Field Notes
We think it’s important to keep you informed on the Coronavirus' effects on La Minita’s coffee suppliers and their operations as coffee supply may be affected as we move further into the year. Here is an update from the end of April, 2020. We will continue to provide news from origin as we receive it.
Our trilladora in Jardín is operating at an adjusted pace. Our employees and suppliers have many new rules to follow, but they understand why and are doing their part to comply. We are continuing purchases from our producers and are able to fulfill all of our contracts, though difficulties exist in Jardin and everyone is feeling some strain.
These single farm coffees come from La Minita’s mill in Jardín, Colombia. These coffees are cupping great, freshly landed, and we think they’re a great price for traceable, high quality, single farm coffees. Some have multiple lots relating to different deliveries to our mill over the harvest period. Coffees are on both coasts of the US.
Friends,
These are trying times for all of us. We are facing unprecedented challenges that may only increase over time.
All of La Minita is still operating and able to provide for your green coffee needs.
We are of course following all guidelines set out by the CDC and following all regulations and recommendations made by local governments. This goes for all our offices.
There are updates every day from warehouses, ports, trucking lines, etc that reassure us their companies are still open for business. This is nice to hear but it also seems tenuous. We do anticipate that the next few weeks will put strain on warehouse labor and freight carriers, and orders may take longer to process and move.
Many clients are increasing their regular inventory levels as a just in case measure. This doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Let us know how we can help.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Last fall, we were lucky to take part in a first of its kind grassroots competition for high end Peruvian microlots. The competition was called Atipanaku, which is Quechua for “competition”, and it was conceived of by a group of Peruvian coffee producers. They wanted a way to recognize producers that were making excellent coffees, but at very small volumes that were sometimes lost in the mix with larger lots.
Our annual December visit to our trilladora in Jardín Antioquia has come and gone. We traveled with a great group of current clients, visited new farms, and enjoyed our time in the colonial town as it was all dressed up and ready for Christmas.
From November 4th to 11th, I made my annual visit with our producer partners in Sumatra. This year, Dale Schotte and Talon Cooksey from Park Avenue Coffee were able to join me on my trip.
In October I went to Peru to visit La Minita suppliers. Peru holds a special place in my heart as I have worked with welcoming, entrepreneurial, and motivated folks there for over ten years. On this trip, I went to the northern coffee producing regions of Cajamarca and Amazonas. I was greeted at almost every farm with a full lunch – chicken, rice, cuy (guinea pig), tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, and yucca. The steep bumpy roads bring you to vistas where you feel like you can see all the way to the Amazon jungle.
We just returned from a quick visit to our mill Empreses de Antioquia in Jardin Colombia. The trip was short but packed with some great coffees and some new farms coming on board.
Welcome to our new and improved La Minita website! We’ve been working hard for the past year to make sweeping, necessary, and long overdue changes to our online presence. We know we’ve been way behind our competition here and our website hasn’t reflected the care we put into bringing you the best quality green coffee. We hope that you find our new site easy to navigate, filled with relevant information on our coffees, partners, and processes, and that the site can be a good resource for your business.
This year’s crop of Kenya lots is full of complexity, sweetness, and big flavors. We brought our west coast offerings to roasters at Buckman Coffee Factory on September 18th for a public cupping.
Every year, we select our favorite lots from Kenya and this year’s selection is simply stellar. Coffees are located in the Annex warehouse in CA or Continental NJ (CTI).
As much as we’re expecting a heavy production year at La Minita this harvest, we are expecting much the same at Hacienda Rio Negro. The flowering there was also very nice and even, and heavier than usual. The weather has been cooperative and the fruit has been maturing well. We are not expecting a record year in 19/20, but a close second to our top year of 2011.
April 2019 saw a pretty amazing flowering at La Minita, confirming our guesses about the size of the upcoming harvest. 2018/19 was a tough year for production in the Tarrazu valley, and our off year in our 2 year cycle. 2019/20 is slated to be a bigger year and so far all indications are that this will come to pass.
I just returned from Brazil with a group of clients. We toured only Cerrado which included visits to four producer groups. We’ve been buying from Serginho de Assis and his Fazenda Agua Limpa since 2015. His farm is RFA certified and produces excellent quality natural and washed grades. The farm is in a beautiful section of Cerrado and the team at Agua Limpa takes great care of the coffee trees and natural environment.
What’s more special than an immaculately grown, processed, and prepared high elevation Tarrazú coffee that’s prepared by one of the nicest guys in the region? Welcome to another coffee harvest at our partner Finca La Pastora in Costa Rica.
You cupped, we listened. In 2018, we launched our Beneficio Rio Tarrazú (BRT) microlot program. We packed our bags with samples, hit the road, and set out to get feedback on our microlots from roasters across the country. Taking your likes and dislikes into account, we came out swinging for the 2018/19 harvest. A few crowd pleasers were brought back, like the Rancho Grande washed Red Bourbon, and a few were new to the scene, like the Lilo Caturra honey anaerobic fermentation lot (say that three times fast!).
The first shipments of our new Hacienda La Minita crop have landed in the warehouses on both U.S. coasts. This 18/19 harvest represents our 34th year of exporting and importing Hacienda La Minita as a Single Estate Costa Rican coffee! We have come a long way from our first shipment of 50 bags of Hacienda La Minita in 1985. Whether you’ve been with us for one year, one decade, two, or more, we thank you for your support.
The 2019 SCA in Boston was held from Friday April 12th to Sunday April 14th. We were able to regroup and reconnect with many of our longtime clients along with new friends. Our entire green coffee team was in attendance along with Ricardo Herrera, our General Manager of Cafeteleria de Tierras Ticas and Enrique Vasquez, our partner from Colombia.
The main Kenya crop has finished and the auctions are winding down. The overall crop volume in Kenya was on par with previous crop cycles, while the low C is affecting other origins the top Kenya lots are commanding a high premium.
