So keeping to my promise so far, day 1 of my keeping a travel-type diary alive

This time it’s an audioboo. I’m not sure why I’m attracted to audioboo with an accent like this, but it’s so much easier than typing (wuth mu bad spellun).

This is a sad story, and one where I need your help. Maybe not until I get back as I think my inbox may explode, and there will be another blog post about it once I am back, with the details of what to do and when.

But I hope you find it interesting. One day it will be made into a film.

I write to you over Georgetown at 36000 ft travelling at a speed of 592 miles per hour. Another long haul flight does not fill me full of happiness. What does make me happy is that my wife is happy for me to leave her and the amazing Has Bean team in charge. My trips and travel are hard on all of team HB, but most of all Sarah.

But I am also happy to be going back to Bolivia again. A country I first visited back in 2005, and fell in love with. Fell in love with the place, the people, but most of all with the coffee.

My visit in 2005 was my second Cup of Excellence jury and it was a tough competition where coffees submitted were sabotaged, and instead of the 60 normally going through it was 24. But apart from one, I loved all 24. Loved them enough to say that I would buy them, loved them. I also saw two of the most influential cuppers in the world throw out two 100 point scores, which made my jaw hit the floor.

I loved the place so much that I did a second jury in 2007 after they had a year off, and found my favourite coffee ever in the coffee world, along with some more amazing samples: truly exceptional coffees. I decided at this point that it must be the case that I love Bolivian coffees. Don’t get me wrong: I have tasted lots of Bolivians I don’t like. But at the top end, Bolivian coffees are right up my street.

I also love La Paz; something about the thin air, the chaos, and the lovely people. And the elements of danger I always feel in the city, an undercurrent that anything could happen. I also have great friends, the exporter we work with, Pedro and his family, whom I came out to see in 2010 and spent a week travelling with. Also there is Mario and Lupe from Machacamrca, who by now are coffee growing superstars, and whom I LOVE!

Last year I took a year off and was looked after by Pedro who sent me heaps and heaps of samples, and we brought in all the amazing coffees we have had this year. We have sold more Bolivian coffees than from any other region, and there aren’t many coffee roasters who can say that.

But I don’t like two years without going to see our growing friends; also, last year we bought some new coffees and I really want to get to know them better (I feel like I know them already: David Villca will get a huge hug).

So I’m on the long haul flight and now passing over the Amazon – the river, not the online book store (yes its been a slow type) – and I’m finally getting to the point.

In the olden days I used to keep a travel diary and share with the world. Normally it would be a typed-out blog post. But this time I’m going to mix it up a little. I’m going to type, as that’s fun, but I’m also going to audioboo and I am going to videoblog, and photoblog too.

So I hope you enjoy travelling with me virtually (trust me you wouldn’t in real life: I suck as a real-life travel companion) and I’ll enjoy having you along for the trip. But as a good travel companion, I’d like you to talk to me and keep me company in the comments, via email, via twitter, via facebook.

So I thought I’d space these out a little as people told me they were falling behind/ too many in a close proximity.

This audioboo is about the ECX warehouse in Sidamo we visit and how I actually begin to like the ECX a little.

But only a little mind there still a whole heap wrong with it.

So not much writing after yesterday just this

But if you don’t like my voice, and you like words painted, a picture paints a thousand words

OK well todays update is going to be spread over a few mediums. We have videos, we have text we have audio and we have photos, I spoil you you 🙂

So to wrap up day 2 I did this audioboo

Moving on from scary flights, Day three was time to go to Yirgacheffe. Somewhere I have wanted to visit since first got into coffee. But before that another early start (out on the road by 6am) and time for a huge journey to the Yirgacheffe region, one of the most famous I guess for coffee. We set off from Addis on one of the best roads I think I have seen on my travels, very well maintained, lots to see and very sceinc. Instead of boring you with this I decided that I would do a little video clip entitled the road to Yirgacheffe. Nine and a half hours and over 400km on some fairly rough roads

So a mammoth journey but worth every little bit. Yirgacheffe was just a name for me for so long, A name that has been with me since my first ever coffee order, snd a town steeped in mystery. We visited a local wet mill to see the ladies of the area, sorting the drying coffee on raised beds. Not the best sound in the world but I also created a little video clip for this.

WE then retired to the hotel to wait until the sun had gone in for one of the most amazing experiences of my life the mill was in darkeness with small lights dotted around the area. A team of around 15 guys moving coffee through the washing process. I feel the need for aother video here, but this will come when I have better editing opportunities

The washing here in africa and in particular this regioj is quite different to what most do. They submerge under water for 36-48 hours, then take it through another “wash”of 9 – 16 hours. In comparrison in Brazil or El Salvador I’ve seen it done for as little as 6 hours with no second wash.

Some of the photos I got from this trip have been stunning and I’ll be shareing with you here

Click here

So here is the audioboo of day two of my trip, or is it day 1 ? I say day 2 on the audioboo but really the day before was just arriving. Any way enjoy

For those who don’t like my awful voice I typed it too

Day one begins with the early start of 4:30am, but its fine as I’m meeting up with my friends (there is three of us in total) in the hotel lobby then a short 1 hour flight to Dire Dawa. This all goes scarily well and we are met at the airport by Admasu and he will be our host for our time in Harar, a region that I am most excited about because of its huge amount of funky amazing naturals, but also its one of the two regions that inspired me when I got into coffee in Ethiopia.

Apparently this is an international airport, but I am not so sure, it looks more like a bus station.

First stop is our beautiful hotel while we stop here, and feel super appropriate, in the vision of an African Village. We drop our bags and are taken to the office of Moplaco who we have bought some coffee from in recent times. We tour the offices and factory and are treated to a cupping of three coffees from Harar that are representative. I learn that each region will have a sub region when placed at the ECX (ethiopian coffee exchange more on this to come later) something I was not aware of. They are given letters at the auction

(A)Bold Grain which is from east
(B)Longberry which is from the west
(C)Arusi which is from the south west

The cupping gives us a good representation of the regions and is a useful exercise in keying our tastes into the region.

Harar only does naturally processed coffee, no washed at all. I know from experience these can be some of the coffees that excite you my customers the most so its great to learn more about it all.

We were then taken away on a huge car journey to the aera known as Harar. This starts off on lovely asphalt, but soon turns into dust roads, Its a mammoth journey (thankfully not driven by me but by our driver Solomon) but when we arrive we arrive at a chaps house called Abudula Mome’s

Were told about the four kinds of farmers in Harar, you have your

1. Garden grower (like Abdul) that grows a variety of crops in a small holding, not olny coffee but other crops maybe to eat and sell.

2. Plantation grower, who only grows coffee and is normally on a large scaled 9not so common in ethiopia)

3. Forest grower where the coffee is grown in the forst areas. We have bought some of these coffees in the past like wild bonga forest.

4. Semi forest which I never really got to find out why this was a term used and its full meaning but I’ll let you fill in the blanks

Abdulas garden farm is very cool, he is a great host and spend time answering all of our stupid questions. He walks us around the farm with around 20 children following us everywhere we go. I think three pale and pasty folks are not the normal scene in Ethiopia.

We get to also see the less fun side of Ethiopia here. a local “reprentative” approaches Admasu and says that we shouldnt really be here, and that he wanted money to fix this. It was all arranged with Abdula, and he was very happy for us to be there, but this is the slightly more corrupt side of ethiopia. The representative is sent with a flea in his ear and on his way.

We then take a small drive to the town of Harar (the region named after this town) and sit and enjoy the relaxing conversation with Admasu. He goes into the tiny details of the Ethiopian coffee exchange. I have decided that this will be a blog post on its own, as its super complicated, and I am learning more with each day, and what I tel you today is probably going to be re learned in a different way tomorrow. I am going to the exchange on Friday and think this will be super interesting.