Certifications / Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance to certify 10% of coffee exports

Rainforest Alliance (RA) received a seven-year, $12 million grant to increase the number of certified farms in six Latin American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. By the project’s end, RA will have certified 10% of the world’s coffee (they currently certify less than 1%).  The grant comes from the Global Environmental Facility, an independent financial organization established in 1990 by the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Program, and the United Nations Development Program. These entities manage projects that benefit the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities.

Grant funds will go towards increasing production and demand of RA coffees. On the production side, RA indicates it will “provide farmers with the information and tools necessary to improve their management practices and make them more responsible with regards to the environment, workers and communities.”  Plans for increasing demand include encouraging companies to buy and promote RA certified coffee, and arranging media tours of RA certified farms so that consumers realize “their potential roles in fostering the conservation of habitats and quality of life for millions of third-world workers.”

The press release (PDF) as well as a separate project summary put the emphasis on the marketing side.  Elsewhere, there was mention of a research or monitoring component, noting that the “project also plans to monitor and document the impact of coffee plantations on biodiversity.”

Obviously there is no incentive for farmers to produce coffee which is sustainable (under any certification scheme) without sufficient demand. I think it will be very important for third parties to make sure that consumers are clearly educated about what they are supporting when they purchase RA certified coffee — especially versus other certification programs.

Background information

Coffee basics

Coffee & Conservation is all about helping consumers make the right choice when it comes to picking great coffee that is good for the environment.  Coffee reviews are by regular folks using, we hope, understandable language and ordinary techniques.  Still, it seems like it would be helpful to have a post that provides links to definitions of some of our terms, and how-to’s on making coffee.  This is that post!

Roast levels
Coffee retailers use a lot of terms to describe the roast color/level of their coffee.  Many Americans are used to a fairly dark roast (the place isn’t called “Charbucks” for nothin’). Dark roasts can overwhelm the delicate flavors of some beans, or caramelize sugars and lend a hearty smokiness.

Here at C&C, we try to provide the roast level indicated by the retailer, and then describe the color and whether or not oils are present on the surface of the beans.  Here are some guides to roast levels:


Grinding
Grinding is probably the most neglected step in coffee preparation.  Ground coffee gets stale in a hurry, and to really enjoy coffee, you have to have fresh beans that you grind before you make the coffee.  It is the simplest single thing to do to vastly improve your enjoyment of coffee.

Coffee grounds must be uniform at a fineness appropriate to your brewing method in order to have proper contact between coffee and water so that essential oils and flavors are released.  Blade (“whirly”) grinders grind unevenly.  Burr grinders are better.

At C&C we always grind our coffee immediately before preparation (2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 ounce cup), with either a decent blade or burr grinder.

Brewing methods
There are plenty of ways to make coffee.  For our reviews, we nearly always start off with a press pot (French press) to bring out all the flavors of a coffee.  We also try the coffee brewed, in a typical, middle-of-the-road drip coffee maker (like most people have at home) using unbleached paper or a gold filter. Occasionally, we also use an Aeropress or Eva Cafe Solo. Here is the low-down on these methods:

  • French press. Water just off a boil is poured over freshly ground coffee, steeped for about 4 minutes, after which a mesh plunger is pressed down, separating the grounds from the coffee.
  • Automatic drip.  Ground coffee is placed in a filter basket, and water drips through it.  Good coffee makers heat water to the proper temperature, distribute the water evenly over the grounds, and deliver the water at a speed that insures proper exposure time.  Because the water is in contact for such a brief time and the filter removes particulates (and even oils, in the case of a paper filter), coffee from a drip pot is clean and mild.  Temperature is a key component in this method — most cheap pots don’t heat the water hot enough (190-200 degree F).
  • Aeropress by Aerobie. A small device that forces the water through the coffee and a filter using air pressure, producing very smooth, full-bodied coffee in about a minute.

George Howell Coffee provides links to instructions for many brew methods; there are videos and you can download PDFs guides for each method.

Coffee flavors
One reason we began doing reviews at C&C was that we just didn’t “get” reviews at some other sites.  Personally, I could not fathom tasting brandied tomatoes or Meyer lemon in my coffee. Other sites were too general, or liked every coffee they tasted.  We try to strike a balance here at C&C, as best we can as regular folks, considering taste is pretty subjective.

Still, there are some commonalities and standards in coffee flavors.  Here are some great overviews and tutorials.

Those are some of the basics. There are also posts here on botanical varieties of coffee, as well as a link to variations in coffee taste by growing region.  If there’s anything else you’d like to see added to this post, just leave a comment.

 

Birds and other biodiversity / Research on coffee growing

Research: American Redstarts in Jamaica

Johnson, M.D., T.W. Sherry, R. T. Holmes, and P.P. Marra.  2006.  Assessing habitat quality for a migratory songbird wintering in natural and agricultural habitats. Conservation Biology 20:1433-1444.

This study examined American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) in natural and agricultural habitats in Jamaica.  Redstarts are beautiful warblers that nest in North America and winter in the tropics (see map).

Four natural habitats were compared with two agricultural habitats: citrus groves and shade coffee plantations, which were shaded primarily by Inga vera, with understories of varying densities.

Measures of habitat quality for redstarts on the coffee farms was generally intermediate between the best and worst natural habitats.  Two measures, body mass and overwinter survival, were very similar in shade coffee and the best natural habitat. Body mass is especially important.  It indicates that enough food is available, and maintaining body mass is critical for later survival, even after departure from the wintering grounds.  This study estimated that a loss of 0.1 grams (a very tiny amount!) over the winter corresponded with a 6.8% reduction in annual survival probability.

The authors provide two caveats: First, this study focuses on a single species in a single region.  And importantly, there is no similar data to compare the quality of present coffee farms with the habitat from which they were carved. Although shade coffee farms can provide habitat for some species, they do not possess the complete suite of species or ecosystem functions as the original habitat.

The paper named the three shade coffee farms/areas that were used in the study.  None were in the eastern Blue Mountain region. One was in the western growing region, in James Hill, Westmoreland Parish.  Two were in the central highlands in Manchester Parish, Coleyville Farm and Baronhall Farms.  Most coffee is pooled and single estates are hard to find, but Baronhall (formerly Broomhall Estate) is apparently an exception.  I have been able to find various roasters offering this coffee.  Here is a review of Jamaica High Mountain, Baronhall Estate at Coffee Review.

Certifications / Coffee regions / Rainforest Alliance

RA certifies in Africa

Rainforest Alliance has announced its first certification for coffee outside Latin America, certifying a group of 678 farms in the Djimmah region of Ethiopia, according to a report in Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

RA’s certification requirements are not focused on, but do include, environmental criteria.  They are not as stringent as the Smithsonian’s Bird Friendly criteria when it comes to preserving biodiversity.  But as the only sustainability certification available (aside from organic certification) outside of the Americas, this is a welcome development.

Djimmah is in the southwest part of Ethiopia, and its beans are not as well known as Harrar, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe (which is in the Sidamo region).  Djimmah beans tend to be of mixed varieties, and are sometimes low grade (different sizes, a lot of defects) and thus hard to roast evenly.  These beans can be wild or gamey, are most often used in blends, and quality varies. I’ve heard it called the most lowly of Ethiopian coffees.  There are certified organic coops and farms in the other, more popular, growing regions, so perhaps this RA certification will give the Djimmah a needed boost in visibility, a marketing point, and that may lead to an increase in quality as well.