Thursday, April 26, 2007


oren gives farmers a bigger raise

in light of yesterday's bit about new ft prices, i happened to hear from oren.

devoted readers know i'm working on his new colombia south huila, and of course -- yay! -- i have some gillies in da house as well.

oren happened to note a few special things about this huila: "g [genevieve felix] goes down there and cups every single lot from every single farmer!!! so, before the parchment coffee is sold by the farmer to anyone, we cup it and grade it."

readers, you may not be intimately familiar with the whole formal cupping process, or the difficulty of travelling to every farmhouse in the remote misty mountains of 3rd world countries, but let me just say that this is pretty arduous on our pal genevieve's part (center, in ethiopia). . .how does she carry electricity for the grinder with her?

does she have a battery-operated coffee grinder? jes' wondering!

"if we like it," oren continues, "we buy it at any one of 4 premiums depending on the cup quality. we pay for quality only."

oren's premiums range from 10% over the new ft prices to as much as 50%. wow!

and unlike the ft situation, where i have always gently wished for more transparency in terms of what the farmers are paid and when, i must say that when i buy oren's coffee, i know.

oren pays cash on the spot: "since we are the end buyer, we can pay the premium directly to the farmer right then and there since there is no question as to how much the coffee will eventually sell for," he explains.

"we have receipts showing exactly how much each farmer was paid for how much coffee of what grade and quality," he concludes. that's crystal-clear, i'd say.

crystal clear. . .for oren's payment and how the coffee comes thru the chemex. this south huila's just a lovely coffee.

i still think my favorite part is the fragrance of the fresh-ground beans. they do have a delightful spicy-floral smell.

must drink more tomorrow!

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posted by fortune | 6:29 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments