unionroasted blog

In my last post about visiting farmers in Rwanda during the current season, I discussed how high market prices can bring difficulties to the farmers. In this post we’ll look at how prices can affect quality.

Quality is not an Accident

The second negative effect of high coffee market prices shows its hand in the overall quality of coffee reaching consumers.  In years of low market price, farmers  producing high quality specialty coffee know they have to maximise that quality to attract best prices. They achieve this by careful and selective picking which is more labour intensive, and careful post-harvest processing of the cherries.  This year, not only in Rwanda but as we have seen in many countries, farmers understandably take the view that they will be receiving more than last year without the extra effort – so why bother!  Again we have taken a great deal of time – including Steven visiting them earlier this year – to encourage them to work carefully and reinforcing to farmers that our agreement to buy, at a premium to market value, is linked to producing high scoring speciality grades.

If all of this market turbulence was not enough to cope with, the weather also added its own challenge.  Usually, the cherries ripen and are harvested over a period of around twelve weeks.  This year however, due to lots of rain and warm sunshine, the full crop came in over just six weeks and the Coffee Washing Stations, where the cherries are processed, were inundated by huge volumes of coffee cherries which need to be pulped really quickly. The beans must be separated from the pulp in a timely manner. If this is not done, fermentation in the bean can occur, or insects are attracted and damage the cherries, both of which can cause unpleasant taste effects in the finished coffee.  As we are in regular contact with producers that UNION buy from, we were aware of the problem and knew that there would be issues in the harvest quality so careful selection was needed more than ever.

Each individual lot has to be sampled

It’s this last matter that really drove me to spend a chunk of July in the cupping Lab in Kigali, working with Leatitia, a cupper I had helped to train some five years ago and who helped select our lots last year.  Together we cupped and scored hundreds of individual production lots from three Cooperatives and to get the coffee Union requires this year, we discounted just over 50% of the lots as not being up to our standard, and that was after Leatitia had pre-screened the lots to offer me a choice of those she considered the best.

To make the selections, a sample of green coffee is taken from each lot passing through the stations on any given day and labelled with the district and control reference number and is sent to the cupping lab in Kigali.

First the lots are sample roasted

300g of the coffee is prepared and roasted the day before we cup the lot; first we assess the roasted fragrance of the dry grounds and then pour the water, steep before evaluating the wet aroma, and then tasting the coffee brewed simply in a glass. We evaluate for a range of characteristics to produce a final score and description for that coffee that enables me to make a selection and construct the overall quantity, quality and flavour profile when the lots are put together.

In each cooperative there are districts that each have their own terroir and hence character.  My job was to select the best lots and bring them together (blend them) to achieve an overall standard for the cooperative that reflects the style of the district.  Maraba for example produces a rich full bodied and smooth coffee with an
elegant orange/citrus acidity to balance the cup; we offer this as our Single Estate coffee, Rwanda Maraba Bourbon.  COCAGI cooperative in Gashonga yields a coffee that is sweet, fuller bodied and has more red fruit flavour notes which we’ve also selected as a core component for our Revelation espresso.  Karaba Co-operative was new to us this year and being out in the cupping lab to taste tens of lots from the district was fascinating and wholly informative.  I’m looking forward to UNION being able to offer this coffee, which is distinct from the others having a lighter body with clean fresh apricot and white fruit, almost floral notes and a silky milk chocolate mouthfeel.

Occasionally during the cupping process, a lot comes up on the table that has a really outstanding flavour, with clarity and balance coupled with unique flavour notes and which also receives a high score.  In these cases, I have requested that these small lots are segregated all the way through and are delivered to us as our micro-lot selections.  We will release information on these as and when we get closer to them arriving in London and have checked and approved the arrival samples ensuring nothing untoward has happened during shipping.

Samples cooling before cupped

It’s only by getting out to the farms that we can know what has occurred during the harvest each year and I have no doubt that there may, sadly be a lot of very variable quality Rwanda coffee reaching the international market.  But it’s through our Union Direct Trade relationships and putting the miles
and work in, also personally a very enjoyable process that UNION Hand-Roasted Coffee will again be able to represent the very best of Rwanda’s speciality coffee
harvest for 2011-2012.

Working out the final scores

This week we officially launch our new espresso blend “Rogue”. Gestation started back in June 09 when Andrew Tolly at Taylor St Baristas came to us with his desire to create an espresso that would continuously challenge his baristas so they could hone their skills discovering new and different flavours in the espresso blend they use in their shops every day.

With Andrew, Jeremy and Vic, we started with our palette of single origin coffees. We needed to understand the flavours each produces in espresso shots and then with the influence of steamed milk and make adaptations in the roasts to define and refine the nuances. Over the coming months, stealing time where we could, we began putting the coffees together.

In some sessions, after extensive espresso tastings our brains were scrambled and couldn’t speak in complete sentences from the effects of caffeine—it’s a wonderful feeling.

Then through the week, texting and emailing our tasting notes … “I’m getting lots of cocoa, big body, a hint of wineyness…..- works very well in milk: is smooth, rich and chocolatey.”

By November we felt we we’re getting close so we sent out “No Name” to get feedback from friends.

“I was dialled in on the grinder from the word go, and every single shot has been coming through beautifully rich. I’ve only tried it as a flat white so far (my staple diet), and it pushes all the right buttons -lots of body and sweetness, pleasing fruity high notes……. So I think my machine must be well-matched temperature-wise
My tasting headline – ‘Apricot and cinnamon crumble’.

After a few more tweaks—”can there be too much blueberry?” We introduced “No Name” into Taylor Street Baristas shops for a soft outing. We got some great comments and we’ve worked to get more familiar with the roast style over the last few weeks. As roasters, our philosophy is to introduce some of our personality into the coffee; those roast notes of caramel, chocolate & cocoa: it’s what defines us and contributes more to the intrinsic and complex fruited & floral notes from the bean.

So now we can introduce Rogue: by name and by nature.

An espresso blend designed to change. We believe that Rogue takes an original approach as it is not a traditional ‘seasonal’ espresso, nor do we intend it to be conventional in concept either.

It is a little bit roguish.  It doesn’t aim to mute flavours so that we can maintain a consistent flavour profile.  It is designed to change in order to highlight and promote coffees that are in their prime and to showcase the diversity of coffee.   

The coffees we use to create Rogue will centre on those exclusive to Union.  These coffees are special, unique, and exceptional and a direct result of a trading model that is focussed on quality, but benefits everyone in the supply chain.

Experienced Baristas like the ideas of seasonality, new flavours, knowing about the farmers and about the coffee processing techniques. It has to be real and it’s a natural evolution for anyone who is becoming more interested in coffee.

This is part of the concept behind Rogue espresso. It is a little unconventional in that it is not just a blend focused around 3-4 flavours and designed to be constant throughout the year. It is a blend that has a distinctive character now, layered and complex but perhaps dominated by the new crop Gashonga that is really outstanding at the moment.  This is going to change in a month or so as new-crop Lambari from Brazil and tge latest organic Sumatra Gajah arrive. If they work well in the blend or are particularly exciting we’ll adjust the blend, if not, we’ll add something new and explore a different flavor route.  The blend will change as the new crop coffee harvests move from the northern to southern hemispheres, and not according to our Autumn Winter Spring & Summer.

Rogue is currently composed of four origin coffees, two different processes from Lambari farm, Brazil, our Harar, Gashonga from Rwanda and Gajah Organic Mountain from Sumatra. These have been selected, not just for their flawless quality, but also to reflect quite different and individual flavour notes that also harmonise. We have spent the last 8 years working directly with small farmers and this work is showing dividends in the form of outstanding and vibrant coffees. 

But, even the best coffees in the world—on a journey from origin to the cup—can be ruined at the hands of a poorly trained barista.  Extracting the best flavours by manipulating coffee and water volumes, pressure, temperature and time is a treacherous craft that only skilled and knowledgeable hands can consistently do well.  A skilled barista needs to identify the desired flavours and manipulate all these variables to bring these out. This metaphorical ‘graphic equalizer’ of flavour will not be set to the accepted equilibrium—muting the flavour notes as they change over time. In the shops, it will be enhanced by the Taylor St Baristas,  who can create different flavours by adjusting shots to allow each of the coffee origins to sing its arrival. The collaboration with Taylor St developing this blend has benefited from their passion and dedication to getting the most from our coffees. 

Does coffee have a gender? We want Rogue to change ‘her voice’ over time, yet still keep her soul; it will take a skillful barista to get to know her personality and then the delight as her character changes. I hope you like her.

Flavour notes: Intense almond and fruited aroma, fragrant with winey floral notes, the espresso shot gives an overlaying of marzipan, plum with a cocoa finish and lingering creamy body

Rogue is roasted every Friday, sleeps through the weekend gaining vigour, and dance into the new week.

We held another Espresso Emergency Room a couple of weekends ago – a hands-on clinic for home espresso users joined us the Union Roastery cupping room along with their own trusty espresso machines lugged from their own kitchens.

We tinkered with a selection of Gaggia domestic machines, two Rancillios, La Pavoni lever, Krups and even a trusty stovetop appeared.

The Kitchen Aid – reasonable to good shots but the tiny little steam nozzle (!!!) takes a heck of a long time to produce enough foam for one cappuccino. But with some patience a tight, textured, glossy meringue foam can be produced.

The Rancillios on first look have good build quality, robust brass group head really solid. With two machines on the table – one was producing water in low 90’s C and the other was 96-97 C– even trying to “manage” this by flushing the group heads was still problematic. Running water off the group for 10-15 secs brought the temp down but merely served to demonstrate the capacity of the boilers was insufficient as the performance was unstable. Small boilers, common on domestic machines lack capacity to stablise at a lower temp before the temp plummets down in a straight line.

The shots showed burnt crema and taste- playing with the grind and dose weights achieved good body – but lacked sweetness. Checking with the thermocouple probe – recorded 96C.

The best on the day was the little Gaggia – solid, robust, but the gaggia burr grinder couldn’t quite achieve the fineness to get the balance. But coupled with our Mazzer Mini, Revelation yielded – sweet red blackcurrant upfront, almond marzipan with dark choc lingering final notes.

The planned 3 hour session extended to 5 hours – so I think everyone had a good time. The event highlighted the difference between domestic & commercial machines although some machines appear to have a full size group head with solid construction, the domestic machines don’t get close to the turbo drive that we expect.

The La Pavoni – unfortunately just served to reinforce the view – asthetically pleasing, but injecting water into a group head from a boiler can only ever burn the coffee! Bare in mind we’re talking about premium delicate arabica -as apposed to commercial robusta based blends that can tolerate a wide temp because, in our opinion, they lack finesse.

It was a real eye opener when giving everyone a chance to play on the Linea and GB5 – most impressive aspect was the shear raw power apparent in the steam wands like stepping from a a Skoda to getting behind a 911. Not a criticism of the owners machines, just a comparison of the amazing power generated from the professional machines.