The notion of reviewing coffee isn’t novel, but what appears to be a rising trend from my vantage point, is a growing desire to provide consumers with a numerical score which they can use to judge the quality of a particular coffee.

As someone who has been in the high end specialty market for the last 5 years, I have resisted the urge to provide our customers with a review score as I think that they are inherently dangerous and often mislead the consumer. While I know that many will disagree with me, I think we can go to school with what has happened in the wine industry, namely, the Robert Parker effect.

As the year 2012 is now upon us, I thought it appropriate to do a little reflection on the past year and a little looking over the horizon into what will surely be a busy and exciting new year.

There is a lot of talk and "buzz" lately about direct trade* coffee. We at Transcend have made a deliberate move away from talking about "direct trade" and instead are focusing on the notion of relationships, as we feel that this is more in line with how we conduct business. Frankly, the marketing term direct trade is confusing, as it infers that there are no middle players in the transaction between the coffee buyer and the coffee seller. This almost always is not the case. It is to avoid this confusion both at the consumer level, and at the producer level that we are using the languge built around relationships.

No where is this relational approach to coffee more evident with us than with the producers we have partnered with in Costa Rica. Having worked with some of them now for three years, we are beginning to truly appreaciate the meaning of these relationships. In fact it is more than just relationships, it is the forging of real partnerships with a number of very important players which enable us to bring some of the best coffee into our shops in Edmonton.

Over the past number of years, Transcend has developed a number of important partnerships with producers and service providers, all of which are critically important in enabling us to do what we do. As these relationships have grown and become more than just business relations, we felt it important to acknowledge these significant relationships so that you know who we work with and how they factor into the process of bringing some of the world's best coffee to Edmonton and Canada.

Producers

Ricardo Perez - Santa Lucia

 

Jaime Carderas - Sin Limites

 

Oscar Mendez - Genesis

 

Edwin Martinez - Finca Vista Hermosa (Michicoy)

 

Carlos B - Terra Bella

 

La Joya

 

Service Providers

Exclusive Coffees

 

Inter America

 

Cafe Imports

Relationship Coffee

The world of Specialty Coffee is awash with buzz words and labels geared towards marketing. This is not to say that certifications such as Fair Trade, Utz, Bird Friendly, Smithsonian, etc. are not making some difference in how coffee is grown and ultimately prepared for market. Having said that, none of the certifications listed above have anything to do with quality standards, and further to that, none of the above certifications guarantee a living wage to the producers or those who work within the specialty coffee industry at origin.

At Transcend, we have largely ignored these certifications, and have instead focused on sourcing and purchasing the best quality we can find. Truthfully, our own standard of quality has been a moving target. As we have grown and developed in our own understanding of the many issues facing the Specialty Coffee industry, the standard has moved accordingly. Said differently, what we once thought to be great quality, wouldn't meet our current standards for quality today.

To that end, Transcend has adopted a "zero defect" standard which is focused both on the flavour characteristics of the coffee (how it was grown, harvested, average growing tempurature, washed, dried) but as import, the physical characteristics of the coffee. The zero defect standard requires careful preparation of the green coffee prior to export, which involves an intense attention to detail in sorting the green (screen size, density, colour, and ultimately hand sorting) to ensure the highest levels of quality.

Rather than focus on situational definitions for marketing terms like direct trade, we have chosen to focus on the building and nurturing of meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with producers and other key service providers. As these relationships have grown, we now view these relationships as true partnerships which are critical in the process of bringing some of the best coffee in the world to Edmonton and Canada.

While this survey is in no way predictive, I thought it important to publish the results nonetheless. As of this morning, 46 people responded to the questions and the graphs are shown below as to the results. Obviously, we forced the issue. I know that people's preferences are somewhat dependant on mood, and location, but regardless, I found it interesting that 60% of respondents indicated a preference for single origin espresso over a blended espresso, even for home use. Thanks again to all those who took a minute to respond.

 

Hey we are curious about your espresso preference both at home and in the cafe. Can you give us your thoughts.

As James said in last night's post, we will write more as we come to grips with the reality of this past weekend. Let me first say on behalf of Josh and the rest of Team Transcend how thankful we are for all the well wishes and encouragement. Josh and Ben worked very hard leading up to the Canadian Nationals and their hard work and quite frankly, their team work, paid off. Kate, our roaster, lost sleep over the roasting of both the Santa Lucia and the Sin Limites, and I personally am very greatful for all of the hard work they, and James, Shane, Tara, my wife Michelle, the two Dereks and so many other people contributed to this very exciting outcome. Please note that Josh is back attending university again, so his schedule is a bit limited.

Watch the video after the jump.

Quality within the specialty coffee industry can be an allusive thing. Most roasters and retailers refer to a coffee score out of one hundred points to categorize their coffee quality. Many others simply refer to the taste of the coffee they sell, assuming that their customers will identify with the descriptions arrived at. While Transcend has never employed any form of consumer marketing scoring system, we have in the past talked about the flavour attributes of our coffees. While we are not abandoning this completely, we made a decision in 2011 to move towards a more objective standard to evaluate quality. Given that we have two licesnsed Q Graders, and another apprentice well on her way, we made a decision to implement a "zero defect" quality standard. What does this mean?

The zero defect standard refers to the absence of any physical defects within a randomly chosen sample of coffee. The SCAA protocol requires that a random sample of 350 grams of green coffee be selected and evelauated for defects that will negatively impact the characteristics of that coffee. The fewer defects present in the sample, the cleaner that coffee is, and as a result, the coffee will more accurately represent its true character. For a coffee to be classified as specialty grade, there can be no PRIMARY defects and no more than five cumulative SECONDARY defects (a standard which we think is not strict enough).

Further, the SCAA protocol requires that the coffee be roasted, and that it be evaluated by selecting 100 grams of roasted coffee to determine whether any "quakers" are present. A quaker is an underdeveloped coffee bean, which will present much lighter in colour than the other roasted coffee. Quakers will impart flavours of paper, dustiness, popcorn, cardboard, all of which impact quality in a negative manner. For a coffee to be classified as specialty grade, there must be no quakers present in the 100 gram sample.

While we strive to sell only zero defect coffee, in some circumstances it is virtually impossible. The only true way to achieve zero defect coffee is to have the coffee meticulously hand sorted during the final preparation of the green coffee, prior to export. This detailed hand sorting is simply not available as an option in all the countries we buy coffee from. Regardless, we will document the number of defects of all the coffee we buy in 2011 and onwards. If the coffee is not completely defect free, it will always be very close. In an industry that largely ignores the presence of physical defects within the coffee sold as specialty, Transcend is committed to the green classification standards, and is actively working to ensure that all of the coffee it buys meets our new rigorous standards.