Blog About Community & Coffee » Coffee Processing

How Fair Trade & Organics Can Change the World

Jennifer Brogee — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:28:45 +0000

The Fair Trade and Organic movements change the world by allowing consumers to make purchases based that ensure a positive social impact. When you purchase fair trade and/or organic products, you are encouraging more and more farmers and industries to adopt fair and environmentally safe practices, because you are rewarding good stewardship. On the other hand, when you purchase items based solely on price, there’s the possibility that you are rewarding sub-par employers or environmental neglect. Of course, that’s not always the case, but the Fair Trade and Organic labels allow you to know for sure what kind of business practices you reward with your dollars, when you can’t get to know the companies personally.

What is Fair Trade Coffee?

Fair Trade coffees are grown and processed by cooperatives run by small, family farmers which earn a guaranteed price for their beans. They in turn must meet the criteria of fair labor conditions for all people working on the farm – freedom of association for farmers and workers, democratic decison making processes, and follow the environmental standards that restrict the use of agri-chemicals and foster sustainability. This is an effort to improve the lives of the workers and that of their families, and the country the coffee is grown in.

What Does the USDA Organic Label Mean?

The USDA Organic label is regulated by the USDA, and requires proof that the product is produced without the use of synthetic chemicals. The producer must also show a plan that addresses issues of bio-diversity, water-shed management, and the creation of buffer zones to prevent any cross-contamination in growing or processing of the coffee. No chemicals or synthetic pesticides are used at the coffee plantations.

At The Meeting Place on Market, we do our part by offering our customers fair trade and organic coffees:

Fair Trade/ Organic Ethiopian

Grown in the Yirgacheffe region which balances flavor, acidity, and body. A smooth, well-balanced coffee.

Fair Trade/ Organic Guatemalan

Has great aromatics, good acidity and an excellent flavor. A medium roast coffee perfect for a mellow evening. Quickly becoming a customer favorite!

Fair Trade/ Organic Ring of Fire Coffee

A dark, smokin’ blend of high mountain beans from the active volcanic soils of Indonesia, Timor and Papua-New Guinea. Eye-opening! Our customers love this coffee. Its flavor is distinct, yet not bitter. As if it had been refined through fire!

Fair Trade/ Organic Peruvian

Grown high in the Andes Mtns this coffee has a rich, mellow flavor that’s similar to the High Andes coffees.

How to Make Vanilla Iced Coffee

Jennifer Brogee — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:30:07 +0000

What You Need:

16 oz. glass or travel mug
Ice
Chilled, fresh-brewed, good quality coffee. We recommend French Vanilla KaffeeScape® Coffee Tip: Put your leftover coffee from the morning into the fridge to use during the day
Choice of milk
Tip: use sweetened condensed milk for a rich, sweet drink
French Vanilla Stirling Flavored syrup, or flavoring of your choice
Whipped cream (optional)

How To:

1. Fill glass with ice

2. Pour chilled brewed coffee until half full

3. Pour choice of milk until full

4. Add 1 Tbsp Stirling Flavored syrup and/or 1 Tbsp sugar if desired

5. Stir well

6. Top with whipped cream, if desired

7. Serve with straw

What Is Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee?

Jennifer Brogee — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:26:36 +0000

If you want Decaf, always purchase coffee decaffeinated by the Swiss Water Process:

In this decaffeinating method, green coffee beans soak in hot water to draw off the caffeine. The resulting solution, which contains caffeine as well as other flavor and aroma elements, is separated from the beans and sent through a bed of activated charcoal to remove the caffeine. Next, the water containing the remaining flavor compounds is returned to the beans. The beans are then dried. The coffee industry often refers to this decaffeinating method as “Swiss Water Process” because a Swiss company originally developed and patented the procedure. No chemicals are used in this method.

We offer a wide variety of Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffees to buy in our store, or online at www.kaffeescape.com.

Coffee Cupping – Part I

Jennifer Brogee — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:14:30 +0000

Last Saturday, as part of our 6th anniversary celebration, we hosted two coffee cupping sessions. Coffee cupping is the professional term for coffee tasting – the process of tasting and grading coffee beans for quality, grade, and flavor.

For the first session, we demonstrated to the group how a professional would “cup coffee” – brewing the coffee right in the cup, and slurping the coffee with a spoon to get the best flavor sample. However, we tasted the coffees through brewed airpots, for ease and simplicity. Below are the groups observations:

Ring of Fire
(To be fair to the coffee, I think I screwed up its brew – it is actually a customer favorite)
dislike aftertaste
sharp
thin & light
bitter

Jamaican Me Crazy
love the aroma
high sweetness
butterscotch
honey
delayed flavor

Northern Pacific
NOTE: This is actually drip brewed espresso
smoky, burnt wood
sharper & stronger
full bodied
thicker
mealy aftertaste

French Toast
good
smell is different than the taste
cinnamon aroma
maple taste
vanilla
cinnamon aftertaste

Moka Sumatra
thin
not bitter
slides smoothly, then flavor rushes in

We then voted on the favorite… and the winner is…
1st place: French Toast
2nd place: Moka Sumatra

How Coffee is Processed

Jennifer Brogee — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:52:09 +0000

Ever want to know how coffee is grown, picked and processed?

Check out this cool YouTube video: