Ethiopia DP New Crop

by **farmroast** on Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:47 pm

Tom at SM now has a DP Sidamo. I have not tried it. He mentioned not seeing a Harar yet worth getting. Has anyone found any good DP green beans from Ethiopia? With the system change in Country and delays there it will probably be slim pickings of great lots.

by **another_jim** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 1:53 am

Novo is selling a DP Sidamo called Amaro Gayo. This is a 90-plus import, and probably better than Tom's, given his rather half-hearted review. Not sure about green sources.

by **drdna** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 3:25 am

Yes, but nothing has been getting in the 90's lately over at Sweet Maria's, after the standardization of the cupping scores. Anyway, it is worth a try. I am going to order some and will report back. If anyone has already roasted some up, I would love to hear the results.

by **farmroast** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 10:44 am

Cupping scores when compared are a bit tough to understand. And for me with only 4 years of experience also makes it tough to compare the past to the present to determine a particularly good crop year merely by scores. With better in Country packaging/vacuumed and direct trade micro-lots. these may be some new factors. When I search Ken's archive, either the lots have gotten much better or the scale has changed. And comparing Ken's, Tom's, COE, SCAA event, etc., scores I find I must take each on a different scale. Then I'm more apt to look at individual characteristics more than total score anyway.

by **Marshall** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 11:21 am

For those who missed it, PBS broadcast a documentary last week on the evolution of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) and how coffee was pushed into it by the Ethiopian government before the exchange was ready to handle it. Full video (and an audio report on the specialty coffee impact) here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/the-market-maker-full-episode/5293/.

There have been ongoing discussions between SCAA and ECX to try to extricate specialty coffee from the commodity exchange process.

by **farmroast** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:13 pm

Just go to the annual Outlook Forum, in DC. for agriculture in this country and you will realize how screwed up our system is too. And the future looks even scarier. After 40 years as a highest quality producer I gave up 3 years ago and have spent the last 25 years trying to improve the system.

by **another_jim** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 1:19 pm

drdna wrote:Yes, but nothing has been getting in the 90's lately over at Sweet Maria's, after the standardization of the cupping scores. Anyway, it is worth a try. I am going to order some and will report back. If anyone has already roasted some up, I would love to hear the results.

Controversial Opinion Warning:

Scoring changes over time in odd ways:

Tom rarely scores either very high or very low. This is a professional deformation of auction coffee judges. They calibrate so that most of the auction coffees will score in the 85 to 90 range. And they are themselves judged by a faulty algorithm that rewards being in the middle of the pack. So if you want to judge at auctions, it's very advisable to score almost all coffees, other than drop dead good or bad, on an 86 to 89 scale. (I suspect that inexperienced and perhaps utterly clueless judges disproportionately determine the winners, since their highs and lows have more amplitude than those of the experienced judges)

Ken Davids scores have risen. I do not believe this is hype. It registers that high end roasters are sourcing more expensive beans and roasting them lighter and more appropriately. If he gave 89 to a decent Kenya AA at a Vienna roast five years ago, why shouldn't he give 95 to an auction Kirinyaga roasted perfectly today? His scoring accurately reflects the improvement of sourcing and roasting here in the US, but does not necessarily indicate an improvement of greens at origin.

Most other judges, I think, continuously recalibrate their scoring so a good but unmemorable specialty coffee comes in at around 82.5 to 85, and the best coffees of the year around 95. I admit to doing this, I emotionally remember the great coffees "way back when," but rationally am pretty sure I can't. So my scoring is based on the range of green coffees I have on hand.

If freezing green coffee really works, it would be incredibly interesting if Terroir or someone else could establish a library of the best greens each year, so they could be resampled every decade or so as a reality check.

by **farmroast** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 3:13 pm

Other factors will effect flavors at the farm level over time. A farmer who ends up with a little more money from a direct relationship buyer will want to increase production by adding fertilizers and whether organic or not will change flavors and generally I will bet to the negative. The better approach would be promoting soil health and the soils ability to break down and release nutrients. The soils are where the most of the real origin flavors come from. For example an apple farmer who wants to improve flavor will actually thin the apples on a tree while stimulating soil health and using mineral supplements such as specific native rock dusts. The best farmer focuses on the dirt.

by **Marshall** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 3:45 pm

farmroast wrote:Other factors will effect flavors at the farm level over time. A farmer who ends up with a little more money from a direct relationship buyer will want to increase production by adding fertilizers and whether organic or not will change flavors and generally I will bet to the negative.

Ed, I think your poor expectations of direct trade coffee are unwarranted.

As Geoff Watts has described Intelligentsia's program:

Essentially, Direct Trade is exactly what the words imply. I work quite personally and regularly with the coffee growers themselves. I'm on the road eight to nine months every year with the express purpose of spending time with growers and figuring out how we can both continue to advance. I sleep in their houses, I bring them to Chicago to sleep in mine. We have each other's cell phones on speed dial. Most importantly, we are constantly pushing upwards, with both quality and price. My commitment is to help growers improve quality by donating my own time to provide cupping training, helping to finance improvement of infrastructure, and working closely with the growers before, during, and after harvest to analyze results and find ways to improve, reviewing both the successes and the failures.

(At http://greenlagirl.com/an-intelligentsia-email).

And here is a NY Times report on the direct trade programs of several coffee roasters (via Terroir): http://www.terroircoffee.com/content/view/212/.

by **farmroast** on Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:43 pm

Marshall
I don't doubt the good intentions and effort. I've just found that even at it's best our American mindset on farming is a bit off course especially when it comes to origin/terroir flavors and adjusting them. I have no experience in the wine biz and that may be an exception. I've chatted with George and encouraged a deeper understanding of the origin soils to maintain and better enhance the valued origin flavors. George I think is the only one who now will add a soil description in a coffee listing. And others like Geoff are smart and dedicated and will certainly make improvements and continue to learn as farming knowledge is one of those lifelong journeys. An example of my approach with a farm I've consulted for since it's start in the 70s NY Times article about farming for flavor


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