Monday, May 03, 2004


let's say no to supercoffee

"two years of research was aimed at helping brazil produce more productive types of coffee as well as a 'super-coffee' of higher quality."

we coffee lovers really have to send some top-flight shrinks to brazil -- because those government agronomists need to have their heads examined. as if the world requires more coffee?

have the brazilians suddenly forgotten the four-year-old world-price depression known as the coffee crisis, which is due to massive oversupply? the crisis is harming the quality of coffee available to us coffee drinkers, as long-time readers well know.

further, any new weird g.m.o. types of coffee will probably not do well in the specialty market. devoted readers can check out the comments recently where a noted coffee importer/broker (a.k.a. "greenie") expresses the industry's feeling all too well. . . .

the widespread belief of all expert cuppers is that the heirloom varieties of coffee -- the ones with the oldest, "most original" coffee genetics -- make for the best beans, if they are properly grown and treated with care.

recently i received an email from the adorable peter g. of counterculture about some estate coffee from huehuetenango, the certified organic crop from the prize-winning finca nueva armenia. peter was wild about this coffee.

and one of its attributes, besides its floral honey notes, was the fact it came from old trees of the bourbon variety.

coffee is like any other fruit after all; heirloom or "antique variety" apples and tomatoes are now widely understood to be special, unique, desirable: to frankly just taste better. why would coffee be any different?

and this is why, dear readers, as an average coffee lover, you so often find me discoursing on subjects like this that at first seem abstruse, far removed from our coffee-enjoying experience! because we love coffee and deserve to drink only the best, we sometimes have to dip a toe into these waters. . .

this is also why i have lately become so interested in coffee labelling. when you go to your local, preferably scaa-member, independent neighborhood roaster/retailer or coffeehouse to buy beans, the labels rarely tell us information we want to know.

often labels just say "guatemala" or "kenya" and maybe a certification if it's bird-friendly or organic. but they really should give us roast dates; crop information; estate, co-op, or even a washing-station name; full grading information; variety name. . .all that.

in short, it really is in our interest as coffee drinkers if we urge the professionals to begin to label coffee like wine. . . and it's in the pros' interest too.

it's another thing that allows them to differentiate themselves from other stores, from the mermaid, something that shows how their shop is devoted to coffee of the highest quality.

posted by fortune | 10:27 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments