Green Mountain Cafe – The Green Mountain Coffee Blog

I’m not sure I get this: Why do coffees from different countries taste different?

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It all comes down to what we call terroir.

Like wine, coffee expresses regional characteristics and exhibits the effects of its terroir, or “taste of place.” Differences in soil, altitude, rainfall, processing techniques, and even social conditions affect what’s in the cup.  One of the most important conditions is the areas own traditions and for handling and processing coffee.

Take Sumatran coffee, like our Fair Trade Sumatran Lake Tawar.

Beans from Sumatra have always been highly prized not only because of their full flavor, but also because of their distinct appearance. Sumatran coffee beans, when green, are often asymmetrical in shape and have a deep aquamarine tint.

The drying techniques employed by Sumatran coffee farmers also contribute to the coffee’s distinctiveness. These techniques involve an extended period of the coffee bean’s exposure to the pulp of the berry after the berry has been harvested—a process which is believed to produce deeper tones in the brewed coffee.

Compare that coffee from southeastern Mexico, along the Sierra Mountains, like our Fair Trade Organic Mexican Select.

Coffee farmers process their beans using their own local wet mills. This process results in a balanced acidity in the coffee, for the process of fermentation and drying are quite immediate to each other. While this organically grown coffee is cultivated in an environmentally friendly manner, its flavor is improved as well. Being shade grown, the coffee plants mature slowly, creating sweeter coffee beans.

Since our team gets the chance to go to these places, see the people, we also get to know their traditions, their culture.  While you may not be with us on the trip, you do get to experience these places through their coffee.  Guess you can say, you can tour the world through your coffee cup.

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My favorite Fair Trade Certified™ coffee is our Single Origin Kenyan Highland Cooperatives.

I’m long a gobsmacked and loyal fan of the coffees of Kenya. Few origins offer the bright, zingy POW that’s the hallmark of these East African coffees. Few have such stunning, and stunningly intense fragrances and flavors – or such a decadent range of them! Few origins invariably cup as refreshingly clean, un-muddled by ferment or defect or under- or over-ripe fruit; qualities that result from exacting and uncompromising work at collective coffee mills. Our Highland Cooperatives is no exception, bursting with grapefruit-toned brightness, and lip-smacking flavors of tart blackberry and black tea, bergamot and burgundy.

Lindsey Bolger with chairman of the Rumukia Coffee Cooperative Society in Kenya.

It’s grown by members of the Rumukia Farmers Cooperative Society, a group of smallholder farmers in Kenya’s Nyeri district, a region with a remarkable microclimate — a temperate zone with regular, seasonal rainfall that’s proven ideal for growing quality coffee in Eastern Kenya. Every bit as remarkable, the cooperative has a reputation for fair dealings with their member farmers, and for being excellent stewards of their land.

Only recently has it been possible to integrate Fair Trade practices into Kenya’s traditional auction system, creating a thread of transparency between coffee farming cooperatives and mills, and international markets. It remains a tenuous line, at best. Political disarray in Kenya threatens the auction process, and farming cooperatives face tremendous pressure to increase yields over quality. While still a very young program, Fair Trade pricing and support for member communities in Kenya is working to bolster small-holder farmer cooperatives like Rumukia, and I hope to see still more excellent, Fair Trade Certified Kenya coffee producers.

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I drink this coffee at home in the morning, just about every day. The bag is really pretty, the green is so classy looking and yet friendly. More importantly, the coffee is clean, bright, fruity, and sweet without being sugary. It’s acidic without banging me over the head with it.

It goes without saying that I like fairness and social justice in my coffee and that I like to support the organic movement every chance I get. I’ve never been to Ethiopia, so I don’t have an exotic or touching origin story to share with you. I have met one of the supplying coffee cooperative’s General Manager, named Tadesse. He’s  sort of famous in the coffee world, partly because he was in Black Gold: A Film about Coffee Trade. [Every time I see him I have to reintroduce myself and in spite of that, he never seems to remember me. I don't hold that against the coffee.]

Ethiopian coffees are very popular for us cuppers, as well. When we have too many samples to cup in the lab, the joke to Brent, who organizes the cuppings, is something along the lines of “Brent, I’m too busy to cup, but if you put some Ethiopians on the table, I’ll drop everything.” Or “Brent, it’s my birthday, can’t we just cup Ethiopians today, please?”

So, make your birthday everyday and have some fine Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee.

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Green Mountain Coffee loves Fair Trade, so why not make 100% of your coffees Fair Trade Certified™?

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Winston and Renee in nursery at the HUATUSCO Cooperative, where Fair Trade Mexican Decaf comes from.

We do love Fair Trade. I love Fair Trade. I wish we could sell more of it. Luckily we still sell millions of pounds of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee every year, and if you don’t know what that does for small farmers around the world, you’ve been asleep or in Antarctica.

As much as writing 100% and Fair Trade in the same sentence makes my heart go pitter patter, we’re trying to strike a balance   We are committed to increasing our purchases of sustainably produced coffee, but we are also competing with many other companies who are not, so it’s a challenge.    But the more people ask for and choose Fair Trade products, the more demand we can build for the certification and the more momentum we can build to help more farms become certified.   More certified farms = more certified coffee = more opportunity to for you to have a wide selection of Fair Trade java from us to love.

In the end, remember: choosing Fair Trade coffees support the movement – get your friends and family to do the same.

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Another big announcement!

In celebration of Fair Trade Month, Grace Potter has teamed up with us to spread the word about the benefits of Fair Trade.  As you all know by now, with Fair Trade, coffee drinkers get a better quality cup of coffee and farmers get a better quality of life.

Potter is lending her voice to the issue to show fans everywhere that by making a small change like switching to Fair Trade coffee, they can help improve education, health and the environment within coffee-farming communities worldwide.

To support Fair Trade, Potter is performing live via webcast on Thursday, October 20th at 7pm PST/ 10am EST exclusively for Green Mountain Coffee Fans on Facebook.

Make sure to RSVP so you don’t miss out!

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As copywriter for Green Mountain Coffee, one of my favorite assignments is writing the stories behind our Special Reserve coffees. These coffees are extremely rare and in very limited supply, so any time I get to write about them (and taste them!), it’s a special treat.

This month’s Special Reserve is also notable because it’s organic and Fair Trade Certified™. “La Prosperidad” is the combination of two microlots from the Cajamarca region in the northern highlands of Peru. It has lush, juicy fruit notes of apricot, lemon, cherry, and grapefruit. After a seductive, delicate aroma, the flavor leans toward buttery caramel and cocoa. Delicious!

The back story of this coffee is very down to earth — literally. In 2008, members of the Chirinos Prosperity Cooperative told us “tired soil” was one of their biggest problems, so we helped fund a certified organic compositing facility. Since then, production has almost doubled, new coffee plants are flowering earlier, and the plants are more resistant to disease. There’s also a noticeable difference in the cup — citrus notes are brighter, and the sweetness is more pronounced.

We’re pleased that an investment at ground level can have such wonderful, delicious results!  This limited batch roasts on October 18th!

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“Every business transaction is a challenge to see that both parties come out fairly.”

–  Adam Smith, 1759

We can make a difference by taking our sense of taste and social responsibility to the office each morning.

Small businesses have substantial influence in their community, and when they adopt practices like supporting Fair Trade that advance the quality of life for their patrons, communities, and the environment, it makes a huge difference.

Here are a few suggestions for adding Fair Trade in your workplace, starting around the coffee station:

Ensure that your office coffee machine is brewing Fair Trade coffee. Also, encourage your employer to supply Fair Trade cocoa and tea, as well as Fair Trade chocolates as a snack during meetings or as an employee reward.

Post signs in the office break room or kitchen, preferably above the coffee maker, letting your coworkers know that the beverages they are drinking are supporting small-scale farmers.

Many organizations working on Fair Trade provide fact sheets and resources on their website. You can order informational materials or download them from organizations such as the Fair Trade Resource Network or Transfair USA. Several offer material you can print out and give to coworkers (maybe with a piece of Fair Trade chocolate as an incentive).

Use your company newsletter or blog to promote Fair Trade.

Ask for corporate donations to Fair Trade organizations.

Ask the businesses you support during the workweek to sell Fair Trade products. Don’t be intimidated; business owners really do value consumer feedback.

Let your local merchants know you value the Fair Trade items they sell, and ask them to stock any you’d like to purchase.

Encourage your business to advocate for making your town a “Fair Trade Town” — a community that makes a commitment to supporting Fair Trade. Lead the way!

Exchange Fair Trade gifts with coworkers during the holidays.

Give the gift of Fair Trade to clients: Global Exchange, for example, has a Corporate Gift Program allowing you to buy socially conscious Fair Trade gifts.

The Fair Trade Certified™ label helps your office make better choices, with the assurance that the merchandise purchased is socially and environmentally conscious. As we become more aware of opportunities to use our influence in the marketplace, Fair Trade provides a path for both individuals and businesses to vote with their dollars and become a real force for good.

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