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Ancora at Origin

Visiting the farmers who grow our coffee is important to Ancora. In 2008 alone we've traveled to El Salvador, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Guatemala. At Ancora we believe it's important to meet the farmers firsthand and learn how our coffee is grown.

Ancora Journal

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Rwanda Musings

Posted on 9/15/2008 by Christy Gibbs (Marketing)

Last week I put together materials for our Cafe Rwanda program. This means I spent a lot of time reading about Rwanda, looking at pictures of Rwanda and just sitting and thinking about it. Conclusions? I'm reminded just how easy and sweet we have it (most of us anyway). I mean for such a simple take-for-granted tool as a radio to have so much impact is breathtaking. I turn on a radio first thing every morning. Then I get in the car and turn on the radio. I have a desktop radio playing in my office all day and listen again on the drive home. I am well-informed! I take it for granted. We've learned, from our ground-floor affiliation with the Coffee Lifeline Project, that others are not nearly so lucky. Peter Kettler is the driving force behind the Project -- for years, he traveled to Rwanda as a green coffee importer and witnessed first-hand the isolation of so many families there. He not only came up with a plan to help - he put it into action. He collaborated with The Freeplay Foundation to send their wind-up and solar-powered radios and get them to the people most in need...those most isolated. The Project also pays for original programming to be broadcast to the country...it's an amazing program and Ancora is proud to be supporting it. Another bonus? The Rwanda coffee is fantastic – it’s bright and fruity and wonderful. Hope you get to try some.

How Sweet It Is!

Posted on 8/8/2008 by Sue Krug (Cupping Team)

It’s Monday morning and I’m sitting here at my desk enjoying one of those ‘memorable coffees’…our featured Organic Ethiopia Natural Sidamo…and I can’t help but add a comment about it. It’s delicious! It has incredible nuances of citrus and an amazing aromatic of apricot while showcasing the classic characteristics of body and acidity found in great African coffee’s. This origin coffee the region where it grows exhibits the most remarkable characteristics to give you the most delectable flavors! I’ll admit I do have a bias having said this. African coffees always rate as one of my favorites, but now, after having visited both Ethiopia and Rwanda this spring my appreciation for them has expanded. It was on this trip that George and I were able to see the coffee growing areas, meet several of the attentive farmers tending to their trees, visit a cooperative where most, if not all, coffee is processed for export and cup new crop samples that showcased these people’s efforts. All in all it was a remarkable experience. Maybe it’s ‘putting faces’ on this industry but it’s a pretty remarkable world when I can sit here and enjoy this cup of coffee knowing I’ve had a chance to meet people on the other side of the world who helped make it happen! For that matter, it’s even more remarkable knowing I might actually have shaken the hand of one of the farmers who grew this coffee and picked the beans!!

Swift! It isn't just an expression from the 80's.

Posted on 6/9/2008 by Ryan Baughn (Espresso Person)

The last time I heard the term 'swift' was in 1987. I was 12 and thought I was pretty 'swift' with my slip-on checkered vans, knee high tube socks and short shorts. I had just stolen my brothers pink skate board... The current incarnation of 'swift' comes in the form of a classy looking black espresso grinder, currently sitting adjacent to our Marzocco Linnea at the King Street coffee house and it is pretty swift. We are in the process of giving it a test run. The Swift grinder was designed by Mark Barnett when he was working for Marzocco and it is a grinder that grinds(!), doses a pre-set number of grams and packs ground coffee at 30 pounds of pressure. The swift grinder removes the dosing and tamping inconsistencies us humans suffer with and puts the manipulation of shot extraction completely in the hands of the grind particle size (and water temp/pressure of 'spro machine, but that is book to be written, not a journal entry). With the barista using the grind to control shot pours the grinder standardizes the usual variance in dose and pack. We are still testing it and the jury is still out, but in the high volume environment of King St. I have to say that the practically zero gram waste, durability of ceramic burrs, and efficiencies are appealing. Come check it out! -rp

Judging Guatemala

Posted on 5/13/2008 by George Krug (Co-Founder, Co-Owner)

I just got off the phone with our Head Roaster Dennis Jackson. He called this morning from Guatemala where he's judging the Cup of Excellence. Dennis said he spent time at origin in the Antigua region, but is now back in Guatemala City for the COE cupping work...3 solid days of cupping 8 hours a day to find the COE coffees among the masses. Believe it or not it's really mentally and physically exhausting work...but someone's got to do it...And Dennis loves it. What an honor it is to be chosen to judge -- Dennis has a first rate cupping palate so this is a great time for him. After the judging is completed, Dennis will travel to Huehuetenango to visit coffee farms and mills in the region where we buy most of our Guatemalan coffees from. We can't wait for Dennis to come home and share his experiences first hand.

Poco Fundo Coop Brazil Natural

Posted on 5/9/2008 by Ryan Baughn (Cupping)

In anticipation of our next featured coffee becoming available I bagged up a half pound of our new Café Femenino Brazil Natural from the Poco Fundo Coop and headed out to King St. to develop a Clover profile for it. I started at 35 seconds and realized some of the stunning acidity and sweet flavors that this coffee boasts, but it was somewhat lacking in the creamy body and texture as well as darker fruit and spice flavors that we experienced at the cupping table. I bumped the dwell time to 43 and found the sweet spot. Great balance, subtle flavors of honey, melon, fruit and spice…creamy texture and body with some lingering spice in the after taste, but otherwise very clean. With Scott, Dennis and Ralph’s blessings I think we found a great profile for this new Brazil…enjoy! -rp

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