What are microbatches in coffee? How does micro-batch coffee come into being?

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What is a microbatch?

In the simplest terms, "Microlots" is to select the best beans from a batch of beans that have already performed well.

You can think of it as a differentiation strategy, picking out the better parts before entering the market, so that the profit of selling can be higher. On the one hand, it meets the increasingly picky taste buds of the single-product coffee industry, on the other hand, it also helps farmers produce coffee beans to enter the boutique coffee market and establish their own high-quality image.

Just imagine, coffee of uneven quality can only be sold at a lower price, so is it a pity not to pick out the ones of higher quality?

The method of "picking out" micro-batches

There are many ways to "pick out" micro batches, for example, because today's weather is better, especially to separate today's coffee beans from others, or because a farmer is better at fertilizing, so separate his production from that of others, and so on. It can also be a special rule today to only pick ripe fruit, and then use double labor to pick out impurities and defective products; it can even be a high-risk attempt, such as deciding whether to change to other varieties with better flavor and whether to adopt novel post-processing techniques.

There are no certain rules and standards for micro-batches, but only through constant attempts and the cooperation of everyone can we find the really good quality. In an ideal state, such persistence and pursuit can make the technological improvement continue, and even drive the whole to improve together. Of course, there is no shortage of "black-hearted" people in any industry who use the name of micro-batches to sell "experiments" at high prices to transfer risks to consumers, or under the pretext of "micro-batches" to bid up the price of beans.

A good product from cooperation.

Micro-batches are not alone by producers. In foreign countries, many coffee makers or agricultural technology guidance organizations are trying to use micro-batches and other methods to help farmers improve production quality and open up the market. Since micro-batches are built on the premise of "better quality", professionals who understand flavor testing, that is, cup testers, are needed to check and evaluate. As for the score of cup test, which can be regarded as having the standard of micro-batch and the specific output of each micro-batch, it is determined by each place, and there is no uniform standard.

The "Red Cherry Project (Operation Cherry Red)", which began in 2007, is the high quality produced by Dutch traders who are responsible for providing technology, capital and flavor testing, while farmers are selected again and again in sweat to unite everyone's efforts. Plans such as Red Cherry, which in turn led to the direct rise of an entire producing area, such as Sidamo Guji, can be said to be an example of the positive impact of micro-batches.

The extended discussion of "micro-batch"

Such a discussion can continue: in fact, whether microbatches can become a truly beneficial and long-lasting mode of production has always been the focus of many people's attention. In order to maintain high quality, it takes more effort and effort, and frankly speaking, not all producers in every region can afford it. Considering from this direction, micro-batch is not a method that can be applied in every production area.

When everyone wants to grow good coffee and want to be selected into micro-batches, the gap between technology and information makes many farmers do not know how to grow good coffee, or how to grow good coffee every year. Therefore, how to make micro-batch is not only a "accidental luck", but also how to make good technology take root locally and spread out in the production area is a topic that many people are working hard at present.

On other levels, the reason why many co-operatives sell coffee beans mixed with different members is to maintain fairness in external bargaining and to avoid quarrels between some selling well and others selling poorly. After all, centripetal force is a very important issue for production organizations. In addition, micro-batch production usually does not account for a large proportion, so although the price is better, it is more difficult to become the main source of profits.

One side should have a better price and the other side should have a better flavor. It takes more time to find, improve and verify the exact landing point between the two sides.

Perhaps we can regard micro-batches as the product of demand at both ends of production and consumption; one side should have a better price, the other side should have a better flavor, the two sides happen to land, and more time is needed to find, improve and verify.

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