Sourcing good green coffee in small quantities
So. thus far in my ~2 weeks of being open, i'm really happy with the roaster, and i like his coffees a lot. he gets coffee via royal importers NY and is very much in line with my coffee philosophy - roasting exactly what the bean needs and always up for experimentation. at the moment we have a sumatra, a natural processed sidamo, a single farm colombian (mesa de los santos / bucamaranga) and a peru norte. the sidamo has been a big hit, and he gave us a kilo he'd taken a little darker to blend into our espresso, and it was really nice on the pourover bar. i haven't blended up espresso with it yet.
the problem is this - i want to know more about where the coffee comes from (i know with the colombian, the others i don't). but take the sidamo - even intelligentsia's website has their "sidama" as being sourced from the "sidamo zone," with 500m variation in altitude, which is 100% unhelpful. especially considering they say they buy directly from farms / coops. i would love to get a bag or two of some cup of excellence coffees and roast them over a couple months, but i don't know where to begin. the cup of excellence website has all lots going for like $20,000 (seems like they're auctioning the coffee off at once, and not by the bag?). i understand that both my roaster and i are small time, but buying a 69kg bag at $8-9 USD a kilo isn't totally out of the question if we can stretch it out and push the coffee over two months. buying a $20,000 lot is, of course, out of the question.
so, to you roasters out there - how do i get a single bag of green coffee with good information on where it's from and good recommendation on its quality? thanks in advance.
the problem is this - i want to know more about where the coffee comes from (i know with the colombian, the others i don't). but take the sidamo - even intelligentsia's website has their "sidama" as being sourced from the "sidamo zone," with 500m variation in altitude, which is 100% unhelpful. especially considering they say they buy directly from farms / coops. i would love to get a bag or two of some cup of excellence coffees and roast them over a couple months, but i don't know where to begin. the cup of excellence website has all lots going for like $20,000 (seems like they're auctioning the coffee off at once, and not by the bag?). i understand that both my roaster and i are small time, but buying a 69kg bag at $8-9 USD a kilo isn't totally out of the question if we can stretch it out and push the coffee over two months. buying a $20,000 lot is, of course, out of the question.
so, to you roasters out there - how do i get a single bag of green coffee with good information on where it's from and good recommendation on its quality? thanks in advance.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jared Rutledge on
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yeah royal seems like a good operation, but i'd like to be able to spend a hundred bucks and try out a coffee, and places like coffeeshrub seem like a good option. thanks for the replies, this is a good wealth of information to begin with.
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Permalink Reply by teresa pilarz on
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i didn't see theta ridge mentioned... they seem willing to work with smaller roasters and offer splits, but do not have much info available about their beans. does anyone have any experience dealing w/ them?
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Ratanas on
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Coffee Shrub is great for buying things in small amounts. I know everyone has already said this before. The only thing that is a bummer is that they don't do samples (though, their tasting notes and scoring are pretty detailed and helpful). They are also good with providing tons of information on the producers. Check out their farm gate pricing program as well.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Marrocco on
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Coffee Shrub may not offer samples, but you should be able to purchase very small amounts of the same coffee from Sweet Maria's, if you want a sample.
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Permalink Reply by Luis Till on
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I've had luck getting the information from the trading company it's purchased from but I've also researched some farms/co-ops on line and contacted them directly for info via email. i.e. CENFROCAFE is a co-op in northern Peru (Cajamarca region) and they are available. Some farms are certified by UTZ and their info is available there as well- http://www.utzcertified.org/index.php?pageID=101
That's at least one way to try.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Maegdlin on
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I agree with Grant. Got to give thumbs up to Leah at Mercanta. She has a great offering sheet and can sell you 60lb cartons as well as the big bags. Leah is professional, friendly and very easy to do business with.
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I agree with Grant and Tom re: Mercanta..Mercanta was first mentioned to me by Stephen Leighton at Has Bean in the UK and being a small roaster I was pleased with their service.
Grant said:Hello Jared
I see you've already had a few responses mentioning some of the best know specialty green importers. You may not be aware but UK-based Mercanta (www.coffeehunter.com) also has a small but growing inventory of exceptional green coffee available for delivery from The Green Room in Auburn WA.
Contact Leah Warren at leah@coffeehunter.com for more details. She has worked with many smaller roasters and supply of less than full pallets is not a problem.
All the best,
Grant
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