Tag Archives: curibamba

Holiday Hours – Order Now!

Update: We’re closed for the holidays. Hugs to all!

See you next year!

It’s once again the holiday season & although it’s hard to believe, it’s really here.

We’ll be spending time with family & connecting with coffee friends, please get your orders in now! Soon, we’ll be shutting down our roaster, and pulling the stock from our online store. We wish to send our sincere best wishes for a joyful holiday season & our most heartfelt thanks to all who have made A Little Further South so successful in this past year.  Hugs to all…

Holiday Schedule

Last roasted or green coffee orders: by 11:00 am (EST) 9:00 am (MST)      Friday 12/09/16

All orders will ship on Friday December 9th.

 

Verdant Green Mountains in the Andes

 

 

Real People, Really Good Coffee June 2016 Update

June was a busy time in the Coffee World with Coffee Fest Dallas, and World of Coffee in Dublin, Ireland. Check out our link to upcoming coffee events here.

We’ve been spending our time promoting the last of the current crop, and if all goes well, we should have new crop by the end of September. Meanwhile, it’s been a hectic flurry of everything from emails & phone calls, to select mailings and personal visits. All is being done to keep A Little Further South Coffee fresh in the minds of coffee lovers and specialty coffee roasters all over the Southwest. Our first container has been moving, but there’s a lot of work that goes into getting a commitment to buy from new clients. Our coffee is a minuscule amount in the big world of coffee, but it’s also huge amount, when it’s up to one to sell it.

We look back at the last few years of importing and  roasting, and how far we’ve come in not only practical experience, but true knowledge of coffee and the many facets that bring these wonderful beans to our table every day.

We’re anxious to get back to Peru, and taste this year’s finest Peruvian coffees. We thank you for all your support as we build long term relationships with growers in an economically fair, and sustainable manner. (As much as we possibly can, it certainly is a daunting task.)

From the Farms

As I write this, workshops are progressing for this years’ Curibamba Coffee Project. More samples will soon be on the way for cupping, and we expect to have the highest quality scores ever. It’s been an impressive run, with cupping scores of just a couple of years ago rarely finishing over 81-82.5, but now there are many lots in the 83-84 range, and some breaking over 85, which is very good indeed.

The last workshops focused on selective harvesting, washing, proper fermentation techniques, and peparation for drying the parchment coffee in solar drying tents.

Here are a few photos from the last workshops:

 

Separating the Coffee Cherry from the Parchment Coffee
Temperature is Carefully Monitored during Fermentation

 

Coffee on the Solar Drying Table

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And Now

We’re planning logistics & timing, and staying super busy.

Happy 4th of July! Stay tuned for more news as we receive it!

 

 

Real People, Really Good Coffee March 2016 Update

The Curibamba Coffee Project

We will be promoting Curibamba at the Specialty Coffee Association of America conference where we are exhibiting this April. (Photos!) Curibamba is being sold and enjoyed mainly in the southwest states of Colorado, California, Arizona, Nevada, & New Mexico, but also as far east as Ohio, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

The first of the Curibamba workshops for the growers will be in late April. After these meetings, we’ll have a better idea what’s happening for this year in regards to what we can do at a A Little Further South to continue the work for the overall community.

This year it appears that we’re going to see an abundant crop, and a return closer to production levels not seen since the coffee rust outbreak in 2012. Recently, we’ve heard news that Brazils production will be lower this year, and perhaps prices will rise from multi-year lows. We’re anxiously watching world markets for some guidance. Continue reading Real People, Really Good Coffee March 2016 Update

Real People, Really Good Coffee Update December 2015

December is the month of short days in the northern hemisphere. As I write this today, however I’m in Peru where summer has recently started. Yet, in spite of the disconnect from my “normal” winter hibernation mode, it is still a time of reflection and remembrance as the year ends and a new one soon starts.

The year in review: From the farms

The Curibamba Coffee Project

This year we started to see good things at every level. The farmers seem to be more enthusiastic about the project than ever, and it’s no wonder with coffee prices being in the basement. Overall quality of the coffee has improved each year, and with a large effort to get solar drying tents and tables into the majority of the smallholder farms we’re expecting that quality will be better again with the 2016 harvest.

Meanwhile, we’re streamlining the purchase process, and besides buying the higher quality micro lots, we’ll be also buying coffees that are specialty grade (although below the quality of the best lots,) and paying a premium to be able to fully support the coffee growing community in the hills above San Ramon. Rather than picking and choosing only the “winners,” we’re taking a more holistic approach, and making sure that every farmer has an opportunity to receive a just price for their coffee. We will continue to test each and every lot in the lab, and work for the highest quality possible.

Curibamba was featured in Expo Milan this year, as well as the Mistura Foodie Fair in Lima. It’s currently being sold and enjoyed mainly in the southwest states of Colorado, California, Arizona, Nevada, & New Mexico, but also as far east as Ohio and Wisconsin.

We will continue to focus our support efforts on solar drying tents and tables, but we’re also working with agricultural engineers to see what might best serve the growers. It may be new coffee trees, or strategic washing stations, we’re awaiting input from the fields.

Every year brings more education on the specifics of harvesting, fermenting, and drying. Edegel will be funding not only the educational programs, but will continue funding for the agricultural engineers, organic fertilizers and assistance with promotional programs for the brand. Continue reading Real People, Really Good Coffee Update December 2015

Real People, Really Good Coffee Update November 2015

November has been a busy month once again, and many good things are happening.

Green coffee sales are on the rise with several new customers & roasted coffee continues to sell well.

The new look website is up and running with an easier to use shopping cart, and a fresh look. If you see anything that doesn’t look or respond right, please let us know.

Dago and Cesar Marin from Chacra D’dago

A Visit from the Farm – Chacra D’dago

We’re pleased to announce that Cesar Marin from Biodynamic Chacra D’dago will be visiting in February.

He’ll be presenting on biodynamic farming methods and speaking about what’s happening for harvest 2016. Locations and a schedule to follow. He will be making presentations in LA, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Mohave County. Anyone interested in either hosting, or attending please drop me an email. Continue reading Real People, Really Good Coffee Update November 2015

Real People, Really Good Coffee Update October 2015

October is a month of fall colors & the slowly lengthening days that make a warm cup of coffee a thing of joy. This October was a flurry of activity: roasting, sampling, sending green coffee samples, and behind all of it, a massive website makeover that as always with any tech project, took a lot of time.

We officially launched the company on October 13th, with Grand Opening specials and a burst of new business. We made sales in roasted coffee, and sold quite a bit of green coffee beans in bags (150 lbs.) as well. It was extremely gratifying to see the support, often from places that I hadn’t expected.

Please enjoy the new website look and feel. Thanks for supporting your “local” coffee farmer!

 

The Curibamba Project, One Year Later (Reposted)

Curibamba Coffee

I’m reposting this from last fall, the harvest begins again soon for this year, it’s so exciting! More details to follow…

This was our second year with the Curibamba Coffee project in Peru. It was gratifying to see the farmers again, to share the pictures of happy customers, and most of all to cup this years’ crop & see that the quality had increased about a full point score on average for pretty much everyone.

In August, I was interviewed by Terry Slavin of The Guardian newspaper in London. Terry specializes on articles relating to sustainability and projects that help empower farmers and small communities in the developing world. She was interested in the Curibamba Coffee Project & had heard of our work there. Here’s the article:

Cafe Curibamba: Peruvian farmers’ co-op makes better coffee – and better lives

In the cloud forests high in the central Peruvian Andes, a group of local farmers are drying their coffee beans in solar-powered plastic tents instead of the age-old method of drying them on tarpaulin sheets spread out along the roadside, where they can easily be contaminated by insects, pollution from passing cars, and humidity.

Inside a community hall in the town of San Juan de Uchubamba, David Torres Bisetti, a coffee roaster and cafe owner from Lima, is holding a workshop, introducing these farmers to the taste of their own coffee for the very first time, and explaining the finer points of aroma and acidity.

More than a quarter of people in these remote mountain communities are extremely poor but, since 2012, 180 coffee farming families in the Jauja and Concepción areas near to Chanchamayo province in Peru’s central Junín region – known as one of the main places where coffee is produced – have been supported to transform the way they work. After producing coffee in the traditional way for generations, they are joining together to form a co-operative to improve the quality of their product – and with it their life prospects. Continue reading The Curibamba Project, One Year Later (Reposted)

Grand Opening Week

New Website Update

This is it! We’re officially open today, and as this post is written, work is proceeding on the new website look and feel. We are testing, correcting, rereading everything to have a brand new shiny appearance. It’s a ton of work, but we have a talented tech – Joshua of Tolento Group doing the heavy lifting, while I ask for the endless changes that happen at a web launch. Continue reading Grand Opening Week

Real People, Really Good Coffee Update September 2015

Coffee arrives from the farm

 

Update: 9/22 We’ve passed Customs Exam! We now await pickup by our warehouse, which should be by mid-day today. We’ll next return to Arizona where we’ll be cupping and roasting.

The “buy” buttons will soon be active, and we’ll announce it here when your fresh coffee is ready for purchase. Meanwhile, sign up for our email list in the box on the right.

See this years coffee lineup below.

Our ship has come in (literally) and we just now await Customs inspection and release. We’re already FDA approved. From there, our coffee will head to the warehouse, and we’ll be heading over to California in order to pick up a few bags so that we can begin roasting and cupping (tasting) again prior to sending out roaster samples to our wholesale customers.

Meanwhile, if it seems a little quiet on the online side of things, it’s because we’re buried in the details of our upcoming “official” launch. Being somewhat of a geek, I maintain the website, do some social media promotion, and coordinate all of our online payment systems etc. It’s a big task on top of selling, roasting, cupping, and all the other “hats” I end up wearing in the coffee business.

We’re also wired from all of the excitement. We went to the farm, bought some amazing coffees, and somehow managed to work our way through the myriad details involved in international shipping. We did it!

Support your “local” coffee farmer!

Click “continue reading” below  (if you are on the home page, and not already reading this full article) to see the latest coffee offerings. Stay tuned for purchasing details which will be announced later this week.
Continue reading Real People, Really Good Coffee Update September 2015

Real People, Really Good Coffee, Update August 2015

Update 09/12: The coffee has passed FDA inspection, it should clear Customs in the next few days! 

In this post see the 2015 coffee lineup!

At this writing we’re waiting for the coffee to be loaded into a container & sent to Peruvian Customs. Just a few more hurdles & it should be on it’s way to your cup. (yes!)

The time has flown by, and at last we can look back and realize that we’ve accomplished our goal, which was to find excellent coffee & buy as much as possible direct from the grower. There are only so many things that a class or school can teach about importing coffee. Ultimately, you just have to do it, and roll with the punches as they come.

Continue reading Real People, Really Good Coffee, Update August 2015