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Organic Farm in need of Coffee Chaff (central Texas)
I received an email from this gentleman requesting 1-ton (that’s no misprint) of coffee chaff for his… worms… to ’snack on’.
Naturally, I was a bit taken aback. I don’t believe I had ever seen a request for 1-ton of coffee chaff for use as worm fuel.
I offered to help by posting here, but I asked for a little more background.. something I can use to sell the idea of donating stuff we’d normally throw out or compost to someone who actually needs the coffee roasting byproduct.
He writes,
Dear Jason,Thank you for the response!Since you have asked, I will give you my vision.I have 15 acres east of LaGrange, Tx. 5 acres are creek bottom land along side…Ross creek.I have been organic and sustainable gardening with my wife and kids for several years. We make compost on site. This is a family garden that gives us very, very tasty vegetable and some strawberries. I am trying to produce the finest quality earthworm bedding which will result in the finest finished earthworm castings. (read up on the organic sustainability of earthworm castings in the Internet.)I have developed a small worm farm that produces approximately 500 lbs of finished, screened earthworm castings per month. Originally, I was placing the earthworm castings in the family organic gardens but when other friends found out that I had surplus earthworm castings I started selling and produced $4000.00 in sales in 2007.Now I am going to expand the gardens to be used to produce tasty vegetables and to promote the organic/sustainable lifestyle. This includes expanding the worm farm along with the bagging and sales of organic soil amendments for soil and garden improvements. I am using the earthworm castings as the base for specialized, blended organic fertilizers. (Rose food, tomato & pepper booster.)I believe we need small organic farms in central Texas to raise public awareness of locally, sustainable food by example. Organically grown food is very tasty and more nutritious than what is found in the big box grocery stores. I am doing something I love and I might as well make a profit while leaving the earth a little better.Now..coffee chaff is an excellent amendment to compost because it promotes beneficial fungus and microbiology. They love this stuff! . I also add peanut hulls, some molasses to feed the microbiology, fine leaf mulch, some humus and some colloidal clay for trace minerals.I have found one company in Dallas that adds some vegetable oil and squirts the chaff out to make it more manageable to transport. I am looking for a source closer to LaGrange,central Texas and I am hoping to visit and see how coffee chaff is product in the process. I also have a manufacturing and process improvement background that I try to lend when ever I visit business.Jason, I appreciate your offer to post a request for information on access to coffee chaff. This would help me immensely.Post script: TOFGA or Texas Organic Farmers & Gardners Association is have a 3 day conference in College Station on February 1,2 and 3. There will be farm tours on Friday, training secessions by various experts in vegetable, soil improvement, beef and chicken, eggs and dairy products…all organic. There will be an exhibit hall with product vendors from throughout Texas. This will be the place to be if anyone is interested in the organic.sustainable movement in Texas. go to TOFGA.com for details.Best regards,Bruce FordRoss Creek Organic FarmEllinger, Texas 78938
rosscreekorganicfarm(AT)gmail(DOT)com
So, if you’re a roaster in Texas, and you’d like to help the sustainable movement a little, please do contact Mr. Ford and offer your Coffee chaff.
An odd request, I realize, but one man’s byproduct is another man’s organic worm food… or something like that.
Kona Coffee and “Kona” Blends: A plea for your help
Every so often, the alt.coffee newsgroup is visited by the owners of Smith Farms, a Kona coffee farm in Hawaii. About a year ago, Cea(one of the owners) asked that people help pass legislation requiring that a blend be comprised of at least 75% Kona coffee in order to bear the name, “Kona Blend”. Most people would be shocked to learn how much (or how little) Kona coffee actually is present in most seen “Kona Blend” coffees. That having been said, I’m pasting the post to the newsgroup right here for more eyes to see. Thanks in advance for your help.
The Hawaii State Legislature is back in (in) action. We have a 2 year system. As we asked last year, the non-profit Kona Coffee Farmers Association is asking for signatures on our on-line Petition asking that the amount of REAL Kona in a Kona Blend be raised to 75%. You all raised our numbers last year, thank you!! Right now, in the State of Hawaii, one needs to put only 10% Kona in a bag with 90% other/unidentified beans, to be called a Kona Blend. Do you realise there are no Federal standards? If you pick up a bag of “Kona Blend” at say Nana store, there might not be any Kona in it at all. We have been told by Federal friends that the State of Hawaii has to enact the law before the Feds will. So if you didn’t sign this last year, (or you can check to see if you have by going through all 1800 names:), Please do. Our (non-profit) Kona Coffee Farmers Association(KCFA) is again going to our Hawaii State Legislature, asking that the minimum in a Kona Blend be 75% Kona. It is a really tough fight within our own State when the huge blenders stand to lose large profits if they have to put more REAL Kona in their profitable blends. arrrgh The KCFA has its online petition available at: http://petitiononline.com/75Kona/ Please sign it, if you have time, so we can impress our local politicals with the importance of TRUTH.You know how numbers matter to Political types!! Please leave your comments on the issue too. I’ll report back at the end of the session. Thank you! aloha, Cea roast beans to kona to email farmers of Pure Kona
The Daily Grind: Austin, TX
I received an email from Andrew Scribner (regular contributor to the forums) informing me about this new retailer.
He writes,
I spent the last week camping in a coffee shop that deserves special mention, I was hoping you might put them on the website. The place is called ‘The Daily Grind’ and is currenly owned by John & Juli Boeve, it used to be owned by the current owner of Republica Coffee Roasters. In my whole week there I witnessed top notch shot pulling and milk steaming, the drinks were wonderful. They have the best cold brew I’ve ever experienced, above and beyond anything else I’ve ever had. The inside is cozy and spacious at the same time, the staff are wonderful to chat with. It’s an easy 5 star rating on this one.
I told them about Texas Coffee People and asked them if it would be okay if I emailed you about them. It sounded like they were interested in joining the discussion :).
I’ve attached a picture if you decide to give them a mention.
www.dailygrind620.com
The Daily Grind
16238 Hwy 620 North
Suite A
Austin, TX 78717
Phone: 512-388-0607
Thanks Andrew. They’ve been added to the list of Retailers.
Cafe Gallo (and Brown Coffee Co.) mentioned in the San Antonio Current.
I happened upon this just today, so don’t shoot me for being a month late!
Amuse-BOUCHE
(tasty little dish)
By Elaine Wolff
Café Gallo proprietor Jason Garcia – an alum of Le Rêve and Biga – would like to shake up some of your locally grown food assumptions: Coffee doesn’t have to be roasted within an inch of its life to be flavorful, e.g., and bolillos don’t have to be white. more…
Very Cool!
I’d like to see more local journalists highlight the best coffee businesses in their area. I know Austin has done something kind of like this (with a rating, though not really much in the way of columns).
Even though I’m a month late, congrats to the Gallo! (and to Brown).
On Professionalism and the Necessity of Tasting
Last week, I walked into a coffee retailer for the sole purpose of socializing over a cup of coffee. I walked up to the counter, and asked which coffee was freshest (obviously, it is not a cup-at-a-time establishment, as most aren’t). Then I asked what it tasted like. The barista couldn’t tell me.
I see this as a big problem. Dan mentioned a situation that can touch on this a bit in the forums (though not about tasting).
When you go to a restaurant, and you see a particular dish that strikes your fancy, you may ask your waiter to describe it for you. You may also ask his opinion and if he would recommend it. Nine times out of ten, the waiter will do a sufficient job of describing the dish, as well as his personal evaluation.
So when I see a barista who is not only serving the product, but actually MAKING the product as well, who cannot even describe to me what sort of a flavor experience to expect, I consider there to be something very wrong. There exist some baristas who will say, “Oh, I don’t drink coffee.” And others who will say, “I don’t know, I don’t like coffee.” And there are those who do the minimum and just repeat the flavor descriptor off of the packaging from the roaster, their boss, or something other than drawing from their own experiences.
Are we to just accept that the person serving our beloved cup of coffee actually cares less about this product being served than the consumer who, by comparison, is supposed to know very little by comparison?
For the life of me, I cannot understand why someone who does not drink coffee would ever want to work in a position serving coffee to others. And what’s more, I have an even more difficult time understanding why a business owner or manager would ever consider hiring someone who will not be able to describe what they are serving, much less ever care for its quality.
So, maybe this is a little bit of a rant. Either way, we are professionals. A professional does not do only the minimum. A professional does not stop at “good enough”. A professional knows their craft inside and out, and has an enormous respect for the materials they work with, and the work that went into them. It is for this reason that I believe that a coffee professional must taste everything they serve. They must do cuppings on a regular basis. They should take notes (mental or tangible), and experiment with variables until perfection is attained(an impossible feat, which ought to tell you something about the nature of a professional).
When a customer comes up to you and says, “Tell me about this coffee,” you should be able to draw upon a wealth of stored information. Flavor descriptors, brewing parameters, where it came from, how it was processed, its varietal/cultivar, the roast level, who the roaster is (if applicable), and any and every other detail you can retain that the customer may be interested in hearing.
I recently lead a cupping with a shop here in Lubbock. They had never done one before, but I am told it was a very enlightening experience, and these baristas gained a new respect for their craft. This lasted for less than an hour, and it had a huge impact, and I’m sure that this enthusiasm will be perceived by their customers. People like buying from businesses who know their products better, can communicate better, and who have a love and passion for what they do.
I would consider it a good idea to hold a weekly staff tasting lead by an experienced barista, manager, owner, or whoever can help further the education and spark a little excitement into those present.
Quality is not a goal. It is a methodology of striving towards an unreachable end.
Andreas Illy featured in NY’s “Science & the City” podcast
http://www.nyas.org/snc/podcasts.asp
I thought this might be of interest to some.
Andreas Illy featured in NY’s “Science & the City” podcast
http://www.nyas.org/snc/podcasts.asp
I thought this might be of interest to some.
Andreas Illy featured in NY’s “Science & the City” podcast
http://www.nyas.org/snc/podcasts.asp
I thought this might be of interest to some.
A Feature on Fair Trade in Ethiopia
Fair trade coffee in Ethiopia?
By Louise Williams
11-01-2008
Fair trade claims to guarantee a better deal for third world producers. But are producers really getting such a good deal? Louise Williams has been to southern Ethiopia to find out what benefits fair trade is bringing coffee producers. more…
There is an accompanying sound clip that gives some insight from our friends at Stumptown Coffee in Portland.
Bookish Coffee: Denton, TX
I received an email today from Brian Daskam requesting that we add his company to our list.
He writes,
I just ran across you site on the Coffee Geek Forums(coffeegeek). It’s good to see someone promoting the coffee scene in Texas.
I started Bookish Coffee in the summer of 2007. We are a small roaster serving the Denton, Texas area. Please feel free to ask or check out the website if you have any questions.
thanks,
Brian Daskam
Their website (BookishCoffee.com ) gives a mission statement. It says,
We launched bookishcoffee.com in the summer of 2007. It could have been bookishcoffee.org for the sense of mission we brought to it. After experiencing the sublime flavors and aromas of truly fresh coffee for ourselves we wanted to give our neighbors a fresh, local option for coffee too.
We think you’ll like the detail and passion we bring to our craft. And we agree with G.K. Chesterton that, “There are far more blunders in a big shop than ever happen in a small shop, where the individual customer can curse the individual shopkeeper.” We’re small enough to take your criticism and appreciate your praise.
I love it when a roaster goes into this business for the right reasons. Best of luck to Bookish Coffee!
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