Coffee Bean

Micromill: Manos Juntas Micromill

Manos Juntas is a micromill in Sotara area of Colombia’s Cauca region, operated and managed by our exporting partners at Banexport. The entire concept of this micromill is based on simplifying tasks and responsibilities, for both producers and Banexport.This particular offering was first purchased in its cherry form when delivered to the mill on the day of harvest. Upon arrival, the Brix and pH were recorded, and the cherries are placed in large hermetic tanks for a five-day-long anaerobic fermentation: Each tank is labeled with the name of the producer, to retain traceability. During this period, nitrogen gas is introduced into the tanks in order to stimulate the yeast. Brix and pH are measured constantly through this process and are used to determine the stopping point for fermentation; the coffee is then subjected to 20°C temperatures in order to cease fermentation and remove the yeast and other microorganisms.For Honey-processed coffees, the cherries are then depulped and dried with the mucilage on in raised beds under shade.For Naturally-processed coffees, the cherry is then “aged” in tanks for a period of five more days before they are taken to solar dryers. Drying takes 30–45 days.Once dried, the coffee is cupped and samples are sent to Cafe Imports. They are then approved, milled, and shipped.Banexport believes that when it comes to a breakdown in factors that contribute to quality:50% is determined by crop production (fertilization, pruning, and proper harvest of cherries)50% is determined by post-harvest processing (fermentation, pulping, drying, and storage)Based on this understanding, Banexport decided to establish Manos Juntas Micromill, in which they purchase cherries from producers and manage the processing, drying, and storage themselves. This model allows producers to focus on the healthy production of specialty coffee, while the meticulous work of sorting, processing, drying, and storing is managed by Banexport’s team.Key takeaways about this program:Producers deliver and sell coffee in cherry form to Banexport, by total weight. The riper the cherry, the heavier it is. This encourages better harvest practice that directly correlates to higher quality.Producers get paid upfront for their coffee, typically producers have to wait 35 to 40 days for coffee to dry before selling it.Banexport guarantees to pay producers a fixed price well above the market value for these cherries.Producers involved are from surrounding farms. This means they need only to travel a short distance to deliver coffee, as opposed to driving many kilometers into town.Coffee infrastructure, like drying beds, fermentation tanks, and depulpers, can be very expensive to purchase and maintain. With this model, farmers can forgo all of this hassle and focus on maintaining healthy trees.

The Cup: Jammy cranberry, chocolate, and caramelizing flavors with lots of boozy acidity and candy-like sweetness.

Country: Colombia ASOMUJER – Timana – Huila – EA Decaf de Caña
For us at Cafe Imports, there’s something about Colombia.Actually, there’s not “something” about Colombia, but many, many
somethings that make this place particularly special among coffee-growing countries, and as famous. Everyone knows
Colombian coffee—or thinks they do. However, to simply say a coffee is from Colombia is to tell just a fragment of the story, like
recommending a book to a friend by only telling her the name of the publisher. To really get to know Colombian coffee is to
travel thousands of miles, taste through thousands of cups, and wear out dozens of pairs of hiking boots touring hundreds of
coffee farms from north to south. Even that’s just the beginning—but every beautiful story needs a beginning.We have had
boots on the ground (and spoons in the cup) here since our earliest days, and we fall in love over and over again with the
regional variations, the varieties, the landscape, and the producers themselves. From our work sourcing strong, versatile
workhorse coffees for our Excelso Gran Galope signature offerings; to our celebration of the taste of place with Regional
Selects from Cauca, Huila, Nariño, and Tolima; to the discovery and development of microlots from all over the country with
our export partners and the producers with whom they work closely—we simply can’t get enough.Neither can our customers:
Our offerings sheet comprises a wide selection of flavors, farms, and terroirs, and we will continue to explore new-to-us
regions and support the mostly smallholder farmers of Colombia into the future, as long as they’ll keep letting us come back
again and again and again

Papua New Guinea Kindeng Mill – Natural
In the contemporary global coffee industry, Papua New Guinea is wholly unique both in how coffee is harvested and exported
from the country. While there are some estates and plantations, most coffee production comes from smallholder farmers,
each with around 1–2 hectares of land called “gardens” on which they grow small amounts of coffee along with whatever else
a family or community might need for use or sale.Sourcing coffee in Papua New Guinea poses unique logistical, cultural, and
linguistic challenges. The country’s many indigenous populations are often very distinct from one another in terms of custom
and language, and individual communities might comprise only a few hundred people, making communication and the
cultural sensitivity required to do business here more difficult than in other coffee-growing regions. Less than 10 percent of the
population is connected to or uses the Internet for communications, and there are roughly 55 telephones (both fixed-line and
cellular) for every 100 people.

Country: Peru Yoryi Yimer Berru – Finca Gramalotal – La Coipa – Gesha
Though coffee arrived in Peru relatively early—in the middle of the 1700s—it wasn’t cultivated for commercial export until
nearly the 20th century as demand from Europe rose due to a significant decrease in coffee production in Indonesia. British
presence and influence in the country helped increase and drive exports. In the early 1900s, the British government took
ownership of roughly 2 million hectares of land from the Peruvian government as payment on a defaulted loan, and much of
that land became British-owned coffee plantations.As in many Central and South American countries, the large European
owned landholdings were sold or redistributed throughout the 20th century. Farms became smaller and more fragmented,
offering independence to farmers but also limiting their access to resources and a larger commercial market. Unlike many
other countries whose coffee economy is dominated by smallholders, Peru lacks the organization or infrastructure to provide
economic or technical support to farmers—a hole that outside organizations and certifications have sought to fill. The country
has a remarkable number of certified-organic coffees, as well as Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, and UTZ-certified coffees.
Around 30 percent of the country’s smallholders are members of democratic co-ops, which has increased the visibility of
coffees from the area but has done little to bring incredibly high-quality lots into the spotlight.As of the 2010s, Peru is one of
the top producers of Arabica coffee, often ranked fifth in world production and export of Arabica. The remoteness of the coffee
farms and the incredibly small size of the average farm have prevented much of the single-farm differentiation that has
allowed for microlot development and marketing in other growing regions, but as with everything else in specialty coffee, this
is changing quickly as well. The country’s lush highlands and good heirloom varieties offer the potential for growers to beat the
obstacles of limited infrastructure and market access, and as production increases, we are more likely to see those types of
advancements.

The Cup: Fresh jasmine, artificial raspberry, and fresh lavender with mild fresh apricot flavors.
Clean fruit-like sweetness and winey acidity.