A record of the visit of coffee farmers in Colombia (part two)

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"Trade unions can't be trusted, and participating in COE is too risky, so you decided to open up customers on your own?" I asked each other.

"not bad. But we are different from other raw bean exporters. I don't have a sample, and I don't just represent a few farms. " Indeed, I do not feel that they are "doing business" at all. In the past, many raw bean traders only stressed that they had a certain number of samples, cup test scores, prices and so on. But apart from sharing the situation in Colombia, they are paying attention to the way coffee is interpreted in the store.

"Futures style" opens up the source of customers

He added: "the harvest of the season has been reserved by guests from all over the world last year, so no samples will be provided. It is easy to mismatch when looking for customers by sending samples; some beans can not find buyers, and some buyers can not find beans. The leftover beans are not fresh and become a waste. So we asked the baker to list what beans he needed: taste, score, seed, price, etc. When we find the right one, we will send him a sample for taste. "

It sounds like a reversal of priorities, but it is not easy to co-ordinate in a vast land. I asked, "isn't this the way to buy futures?"

Match based on experience and stress trust

"Yes, and we need to trust each other. The experience of cup testing training, coupled with inspection around, makes us understand that people from different cultures have very different pursuits of fine coffee. What we do is to make a suitable match on the basis of experience and try our best to sell each bag of beans at the most reasonable price. " I sighed: "because the rest will only be recycled by FNCC at the commodity price." He was silent.

Adhere to the tradition and strive for perfection

In order to give them a better understanding of the tastes of local customers, I served iced coffee, which has been very popular recently and made from sunburned Ethiopian beans. They took a sip and said, "this deliberately fermented flavor is produced by xx." We will give it 20 points! "

Fermentation is an important process of coffee processing. In 2012, the jury of COE in Costa Rica realized that the public's likes and dislikes about the degree of fermentation were very polarized. The guests in front of me, I'm afraid, don't like the taste of coffee like whiskey, so after the game, they said, "locals like novelty, so it's good to have a cup of coffee with alcoholic flavor."

He replied, "I bet you that this cup of coffee does contain alcohol. If you don't believe it, you can take it to the laboratory for testing." This raw bean company is very good at packaging, and the so-called 'special' coffee flavor is made from the process. Alcohol is only one of the byproducts of fermentation. But we still like it a little more traditional. As a matter of fact, there are still many techniques that we have not mastered in the washing method, and until then, we will not try to do solarization. "

Some farmers from upstream industries try to meet the needs of the market, while others try their best to adhere to their traditions and strive for excellence. I hope readers can pay tribute to them on the other side of the world next time they drink coffee.

Patrick Tam (owner of the boutique coffee shop Knockbox, approved barista of the American Fine Coffee Association and European Fine Coffee Association, CQI recognized Cup tester in the United States, the first Hong Kong judge of Cup of Excellence