cut out the middle man and help ensure people are paid fairly for their labour.

Another choice I'll make in the future is to buy 100% recycled paper and paper labelled 'fsc' when possible. To earn the Forest Certified Council certification companies must also involve local communities and Aboriginal Peoples in the development of forest management plans, and respect their rights and beliefs. FSC is the only forest certification standard supported by organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund of Canada, Sierra Club of Canada and Greenpeace.

You can sign this petition to 'Save Our Boreal Birds' online
or visit the Canadian Wildlife Federation website Wild About Gardening for tips on badkyard habitat creation and certification.