Ray's Monkey House

Nimbus for Mayor of Louisville

2009-12-13T00:12:00.001-05:00

So, Nimbus Couzin is runnng for Mayor of Louisville....

Here's an interview on AM talk radio...shortly after the Hannity Show....

http://springston.blogspot.com/2009/09/myviewmatters-radio-show-wnimbus-couzin.html

Stay tuned for more details...

More kiddo pics

2009-03-11T11:37:00.002-04:00

Nine Pages of great pix from Kenya...

2009-03-11T06:57:00.003-04:00

Check it out...this is what coffee is all about..........thanks to Tom at Sweet Maria's.......

http://www.sweetmarias.com/KenyaMarch2009/KenyaMarch2009.html

Kiddo photos

2009-03-07T11:30:00.003-05:00

My two sons, Leone and Rain...

More Photos from Ray's and Louisville

2009-02-23T01:55:00.011-05:00

I'm so far behind on posting all the cool photos that I have, so I'm just going to start tossing 'em out there. Of course Louisville just got through our big ICE STORM for the year. Our awning survived (unlike last year). I was out there at two AM knocking ice off of it to try to reduce the weight.

So here ya go....Ice, sledding, bluegrass, big bags of coffee, etc.....

Peace,
-Nimbus

Green Convene and Congressman Yarmuth

2009-02-22T04:38:00.004-05:00

Ray's provided coffee for the Green Convene this weekend - it went well....there was a reception last night, and the event today. After lugging up another big tub of coffee at eight something in the morning, I saw my local Congressman, John Yarmuth. He wasn't busy, so we chatted for about fifteen minutes. I felt a little guilty grilling him so much. He didn't have to be here at an eco-friendly conference, and he was heading off to a Town Hall meeting, so I tried not to be too tough on him.

Here's what I wrote to my peeps describing the meeting with Yarmuth:

"I was lugging big five gallon containers up to the Green Convene, a local "eco" conference that we are helping with, and pretty much first in line for coffee is our local rep. I called him Mayor Abramson by mistake. (they do actually look alike). He laughed and said the mayor is about a foot taller. But I got to talk to him for about fifteen minutes mostly one on one. Deanna, an employee of mine, was there too. I grilled him on Gaza (he initially said Israel had no choice, but I pushed him, and he said they had to do "something." I got him to use the word disproportionate, and he said maybe they should have gone after the tunnels to Egypt) and Israeli Palestinian peace processes (he admitted that he doesn't know what will work) and Afghanistan (he doesn't think adding troops will work, and that it is a mistake). And his upcoming priorities (he said after the economic stimulus plan it is Single payer healthcare - he's a co-sponsor of the Bill). we'll see if this photobucket link works: http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h309/nimbusbeer/yarmuth%20feb%2009/nimbuswithyarmuth2.jpg "

Blog from Gaza

2009-01-15T13:53:00.005-05:00

At Ray's we support Peace and Social Justice. For all.

One of our own Louisville Peace activists in on the Gaza border and blogging

http://gaza2009.shutterfly.com/

Ray's strongly condemns Israeli military action in Gaza and we demand an immediate unconditional ceasefire from both sides, as well as an opening of borders.

We urge you to call your elected representatives (yarmuth, mcconnell, bunning, etc) and voice your outrage. They have all stated their support for Israel's right to defend itself, but the disproportionate slaughter of civilians cannot be called defense. It is better described as state sponsored terror by Israel with US weapons.

Also, write to Obama, and urge him to speak out immediately and to act decisively against these types of actions, that are pretending to be a "war on terror." This terrorism upon the people of Gaza differs little from Bush. A war on terror can be used to justify a variety of atrocities, please let Obama know that we do not approve of continuing the "war on terror," and do not approve of his silence over the Gaza situation. Encourage him to take decisive action, rather than simply more of the coddling of Israel that we have seen. Perhaps cutting off funding to Israel would make a difference. Of course it would! Whether the diplomacy is behind the doors or not, Obama needs to be told the views of his constituants. Us. (as in, we, the people)

We'll be celebrating the end of the Bush era, and the start of Obama's hard work Tuesday all day at Ray's!! Big screen coverage of the inauguration, drink specials, etc....Party!!!

-Nimbus

More New Food Options at Ray's!!!

2009-01-11T02:51:00.002-05:00

Yay!!!

We've now added more hot food options at Ray's!

We're now serving hot Grilled Cheese and Avocado sandwiches at Rays! With tomatoes. Yummy. We can do straight grilled cheese as well. Our veggie soup has been going really really well, so we're just trying to figure out what will be next to add.

I'm really thinking about a good tofu scramble on the menu. I think it might actually happen!

Freshly Roasted Coffee - Why it is important/Chemistry

2009-01-10T10:19:00.002-05:00

Hey ya'll,

My friend Greg - a great home roaster, and chemist - wrote this up for me regarding chemical changes that occur to coffee shortly after roasting.

I've always pointed out that the flavor changes for several days, often fairly significantly. This post attempts to shed some light on the chemistry behind it. Yay!

There are several complex processes at work after roasting that result in the development, and eventual degradation of flavor. It is not only oxidation, far from it, in fact. Oxidation is (mostly) responsible for the eventual degradation of flavor. Many processes result in the development of flavor. I will try to describe these a bit, but I will have to simplify things a lot to do so... A reasonably stable green coffee bean is roasted, which is kind of like having a little revolution within the bean. All kinds of irreversible oxidations take place, as well as some reductions and some dehydrations. Some compounds bond together, as in the caramelization of sugars, while other larger molecules are fractured. The pieces of the fractured molecules are typically quite a bit more reactive/unstable than they were in their original state. After this turmoil, it takes time for things to settle down. It is these reactions, that occur between these newly-formed, less stable compounds that cause the development of most coffee flavor.

1) Carbon dioxide (CO2) is gradually released from the beans. This predominantly comes from the decarboxylation of chlorogenic and other organic acids. Some is created during the roast, but trapped within the cellular structure until it slowly leaches out. Some of the decarboxylation occurs over time. The pH changes as CO2 is lost, which causes other reactions to commence (or cease), as well as changing their relative reaction rates. The amount of CO2 coming from each process, roasting and post-roast reactions, will proportionally vary with the degree of roast. This is a facet that favors some aging, as the flavor improves as the CO2 goes away.

2) Many of the fruity flavors that 'grow in' come from organic acids and esters. Some of these form from aldehyde-like compounds that were created during the roast, and take a bit of time to develop. Some form from decarboxylated acids. Sometimes you will even see this happen in the cup when very freshly roasted coffee is brewed, and the cup gets fruitier as it cools. Some of these acids and esters cannot form while there is a lot of CO2 or associated pressure present, so again, this process requires some aging.

3) I think of the body growing in as analogous to Jello or gravy solidifying. There are lots of little pieces and tidbits of hydrophobic molecules that gradually combine to form 'fatty' and 'oily' compounds that give coffee its body. This also happens over time and is dependent on the amount of initial reactants available as well as their environment. This is a process that favors a little aging, and is one more reason that the degree of roast influences the amount of time it takes for coffee to 'peak'.

4) Many of the compounds that are the most aromatic and flavorful are also volatile or semi-volatile. Like CO2, these will gradually leave the bean by evaporation. So this is a process that mostly favors freshness of roast, although some of these do form after roasting so there is a small aging factor, too.

5) Oils and fatty compounds begin to taste rancid as they get oxidized. While keeping oxygen away from your roasted coffee is the goal, there is some oxygen and other oxidizing material still entrained in the roasted beans, so gradually the oils will deteriorate even if you practice good prophylaxis and isolate your roasted beans from air using vacuum and valve bags. So this is a process that, again, favors freshness of roast.

6) Oxygen is a very small molecule, and no matter how rigorous your attempts to isolate your beans from it, it is going to gradually get in there. Reactions occur based on 'molar ratios', where a 'mole' is a specific number of molecules. A mole of oxygen gas molecules weighs about 32 grams, and each molecule can oxidize two other molecules (which, themselves, may go on to oxidize further molecules). A mole of of tasty coffee flavorant will be mostly be between 110 and 240 grams, depending on the specific flavor. So a relatively small amount of oxygen can ruin a much larger amount of coffee. Not only that, but the human palate is rather sensitive to some of the oxidized flavors, so in some cases a few parts per million can produce a significant off-flavor.

All that drivel was just basically to say, 'your coffee is eventually going to go South, drink it before it does'.When you have hundreds of competing reactions, things like the rate of CO2 loss can make a difference in the eventual flavor profile. Also the storage temperature of roasted coffee can make a difference in the rate of these reactions. I don't know that this has been extensively studied, at least in the primary literature. Many compounds in roasted coffee are light-sensitive, as well, so if you have them in a mason jar on the counter they are going to taste different than if you keep them in a dark cabinet.

Robusta is in the house! Now through Saturday approx.

2008-12-11T22:05:00.003-05:00

Yes, most specialty coffees are from the arabica coffee strain. The Robusta strains have higher caffeine (significantly higher), produce more crema (nice for espresso blends), but are often lower quality (boo hoo).

This is a good one! Try it out if you come by soon. Only 15 pounds total available, so do or die.

It is Blupet Estate AA Sitara Robusta from India! From the karnataka Indian Plantation. . Thanks Greg (from GCBC) for distributing this one...

Cheers you coffee geeks!

-Nimbus

Here is some background on this coffee:

Karnataka Plantation Coffees is the premier importer of Indian coffee for the US (IMO). They have given beans their own grading system based on size and quality, and Ujwala (the beautiful owner of the business) is very well-connected over in India. These robustas are high-grown and washed, and treated like arabica throughout the process resulting in a very clean product. Their Sitara (Bright Star) AA grade robustas made a big splash this year, getting notice for their unprecedented quality and potential as a SO coffee. I have tried the Sethamuran Estate regular and peaberry, which are both very palatable as straight robusta. As a SO espresso, this bean won a barista competition, and if you can handle going into warp drive (2.5 to 4x the amount of caffeine as arabica) it is quite tasty. From the Karnataka website:
Quote
Sitara - (bright star) - is the crème-de la crème of the Robusta harvest far surpassing the Kaapi Royale. Connoisseurs in the Italian & American market have much admired the individuality of this washed blue-green coffee with bold beans & minimal defects.

Farmer Jason at Ray's on Saturday, Dec. 6h.

2008-12-02T15:39:00.005-05:00

Saturday, Leone Ray turns 6 (whoohooo!), and we have Farmer Jason coming, and then at night it is Bardstown Road Aglow...Hope to see ya....

Here's the press release on Farmer Jason:

Farmer Jason Show - kid/family showSaturday, December 6th, Ray's Monkey House, 1578 Bardstown Rd, Louisville, http://www.raysmonkeyhouse.com/, (502) 459-4373 Show-time: 1:00PM, Ticket price: $5.00
Jason Ringenberg/Farmer Jason Information
There are photos suitable for print (both B&W and color) for Farmer Jason athttp://www.farmerjason.com/presskit.htm and Jason Ringenberghttp://www.jasonringenberg.com/01_jr_content_%20pages/14_jr_presskit/jr_presskit_frameset.html
Jason new album BEST TRACKS AND SIDE TRACKS 1979-2007 was just released on Yep Roc Records. The double CD set is a complete overview of Jason's solo career to-date including his pre-Scorchers band Shakespeare's Riot and new versions of Farmer Jason and Jason & The Scorchers favorites. A co-bill or the right support spot is fine.
Jason & the Scorchers received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Americana Music Association in Nashville, TN in September.
For over two decades, first as front with country-rock pioneers Jason and the Scorchers and now as aninternationally acclaimed solo artist with three solo cds under his belt, former Illinois farm boy JasonRingenberg has blazed a path as both innovator and interpreter of American country music. Jason has spentthe past three years touring the U.S. - even Alaska, all over Europe, and Australia. A hard-working performerwho travels light - just him, his guitar and his trademark yelp-Ringenberg has earned the moniker "the rockinest folksinger that ever lived!" The Scorchers recently celebrated their 20th anniversary with re-issues on Yep Roc Records.They toured with artists such as Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Carl Perkins, and REM among many others. http://www.jasonringenberg.com/

Jason Ringenberg's "twin brother" (wink wink), children's music star Farmer Jason, has been drawing sellout crowds with his rollickingdelivery of catchy songs and good times. He has a video program based on his songs playing on several PBS TV stations around the country."Rockin' In The Forest" explores a musical woodland where children experiencenatural wonders and receive subtle lessons on ecology, fitness, and history. He performs at schools, festivals, public libraries,museums, and other performing art spaces all over the globe. He recently performed at the ACL Fest in Austin, StagecoachFestival in Southern California, Big State Festival in Houston, Winnipeg Folk Festival in Canada and Old Town Schoolof Folk in Chicago. Disney's Family Fun Magazine named "A Day at the Farm with Farmer Jason" one of the top five children cds of the year.You can find out more information at http://www.farmerjason.com/.
Thank you for your time.

Soup!!!! Hot, yummy, homemade

2008-12-02T15:33:00.002-05:00

Title says it all, homemade hearty veggie soup. Green beans, corn, potatoes, fake meat (seitan), white beans, onions and more....TASTY. Served with bread for $3.75.

Warm yourself up, also look for rotating varieties...

Cheers!

-Nimbus

Weekly Activities Updates

2008-12-02T15:28:00.003-05:00

Nights of the week ACTIVITIES List !!!!

Mon, 7:30,
Movie Night (documentaries, environmental, political, activism etc)

Tues, 8pm-midnight
Bluegrass Jam, open to all. We get some great players here, but beginners are welcomed with open arms. Or just come to watch, listen and hang out.

Weds, 8-close
Singer songwriter /open stage

Thurs, 7-close
Awesome acoustic music by Shine-ola

Fri, 8pm-midnight
Jazz open stage

Sat, Kids storytime 4pm-4:45, Kids open stage (kiddie carnival) 5pm-7pm
then
8-close
Live Music TBA

Sun, 7pm- 10 pm
Euchre Night - please sign up at the shop. Prizes! All welcome.

Ethiopian Sidamo Korate and Upcoming Events

2008-09-05T23:07:00.003-04:00

Hi!!!!

I don't know if I've yet mentioned our wonderful new Ethiopian, a natural processed Ethiopian Sidamo Korate -organic of course. It has a bunch of fruity flavors, mostly berry and some that are hard to identify. But they come through very strongly, accompanying a pleasant sweetness and some chocolate caramel flavor. I've been roasting it both medium and dark, and the dark roasts have really surprised me in how well the flavor comes through. Usually, in a darker roast, the fruitiness will be long gone, but in this bean it is obviously pronounced, leaving a nice rich full bodied cup. Give it a try when you're in... (french press recommended).

Upcoming:

1. Heidi Howe will be giving a special Family Concert Saturday, Sept. 6th, 4pm. She teaches Kids Rock! Music Classes at Louisville School of Rock in Industrial Park. Join us for this free afternoon show...

2. Mon (9/8), screening of "1932: Speak Not of Parties But of Universal Principles" Lyndon Larouche's film about a political journey through the history of the United States.

3. Tuesday (9/9), our Bluegrass Jam continues. 8pm to midnight...the first two weeks have gone really really well, with great turnouts and plenty of good music, so grab an instrument, or just show up to have a beer, coffee, tea, etc and watch...

3. Weds, 9/10...A Special Event with a filmmaker from Durham screening their film at 8:30, followed by a short Q and A, and then their band (also from Durham) plays a set, then our own Julia's band plays from 10:30-close. The film is called "Seeing Through the Fence" and is a grassroots documentary about veganism, animal rights, and human responsibility. Their band is called Beloved Binge and reminds me a little of both the B-52's and the Violent Femmes.

Julia's Band is "Say Darlin' Say" - they are a mix of bluegrass and old-time. All women, playing Banjo, Fiddle, Mando, guitar and lots of harmony vocals. They don't play out often, so don't miss this show!! Best yet, it is all FREE!!!!

4. And a new great band playing friday night...I'll tell more about them shortly! (There name is Break Zero, and they'll be playing BOTH friday and saturday nights!!)...kind of acoustic grunge - hard to categorize, but original music mostly....

G'night

-nimbus

Live music and upcoming events

2008-08-22T17:15:00.004-04:00

Stuff coming right up...

Sunday Aug 24th 8pm: Crittenden Free plays "Songs of Protest" Free! Acoustic, with a folkish sound but definite Punk influences....should be a lot of fun!

Monday, Aug 25th: Movie night continues with "The 11th Hour" ....Leonardo DiCaprio's magnficent movie about the environment....7:30 showtime.... FREE!

Tuesday, Aug 26th: Bluegrass Jam/Open mic...bring an instrument or your voice, or just show up to watch. We start at 8pm...This will be a weekly event! Julia hosts this evening, and she'll be performing as well...YAY...

Thurs, Aug 28th: OBAMA acceptance speech party! Watch on a big screen with a bunch of us! We'll start gathering around 7pm...

Cheers,

-Nimbus Couzin

Beer and Wine now at Ray's Monkey House!`

2008-08-22T17:06:00.003-04:00

Well, I applied in late April, and it took until Mid august to get the licenses, but we finally are selling beer and wine at Ray's.

Expect to see at least three local beers on tap. Currently we have two from Browning's and one from BBC. Cumberland is supposed to do an espresso stout for us soon. And New Albanian Brewing will be making us one of their first accounts in Louisville (they're waiting for their Kentucky license to come through - any day now).

Here's a preliminary beer/wine list...expect additions soon!

Oh! Happy hour 3-7 weekdays, and all day Sunday. During Happy Hour we sell draft beer for only $2.75 (cheap!), and all bottled beers are $1.00 off. Wine is $1.00 off also. PBR longnecks are always a happy hour price of two bucks.

On Draft
Bell’s Two Hearted Ale (Kalamazoo, MI) $4.00
BBC Amber Ale (Louisville) $4.00
Browning’s Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout (Louisville) $4.25
Browning’s She-Devil (Imperial Pale Ale) $4.25
Stone Arrogant Bastard (San Diego, CA) $4.25
Bottles
Anderson Valley Hop Ottin (CA) $3.50
Avery Karma (Boulder, CO) $3.50
Avery Old Jubilation $3.50
Bell’s Amber Ale (Kalamazoo, MI) $3.50
Bell’s Pale Ale $3.50
Bell’s Porter $3.50
Bell’s Oberon $3.50
Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout $3.50 Boon Frambois ‘95 Marriage Parfait (750ml) (Belgium) $14.00
Dogfish 60 Min. IPA (Delaware) $3.50
Franziskaner Heffe Weiss (Germany) $3.25
Franziskaner Hefe Dark (16.9oz) $4.25
Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale (Cleveland, OH) $3.25
Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold $3.25
Great Lakes Edmund Fitz. Porter $3.25
Great Lakes Holy Moses White Ale $3.25
Guinness Draft Bottle (Ireland) $3.50
Mackeson XXX Stout (England) $3.25
Newcastle Brown Ale (England) $3.50

North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout (Ft. Bragg, CA) $4.25
North Coast Red Seal (Ft. Bragg, CA) $3.50
Pabst Blue Ribbon (Wisconsin) $2.00
Pyramid Apricot (Seattle, WA) $3.25
Pyramid Hefe (Seattle, WA) $3.25
Rogue Dead Guy (Newport, OR) $3.50
Rogue Mocha Porter $3.50
Samual Smith’s Organic $4.25
Samual Smith’s Taddy Porter $4.25
Sheaf Stout (Australia) (25 oz) $5.25
Spaten Optimator (Germany) $3.25
Woodchuck Cider (Pear, Granny Smith, Dark and Dry, or Amber) (Vermont) $3.25 Young’s Double Choc. Stout (16.9 oz) (England) $5.25

wine Menu

Pinot Evil Pinot Grigio and Pinot Evil Pinot noir. These wines are both imported Italy and France respectively. Our two tasty house wines feature monkeys on the label. The Grigio is a simple crisp white with tropical notes. The Noir is equally light and easy to drink. Both of these wines are perfect for the patio or just as an afternoon delight. $5.00
Round Hill Chardonnay, This is from the Rutherford Wine company, a subsidiary of the largest organic grape producer in the USA. Grown throughout California and produced in Napa, this is a fantastic wine for the money $6.00
Paringa Shiraz, From South eastern Australia this wine is big, jammy and easy to drink. Imported by the grateful palate wine company, this is sustainably farmed and truly delicious. $6.00

Stay tuned for more wines coming soon...

Wheelchair ramp is finally done...Yippee

2008-08-22T17:03:00.004-04:00

After about a month of on and off construction, we've finally finished our wheelchair ramp on the side of the building. Inspection passed, so it is open to business! So we are now more handicap accessible. (our bathrooms were built to be ADA compliant).

Jeremy did the bulk of the work for this beast, including the framing. Greg and I did a bunch of work also. Thanks guys!

I'll post some before, during, and after pictures here shortly!

Cold Brewed Iced Coffee

2008-08-22T16:57:00.004-04:00

Hey all....

I'm behind on writing, but I'll post a few posts and then add some pix ASAP...how about that?

We finally started doing COLD BREWED coffee for our iced coffee! The way it should be done! No more espresso shots over ice for us, which both creates bitterness and melts the ice, thus watering down the final drink.

We're cold brewing using a commercial Filtron. Really simple. We grind the coffee (lots, 4-8 pounds) and add room temp water (3-6 gallons). Then wait. And wait. After 24 hours, we open the spigot, and - thanks to a double filter, out comes nice strong concentrated coffee. Very cool.

The cold brewing reduces the acidity by about 80%. The caffeine still makes it through, so you end up with a nice smooth mellow brew. Yummy. We've been using the Ethiopian Sidamo Korate for this one, and once I tried our new Nicaraguan. They both came out great..... yay! Progress!

Cheers!!

-Nimbus

New Arrival....Rain Maxwell Bolduc Couzin

2008-07-04T00:30:00.005-04:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of our new baby, Rain Maxwell! He was born May 27th (three weeks after his "due date") and weighed in at 8 pounds 9 ounces. They measured 21.5 inches long, but a week and a half later at his first checkup he was 23.5 inches. Big kid! He has been eating well, and is up around 11 pounds already. He and mommy are doing great!

Special thanks to Jessica for her Birthing From Within class, and of course Amy and Juliet, and everyone else who helped us along the way....

-Nimbus

Here are a few pictures:

Hi everyone,

Movie Screening of "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama" and Monk speaking on Tibet

2008-04-30T02:23:00.002-04:00

Hey all,

So on April 15th, prior to our screening of "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama" (highly recommended), we had a monk from the Drepung Gomang Institute speak about the current situation in Tibet. He spoke for about thirty minutes, and answered questions following the film, although afterwards he deferred to the Dalai Lama for the best answers.

The Dalai Lama does support the olympics, and doesn't want to deprive the people of China of having it in their country. Nor does he want the athletes to be punished. Nor does he call for a boycott of Chinese goods, because it would lead to suffering by the people of China. And of course he doesn't want violence. I personally find it interesting and sadly amusing to hear Chinese political leaders calling him a terrorist or similar. But we know how that word can be misused by leaders (such as Mr. Bush and his allies). I am encouraged by recent moves by China to meet with the Dalai Lama's envoys, and hope progress will be made, in no small part due to public pressure and grass roots protests, like the ones we had on Bardstown Road!

Cheers...and keep up the activism people..it really does work if you stay organized and "never give up!"

-Nimbus

Great American Meatout at Ray's Monkey House

2008-04-30T02:15:00.002-04:00

Hey, free vegan food is hard to resist, so we had a great turnout for the annual Great American Meatout at Ray's Monkey House, sponsored by Earthsave. Between Nate handing out cupcakes (asking people "would you like a vegetarian cupcake?" he got a few funny looks, because people may think "as opposed to a meat-filled one?") and the college kids visiting from CUNY playing guitar for our open mic, it was a fun evening all around...

Here are some pix: (pretty sure the date was Mar 21st)

Thailand Trip ! Coffee, Thai wedding, elephants, bro, etc..

2008-04-30T01:38:00.005-04:00

Jody and I made it to Thailand for a brief visit Feb 27-Mar 10th! We visited a bunch of coffee shops, one roaster, one coffee processing plant, visited my brother in Chiang Mai, had a traditional Thai wedding, went to an Elephant rescue sanctuary, and a bunch of other stuff....so we were busy, but it was great!

Here is a writeup of my "coffee stuff" plus a few pictures and a link to my other coffee pictures. More pix available upon request...

When I got off the plane in Bangkok I had only had Starbucks coffee for the past 24hours. From the Louisville airport kiosks (where their workers are no longer permitted to accept tips), to the three flights on United Airlines (which serves only Starbucks) I had few options. It was better than the airplane coffee of the old days, but it left me looking forward to exploring the coffees of Thailand, and Chiang Mai up north in particular. That was where I was headed.

Bangkok had plenty of coffee, mostly espresso or americanos for me. Soy milk was hard to come by, which didn’t bother me – I seldom drink anything but black coffee – but it did bother my wife, Jody, who as a vegan doesn’t drink cow milk. Our guest house had instant coffee in the room, and a coffeemaker with local (Chiang Mai) beans for breakfast and during the day. The owner explained that she no longer used Starbucks beans because they were too expensive. Our most pleasant coffee was probably an indie place on the river, where I had a double espresso. Price was just under $2 (55 baht).

On to Chiang Mai, far in the north near Cambodia and Laos. My brother had just moved there (days earlier) from Beijing, and we were set to be married in a traditional Northern Thailand Buddhist wedding at the end of the week. The husband of our wedding coordinator, an expat from BC Canada who had lived in Chiang Mai for 20 years, knew quite a bit about the history of the local coffee industry. Here is some information that I extracted from him: (in no way fact-checked or verified, but Simon does almost qualify as a local now)

History of Coffee in Chiang Mai, according to Simon:
In the 80’s, an NGO, the German Thai Highland Projects brought coffee trees to the hills outside of Chiang Mai. Originally, they only had lowland Robusta. Quite a bit was planted, and before long there was coffee. But they quickly realized that there was no infrastructure to get the coffee out. Nobody was buying it. Then a dutch guy – Gerald – came in and started to roast and sell locally. He was married to a member of the Lahu hill tribe, and lived there as well. He got it going in a few restaurants, but the market was still very limited. But others noticed his coffee, and started copying. So before long several roasters sprang up.

Gerald died in the early to mid 90’s, with the Chiang Mai coffee industry still in its infancy. Gerald sold his business to JJ Coffee. There was also Duong Dee Hill Tribe coffee, which began selling packaged coffee at grocery stores. Before Duong Dee, local coffee had pretty much only been sold in restaurants. Bon Café started marketing heavily strictly to hotels.

Starbucks came to town in the mid to late 90’s, located at the Night Bazaar. They chose a spot that would give them heavy visibility to tourists. For them, it was largely a marketing location. From then on, trendy coffee spots began popping up, and gradually spread throughout the town.

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are now almost entirely Arabica beans, with Robusta being produced down south.

One funny story about Starbucks early days is that they introduced a “hill tribe blend” and on the packaging used the logo from Duong Dee Coffee. They eventually came up with their own local blend.

Well, that is the abbreviated history according to Simon.

I was personally surprised at the sheer number of slick trendy coffeeshops around town. One stretch of road had one every half block. They appeared to be fancy Starbucks clones, with very few distinguishing features. Their clientele was almost all locals. Also, around town, one could find coffee nearly every block in small stands. Many would have real single group espresso machines and proper commercial grinders. Some would have mediocre non-commercial machines, which of course produced inferior shots.

Many of the fancier shops had decent latte art, which impressed me. Their presentation was often quite nice. Some shops, and roadside stands even, would serve a cup of tea to cleanse your palate after the coffee. Very pleasant. The average store price for espresso was about 45 baht ($1.50) and a latte was 55 baht (just under $2.00). Coffee on the street ranged from 10 baht to 60 baht, usually 25-30 baht (just under $1.00). Nescafe instant coffee was widespread also.

Many stands also made what is called “Ancient Coffee” or “Bag Coffee.” This coffee is made by keeping a cloth sack (bag) in a medium size steel pitcher for a long period of time. More coffee and hot water were added periodically, but it seemed kind of like a very long-term French press, without the pressing. The resulting coffee ended up very black and almost smoky-like. Carnation “oil” (it had sort of an oily creamy consistency and appearance) is added first from a can or squeeze bottle. Then, Carnation condensed milk is added. Then it is filled with the black coffee and stirred. I actually liked the ancient coffee. My local stand in Chiang Mai sold me large cups (about 12+ oz) for 15 baht (fifty cents).

We managed to visit a local Roaster, and Coffeeshop … The roaster there, named Noi, gave me a tour of his roastery. He works on a small Probat, and L5, so it is basically identical to what we have at Rays, just smaller. He was very friendly, and I enjoyed his americanos. He had a special discounted price if you bought the banana pancakes with it. (highly recommended)

In general, I didn’t find the local espresso or americanos particularly good. I’m fairly spoiled by Ray’s Monkey House freshly roasted super high quality coffee. But it was extremely exciting to see a new and growing coffee industry taking root in Chiang Mai. I wish them the best of luck, and I’m sure they will get better and better. I took plenty of pictures, so here are a few!

Cheers,

Nimbus

More coffee-related pictures from my trip can be found at http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h309/nimbusbeer/Thailand%2008%20coffee/

February Ice storm, and new vent stacks for the roaster

2008-04-30T01:19:00.002-04:00

Well, anyone living in Louisville remembers the freaky weather from this winter. Tornadoes (twice) and ice storms (feels like a couple decent ones). Anyway, the first ice storm knocked down a big chunk of the old old tree in our backyard. Fortunately it landed between the house, shed, and parked vehicles (pickup truck and cruiser) and missed everything - even our compost bin...

The second ice storm resulted in a 7 am phone call from Jacob telling me the awning had collapsed. I hiked over from my house (two blocks) and sure enough the whole thing was on the ground blocking the front entrance. He had cleared a path on the side porch for people to get in. After a little warming and melting, and with a hand from someone next door at cumberland brews, we slid the 25 foot awning to the left of our shop where our other neighbor doesn't use their storefront and voila, a front door again.

It took the awning company a couple days to pick it up for repairs, and over two months to finish getting it back up there (and about 50 phone calls and ....you don't want to know). Contractors. Grumble. But it is finally up and finished (finished April 25th!).

Benjamin took some pictures of the awining in front, so I'll post them here soon...

---

Inside the shop, I was working on upgrading our roaster vent to increase airflow. I had it at the correct diameter according to the Probat spec manual, but acting on advice from the roaster over at Ritual Coffee in San Francisco, I went ahead and put in 8 inch pipe. Here are the pictures (I know, not too exciting for non-coffee geeks):

-Peace

Nimbus

Finally a new post from me !!

2008-04-30T01:15:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!

I'm way way behind on posting here, so let me try to play catchup, starting from way way back in February. So much has happened - and fortunately I was taking pictures. I've just been too darn busy to put them onto photobucket and then drag them over here...anyway, excuses excuses so let me get rolling in chronological order: I'll split it up into multiple posts, that way I can make slow progress at least (after 1 am right now, so I don't expect to get done tonight...).

The good news is that Ray's is rolling right along, everyone is well, big exciting things are happening left and right, AND our baby is due any day now....

Cheers!

-Nimbus

Whoops...forgot to post pix of the new sign

2008-02-01T20:03:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!!

A few pictures for ya...nothing too new and exciting to report. We're changing our movie nights from Sun to Monday night (730). "The Corporation" is playing this week, a great documentary examing the power of Corporations in modern society. Story times continue to be Tues at 6, and Sat at 4pm. Open mics on Thurs (6pm) for adults and Fri (6pm) for kids.

I just completed upgrading our roaster vent pipes from six inch to eight inch, would may not have been necessary, but there is a chance that it'll give us even better control of our airflow through the roaster. Not essential, but we're very focused on quality so we're always on the lookout for ways to get even better. Also, I finally got the software working for a neat new temperature probe to get bean temperature accurately. It monitors the bean temp just inside the sightglass, and sends it wirelessly to my laptop computer, giving me a nice precise graph with data points every second. We had been taking data every 30 seconds by eye, so this will help us a lot. Yay. Again, just another piece in the puzzle...

Another bit of excitement is that our webpage is nearing completion, thanks to the hard work of Jacob. We'll let you know when it's up and running.

Typing away during Storytime at Rays....

Hmmmm...well, you can't see the detail from these photos...I'll find a better version from a photo we took on the ground.

Jacob, working on another coffee drink...

And April behind the bar while Adam makes up his mind...

Last, but not least, some yummy Ethiopian Sidamo is being brewed for the next few days. Get it while you can. We'll have a few bags for sale too.

Cheers

Sumatra Blue Batak

2008-01-18T21:48:00.000-05:00

Hi all...

Just wanted to let you all know that we have some Sumatra Blue Batak available by the cup and even a little for sale by the bag. Limited time only for this somewhat rare coffee. It is very tasty and the best adjectives to describe it might be rustic, and brown sugar. I'm not sure what rustic means, but it is the word I thought of while cupping it, and then I found another reviewer using the same word, so it must mean something. Also hints of molasses. Enjoy while it lasts...should make it through the weekend and into Monday....

-Nimbus

Storytime at Ray's Monkey House

2008-01-09T02:04:00.000-05:00

Hey...we had a good turnout for Storytime last Saturday, and Nicole from the C-J took some photos that went onto the online version of the Courier Journal, as well as onto Kentuckianamoms.com website.

Here's a link to the photos http://www.kentuckianamoms.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=B2&Dato=20080107&Kategori=MOMS&Lopenr=801070810&Ref=PH

Thanks John for more great storytelling.

I've got some more photos coming soon of my own, so keep a lookout...

Hey...haha...some of you lucky people got to hear me read a few stories tonight (Tuesday). John was sick, and I figured the show had to go on. Went ok, other than my little critter Leone running around like a wild one. Tough to read stories and discipline a five year old, so he got to have a little extra craziness. I'll try to leave it to the pros, but we will try our best to have stories at all the scheduled times.

What else is new and exciting? Some more Ethiopian Harrar, from a different lot than the last bag we had. Nice and fruity, with some blueberry flavor.

New coffee labels were done, but then Jacob's computer decided to eat his final version just before he emailed it to me. File was corrupted. So hours of work lost, but the next final version will be even better. We're using the center panel of Noah's store sign - slightly modified - and it should look really cool...

This Sunday, for movie night, we'll be showing "Earthlings," which deals with humans and animals and the relationships between the species. Viewer discretion advised. Here's a link to the film site: http://www.isawearthlings.com/ and a summary from them:

EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers." The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR) and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby.

Oh....word of warning, our decaf espresso grinder is broken (faulty switch). Should be running by tomorrow if all goes well (parts coming in overnight, and I'm having fun learning more about the inside of a Mazzer Super Jolly espresso grinder)....so watch out you decaf mocha drinkers - you know who you are!

Peace

-Nimbus

Open mic nights at Rays...and coffee of course

2007-12-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to announce two new open mic nights (one for kids!) starting in a week...also, we're currently serving some nice Sidamo dry processed coffee that is very tasty. Fruity berry flavor along with chocolate. I have one brewing right now, and another - from a different lot - that we'll fire up when this one runs out. Also, a Sumatra Lintong Triple Pick batch that is ready to roll... For dark roasts, we have a Malawi Mapanga curently.

Here's the scoop on open mic:

BOTH OPEN MIC nights start at 6 pm...and run til' we're done!

"Conscious Creation from Chaos! The Carnival is a continual birth of images, sounds, things to egg on the ear drum, tickle the tastebud, fascinate the feelers and perplex the peepers. Most of all, it is the uttering of understandings." "

The Carnival is currently celebrating:in Louisville, Kentucky.Ray's Monkey House (Coffee Shop) 1578 Bardstown Road

Thursdays: Adults Open Heart Purgery: (starting January 3, 2008)
Every Thursday: an accoustic open stage for adults to share their talent and open heart with us, whether with music, storytelling, jokes, poetry, or just unloading some thoughts, take the spotlight and open your heart to us. Make it fun!

Fridays: The Kiddie Carnival: (starting December 28)
Every Friday: A chance for kids to shine like they're born to do. This accoustic open stage for kids gives kids a chance to get up and express themselves (music, jokes, stories,show, share their week, and tell of a favorite item, what can you offer as a gift to us?), experience an open jam atmosphere, get to know others, and be commended and praised for being themselves. There's also performances by special guests for the kids.

More on the Conscious Carnival:
"Marvel at the Mystery of You! Behold the Beauty of BE-ing! DEFY your Fears and Revel in the Free Gift of Life! As we all walk our journeys, we are experiencing and learning about ourselves. We create to share what we have learned. We are processing what we experience so that we may try to gain understanding. What better way to process than to come together and share our understandings with each other? We might be surprised that we are not alone, and that there are others willing to accept and support us. "

Rockin' 'N Rollin' for Bardstown Rd Aglow (and Accordians)

2007-12-04T19:23:00.000-05:00

Accordians and all were out in force for Bardstown Rd Aglow on Dec. 1st (thanks Noah, for the accordian performance and the great artwork). We all had a good time and a lot of people made it by the shop for their first time. Very cool.

The Ethiopian Sidamo we had brewing that night was one of our tastiest batches yet. And I roasted some Bolivian Cup of Excellence, which we should have as our medium roast of the day this week (Wed-Fri approx).

Cheers...

-nimbus

2007-12-04T19:12:00.000-05:00

Week six...wow...time flies

2007-11-24T21:43:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

It feels almost like we opened yesterday, and at the same time it feels like we've been open forever. I've managed to take virtually no pictures of the place, but so much has happened and I keep learning something every day. No major diasasters, plenty of minor ones, and life goes on....

Benjamin has taken some good photos, and I've taken a couple too, so I figured I'd post a few, while Leone Ray sleeps....

-Peace,
Nimbus

FINALLY Open....WhooHooo!!

2007-10-23T14:45:00.000-04:00

Hey ya'll...

We finally opened our doors on October 15th. Yay. Sorry for the slow post here, but way way too busy. Everything has gone pretty well so far. Lots of people have come by, enjoyed coffee and baked goods (and tea), and a lot of kids have played with the toys we have here (and spinny chairs). Overall, quite a smooth first week.

We had a fairly steady trickle of people throughout the week, and finally got busy on Saturday and Sunday. Jacob and Andrew had the pleasure of the first big rush of people and handled it well. In fact all of our Baristas have been doing a great job. Thanks everyone.

Benjamin and I have kept on roasting, barely keeping up with the coffee drinkers. But at least we're staying one or two steps ahead. My favorite coffees thus far have been the heavy chocolatey and fruity (blueberry, apricot??) Ethiopian Likempte (Fair Trade Organic and we have two big bags!) and the Brazilian Poco Fundo (also FTO), which has a lot of body and fruit as well, almost reminicent of an Ethiopian. Our Mexican "elephant bean" was great roasted dark also.

Up next is our Yemen Mokha Matari....should be ready in a day or two! Pix coming soon...but still running around....

Cheers!

-Nimbus

As usual, getting closer

2007-09-05T05:15:00.000-04:00

just testing

2007-08-09T13:22:00.001-04:00

trying to get the comments button working again...

First Roasts!!

2007-08-02T01:58:00.000-04:00

Hey ya'll...did some roasting last week as we inch along towards opening....daily progress here also, on boring stuff like wood putty for all the nail holes in the trim, sanding, and touch up painting. Finished installing shelves in the new storage rooms also (which were drywalled, mudded and painted last week). Etc, etc....everything takes forever, but a final to-do list is written and all the little things are going to be crossed off soon.

As for the roasts, I did a couple ten pound batches of old columbian beans, one organic, one not. I roasted one about 40 seconds into second crack, and the other was stopped just prior to second crack. We're talking about 12 minute roasts here, so very consistent with my anticipated times. They both came out VERY GOOD, especially considering the age of the beans and that they were my first two roasts on the glorious Probat. Smooth sailing operation-wise.

My friend Harry from Green Coffee Buying Club and his family were visiting from California and joined me for the second roast which was fun. I put the kids to work right away. I served the coffee later in the day at a Code Pink Louisville get-together at Tyler Park, and it was well received (well, they drank it ALL up, which is all the evidence I need).

Here's some pix...Peace! - Nimbus

Whew...enough pix??

Hmmmm...So what is shade grown coffee

2007-07-06T12:01:00.001-04:00

I came across this discussion of Shade Grown Coffee....quite informative: http://intelligentsiacoffee.com/watts/07-05-2007

With all the labels and classifications on coffee these days, the more solid information you have the better. So a thanks to Geoff and the folks at Intelli for helping educate the coffee community (as usual).

Getting Closer!!

2007-06-25T20:14:00.000-04:00

Hey, here's one picture to give anyone reading a sneak preview of the lower level of the coffee shop....it has looked a lot better than this (when cleaned prior to getting messy again), but this shows some of the progress (I think it is 2-3 weeks ago).

Still a ways to go...but pouring shots now, and the roasting should start anyday now. We've got a couple more weeks of "construction" type stuff - trim, painting, etc... railing for the stairs, finishing the track lights, lots of little stuff that takes forever. But the end is in sight. I have month by month progress photos (tons) that I'll post links to shortly.

Code Pink Louisville has a new site!

2007-04-20T22:22:00.000-04:00

Hey ya'll...

Jody and I are putting together a new blog site for Code Pink. I put up a link on the left, or you can go to it at Code Pink Louisville ( the address is www.codepinklouisville.blogspot.com )...We'll be posting pix of all of our actions and updates on current events and activities. Cheers...

Chicago coffee fest and slow progress...

2007-03-04T15:00:00.000-05:00

Slow progress on the coffee shop front, but we're still moving along. Got to protest dubya twice on friday here in Louisville, and just over the river in New Albany, Indiana. Then karate with Leone, and a little playing in the park. Construction pix forthcoming

Party at Intelli after the fest saturday

Me (nimbus couzin) hangin' with the roasters (the machines not the people)

david from Zoka playing with a Clover

Dogs dogs and more dogs

Code Pink showing of The Ground Truth - I was the audio-visual guy (more work than ya think)

Louisville demo

More Louisville

Dubya in Indiana

Police Captain

Proud Repub

Coppers

Me

Soooooo busy

2006-09-23T02:24:00.000-04:00

Progress progress...

Floors are mostly in, and we're just keeping busy. I'm holding off on posting pix for a bit, but eventually they'll be up.

I've been working with the new Code Pink chapter here in town. I was inspired to seek them out from working with them in Camp Casey. Here are some pictures from our first table (at a Julia Butterfly-Hill talk) and our first action (giving Rep. Anne Northup a pink slip).

http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h309/nimbusbeer/

Leone makes a great peace activist.

Working at the coffee shop...few pix..

2006-08-27T12:37:00.000-04:00

We have literally 10,000 books (or more), so that is the order of the day. Gotta clear everything so the new floors can go down!

Leone really loves to box up books. He's quite fast.

Of course, we always leave a little time for fun and games!! Here are some of his creations.

Camp Casey III, Crawford Texas...

2006-08-19T11:30:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

I'm here at the Peace House, where there is AC and wifi. Day 3 for me in Crawford. For photos of the first couple days, you can check out my other blog at www.campcaseyIII.blogspot.com
(also the third link on the left). Hot hot hot (the bank clock in Killeen where we did an action outside Ft. Hood - well received by the soldiers - said 108 degrees. I gave Cindy Sheehan a pound of my special "Camp Casey Coffee" (some of my Sumatra Lintong Triple Pick) this morning. Here's a pic of my hand drawn labels:

Cheers,
-nimbus

Way too many pix of the kids in California

2006-08-15T23:15:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to a bunch of "family" pictures from my California whirlwind adventure. Leone loved the ocean, and thought his cousin Jonah was "nice." http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/nimbuscouzin/album?.dir=/86dfre2&.src=ph&.tok=ph4NTWFBBlfIcCyl

should work...

San Diego, Stone Brewing, and folks from The Green Coffee Buying Club

2006-08-12T09:36:00.000-04:00

Leone messin' with Matt's hat. That is some Ethiopian Likempti I'm holding. A pretty rare coffee, from the Oromia coop... Joe, getting ready to load up some Panama Carmen Estate (I think) into his Sonofresco. A neat little commercial machine that does one pound batches pretty automatically. He was about to sell it, but changed his mind. Seems like a nice critter to hang onto.
Loaded and ready to roast.
Yellowing beans
Getting darker

Pretty close to done, still a little ways to go. I have more pix, but this gives you an idea of how you can watch the beans as they roast. Pretty nice.
Matt checking out some of Joe's bags. Joe was nice enough to give me several of them to use as decorations at the coffee shop. The one Matt is holding is a cool "rustic" looking Ethiopian bag.
Leone and Joe's kids (Anthony and Hailey)... Matt geeking out in the background.
Coffee and laptops....That's Joe, Jennifer, and Chris from left to right.
Another perfect shot. This one was Matt's blend...Brazil Daterra Santa Columbo, and India Dwarka Khaindor (gotta check on that name).
Matt, tamping for the perfect shot....we got some pretty good ones, and his blend is quite tasty.
Joe, rocking out on the guitar. Matt also did a little playing....
Matt, with a full Chemex of his COE columbian (#4 ???). Whatever we got through the GCBC recently. I haven't roasted mine up yet...
Matt came equipped with his tiny scale...
The Chemex rocks. It made me want to get one - but I've been pretty happy with the Technovorm I picked up from Chris a couple months ago....
Joe's home espresso setup. Oops, forgot what brand this machine is, but I know the grinder is a Super Jolly...
Leone, playing with some scrap stones outside Stone brewery. The inside was a bit too loud for him.
Matt, Chris (stone employee extraordinaire), me, leone (head turned), and Joe, out front of Stone Brewing...
Joe, Matt, and Chris getting a private tour from Ken. Thanks Ken!
Same crew....this is one impressive brewery folks. Sixty thousand square feet, including 10,ooo for the restaurant, plus a HUGE stone beer garden still under construction.
Matt, Chris and Joe in the sampling room...
My hotel coffee setup. Freshly roasted Sumatra Lintong Triple Pick (roasted day before my departure), cheapo hotel 4 cup Mr. Coffee, and whirley-bird grinder that I checked in my luggage. Does the trick. The hotel had Wolfgang Puck pre-ground coffee bags. I didn't even try them, but I might bring a couple home and test them out on my Technovorm just out of curiosity.
Leone finally getting a badly needed nap...
Leone checking out the Kayaks (or whatever you call 'em) at "baby beach" near the Dana Point Harbor.
A little fun in the sand...
And of course some fun in the water....
Leone was pointing out the "pirate ship" to me I think....It was hard to get him to leave....
Leone with Grams at her apartment. It is nice that he gets to hang out with his great-grandmother....
We had window seats all the way (two planes to get from Louisville to Orange County).
More sightseeing....we were way above the clouds....
At the airport - always plenty to look at...

Checking out what all the buttons do. But Leone is good and always checks with me first to make sure it's ok...so he was just playing with the light...

Cheers!
-nimbus couzin

Wood Installation, and a trip to Indy

2006-08-09T23:51:00.000-04:00

This is Monon Coffee, in the Broad Ripple district of Indianapolis. I got a double espresso and a cup of Kenyan drip. Jamie got a latte (I think). I wasn't overly impressed with the espresso, but the atmosphere was nice and cozy. We walked along the canal afterwards, with coffee in hand.
Moving chaos. My cooling sieve made it to the new place, but my RK drum is still at the old house. I brought it back this afternoon, and roasted up five pounds of Sumatra Lintong Triple Pick (gotta have some stash to bring to california tomorrow!)
This was the ugly thin brown carpeting in Leone Ray's room prior to removing it.
Jason sweeping up the padding that promptly turned into dust. Sean is heading towards me.
Voila, after installation!
The next room.... Jason using the chop saw (back turned) and Sean fitting in the next strip of wood.
you can sort of see the ugly green carpeting in the back third of the room...this is also up on the second floor. Looks like Jason is supervising.

Just finished today! Nice white oak....

Buying Wood for the Coffee Shop, plus more Boat pix

2006-08-03T21:59:00.000-04:00

Not a very good picture (I think wes was shooting into the sun with my phone camera), but just taking a break after unloading the first 13 of our 75 pound boxes of white oak. The next 39 got heavier and heavier (gatorade breaks were necessitated). We were beat. Then we got to unload the 3/4 truckload of heavy furniture. We finished by 8pm. It was probably still around 90 degrees, and thick humidity. A long day.
Wes and the back of the coffee shop. We still had about three hours of unloading to go (had to carry a long way, and some of it up stairs).
Leone looks happy about his latest tower. I think this was a fire station.
Us on the boat last weekend, on the Ohio River.
Leone using a telescope, and with Craig and Peggy Sue. The Louisville skyline is behind them.
I think he was looking at some big cranes near the dockyards. Very exciting.

Down below...lotsa fun...
Look, driving the boat with no hands!!!
Leone taking his captain's job seriously...
Gotta use the telescope to see what is up ahead.
A solo mission....

Done with school, hitting the river (Ohio)

2006-07-30T03:23:00.000-04:00

Leone makes the local paper

2006-07-26T13:32:00.000-04:00

After crashing the Sierra Club picnic last week, Leone made it into the paper:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=B2&Date=20060725&Category=NEWS0102&ArtNo=607250810&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=6

Leone Couzin, 3, climbed on the fountain.

Johnny Cash

2006-07-25T21:14:00.000-04:00

OK....Johnny Cash is one of my all time favorites. I just got his latest release (yeah he's dead, I know...THANKS Rick Rubin), and it is amazing. I hear it was the number one album last week. Pretty cool. Highly recommended. Sorry, no pix today. Teaching in the AM, then moving in the PM (thanks Shannon for all the help!!!!). The Johnny album really made my day.

-Nimbus
P.S. In the middle of lecture this morning, one of my students just said "You're a really good physics teacher." I said thanks. But it took awhile to sink in. That kind of stuff makes a teacher happy. I know that I know the material well, and I have experience, and I try to teach well, but you never know when you're doing a good job. So it is cool to have a student say that, especially in the middle of a class. I think we were doing basic electric interactions at the time. So I really had a lot of wonderful things happen today. That student (she would have made my day, if not for other stuff later), then quality time with Shannon doing moving stuff, then the Johnny Cash CD. Heck, the Cubbies even won (Zambrano is 11-3 now, and he even hit a HR).....the stars must have been aligned properly today (you know I don't believe that stuff).

Basketball!!

2006-07-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

Well, after a day of moving, and a weekend with Leone, we decided to slack today and play some hoops. After a 7-2 lead, I lost by a final score of 14-11. Wes got lucky! Of course it was a Monday, so I had to get Leone to school and drive to U of L by nine AM. Not good for a late night person. But afternoon hoops always helps. I think it was under 90 degrees today, but it felt WARM.

Leone and I roasted up a couple pounds of Sumatra Lintong Triple Pick, and a couple more pounds of Panama Carmen yesterday. I'm letting them both rest two days, because I've gotta finish off my Intelli Black Cat (roasted 7/11 by them). I like when roasters date their coffee! I've been brewing coffee with the Technivorm, my Gaggia is off to the new place...
Wes, proving that he is still able to leave the ground when he takes a jumper...
Playground art. I have to give Wes credit for this shot...
I'm not sure if this was a fade-away jumper, but it sure looks like it...but the hand seems wrong. I might have been taking it in to the basket and tried something funny.
Me, getting ready to take it to the hoop.
That looks like a little better form for my shooting....they usually go in when I shoot 'em right,
This was Leone sipping some of daddy's coffee at a Del McCoury band live show at Ear Xtacy, a cool local record store a couple (three?) weeks ago.
Another shot from the bluegrass show. Leone had fun, but got antsy after the start was delayed half an hour by sound problems. We were front row (camped out on the floor).

Back to School - EEP !

2006-07-19T17:47:00.000-04:00

Yeah, the Little Bad Lion definitely liked his daddy's rental truck. Just got it returned today!

So we knew the Dan Ryan had nasty traffic. Construction. I made the mistake of listening to the in-laws and went out to 294 to try to bypass the city. Construction there too. Plus tollbooths with long waits. It took over 2 hours to get out of chicago. I should have taken Ashland right through the city and cut over to 41 south. Well, next time. Once again, listen to the in-laws and end up in a traffic jam. I hate the skyway too. Cool road, but that last 3 hour jam with a one year old baby, and the car conking out wasn't that much fun. (again, in-law's advice)...
Back to school! Yeah, that's me up there, during break time. I'm teaching an MCAT prep class at University of Louisville. These kids are from all over the place...Great group.

Enthusiastic member of our MCAT crew!!!

Our classroom at group work time. We break into smaller groups and work on problems. It is the best way to learn the stuff. Listening to me gets boring, you really need to work problems to learn. I run around answering questions.....

-Nimbus

Intelli and Chicago and Ikea

2006-07-17T19:02:00.000-04:00

This post has all of the Intelli pix. Both from the Barista training and the Roastery tour. Both were at the Fulton facility, which was pretty large and impressive. Erica and I both enjoyed the tour, and the training with Matt and Sarah. Matt R. won the #1 for the US and #3 for the world in the Barista competition, so we figured he'd be ok. The training was very hands on and informative, and I enjoyed talking to some of the other employees during the roastery tour (I felt like I knew most of the general info, and we were free to wander a bit). The cupping room was pretty cool (pix below).....

My mom and my bad lion (Leone Ray), at my mom's farm (Franksville, Wisconsin, near Racine)

Packaging area....this changes throughout the day...

Erica working on her art with Matt....

Getting the technique down....

Matt, impressing Erin and others with his artwork...

Erica pulling some more shots under the watchful eye of Matt....

More yummy espresso on the way.....

I think they were talking about tamping and maybe the grind here...we did some adjusting to get things just right...the grinder is a Mazzer Major. I have the Super Jolly, which is one step down, but pretty similar overall (not quite the beast a Major is).

Me, sampling one of my shots....
Again, me, with shot pouring...they all came out pretty darn good. We were using the Intelli Black Cat.
No complaints from Matt, so I guess I was doing ok.

I think these were the two girls' pulls, not too shabby looking....
Erica, Matt, and Sandra. She's from Louisville too! (cool coincidence)
Matt and Sarah (our fearless leaders)

More Matt and Sarah......they did a really good job.
Here's my post from Green Coffee Buying Club (just a quick summary I posted - hey more pix below !!!) : I made it to Intelligentsia today. Pretty impressive facility. I was there with my ex-wife, Erica, who will be a future business partner of mine at my new coffee shop (she's sick of her lab tech job). We started with an hour long tour of the roasting facility. It reminded both of us of the brewery days. Pretty similar, except coffee instead of beer.Three roasters (Gothot 23,40 and 90 kilo monster!), all within feet of each other. There were a few guys roasting, and a bunch (5 or more) in the packaging area. It all seemed pretty efficient. We checked out the cupping room. Nice old sample roaster, and two or three folks up there. Pretty slick overall, including some shiny new paint and trim in several parts of the building. I ended up chatting with EJ in the cupping lab, and Caleb down in the roasting area (most of the tour info was pretty general, so I sort of wandered from the group).The Barista training was a lot of fun. Another couple from Louisville happened to be there, so we made friends with them. They'll be starting a roasting operation shortly. Very cool. We'll be hanging out and roasting with them soon. They're getting a Diedrich 12 kilo roaster next month. Sarah Kluth and Matt Riddle were doing the training. Matt, of course, is the reigning barista champ of the US (USBC in charlotte in April), and he came in third in the world barista contest in switzerland, so it was kind of fun to work with him for three hours. I mean, how can you beat learning directly from the #1 barista in the country, with him critiqueing (sp?) your tamping and shot quality? Well, just because you win doesn't mean you're the best, but he knows his stuff. Everyone there (ten I think) got plenty of time to pull shots (we chose the semi-automatic marzocco and worked with matt). Then we practiced milk stuff, and latte art. Pretty fun. I got burnt out by the end (we drove up from louisville late the previous night), and it was an hour tour plus three more hours.Erica learned a ton. She had made espresso drinks at a previous job, but she said "hey, they didn't teach us any of this stuff." And she learned a lot about the roasting process and the business in general. So pretty exciting day overall...I took a lot of pix, but can't download them until sunday night to my blog (forgot my cable). My son had a great day playing in the park and in sprinklers with gramma and grampa, and tomorrow we're up to wisconsin to see his other grams. Hopefully I can hook up with peter and jeffO tomorrow up in milwaukee too for some coffee (though I had waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much today).
Packaging area....
This was by the roasters...and that is Caleb you see here...

Erica talking with Sandra during the roastery tour....

Caleb, spraying some compressed air I think....

The corner of the main roasting area...

Roastery tour....it was a little too general for me, but pretty fun!
EJ and ??? in the Cupping room...
Cupping room area...
Cool old sample roaster....
Just a hallway upstairs. Plentiful coffee, and pretty slick paint job.
Julie's little ones! No shortage of hair!
My little bad lion, Leone, with Grampa Bill.

Erica in the truck
She got high fives from Leone at one point: "mommy, you're a truck driver." Really funny.
Having fun on the road. The cab was pretty good size for the three of us, and Leone enjoyed all the construction scenery (though daddy got kinda sick of the traffic in Chicago).

Hmmmmm...back from a long weekend (weds-sun) in Chicagoland, including a Barista training and tour of the Fulton Street Intelligentsia roasing facility. However, my camera isn't being detected by my computers, so I'm off to get a card reader so I can post a few of the MANY pictures I took...So, coming soon!! EDIT...got the card reader, and pix are up (well, a bunch of them...) See above....

-Nimbus

Yardwork and a Big Bad Lion

2006-07-09T03:04:00.000-04:00

Wes, pretending to be a landscape pro...

Chopping up all my poor lil' ole trees and shrubs.

Mildred, a math prof. colleague of mine, volunteered a couple hours to help tackle my jungle in back with her tractor mower. Awesome. Thanks Mildred....

Wes had a class with mildred, so I like the shot with wes dragging off old shrubs and Mildred in the foreground. Progress!!

Wes, showing off his picking for me on my untuned scrap guitar that I let Leone play. I think it only has five strings.

And finally, Lots of Leone water shots washing daddy's cruiser. Thanks good buddy!

Now if we could just get rid of those pallets off to the side....

Folgers link

2006-07-08T14:36:00.000-04:00

Hey, this little commercial is just too funny. Warning, it is stupid, but I thought I'd toss it here because it is coffee-related. I'll try to avoid stupid stuff here in general... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQI2KlAurOg

(Someone linked to it on the Roaster's Guild Forum). More pix later today if possible. Yesterday was a busy day....

-N

Fourth of July and beyond

2006-07-07T03:13:00.000-04:00

Me, slaving away as usual... Abby, also slave labor. Thanks abs!!! She helped me a lot, on her vacation. So awesome. ........Working hard (and watching my cubbies lose as usual). But hey, Da Bulls will soon be mighty once again. Wes and I shot hoops in the driveway the last couple days. My hoop will lower to nine feet or so, so we can pretend we're mighty and dunk. But i prefer it at the standard ten feet, so I can really display my skills (outside shooting).

Working on getting my current house on the market, so I can move into my coffee shop (well, it is all happening). Moving always sucks.

Erica and Leone and I are up to Chicago next week for some Barista class at Intelligentsia. That should be fun.

I'm going to roast up some more Panama Carmen tomorrow (just 2-3 pounds) to experiment with the roasting profile. I'm not sure how much time this wants at lower temps yet, and also not sure how long to go with it.

-nimbus

Abby (visiting from S. Cal) removing trim.. My favorite Lion's creation of the day. I think it
is a multipurpose hospital and fire station.

Shannon, back from Guatemala. No coffee in hand, but i'm sure next year will be different.

I'm not the rice milk and...

2006-06-30T21:36:00.000-04:00

Just had to relay this one:

Leone is very familiar with all of Maurice Sendak's stuff....anyway, he said today to me:

"I'm not the rice milk and the rice milk's not me, I'm Leone!"

I thought it was soooooo funny (after Mickey in the NightKitchen). He doesn't drink cow milk, so he changed it to rice milk...hilarious.

He's just such a smart critter. And yesterday, he measured my tape measure of the ceiling at "ninety two." That was the correct reading, and from a kid that can only count to about 20 (or so we think :-) ) Amazing.

Very little spectacular stuff today. But it was the inaugural run of the technivorm! And of course, our requisite hour or so of trampoline duty. I didn't realize this thing would force me to work out so often. My Kettler bike seat for Leone also arrived in the mail, so gotta work on that tomorrow....

The Panama trip is really getting me excited. I think I'm going no matter what at this point....It seems so right at so many different levels, professionally, recreationally, social-conscious wise, and more...FUN !!
N

Wes, working in the back yard

2006-06-29T18:35:00.000-04:00

The new (used) Technivorm arrived today (thanks Chris!!). The old Presto Scandinavian will still see some use, and of course the trusty Gaggia Espresso will still be in action!! Note the Thermos, which I LOVE.....

Wes, admiring his landscaping in the backyard. Still a ways to go....

G'morning kids....Wes is hard at work in the yard today, plus a couple pix of Leone with his new Legos that arrived via USPS (with 60 pounds of coffee!!)...

Last week on the trampoline....

2006-06-29T03:58:00.000-04:00

Another day....

2006-06-28T01:20:00.000-04:00

More fun with Leone Ray. No pix taken today ( I reached for the camera, but he said no. ) We got in some trampoline time, and some batting practice on the T, and a bit of shooting hoops.

I've been in a couple of threads at both alt.coffee and the specialty coffee forum where I mentioned (and linked to) a letter from Geoff Watt (of Intelli) regarding Fair Trade. I'm just trying to spread the word on the current scene and what people are doing. Here is that link: http://greenlagirl.com/2006/06/19/an-intelligentsia-email and the discussion at the coffee forum is at: http://www.specialty-coffee.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4104

And here's what Oaxaca Charlie wrote today at Green Coffee Buying Club:

"Good luck! I started my roasting business buying direct from small producers in Oaxaca. They had the best coffee, and were getting royally screwed by the local buyers. Also, they would just give me the cream, and even do special processing for some sacks, like some DP and some pulped natural, which you can't get through normal sources. I used to grow coffee in Oaxaca, myself (share cropping), and I picked for some estates for much needed cash. I knew that some estate owners are such facist , slave driving , sleazy, exploitive bastards that I didn't want any of my money going to their pockets, if at all possible. Sounds good so far, eh? Nice idea, I thought. In the end I did get the best coffee in Oaxaca to my place in British Colombia, and the growers were paid more than any other growers in Mexico for the greens that I bought, even if the rest of their crops went for pennies to the usual buyers. However....small producers are POOR. They can't possibly afford to have their parchment coffee dry milled., or even pay mule drivers, and then truck drivers to take it to the mill (and take turns keeping an eye on the dry millers, who are famous for switching sacks when you're not there watching)They can't afford new jute sacks, they can't afford to pay someone with an export license to do the nessesary paperwork, they have no money to pay the export tax that's charged on coffee leaving Mexico. Or the trucking and warehousing involved in getting it to the only west coast port that handles coffee exports. These folks couldn't even afford new picking baskets or mats to dry on. The way it has always worked is that coyotes from export mills come around before harvest and lend some money for the baskets and mats etc. in exchange for a promise to provide them with X amount of parchment coffee after harvest, at a very very low price per kilo. And/or local estates will front some cash, expecting X amount of parchment coffee at a very very low price per kilo. Most of the crop is therefor sold in advance for a pittance. No other options in the past, now family members working in the city, or illegally in the US might be able to send a few pesos to the farm-but still, the only buyers are local estates or dry mills who pay as little as possible, and take their time paying in full.I found that laying out all my cash in advance, covering every cost with no guarantee that something won't go wrong before sacks of primo get to Canada (so many things can go wrong it would take a while to list them all), and, finally, paying shipping costs for much less than container loads means that shippers take much more than the farmers-ARRRRRRG! I decided after a couple of years of this to just choose from the nicest estate growers I know, with the best coffee(never quite as good as the best small producer greens because the small producers are not dependent on hired labor, can pick, wash and dry with greater care, have the highest plantings up beyond where a road can be built, and don't mix their beans with others) and find out who in the US is importing their greens. Finca Olivo is the only one of those that I can find, the rest go to Europe or Japan. After a few years of bugging various importers , I found a Seattle based company that only does direct relationship greens buying, and after a couple of samples, and then visits to the village, agreed to buy from my small producer friends with the extra fancy greens, paying a fair price and advancing some funds before harvest, with more promised for dry milling and export costs when the parchment beans were ready for that. Almost unheard of in the coffee business, that. Que bueno, no? This year's harvest was only about 1/3 of normal. No way could they fill even 1/2 a container. No way could the US importer afford to send a container just 1/3 full to Seattle, and hope to make any profit on the coffee. Did I mention that a lot of things can go wrong? This year prices at harvest time jumped from the 30 cents lb. to small producers, to over a dollar-even from coyotes. The village growers sent an amount of parchment beans worth most of what they owed from pre harvest advances to some friends of mine with a roasting business in Oaxaca city-they (the roasters)then send money as they earn it to Seattle. The growers, almost all of them, took the extra money they earned from the unexpected price hike and split for the US, with some cash to get sneaked across the border. The money they are now earning washing dishes, doing construction, whatever, is being sent home for their families to live on, and spend upgrading the little farms. Oh, yeah, they'll pay off the little bit still owing to the Seattle importer, too. The hope is that next year they will own their crops after harvest, and thus have options as to what they do with it, shop around for better prices, roast some and sell retail in beach resorts or cities, who knows? One thing that's certain is that no matter if they could sell their beans for even $10 lb.(never happen), they , like most coffee growers in the world, only have a couple of acres each, and they can only grow a small amount of coffee -so a middle class income will never be theirs from farming alone. Why didn't they form a Fair Trade coop, you may wonder, or get certified organic? They did both, back in the early nineties. They were part of the first Fair Trade coop in Mexico, 100 anos de solidad. Certified organic (at great cost in very hard earned cash). After 2 years, the coop's directer and sales manager (well known human rights activist from the city) was found to be buying large amounts of low grown, non organic beans with coop money and selling them in europe for FT prices, keeping the profits. He kept most of the coop's own sales money for himself, too, and moved to another town, where he runs another "coop" based on buying cheap as a coyote, and selling dear as "organic', and "fairly traded". Body guards, friend of the govenor, untouchable organizer in the ultra corrupt PRI political party that rules Oaxaca. Another Fair Trade Coop in Oaxaca, the largest, was for years managed by another PRI big wig friend of the govenor, who became very wealthy by cheating the coop in many clever ways. He didn't make enough kick backs to the new gonenor and got busted for fraud this past winter, and there have been some big shake ups in that coop. Hopefully the poor growers will finally get a fair share, but who knows? The small FT coop that supplies Sustainable Harvest, and Green Mountain Roasters, seems to have been very benificial to the comunities that are members. I doubt that there would be even 10% of the population there still on their land if that FT coop hadn't been helped to get on it's feet by David Griswold. Estates who are certified organic usually get a small price premium, but a Rainforest Alliance certification on top of that brings no price raise, even though it can cost them more than the organic certification to fully comply with all the RFA regs. >Buttwhiskers wrote: " Fair Trade certified coffees require that a minimum of $1.26 go to the farmer. "<>>>>> Not so. The $1.26 goes to the coop. After the coop takes out all the costs of processing and exporting, including the loan payments for the mills, warehouses, trucks and other expensive purchases they had to make in order to become an export business, and the FT certification fees (it used to be free but now there are charges)-only then do the growers start going to meeting after meeting to make decisions about what to spend money on as a coop (schools, clinics, road repair etc etc etc.)before getting down to the nitty gritty business of deciding who gets how much, individually. In a perfect coop that should be clear and just, but in reality there tends to be some favoritism with certain families doing a little better than others, and in the worse cases the books are cooked to keep as much as possible in the pockets of a very few clever crooks. Oaxaca is, for sure, a bad example because of the powerfull influence of corruption in most every level of government there. I'm told that the large FT coop in Banda Ache Sumatra runs a tight ship, the Oromia coop in Ethiopia does as best as can be expected, aliviating some extreme poverty.The FT coops in Nicaragua are so often visited by the US and European roasters and importers who did so much to support those coops to get established, and those foreigners usually speak enough spanish to talk to farmers and not just coop managers-hard to cheat the growers there. If there were more succesful estates on the model of (just one example)Mesa de los Santos, in Colombia, where, supposedly, workers get decent (for the region) pay, plus health and retirement benefits, and steady year round work -that would be very welcome by a lot small producers as an alternatitive to the insecure and economically marginal lives on their little plots, but a larger percentage than you might think are stubburn about keeping an independant lifestyle, on their own land, near where their anscestors are buried, keeping alive a local culture and language. Those people need govt reforms in their countries, a little help with roads and electricity, schools and doctors. The elites getting wealthy from globalization need to share the wealth, pay some taxes etc. There's not much that we, as coffee buyers here, can do about that. FT coops just can't take on all that development spending from their coffee sales, like they are trying to do. Support a nice finca in Panama or Costa Rica, why not? It's good to go visit the source, but please learn enough of the local language so that you can talk to pickers, wet mill workers etc, and don't just get smooth talked by a charming estate owner who is actually cheating his workers, exploiting all the poorer neiighbors, supporting local death squads even -if you care about that kind of thing. There are , absolutely, many wonderfull estate farmers who are doing all they can to help their workers and neighbors while striving for high quality in their coffee. Then, there are those other jerks farming just down the road who inspire revolution by their vileness and greed. I'll stop here-sorry, I get carried away sometimes.

Saludos, Charlie

I'm going to paste Geoff's letter here in case it disappears from the internet in the future..it is important reading...http://greenlagirl.com/2006/06/19/an-intelligentsia-email and here's the text...

An Intelligentsia email
Posted by Siel in coffee, fairtrade (June 19, 2006 at 8:17 pm)
An impassioned and illuminating — if rather long — email from Geoff (below right) of Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago, a coffee company that recently decided to stop getting its coffee fair trade certified, in response to the string of comments on this post. More analysis later — For now, please don’t be daunted by the length of the post — It’s an interesting read :)
Update, 6/22/06: The New York Times writes a nice article about Intelligentsia Coffee, with quotes from Geoff and others –______Hiya,
I’d like to jump in with a few thoughts on the concept of sustainability as it works in specialty coffee. Since this thread came to my attention I’ve read through several sections of Siel’s blog and am happy to see that there is a lot of very insightful discussion going on…you can be sure I will be more regular reader now. These are the types of forums where new ideas get hatched and old ones updated or fine-tuned.
But first a quick introduction—my name is Geoff Watts, and I’m both an owner and the key coffee buyer for Intelligentsia. A few readers have posted criticisms of our Direct Trade model that appear to me under-informed, perhaps a bit malicious, and that reveal a lack of understanding about the on-the-ground efforts and buying practices of companies like Intelli.
It would be great to continue the discussion about what exactly ‘fairness in coffee trade’ entails, where quality fits in the picture, and what can (or should?) be done on both a localized and large scale basis to improve equity in trade and make coffee farming a sustainable business for both small holder and estate farmers.
Sustainability is of course a principle that is (has to be!) dynamic and whose parameters (not definition, but means of achievement) change depending on context. But it’s not mysterious—sustainability in coffee simply means:
1. that the producers of coffee are earning significant profit from the sale of their coffees and are able to invest, not just subsist.
2. that the coffee is being produced in a way that is not damaging the surrounding ecosystem and that the land is being preserved so as to be productive over generations.
Looking at this more closely, what really constitutes significant profit? Well, in my opinion the cost of producing “good” coffee (for this purpose defined as clean, free of defect, decently sweet and not displeasing—perhaps an 80 out of 100 on the SCAA scale?) is normally somewhere between 65 and 80 cents. The true cost depends on dozens of factors—is the farmer paying for labor, or is it a 100% family operation…is the farmer depulping the coffee and processing it, or delivering cherry…how far is the farm from the place of delivery, and how are the roads….what is the production per hectare…what are the input costs, and is the farmer currently paying interest on investment…what is the cost of living in his/her community…boy o boy, the list goes on.
But for this discussion, let’s assume 75 cents as the cost. To have any significant profit, the farmer must of course get more than this, straight in the pocket. If I’m a farmer, I want at least 1.00 per pound of exportable ‘green’ coffee of decidedly ‘average’ quality. In a typical FT scenario, $1.26 goes to the exporting cooperative and is distributed from there. Usually the coop will deduct operating costs—ie, management/personnel salaries, utilities, rental of land, transport, export taxes, marketing costs, pre-financing costs, etc—and then deliver payment to the coffee farmers (often price averaged across the whole group and distributed based on volume delivered to the coop).
As one reader mentioned, this number is often below $1.00. (quoting MatteoTemprano, march 3rd: Many industry estimates of the average price that actually gets back to the individual farmers are inflated. I heard at SCAA last year that some NGOs were touting that $1.00 to $1.10 on average gets back to the farm household. This might be true in some cases, but there is no way that this is the norm). My experience has backed this—the norm is surely lower than $1.00.
Up to now the numbers I’ve been working with are based on ‘decent’ quality coffee, the old “80 point” cup…not offensive, but not all that attractive either. To consistently produce really great coffees involves more cost—significantly more. I won’t get into it now, but in my opinion $1.40 to the farm-gate (not the FOB cost, which means price at the point of export…this would be more like $1.65) should be more or less the beginning/floor price for very good quality coffee. Exceptional coffee requires even more.
The environmental component is also quite intricate, but can be simplified. To me the biggest abuses come in three forms: irresponsible use of chemical pesticides/fungicides/herbicides, improper disposal/treatment of tainted post-fermentation water, and the cutting of existing forest to plant full-sun coffee. There is plenty of coffee that is sold under the FT seal which does not comply with good standards/practices in these three areas, despite what anyone might claim. I’ll get back to this later. In any case, there cannot be real sustainability with adherence to good environmental practices. However, this can get tricky as well—take a place like Rwanda, ten years removed from one of the worst genocides in human history, still hugely overpopulated (one of the most densely populated in Africa), ravaged by poverty and disease, lacking basic services in most parts of the country…in a place like this, with so much work to be done, it would be a mistake as a consumer to fixate on such things as lack of organic certification, no bird-friendly seal, no shade-grown seal, etc….since the priority #1 is to get people on their feet and in a position to live decently. Believe me a farmer doesn’t give a shit about the birds if his kids cannot eat, and rightly so. Basic needs must be met first. That’s not to say these guys are running around spraying toxins around their farms—on the contrary, most of them cannot afford chemical pesticides at all. The production in most cases there is quite healthy, environmentally speaking, despite the lack of any kind of seal, and the time to think about adding certifications (which, of course, also add cost) is after the people themselves have at least a very basic degree of stability.
But lets get back to the question that started all of this…namely, to certify FT or not to certify FT? I’ve made a decision for the latter after having purchased and sold lots and lots of FT coffees over the last ten years, although I still buy plenty of coffee from cooperatives in Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sumatra, Bolivia, and Colombia that are FT certified by FLO. And I feel great about it. Yet I still support the existence of Fair Trade, and most certainly believe in its goals (if not always the methodologies).
How to reconcile this? Well, it means creating a separation between several things—FLO, Transfair USA, Exporting Coops, and individual farmers. It also means looking at the difference between ‘commodity’ coffee and true boutique specialty coffee. In my opinion, the Fair Trade brand / model works alright for commercial quality coffee and for one might term ‘entry-level’ specialty. Once one gets into extremely specific, ultra-high quality coffees it begins to falter because it was not designed to deal with them. It is, essentially, a one-size-fits-all blanket program that is applied to an incredibly diverse range of different coffee farmers across the world.
One problem with this is that it does not address dramatic differences in production costs or cost of living, does not have any mechanisms to really reward added cup quality, and has not yet evolved to deal with inflation. In the HUGE majority of cases the FT price turns out to be both a minimum AND a maximum. Want proof? Check the export records for the two biggest suppliers of FT certified coffee in the world: Mexico and Peru. You will see a very long list of export contracts at either $1.26 or $1.41, but not much that is higher.
Why such uniformity in pricing for these coffees? Because quality differences are not actually being rewarded in any clear way. The FT model is, essentially, yet another commodity model…albeit a more equitable one than the traditional “C” market. As such it is, as your reader Matteo pointed out, more “fair” for some farmers than for others. The fact that it the FT price has been $1.26 for more than fifteen years and is the same for every farmer whether he/she lives in Peru, Rwanda, Sulawesi, Costa Rica, or El Salvador makes little sense.
But I am not out to disparage the Fair Trade brand or anyone involved with it. I have devoted my life to coffee for the last eleven years, and have personally met hundreds of farmers who would not be farming coffee today were it not for the price support they received from FT contracts during the crisis years of 1999-2004. I’ve watched cooperatives spring up in the countryside under the FT banner that have provided security for small farmers who had previously been on their own, at the mercy of the local exporters. I believe its existence is a good thing, and do not have even the slightest interest in tearing it down.
The only time I refer to it at all these days is when someone levels criticism at my business, my buying practices, or my ethics and uses FT as the example of what sustainability is supposed to look like. The only reason there is any reference to it at all in our literature is that it has indeed become the most recognizable standard in the US for ‘socially responsible coffee’. So we use it as a baseline against which to compare our own buying practices and standards, and it is very useful for our customers to know what the overlap or differences are between Direct Trade and Fair Trade.
So why don’t I put the sticker on my bags anymore? The biggest reason is that I do not think it makes sense for our company. To use the sticker, I must pay ten cents per pound (or less if I negotiate volume discounts with Transfair USA) for every coffee I sell with the sticker. This money goes to Transfair and is used to finance their operations—staff wages, marketing costs, building costs, etc. By paying this money, I am essentially paying for the marketing advantage that having the FT seal on my bag gives to me. The problem is, I don’t really feel that is an advantage at all anymore for our company, and would much rather take that ten cents and stick it straight in the farmer’s pocket. Ten cents goes much farther in Nicaragua than it does in San Francisco. We will do our own marketing, because we have a lot to be proud of and are, in my (admittedly biased) opinion doing some of the most progressive work out there with specialty coffee. That’s what I want to advertise…I choose to leave the FT marketing to be utilized by those who feel it brings them additional market share, which increasingly looks to be the multinationals more so than the little guys.
So, is what I’m doing called self-certification? Perhaps. Call it what you like. The fact is it’s not really certification at all. Direct Trade is simply a name, eleven tiny letters, that we’ve created to identify those coffees in our line-up with which we have the most intimate relationships. It is the name we chose to give a face and reference to the same work we’ve been doing for the last 6 years without calling it anything. You could say it is a model, but it is a model that is in a constant state of evolution. Every trip to every farm is learning experience and every year our understanding increases, the world pushes forward, the industry grows, consumer sophistication advances, and our relationships with the individuals who produce the coffees we sell become stronger and more meaningful. I expect our model to change every year, for the better, and to be fine-tuned to meet the individual needs of specific growers in specific situations.
Essentially, Direct Trade is exactly what the words imply—I work quite personally and regularly with the coffee growers themselves. I’m on the road eight to nine months every year with the express purpose of spending time with growers and figuring out how we can both continue to advance. I sleep in their houses, I bring them to Chicago to sleep in mine. We have each other’s cell phones on speed dial. Most importantly, we are constantly pushing upwards, with both quality and price. My commitment is to help growers improve quality by donating my own time to provide cupping training, helping to finance improvement of infrastructure, and working closely with the growers before, during, and after harvest to analyze results and find ways to improve, reviewing both the successes and the failures.
This is the essence of relationship coffee—a relationship is not a10 minute phone call every 6 months or a series of complimentary emails. A relationship is face-to-face interaction, mutual and vested interest in each other’s well being, and commitment. Putting a sticker on something does not make a relationship, and calling something Fair does not make it so.
I believe quite strongly in the slow food movement, and the basic idea of Direct Trade is constructed from some of the very same tenets. Check out the website if you are unfamiliar.
In any case the real keys here are intrinsic quality and taste, transparency, and sustainability. This is exactly what the Direct Trade program is about—full transparency in pricing to everyone in the chain (straight to the individual farmer ) promoting and helping to create exceptional quality coffees, and paying great prices that reflect the real value of these premium coffees and encourage their further production. It’s about long-term relationships and two-way education.
But don’t take my word for it. I also believe in peer review and track records as very good methods of verification. The real specialty industry (companies who are more substance less marketing) is a rather small place, and most everyone knows each other. There are some very good companies out there doing some very good work, and I think they deserve your support. Counter Culture in NC, Stumptown in OR, Terroir in Boston, Taylor Maid in Northern Cali, Sweet Marias in SF, Allegro in Boulder, Maruyama coffee in Japan, Kaffa in Oslo, and many more (don’t mean to leave people out, but this email is so friggin long already!!). Some do FT, some don’t. But they are all, in my opinion, doing extremely progressive and sustainable work. Check out the agricultural and aid groups like ACDI/VOCA, CIRAD, CIAT, and PEARL. I’ve done volunteer work with every one of them and have a great deal of respect for what they are trying to accomplish. Talk to folks like Nick Hoskyns at CafeNica in Nicaragua, a federation of cooperatives that is the best model of its kind and should be copied in every other coffee producing country. Want more? There are many great people laboring to make our industry better and demonstrate to other roasters, both established and up-and-coming, that a quality focused coffee model based on direct interaction with producers and prolific education in the consuming markets is the future of specialty. These people deserve your support and respect. You don’t believe me? Ask around.
In response to Lua, who wrote: “In the end, Intelligentsia’s marketing hype and self-promotion hurts the very farming communities it claims to help, opening the door for more industry-driven “certification” programs that go “beyond” Fair Trade - remember how well Yuban claimed to know good ‘ole Juan? Why can’t all “mission-driven” and “relationship” coffee companies just embrace Fair Trade as their starting point, get over their damn egos, greed and cynicism, and sweat the what-tastes-better and who-does-more later? Fair Trade can do only so much, the rest is up to each company - and each time these companies knock Fair Trade, they remove a brick from their own foundation.”
I do not know who this Lua person is, but I would like to talk to him/her. I feel it is terribly irresponsible to go around making assumptions and denigrating people or companies without taking the time to really investigate them or to understand the issues themselves. Especially in a public arena where the speaker hides behind a three letter name. I would like to hear from this person how Intelligentsia is ‘hurting the farming communities it claims to help’. I would like to ask this person how many times they’ve visited such farming communities, and what they really know about the economic realities of coffee production. But mostly I’d like to know exactly how Lua arrived at these conclusions about my company. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done already and we’ve just only started. This is the vanguard of specialty—the small companies who are willing to roll up their sleeves and dig in, and who do not need to rely on anyone else to figure out what sustainable and ethical business mean because they are actively helping to create the definition. I have no interest in knocking FT, and I believe it has it’s own role to play in our industry as a price-support mechanism for decent quality coffee as well as to police the multinationals and help stimulate consumer awareness. But I will continue to challenge it, with an interest in pushing it to evolve, improve, and adapt to a quickly changing industry.
In response to Gernot, who wrote: “I’ve had a few contacts with big companies and they always tell you how green they’ve already become, but if you ask them for details, for numbers, the only thing you get is silence…”
Hi Gernot. I’m not really a big company, but I’m happy to give you details. Feel free to email me or call. I love to talk about coffee—it is my life’s passion. [Siel’s note — As an FYI for those who don’t follow the link to Gernot’s comment: Gernot was referring to multinational corps; he was commenting on a post about Nestle.]
In response to hmmm…, who wrote: “a side note-Cups of Excellence often have nothing to do with what farmers are paid for their beans. There are many documented cases of farmers being paid chump change for beans that an estate or broker takes along to a CoE and gets $20 a pound while the farmer still gets nothing. Furthermore, CoE’s represent special small lots that must be sold at the end of the auction and these purchases have no contractual tie-ins to the rest of that farmer/estate’s crop”
What exactly are you talking about “hmmm.”? Are you involved in the coffee industry as a retailer, a roaster, a barista, an exporter, an importer, a farmer? From where does your knowledge about the Cup of Excellence come? I would love to hear about these documented cases you mention. The CoE system is in my opinion one of the most transparent competition/auction systems out there. The traceability for lots purchased in the auction goes way beyond that of most certified coffees. Brokers do not receive the premiums for coffees sold at auction—it is the farm owner. Can there be abuse? I’m sure every system in existence on this planet has the potential for leaks (please don’t get me started here about FT and such). But this one is pretty darned water-tight. When you say these purchases have no tie-ins to the rest of the farmer’s crop, you miss the point entirely. The real value of the CoE competition is as a discovery mechanism for quality and a means of creating market linkages between quality-driven producers and those buyers who crave great coffee. It’s not about auction income, although that can be a huge windfall for producers and is inarguably the most effective system in the world for rewarding cup quality with excellent prices. It’s about the fact that these farmers have gotten their names in lights and have been introduced for the first time to the consuming world. The real benefit comes post-auction, when the farmers are courted by international buyers and the true relationship is initiated. Intelligentsia is just one example…I buy coffee directly from 11 producers in 5 countries who I connected with through the Coe, and have been working with some of them for 4 straight years. But there are plenty of other examples as well, not just with North American specialty roasters but in Europe and Japan. It is quite offensive to me that you go out and make these public assertions that criticize a program like CoE without actually bothering to fully investigate it and understand it.
Anyway, I suppose I have done a bit too much ranting already, and will happily shut up so I can go attend to my dogs at home. I hope that this message helps to stimulate further discussion on this issue, and I invite both Hmmm and Lua to please respond and let me know what your thoughts are.
If someone on this forum would like to reach me directly, feel free. You can email me at watts@intelligentsiacoffee.com.
In solidarity for the pursuit of true greatness in coffee,
Respect,Geoff

2006-06-26T03:07:00.000-04:00

Leone Ray, inspecting some Sumatra Lintong Triple Pick

Me and Cornel West at DC rally, Sept, 2005

Got the Probat through the door ..Yay!
Resting quietly....

Late night

2006-06-26T03:04:00.000-04:00

Hey..
First post to the new blog. I couldn't decide if I should make this personal or biz, so I guess it'll be a hybrid. I'll try to put up a few coffee pix tonight..

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