Coffee – the fuel that powers legions of tired-eyed Orange County workers every morning – doesn’t truly come from a cafe, a bag or even a bean.

Standing in an Orange warehouse, surrounded by more than 300 tons of imported coffee beans, Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders founder Steve Sims’ eyes gleam as he points from bag to bag, explaining the rich history behind each, going all the way back to “coffee cherries” gathered by the hundreds of international farmers he networks with. The precious pits of these cherries, known as coffee beans, can yield all kinds of flavors and sensations depending on how they are harvested and roasted.

With its Orange headquarters, an Anaheim Hills cafe and two new locations coming soon to Santa Clarita and Placentia, Bodhi Leaf works to bring the cream of the world’s caffeinated crop to hundreds of roasters, stores and individuals.
Sims, 47 of Yorba Linda, wasn’t always a coffee man. Once in real estate, he had to scramble to find a way to make a living when the Great Recession hit. After chancing upon a container of top grade Sumatran coffee in his travels, Sims made connections that – like a coffee plant – would bear bountiful fruit.

Bodhi Leaf sources its beans with the intention of going well beyond what people have come to expect from their morning cup of joe. Once they’ve had the good stuff, there’s no turning back, Sims said.

“It kind of draws you in,” he said. “Once they cross that line, they’re not going back to gas station or commodity coffee. There’s an element to coffee and people in the coffee industry – people have a passion for it, want to learn more about it and talk about it.”

Sims doesn’t just know where each bag of beans in his warehouse comes from – he personally knows the farmers who’ve cultivated them. The Bodhi Leaf team networks with farmers around the world, including in coffee hotspots in Columbia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala and Africa.

Sims said he and his team won’t sell beans before they’ve met the farmers in person, sometimes flying up to 36 hours to see what they’ll be getting in person. When they find something they like, they buy it at a premium to help ensure the farmers can make a living off their craft.

After a long journey, this worldwide parade of beans converges at the Orange warehouse. Customers in the front cafe can watch through a wall-sized window as staff stack mountains of bags in the warehouse or sit at the bar as beans whirl in a roaster behind the counter.

People, Sims said, like to know what goes into their – the more they know of the history and the process, the better that cup will taste. To this end, the shop has started holding classes once a month, offering insight into the history of coffee and techniques to get the most out of their beans.

Sims likens the growing trend of specialty coffee to craft beers – there’s an art to it that can get people hooked. His personal favorite, African coffee, can be an acquired taste for some, but once you’re a fan you won’t settle for less, he said.

“We’ve had people that drink gas station coffee their whole life come in to drink African coffee and ask ‘what is wrong with this!?’ But if they come in and try a few different coffees, they learn to appreciate it,” Sims said. “If you know what goes into it, it really makes you appreciate that cup more.”

source: http://www.ocregister.com / The Orange County Register / Home> Top News> News / by Jonathan Winslow, Staff Writer – jwinslow@scng.com / December 05th, 2016

Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday inaugurated the exhibition cum sale of Nagaland Coffee at Kisama. He was accompanied by Nagaland chief minister, T.R. Zeliang and cabinet colleagues from Assam and Nagaland.

According to an official, the department promotes both Arabica and Robusta variety of coffee.

The department took up development of coffee in Nagaland in the year 2014 in collaboration with the Coffee Board of India with the aim of uplifting the economy of the rural people.

Coffee has a number of health benefits, such as lowering the risk of type II diabetics, alezheuner’s disease, dementia parkinson’s disease etc.

The department has teamed up with a coffee expert from South Africa, Dr. Pister to promote the production of coffee in the State. Dr. Pister will also be demonstrating the various process of coffee making like pulping, roasting etc and preparation of world class cappuccino, espresso etc.

source: http://www.nagalandpost.com / Nagaland Post / Home> State> State News / Dimapur – December 02nd, 2016

Last week, the espresso-focused Italian coffee giant Illycafé presented its first annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Awards, recognizing the top quality producers in its supply network.

Held at the Delegates Dining Room of the United Nations in New York, the event notably pulled the mask off Illy’s signature blend, while more importantly recognizing and promoting the individual producers behind it in the spirit of quality through collaboration. The company has been holding a similar awards program annually in Brazil, yet in UN-fashion, decided to expand the program to include a number of additional major producing countries.

From its quality lab in Trieste, Italy, Illy identified the three best lots from the 2015-16 crop year from each of nine countries that have regularly contributed to Illy’s signature blend, before an international jury selected the top lot from each country. The awards gala itself recognized all 27 finalists.

The countries represented included Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India and Nicaragua, while the international jury — calibrated by Mark Pendergrast and Illy Quality director David Brussa — was composed of coffee professionals, chefs and members of the coffee-focused media, including Peter Giuliano, Kerri Goodman, Corby Kummer, Grace Hightower, Suvir Saran, Viki Geunes, Luigi Taglienti, Maria Loi, and Adolfo Henrique Vieira Ferreira.

In the end, Ahmed Legesse from Ethiopia was presented with the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award, with coffee praised by the jury as having an intense yet delicate flavor, and unique high-intensity floral jasmine notes mixed with a hint of citrus and fresh fruit. Receiving an equal score, a Honduran lot from Juan Angel Milla received a special honorable mention.

“Exactly 25 years ago, my father Ernesto Illy created the Brazilian Quality Award, which triggered the transformation of Brazil into a high quality coffee producer,” illycaffè Chairman Andrea Illy said in an announcement following the event. “Today we celebrate this important milestone by extending this prestigious award to all the major producing countries of the unique illy blend, with the aim of building the future of coffee by bringing together growers and coffee lovers.”

Here, by country, are all 27 finalists in the 2016 Ernesto Illy International Coffee Awards

Brazil

1. Juliana Tytko Armelin
2. Daniella Romano Pelosini
3. Arabela Pereira Lima

Colombia
1. Carlos Arturo López Guarnizo
2. Ovalle Duarte
3. Eliecer Torres

Costa Rica
1. Mauricio Barrantes
2. Warner Quesada Elizondo
3. Johnny Marin Badilla

El Salvador
1. Jose Antonio Salaverria Jr.
2. Leopoldo Muyshondt
3. Miguel Angel Caceres

Ethiopia
1. Ahmed Legesse
2. Seada Shifa
3. Yismashewa Seyoum

Guatemala
1. Jorge Bolaños
2. Jose D. Guerra
3. Edward Andres Esteve

Honduras
1. Juan Angel Milla
2. Dario Enamorado
3. Omar Acosta

India
1. Mohamed Suhaib
2. Tanveer Jabbar
3. Anand. J . Mathais

Nicaragua
1. Jose Arauz
2. Carlos Alberto Cruz Lopez
3. Victor Hugo Castillo
________________________________________________________

Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. Feedback and story ideas are welcome at publisher@dailycoffeenews.com.
________________________________________________________

source: http://www.dailycoffeenews.com / Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine / by Nick Brown / November 08th, 2016

Visakhapatnam :

The organic coffee grown by Girijan farmers in the picturesque Araku valley of Visakhapatnam district is making a mark not only in the country but internationally as well, and all efforts will be made to promote it in an aggressive manner, according to Social Welfare and Tribal Welfare Minister R. Kishore Babu.

He was speaking here on Wednesday morning after releasing two new products of the Girijan Co-operative Corporation (GCC), a state government undertaking. The products are Vaisakhi Coffee and Kumkum (saffron) powder. “Coffee cultivation is bringing light into the lives of Girijans in the Eastern Ghats of Visakhapatnam district. The state government has taken up a project to bring one lakh acres under coffee cultivation in the district and Rs. 526 crore would be spent on it,” he said.

He lauded the GCC for procuring coffee directly from the Girijan farmers and marketing it on its own, eliminating middlemen. He said Araku coffee would be promoted under the brand name Vaisakhi and there was good demand for kumkum powder. “The GCC has already received orders worth Rs. 10 lakh from the famous Srisailam Siva temple in Kurnool district, and we expect big orders from other temples in the state and outside as well,” he said.

Kishore Babu said the state government was giving the GCC functional autonomy and “in the past few years the turnover of the GCC has risen almost three-fold from Rs. 90 crore in 2013. For the current year we have set a target of Rs. 365 crore and Rs. 155 crore has already been achieved. In the next five years, the turnover of GCC should cross Rs. 1,000 crore.”

GCC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director A.S.P.S Ravi Prakash said the corporation would strive to increase the income levels of Girijans and “GCC has waived farm debts of Girijan farmers to the extent of Rs. 1.8 crores.”

Araku MLA G. Sarveswara Rao said organic products such as turmeric and coffee procured from the Eastern Ghats inhabited by the Girijans, should be promoted in the domestic and international markets.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

sourcce; http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by CH. R.S. Sarma / Visakhapatnam – November 09th, 2016

Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea recently traveled into Peru’s Andes Mountains to expand relationships with coffee farmers. During the trip. licensed Q Grader Brandon Bir led judging for a coffee competition in the Junin region.

Columbus, Ohio :

Brandon Bir, coffee sourcing and education manager for Columbus coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea recently traveled into Peru’s Andes Mountains to expand relationships with coffee farmers, agronomists, and others dedicated to improving the quality of the country’s coffee. While there, the licensed coffee Q Grader led judging for a coffee competition in the Junín region.

Bir’s trip originated in Lima. While visiting the capital city, he shared samples of Crimson Cup’s Ethiopian Kossa Kebena and 1991 Blend coffees with local coffee houses and coffee cuppers.

“We had some great discussions about Peruvian coffees, Lima’s coffee culture and how things are evolving,” he said. “They have some well-put-together cafés, and everyone’s competing for exceptional coffees.”

“Local coffees are getting better every year, with better coffees scoring in the mid-80s on the 100-point coffee quality scale,” he added. “In the past, they were known for their chocolatey flavors but were not extremely nuanced.”

From Lima, Bir traveled into the Andes Mountain jungle to La Merced, a town in the Junín region. There, he visited with Don Julio Arevalo Tello, founder of private co-op NARSA (NEGOCIACIONES AGROINDUSTRIAL AREVALO S.A.) Since 1988, NARSA has focused on helping small coffee and cacao farmers in Peru’s Central Highlands and Amazon regions with achieving market access throughout Peru and beyond.

“NARSA has been instrumental in coffee development in the Junín region,” Bir said. “We’ve been extremely impressed with the way they live their principles of integrity, eco-efficiency and transparency and their focus on inclusion of indigenous families.”

For the next four days, he visited local coffee farms and prepared for the upcoming coffee competition sponsored by NARSA. “The competition is just one of the ways NARSA is involved in improving local coffee quality,” he said.

One of the farms he stayed at was Finca Santa Rosa near the small town of Villa Rica. This farm is owned by third-generation grower Selena Contreras Obregon. Established by Contreras’ grandfather in 1927, the 104-acre, Rain Forrest Alliance-certified farm grows catuai, caturra, bourbon, typica and geisha varietals under a canopy of indigenous trees at an elevation of 1,600 meters.

“This is the third year we’ve visited Selena, her family and her farm,” Bir said. “They continue to impress us with their passion for quality coffee and dedication to progress in every aspect of operations. Over this past year, Selena’s coffee professionals created a new coffee lab to evaluate coffee quality.”

On his final day at NARSA, he coordinated a quality competition among more than 25 local coffee farmers. In addition to friendly competition, a goal was to help farmers understand the qualities that are more prized in coffee beans and that command a higher price. Bir and three other Q Graders cupped coffee samples from morning until the competition ended at 10 p.m.

“Our winner was an 89-point coffee from Damien Conde in Alto Palomar,” Bir said. It stood out from the typical coffees of the region with its flavor profile more similar to that of a high grown Kenyan coffee.”

Crimson Cup will evaluate the purchase of coffee from this crop through its Friend2Farmer direct trade program in the future. The roaster developed its Friend2Farmer direct trade program to ensure that farmers receive a fairer share of proceeds from coffee sales. The company pays a premium to farmers, who can then invest in agricultural and community improvements. Crimson Cup coffee experts also collaborate with farmers on ways to improve the quality of the coffee and quality of live for farmers, workers and their communities. In addition, the roaster invests in projects such as solar dryers to help improve coffee quality.

About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Since 1991, Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea has hand-roasted specialty coffee in Columbus, Ohio and taught independent business owners to succeed through its coffee shop franchise alternative program. Sustainably sourced Crimson Cup coffee is available through a network of more than 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 28 states, as well as the company’s own Crimson Cup Coffee House in the Columbus suburb of Clintonville.

For more information, visit crimsoncup.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/10/prweb13805703.htm

source: http://www.benzinga.com / Benzinga / Home> PR Web – Columbus, Ohio / October 28th, 2016