Coffee regions

Coffee regions / Coffee reviews / Indo-Pacific

Review: Caffe Vita YUS (PNG)

When you think of endangered species, I’ll bet you don’t think about Matschie’s Tree Kangaroos. Tree kangaroos and coffee also make an unlikely pairing. But I’m here to tell you that Seattle-based Caffe Vita has brought them together. We’ll start with the ‘roo.

A kangaroo…

Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei) is one of about 10 species of tree kangaroo, most of which are found in Papua New Guinea. The Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo is only found on PNG’s Huon Peninsula, located in Morobe Province in the northeastern part of the island. Matschie’s Tree Kangaroos live in cloud forests, and look nothing like the upright, savannah-bounding Australian animals with which they share a name. These arboreal animals more resemble red pandas, although like more conventional kangaroos they do raise young in pouches and have impressive leaping abilities. They weigh about 10 kg and eat mostly leaves.

A conservation area…

In 1996, Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo started a tree kangaroo conservation program focusing on the Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo. From the start, they took a community-based approach to the preservation of the tree kangaroo habitat. A major accomplishment was the establishment of the 76,000 ha YUS Conservation Area — named for the three primary rivers in the Huon Peninsula: the Yopno, Uruwa and Som. In addition to Matschie’s Tree Kangaroos, this area, of course, preserves many other species including several incredible endemic birds-of-paradise: the Huon Astrapia (Astrapia rothschildi), Wahnes’s Parotia (Parotia wahnesi), and the Emperor Bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea guilielmi) — some of the most truly spectacular birds in the entire world.

In an arrangement similar to that of biosphere reserves, the  conservation area has a core protected area and buffer zones that allow for mixed, environmentally-friendly uses. One of these sustainable management strategies for local communities (there are nearly three dozen villages in the area) was coffee growing. Only about 6% of PNG’s coffee comes from Morobe Province. The YUS area is remote and very rugged, with no road access, and getting coffee to market is an enormous challenge. And it’s not like these farmers are in a place where the some equivalent of a local county extension agent can drop by and give some agricultural assistance. Thus, in 2010, the Zoo’s conservation program worked to provide technical training for over 300 YUS coffee farmers.

A coffee roaster…

Zoo program personnel knew a direct relationship with a stateside roaster would be a strong step in the right direction, so they approached Caffe Vita, a roaster with six locations in the Seattle area. In early 2011, Caffe Vita introduced a Zoo Special Reserve coffee to support the Woodland Park Zoo. Although currently sourced from Guatemala, it is organic and Rainforest Alliance certified, and $1 a bag goes to Zoo conservation efforts.

Green coffee samples from YUS farmers were brought to Caffe Vita to roast and evaluate. Green coffee buyer Daniel Shewmaker could tell there was potential. In the summer of 2011, encouraged by improvements to new samples he tasted, Shewmaker visited YUS. Abandoned coffee plots have been renewed and tended. He worked with farmers on improving drying methods and separating lots by elevation. He agreed to buy 22 bags. The coffee arrived in the U.S. in December, 2011, and in February, the coffee was made available to the public.

And the coffee

The YUS farmers are growing bourbon, typica, Mundo Novo, and Arusha varietals at 1200 to 1500 m.  While not certified organic, no chemicals are used; as you might imagine, if coffee is so difficult to get out of the area, any synthetic or commercially-produced inputs are just as hard to get in. The photo taken during a Caffe Vita visit shows the shade trees over the coffee shrubs.

Caffe Vita describes this coffee as “mellow and honey-like, with flavors of toasted hazelnut, orange zest, guava, and sugarcane.” We found the coffee to start out with a very slightly wild flavor, reminiscent of a Sumatran; one person described it as a spicy note. Brown sugar and caramel was mentioned several times from our panel, and nutty also came up more than once. One taster remarked upon enjoying a savory undertone as the coffee cooled. Nearly unanimous was the opinion that the YUS was very clean and smooth.  The panel gave it an average of 3.5 motmots, with many giving it 3.75.

PNG is one of my favorite origins, in part because I never know exactly what to expect. Those of us that drink PNG coffees fairly regularly were very impressed with this coffee, especially given its history. We didn’t find it extremely unique or mind-blowing, but it absolutely was as good as any other specialty PNG we had tasted in the past, and better than a hell of a lot of them. These farmers, in the short time they have had to work with Caffe Vita on upgrading and improving their growing and processing methods, came up with a perfectly clean coffee. We detected no baggy notes, a concern Shewmaker had given elevated moisture levels in earlier samples. A coffee this good so early in the game has no place to go but up, and I’m really looking forward to future crops. It’s available at Caffe Vita locations and online.

This coffee and conservation story is remarkable in many ways. In my line of work I see plenty of preservation efforts and cross-disciplinary partnerships. Many aren’t very long-lived or successful, and few are as encouraging, inclusive, and transparent as the work undertaken by the Woodland Park Zoo. Please take a look at the conservation program’s web site; in particular I encourage you to download some of their excellent, informative annual reports. Caffe Vita’s commitment to helping these efforts in so many meaningful ways is a model for what other coffee roasters can achieve by taking sustainability to heart. The only thing missing is you.

More info:

  • Short video about the coffee and project from the Woodland Park Zoo – 2.5 minutes and very cool.
  • Journey to a Papuan Paradise – great article from National Wildlife magazine about the Huon Peninsula, the tree kangaroo projects, and stunning photos of birds-of-paradise.
  • Capacity Building, Coffee, & Conservation Through the Woodland Park Zoo – National Geographic News Watch.

Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo photo by Tim Laman and map from the Woodland Park Zoo Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program media kit. Shade coffee photo by Caffe Vita on Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Coffee regions / Research on coffee growing

Research: Puerto Rican shade coffee and biodiversity

Shade-grown coffee in Puerto Rico: Opportunities to preserve biodiversity while reinvigorating a struggling agricultural commodity. Borkhataria, Collazo, Groom, and Jordan-Garcia. 2012. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment.

Even though coffee was first planted in Puerto Rico in 1736, we don’t hear much about it. In part, this is because much of the coffee grown there is consumed there. Still, coffee was PR’s major crop in the early 1800s, but hurricanes, high labor costs, low yields and other problems diminished its importance. Government support has been largely responsible for its persistence, and this included recommendations to increase yield by converting to sun coffee in the late 1980s, with any “shade” farms directed to use widely spaced trees and total shade not exceeding 30%. According to agricultural statistics summarized in the first paper noted above, there were 15,144 ha of coffee in PR in 2007 on over 5,600 farms which averaged 20 ha.  Over 69% of this land was characterized as sun coffee.

Authors also surveyed a random sample of 100 coffee farmers (nearly all of which answered the questions regarding shade). A third of the farmers considered their coffee shade coffee, and another 21% said they had both shade and sun coffee. However, when evaluated by the surveyors, the actual number of farms that could be considered traditional or polyculture shade was only 8%. This points out the clear problem of a lack of an agreed-upon definition of “shade”!

Most PR coffee farmers receive some sort of governmental assistance, often in the form of fertilizers. One farmer interviewed said he preferred to grow under shade, but grew a few hectares of coffee in sun in order to have access to incentives. About 70% of the farmers said they’d be willing to plant shade trees if they were encouraged by the government and if shade trees were provided to them.

The authors recommended government practices which would help promote production that protected biodiversity, took advantage of markets that favored sustainable agriculture, and made incentives were more available to farmers wishing to grow shade coffee.

Borkhataria, R., Collazo, J., Groom, M., & Jordan-Garcia, A. (2012). Shade-grown coffee in Puerto Rico: Opportunities to preserve biodiversity while reinvigorating a struggling agricultural commodity Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 149, 164-170 DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2010.12.023

Coffee regions / Research on coffee growing

The curse of the spud

“Potato taint” in African coffees

Some East African coffees, especially those from Rwanda, but also Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Kenya, are afflicted by the strong flavor of potato peels, not a desirable taste in coffee.  This defect is said to be ultimately caused by one of the pyrazine chemical compounds. How do coffee beans end up with this chemical? The prevailing theory is that coffee cherries are damaged by insects, most notably several species of stink bugs. The damage facilitates contamination of the cherry, which leads to formation of the potato taint compounds.

The connection between the bugs and the taint are not completely understood. Let’s take a super-geeky look at what we know about the bugs — which, whether they cause the potato defect or not, do a lot of damage to coffee cherries — and how they might be responsible for the potato taint.

Bugs that make a stink

The insects that cause damage to coffee cherries in East Africa that are usually associated with potato taint are in the order Hemiptera, the true bugs.  This order includes various bugs that suck plant juices, including cicadas, leafhoppers, aphids, scale insects, shield or stink bugs, and many others.  The stink bugs that are coffee pests are collectively called “Antestia bugs,” after their former generic name (many species in the genus Antestia have been reclassified under another genus, Antestiopsis). Two primary culprits are Antestiopsis orbitalis (formerly Antestia lineaticollis) and Antestiopsis intricata.

A. orbitalis (above right) is a colorful bug about 7 mm long. Various subspecies have slightly different patterns.  This and related species that also attack coffee have similar life histories; for the sake of simplicity I’ll refer to them collectively as variegated coffee bugs. Some species are found in India and southeast Asia. We’ll focus on the ones usually found in Africa.

Three variegated coffee bugs on coffee in Burundi. Photo by Tim Hill of Counter Culture Coffee.

Variegated coffee bugs can complete four generations a year, and reproduce best at temperatures between 19 and 24 degrees C (66-75 F) and humidity between 35-50%.  Eggs are laid on the undersides of leaves. The young are called nymphs, and are similar, but smaller, than the adults. Average life span is three to four months. Like all Hemipterans, variegated coffee bugs have piercing mouthparts adapted to sucking plant juices. Arabica coffee (rarely robusta) is the preferred host, but other plants in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) are also used. Variegated coffee bugs feed on shoots and leaves (causing damage and bud drop) but primarily on unripe coffee cherries.

Not only does this type of feeding itself cause physical damage to the cherry, but fungi (yeast) in the genus Nematospora (N. [=Eremothecium] coryli and N. [=Ashbya] gossypii) can secondarily infect the cherry. Nematospora fungi are not specific to coffee, but when these two species infect coffee, it’s usually called coffee bean rot. The fungi only cause rot in unripe (green) cherries.

It’s believed that the bugs are vectors of the fungi;  that is,the bugs carry the spores and the fungi are dependent on the bugs (though not variegated coffee bugs exclusively) for dispersal. There is some dispute over whether the spores are present internally in the bugs and thus inoculated into plants, or if they are present on the surface of the bugs. Not all cherries pierced by the bugs become infected. It could be that the fungal spores are not present in/on all bugs, or that if they are present internally, they may be too large to pass through the mouthparts of younger (smaller) individuals.

Physical damage to the coffee cherry and the associated rot cause significant losses (up to 45%) on coffee farms infested with variegated coffee bugs. Do these bugs also cause potato taint?

Chemicals that make a stink

A number of chemical compounds produce potato-like odors. The most notable is a methoxypyrazine: 2-methoxy 3-isopropylpyrazine (or “MIPP”*). The odor threshold of MIPP is very low, so it’s easily detected in very small quantities. MIPP has been found in nature in some plants and higher organisms. Various pyrazines can be synthesized chemically and biologically, and MIPP has been produced by cultures of at least one bacteria, Pseudomonas perolens.

Other Pseudomonas cultures also have potato odors. This group of bacteria are free-living, and widely found in soil and water (at least one strain infects the leaves of coffee trees). Several other bacteria, such as some strains of Serratia and Cedecea, produce potato-like odors that are the result of a combination of pyrazine compounds.

Despite my access to vast quantities of scientific literature, I was surprised to find virtually no published research on the chemical processes of coffee bean rot. Does it produce MIPP or a similar compound with a potato odor? If other bacteria are involved in the potato defect, are they connected in some way to the fungal infection that is typically introduced by variegated coffee bugs? Where to the bacteria come from?

One very interesting clue comes from Tim Hill, of Counter Culture Coffee, who provided the photo above left. He said that the potato odor was apparent in the air during a rainstorm in Burundi. This is suggestive that a/the taint-producing bacteria may be present in the soil. While I have been unable to pin down the range of Pseudomonas perolens, there are nearly 200 species of this bacteria worldwide. I have to wonder why the potato defect is largely (exclusively?) considered an East African problem and why it has been historically linked to variegated potato bugs, but not, for instance, coffee berry borers which also penetrate the green cherry. The borers and Pseudomonas are fairly ubiquitous in  coffee-growing nations. It seems to me that there must be a link between the variegated coffee bugs and a bacteria that facilitate the production of stinky pyrazine compounds.

Bringing us to this compelling clue: MIPP (usually going by its synonym IPMP*), is found in some grapes and contributes to pleasant flavors in wines in small amounts, but at higher levels is associated with the off-flavor known as “ladybug taint.”  The ladybugs (Asian multicolored lady beetles, Harmonia axyridis, the non-native species that can be a household pest) do not actually attack or harm the grapes. IPMP is part of the chemical make-up of the ladybugs, and when the insects get mixed in and processed with the grapes, the taint occurs in the wine.

IPMP is present in lots of ladybug species, and many other insects that are “aposematic” — those possessing some kind of warning signal to potential predators. Usually, this is some sort of bright coloration, very often red and black. I have not seen any variegated coffee bugs or close relatives on lists of insects that have been confirmed to have any pyrazines, but their colorful patterns are consistent with other aposematic insects, and some other Hemiptera are classified as aposematic. Recall this group of bugs is known as “stink bugs.”  This is precisely because most have the ability to release a nasty chemical when molested. So further exploration of the chemical make-up of variegated stink bugs surely seems a promising avenue of research.

However these compounds end up in the coffee cherry, they end up altering the bean, which itself does not show damage. (This fact — that the damaged cherries must be identified and discarded prior to processing, after which they cannot be detected until the coffee is roasted or ground — is what makes this defect so frustrating.)

Recent news out of the University of California, Riverside announced that one of their entomologists was going to Rwanda to help solve the mystery of the potato defect. That item said, “there is no definitive link between potato taste and antestia bug, only hypotheses.” While the research I’ve cited (see below) is not very current, the dots seem to be connected right up to the end point of why and how MIPP or a similar compound is produced.

The battle of the bug

Given the fact that one way or another, variegated coffee bugs are pests of coffee, control methods for them will continue to be important. Fungicides do not control the type of infection caused by Nematospora, given that the fungi are introduced within the coffee cherry. Small infestations of the bugs can been battled with hand-picking. Since the bugs like dense foliage, pruning is often recommended. In the long run, both natural and synthetic pyrethrum insecticides have proven ineffective in many cases. The bugs have typically been controlled with multiple applications of pesticides, usually fenitrothion, chlorpyrifos, malathion, trichlorfon, and diflubenzuron. All but the last are organophosphate pesticides that are especially dangerous (to humans and the environment) when not applied according to instructions with full protection, which is often not the case in less-developed nations.

Fortunately, because they are native to East Africa, variegated coffee bugs do have many natural enemies which may be exploited for biocontrol; they are especially vulnerable to a number of native parasitic wasps that attack the eggs. With persistence and luck, reliable biological and cultural control of variegated coffee bugs will hopefully be developed.

As the Rwandan and Burundian specialty coffee sectors grow, the urgency to defeat the potato taint will grow. I’ll be following any progress and research on the exact mechanisms of potato taint and any methods of control and detection that emerge.

Photo of Antestiopsis orbitalis by Lambert Smith, used with permission.

*This compound has several synonyms: 2-Isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, 3-Isopropyl-2-methoxypyrazine, or IPMP. The CAS Registry number is 25773-40-4.

Further reading:

    • Cheng, T.-B., G. A. Reineccius, J. A. Bjorklund, and E. Leete. 1991. Biosynthesis of 2-methoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine in Pseudomonas perolens. J. Agric. Food Chem. 39:1009-1012.
    • Cilas, C., B. Bouyjou, and B. Decazy. 1998. Frequency and distribution of Antestiopsis orbitalis Westwood (Hem., Pentatomidae) in coffee plantations in Burundi: implications for sampling techniques. Journal of Applied Entomology. 122:601-606.
    • Crowe, T.J., G.D.G. Jones, and R. Williamson. 1961. The use of pyrethrum formulations to control Antestiopsis on coffee in East Africa. Bulletin of Entomological Research. 52:31-41.
    • Greathead, D.J. 1966. A taxonomic study of the species of Antestiopsis (Hemipteea, Pentatomidae) associated with Coffea arabica in Africa. Bulletin of Entomological Research. 56:515-554.
    • Kirkpatrick, T. W. 1937. Studies on the ecology of coffee plantations in East Africa. II. the autecology of Antestia Spp. (pentatomidae) with a particular account of a Strepsipterous parasite. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 86:247-343.
    • Le Pelley, R.H. 1932. On the control of Antestia Lineaticollis, Stal (Hem., Pentatom.) on Coffee in Kenya Colony. 1932. Bulletin of Entomological Research. 23:217-228.
    • Le Pelley, R.H. 1942. The food and feeding habits of Antestia in Kenya. Bulletin of Entomological Research. 33:71-89.
    • McNutt, D.N. 1979. Control of Antestiopsis spp. on coffee in Uganda. Tropical Pest Management. 25:5-15.
    • Mehrotra, R. S., and Aggarwhal, A. 2003. Plant Pathology, 2nd Ed. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.
    • van der Meulen, H.J., and A.S. Schoeman. 1990. Aspects of the phenology and ecology of the antestia stink bug, Antestiopsis orbitalis orbitalis (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), a pest of coffee. Phytophylactica. 22:423-426.
    • Mitchell, P.L. 2004. Heteroptera as vectors of plant pathogens. Neotropical Entomology. 33:519-545.
    • Nixon, G.E.J. 1941. New Braconid parasites of Antestia Lineaticollis, Stal, and of Sylepta Derogata, F. Bulletin of Entomological Research. 32:93-101.
    • Pickering, G. J, M. Spink, Y. Kotseridis, D. Inglis, I. D. Brindle, M. Sears, and A. Beh. 2008. Yeast strain affects 3-isopropyl-2-methoxypyrazine concentration and sensory profile in Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research. 14:230-237.

 

Coffee regions

Coffee growing in India

Legend has it that coffee was smuggled into India around 1600, spread around the region by Dutch traders, but not commercially grown until the early 1800s when the British began establishing coffee plantations. Today, India produces approximately 300,000 metric tons of coffee annually; around 30% is arabica, while the rest is mostly robusta. Kents and S795 are two popular arabica varieties grown in India.

Southern India; Western Ghats in pink. Click to enlarge.

Nearly a quarter of the coffee that is exported from India goes to Italy (no doubt largely robusta that is a component in espresso blends). The United States receives only about 1% of India’s coffee exports. Frequently what ones sees offered in the U.S. is “monsooned” coffee — green coffee stored in open warehouses and subjected to wet monsoon wind, simulating ocean-going ship conditions of yore. This hardly represents the many interesting and varied coffees grown in India — and we’ll be reviewing several in a follow-up post. First, let’s take a look at how coffee is grown in India, with an eye towards biodiversity.

Indian coffee growing regions

Nearly 390,000 ha are planted in coffee in India, 70% of which are small farms of less than 10 ha. The vast majority of coffee is grown in the three southern states of Karnataka (71%), Kerala (22%), and Tamil Nadu (5%). Eighty percent of India’s arabica coffee is grown in Karnataka. In this region, arabica coffee is grown at elevations of 1000 to 1500 m, with some production up to 2000 m. Robusta, of course, is grown at lower elevations. Some familiar regional designations are Chikmagalur, Coorg, and Mysore (all in Karnataka), and Madras (Tamil Nadu).

These southern coffee growing regions are in the Western Ghats mountain range, a biodiversity hotspot that runs some 1450 km along India’s southwest coast. Over a third of the region’s 5000 plant species are found no place else on earth. BirdLife International has also designated a Western Ghats Endemic Bird Area, as it has 16 restricted-range species confined to this region. Among them is the engaging little Black-and-rufous Flycatcher (Ficedula nigrorufa), right. This species lives only in the Western Ghats, and can be found in coffee plantations, but only if there is dense undergrowth. Another near-threatened flycatcher endemic to the Western Ghats is the Nilgiri Flycatcher (Eumyias albicaudatus), below right. This bird is declining due to habitat destruction, but it can be found on shaded coffee plantations, and this is important to its conservation.

And I usually don’t mention insect diversity here because it is so under-studied in general in these areas. However, in addition to birds I do a fair amount of insect work, especially with dragonflies and damselflies. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) just released a report, The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in the Western Ghats, India which notes that this area has 174 species of dragonflies and damselflies, 69 of which are endemic. Ten species are of conservation concern,and they, like many other aquatic organisms discussed in the report, are threatened by agricultural pesticides present in the waterways; coffee farms are specifically mentioned. These insects make excellent environmental indicators because of their aquatic and upland life stages that are often tied to specific types of habitat and their sensitivity to water conditions.

Most Indian coffee is shade coffee

Most in coffee in India is grown under shade; pepper and cardamom are frequently planted with coffee as supplemental crops. Not all shade is the same quality. Up to 50 species are used as shade trees, and while they may be comprised of native tree species (various Ficus spp., Syzigium spp., and Artocarpus integrifolia),  increasingly farmers look to supplement their income with fast growing timber species, especially silky oak/silver oak, Grevillea robusta, a tree native to Australia. Various studies

have shown that silver oak is not preferred by birds, and an increase in its use corresponds to a decrease in bird diversity. Some estates severely prune their shade trees, destroying much of the canopy, and it is often timed to coincide with post -harvest — and bird nesting.

Typical arrangement: coffee in the understory, peppercorn vines growing up the trunks of shade trees.

Relatively little coffee grown in India is certified organic. According to the Coffee Board of India, only about 2600 ha of coffee are organic, occurring mostly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. A number of pests and diseases of coffee in India are fought with chemicals, although integrated pest management is also increasingly used. For example, one prominent pest, mostly of arabica, is the white stem borer (Xylotrechus quadripes), a fairly large beetle. Pesticides once popular for control are now banned, but since the beetle likes to lay its eggs in sunny positions, shade trees are a control option, as are pheromone traps in development.

As in Latin America, various studies have indicated that many bird species can be found in shaded coffee farms in India, although the number of species was slightly lower than in forests and the diversity in farms leaned towards those species that were more adaptable, favored more open or disturbed areas, and that did not depend exclusively on a diet of insects.

Coffee plantations in India are often surrounded by native forests or preserves, and insects, birds, and other wildlife can move between and among the forests and coffee farms. This is extremely valuable for conservation, particularly if the farms are using few chemicals and growing coffee under high quality, native shade.

The C&C tasting crew will be dipping in to some Indian coffees in the coming weeks. Look for a post or two with short reviews of a number of coffees representing the variety that India has to offer. I hope doing a series of mini-reviews will inspire American consumers in particular to expand their coffee horizons and seek out some offerings from this interesting origin.

Links to more information:

  • The articles on the I Need Coffee web site written by coffee farmers Dr. Anand Titus and his wife Geeta Pereira include many profusely illustrated posts on all aspects of coffee growing, biodiversity, climate change, and related topics. You can, and perhaps should, spend hours reading through their detailed information.
  • Ecoagriculture is a relatively new site promoting sustainable agriculture, focusing on coffee and tea, in India. Rainforest Alliance and the Sustainable Agriculture Network are part of the initiative, so it includes resources on RA certification. There is also an associated blog.
  • India, through a birder’s eyes (New York Times)
  • Nature Conservation Foundation

My posts on research studying coffee and biodiversity in India:

Rufous-and-black Flycatcher image from Wikimedia Commons; Nilgiri Flycatcher photo by Sandeep Somasekharan; coffee plantation from INeedCoffee/Michael Allen Smith; all under Creative Commons licenses.