Coffee Guide

Here in the West we are massive consumers of coffee. And many of us think nothing of spending four or five dollars at Starbucks for a gourmet espresso, latte or cappuccino.

What few of us think about as we sip our favorite brew is that coffee is grown by small farmers in developing countries. Most of these farmers are paid less for the coffee beans they grow that it costs for them to produce and pick them.

In other words, for every gourmet coffee you and I enjoy, the grower of the beans used is descending into a deeper and deeper cycle of poverty and desperation.

It was in recognition of this cycle that the certification process for fair trade coffee was introduced in 1998.

When you buy a pound of fair trade coffee, $1.26 goes directly back to the coffee growers who grew it.

It doesn?t go directly into the hands of an individual grower, but to the cooperative to which he or she belongs. Part of the deal with fair trade coffee is that farmers are required to band together in cooperatives. The money then goes to the cooperative and is shared among all the farmers.

The issue of farmers having to join a cooperative to benefit from fair trade is a complex one, with advantages and disadvantages.

However, the big benefit is that when $1.26 goes to the cooperative, and then to the farmer…they are receiving about the double what they would get outside of the fair trade coffee system.

In other words, when you or I buy fair trade coffee, we are providing the grower with twice the income he or she would normally receive.

Over 100 million pounds of fair trade coffee have now been sold in the U.S. alone. Better still, the numbers are growing fast.

Starbucks now offers fair trade coffees and recently Wal-Mart announced that it would start offering fair trade coffee through its Sam?s Club outlets.

When Wal-Mart becomes a buyer, you can be sure that the impact on small coffee farmers in Central and South America, East Africa and the Far East will be substantial.

Yes, it will cost you a little more to buy fair trade coffee. But when you pay that little extra, you?ll be making a real difference to the lives of coffee farmers and their families and communities.

Nicholas H. Usborne is one of the sleuths at CoffeeDetective.com He and his colleagues take a commonsense approach to making great coffee, and give you the straight facts on coffee and coffee makers – without the marketing hype. They also write the Fair Trade Coffee News Blog

Coffee is the second most-highly traded commodity in the world next to oil. It?s an enormous industry involving many players in the supply chain?the growers and farm workers, the processing mills, exporters and importers, small-batch roasters and huge commercial roasters, coffeehouses and cafes?all of who do their part to bring coffee to you, the final consumer.

Take a walk down the coffee aisle of a grocery store and read the labels. You?ll find one word dominates the label rhetoric: ?Gourmet.? Gourmet, it?s such a over-used term. By definition, it implies rare, expensive, high-quality, or at least sophisticated in some form of its preparation and service. Which, unfortunately, doesn?t seem to apply to the coffee most Americans drink on a daily basis. Considering how large the coffee industry is, how much of what?s marketed as gourmet could actually be considered truly gourmet coffee?

Sad to say, it?s estimated only 10 percent of coffee sold on the global market is of excellent quality. Meaning, 90 percent of coffee sold is considered poor to satisfactory in quality. That being the case, it becomes hard to believe the ads and labels on store shelves claiming rich, delicious, gourmet coffee. In fact, the reality is they?re much likelier selling the exact opposite of high quality coffee beans.

For instance, consider the ever applauded Dark Roast. Somehow the influential marketing gurus at roasting companies have managed to convince the masses that dark roasted coffee equals gourmet coffee. Not necessarily true. While there are some specific coffees that taste wonderful as a dark roast, there?s a reason most coffee today is roasted so dark. It?s precisely because of their low quality. Dark roasting covers a multitude of sins, including any flavor flaws.

And then there?s flavored coffee?a low-quality bean masquerading as gourmet coffee. Why use expensive, high-grade beans for flavored coffee, since the natural flavors themselves will never be detected over the added flavorings of Irish cream, French Vanilla, or Hazelnut.

Though the marketing says otherwise, coffee that is indeed gourmet should never require extensive roasting. Similar to grilling a steak, a great coffee will often taste great as rare to medium, or, in coffee terms, light to medium. Of course the actual lightness of the roast will depend on your personal taste. A lighter roast shows that the roaster has confidence in the quality of the beans. And for a true connoisseur of coffee, that?s what you should be looking for.

– Denver Wilkinson is founder, and currently head roaster of Cafe Avion, a roasting company based in Coeur d?Alene, Idaho, that specializes in small-batch roasting of exclusively organic and fair trade coffees. ?There?s a whole world of coffee out there (quite literally) and so many natural flavors to experience, don?t settle for the mediocre stuff. The darker the roast, the less likely you?ll experience the subtle apricot flavors in a great Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, or the blueberry notes in a wonderful Harrar, or the earthy, ripened notes of a great Sumatran Mandheling.? Adds Wilkinson: ?I?m on a personal mission to undo the myth of the dark roast.?

Consider the last time you bought a bag of coffee. Perhaps it?s wrong of me to assume, but would I be correct in guessing the coffee you purchased was a dark roast?

Most of the coffee available to the home consumer today is a dark roast. And by watching coffee commercials and reading the ads, without hesitation, one would easily believe the dark roast is, by far, a superior coffee. But when it comes to the roast of your coffee, while a great deal of it simply has to do with personal taste, don?t believe mass marketing that says the dark roast is the ultimate expression of quality coffee. It?s not. In fact, it?s often quite the opposite.

There are reasons the dark roast has become so popular. For one thing, the coffee industry is extremely large. It?s the second most-highly traded commodity next to oil. Just think of the massive volume of coffee that hits the consuming market each year. Then consider this: only 10 percent of that coffee qualifies as excellent in quality. The remaining 90 percent is considered somewhere between average to poor. Meaning there?s nothing very special about it, no inherent flavors that set it apart from any other coffee. And if there are intriguing flavors, most likely they aren?t desirable. For instance, a typical low-grown Robusta coffee can taste medicinal, even rubbery.

So, if so much of the coffee grown is of mediocre quality, why is it that people so happily consume so much each and every day? The answer: The Ubiquitous Dark Roast. (Well, and a lot of cream and sugar too. I?ll cover that some other time.)

Dark roast simply means that the coffee bean has been roasted to a higher temperature and typically for a longer period of time. This process causes all of the flavor molecules stored within the coffee beans?both the good and bad flavors?to be burnt away. By roasting so dark, the end consumer (you) can?t tell whether it?s a good bean or a bad bean because all the natural flavors have been turned to charcoal.

Think of it this way: a fine filet mignon and a strip of utility beef; if they?ve both been very overcooked, even a culinary expert would never be able to tell the difference between the two. Same with coffee.

So if you?re a large coffee company, what do you do? You roast dark, then, market the heck out of it and try to convince the mass market that it?s a wonderfully rich and complex coffee. Now you can?t really blame them can you? What else are they supposed to do, admit why they?re roasting your coffee so dark?

Not to be misunderstood, I?m not saying a dark-roasted coffee is always poor quality. There are some wonderful dark roast single-origin coffees and blends out there. Just don?t assume the dark roast is as ?rich and flavorful? as many roasters say it is. Most of the time there is a reason it?s roasted so dark.

Instead of going with a dark roast next time you?re picking up your bag of coffee, consider trying a freshly-roasted bag of something slightly lighter, perhaps a ?city? roast or even a ?full city? roast (almost a dark roast) if you?re not wanting to leap into lightness with reckless abandon. When shopping, keep in mind that the lighter the roast, the more confidence the roaster is showing in the quality of the raw bean.

– Denver Wilkinson is founder, and currently head roaster of Cafe Avion, a roasting company based in Coeur d?Alene, Idaho, that specializes in small-batch roasting of exclusively organic and fair trade coffees. ?There?s a whole world of coffee out there (quite literally) and so many natural flavors to experience, don?t settle for the mediocre stuff. The darker the roast, the less likely you?ll experience the subtle apricot flavors in a great Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, or the blueberry notes in a wonderful Harrar, or the earthy, ripened notes of a great Sumatran Mandheling.? Adds Wilkinson: ?I?m on a personal mission to undo the myth of the dark roast.?

The title of this article is disturbing. The concepts of Organic and Fair Trade are very important to building (rebuilding) a sustainable society. The good news is that the certifications are not mutually exclusive and actually complement each other nicely.

First, a word about certification. In our current market, third party certification is essential to both organic and fair trade. As the market for both fair trade and organic grows many businesses would rather change the definition than to change their practices. We are seeing this now in the fair trade coffee market place. As time goes on a search for fair trade coffee is more and more likely to turn up non-certified ?fair trade? coffee, which is most likely just a marketing rouse to attract ethical customers. In a recent search of ebay for fair trade coffee 90% of the results were not third party certified, and upon further examination most looked very suspect. We have seen this already in the organic market. How many products marketed to organic consumers are actually certified? Companies have greened their names but not their practices. Without non-biased third party certification of organic or fair trade we are left to trust self interested parties who will only profit from that trust. So look at the labels a product caries, look into the requirements of that certification and make an informed decision. Know what labels you trust and know the ones that you feel are deceptions. With fair trade Transfair is currently the only certification agency, so look for the fair trade label.

The concept of growing organic is essential to the preservation of our environment. Herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers seep into the ground polluting our groundwater and it also runs off the fields and into local water resources. When forest are cleared for the planting of fields much of the topsoil is eroded and transported in nearby streams to the nearest lake where it deposits the sediment, filling up the lake. Working with the environment to prevent this erosion, organic coffee farmers preserve the fertility of the land by growing coffee in the shade, where coffee was meant to grow. This shade grown coffee provides the migratory birds with habitat and is thus called bird friendly. The concept of organic goes beyond protecting the environment and extends to protecting the the people who work in the fields. Many of the chemicals used in farming have been shown to cause cancer as well as many other health concerns. These concerns are multiplied when a person is repeatedly exposed to the sprays, like the farmers. How many lifelong farmers labored to provide our society with food and are now suffering from cancer (my grandfather is one of them)? Some studies have shown that organic methods even protect those who eat the fruits(even after they are washed), and also protect locals who drink the water.

Fair trade certified works in the opposite direction. First it ensures that the people are being paid and treated fairly. When it comes to fair trade coffee certification, ?fair? has an objective definition through the certification requirements of Transfair. The coffee farmers are paid a fair trade premium (currently $1.26/lb) to ensure that they have money to invest in their community infrastructure. The money supports the families through health care, education, and through providing the needed capital to improve equipment and methods of harvest so that they can compete in the open market. Fair trade goes beyond community and family support and extends to protecting the environment. One of the requirements of fair trade certification it that a premium is paid for organic coffee, currently a full 15 cents more per pound than just regular fair trade. Many fair trade farmers have switched to organic methods and are now actively restoring the rain forest in order to receive this premium. They are not doing so grudgingly either, they understand that the rain forest is their heritage and want it to be restored. They don’t want to expose themselves and their families to toxic sprays when they can make a living otherwise. This explains why more than 80% of coffee certified as fair trade is also certified organic.

So why ask the question which is better when you can have both? Well there is plenty of coffee out there labeled as organic but not fair trade. The environment is being destroyed by some farmers out of what is seen as economic necessity. Organic is great, but by itself it is not sustainable, we must ensure that the people who grow it are properly compensated otherwise they are put in an economic position which lends itself to decisions with negative environmental consequences. Families that provide us with quality organic products deserve financial security. Fair trade does not compete with organic but it does make sure it is fiscally sustainable for the producers, thus ensuring future supply in our current economy..

This is why the fair trade model works. First it ensures the financial security of the farmers through fair prices, access to non-predatory loans and capital needed to market and sell their goods. Then it guarantees them a premium for environmentally friendly practices, which many times leads to conversion of conventional fields to organic. This model has been working for coffee and has now expanded to tea, chocolate and even some tropical fruits.

The results of fair trade have been amazing:

* Organic methods are being used and taught

* Community infrastructure is being built/rebuilt

* Clean water

* Erosion control

* Children in school

* Quality products through quality methods

* Adult education

* Secure families

* and sustainability

Next time you buy organic coffee or tea make sure it is also fair trade certified by Transfair. Request that your local grocer carry fair trade fruits when they are available.

Stephen Betzen is a long time fair trade advocate. He runs Faicoffee.com, an information website about Fair Trade Coffee.

For more information and for future fair trade certified products look at Transfair’s website http://www.transfairusa.org/.

The consumption of coffee is rising in the US as it is gaining popularity. We consume a lot of coffee. Some of us cannot even make it through a day without a few cups of coffee. In fact Americans are responsible for one fifth of the world’s coffee consumption. So we are the main economic supporter of the coffee industry.

Most Americans would have little idea how the coffee we drink is produced, harvested and shipped to us. We are just thankful that coffee is readily available over the counter whenever we want it.

The Fair Trade coffee movement aims to change all that. As better informed consumers, we are now told of the exploits of some coffee importers. We now realized that many of these coffee workers or farmers who toil tirelessly in the fields are not getting a fair price for their produce.

These farmers are often are getting paid less for their coffee than it cost them to produce and maintain their coffee farms. This will mean that these farmers and their families will never be able to break out of poverty and debt. The Fair Trade coffee movement will make certain that most coffee farmers can get a decent price for their harvest and make a living off it.

Coffee prices can be volatile and when the prices fell very low, many farmers will not be able to support their families and farm lands. Thus the Fair Trade coffee movement is needed more than ever by these farmers. When coffee prices fall, it does not mean that the average consumer will ever enjoy cheaper coffee. Instead, the prices remain just as high. This means that coffee companies are making more profits. However it will mean poverty and hunger for many of these coffee farmers.

The Fair Trade Certified coffee is being introduced in the US to ensure that the coffee was produced under fair labor conditions and a reasonable price was paid for the coffee. This money paid will go into helping the health care, education, ecological stewardship, and financial independence. It will also provide the much needed financing and credit, technological assistance in shifting to better methods of farming and other research purposes.

Help to make all these possible by buying coffee only from Fair Trade Certified coffee companies. This can not only help ensure the quality of coffee and constant supply but also let you sleep better when you know no one is starving so that you can have your cup of coffee.

For more information on coffee, coffee grinders and Fair Trade coffee, please visit Coffee Drinking Tips and Reviews