* Peter Hendra wrote, On 4/29/2007 10:10 PM:
....
As a general statement, during my childhood, only we Greeks in New
Zealand drank coffee - not espresso but the heat and wait for the mud
to settle type.

Was that Turkish style coffee? (ground very fine, boiled lightly in a
small pot, served in a small cup.) I've tried to reproduce this on my
own but its never palatable. I suppose I'll have to go to Greece or
Turkey to sample it made properly.

....

http://www.terroircoffee.com/

George Howell was the founder of Coffee Connection years ago, and more
recently created the Cup of Excellence program, where small farmers
are encouraged to produce the highest quality beans with country wide
competitions and small lot auctions based on the results.

Thanks. An interesting site.
I had heard of programmes like this in countries such as Costa Rica
where small famers are resisting growing Cocaine crops. They are being
encouraged to grow high quality, high value specialist coffee crops.
I know that I would pay extra if I knew that it was in a good cause.


The "Fair Trade" movement gets a lot of publicity today. Ordinary
small farmers get around $.65 a pound, whereas Fair Trade is paying
about double that to coops, which use some of the money to provide
basic services and schools. Starbucks gets mixed reviews for only
partially participating in the program, but to its credit, when the
bottom fell out of the market a few years ago, Starbucks insisted on
paying above market value, thus saving a lot farmers.

Fair Trade does have a few problems. There is absolutely no incentive
for any individual farmer to produce higher quality than the standard
set by the coop. Thus, it becomes both a price and quality ceiling,
not a floor. The "Cup of Excellence" program allows individual
farmers to get a serious premium - sometimes double the Fair Trade
level or even more. Of course, these farmers are only producing a
tiny quantity, sometimes 10 bags or less, so they have no impact on
the general market. If you want the best, you have to seek out the
small roasters that are looking for the best offerings each year.

Here's a list of vendors that purchased through the Cup of Excellence
program last year:
http://www.cupofexcellence.org/About...1/Default.aspx

And while I'm on a rant, the "Organic" movement is also a mixed
blessing. Its generally impossible for small farmers to be certified
organic, even though they don't generally use significant amounts of
nasty chemicals. Much of the organic is is from large plantations
that have been created by clear cutting rain forest. This is
especially true in Peru, so buying "Organic Blend" with "Peruvian and
other coffees" from Trader Joes just supporting clearcut agribusiness.