With the media buzzing like summer bees over price gyrations on New York’s Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, it is useful to remember that your intrepid independent roaster does not trade in commodity coffees. Indeed, for the many reasons we have expounded before, so many non-quantifiable factors ride the long train of supply from tropical farm to your morning cup that green bean price gymnastics, however spellbinding, will never drive that train for us. Read more
Cauvery Peak Estate
Owing to their northern tropical latitude and the tempering influence of the Arabian Ocean, the Western slopes of Southern India’s Western Ghat Mountains supply near-ideal coffee-growing conditions to the region centered in Karnakata (formerly Mysore) state. These conditions are mineral-rich volcanic soils, mountain altitudes, adequate moisture throughout the growing season, and a temperate climate. Read more
Coffee growers of Southern Africa have overcome many obstacles in the hundred years since the members of the Moodie Trek first brought this new crop to the Eastern Border region of what was then known as Southern Rhodesia. Although blessed with favorable climate and topography, coffee growing was virtually abandoned when disease destroyed most of the small plantations in the 1920’s. It was revived by farmers from India and Kenya in the late 1950’s, who brought with them modern methods of production. Read more