Earlier this year, I traveled to Colombia for an origin trip with our education and green coffee partner, Cafe Imports. Also on the trip were team members from Roestbar in Germany, Intuition Coffee in Illinois, and Yellowstone Coffee in Montana. The trip was full of incredible moments. Here are a few highlights and some of the best reasons (in my opinion) to travel to origin.
Coffee saplings being transplanted at Banexport farm Juan Martin
Building a Network
At the start of the trip, I spent two days in Popayán, Cauca, with Banexport, which exports the popular Manos Juntas Natural offering we bring in year after year. I then spent two days with exporter Genesis around Tarqui, Huila, who has crafted community lots we have carried in the past. These visits brought together producers, QC teams, and the traveling team I was with, and allowed us to connect and share information so we can stay in touch for the future.
Our group at the Banexport Warehouse. Cafe Imports team members Omar and Katie, pictured front left.
Our group sharing coffee and snacks at Jesús Arbey Iquira's farm
Enjoying delicious coffee
Over the week-long trip, I cupped 66 coffees in total, all of which were notable. As the greens buyer for Mill City Roasters, I was keeping an eye out for coffees that would work well on our menu. I wanted to find offerings that were delicious, but also provided an educational framework, something we could use to teach people more about coffee.
Four really exciting single varietal lots caught my attention, and we plan to purchase them. The goal is to create a fun and exciting green and roasted coffee flight for our customers to taste and roast this Summer. The set will allow roasters to explore different varietals of coffee grown in the same region.
Cupping at the Banexport Warehouse
Continuing Education
Learning and discussion with Genesis coffee farmer Arnulfo Leguizamo
This is a good reminder for anyone: our educational journey is never over. In our industry, we find better ways of doing things year after year, from agricultural practices at origin to extraction in the cafe or new approaches at the roaster. We need to be malleable in our craft to continue to grow our understanding. During the trip, I learned of one very practical way that farmers are approaching change, and one philosophical mindset that relates to this idea:
Speaking with coffee farmer Jesús Arbey Iquira
Practical: Colombian National Coffee Research Center (also known as Cenicafé) is working on the cultivar Cenicafe2. The goal is to produce a more heat-tolerant plant to stand up against the warming climate. This center also created Cenicafe1, which was renowned for its resistance to rust and coffee berry disease.
Arnulfo and a partner looking out over his coffee farm
Philosophical: Everyone we met had great thoughts on stewardship. But Arnulfo Leguizamo, whose land runs up to a forest reserve with fresh, streaming water, had to say about stewardship that really stood out to me. To paraphrase, he said, “Many things are not forever; coffee may not be forever, but we will always have fresh water”.
Meeting dogs
No trip is complete without meeting a lot of great dogs. If you own pets and you leave them at home to travel, or you are just a lover of animals, it’s a good homesickness remedy and makes a great conversation starter. Of course, you can’t win the love of every dog you see. Some are just being good guard dogs.
Good dog #1
Good dog #2
Good dog #3 - sleepy
In the coming weeks, we'll continue to share reflections from this trip here on the blog. Stay tuned for more lessons from origin!
