A Brief Break

For those of you who don’t know my wife will be having our first child soon. Our baby is due 2nd September!

From the time our baby is born, I’m planning to take 1 week off from roasting. I’ll keep you advised as to when that is! After that time, I will be back to the usual pattern of being available to roast on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. But I ask that you bear with me if there is the occasional delay on your order in those early weeks. I’m sure those with kids will especially understand :)

Thank you for your ongoing support and business during this time!

Cheers
Chris

Next Coffee Purchase...

I am planning to buy either of these two coffees below. Let me know which one you would be keen for!

Costa Rican Micro lot: from Rio Jorco micro mill, honey processed (honey processed coffees have enhanced sweetness and it is also a very environmentally friendly way to process coffee). This coffee is a sweet, well bodied and clean tasting coffee. Primary flavours are spice (nutmeg) and sweet jam-like fruit flavours.
To understand more about honey processed coffees, click here


Rwanda Bicumbi Co-Op: a clean tasting coffee with good body. It has a predominant cocoa/chocolate flavour with a subtle floral aroma and fruity undertones.

Reply here,or send me an email or a message to my Facebook page!

Why is the price of coffee on the rise?

Why is the price of coffee on the rise?

You may have noticed recent increases in the cost of a coffee at your favourite café. There are a number of factors that are currently driving up coffee prices around the world.

The Commodity & Specialty raw coffee prices have increased sharply

- The price of commodity coffee is up to $2.50 per pound (in the 90s this was as low as $1 per pound!). Commodity coffee is traded on the New York stock market and is referred to as the C index.
- The average price for quality coffees in small lots is now over $8 per pound.
- Companies such as Gloria Jeans acknowledge that some specialty coffees are becoming less obtainable.

Increasing consumer discernment & growing markets of demand

- Consumers are becoming more discerning of high quality beans that are roasted expertly by artisan roasters.
- The International Coffee Organization notes that in 2010 global coffee demand increased by 2.4% to 134 million 60kg bags. This is a trend expected to increase.
- Coffee consumption in mainland China is on the increase. Starbucks are planning to increase their cafes threefold in China.
- India, Brazil and Germany have also increased their coffee consumption.

Coffee Production shortfalls in the face of increasing demand

- Production of Arabica coffee in Colombia has been down for the last three crops. This has been due to a number of factors such as higher temperatures and unpredictable rains. Production in Colombia for 2006 was over 12 million 132 pound bags of coffee. For the year of 2010 it was only 9 million 132 pound bags.
- Production in Brazil for 2010-2011 was forecast to be 60 million bags, but was actually about 56-58 million bags. Brazil now faces the possibility of its worst frost since 2000. This cause of this possible frost is due to the changing weather patterns of El Nino and La Nina. And with a coffee market that is facing a reduction in supply, the possibility of frost can cause an upward spike in commodity coffee prices.

Broader Focus for blogs

A majority of the blogs I have written have primarily been about Tenth Day Roasters and what I’ve been up to. In terms of new coffees, or specials etc.

Beginning soon I will expand the focus of this blog to include other topics, ideas, stories and issues covered.

So let me know what you are keen to learn or become aware about within the richness of the coffee industry. I’ll try to make the blogs more educational and informative – as well as keeping you up to date with what Tenth Day Roasters is doing!

What do you want to see covered in future blogs?

Sulawesi Toraja Grade 1

Sulawesi Toraja Grade 1

Sulawesi is an island of Indonesia. The Toraja Grade 1 coffee represents some of the best this region has to offer.

Indonesian coffees often have a very earthy body, however this Sulawesi Toraja offers a deep, rich, bold and syrupy body. This coffee is seen as very desirable due to the flavour and the high standards adhered to during the processing of the green beans. The beans are hand sorted a number of times and the very best beans are selected for Grade 1.

This specialty coffee provides flavours of dark chocolate, caramel and berries (blueberries, blackberries, cherries), providing a deep, intense and complex coffee experience.

This coffee is a great all rounder which you can enjoy today as an espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte, or via your plunger or other filter equipment. Order now at http://www.tenthdayroasters.com.au/coffee_singleorigin.php

Free Organic English Breakfast tea samples

Thanks to everyone who ordered coffee this week. I hope you enjoy your free sample of my new Organic English Breakfast tea!

Click here to order this specialty grade tea!

Organic English Breakfast tea

Very soon Tenth Day Roasters will be providing you specialty grade loose leaf tea. The first tea I have selected and purchased is an Organic English Breakfast loose leaf tea.

This tea is from Thiashola (pictured here), which is considered to be one of the oldest tea estates lying within the Nilgiris Hills – also known as the Blue Mountains, Southern India.

Thiashola and Devarashola (another nearby estate that my importer works with) together employ about 3500 people. The workers are provided with accommodation that features electricity, water, and heating, as well as child care, medical services and recreational facilities. There is a free school bus for children, and food provisions are also subsidised for the workers. This standard of living and working is well above the labour standards set by the Government of India.

The average elevation of Thiashola estate is 2000 metres above sea level. It is because of this altitude that Thiashola produces teas of very high quality. These teas are said to be intensely flavoursome, fresh and rich in fragrance, with dark licorice qualities.

I am excited that my importer works directly with this tea estate, personally visiting the site, sampling and tasting the teas. Thus the chain from producer to you is very simple – this tea come directly from the tea estate/plantation, to my importer’s business, to me and then to you! Knowing this clear chain of where a product has been sourced is called ‘traceability’ – an important quality to those who care about the ethics behind the products they consume.

This delicious Organic English Breakfast loose leaf tea will be available at www.tenthdayroasters.com.au very soon!

Coffee Tasting on March 19th

I have had a few enquiries as to when I will be holding my next coffee tasting. I am planning to hold it on Saturday 19th March.

This will include:

- 2.5 hour session of coffee tasting – with plenty of opportunity to taste and discuss various coffees and in different forms (espresso, latte, cappuccino etc)
- Guidance from me about how to assess and describe the many flavours in coffee
- A handout with key points from the day
- 250gm of my coffee – to take home
- A sample pack of my new Organic English Breakfast loose leaf tea – to take home

All this for only $30. Value!!!

Please email me info@tenthdayroasters.com.au if you would like to attend. We will need to keep the numbers to 8 at the most. After some of you respond I will work out whether to hold it morning or afternoon – let me know which you prefer.

PS. I’m looking forward to Feb 5th when I am also doing a tasting especially for a mate and his friends. Feel free to ask me about this option if you would like a tasting event for a group of family or friends. I can host this at my place.

Thank you for 2010

Thank you to everyone for 2010.

A special thank you to my three most loyal customers, who received a special gift this week!