Hello ,
Kev here :-),
Did You Know?
Higher quality coffee is usually better for the planet.
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Commodity coffee is coffee that is simply sold as "coffee" on the commodities market. As with any other commodity such as sugar or salt, quality doesn't impact on price.
The price is simply whatever the current market price is, so producers growing this grade of coffee are incentivised not to improve quality, but to improve yield and reduce costs.
The most commercially viable large scale coffee farming method for producing commodity coffee (producing as much as possible, as cheaply as possible, with no focus on quality) is known as sun grown coffee farming.
| | | Not only does this kind of coffee farming cause deforestation in some of the world's most important, biodiverse tropical regions but with the removal of the natural ecosystem that forests provide, the food chain is messed up so there's a bigger pest control problem which requires pesticides, and the soil doesn't receive natural fertilizer.
So to add insult to injury, these tropical areas are often deforested and then polluted with pesticides and fertilizers.
What many people don't know, is that when they make the shift away from "normal" commodity coffee, to high quality coffee, they're usually making a shift towards smaller, less commercial coffee production, which is usually much kinder to the planet.
Most higher quality coffee is produced by smaller producers, including smallholder farmers, using shade grown farming methods.
This is how coffee would naturally grow, as part of a diverse ecosystem, with tree canopies providing not only shade, but also natural habitat for indigenous species.
Nature knows best, and this natural system keeps things in order, it prevents topsoil erosion, it provides natural pest control (the natural balance provided by the food chain), it provides natural fertilizers.
It's not always possible to know that you're buying shade grown, organic coffee beans, but buying freshly roasted coffee from small batch roasters and specialist suppliers is more likely to result in buying coffee grown this way, but if you want to be sure, just look for the certifications.
When it comes to my coffee at The Coffeeworks, these coffees carry both the Organic and Rainforest Alliance certifications:
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This is currently the second best selling coffee at the coffeeworks (second only to the hugely popular chocolate brownie blend). This is a dark roast, and it'll work well for all brewing methods, including espresso.
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This is a stunning Nicaraguan coffee, it's a light roast though so just keep in mind that when it comes to grinding fine enough for espresso, and properly extracting, you'll need a fairly high level setup.
If you're brewing via manual brewing methods such as pourover, Aeropress or cafetiere (as you'll be grinding more coarse) you should find it easier to get great results with this coffee with pre-ground (we grind on the day of dispatch) or with a more entry level grinder.
| Toffee Apple Nicaragua is Rainforest Alliance certified:
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The following coffees are certified organically grown:
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