Luke 4
Prosperidad de Chirinos
COUNTRY: Peru
FARM/COOP/STATION: Cooperativa La Prosperidad de Chirinos
VARIETAL: Bourbon, Catimor, Catuai, Caturra, Marsellesa, Mundo Novo, Pache, Typica
PROCESSING: Fully washed
ALTITUDE: 1,200 to 1,900 meters above sea level
OWNER: 817 producers with Prosperidad de Chirinos
SUBREGION/TOWN: San Ignacio
REGION: Cajamarca
FLAVOUR NOTES: Green apple, hazelnut, white flowers, yellow pear, hints of milk chocolate and brown sugar
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Prosperidad de Chirinos was founded in 1968. Today, they have 817 members, a full quarter of whom are women. In total, the cooperative cultivates about 2,200 hectares in San Ignacio, Cajamarca. The high altitudes of the mountainous San Ignacio region provide ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality coffees.
The cooperative has an extensive array of programs and opportunities for farming members. In addition to agronomic support and financing, farmers can learn sensory evaluation and how to diversify their incomes through other agricultural projects such as beekeeping and farming avocadoes. They also offer quality awards for outstanding coffees each year. Managers and farmer-leaders are given additional training in management skills, financial literacy and good governance.
Over a quarter of Prosperidad de Chirinos’ members are women, who are typically underserved and under-represented in the coffee-producing sector. The cooperative aims to address this imbalance with a women’s committee that promotes empowerment for female members. Many members in the committee have taken on additional managerial positions.
There is also a youth committee that is focused on supporting and empowering young producers. A partnership with the National University of Jaén supports university education for 10 children of cooperative members each year.
HARVEST
Farmers in Peru usually process their coffee on their own farms using the Fully washed method. Cherry is usually pulped, fermented and dried in the sun. Traditionally, smaller farmers would use tarps laid on the ground or under the roof of their homes. Increasingly, cooperatives are establishing centralized drying facilities – usually raised beds or drying sheds where members are encouraged to dry their parchment. Some farmers are beginning to adopt these practices on their own farms, and drying greenhouses and parabolic beds are becoming more common as farmers pivot towards specialty markets.
After drying, coffee will then be sold in parchment to the cooperative. Producers who are not members of a cooperative often have the opportunity to sell on to cooperatives, as well.
CULTIVATION
Members receive agronomic support, training in Good Agricultural Practices and access to financing through Prosperidad de Chirinos.
The cooperative has a demonstration plot in San Ignacio where farmers can learn about agronomic practices and how to implement them. They learn about fertilization techniques, pest management and best harvesting practices.
COFFEE IN PERU
Peru holds exceptional promise as a producer of high-quality coffees. The country is the largest exporter of organic Arabica coffee globally. With extremely high altitudes and fertile soils, the country’s smallholder farmers also produce some stunning specialty coffees.
Though coffee arrived in Peru in the 1700s, very little coffee was exported until the late 1800s. Until that point, most coffee produced in Peru was consumed locally. When coffee leaf rust hit Indonesia in the late 1800s, a country central to European coffee imports at the time, Europeans began searching elsewhere for their fix. Peru was a perfect option.
Between the late 1800s and the first World War, European interests invested significant resources into coffee production in Peru. However, with the advent of the two World Wars, England and other European powers became weakened and took a less colonialist perspective. When the British and other European land owners left, their land was purchased by the government and redistributed to locals. The Peruvian government repurchased the 2 million hectares previously granted to England and distributed the lands to thousands of local farmers. Many of these farmers later grew coffee on the lands they received.
Today, Peruvian coffee growers are overwhelmingly small scale. Farmers in Peru usually process their coffee on their own farms. Most coffee is Fully washed. Cherry is usually pulped, fermented and dried in the sun on raised beds or drying sheds. Drying greenhouses and parabolic beds are becoming more common as farmers pivot towards specialty markets.
After drying, coffee will then be sold in parchment to the cooperative. Producers who are not members of a cooperative will usually sell to a middleman.
The remoteness of farms combined with their small size means that producers need either middlemen or cooperatives to help get their coffee to market. Cooperative membership protects farmers greatly from exploitation and can make a huge difference to income from coffee. Nonetheless, currently only around 15-25% of smallholder farmers have joined a coop group.
Check out more coffees in our store:
Luke 3
Halo Beriti
COUNTRY: Ethiopia
FARM/COOP/STATION: Boledu Industrial PLC
VARIETAL: Heirloom
PROCESSING: Fully washed
ALTITUDE: 1950m - 2200m
OWNER: 2200 small farmers
SUBREGION/TOWN: Woreda
REGION: Gedeo
HARVEST MONTHS: October, 2023 - December, 2023
FLAVOUR NOTES: Bergamot, jasmine, lavender, black tea, white peach
ABOUT BOLEDU
Boledu, founded in 2018, means "source" in the local language and combines over 12 years of experience in coffee from both Abyote Ageze and Mebrahtu Aynalem. "We have been producing and exporting both natural and washed high-end traceable qualities in our own washing stations located in the Guji zone, Dimtu Hamblea, Yirgacheffe, Aricha and Gedeb. We also have vertical agreements in Uraga and in Sidamo, collecting quality coffees from different small farmers."
By vertical integration, Mebrahtu means the coffee is sourced directly from the washing stations and not purchased from the Ethiopian Coffee Exchange (ECX). "We prefinance the washing station owners and he agrees to supply us. If I was to get a good coffee at the ECX I wouldn't necessarily be able to do it again in the future. There is no transparency. For consistency, I must have an agreement directly with the washing station. I also have an agronomist there to help prepare the coffees," he explains.
"The farmers we work with have been working with us for a good time. Before the harvest, we train them and explain the standards of cherry collection for specialty coffee and the premiums that come with it. We have a quality supervisor at the washing stations looking into who is bringing good quality and who isn’t. Their job is really important! They know when someone mixes unripe cherries with the ripe ones. Up to 10% unripe is okay and we will sort them at a later stage, but if farmers bring more than that we know we might not work with them until they agree to the standards."
Internal prices for cherry have been high for the second consecutive year. In the Yirgacheffe area, buyers were paying 24 Ethiopian birr in November 2020 according to Mebrahtu. He says Boledu was paying around 25.50 birr to be above the competition and secure the supply. “However the farmers know they need to bring us the ripe cherries. And we buy from 10 to 16 thousand kilos of cherry every day during harvest season," he says.
For micro-lots such as this "we select the farmers we will work with before the harvest season and train them for 3 days on the best picking practices. We need very good consistency. And as most farms are too small to make a whole lot, we will combine their cherries according to their location, so the same type of soil, altitude, rain patterns, heirloom varieties etc. We will then have to combine their pickings of two days, like Wednesday and Friday for example, to make an interesting volume," Mebrahtu explains.
COFFEE IN ETHIOPIA
While Ethiopia is famous as coffee’s birthplace, today it remains a specialty coffee industry darling for its incredible variety of flavors. While full traceability has been difficult in recent history, new regulations have made direct purchasing possible.
Ethiopia’s long coffee history predates written records. Arabica plants are native to Ethiopia, and many of the Arabica varieties now cultivated worldwide have their genetic roots in wild coffee growing in Ethiopian forests. With such easy access to wild-growing coffee, it is undoubtable that early people in Ethiopia consumed coffee for centuries before it became the global beverage that it is today.
The long tradition of coffee in Ethiopia has continued into the modern day. Coffee drinking is widespread in both social and cultural contexts and has a place at a wide range of social events. Nearly half of all coffee produced in the country is consumed on the domestic market. That’s no small feat for a country that produces some 860 million pounds of green coffee beans annually.
Coffee also provides the main income for up to 25% of the population. More than 15 million people grow coffee as their major cash crop. The Ethiopian government also depends on coffee to generate between 25 and 35% of total annual export earnings.
Genetic Diversity Expands Possibilities
Exporters and importers frequently use the term “heirloom” to describe Ethiopian coffee varieties. However, this catchall-term often hides that impressive array of varieties that are unique to certain regions.
Varieties in Ethiopia can be classified into two main groups: Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC) varieties or regional and local landraces.
The JARC is responsible for developing many of the varieties that flourish across Ethiopia today. JARC was established in 1967 and has been developing and sharing new coffee varieties ever since. The center also provides agricultural extension training to help farmers learn the correct cultivation methods for these newer varieties.
Landraces are plant varieties that have evolved over generations of selective breeding to be best suited to their local conditions. There are at least 130 widely cultivated regional or local landraces.
In Ethiopia, the genetic diversity of landrace coffee trees means that we find a diversity of flavor, even between (or within) farms with similar growing conditions and processing.
Processing Infrastructure Protects Quality
In addition to varieties, processing methods also contribute to end quality. Most coffee produced in Ethiopia is grown by smallholders, but they often do not have their own processing infrastructure. Instead, most smallholders deliver cherry to a wet mill. Wet mills are owned by either cooperatives or private companies.
Wet mills purchase cherry from the farmers and oversee processing. Most washing stations will specialize in both Fully washed and Natural processing methods. While the efforts of each farmer—from selecting and nurturing trees to picking on ripe cherry—are essential determinants of coffee quality, the wet mill’s practices are crucial. Wet mill staff and management are of the utmost importance, and the best washing stations employ stringent quality control measures. They only accept red, ripe cherry and have exacting drying practices. Nearly all washing stations sort drying coffee several times.
While smallholder farmer do not usually have their own pulpers, some do process coffee at their own homes using the Natural method. In these cases, coffee will be selectively picked and laid to dry on small raised beds. This coffee will usually be sold to a wet mill or collection center at the end of the season.
Preserving Coffee Producing Traditions
The final key ingredients for excellent coffee in Ethiopia are the producing traditions that have created the genetic diversity, processing infrastructure and great coffee we enjoy today.
Most producers in Ethiopia are smallholders, and the majority continue to cultivate coffee using traditional methods. As a result, most coffee is grown with no chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. Coffee is almost entirely cultivated, harvested and dried using manual systems.
The Creation of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)
As mentioned previously, the majority of coffee growers in Ethiopia are smallholders. Despite their considerable numbers, many of Ethiopia’s smallholders have historically experienced market disadvantages. Inequality in the coffee sector has often been a consequence of wider political imbalances that have affected regulations on the coffee industry.
The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) was established in 2008 as a way to solve many of the problems farmers were facing at the time. The founders hoped that the ECX would help farmers receive higher prices, get paid more quickly and receive better payment for better quality, regardless of how recognizable the name of their region or cooperative was.
To accomplish the goals, the ECX was intentionally designed to semi-anonymize coffees. Teams of experts cupped and graded coffee based solely on cup quality and region and, those that purchased coffee, did so on the merit of the cup, not the reputation of the name.
Regulations Seek to Remove Limitations of the ECX
While the ECX did help many farmers get higher prices, its original structure had some drawbacks.
While some cooperatives – particularly those with certifications – were allowed to sell their coffee directly, the majority of Ethiopia’s 5 million+ smallholder farmers were required to sell their coffee to the ECX.
The ECX focus on anonymizing coffees made it nigh on impossible to obtain accurate traceability information. For people seeking more traceability, there was the ‘second window’, which allowed buyers to purchase coffee directly from cooperative unions. There were also a select number of larger farms that were able to obtain their own export licenses. Very few producers fell into these categories, however. As of 2017, about 88% of exported coffee was still purchased through the ECX.
New Laws Spur New Processing Infrastructure
In 2017, the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Development and Marketing Authority introduced a bill that allowed Ethiopian coffee, including coffee sold through the ECX, to be marketed and sold with full traceability. The bill also gave farmers a chance to apply for export licenses that enabled them to process, market and export their coffee directly. These changes have led more farmers to construct their own processing infrastructure.
Under this new system, producer groups choose an exporter and miller to be service providers that will deal with logistics, dry milling and exporting. This system places an emphasis on preserving traceability for each producers’ lots throughout the supply chain. It also means that farmers have more choice and more control over the price they receive. Finally, it provides incentives for farmers who are geared towards quality, benefitting all actors in the supply chain.
Check out more coffees in our store:
Luke 2
Capadocia #5 by Augusto Borges
COUNTRY: Brazil
FARM/COOP/STATION: Capadocia
VARIETAL: Mundo Novo
PROCESSING: Natural
ALTITUDE: 1300 meters
OWNER: Augusto Borges Ferreira
REGION: Sul de Minas
FARM SIZE: 7 ha
HARVEST MONTHS: September to January
FLAVOUR NOTES: Baking chocolate, yellow stonefruit, red apple, almond, with hints of tropical fruit and blueberry
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
As a young, small-scale producer, Augusto started his coffee journey in 2008. He is a fourth generation farmer and is very committed to furthering the quality of his products. His wife, Patricia, also comes from a coffee producing family.
Augusto and Patricia’s farm is located in Sul de Minas. Situated between 1100 - 1300 masl, 4 out of 7 its hectares are used for coffee production. They mainly produce naturals, from yellow and red catuai, yellow catucai, and mundo novo varieties.
Augusto believes that cherry maturation is fundamental for achieving the best results and that the only way forward for Brazilian producers is to focus on specialty coffee.
Picking & Processing
The cherries are harvested by hand and are hand sorted for over and under ripe cherries before being dried. They continue picking out all the defective coffee cherries they can find during this period.
The coffees are processed as naturals. Normally, this process gives you the perception of a sweeter coffee, because of fermentation microbes creating compounds called esters absorbed by the seed. Esters survive the roasting process and are precursors to aromas that are created in the caramelization process of roasting, making the coffee seem sweeter.
Drying
The coffee is slowly dried on paved terraces, by a team who monitors it carefully throughout this process.
About the region
The South of Minas Gerais (Sul de Minas) is a key coffee-producing region in Brazil, encompassing approximately 14 cities and contributing an average of 30% to the nation's coffee output. Several factors have increased the region’s competitiveness in coffee cultivation, including its favourable climate and soil conditions, well-established property infrastructure, diverse production systems, the traditions, and commitment to sustainability.
The mountainous terrain is optimal for coffee cultivation, featuring altitudes ranging from 950 to 1370 metres above sea level and maintaining an annual temperature between 22 to 24°C.
COFFEE IN BRAZIL
Just under 40% of all coffee in the world is produced in Brazil - around 3.7 million metric tons annually. With so much coffee produced, it’s no wonder that the country produces a wide range of qualities. Brazil produces everything from natural Robusta, to the neutral and mild Santos screen 17/18, to the distinctive Rio Minas 17/18. In recent years, Brazilian producers have also begun investing more heavily in specialty coffee production.
The story of how coffee was first introduced to Brazil is one of subterfuge, seduction and intrigue. In 1727, Francisco de Melo Palheta, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Brazilian army, was commissioned by the Portuguese government (who ruled Brazil at the time) to steal coffee from the French, who had several nearby colonized-countries growing coffee (and had refused to share). When Brazil was asked to intervene in a border dispute in French Guiana, a country that borders the northern Brazilian state of Amapa, Palheta was sent to deal with the dispute….and steal a viable coffee seed!
After Palheta successfully arbitrated the dispute, he asked the colonial Governor of Cayenne for a sample of the governor’s coveted coffee plant. The governor refused, seeking to maintain the monopoly France had on coffee plants in the Americas. Palheta, according to legend, skirted this problem by seducing the governor’s wife. When Palheta was set to depart French Guiana for Brazil, his paramour gifted him a bouquet of flowers that had coffee beans hidden within it. The rest, as they say, is history.
In just a century, Brazil established itself as the largest producer of coffee in the world. In the 1830s, coffee became Brazil’s largest export and accounted for 30% of global production. Within a decade, Brazil had become the largest coffee producer in the world and produced 40% of total coffee grown worldwide.
Another ‘boom’ in coffee production volumes occurred from the 1880s to 1930s. At this time, Brazilian politics were controlled mainly by the agrarian oligarchs in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. This political period was called café com leite (coffee with milk) because the major money-makers in São Paulo and Minas Gerais at that time were coffee and dairy, respectively. During the café com leite period, the people who owned the large plantations in these two regions had a lot of political clout and were able to institute laws that made production and export faster, cheaper and easier.
Check out more coffees in our store:
Luke 1
Kjære kaffevenn,
Da er endelig adventstiden i gang. Tusen takk for at du har skaffet deg årets adventskalender fra Langøra! Vi håper du blir fornøyd med kaffene som gjemmer seg i lukene, og at du får noen herlige kaffeøyeblikk frem mot jul.
PS! - Husk å noter ned dine favoritter, da vi har noen kilo igjen av de ulike kaffene som vi kommer til å brenne på nyåret. Da blir det et lite nyttårssalg hvor du kan sikre deg noen godsaker til en fin deal. - Inntil da, ta vare på dere selv og kos dere med kalenderen! - Hilsen oss i Langøra
Konkurranse:
Del dine bilder og videoer av Langøras adventskalender på TikTok, Instagram og Facebook under #langørakaffe og @langorakaffe .
Vi trekker tre vinnere som får 3 måneders kaffeabonement på nyåret.
(ved å delta i konkurransen godtar du at vi kan bruke bildene i markedsføring)
El Ocaso by Santiago Patiño
COUNTRY: Colombia
FARM/COOP/STATION: El Ocaso
VARIETAL: Papayo
PROCESSING: Anaerobic Natural
ALTITUDE: 1700-1850 m.a.s.l
OWNER: Santiago Patiño
REGION: Salento, Quindio
FLAVOUR NOTES: Pineapple, jasmine, funky jamaican rum, strawberry jam
ABOUT THIS COFFEE
This coffee was grown by Santiago Patiño at the farm El Ocaso. It was carefully hand-picked in order to select only the ripest cherries.
The cherries were then fermented for 40 hours in an anaerobic environment. Afterwards, the coffee was sundried until ideal
moisture content was achieved.
This microlot is 100% Papayo. This varietal is a rare mutation that took place in Acevedo, Huila. Ripe cherries turn orange in colour and the
shape is similar to a papaya. The cup profile is complex with defined jasmine, sugar cane, and sweet chocolate notes.
COFFEE IN COLOMBIA
Although coffee production in Colombia did not become a large commercial industry until the 19th century, it is likely that coffee was introduced to Colombia about a century earlier by Jesuit priests.
Once commercial production started, it spread quickly. The first commercial coffee plantations were established in the northeast, near the border with Venezuela. Today, coffee is widespread and grown commercially in 20 of Colombia’s 32 Departments.
Historically, Colombia’s most renowned coffee-growing region has been the Eje Cafetero (Coffee Axis), also known as the ‘Coffee Triangle’. This region includes the departments of Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda. With a combined total area of 13,873 km² (5356 mi²), the region covers about 1.2% of the Colombian territory and composes 15% of the total land planted under coffee in the country. The region has also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
While the Eje Cafetero is still a coffee-producing powerhouse, coffee production in Colombia now extends far beyond this zone. In recent years, the departments of Huila, Tolima, Cauca and Nariño have become sought after and well-known coffee-growing regions. Today, they are the largest producers of coffee in Colombia by volume.
Today, there are an estimated 540,000 coffee producers in the country; around 95% of these are smallholder farmers with landholdings that are under 5 hectares. These farmers collectively contribute around 16% of the country’s annual agricultural GDP.
