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Permalink Reply by Brady on August 2, 2011 at 11:56am

There is no regulation that I'm aware of to restrict the use of the word "peaberry" on roasted coffee, or to dictate what percentage of the product must in fact be "peaberry". Some people will do whatever you let them get away with doing.

 

See also "Jamaican Blue Mountain" bags that contain only trace amounts of said coffee, and other serious counterfeiting issues.

 

Buyer beware.

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Permalink Reply by TJ Mort on August 2, 2011 at 2:51pm

Thanks Brady.  Very interesting, yet very sad.

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Stephen Root on August 2, 2011 at 2:54pm

It seems like it's the same type of situation as Kona coffees or JMB blends. As long as there's a trace of the big-shot origin coffee in the blend as a whole, you can use the big-shot name.

 

Hmm. Maybe some regulations are definitely in order?

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Permalink Reply by Brady on August 2, 2011 at 6:05pm

There is a really easy solution:

 

Only buy good coffee at a fair price from reputable roasters.

 

There are so many excellent, transparent, honest roasters in this world. They work their butts of to source great coffees that 95% of the population has never heard of, and most of them would be happy to have a little more business. Why give your money to anyone else?

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Permalink Reply by Casey Loseth on August 4, 2011 at 7:34am

100% nailed it

Brady said:

There is a really easy solution:

 

Only buy good coffee at a fair price from reputable roasters.

 

There are so many excellent, transparent, honest roasters in this world. They work their butts of to source great coffees that 95% of the population has never heard of, and most of them would be happy to have a little more business. Why give your money to anyone else?

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Permalink Reply by Dennis McQuoid on September 5, 2011 at 5:14pm

Perfect answer Brady.

Brady said:

There is a really easy solution:

 

Only buy good coffee at a fair price from reputable roasters.

 

There are so many excellent, transparent, honest roasters in this world. They work their butts of to source great coffees that 95% of the population has never heard of, and most of them would be happy to have a little more business. Why give your money to anyone else?

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Permalink Reply by Dennis McQuoid on September 5, 2011 at 5:17pm

This leads to another question. Is peaberry worth the extra money? I've not beem able to detect a significant difference between peaberry and it's fully formed siblings.

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Permalink Reply by David Myers on September 5, 2011 at 6:01pm

Coffee labeled as Kona Blend, by law, can be as little as 10% Kona coffee with the rest being any old beans used to meet a price point. 

 

There is some good info on Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kona_coffee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Blue_Mountain

 

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Permalink Reply by Kirk on September 5, 2011 at 6:58pm

Like this discussion. As a roaster, if I label a coffee peaberry then visually it better look like peaberry. Yes, there may be some regular beans in it - because many coffees are hand sorted by fallible humans. So, I expect so see a regular bean here and there. The same goes for regular (non-peaberry) coffees - every now and then a peaberry is in it. But, I feel if I label a coffee (and source a coffee) as peaberry it will be vastly just that. I don't mix anything else in unless I use it in a blend - then I don't high-light the peaberry aspect of it (unless simply naming the exact coffees that make up the blend).

When it comes to Kona, we source and sell only 100% Kona. I have a relationship with a small family-owned farm in Kona that grows some fabulous beans that many of my customers drool over whenever I bring them in. But, I never use them in a blend. People that want Kona want just that. And I find they're willing to pay for it. So, we source, roast and promote our 100% pure Kona coffee and find it hard to keep in stock because our customers like it so much. And at $15.00 per 8 ounce bag they grab it up.

One of my customers even claims that due to the higher levels of niacin in Kona coffee he is able to breathe more freely when he drinks it.

I believe some special things shouldn't be tampered with - Kona is one of them.

If you're going to use 10% Kona in a blend why bother? Will you really taste that 10%'s contribution to the overall blend? Maybe a really well-trained palette will - but your average customer won't.

That's how I see it...

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Permalink Reply by Mike Cannon on October 8, 2011 at 4:44pm

Yes, you will taste every coffee contribution you put into a blend, however inconsistently. Even your average consumer.  That 10% didn't vanish, it's still in there.

Kirk said

Like this discussion. As a roaster, if I label a coffee peaberry then visually it better look like peaberry. Yes, there may be some regular beans in it - because many coffees are hand sorted by fallible humans. So, I expect so see a regular bean here and there. The same goes for regular (non-peaberry) coffees - every now and then a peaberry is in it. But, I feel if I label a coffee (and source a coffee) as peaberry it will be vastly just that. I don't mix anything else in unless I use it in a blend - then I don't high-light the peaberry aspect of it (unless simply naming the exact coffees that make up the blend).

When it comes to Kona, we source and sell only 100% Kona. I have a relationship with a small family-owned farm in Kona that grows some fabulous beans that many of my customers drool over whenever I bring them in. But, I never use them in a blend. People that want Kona want just that. And I find they're willing to pay for it. So, we source, roast and promote our 100% pure Kona coffee and find it hard to keep in stock because our customers like it so much. And at $15.00 per 8 ounce bag they grab it up.

One of my customers even claims that due to the higher levels of niacin in Kona coffee he is able to breathe more freely when he drinks it.

I believe some special things shouldn't be tampered with - Kona is one of them.

If you're going to use 10% Kona in a blend why bother? Will you really taste that 10%'s contribution to the overall blend? Maybe a really well-trained palette will - but your average customer won't.

That's how I see it...

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Permalink Reply by Brady on October 8, 2011 at 7:08pm

Come on... the only reason you'd put 10% Kona in a blend is so that you can put "Kona Blend" on the label. Oh, and charge the tourists more...

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