Blends/Multiple

Birds and other biodiversity / Blends/Multiple / Coffee reviews

New orchid species named for coffee company

puro-orchid-1A new species of orchid, Teagueia puroana, was discovered in central Ecuador in the eastern Andes, and named for the Puro Coffee company.

I was once active in orchid growing and writing for the American Orchid Society, so when I read about an orchid discovered with a coffee connection, I was naturally interested. This orchid was discovered in 2002 in the Cerro Candelaria Reserve, a nearly 3000-ha area protected through a partnership between FundaciÁ³n EcoMinga and the World Land Trust.  Since 2005 when the brand was launched, Puro Coffee, the Fairtrade coffee brand of Belgium-based Miko Coffee, has contributed 2% of the retail price from each bag of coffee sold to the World Land Trust for the protection of rainforest. To date, this funding has helped purchase over 3200 ha in Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Borneo, and Guatemala. In honor of this support, the new orchid species was named Teagueia puroana. The official description of this new species was published in 2011 along with another new Teagueia species in the journal Lankesteriana.

Teagueia is a genus in the orchid subtribe Pleurothallidinae, a group of mostly miniature New World orchids usually found at high elevations. Despite their small size and specific, fussy cultural demands, Pleurothallids are popular with orchid aficionados for their fragile and delicate beauty. Until recently, only six species of Teagueia were known. Now over two dozen species have been discovered (along with new representatives of other orchid genera) all in the same Rio Pastaza watershed, many on Cerro Candelaria. The effort to map the distribution of orchids in this region was spearheaded by botanist Lou Jost.

After the discovery of the Teagueia on Cerro Candelaria, Jost and some of his colleagues founded FundaciÁ³n EcoMinga, and obtained funding through the World Land Trust to establish the preserve. So far, Cerro Candelaria is the only place T. puroana has been found. It lives on the stunted trees in the alpine grasslands known as pÁ¡ramo at 3700 meters. While some of the new Teagueia are abundant as creeping ephiphytes on low vegetation and mosses on different nearby mountains, T. puroana is very rare, with only a few plants located despite much searching.

While this is the first orchid I have heard of named for a coffee brand, orchids are often important components of shade coffee farms, and shade coffee farms can be important refugia for orchids.

puro-miko-logosMore on the coffee

Miko Coffee, part of the Miko Group, was founded as a grocery business in 1801, with coffee roasting becoming its main business around 1900 (plastic food packaging is the other main activity of the Miko Group). Miko coffee primarily focuses on the  “out of the house” market, providing beans, equipment, and related products for food service, restaurant, and office coffee in over 20 countries, mostly in Europe and Asia. Retail coffee is a relatively small portion of their business, and Puro Coffee is their Fairtrade and FT/organic/ethically-sourced brand.

Puro offers three different blends. The current compositions are given below, but they sometimes change. Puro provides updates on their web site, so you know what you are getting.

  • Puro Organic, certified organic and Fairtrade. Currently sourced from Peru (CEPICAFE) and Honduras (COSAGUAL and COCAFCAL).
  • Puro Noble, certified organic and Fairtrade; 80% arabica, 20% robusta. Currently sourced from Peru (CEPROAP), Honduras (COAGRICSAL and COPROCAEL), Guatemala (FEDECOCAQUA), and Congo (CDI Bwamanda). Also available in decaf.
  • Puro Fuerte, certified Fairtrade; 50% arabica, 50% robusta. Same sources as Noble.

We tried all three coffees, provided to us by Puro. Our expectations were not sky-high, as we most often drink single origins and find the more generic blends nice but not as interesting (especially to the more jaded panel members).  We were pleasantly surprised.

3.5motmotThe Organic blend was everybody’s favorite. Two adjectives were mentioned by nearly all reviewers: “smooth” and “milk chocolate.” Soft and creamy also came up. Personally, I usually don’t like Peruvian coffees too much, because the catimor variety is commonly grown there and I find I seem to be able to taste the chemical flavor of the robusta heritage. CEPICAFE, however, grows 95% typica, and the sweetness came through. When prepared in a Clever Coffee Dripper, we additionally found an initial hit of cinnamon and spice which we also enjoyed. Overall, this coffee earned 3.5 motmots.

3newmotWe approached the Noble with some trepidation due to its robusta content. We were all surprised we could not detect any hint of rubbery, chemical flavor familiar to us from other robusta offerings we’ve tried, and least when the coffee was fresh and hot. The flavor deteriorated a little bit as it cooled. Overall, we found it very similar to the Organic blend, just not as bright. This lack of some liveliness and the flavor change when cool dipped the score to 3 motmots.

2newmot75Upping the robusta content to 50% was clearly the tipping point for us, as nobody was really enthusiastic about the Fuerte blend. I’m really not sure exactly what was going on here, as some of the flavors our more experienced tasters were finding seemed beyond the usual bold, rubbery type of flavor that is a more normal characteristic of robustas. In a French press in particular, it seemed dirty and oddly astringent, with a most peculiar flavor/aroma that reminded me of rubbing alcohol. Not sure what might have caused this. Medicinal flavors can come from over-fermented beans; perhaps this batch may have had some bad beans in it, as it seemed at odds with what must be a really well-processed robusta from the CDI Bwanmanda group in Congo. Some grocery-store-coffee drinkers we dragged into this panel didn’t really detect these flavors; perhaps it might also be more suitable for an espresso prep than a drip. This blend ended up with 2 motmots.

Right now, Puro Coffee does not have a U.S. distributor, but a new web site for online purchases is being rolled out in multiple languages: Puro at Home. Their U.S. brand home page has an almost overwhelming amount of information. The Puro blog is an especially good source of information on their rainforest and habitat projects (e.g., cool moths and beetles in Brazil, giant monkey-eating eagles in Ecuador). There is also an entire page with links to the many short videos they’ve created on their coffee, rainforest projects, social initiatives, partnerships, and worldwide clients.

I have found that some coffee companies that support a cause as strongly as Puro Coffee does the World Land Trust tend to focus more on the cause than the coffee. Puro is certainly an exception to this: very committed to the cause of conserving rainforest and sustainably-grown coffee, and very satisfying coffee as well.

Jost, L., and Shepard, A. 2011. Two new species of Teagueia (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) from east-central Ecuador. Lankesteriana 11(1): 9-14.
Photo courtesy of Puro Coffee. All rights reserved.

Blends/Multiple / Coffee reviews / Latin America

Coffee review: Arbor Day blend

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #41.

Introduction
The Arbor Day Foundation‘s mission is to “inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees.”  The first tree-planting holiday, dubbed Arbor Day, took place in Nebraska in 1872. The last Friday in April — today — is National Arbor Day in the United States, celebrated with various tree planting activities.

One of the Arbor Day Foundation’s projects is Rain Forest Rescue, which has supported development of a conservation plan and land purchases in forested areas of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Related to that effort, the organization sells Arbor Day Specialty coffee. In addition to bags ranging from ten ounces to five pounds, various samplers and gift boxes and a coffee club of two bags of coffee a month are also available.

Coffees
The regular offerings are the Arbor Day blend (medium roast), an Italian dark roast, and two flavored varieties (hazelnut and a cinnamon hazelnut). The medium roast Arbor Day blend is also available in decaf through the coffee club. There is currently a limited edition Colombian from Mesa de los Santos which I won’t go into here; I wrote about this Smithsonian Bird-Friendly and Rainforest Alliance certified origin in a previous post.

Aside from the limited edition coffee, there is no further information about the the origins of the Arbor Day selections on the web site. However, I was told that Arbor Day sources from Fair Trade co-ops in Mexico depending on availability: ISMAM and Nubes de Oro.

ISMAM (Indigenas de la Sierra Madre de Motozintla) is a cooperative with nearly 2,000 members of Mayan heritage, growing coffee on 9,700 ha of land, mostly on plots of less than 5 ha. It is based in Tapachula, Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border, and all members have received organic certification. Coffee is grown between 800 and 1600 meters (other sources I’ve seen give the altitude at 1,100 meters; the lowest elevations are robusta coffee, not included in this blend), and is the arabica varieties typica and bourbon.

ISMAM-grown coffee is touted as shade grown. One larger ISMAM farm, the 200 ha Finca Belen, is  Smithsonian Bird-Friendly certified. It’s a farm where Smithsonian researchers have done a number of studies on shade coffee and biodiversity. It’s not possible to determine how much, if any, of the Arbor Day coffee comes from this particular farm. Shade management across 2,000 farms will certainly vary.

Nubes de Oro is also a Chiapas cooperative, located near the El Triunfo Biosphere reserve (see this Starbucks review for more info) and headquartered in Mapastepec. There are over 400 members. As with ISMAM, Nubes de Oro grows typica and bourbon, and the altitude ranges from 900 to 1300 meters. This cooperative is also listed as Smithsonian Bird-Friendly certified, although the certification may involve only some of the members.

The Arbor Day coffees are roasted by The Roasterie in Kansas City — a really good specialty roaster, not some big anonymous commercial roaster, which I think is great.

Review
We reviewed the Arbor Day Blend in both regular and decaf. When I received the coffee, the Fair Trade certified label was prominently displayed, but I had to search for the organic seal. Curious.  Anyway, as advertised this was a medium roast, with most beans showing a sheen of oil, and some with blobs of oil.  There was no roast date on the package (which was not a valve bag), but when hot water hit the freshly ground coffee it did have a decent bloom.

In the French press, this coffee was pleasant, but did not have the acidity we may have expected from a Mexican coffee, especially from Chiapas. Some chocolate notes were there, but more people commented on flavors tending toward nutty or earthy. Several people thought it was sharp, slightly bitter, or better with milk.

Brewed, this harshness was gone for the most part, but it was still not as lively as we would have liked. To be fair, this is in all likelihood, given the season, the end of last year’s crop and therefore would be more apt to be a little dull. One taster said that it didn’t knock his socks off (actually, I think he said “my socks stayed on when I tried it.”). But, he said that didn’t mean it was bad — just a decent cup of coffee. It was just what you’d expect from this origin, balanced, not really complex, a good everyday cup.

I don’t drink much decaf, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the decaf version. I thought it was better than the regular — a little smoother, without the sharp notes, even in the French press. It had no “off” taste, but was a little weaker than the regular, even when we experimented with grind and brew times. Had I been served this, I would not have known it was decaf.  Overall, these coffees scored 2.75 motmots.

For those seeking decently-sourced, organic, Fair Trade, and generally shade grown coffee — especially by subscription — I’d say to certainly give the Arbor Day coffees a try. In particular I think the average American coffee drinker, who is used to darker roasts or coffee shop coffees, would be pretty pleased with this.

And on this Arbor Day, consider planting some trees. If you order from the Arbor Day Foundation, you will be directed to select trees that will grow in your region. I implore you to make sure to select species that are native to your area. Arbor Day sells a lot of species that are not native to North America, including a few that are considered invasive in some regions. Using native species is really important to keep ecosystems functioning normally — and it will help the same migratory birds than benefit from your choice of shade grown coffee!

Blends/Multiple / Coffee reviews

Coffee review: BuyWell International Fair Trade Organic coffees

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #40.

BuyWell is a relative new-comer to the sustainable coffee arena, established in Colorado Springs in fall 2007. They focus exclusively on certified organic, Fair Trade coffees. BuyWell purchases Green-e certified renewable energy certificates from 3Degrees
to offset 100% of the electricity used for their entire operation. Further, they support a number of coffee-related charities such as Coffee Kids, Cafe Femenino, and Roots and Wings International.

Roots and Wings was a new one for me — a secular organization working to provide university scholarships in southwest Guatemala. I was impressed with this program; please visit their web site for more on what they do and how you can make a direct donation. You can also do it through coffee purchases: BuyWell donates $3 per bag of coffee sold online when customers type ”RootsAndWings” in the coupon/promotion code.

We tried out several of their coffees.

Nicaragua Picaflor — These beans come from the 100-plus-member Cooperativa 5 de junio, in the the Las Sabanas region of Madriz department (a.k.a., Segovias coffee-growing area), in northern Nicaragua. The coop is part of a larger farmers association,  Aldea Global (AssociaciÁ³n Aldea Global Jinotega), which practices sustainable agriculture and has other Fair Trade products.

In 2006, Cooperativa 5 de junio scored an 84.46 in the Cup of Excellence competition. They grow mostly Caturra and Maracatu at 1200 to 1400 m in “extensive shade.” (Maracatu is a Caturra x Maragogype hybrid.)

The Picaflor is billed as a light roast. I was really pleased to see that “light” meant “light” for BuyWell. A gentle roast is often best for these more delicate Central American beans. A nearly unanimous flavor reported by tasters was “caramel”. There was also some citrus when piping hot, leaning towards orange for one taster. It had a silky mouthfeel, and was my personal favorite of the three coffees. 3.25 motmots.

Guatemala Fuego — These beans are sourced from the NahualÁ¡ cooperative (Cooperativa de Servicios Varios Nahuala) in the Quetzaltenango region of southwest Guatemala near the city of Pasac. Ninety percent of the 126 members are organic, and they also produce organic bananas and honey. The members have been working on a riparian reforestation project as well. The coffee varieties Catuai, Bourbon, and Caturra are grown at 1200 to 1500 m.

This was a medium roast — not too dark for a Central. It had an interesting aroma, which reminded me of American Robins (I know this is odd, but remember, I’m a bird bander, and I’ve handled tens of thousands of birds…some do have distinctive odors), sort of organic and leafy. Having made this rather esoteric comment aloud, a coworker actually agreed with me, in a more generic way: “Yeah, like the apartment I shared with Dale and Edgar the Crow. Sometimes we’d take in a starling or two.” Okay, strange descriptions of what are actually nice smells aside, we also had some consensus on taste, with three people volunteering they got a subtle cherry flavor. Nutty was also mentioned more than once. It had a creamy mouthfeel, also described as “round” and “smooth.” 3 motmots.

Sumatra Canopy — The Canopy coffee is from the Gayo Organic Coffee Farmers Association (Persatuan Petani Kopi Gayo Organik, or PPKGO) near Takengon in Aceh province, Sumatra. This is a big co-op, with nearly 2000 members, and all are organic. The farms are located at between 1100 and 1500 m in the buffer zone to Gunung Leuser National Park. Shade grown coffee in Sumatra is especially important because illegal logging threatens remaining forests, including those in protected areas. The demand for timber has been particularly acute since the 2004 tsunami. PPKGO grows a number of varieties of coffee: Bergendal (they typica variety most often grown in Sumatra), Sidikalang (I presume this is another typica cultivar from the named region near Lake Toba), and the hybrids Catimor and Caturra.

This was a medium-dark roast. It’s been awhile since we’ve reviewed a dark roast, and a long while since we’ve done an Indonesian coffee. The origin was instantly recognizable earth (one person specified loam), leather, pepper or spice, and resin. I liked it much more than I expected I would, given that this isn’t my favorite flavor profile. But the roast was handled correctly, so the characteristic Sumatran taste came through without being all about a “rich” or burnt taste. The score of 2.75 motmots in part reflects one taster who just couldn’t come to grips with an Indonesian coffee; she described it as tasting like “those little hard sesame breadsticks.” I’m going to temper that comment by saying that this coffee will please anybody who does like Indonesian coffees, as it’s probably one of the most approachable I’ve had.

Overall, I was pleased with BuyWell’s selections, the information on their web site, and their commitment to sustainability in their business practices. I was also impressed with the way their roaster handled each bean. I think sometimes working with beans from co-ops, which are likely to vary in quality because they come from so many producers, leads some roasters to over-roast to cover up or even out the impact of the lowest-quality beans. I thought BuyWell honored the origin and the bean and did a really nice job.

You can also check out BuyWell’s blog, Screaming Monkey.

Blends/Multiple / Coffee reviews

Coffee review: Counter Culture Coffee Finca Nueva Armenia

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #39.

We did a quick take on Counter Culture’s Finca Nueva Armenia a couple of years ago, as it was used in their Sanctuary shade-grown coffee line. We liked it then, we like it now.

This certified organic selection from the Huehuetenango region in Guatemala is now one of Counter Culture Direct Trade Certified coffees. FNA was founded in the late 1800s. The current owners, the Recinos family, have had it since the 1940s and are now in the fourth generation of coffee farming. The farm went organic in the 1990s — one of the first organic farms in the country.

Coffee grows under multi-tiered shade with 50 species of shade trees recorded on the farm. The farm was very recently qualified for Smithsonian Bird-Friendly status. This is significant, as the farm is quite large — 113 ha. FNA grows mostly bourbon and typica varieties, at 1500 to 1833 m (click on this map for a satellite image).

As a family-owned farm, Finca Neuva Armenia doesn’t qualify for Fair Trade certification, which only covers small farmers that are part of a cooperative. But the Recinos family pays their workers 30% more than surrounding farms during the harvest, including even better rates at the end of the harvest when the per-person picking yield drops, in order to encourage picking for quality as opposed to quantity. And the Counter Culture Direct Trade program pays farmers well above Fair Trade prices.

On the package, this is described as a “classic breakfast coffee. It is certainly that — very well-balanced, light-bodied, the last drop tasting as good as the first without turning bitter in the cup. It was gently sweet, with milk chocolate tones and a short finish. But it is what I like to call a “classic ++”, as there were just these hints of other flavors that made it stand out from the typical classic Central American profile. For several tasters, there was an apple or apricot aspect. One person thought it was “spicy”, but another put his finger tongue on it with “cinnamon”. For me there was also a spicy/savory aroma and flavor, especially when the coffee was prepared as a pour-over or French press, that I really liked. I found myself chasing after that taste in sip after sip. I was never able to describe it more specifically, but sure enjoyed trying! It averaged out at 3.75 motmots; my score is just over 4 motmots.

If you are looking for a really great quality, super-tasting, affordable coffee that is farmed under the most stringent environmental criteria — this is it!