Guatemala goes Vacuum

Vacuum packing has long been high on the priority list for us. Daterra was the first farm to do this. Our Kariaini coffee was vacuum packed in Kenya. We re-pack the coffees that arrive in jute-sacks ourselves, if we can't have it done at origin. This is something we feel quite strongly about.

Now Edwin Martines of Finca Vista Hermosa has initiated the first vacuum packing of coffee in Guatemala. Way to go Edwin! And way to go whole team doing the hard work of weighing out, packing, vacuuming, sealing and boxing these coffees! Truly exciting.

You can see Edwin's pictures of the process here.

We've got nominated for the Copenhagen prize "Byens Bedste" (Best of the City) by AOK! The category is "Consience" and the nomination is a recoqnition of our Direct Trade model which we appreciate a lot!

Direct Trade is something we are very passionate about but it is also difficult to build up these relationsships. Therefore we aprreciate this nomination very much!

If you feel like supporting us please go to this site and give us your vote:

byensbedste.aok.dk

Mahlkönig Vario grinder

Georg Lauridsen from Mahlkönig Nordic - fresh back from the Nordic Roasters retreat in Oslo - stopped by the coffee shop yesterday and was kind enough to demonstrate the new Mahlkönig Vario (home) grinder.

It's a very neat piece of equipment that will fit nicely into most kitchens. Adjustments are very easy with the broader range from Coarse (French Press) til Fine (espresso) on one side and within those step a finer adjustment range on the other side. Grind quality was much better than we had dared to hope for. When visually comparing the coarse grounds to that of our large Mahlkönig "R2D2"-grinder it looked very similar. And on the finer settings we were able to completely clog up our La Marzocco. After just three shots we had dialed it in at 25 seconds and had a great shot.



Georg is still a little hesitant to promise when it can be in the shops, but rumors has it that by end October it might be on the shelves. It's definitely going to cost more than most home grinders out there, but on the other hand, how many of those can actually grind for espresso? And with the ceramic burr set the Vario sports it should last for a lot of French Presses.

We tried our best to persuade Georg to leave the grinder with us, but since it's one of two prototypes he had to take it with him. We'll see it soon again I hope.

Visit to Koppi coffee roastery

Last weekend Sigga Dora, Linus and I drove up to the beautiful town of Helsingborg in Sweden - just across the water from Helsingør in Denmark - to visit our friends Anne and Charles and (for Sigga Dora and I) see Koppi for the first time. We've been meaning to go there for so long, but I think anyone who starts a business will recognize that time flies too fast.



Anne and Charles served us some beautiful fresh roasted coffees, amongs others their lot of the Aricha, and an great shot of their One Finger Snap Espresso (great name!) with loads of thick molasses-like sweetness and an almost cherry-like acidity. Yummy!




The space they have at Koppi is amazing! It's really big (especially to us), very high ceiling and huge windows all around that lets the Swedish summer light right in. The roaster-area is behind the bar one level up with big glass window between - allowing customers to see the action without being disturbed by the noise and smoke of roasting. Cool furniture and small details all around reveals that Anne and Charles have a definite flair for interior design. But it still doesn't draw any attention away from what obviously the most important thing there: the coffee.



Thanks to Anne and Charles for being awesome hosts and the best of luck with the future of Koppi!

More Flickr pics here

Slow Food Nation

Our friend Brent Fortune of Crema Coffee & Bakery in Portland sent us this picture from the Slow Food Nation coffee talk, where Edwin Martinez was giving a talk on coffee and especially Direct Trade relationships.

You can read more about over at Tonx' blog