I’m often asked how Has Bean Started, and how I got involved in the coffee industry. So over the past few weeks, I’ve been penning some thoughts down.

It became a much bigger piece than I planned originally, so I’ve broken it down into a series of four. I’ve posted it on our articles section here, or you can go direct to it here.

More to follow.

I get a few requests every now and again to comment on coffee from members of the local and national press. We took a phone call a few weeks ago from the Guardian (a national newspaper) asking if I’d give a quick telephone interview. Always willing to say a few words and promote quality coffee I did, but its amazing how some things get taken out of context and are reported not the way you say them. Its an OK piece but if I was writing it I think I’d word it a little different, certainly the part where it say around the 95% of the time we pay above fair trade, I cant think of a time we paid below that kind of threshold as far as I know so I’ve no idea where that figure comes from. And they said seven countries support the cup of excellence then missed off Costa Rica.

Its also funny when they focus on little things you say like boiling water and miss the bigger picture ideas of quality ingredients

But take a look at this link here, its an OK throw away piece of Saturday filler for a newspaper.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and even more so recently; are we witnessing the death of the espresso blend? As specialty coffee industry gets better and better at spotting interesting and complex single estate single origin coffees and presenting them to the espresso community, I wonder if we are moving into a new world where blends take the back seat.

This question has been brought to the fore by James Hoffmann winning the 2007 World Barista Championships (WBC) with single origin coffee. A couple of years prior to James’ victory, Troels Poulsen had used Daterra at the WBC. Daterra is virtually single origin, as its all grown on the same farm (as big a farm as it is) and taken from different sections of the estate to imitate a blend.

Personally I’ve always preferred the honesty of a single origin in espresso. You can taste and understand the bean in a far purer way. The arguments of single origin coffee being one dimensional and thin are also not lost on me, but I think this can be attributed to poor preparation, or trying to use set parameters on every coffee without experimentation and looking at each coffee holistically. In the wrong hands coffee from a single farm or a blend can be awful, and in my experience blends can be more forgiving. So are we using blends as a crutch for our sloppiness, our poor barista skills or poor equipment?

I also think that over the years blends have been presented to me which have existed solely for the purpose of saving money and/or hiding poor beans. This is not an acceptable way to use blends. I think it is one of the main reasons contributing to my dislike and distrust of blending. Had blends not been abused in this way, I may well have had a different view now. The point of blending is to improve on the sum of the component parts or to create something different, not to mask something that is not good enough not be in there. Consumers deserve better.

For far too long, in my opinion, roasters have guarded their blends just as Colonel Sanders covets his recipe, seeing it as the secret to their success. I think this is simply wrong. There should be no need for it to be a secret. Unlike Colonel Sanders’ recipe which is the coating on the meal, with coffee the blend itself is the main attraction. No-one would walk into KFC and expect to be served meat of an unknown type. In any case, blends are prone to change year on year, with crop rotations and quality swings affecting the component beans. Surely coffee is more akin to the choosing of fine wines than a finite recipe. All customers deserve to know what they are buying. I believe it is imperative for the commercial customer who runs a coffee shop or restaurant, if they have a blend, to know what is in it. The reputation of their business may depend on that blend. How can they inform and share with their customers if they don’t even know what they are selling to them?

I digress, back to my main point. For me, knowing and sharing the whole story and information about the personalities behind individual coffees can make that great cup a little better. With blends, I find you often lose the opportunity to engage the consumer with these stories. If you do manage to do so, it is frequently diluted by the fact there are so many other parts of the blend to consider as well. Now of course a good story without great coffee is like well presented food without the substance of taste, but incredibly tasty coffee well presented with information about how and where it is produced is a winning combination.

As a lover of single malt whiskies, it is nothing new to me that blends are not a way to experience the best of anything. The problem is sometimes whether good is even attainable. I have yet to taste a blended whisky that I would call good, and I think many blended coffees are of a similar standard.

Okay, I will make an admission now. I do, think there is a time for a blend in coffee, just not all the time as some would have you believe. I think it is important to indulge yourself, to try single origin espresso, enjoy it and not keep falling back to the blend as the default. Embrace a coffee for what it is, if it lacks a little body because of its complex acidity, enjoy and celebrate that fact. Don’t try to make every espresso consist of the same things. The times they are a changing and the choice is yours.

One thing I’ve found bloging shows is that I’m a little bit obsessive. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not but hey. I’ve spent the weekend searching through some files on the computer a little spring cleaning early and found the article below about my current obsession El Salvador coffee production. I remember the author saying I could share it with whomever I like, so I want to share it with you.

Coffee Production in El Salvador

Industry Structure

There are close to 20,000 coffee producers in El Salvador. Small and medium-sized holdings of less than 120 hectares account for about 65% of production. Producers accounting for about 25% of total production are grouped in marketing co-operatives which together form the “Union de Co-operatives Cafetaleras de El Salvador” “UCAFES” (Organisation of Coffee Producing Co-operatives of El Salvador). A land reform carried out in 1980 led to the creation of the “Union de Co-operatives Productoras y Beneficiadoras de Cafe”, “UCRAPROBEX” (Organisation of Land Reform Coffee Producing and Processing Co-operatives). UCRAPROPBEX groups small farmers who before the reform didn’t have access to land and accounts for 10% of national production. Other organisations include the “ Association de Beneficiadores y Exportadores de Cafe”, ABECAFE (Association of millers and Coffee Exporters), which groups the majority of the 99 coffee millers and exporters; and the Association of Coffee Producers of El Salvador, representing all producers.

These four coffee Organisations along with four government institutions form a policy-making forum called the “Consejo Salvadoreño del Cafe” (Salvadorian Coffee Council). The Consejo is also engaged in coffee promotion, statistics gathering and international cooperation.

Economic Importance for El Salvador

There are approximately 165,000 hectares devoted to coffee in El Salvador, close to 12% of the nation’s arable land. Although grown in 7 of the 14 provinces of the country, most of the plantations are found in the western and central provinces of Santa Ana (34% of total production), Ahuachapán (17%), Sonsonate (10%) an La Libertad (21%). Most of the coffee land in the eastern part of the country is located in the province of San Miguel (10% of the country’s total) and Usulutan (6%).

Currently representing 3% of the Gross National Product and 22% of the agricultural product, coffee has traditionally been an important source of hard currency. In 1997 it accounted for 22% of total exports. With improved local investment and a stable political climate, production in the 1990`s has stabilised at around 2.3 million 60kg bags, a 2.3% share of world output. El Salvador is currently ranked 11th in production terms amongst the 55 producing nations.

Coffee is an important source of employment, generating close to 135,000 direct jobs, which account for 25% of the agricultural sector and 7% nation wide. In 1996/97 total exports amounted to 2.85 million 60kg bags, with a value of US$506 million. The bulk was shipped to Germany (45.3% of the total), the USA (18.55), Belgium (13.2%) and Holland (5.9%). Gourmet coffee exports have shown a steady increase from 13,535 60kg bags in 1993/94 to 55,796 bags in 1996/97.
Botany & Ecology

El Salvador producers the Arabica species only. The main varieties found are Bourbon, which comprises 80% of the existing plantations, Pacas accounts for 15% and the rest includes Pacamara and dwarfs varieties such as Caturra, Catuaí and Catisic.

In most of the best coffee-growing regions rainfall is significantly above 71 inches annually and is well distributed throughout the year with a drier period of four to six months. The rainy season in El Salvador normally begins in may and lasts until the start of October with an average annual rainfall of 79 in. The effects of temperature and altitude are mitigated by the presence of shade trees, which reduce light intensity and help to retain soil moisture.

Shade trees create a forest-like environment that protects the local fauna and serves as a temporary refuge for migratory birds. According to the Audubon Society, taken together, Mexico, Central America and The Caribbean provide the yearly destination for more than a third of all migratory bird species that breed in the United Estates (200 or more different kinds of them).

Coffee plantations in El Salvador have been officially classified as forest. Researchers at the National University found 66 species of trees and shrubs and 73 wildlife species on a single farm. Although the current trend in most countries is to reduce shade and to assist growth by greater use of fertilizers and irrigation, in El Salvador the shade tree plantation has proven to be the most appropriate system of production.

Production

El Salvador classifies its coffees according to altitude. The main classifications are:
 Central Standard: Produced between 1,500 and 3,000 feet above sea level. In 1995/96 Central Standard accounted for 18% of exports.
 Central High Grown: produced between 3,000 and 4,000 feet above sea level. In 1995/96, this quality accounted for 34.5% of exports.
 Central Strictly High Grown: produced between 4,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level. In 1995/96 this quality accounted for 30.6% of exports.

Harvesting and Processing

The harvesting period in El Salvador starts in October in the below lying areas and extends through March for the high altitude areas. The bulk is harvested from late November to early January. Selective hand-Picking is the prevalent harvest method; the unripe beans are separated before sending to the mills. The fresh cherries are transported the day they are harvested for immediate pulping in order to prevent fermentation. This is made possible thanks to relatively close concentration of coffee regions, the fact that mills are well distributed in this areas, the existence of more than 460 collecting points and an adequate network of feeder roads.

Coffee is wet processed in El Salvador, so cherries must be picked at their optimum stage of ripeness, when they exhibit a bright red colour. Producers don’t engage in any of the delicate processing activities which are carried out by millers who are integrated from the souring to the export activity. These millers normally have a capacity to process from 1,000 to 5,000 quintals daily (one quintal = one 46kg bag) of green coffee, volumes that assure a homogeneous product. An abundance of drying decks and sunlight allows a significant amount of coffee to be sun-dried.

A coffee harvest is normally concentrated in a three-month period, whereas exports are spread over the year. Coffee is therefore stored in parchment in exporters’ warehouses in areas where relative humidity does not exceed 70%.

We have taken delivery of some cool cupping bowls. I’m a bit beaten up by customs and excise bringing them in and some hidden costs we didn’t know about, but we are still happy to be (as far as I can see) the only website in Europe (maybe even the world) taking these professional style bowls, to the coffee drinking public. They are the perfect size and the perfect materials, and very very sexy (take a look). In honour of this we have reproduced an article we did on Too Much Coffee a while back here on the noticeboard

A new article added to the website today “How to Brew Coffee Has Bean’s 10 Commandments” Really meant as a bit of fun, but you will get the idea. Click here to go to the articleThe long weekend has meant I’ve had time to dig some of this stuff out, and I hope to publish some more soon.

Its also given me a great chance to fall in love with filter coffee again. I’ve been mainly drinking the Nicaraguan coop 22nd de septembre which is truly special. I also had the last of the sample from Colombia auction gone a few days ago, and that got me very exited about it. Its amazing but at home I rarely drink espresso, but at the roastery its all I tend to drink.

There is some interesting stuff been going on in the forums toomuchcoffeeand coffeegeek,and the portafilter.net guys portafilter podcast entertained over the break. If you don’t know Nick and Jay (party on Nick, party on Jay) do a radio style podcast thing, where they sit around and talk mostly coffee (and sometimes go wildly off topic). But that doesnt matter very cool, and there recent shows are all about the SCAA conference in Charlotte. Being too far to go and too expensive it was good to hear all the stuff that was happening. Also the coffeegeek podcast is available too and aimed at the newbie in coffee (I’m sure Mark Prince won’t mind me saying that). There have been some cool ones recently though where he talks to Susie from the cup of excellence, great work, by all these guys.

I have been tossing around the idea of doing a European based podcast type thing, but I’m worried that 1 no one would listen, 2. it would be rubbish, and 3 I’d run out of time to do it. But I haven’t ruled it out, if anyone is interested in helping or doing something with it let me know.