tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3804228947196894311.post7612974483940703411..comments2024-01-11T03:13:22.344-08:00Comments on Coffee Contrarian: "Doing for Tea What They Did for Coffee:" Threat or Promise?Kevin Knoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02151736463964404979noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3804228947196894311.post-34573565407329118032014-06-05T15:41:37.127-07:002014-06-05T15:41:37.127-07:00Hi Patrick,
The topic is worthy of a lengthy arti...Hi Patrick,<br /><br />The topic is worthy of a lengthy article, but here are a few thoughts. <br /><br />The first article is pure fluff by well-intentioned guys who are having great fun traveling. The second, by Mark Overly, someone I know reasonably well, is a lot closer to reality for a smaller roaster. <br /><br />Another angle on this is on an old post of mine over at Coffee Review:<br /><br />http://blog.coffeereview.com/industry-issues-and-news/travel-less-and-cup-more/<br /><br />As Overly says in the article, the main point in going to origin for buyers or other employees at small to medium sized companies is to experience the work that goes into growing coffee and thank the farmers. Beyond that, their very limited time and money would be spent in honing their (usually) even more limited cupping and sourcing expertise AT HOME. It's not like these folks have the agronomic or scientific expertise to actually help farmers, and as for buying direct and such, coffee is sold commercially in containers of 33,500 pounds, so unless you're buying all your coffee in that quanity or more you are in fact dependent on having your interests pooled with those of many other buyers by the exporters and importers who are doing the actual trading on your behalf. <br /><br />I've written about this extensively elsewhere, but isn't it interesting how no one (except me) points out what a seriously negative carbon footprint is created by small-time buyers flitting about the globe making a pain in the ass of themselves by going on tours of farms? Doing that kind of travel if you're the size of Illycaffe or Peet's is one thing, but for microroasters the hard fact of that matter is that huge travel expenses spread over a miniscule number of pounds translates into a substantial and entirely unnecessary expense that their customers have to pay for. <br />Kevin Knoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02151736463964404979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3804228947196894311.post-47523155463214721562014-06-05T06:17:37.159-07:002014-06-05T06:17:37.159-07:00Hi Kevin, I came across two articles on green coff...Hi Kevin, I came across two articles on green coffee buying recently and they both paint very different pictures of the process and relationship with the coffee farms. I'm curious on your take.<br /><br />http://munchies.vice.com/articles/chasing-coffee-in-ethiopia-part-one/<br /><br />http://kaladicoffee.blogspot.com/2012/03/green-coffee-buying.htmlPatrick Boothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13909066337238588435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3804228947196894311.post-41579284067280278312014-05-26T05:00:38.890-07:002014-05-26T05:00:38.890-07:00Good morning,
What expertise does Oprah bring to ...Good morning,<br /><br />What expertise does Oprah bring to tea? It is an honest, though a naive question. I just do not get celebrity endorsements as regarding consumer interests. This business should be deemed false advertisement.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13219002885866135220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3804228947196894311.post-79345208774492134422014-05-01T16:34:18.568-07:002014-05-01T16:34:18.568-07:00Quality tea IS pretty much undiscovered, with a ti...Quality tea IS pretty much undiscovered, with a tiny handful of exceptions. I can't think of anyone on the tea retail side who is offering single garden, seasonal teas in a way that mirrors what the better Third Wave places are doing with coffee. Intelligentsia of course thinks they are, but really Peet's is about as good as it gets among coffee places that do tea, and I've yet to see a stand-alone tea place that wasn't dominated by flavored crap. Kevin Knoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02151736463964404979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3804228947196894311.post-50122151490835754482014-05-01T16:19:07.732-07:002014-05-01T16:19:07.732-07:00What's funny is that these articles presume no...What's funny is that these articles presume nobody has experienced quality tea before... like this is something wholly new and undiscovered.<br /><br />Owning the LA Clippers is a far more intriguing news story, really.swaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08524255701604905877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3804228947196894311.post-52170407712149268742014-05-01T14:45:33.832-07:002014-05-01T14:45:33.832-07:00Last summer a customer regaled me with stories of ...Last summer a customer regaled me with stories of tea stands in India. on her way up to our remote place in the Vermont woods, the dirt roads are green and lush, and she kept imagining she'd see little shacks selling tea every half mile or so. Don't think Howie and Oprah can replicate that in a shopping mall. It'll be one more way to sell sugar and milk, at a delicious markup. Robert Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00140455725580533192noreply@blogger.com