More on Fair Trade Practices

Posted on June 25, 2008

Lately, I’ve been thinking about my goals and directions and why I do what I do and why do I choose fair trade. I choose fair trade as I know it best and I have seen the good works it has done to many and how it has changed the social aspect of global trading and has the biggest impact on the world of coffees.

“Fair trade coffee is coffee that is traded by bypassing the coffee trader and therefore giving the producer (and buyer) higher profits.

Economics of Fair Trade Coffee

Trans Fair USA is an independent 3rd party certification that ensures that:

• Coffee importers agree to purchase from the small farmers included in the International Fair Trade Coffee Register.

• Fair trade coffee growers are guaranteed a minimum “fair trade price” of $1.26/pound FOB for their coffee. If world coffee price rises above this floor price, fair trade coffee farmers will be paid a small ($0.05/pound) premium above market price.

• Coffee importers provide a certain amount of credit to farmers against future sales, helping farmers stay out of debt to local coffee “coyotes” or middlemen.

• Coffee importers and roasters agree to develop direct, long-term trade relationships with fair trade coffee distributors, thereby cutting out middlemen and bringing greater commercial stability to an extremely unstable market.

(Source: FairtradeUSA)

That was the beginning, the benchmark for an alternative business practice and now, Fair Trade has grown exponentially and many large corporations has since joined the ranks of purchasing fair trade. And there are critics contesting to its practices and if any real benefits are given to the pickers. There will always be issues. Especially when an organization gets big. It is hard to control and takes a lot of money to make a system workable. And it makes smaller importer like myself think if Big Guys are enjoying the labour of many purists and real fair traders.

Some has chosen to deal outside of Trans fair and some have joined other alliances and buy from different certification (i.e rainforest, COE, private certification, bird friendly, USDA Organic etc).

The more I see, the more I wonder if we will ever have a peaceful world; learning to live with each difference and what should be the real deal? Each criticism is good and necessary as it serves as a watchdog and make sure an organization is accountable to its practices.

To me, amongst all these certifications, believes and practices, it shows me people and the world are passionate on a good cause. We have ideals and we all think there is a better way. And there are. Definitely! There should be more than one way for world’s reform. As long as two minds are working and thinking, there will be differences and people will take sides.

Call me idealistic or peace-maker. We should all work together toward better social reform. Better living conditions to the under-privileged, better environmental practices, working practices, education opportunities for the children and eradicate world’s poverty. Be it fair trade or any other form of certifications, we should remember what is our bottom-line. How are we giving back to our communities and the world around us?

And one day, everything in the world will be fairly traded. If we are all on the same page. This is usually the problem isn’t it?

We at T.A.N will continue to buy coffees that is fairly traded. Be it Fair Trade or otherwise.

Pardon me as I am not very eloquent in saying what I wanted to say. My brain travels faster than I can type. Most times, words get stuck and I can’t get it out right.

p.s: I want to thank Paul for helping me to individually picked my beans apart for me. I accidentally mixed a batch of green beans to my roasted beans. I was in the midst of throwing it out when Paul stopped me and insisted he wanted to separate the beans. He came back this morning with bucket of sort beans. He and his wife spent the evening sorting the beans. What a guy! This is my community.

How do you recognize a good espresso?

Posted on June 12, 2008

Well, its easy. Order one, twirl the espresso cup a little, open your mouth and pour the golden syrup into your mouth.
The End.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Many coffee aficionado would yell.

If you are a serious barista or a coffee lover with a home espresso machine, then you’ll want to know about the art and science of making a perfecto espresso. The science comes from knowing your machine to your beans and understanding how your beans, your roast, your tamping, your grind, the temperature and extracting the right amount of espresso work. And how you combine these knowledge together is Art.

But it is too complicated here and I won’t touch on it. I just wish to give a simple introduction to anyone who drink espresso and love a good espresso in how to recognize what is a good espresso?
So, anytime when you walk into a cafe, you can be assured with the basic why some cafes serves such great black gold and some makes you scratch your throat.

A great espresso when serves to you should look like Guinness - stout beer. Black at the bottom with a layer of crema on top (golden looking with 2 coloring and speckled with dark brown accent) . When stir at top, the crema should be silky looking and not have any bubbles floating around. Depending on the type of roast you prefer, to me, it should be bright and tastes sweet and feels like it burst in your mouth - buttery, creamy, rich and bold at the same time - complex. Most importantly, it should not have bitter after taste. YUM!

So, if you are looking for ideas to do things, why not do an espresso day trip? Grab a friend, spend a couple of hours, walk around your neighborhood cafes and check out their espresso. Find out which you like and why you like. Just make sure you drink lots of water
Or you can have a shaking competition - Hmm…it can be kinda fun!

And if you will excuse me, I’m going to pull myself an espresso - rich caramel looking liquid flowing into my porcelain cup. YUM, YUM, YUM!

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