During the last week of February Barefoot Coffee Roaster Dominic Taylor had the honor of attending a round table conference in the birth place of coffee. Going to Ethiopia is an experience most roasters can only dream about so you can imagine how excited I was. Taking part in a conference designed to connect roasters with the farmers who grow their coffee was unbelievably perfect. My deepest gratitude goes to USAID/FINTRAC and Boot Coffee Consulting for organizing such an event and Barefoot Coffee Roasters for sending me.

Monday started with a series of presentations followed by the round table discussion. All sectors of the coffee world were represented. We heard from U.S. coffee importers, Ethiopian coffee exporters, coffee farm managers, governmental officers, foreign aid representatives, coffee roasters and CQI. One of the key presenters was Ted Lingle, possibly the largest force in the US specialty coffee industry.

The second half of our day was spent cupping at the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association. The ECEA had a huge presence at the conference and I suspect that many of the developments in Ethiopian coffee, especially in the way of promotion, will have to come from them. We had some pretty funky tasting coffees and some very pleasant ones as well. There were Limmu’s, Sidamo’s and a couple Yirgacheffe’s. I have to admit though that I was pretty much shot for this cupping due to the travel, the altitude (Addis is around 8000 ft.), and a lingering flu I had the week before I left.

Jimma found me in much better health. This was the second stop on our journey and the locale of the major part of the conference. Jimma is about 45 minutes by plane south of Addis Ababa. The first day was very relaxed with only a trip to the Jimma Agricultural Research Station on the itinerary. The rest of the time was spent mingling at the Central Jimma Hotel. Everyone attending the conference ate all three meals together so there was plenty of time to get to know people.

Day 2 of the conference brought together opposite ends of the coffee chain. We heard from roasters on one side and farm managers/exporters on the other. Filling in the middle was representatives from CQI and Boot Coffee Consulting speaking on the importance of cupping. It was so nice for me to see the presentations by Abdullah Bagersh of S.A. Bagersh (think Idido Misty Valley) and Dante Vilones of Dominion Trading Company. The passion for growing coffee that was displayed reminded me of home and the passion I share with the roasters and baristi in the cafe.

It was a special treat to meet Dante of Dominion Trading Company. We shared many meals together and had lots of time to talk. I brought some of Barefoot’s DTC coffee and we were both delighted to see the coffee go from grower to roaster and then back again. I was also very excited because Dante had some new samples for me. This year DTC is also venturing into natural Yirgacheffes. Their washed coffee is some of the best I have ever had so I can’t wait to try the natural. I was also able to establish contact with Abdullah Bagersh. Barefoot wasn’t able to get any coffee from them last season but I have tried the Idido Misty Valley from other roasters and it is awesome.

The whole conference was set up to give buyers a chance to meet with farmers and exporters to try and set up direct relationships. I now have many contacts. That first day in Jimma I was sitting next to Mr. Getachew of IPS. IPS is the largest specialty only coffee exporter in Ethiopia. I have already received samples from them and was delighted to find out that our new Ghimbi is from them but purchased through one of our importers. I also met a number of farmers and exporters who are on the cusp. They are in the process of raising quality and entering into the specialty market. Two of these coffees stood out and we will be keeping an eye on them in the future. Guji coffee and Tepi coffee will be the next great regions of Ethiopia I think.

As we strolled through the coffee trees under the canopy everyone noticed how many birds were there and people started asking about “bird friendly” certification. They are not certified but only because they haven’t applied. This should change soon. Giday samples? Yes. One of the nicest wild forest Limmu’s I had while in Jimma.

Day four. The most special day in a coffee lovers life. Today we go to Bonga! We did get some work done in the morning though. This days conference allowed me the chance to address everyone on the process that Barefoot goes through to source coffees (cupping!!) and what we try to offer our customers in the way of great coffee, education, and service. We also heard from USAID/Fintrac on what they were trying to accomplish in Ethiopia. Their goal is to raise coffee production in Ethiopia by 74% in the next 3-5 years and they are succeeding. Phenomenal! We also had a surprise presentation from a young couple from Holland who happened to be at the Hotel. They had just finished getting Jimma’s first public radio station online and were offering it as a resource to get education to the local farmers.

The rest of the day was spent primarily on a bus to Bonga in the Kaffa district. Yes, Kaffa the birthplace of coffee. Where it all started. Our first stop and resting place for the night was the Wush Wush tea estate. Even though I have been to many tea estates before I am still overwhelmed at the great swaths of green that tea fields are. We arrived with just enough time to take a walk through town at sunset before dinner.

Taking the bus to Bonga and the coffee farm the day after Wush Wush was another unforgettable experience. Not so much for the dusty roller coaster ride that it was but for the scenery. I have never seen so many shades of green. All kinds of vegetation overlapping and competing with each other to form a dense web of life. I found out that Kaffa gets rain ten months out of the year and it certainly showed. Also delightful for those of us who reside in more northern regions was the baboons and monkeys. One thing I noticed was, what I later found out were, beehives in many of the trees. A little added income for the local coffee pickers. And what makes that honey so damn good. The coffee. The bees feast on coffee blossoms. Okay, so whatever amazing forested farms I saw in Jimma… forget it. These Bonga farms were truly like walking into the jungle only the under story was comprised of thousands of coffee trees. It was funny, all the seasoned coffee pros who have been to origin before duly minded the tour. The rest of us got lost taking pictures in the coffee jungle. The only downside to todays trip was that this farm too had already been targeted by the Japanese. Why must the Japanese have such good taste in coffee?

We arrived back from Bonga in the late evening. Dinner, a beer, and bed. The next day would be a late morning flight to Addis and the end of my new friends and my time together. The next day back in Addis left plenty of time for the last chance souvenir shopping and one last dinner.

The excruciatingly long trip home left me with much time to reflect on the whole experience. There is no one thing that impacted more than another but many things that have further formed me both as a roaster and a person. Ethiopia is an amazing country both for its land and its people. The sheer beauty of Ethiopia and the relaxed happiness of its people had me wanting to live there. The many people I met in the conference validated my choice of career and I hope I can develop a personal relationship as well as business with those that I met. Coffee is a truly amazing thing and attracts truly amazing people.

Look for some exciting coffees coming soon as results of the amazing partnerships Barefoot has been developing in Ethiopia.

Coffee roaster Dominic Taylor is the lucky soul who is in Ethiopia right now helping with the Q Roundtable Conference. Tomorrow he is off to Djimma to visit a handful of farms and mills. During the next 9 days he will be visiting a dozen or so farms and several mills and doing pre-selection cuppings and screenings for the upcoming Ethiopia Limited Coffee Auction. This auction replaced the famous eCafe auction of former years.

The itinerary is below:

2008 Roundtable Conference, Djimma, Ethiopia

Sun. Feb. 17: Recommended date for arrival in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Monday Feb 18:Q Buyers Forum - Addis Abeba.
The Coffee Buyer’s Forum is organized by the Coffee Quality Institute. The Forum has the objective to promote the concept of Q graded coffees in Ethiopia and to assist in the actual start of Q coffee trade.

Tuesday Feb 19: Q Buyers Forum and Departure to Djimma

Wednesday Feb 20: Visits to farms and mills / Cupping at Djimma Research Center

Thursday Feb 21: Conference / Cupping Sessions

Friday Feb 22: Conference and Departure to Bonga, Kaffa District

Conference Topics:

Sundried Natural Production Techniques; Forest Coffee; Variety Research; Cupping Sessions of Sundried Natural and (Washed) Forest Coffees; International Market Trends

Saturday Feb 23: Visits to Forest Farms, Washing Stations and Mills

Sunday Feb 24: Return to Addis Abeba

The women in coffee farm tour will focus specifically on coffee farms and mills owned and managed by women. They will meet with the newly formed El Salvador Chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) and the current President of the IWCA to dialogue about issues particularly relevant to women in the specialty coffee industry.

This is an event funded by the USAID mission in El Salvador through their Agricultural Diversification Program, coordinated by the Programs subcontractor Boot Coffee Consulting.

Eugenia will be there from January 14th through the 18th. Wish her Godspeed and happy travels!

and here are some of the ones we took: Flickr 

Day six started with a very early morning trip to the award winning Finca Vista Hermosa in the rugged highlands of Huehuetenango in the far north of Guatemala. We drove up for several hours getting higher and higher. Then we turned left onto a very steep dirt road. The very full vanload of 9 people then began to climb the almost vertical moutains on the way up to the Finca. Every time we thought that it could not get any steeper, narrower, more scary or more beautiful views we would round another hairpin turn with maybe 3 inches of raod to spare with a 400 foot straight drop and there would be even higher peaks and more breathtaking views.

Eventually we actually made it up to the Finca at around 5250 feet high. We were now over a mile in the sky. The air is thin, the clouds are in your ears and the jungle is awesome. Everywhere we looked there were beautifully healthy coffee trees heavy laden with ripe coffee cherries. Our intrepid roaster party leap out like excited school children. We swarmed all over the wet mill and the drying patios snapping photos, grabbing half fermented coffee and shrieking with delight. At El Injerto we only saw their trees and the mills but not processing coffee.

As we arrived at Fince Vista Hermosa they were just releasing a perfectly fermented batch of pulped coffee into the washing sluices. It was a very slick and cool operation to witness, but even more fun to actually perform yourself! Yeah the Barefoot crew got into it and we were paddling coffee in the washing stations and cleaning and sorting like mad. Just wait till you see the great photos we got!

We drove down to the bottom of the farm down to around 3800 feet. There we found the most amazing coffee tree. It was so laden with perfectly rip coffee cherries it blew our minds. So being highly competitive Eugenia and Andy decided to have a cherrie picking competetion along with Aaron Blance of Brown Coffee. 15 minutes to pick as much as you could in a picker basket. It was exhilerating and very hard and dirty work. Wait till you see the photos to see who won…

we then went back to the wet mill and saw the workers bring in loads of super ripe coffee cherries for processing. Tons more great photos here. They measured and then water sorted the ripest cherries out to the depulper. Then it is on to the fermentation tank for a 24 hour around the clock watch to ferment the coffee to exactly the right stage, not an hour longer. This is where most of the magic comes from in processing coffee. a tiny misstep here and the entire harvest is ruined.

It then went out on the drying patio to dry and be turned constantly.

day Seveñ””””””””

early in the morning we hiked up to the top of Finca Vista Hermosa up to about 7000 feet high. The view would have been incredible except for the clouds had rolled in. 7000 feet is very high! and very wet and dense jungle.

we saw Catui, Caturra, Bourbon, Margioype coffee trees and quite a few of the Fincas micro’lots. just wait untill new harvest when we get our hands on some of these new micro lots from Finca Vista. New worlds await!

We toured their sheep operation where they create organic natural fertilizer for the plamts and get fresh goat milk. A very impressive and still low tech operation. Gods natural order in evidence.

Later in the afternoon we helped process more coffee and learned more about what makes the farm so special. Then we went to CAFECO the dry mill in Huehue that processes Finca Vista Hermosa coffee. An amazing operation that you just have to see to believe. Wait for photos.

then dinner at the Martinez house with even more of the amazingly tasty food. If we all ate like this we would be healthy, wealthy and wise.

So tomorrow morning we will go to Antigua to see a farm called Filadelfia. Then on too Guatemala City for cupping at Anacafe.

Edwin Martinez of Finca Vista Hermosa and Arturo of El Jinerto. The new generation of coffee quality in Guatemala.

That afternoon we visited the famous ruins of Zaculeu. amazing! amazing ruins, amazing people, amazing place. Very interesting that the Spanish ´discovered´and ínfluenced´them into oblivion.

Lots of great food and great company. Along with us on the trip were some amazing coffee luminaries, George and Laurie Howell of Terrior Coffee, Jeff Taylor of PT´s coffee, AAron Blanco of Brown Coffee and Simon Thompson of Cravens Coffee. You would not believe the amazing depth of coffee knowledge and passion that could be crammed into one small van. Thank you all.