Small Business Resources, Business Advice and Forms from AllBusiness.com
 

Let's talk about estate coffees & the fourth wave!

By Baccellieri, Michael
Publication: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal
Date: Friday, December 1 2006

It seems that in various trade journals and newspapers there is a big deal being made about estate coffees and the "third wave" coffee movement. However, what exactly is an estate, and why do producers and roasters tout their product as "estate" coffee? Michael

Baccellieri of the 25-year-old specialty coffee roaster, Longbottom Coffee and Tea, sounds off!

When I started in the coffee business over 25 years ago, I purchased coffee from five estates. Those estates were on the island of Java, and were owned and controlled by the Dutch. Way, way back when sailing ships were the main source of transportation and commerce, the Dutch controlled some of the Indonesian islands, and all but one of the Banda Spice Islands, which was the island of Run. This island is a very small island about 1.5 miles long and .5 mile wide--it was jam-packed full of nutmeg. This island was controlled by the British, and the man that secured it for them was Nathaniel Courthope. The Dutch were so greedy at this time that they had to have that last island, so they traded it for an island called New Netherlands. Today; you may know that island, except that now it's called Manhattan!

Why would I share this story? Well, because it's a true story with several facts. Also, because I'd like to propose a Fourth Wave of Coffee, one based on facts. I like to refer to this wave as, "The Truth About Coffee."

The Measure of Estate Coffee

So what exactly is an estate coffee? It is a single farm that is kept pure in itself; bringing the cherry to parchment and most of the time milling the coffee on that farm for shipment. There are exceptions, however, when some of the estates bring their parchment to a central miller. Milling or the graining process is removing the thin brittle shell of parchment from the pit of the coffee cherry, grading it for size through a screening process, then putting the beans in a burlap bag. The majority of these large estates come from Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama.

Each acre of coffee trees produces approximately 60 quintales of coffee cherry or about 6,000-lbs. total (1 quintale = [+ or -] 100-lbs). A coffee cherry yields about 20% of its weight in roastable green coffee beans. If you do a simple calculation, you realize one acre of land produces only 1.200-lbs. of coffee beans per year, that's only eight sacks of 150-lbs.

In addition, make sure to read these articles:

  • Brazil emerges into the specialty market.
  • Developments among a recently formed group of coffee producers in Brazil are providing specialty coffee enthusiasts with good reasons to re-evaluate how they think of ......
  • Coffee Guru Gives Single-Cup Coffees Two Thumbs Up!
  • WATERBURY, Vt. -- Kenneth Davids, editor of the independent Coffee Review, has awarded an outstanding 90 score to Heifer Hope Blend in K-Cups(R) produced ......
  • Autumn Harvest Blend and Pumpkin Spice Coffees...
  • WATERBURY, Vt. -- Just in time for cooler days and longer nights: the return of two fall favorites from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc....
  • Kona celebrates coffee and culture.
  • The island of Kona has been producing coffee for over 100 years. It was the only producing area in the U.S. up until six years ......
  • Nell Newman Brings Fair Trade, Organic Coffee...
  • WATERBURY, Vt. -- Nell Newman, daughter of actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, will be serving up the taste of a better world(TM) when ......
  • Steam heat
  • HEADNOTE Kindle sales of hot beverages this winter with some sure-fire creations for keeping customers warm and toasty. IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH 2 During the cold months ......
  • Starbucks Expands Support For Coffee Farmers...
  • Business Editors SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2000 Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX) announced today that its has purchased 75,000 pounds of Guatemalan and Nicaraguan coffee from vendors ......
  • 2005 Personnel Trainer: Specialty Coffee
  • For some time now, coffee has been compared to wine, with comparisons noting the similarities in how the aromas and flavors of both create a ......
  • Secrets to successful specialty...
  • After the specialty coffee revolution, it used to be that an aspiring coffee merchant needed only to carry good quality, freshly roasted beans and stay ......
  • Secrets to successful specialty...
  • After the specialty coffee revolution, it used to be that an aspiring coffee merchant needed only to carry good quality, freshly roasted beans and stay ......
  • Starbucks and TransFair USA Enter into...
  • Business Editors SEATTLE/OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2000 Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX) and TransFair USA have formed an innovative alliance in which Starbucks will market Fair ......
  • Amtrak is Brewing Something New Coast-to-Coast -...
  • Business Editors WATERBURY, Vt. & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 16, 2003 Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) and Amtrak have announced an agreement to offer Green ......
  • Starbucks Licensed to Sell Fair Trade Certified...
  • Business Editors SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2002 Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX) and Starbucks Coffee Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary, have signed a licensing agreement with TransFair Canada ......
  • Fair-Trade Coffee Goes Mainstream
  • Though fair-trade coffee is often more expensive than traditional coffee, it's hitting the mainstream and becoming more popular among young, high-income consumers in the U.S, ......
  • Sustainable coffee goes mainstream.
  • After a decade of support by activists and farmers and growing interest among gourmet consumers, certified sustainable coffee has become almost a staple in the ......