Soul & Soil

Best of Panama competition

2007-04-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be invited to participate as an international juror in the annual Best of Panama competition held this year in Boquete. For 3 days we cupped and scored 27 entries that had made it to the semi-finals through the national jury. The event went very smoothly, thanks to the drill-team like precision of the support staff.

2007-04-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here is my new Panamanian buddy, right outside my window. Happy spring to all you northeners.

Semana Santos

2007-04-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

Semana Santos, or Holy Week, has made my life a mess the last few days, but it sure is pretty.

You can see more photos on my flickr site in a couple of days. Just click on the link you see to the right.

LTC comments, part 2

2007-04-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

The conference was pretty amazing, with producers from all over Central and South America. Besides having several roundtable discussions and seminars about this new way of coffee trading we are all trying to navigate, we cupped together every afternoon. I was cupping with experts I already buy coffee from, and it was a great feeling to have a link and shared goal. After spending these 5 days with dedicated and innovative producers and buyers I feel very excited for our industry. This kind of progressive professional collaboration is the future of Specialty Coffee and will play a huge role in increasing supply and demand for high quality coffees, as well as playing a role in the continued economic development of some of the poorest countries. The thing that was most exciting to me however was witnessing the interactions between the producers from all over the map. I saw a kind of collaboration and trust that was very inspiring. Just like in the US, collaboration between competitors is a pretty new thing, but we have found that it has made us stronger as an industry. Listening to coffee farmers share their struggles and solutions with each other, I could just feel a kind of solidarity blooming. This may be the single best thing to result from these conferences. I made some good new contacts for coffees for us and have made some good friendships. My Spanish may have improved a bit too. Full transparency is definitely the way to go, and we have found that it strengthens us all along the way.

Let's Talk Coffee

2007-04-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

I am just returning from the 4th annual Let's Talk Coffee event, held this year in Antigua, Guatemala. This conference is sponsored by Sustainable Harvest, and provides a forum for coffee producers and coffee buyers to get together for a few days, and share our collective challenges and successes as we collectively try to change the way coffee is traded.

Visit to Jose's Farm (Part 2)

2007-03-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

The man: The trail:
We were thrilled to be invited to visit Jose's farm. He is one of the strongest community leaders in the quest for quality in the Panamanian Comarca.
I had no idea what kind of hike it would involve. Let me just say I feel lucky to be alive and I wasn't even carrying a huge bag of coffee on my head.
Jose's farm is a beautiful mix of varieties of coffee trees, corn and bean production, and a small coffee nursery for others in the community. He has even created a pond where he grows and harvests Tilapia.

His enthusiasm and dedication to creating a better life for his community through better quality coffee is very inspirational, and we are happy to have the chance to partner with them.

Visit to Jose's Farm (Part 1)

2007-03-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Coffee de-pulper on Jose's farm. Some of Jose's family

Parchment evaluation

2007-03-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

I am just returning from the Comarca where we have been participating in a Ngobe-Bugle coffee school. It is very exciting to see the people who traditionally travel great distances to harvest coffees in other countries taking a good look at their own coffee and learning how to get the best quality from their own farms.

I was honored yesterday with a Ngobe name, given to me by an elder woman in the community.

My name is Egida.

In these pictures we are doing a pre-selection of coffees based on parchment quality. Together, we selected the coffees that will go on for cupping.

...but I think it likes Panama better

2007-03-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

coffee loves growing in Costa Rica

2007-03-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

We have had a great time visiting small family farms in Costa Rica. We look forward to sharing these coffees with you soon.

You never know where life will take you...

2007-03-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

...and apparently my life has led me to a blog. Please check back in every once in a while, and keep me company here on the interweb. The next month should be pretty interesting as I am traveling among 4 countries in Central America, learning and working with coffee producers.

Adios!

funny looking coffee tree

2007-03-15T20:14:00.000-07:00