At BeanFruit Coffee, we've always had a desire to make sure that the coffees we offered were sustainable. We currently are Fair Trade Certified and have offered many lots over the years that carried that certification. At SCAA this year in Boston, I had an opportunity to meet a couple of guys with Thrive Coffee and loved what they were doing with the farmers they represent in Central America. Thrive works directly with estate farmers in Costa Rica, Guatemala and
Honduras. The farmers consign a portion of their harvest to Thrive, and in return, the farmers gain access to local processing and logistics resources and they share in at least half of the final sales price. They are connecting the customer to the farm unlike any other model I've ever seen. Their sustainability model makes a positive impact to the farmer economically, environmentally & socially all of which are critical to having a lasting success for the producer. Finally, their purchasing model gives farmers a central role in the supply chain, which means better coffee for consumers and a better quality of life for the growers. With their efforts, the farmers are able to collect on average 4-6x the amount they would using the standard Fair Trade model.
Based on that information & the quality of the coffees we cupped, we elected to partner with Thrive Farmers and next month, we are planning to integrate a couple of Thrive's coffees into our lineup & we could not be more excited. In the mean time, check out the video below to see why we fell in love with Thrive & why we think you will too. Be blessed.
Costa Rica Don Jose , our newest Limited Micro-Lot offering was just reviewed by Coffee Review. After a thorough evaluation, our Costa Rica Don Jose Micro-Mill coffee recieved a 90/100 score. We are super excited to earn an assessment of "Outstanding" for this coffee. This is what Coffee Review had to say about it:
Blind Assessment: Gentle, balanced, quietly complex. Spicy, rose-like flowers, fresh cut fir, hazelnut, a hint of nut-toned chocolate in the aroma and cup. Softly bright acidity; lightly plush mouthfeel. The chocolate and spicy floral notes in particular carry into a smooth finish.
Unfortunately due to a logistical delay, the full review will not be published to their website until later this month. However, we were given the go ahead to share the awesome news with our customers. When it is published, we will definitely let you know. As of writing this post, less than 25 bags of this coffee remain. Don't miss out on this very delicious offering. Be blessed!
We loved our new Rwanda Nyamasheke Limited Micro-Lot Coffee so much that we decided to send it Coffee Review for evaluation. Coffee Review conducts blind, expert cupping of coffees & reports the results using a 100-point system much like you see constantly in the wine industry. They evaluate & measure the coffee's Aroma, Acidity, Body, Flavor & Aftertaste assigning a score to each criteria. After a thorough evaluation, our Rwanda Nyamasheke received a 95/100 score, earning an assessment of "Exceptional." We are really happy about results of review to say the least. This is Coffee Review had to say about it:
Blind Assessment:
Extraordinarily lush, nectar-like fruit – cherry, black currant, nectarine – balanced by a crisp, roasted cocoa nib and roasted malt notes. Balanced, lively acidity; full, plush mouthfeel. Flavor simplifies but remains resonantly present in a long, rich finish.
To read the full review, click HERE
Overall we are really happy about the results, but will continue to strive to offer the highest quality coffees for our customers & community. Be blessed.
With our new logo rolling out this week, I wanted to take few moments to explain the new labels you will see on our packaging going forward. Our old labels simply featured our logo & in my opinion needed a little improving. This post will give you a brief overview of our new labels. Please refer to the image above as a reference:
A. The Blend Name or Farm Name tells what coffee you are purchasing. Country name is on top along with the specific farm name. If applicable, we also relay any certifications here such as Fair Trade.
B. Region: tells you what specific region of its respective growing country the coffee is from. If it is a blend, we list it as "varies seasonally". We do that because our blends are all comprised of coffees that rotate throughout the year, but have a similar taste profile.
C. Variety: tells what varieties or subspecies the coffee is. Specific varieties typically have similar tasting characteristics within a given region. For example, Bourbon (pronounced burr-bone) is a variety widely grown in Brazil. Brazilian coffees that are of the Bourbon variety in a given region tend to taste similar, notably sweet, balanced, heavy body. We commonly see varieties on wine bottles. For example Pinot Noir, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon are all different varieties of grapes & when we purchase either one of them, we expect a desired taste profile.
D. Altitude: tells basically how high in the sky the coffee was grown. Altitude affects taste as well. Typically, higher elevation = higher acidity. When I refer to acidity, I don't mean something that'll affect your stomach, but its taste. Bright coffees or coffees with higher acidity typically intensifies its perceived sweetness.
E. Notes: these are tasting notes that i experienced when evaluating this coffee. I brew each coffee multiple ways & list the tasting notes that I found was common in them all. These notes give you idea of the coffee will taste like.
**Taste perception, brewing parameters & environmental influences such as water quality can affect what you personally taste. I'm always happy to hear what my customers' personal palates discover!
I hope this post helps you understand our new label & guide you through the coffee selection process. Be blessed.
Bob Dylan might of said five simple words, but actually he said 10,000. Times are a changing for us here at BeanFruit Coffee and we wanted to share the latest with you. We work really hard to source & roast some of the finest coffees available in the world. We currently sell our entire line of coffees at a retail price of $12. We initially decided to go with flat pricing to keep everything simple & easy. We currently offer some great coffees, but there are some exceptional coffees we've tasted, but couldn't possibly offer because of the cost barrier. I can't tell how many times I've blindly cupped some knock-your-socks lots of coffees only to not offer them because of price.
To push the envelope further & no longer pass up on those potential candidates, we are planning to introduce tier pricing. After getting some positive feedback from a few of our awesome customers, we decided to finally take this next step in our business. Our tier priced offerings will mainly consist of limited micro-lot coffees that we run across & will be priced at $13 and up per 12oz bag based on its initial cost. By doing this, we get to share some amazing coffees with you without having to turn them away completely. Not to worry, our main blends like Crimson Stamp, Old Route 4 & some of our other Single Origins will remain the same the price of $12.
In conclusion, we are really excited about this change. We really want to serve you to the best of our ability & look forward to offering you some exceptional coffees. Look out for our micro-lot offering updates via Facebook & Twitter. Be blessed.
2012 was a great year for our small company. I honestly believe that the
success of our business is 25% of the efforts of us & 75% of the support of
the people around us. Instead of listing our successes, we want to give thanks to
some people that influenced us & made this great year possible. In order of
no importance, here goes:
- Ryan & Ashley Vaughn: Great friends, lended helping hands &
occasionaly a truck :-)
- Meredith Sullivan & Action Jackson: Huge supporters & inspiration
to move forward
- Word of Life Church: Giving us an opportunity to serve them
- Caitlin Cox: pushed like a bandit to get our coffee in Sneaky Beans
- Byron McKnight: saying yes to Caitlin & for them banging Sat. morning
biscuits. Awesome guy!
- Mitchell Moore: for serving us at Campbells Bakery & awesome advice
- Joe Hickman: awesome friend who always has an open ear for me & huge
supporter
- Lemuria Bookstore: best bookstore in Jackson for real & their awesome
team
- Jamie & Julia Weems: great supporters & overall awesome. Too many
attributes to list.
- Jonathan & Sevanna Picarsic: best produce in the Jackson Metro, support
& encouragement
- Meredith May: taking those awesome photos for us
- Jay Lide: great friend & supporter
- Justin Schultz: designing that awesome artwork for us
- Melanie's: owner's infectious personality & giving us opportnity to
serve our coffee in Byram
- Alan Campbell: huge supporter & chief re-tweeter
- Fondren Church: giving us an opportunity to serve you guys
- Matthew Kajdan and Parlor Market: giving us opportunity to serve you guys
& your customers
- Les Harvey: awesome supporter & encourager
- Team at Rankin County Schools: an opportunity to help get Gathering Grounds
off the ground
- Tara Morrison: awesome supporter & giving me great advice
- The Coffee Adventures & Table in the Corner of the Cafe: my 2 favorite
coffee bloggers
So many other friends, family & people I got to know over the past year,
I am really grateful for your support. It really does mean a ton to me. If I
forgot to mention someone, I apologize, I've only 2 shots of espresso so far
today :-). Look for updates soon about some of our new projects for 2013. Be
blessed.
For the last 5 months I have been honored to be involved in a local project & it is really awesome to see it come to fruition. Yesterday was the Grand Opening of Gathering Grounds Coffee Shop. Located on the campus of the Rankin County School District Office (1220 Apple Park Place, Brandon, MS 39042), Gathering Grounds will serve as an employment training lab for students in RCSD's Special Education Transition Program. The shop will be run by students from across the district & will provide an avenue to assist students in developing social skills & becoming self-advocates for employment oppotunites.
A few months ago, we had a coffee tasting on the campus & developed a propriety Gathering Grounds Blend to be used at the shop. In addition brewed coffee & packaged baked goods, the front of coffee shop will feature original student artwork for sale. The intention of the school district to increase disability awareness & to spotlight the abilities, gifts and talents of all their students.
Your support is critical to the success of this shop. Each purchase you make is invested back into the school district to buy supplies & fund other projects to impact the lives of the students involved. We are super excited to be a part of this & ask that you support these amazing students. Be blessed.
Proper water-to-coffee ratios is very important to creating a great cup of coffee. I've found that using weight to brew coffee offers consistent accuracy. I weigh both the grounds & water when brewing. I know that sounds like a lot, but it's really easy with the help of decent kitchen scale. I don't use
volume measurements because there is so much variability. I give you the coffee scoop:
These are 4 coffee scoops that I've collected over the years. Below each scoop is the approximate weight in grams that each scoop holds. As you can see, these commony used coffee scoops range from 6 grams to 20 grams. That makes a
huge difference when trying to nail the right amount for your brew. When I'm asked, "how many scoops" I honestly have to guess because I just don't know what size scoop my customer is using.
To deconstruct this even further, the roast degree affects weight as well. A scoop full of light roast coffee weighs more than a scoop of French Roast. Dark roasted beans expand more due to carmelization during the roasting process, but are less dense than their lighter counterparts. Darker beans take up more space, but weigh less.
In conclusion, simply consider investing in a good digital kitchen scale. They are very inexpensive & once you start using them, they are invaluable. I use ours to make coffee & for recipes in the kitchen. I don't know about you, but I just feel more confident about the outcome of a dish when I've taken measures to reduce error. Worth the weight? I absolutely think so. Be blessed.
We are really excited to announce that starting today our fresh roasted coffee will be served at Parlor Market. Located in historic downtown Jackson, Parlor Market has won much acclaim for their great food including awards from Mississippi Magazine & Jackson Free Press. They are well known in the Jackson metro & a huge advocate of sourcing from local producers. We are absolutely honored to have our coffees served at such a well renowned establishment. The next time you stop in Parlor Market for lunch or dinner, be sure to complete your meal with a great cup of coffee. We promise you will enjoy. Be blessed.
We are currently in our cupping season & getting close to releasing our new line-up of coffees. This is always an exciting period for us. I’ve personally cupped around 25 coffees so far with more coming in shortly. What’s unique about this cupping cycle is the number of Fair Trade Organic coffees that really jumped off the cupping table.
As many of you know, we are Mississippi’s only Fair Trade Certified Roaster & work to source high quality Fair Trade Coffees when they are available. Quality is key. Regardless of certification, if the coffee doesn’t score well, we do not buy it.Typically I get 1-2 lots of FTO coffees that actually get through the initial cupping phase for a 2nd consideration. This year I was delighted to see 5+ coffees scored exceptionally well. This was a huge improvement compared to last year. I haven’t made a final selection on these coffees but wanted to share our current findings. Regardless, 2012 is a great year for Fair Trade Coffees in our opinion. Be blessed.
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