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It's All About The Beans!
This is our first "coffee club" newsletter with insider articles on coffee, lore, brewing methods and tips, and fun surprises. If you like this sample newsletter and want to continue receiving it monthly, please click here to opt in (and get a FREE Costa Rica Nectar coffee as a thank you!).
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Power to the People!
In the "coffee belt" subtropics, millions of small coffees farmers rely on a few acres of land for their existence. But many of these small farmers never get to taste or brew their own beans! Instead, they're forced to sell it to brokers or mills for barely enough money to survive. Here's why:
Coffee beans grow inside a fruit, called a "cherry". Extracting the beans from the fruit generally requires a coffee mill with massive, sophisticated, expensive machinery. There's no way a single farmer can afford one. Instead, they turn their unprocessed fruit over to the big mills or co-ops who process it and then re-sell it at a profit. Or, they can truck their fruit many miles to the nearest mill and pay to have it processed so they can sell it themselves, but they lack access to buyers who will pay a fair price for it... and often fail to sell the whole crop.
But this is changing, and you're helping us change it.
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The Penagos you can see in the photo is a new kind of mill. It's small and portable, capable of milling the coffee right there on the mountainside -- peeling the fruit, washing away the pulp and juice, and preparing the seeds to be dried and husked. Coffee that's milled on-site is also higher quality!
But even a Penagos is expensive for a single farmer. That's where we, and many other organizations, have stepped in over the last 5 years. Our sponsorship of our Costa Rican grower enabled him to buy this mill and share it with many smaller farmers in his region. Recently Len met a young woman who, thanks to higher wages from our direct trade purchasing, is the first person in Providencia ever to attend medical school. She hopes to become her village's first doctor and open a clinic.
Actions like these are vital to improving the welfare of coffee farmers around the world. We're proud to be part of it.
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Cold Brewing Tips
All coffees do not cold brew equally.
Brew Times: We prefer 4-8 hours at room temp, 3 parts water to 1 part grounds. Maximum recommended brew time is 12 hrs. For fridge brewing, we use 8 to 14 hours.
Storage and use: Coffees with high acidity (arabicas) and low temp roasts are best consumed within 24-36 hours unless you enjoy strong citrus tones and rising acidity. Darker roasts store longer in the fridge with fewer taste changes. In our opinion, maximum storage time for best taste profile is 3-4 days.
See more cold brewing tips.
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Quintessential Cold Brew!
What makes a cold brew coffee great? When a master blender combines fruity tones and bright acidity with caramel, butter and/or chocolate finish, the cold brew floods the palate with a multi-dimensional taste profile and a whole lot of happy! New Catimor Cold Brew is rich and delicious as hot coffee but explodes with flavor when iced. Read more about this coffee on special pricing this month.
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A Cup of George??
In World War I the US Army provided soldiers with a brand of instant coffee called George Washington's. The nickname became "a cup of George". Sometime during World War II soldiers started calling it "a cup of Joe", presumably from "GI Joe", where GI stood for "government issue" and often referred to the rations, including coffee. But oddly, the George who invented instant coffee was an inventor named George Washington, not our President!
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Thank you for reading our first "coffee club" newsletter!
If you would like to continue receiving this newsletter once a month,
click here to Opt In (and get a coupon code for a FREE bag of Nectar coffee
with any purchase of $20 or more) at www.LensCoffee.com.
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