Cafeology Ltd

Almost a year ago I was in London queuing to vote for our new President in Colombia when I got a phone call that was going to change a lot of my plans for the week. I was being invited to visit my home country Colombia with this UK coffee called Cafeology and the University of Sheffield (where I was finalising my master studies). What I didn’t know what the trip was in the next 48 hours, as I was covering for someone that for some personal circumstances couldn’t make it. Without giving much thought into what was about to come, I decided to take the opportunity and the next day we were on a flight to Bogota.

(Popayan from above)

I met Bryan, the managing director of Cafeology during this trip and we visited the farms were this company sourced some of its coffee. Cafeology works with two farms in my home country, and I had the chance to meet both of the Head farmers Pacho and Elisabeth. It was interesting for me, as both of them come from completely different backgrounds. On the one hand Pacho, is the stereotypical coffee farmer, wearing his lovely hat all day, born and raised in the coffee region of Pereira. But then, you have Elisabeth, which is from the indigenous region of Popayan, Cauca. A region that was hardly hit by violence and is slowly trying to build up creating opportunities for their community. We had the unique opportunity to visit the farms and the families that work there.

(With Pacho & Norma from ASOAPIA coffee in Pereira)

For me, born and raised in Colombia, it was an eye-opening experience. Sometimes we have the misconceptions of the ‘coffee companies abroad’ buying coffee from our country but not knowing who the farmers are, where they come from or the stores behind each family. But this was different. Cafeology has made a massive effort to know and understand where their coffee comes from and it was clearly visible for me during this visit.

(Visiting the coffee farms of Cencoic in Popayan)

The trip happened quite quickly and before we knew it, I was back to the University of Sheffield to hand in my dissertation. Bryan and I kept in contact and I was always admiring the work they were doing in my home country. The opportunity came along at the beginning of 2019 for me to start working part-time with Cafeology as the International Producer Development. My role consists on strengthen the links between the farmers and the consumers here in the UK. I want to work closely with the people in Colombia to show the people in the UK and everyone where a Cafeology coffee comes from. I want to show people that behind every cup of coffee there’s a story of a farm and a family that has worked for generations cultivating and producing the best coffee of the world.

I wanted to do my work experience at Cafeology as I thought it was a good opportunity to find out what work is like in a warehouse also to see what sorts of coffee there is and how it is produced. I was lucky enough to be accepted to work as part of the Cafeology and Roastology Team.

On my first day I was very nervous as I didn’t know what to expect but when I met all the staff at the warehouse I was put at ease. Everyone was very friendly and treated me like I was part of the team. Steve (who was my line manager) talked me through all the Health and Safety, Hygiene and Fire procedures and made sure I had understood everything. I was then given a hi-vis vest and had a tour around the warehouse/roastery to see all the different work areas. Once my tour had finished I went and worked with Greg who showed me the warehouse cleaning process and how to use the pump truck, he then let me clean an area of the warehouse and ensured I completed the cleaning record. I was then showed how to pick a customer order and Greg explained the importance of best before dates as well as batch codes & ensuring the batch codes are written on the pick lists. He also explained product coding and the location of products. Greg talked me through the difference between courier delivery (DPD) orders and hand delivery orders. He showed me how to pack DPD deliveries and print off DPD labels so the order/s are delivered to the correct customer. I was also showed where to put hand deliveries once picked.

Other jobs I did over my work experience:

Coffee Roasting - when I first went onto the roasting the green beans - creating Roastology blended coffee, Steve showed and talked me through the process. He started me with an RMP003 (roast master product) once the roast had finished, he ask me questions about roasting to ensured I have listened to him and had understood the process. I did further roasts of RMP001, RMP004 & RMP006 under the supervision of Steve and Chay. Steve would kept asking me questions very enthusiastically about the roasting process like

"What temperature are you changing the airflow at?"

"What do we not change it at?"

"What temperature are you dropping it at?"

“What temperature are you not dropping it at?"

"Why do we do tests and record the temperature?"

I would always answer with a smile.

I did do one roast unsupervised which was a RMP001 and Steve passed it with the comment of "well done chief". This did boost my confidence. Roasting the coffee was my favourite job. I found it interesting learning about all the different blends of coffee and how to make a perfect blend by dropping and changing the airflow at different temperatures (270,370 and 430-446).

I also did some packing of Roastology coffee beans. Luke talked me through the process of packing and labelling the coffee bags and boxes. I than packed the Cafe Excelso Espresso beans for University of Sheffield, which are in brown 1kg bags and are packed eight to a box. I had to ensure the weight was accurate for all the bags.

Barista training with Scott was so much harder than I expected as you have to get the right amount of ground coffee and it has to be level. The milk has to be the right temperature and has to have the right amount of foam specific to the type of coffee you are making. I did enjoy this but wasn’t very confident in this area. While I was doing my training Steve popped up to see how I was getting on and asked for a Cappuccino but I didn’t know how to make one , so I made him a latte, it took multiple attempts to make it right. I don’t think I will be a barista in the future. Thanks Scott for your patience.  

Delivering customers orders via hand delivery with Roger was fun as I got to meet some customers, while seeing some of the country sights within Derbyshire. I found the customers very friendly and happy to have receive they orders. Roger talked me through the delivery process, made me check the stock out of the van matched the customer’s order before going into the customer. I had to ensure the delivery note was signed and dated by the customer. It was a busy day for deliveries and it was physical work, but the day went so fast and I did enjoy delivering orders.  

Overall I enjoyed my work experience at Cafeology/Roastology warehouse and have gained a lot of knowledge about the coffee business, especially the roasting side of it.

A BIG THANK YOU to Steve for being very patient with me and explaining all the processed to me while also being cheery. Also thank you to Chay, Greg, Roger, Scott and Luke for passing on knowledge and helping me complete my work duties and also for making my 2 weeks with Cafeology/Roastology enjoyable.

Thank you to Toni and Bryan for the opportunity to work within your company.

The following blog explains my trip with the University of Sheffield who we arranged a direct souring agreement with a coffee producer in the south of Colombia. This producer, Cencoic consists of indigenous farmers based in the southern region of Cauca. The intention of this trip is to forge strong and sustainable relationships with our producer as well as see how the University of Sheffield can engage with potential projects over and above coffee sourcing to assist the growers association.

I was joined by Gavin Brown, Head of Commercial Services, Peter Anstess, General Manager of Retail Operations, Meg McGrath, Development Officer, University of Sheffield Students Union and Daniela Orrego Payan, a Colombian National who is studying at the University of Sheffield. Also joining us on the trip was Greg Morgan from Social Sciences at the University of Sheffield. Greg had been attending the Worldwide Universities Network AGM in Perth, Australia and came back via Bogota on his return journey. Sadly we were also due to be joined by Professor Duncan Cameron, who is an expert on Plant and Soil Biology. Sadly Duncan’s father had a heart attack 2 days before the trip resulting in him being unable to make it. I wish Mr Cameron Senior a speedy recovery and thoughts are with Duncan and his family. 27 May 2018

It was an early start for a Bank Holiday weekend as the flight was via Madrid at 06.20. I decided to stay at Heathrow the evening before which hopefully assisted the tiredness although it didn’t feel like it when the alarm went off at 03.50.

Everything went to time and the connection for Bogota, despite leaving behind schedule, still arrived on time into Colombia’s capital. Unfortunately my pick up was no where to be seen as there had been a mix up but our exporter Mariano was on hand to arrange another driver who took me to the hotel so all in all a very smooth journey.

Once checked into the hotel, Mariano had made arrangements to meet for dinner with his colleague Pablo. I have travelled in the Huila region with Pablo who originates from Uruguay but has worked in the Bogota office for a while now. It was good to catch up with them both and I appreciated them giving up family time on a Sunday night to join me. The hotel is in a fantastic location called Zona T, in the heart of the shopping district close to all the bars and restaurants, a recommendation from Duncan! I was very much looking forward to my first cold Club Colombia beer and was devastated to find out that my trip had clashed with the elections in Colombia. There is a total country wide ban on alcohol sales on Election Day..... so it was diet cokes all round with dinner. It was probably for the best as I was getting a little tired so I headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest.

Monday 28 May

As always, travelling west resulted in the natural alarm clock going off way too early! Thankfully I knew there was going to be a lot of coffee consumed and the excitement about being back in this fantastic country was once again getting the better of me. After breakfast, I went for a walk around the local area, bustling with peeping horns, and a vibrancy which Colombia is famous for - it was good to be back in Bogota. At 2640m above sea level, the air is thinner here and the temperatures normally a steady 19 degrees. You will almost see rain every day and this day was certainly no different. Mariano had arranged a pick up to the office around 12.45 and met me on arrival at ECTP. Unfortunately I needed ID to get into the offices and I had everything safely tucked away in the safe back at the hotel. I eventually managed to retrieve an old photo of my passport on my phone from a trip to NYC a couple of years ago which, after much negotiation, the security accepted and I was finally in the building. ECTP stands for Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (formerly BTG Pactual) is a global commodity merchant and assists in the sourcing and exporting of all of our Colombian coffee. I met up with Pablo and Marco and discussed in detail with Mariano our vision for the next 5 years in Colombia, also what we would like to achieve on this trip. It also gave me the opportunity to discuss the exciting plans with our new Roastery and give them an update on current challenges faced at our point in the supply chain. After the meeting, I had chance to discover more of this amazing city whilst on foot touring many of the coffee bars including Tostao, a relatively new concept offering coffee and pastries at fantastically low prices. They are popping up everywhere. I was very much looking forward to the evening to be reunited with Francisco (Pacho) and Norma from Asoapia as they had made the difficult journey from Risaralda especially to meet me. We arranged to meet at my hotel at 7pm along with Mariano and headed out for drinks. There is a great bond between us and it was fantastic to catch up. It may have been quite an informal location (La Cerveceria), a bar round the corner, but Pacho armed with notepad got straight down to business. We discussed many things including microlots and also purchasing Organic from the farm whilst I managed to give him an update on the Roastery which he was delighted to hear about. Thankfully the ban on alcohol had been and gone and we were enjoying the Club Colombia Roja as we waited for Greg Morgan to arrive from Perth via Santiago who would be joining us for Dinner. Greg is the Head of International Partnerships at the University of Sheffield and had planned to join us on his way back from the Worldwide Universities Network AGM in Perth, Australia. Greg has spent considerable time in Colombia (not to mention many other conflict areas in the world) so it was good to catch up out here in Bogota. After introductions, we moved on for dinner. Pacho was very tired and after the fantastic meal, Pacho, Norma and Mariano left. Greg and I weren’t far behind them. Food in Colombia can be quite rich but from my experience it is always very good. The levels of hygiene in Colombia are extremely high and if you enjoy meat, you won’t go far wrong in Colombia.

29 May

My guests from the University of Sheffield were on the red eye flight direct from London which meant they landed in Bogota at 4am. I had arranged a pick up for them and due to the early hours they were checked in at the hotel by 5am. Thankfully their rooms were ready which allowed them the chance for a couple of hours rest. We met down at breakfast at 8am and it was good to see them here in Bogota after nearly 9 months of planning. Making the trip was Gavin Brown, Director of Commercial Services, Peter Anstess, General Manager, Retail Operations, Megan McGrath, Development Officer, Students Union and Daniela Payan A post grad student studying Management and Entrepreneurship. Daniela only learnt of the trip on 24 hours before departure following the very sad news regarding Duncan’s father. After the introductions and a brief by me of the itinerary, we headed off to the offices again of ECTP, all armed with ID! We were met once again by Mariano. Pacho and Norma were already on site. After the introductions, we discussed many areas of how the University of Sheffield may be able to assist the cooperative through different programs which Greg was interested to investigate further. We also discussed current pricing and the opportunity of securing micro lots on the next container. This will give total traceability to our customers whilst offering exclusivity for customers wishing to have a unique coffee. This also gave us the opportunity to present the brand new Roastology packaging specifically with its own unique label for Pacho and Asoapia. Not only were Pacho and Norma impressed but Peter and Gavin expressed interest for some of the retail packs to be sold across some of the retail outlets. It is always great to catch up with Pacho and I thought it was a good time to invite him over to the UK next year to celebrate 10 years of this fantastic direct trade partnership. Time was now cracking on as Pacho and Norma were heading off to Pereira so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. In the afternoon we planned a trip up to Monserrate, a stunning Monastery at the highest point in Bogota which gives the most amazing views of this huge city. Situated at 3152m above sea level, you reach the summit via a cable car or funicular. As Bogota is built on a plane with very little hills, you get an incredible scale of the size and sprawl of the area. We travelled up by cable car although I think Gavin and Peter were contemplating the steep walk, thankfully the cable car won. Once at the top it was photo time - and lots of them as it was clear (for the time being), then the weather closed in at incredible speed and the rain came down. Time was cracking on so we decided to head back down as we had a meeting scheduled at The Los Andes Universidad organised by Greg with a little help from our in house Colombian, Daniela. We were hosted by Yadira Mongollón - Head of Mobility Office International Affairs and Camilo Villa Moreno - Head of Cooperation for Research & Networks, Office of International Affairs and given a tour of the University including faculty of engineering and of course all the coffee and food outlets with Gavin and Peter taking notes. The university is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year which despite being relatively new is one of the leading Universities in Colombia. It is relatively small with only 19000 students, 15,000 undergraduates and only 450 doctorates. There are many foreign students attending the University including UK representation from Loughborough,Essex and Bristol, two of which I proudly added that we work with. Yadira gifted us with some coffee as she advised that the farmer is an Alumni of the University. A really nice touch and once again it shows how wide spread the coffee industry is throughout this magnificent country.. Following the tour, it was time to say our goodbyes and we ordered a cab just as the heavens opened. With that, totalled with Bogota rush hour traffic, it was going to be a long journey back. It took 90 minutes to do the 9 mile trip - welcome to Bogotá’s shocking traffic problem! It was a quick change at the hotel as we were guests of Tiffany Kohl, a good friend of mine at the biggest event in Bogota on a Tuesday night, Gringo Tuesdays. Tiffany is the founder of this amazing concept wishing to connect people visiting Bogota from all over the globe. The event now attracts over a thousand people every Tuesday and has won national acclaim as the place to be. We weren’t disappointed, it was an amazing party with a very friendly and welcoming feel. I do however think we may have been the only true Gringo’s in the place...... Unfortunately due to the timings, those who had only arrived that morning were beginning to flag so we didn’t test it to the full but still managed to have a fantastic night - thanks Tiffany! Daniela and Meg left a short time before us and we headed for a steak around the corner before retiring back to the hotel. Even Greg and I were ready for some sleep but fair play to Peter, he had managed 46 hours without bed although I think he was gutted not to do the extra couple of hours!

30 May

This morning allowed us all to have a leisurely breakfast before heading to the airport which I think was welcomed by all. Despite this the majority of us were awake at the crack of dawn. The morning allowed me to clear some emails and arrange transportation as well as sorting out the bills for the guests as it was all on one booking. Thankfully it was Daniela to the rescue, this Gringo from Sheffield was struggling to string two words together in Spanish. I had booked a minibus allowing us plenty of time for the Bogota traffic to get us to the airport. Today and Thursday were going to be the main event so my stress level was beginning to get a hold on me as the cab was running late. We only had this window to get to Cauca as there are only two flights a day with the other one in the evening which would have resulted in missing the afternoons visit to the parchment mill. The cab eventually arrived 40 mins late due to...traffic! It was a nervous journey through the city but luckily the traffic was being kind to us. Thankfully we arrived and met Mariano at the airport and our flight to Popayán left on time as the turbo prob steered through the rather threatening gathering clouds. The flight was just over an hour passing over some dramatic scenery, common with virtually anywhere in Colombia. The airport at Popayán is tiny and the bags were off loaded rather promptly and then the carousel stopped with both Peter and Gavin still waiting for their bags. Sadly they were still in Bogotá. They were both pretty cool about it but it was a little concerning as Peter had packed a drone that he had recently purchased and wanted to get some footage at the farm. Thankfully Avianca had located both bags and sent them with the evenings flight and they were delivered to the hotel so issue averted. We then bundled ourselves into taxis and headed to the hotel Dann Monasterio in the town. The hotel was superb, 16th century monastery, it was very traditional. We checked in and headed for lunch. We were greeted with an almighty storm, but the temperature was mild allowing us lunch on the covered patio. After lunch we were due to head off to the Cencoic parchment mill which is the other side of Popayán. Although my room was fabulous it backed on to the main road and if you’ve ever travelled in Colombia, you’ll realise that blasting horns, many with multi tones appears to be a very popular pastime country wide! I decided to relocate, which the hotel staff couldn’t be more obliging. Little did I realise it was going to turn into the most stressful 45 minutes of the whole trip. I moved everything out of the room and into the new, quiet room and began to unpack the small amount of items. At this point I realised I couldn’t locate my passport - cue brain racking followed by melt down. I checked the old room, new room, reception desk and nowhere to be seen. Everyone was now waiting in reception including the taxi drivers, how embarrassing! Mariano and one of the staff came up to the first room I checked into and were really helpful. I checked the safe one more time and it had got wedged upright behind the door - what a feeling. I rejoined the group and offered my sincere apologies to all with many offering a chuckle knowing panic was over. We then headed the short drive to the mill and met with Recardo, who manages the Parchment Mill. Ricardo is a very passionate gent and very accommodating and showed us around the facility allowing many photos to be taken as well as another delicious coffee. Ricardo also has his own coffee farm and grows coffee for Cencoic. We were then taken to the offices of Cencoic where I was reunited with Elisabeth Meneses Sandoval who I met in Seattle at the SCA in April 2017. Elisabeth is the Export Manager and was involved in the very first talks about the vision we had for the exclusive direct trade for the University of Sheffield. It was lovely to see her again and meet the team. We were then given a presentation (and more fabulous coffee) by Hernan Vincente Castellanos who is the Coordinator in the Coffee Department. This was extremely informative and helped the University gain a greater insight into the set up and challenges faced by this indigenous group as well as their vision for the future. Following the presentation, we were invited downstairs for a cupping session of 14 different coffees. It was great to see how the University embraced it and the guys hosting it were very accommodating and light hearted which led to a fun hour. Both Greg and I choose #4 which also matched that of the staff and Mariano so we have a secret cupper in the Social Sciences department at the University of Sheffield. We found out later that the winning coffee was actually from Ricardo’s farm, the chap who runs the Parchment warehouse. Following the cupping, we left the offices all together around 9pm and headed off for a ‘couple’ of beers and some food with Elisabeth and the team - it is just so wonderful how inclusive the group is with staff regardless of their position. During the meal we discussed the World of Coffee event in Amsterdam which was a fortnight away. I was delighted to learn that Elisabeth would be attending the event and explained that we will be showcasing our new roaster there. We agreed to meet on Friday 22 June at the expo. We also discussed the possibility of the General Manager, Juan Carlos visiting the University of Sheffield after the event. This will be quite tight to achieve but it would be amazing to show Juan Carlos how the Cencoic coffee is being showcased at the University. Daniela was very excited as her parents happened to be in the town that evening. Her father was giving a talk at the Hotel we were actually staying in - what an unbelievable coincidence. Naturally Daniela spent a brief time with her Mum & Dad which was lovely to see. We had a great evening but perhaps a little later than anticipated as our hosts showed they too are fans of Club Colombia.

31 May

It was an early start with lots of anticipation in the team as we were heading to the farms and for Gavin, Peter and Meg, this would be their first time seeing coffee growing -always a magical experience. We were met by Elisabeth and Hernan with three cars ready for the trip out to Caldono. I encouraged both Peter and Gavin to travel in the front seats to get phots of the journey, something later which Gavin didn’t thank me for given the standard of driving out in the countryside..... We travelled for around 90 minutes before reaching the drying farm and parchment station run by Cecilia, a lady who Toni and I had met at the first meeting in Seattle which was lovely to now see her operation. The facility was immaculate, clearly lots of pride taken here. Cicilia showed us how each of the certifications have their own designated rooms and in the region they are growing certified and non certified coffees. Out the back of the mill was a covered raised African Drying Beds. This is a patio which is elevated to to allow air to circulate the beans as they lay on wire mesh. There are several different methods of drying but this allows you to maximise space as and allow the moisture to drain generally resulting in better quality. We were made so welcome and personally I was very impressed at the cleanliness of the area and the quality of the parchment. Gavin, Peter and Meg then passed gifts to some of the staff which was a lovely touch and very well received. Peter and I were then given a bag, made in the town which was a lovely touch. Time was creeping on so we had to leave but it was great to see Cicilia again and proved a fabulous insight for team Sheffield. We then made the short (and steady) trip to the farm, poor Greg was in a Suzuki car which probably isn’t the best when travelling off road and rolling close behind, it did appear to take a few hits on the route - At one stage they were reconstructing the road and they flattened part of the road to allow Greg’s car through - something which typifies this fantastic country and the amazing people. We visited two farms, El Eden and La Esmeralda which allowed the guys to see the full process. This included seeing the washing station, the Pulping Machine and of course the drying bed - once again using covered African beds. The terrain here was extremely steep but what made it worse was the recent rain which made it very difficult to keep upright. We all thought we were well prepared but clearly the locals had greater experience of such challenges. Elisabeth led us down to the farm with me constantly asking her to slow down. Behind me was Daniela who slipping over more time than me on skis. When we reached the farm we were now missing Gavin and Peter, two of the finest athletes in the Commercial Services. Finally we heard them approaching with Peter in hysterics and a rather muddy Gavin following on. Gavin had taken an almighty tumble and had now written off most of his clothing. We were informed that Peter had sympathetically rushed to get his camera out prior to assisting Gavin back to his feet. The question is, would Gavin have done the same .... We were greeted by Floresmino at El Eden farm along with his wife and daughter. The farms here are all run by indigenous people so the language barrier is quite a challenge as it is quite far removed from Latin American Spanish. Despite Mariano being fluent in English and Spanish, words such as ‘university’ are difficult for the people to understand. Floresmino’s family as long as he’s aware, which is several generations have been involved in the production of coffee and of course it is his wish that this continues with his children. Floresmino has run El Eden farm for 5 years. The farm is situated at 1726m with the main arabica varietals of Cattura and Catuai. They have a primary and secondary harvest here and they were just coming to the end of the second harvest. Life is very tough here and the farmers face many challenges but the help and support given from Cencoic really does make a huge difference. After seeking permission from Floresmino, it was time for Peter to take to the skies (well his drone at least). Could this be the moment for Gavins payback as his drone would disappear towards the equator or end in a horrendous nose dive into the wilderness... This was not to be as The take off was smoother than that of a Avianca ATR Turbo Prop. With such concentration (and lots of pressure) the drone was off, flying high over the area. It was attracting unwanted attention from the Vultures circling high above us but after a few minutes, the Peter brought it back down with an equally smooth landing - Peter you smashed it! Personally I can’t wait to see the footage provided he pressed the record button.... We then visited the pulping station and saw the compost area where the cherries are turned into fertiliser to assist the soil when planting new trees. It was then time to head back up the hill and meet Antonio at La Esmeralda farm. We travelled deep into the plantations and saw lots of stunning coffee growing all at different stages from green through to red. Antonia picked oranges fresh from the tree which went down an absolute treat - I think Megan wanted to take a sack full home! I showed the guys how sweet the coffee cherry is as they chewed the fruit around the bean being careful not to bite on the cherry. It has a beautiful sweet flavour and sticky mucilage surrounding the bean. Whilst Meg and Daniela were getting tucked into the oranges, Peter went for a wonder with Gavin, once again, what was going to happen. This time it was payback for Gavin as Peter almost disappeared as he descended down a hole at great speed. Thankfully both incidents only resulted in a increase in cleaning bills and nothing else. As we returned to the farm, Gavin decided to see how long it would take for him to pick 41 cherries (the approximate amount used in a single shot of espresso). This was a great exercise to show this part of the long process to get the coffee to your cup. It took a total of 51 seconds which highlights once again the skill and effort required to pick coffee on a grand scale. All our coffee at Cafeology is hand picked. Once we returned to the farm we were given freshly squeezed Pineapple juice by Antonia’s wife and more fresh orange. The guys from the University then distributed more gifts to the workers at La Esmeralda farm before departing for the journey back. We were at an altitude of just under 1800m which did feel very high. It does however make you realise the height of Bogota which is considerably higher at 2640m making it one of the worlds highest capital cities. The journey back was fairly uneventful as we headed back to Popayan in plenty of time for our flight back to Bogota. We said our goodbyes at the Hotel Dann Monasterio, something which I always find slightly emotional but happy to know we would be meeting again in Amsterdam very soon. I handed out some gifts including our ‘Made in Sheffield’ cupping spoons before Elisabeth and the team departed. We had just enough time for a late lunch at the hotel before heading to the airport for the short journey back to Bogota. Once again we left to time and arrived into Bogota slightly early. Thankfully all the cases arrived with us and we were met at the airport and taken back to the hotel. Time was now ticking on so we checked in briefly and headed out to the restaurant/bar next door called Andres and recapped on what a magical experience the visit to Cencoic was. I believe this unique partnership with Cencoic and the University of Sheffield can be something which benefits the producer greatly. In addition to forming long and sustainable relationships, I believe my client can bring areas of expertise and help to the producer over and above that of paying a fair price for coffee.

My first day was spent at the warehouse and roastery, when I first arrived Auntie Toni, Uncle Bryan and I spent some time with Steve discussing his recent trip to Indonesia. I found this incredibly interesting as, those of you who read his blog will know, he went to some fantastic places and was full of inspiration and tales of the coffee farms he had seen. I then spent some time with Greg who taught me about the processes involved inside the warehouse. He also explained about how the batch codes ensure the right stock is chosen to be shipped to the customers. We also discussed how stock is picked when the orders come through from the main office and then dispatched either using the Cafeology vans or by courier.

I then spent the afternoon at the roastery with Steve learning the art of coffee roasting, which is incredibly scientific whilst still allowing Steve to come up with new blends to produce different flavours. Steve and I started by weighing out 9.5 kg of the green coffee bean in Steve’s secret ratio of coffee to produce his signature espresso! We then tested the green coffee with the Sinar Moisture Meter. The hardest part of this is to remember to put the beans back afterwards! Next we added the beans to the roaster when it was the right temperature which is required for the recipe for the coffee, which we filled in before weighing out the beans.

Whilst the beans were roasting the temperature had to be written down every 30 seconds to ensure that we were on plan which I can assure you this is not as easy as it sounds, especially for the first time! 

Once the roasting had been completed we then dropped the roast into the cooling bin where cold air is blown through and the agitator activated to keep the beans moving around so they all cool and the roasting process is stopped. After the beans had completely cooled we turned on the agitator again, placed a food safe bucket underneath the trapdoor and opened it to allow all the beans to enter, this was the end of the roasting process and therefore my first day at Cafeology.

On my second day at Cafeology Steve and I spent the day preparing an order of the coffee he had roasted on Monday and the coffee we roasted together was not quite ready. We carried out the remaining quality control checks which ensure that the products sent out to the customers are of the highest quality. We started the QC by measuring the moisture content, density and temperature of the beans using the Sinar Moisture Meter and the results for both sets of beans were within the bounds of acceptability. The next QC involved checking the colour of the beans to check that they are roasted appropriately and again the results for both beans were perfect. The final QC involved us grinding the coffee and first smelling it to see if the aroma was acceptable, I love the smell of coffee so this was maybe my favourite part of the QC process! 

Then we poured water heated to 93°C on the coffee grounds and allowed it to brew for 4 minutes before breaking the seal and smelling the aromas, we then removed the top layer of the coffee before trying a small amount of coffee about 1/3 of a spoon. In the coffee world this is called cupping. Once we tasted the two coffees we then filled in the QC chart with a description of the different tastes we found, again both coffees were found to be perfect. 

We then moved on to the labels for the bags of coffee, we had to write the date of packing and Steve’s name on all 56 of them! I then had to stick the labels onto the bags, very neatly if I do say so myself! Then came the filling we decided to do the signature espresso beans first as the beans are easier to handle. I had to weigh out 250g of coffee beans into the bags and then seal them, making sure that they were airtight. Then we moved on to the slightly more momentous task of the ground coffee, we had to grind the coffee and then fill the bags with 250g of the ground coffee, this is harder than you would imagine as the powder gets everywhere! I then sealed the bags and put them in the boxes which I sealed with the sticky tape gun and labelled them. I then used the software to transfer the stock and rang the office to inform them. All in all it has been a very productive morning at work.

Steve then dropped me back at the office where I learnt about the more financial side of the business; I spent some time with my Auntie Toni learning about how she manages the invoices and finances of the company, this was incredibly interesting and gave me additional new skills in how to manage a business. After we left the office Auntie Toni and I followed Denise out to see her horses as they knew that I was a keen but infrequent horsewoman. Denise kindly offered me a ride on her horse George and her daughters horse Marley, we also spent time brushing and tacking up the horses which was a welcome break from the usual riding school approach where you get on for an hour get off again and go home. I loved riding both horses, while they both have different temperaments, they were both amazing to ride. The whole experience was amazing and I now want a horse more than ever despite my further knowledge of how much work (and money) they need! A perfect end to an amazing day, thank you Denise.

 My third day at Cafeology today I spent the day at the office, I started the day by listening to Steve cascade a presentation to myself and all the staff about his trip to Indonesia and what he learnt whilst he was there. He showed us all his pictures which really helped me to understand and visualise the journey of coffee from the tree to the roastery. I then spent some time writing about my experiences in this blog and figuring out how best to present my ideas on the Roastology instagram, go check it out if you can ! Then I spent the rest of the morning with Steve learning how to make 3 popular coffees, espresso, cappuccino and latte, thus completing the journey of coffee from the trees to the cup. To finish my time at Cafeology I spent time working on my blog and sorting through my pictures to post both on here and on Instagram.

What an adventure, what a time, how do I even begin to summarise…… I would like to start by thanking Cafeology for sending me on this wonderful trip and for organising all the flights and giving me the opportunity at Roastology. This is a trip I will never forget, I have made friends for life, tried some fantastic coffee, learned so much more than I could have ever thought and got to experience the the first stage of coffee production. It’s with the coffee production most of my thoughts are with currently. Seeing the farms, the workers, the difficulties faced everyday. Coffee production is on a decline and the demand for coffee increases each year. Global warming & climate change is having such a negative effect on the coffee production and is something we all need to take extremely seriously. As a world of coffee lovers, we need to strive to improve conditions and ensure the thing that binds us all together, our love of coffee can continue for ever. With organisations like the SCA we are working on huge amounts of research into global warming. Another hard hitting fact is how the farmers and their staff are living. Many farm workers across the globe are living in poverty and it’s so important that with every sip of coffee you take, you think long and hard about where that coffee has come from. I think it is vital that you know and understand how and where the coffee you are drinking comes from. Ethical sourcing is paramount, understand that the hardest part of the coffee chain is the growing & processing, please make sure you do your bit to make sure the farmers receive a fair price, this doesn't necessarily mean you have to buy Fairtrade cert, as many farms don’t subscribe to the foundation but still receive an above market value price. KNOW YOUR COFFEE PEOPLE! You wouldnt really describe me as an emotional type of chap but as I sit on the airport floor, waiting to check in, looking through the photos I have taken reminding me of the amazing adventure I have been on has almost bought a tear to my eye, almost though, I’m still cool. I can’t speak highly enough of my experiences, some people complained about the long bus trips, I took that time to talk to people in the industry. Some people didn’t like the early starts, the late nights but again, I wanted to cram as much as I possibly could into this once in a life time experience. I got to see an active volcano, I saw genuine Indonesian culture, we were treated to welcome parties by town mayors, I made friends, we laughed, we learned we tried coffee, I saw some parts of the world only a handful of ’tourists’ will ever see. The food has been incredible, granted I won’t be having rice again for breakfast on Monday morning but I have loved it. Experience, thats what I crave in my personal & professional life, experience is what I have had. From leaving Sheffield to sitting on the airport floor in Bali, I have had a smile on my face. Java, Bali, you will stay in my mind and my heart forever. A quick thanks to the organisers Mr Saff & Colin Smith, great work both. Also thanks to my fellow SCA travellers, without you guys it could have been a very different story. I guess the next question is how I can get Cafeology to agree to send me on my next Coffee Origin adventure, apparently there is an SCA trip to Ethiopia later in the year : ) I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as i have enjoyed writing it, For the final time in Indonesia, Steve. Out

The plan for today is to visit the Munduk Cofffee plantation. http://www.mundukmodingplantation.com/ . I am really excited after looking looking at their website, the whole set up looks incredible. 

After a few hours we had a little break at a beautiful little spot overlooking the Danua Buyan and we even bumped into a little mummy and baby monkey. We only spent a little time here but again, what a breathtaking view and beautiful part of the world.

Another hour drive to the plantation, we arrived ready to explore. My first impressions were very positive, a beautiful looking place.  We had a nice long walk around the plantation, a beautiful area with lots of different herbs, fruits and vegetables on offer. The view from one of the vantage points was again stunning.

The area of the plantation was beautiful, they have however only been growing coffee for a short period of time and are still learning as they go. Unfortunately a lot of the plants and in particular the coffee plants had really bad tree rust.

Tree rust is where the tree leaves are attacked by an insect, the plant then cannot flower properly and thus creates less coffee. It was a real shame to see this and the farmers where still trying to work out how to overcome the problem. With a little guidance from the SCA & SCAI I’m hopeful that they can turn this around. After a few hours walking around the estate we stopped for lunch and a relaxing beer.  What a beautiful place for lunch, a great time to relax a little and enjoy each others company.

The hotel & complex was a wonderful area and seemed to be booming, with a little work they will get there with the coffee. After lunch it was back to the hotel for a little down time before dinner and the wrap up meeting. After a few speeches by David & Colin, we loaded back into the bus and headed to a local beachfront restaurant. A wonderful way to finish the day. Thursday, the final part of the trip and the plan was two roasters and a coffee shop. We arrived at the first the Kopi Bali, part of the Butterfly Globebrand. 

The grounds were quite wonderful with the trees in full bloom.

The roasters were in full swing.

The Kopi Bali mainly dealt with robusta coffee and the smell was quite overpowering towards the end. With a constant roasting, grinding and packing the coffee dust in the air was quite harsh at times. They are dealing mainly for the local market and they take the roast to a dark colour but they grind it so fine, it looks more like a coco powder than coffee. It was really interesting seeing the size of the operation and how they roast and pack all coffee. A great business model but a little too much robusta for me personally. Next it was to Seminyak, the New York of Bali. With lots of designer stores, champagne bars and lovely looking restaurants. We headed over to a new coffee shop and roastery, Expat. Established by two Australian guys, Chay & Aden. They are really trying to get speciality coffee to the general public. A superb little outlet.

I treated myself to a great little flat white and spoke to Aden for some time about Indonesian coffee and the difficulty in working in Bali. It was great to speak to people in the industry with a similar passion to my own. 

Next, our penultimate stop of the whole trip the 70o fahrenheit koffie company 

We tried a little coffee, a natural from the Kintamani estate we visited earlier in the week, very tasty. 70 fahrenheit was a huge robusta processing plant. with 5 adjacent 35kg roasters churning out some serious volume. Again like the Kopi Bali, with the roasting and grinding of huge amounts of Robusta, I found the aroma a little overpowering. This however was much more than a Coffee plantation, over the years this has grown and grown and is now one of the most visited tourist attractions in Bali. With approx 1000 visitors a day, mainly organised trips from the Chinese market, it was an amazing sight. So many people seeing how coffee is roasted. A very interesting business model and also approx 25% of visitors will buy the bundle of 4 x 250g bags of robusta coffee for £42. Imagine that, £42 a kg for Robusta, Great business for the company but sits with a heavy heart for my self as I know how much robusta coffee sells for and how much the farmers at origin will receive from that £42. One of the bigs things I have learned is how difficult it is for the farmers, to succeed and why ensuing ethically is so so important.   So the last organised part of the SCA Indonesia field trip, the traditional Indonesian fire dance. The Kecak Ramayana & Fire dance, located at Jl Raya  Uluwatu Pecatu - Kuta. With a beautiful backdrop of the mountains.

The dance tells the story of Sita, the wife of Rama getting kidnapped in the forest of Dandaka and the story of how Rama gets her back. A combination of ancient ritual dance, drama and accompanied by a choir of chants and singing men will be something that I will never forget. An hour long performance that I was truly mesmerising.

After a really long but fantastic day yesterday, we had a little bit of extra time in the morning to catch up on some sleep. After a late breakfast at our beautiful Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel 

We got back into the buses for a trip to see some another couple of farms. We headed into the mountains on Bali. On thing I’ve not really talked about is the scenery. As you all know, we have spent a lot of time on the buses, The scenery though has been breathtaking. From the rolling green hill sides, the small little villages, the lakes and much much more…… Beautiful. We headed into Ubud, Bali. The first stop was a small local Co-op The Kintamini Plantation. At 1245 meters above sea level, Kintamini was producing some rather tasty coffee. there are 300 farmers sharing 500 hectares so not the biggest of plants but still seemed to work well. We had a walk around the processing mill, this was the first mill of the trip that was maybe lacking in a little cleanliness 

After seeing the Ijen and the Blawan estates, this I found to be a little surprising. With that being said one of the coffees we cupped yesterday was from here and it was fantastic. They are also growing oranges, chillies, bananas on the estate, these are much bigger earners for the farmers as they can sell as soon as they are ready and don’t have the cost of processing like we do with coffee. Sampling an orange straight off the tree, rather delightful even if I say so myself. 

The owner of the mill arrived to give us a little talk, his English was as good as my Indonesian but with a translator he talked to us about how climate change and in particular, the amount of rain they have had make farming so much more difficult.

He seemed to be a really nice chap, working incredibly hard to create great coffee. Another cracking morning, I could spend hours and hours just walking around the plantations, taking everything in, studying the trees, but time now to get back in the bus and head to our second destination of the day. We headed further into Ubud and to a estate called Pelage. After arriving we were greeted and treated to a fantastic lunch by the owner Mr Latif Talib. A local man, married to a German lady and someone so passionate about coffee, and in particular speciality coffee.

His processing plant was immaculate, all the machinery, the surrounding areas, everything about the plant was incredible. The thought into the infrastructure was terrific. I was blown away by the cleanliness to be honest. 

So we left the Welcome party with full tummies and a sense of pride and joy that the local people organised such a treat for us. We got back on the buses and made our way onwards. 

After only 20 mins of driving we were met by a road block, the Bupati wanted us to stop one more time to show us a local traditional dance ceremony.

This is called the Mallakhamba, a local traditional that involves a ceremonial dance before the locals climb up the pole and preform posses and dance moves. It was quite a spectacle and incredibly impressive. So after a quick 30 mins we headed out  to head back to the buses to head to the next coffee plantation.

This journey was meant to take approx 1.5 hours, unfortunately the main road en route had been shut so we needed to take a small detour. Anyone who has travelled around on mountains and even hill sides knows the roads are none too plentiful, the journey now took 4 hours. I do however, really enjoy our coach journeys, its a great chance to get to know my fellow coffee enthusiasts, talk about coffee and also learn from other people. My fellow travellers are below and these are a few of the people on bus number 1.

In the picture from left to right we have myself (obvs), Bryce, Jerry Mr Saff (our fearless leader) Trish, our driver ‘J’, Osama, Kris and Singapore radio DJ celebrity Josh. Missing from the team photo is Colin, James, Sami & Anita. A truly wonderful eclectic mix of people all with different backgrounds and knowledge.

We arrived at the next plantation in the pitch black due to the delay so we were unable to see any of the coffee trees. This was a real shame but we stayed for dinner before heading out.  The farm Gunung Terong was a third generation coffee farm and is now run by Miss Helen who specialises of Speciality grade robusta coffee. With 800 hectares in total but 400 of those dedicated to the robusta plant, she produces approx only 400kg per year. I’m not the worlds biggest fan of robusta coffee but I few I tried at the farm were rather impressive I have to say. We all would have liked to stay with miss Helen for longer but we had a schedule to stick to so off we go again. Sunday Morning we are up and at them to spend most of the day at ICCRI (Indonesian Coffee & Cocoa Research Institute).

This is where all the research for Cofee and Cocoa takes place, an amazing set up with great Robusta & Cocoa farms on site. They spent alot of time looking into different variatals of coffee, disease, sustainability and global warming. 

After a quick cupping session I had chance to wander round and even bumped into a familiar piece of equipment, a Probat BRZ-2 sample roaster.

We then had a tour of the estate, I got to see my first cocoa plant and seed, absolutely fascinating not too mention some really healthy looking robusta trees .

 Now I don’t know about you, but up until a few yaers ago, I had no idea where chocolate came from, so to be able to see the cocoa plant in the flesh was really quite special. It was great to be able to walk around and see all the plants and learn what was taking place at the ICCRI, it really was a cracking day and long may they keep up the good work. We left the ICCRI and headed out on a long drive to Mount Bromo. We arrived at our Mount Bromo Guesthouse late on so If was a quick bite and then to bed. Alarm was set for 2am, we needed to leave the guesthouse at 2:30 in order to get to the summit to watch the sunrise. We drove for about 1 hour and then walked the rest, I managed to grab a little local tea en route.

We arrived at the summit and played the waiting game. My pic and videos really don’t do this justice but, honestly being able to watch the break of dawn was really quite moving. Despite the fact we were in a large group and there were several hundered other tourists there, when the sun peaked its head, there was a gentle silence and awe of what we were watching. Breathtaking = understatement. 

Next stop was to visit the Bromo Volcano after seeing the sunrise. Having never seen an active volcano, I wasn’t really sure on what to expect, however, I wasn’t expecting that. We parked up and started the hour climb to the top.

It was beautifully clear, not too hot, amazing conditions really. a quick break for a bottle of water not a bad little view for your shop is it ! After this we carried on climbing. The view was nothing like anything I had ever experienced before. 

There was a particular lack of safety barriers around the Volcano and I must admit that I  was a little scared, this was a steep drop into something quite terrifying. The noise from this thing was incredible, I sat for a while on the dusty floor taking in this experience, the wonder of mother nature, the beauty of this area and felt honoured and so so lucky that my work in coffee has given me this opportunity to visit and experience this with new friends Ozzie, Jerry and Mackenzie from our group.

After heading back to the guesthouse for breakfast and then we set off for the PT. INDOKOM CITRA PERSADA processing plant.

After a quick talk by Saff, David and Colin we were introduced and shown round by the Q grader and the plants owner son Danny. We had a look at the fantastic bits of kits and the drying beds and even got to watch some of the team sort the coffee.

Now the really exciting bit………..cupping, The cupping was brilliant, some amazing coffees all from the local area 

Danny and I chatted for a while and I grabbed some green bean samples to bring back. It was a great plant, producing great coffees and a brilliant way to spend the afternoon. What a way to spend my time at work : ) This was our last bit of time in Java so we headed to the airport to head over to Bali for the rest of our tour, I won’t talk about the 5 hour delay in the airport or being awake for now 26 hours as these things happen. Thank you Java, it’s been emotional,

So the Blawen Guesthouse was nice but I forgot that Indonesia is predominately a muslim country, It was a little bit of a  shock when I was awoken at 03:30 by the call to prayer. I did take the opportunity to take a little stroll round the estate and watch the sun come up on the surrounding mountains, so peaceful & beautiful.

After another fantastic Indonesian breakfast, we had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Balawan Coffee plantation mill. This is a huge government owned and operated coffee farm. With 4000 hectres of perfectly conditioned coffee tress this was a real treat. We started with a tour of the drying patios. Huge areas of concrete with about 4 cm deep worth of coffee drying on them. These are left for approx 2 - 3 weeks until they have reached the required moisture content, roughly 13% of moisture.

It was amazing to see the drying process in action, watching the farmers carefully turn and agitate all the beans to ensure they don’t spoil was fantastic. We then went into the factory to see all the processes that need to happen before the drying can take place. I had a good knowledge of how coffee was processed but to see it in the flesh, again was brilliant. I won’t go into detail into the whole process but if you do want to know then please drop me a line. We start with the coffee pulper

Then we move onto the fermentation/washing tanks, they also go through a second wash as the beans get put through the trough below. This gives the beans a second wash but also helps sort out any defects

The now clean beans need be dried so off they head to the drying patios. Once the beans are dried, they are put through the mill to remove the parchment that is still on the bean. They then go through a mechanical gravity sorter. This shakes the beans though various holes to determine the screen size

Seeing all this truly was incredible.

Next stop is the coffee fields. At approx 1254 meters above sea level

I saw, in the flesh my first coffee tree & cherry.

We then teamed up with one of the local ladies who do the picking and also met  a wonderfully nice lady who like to be called Bee.

It was great to see and experience picking the cherries with a true pro. I found the whole experience of being in the field quite moving, It’s something that I have wanted to do for some time and now, here I am, experiencing it! Privileged is a understatement. What a morning, some amazing coffees, beautiful surroundings, a day I will not forget for a long long time. Back on the bus and then a short drive back to Ljen Mountains to see one of the farms that belong to the Ljen Estate we visited on Thursday. Unexpectedly we arrived to find the Bupati had organised a huge town party in our honour. The police, army and all the locals from the surroundings villages were there. Everybody wanted a selfie with us, including the local army division, it was crazy but fantastic at the same time.

We were ushered through the crowds so quickly that I didn’t get chance to speak to any of the crowd which was a shame but the atmosphere of the whole event was electric. We had a walk into the plantation and saw some beautifully maintained trees as well as some really ripe cherries.

Again It was really beautiful seeing all the greens and reds of the plants, I was in heaven. At this point, I was asked by the local TV crew to do a small Interview whilst walking through the plantation talking about my thoughts on Bondowoso coffee, I was of course, very complimentary and we a good chuckle #localcelebrity

After I spent a little time, wandering around the coffee plants, taking in the whole experience we were again presented with a wonderful spread of the local food & fruits for our lunch. The hospitality and welcome we received from everybody here, from the Bupati, the farmers, the pickers and security are second to none.

So it’s fair to say I’ve covered some miles since my last message. 6 hours over to Doha, 2 hours in the airport. 10 hours Doha to Denpasar. 9 hours in the airport Hotel and then 40 mins flight from Denpasar to Surabaya. The flights were all excellent and arrived in Surabaya feeling fresh. I was picked up at the airport by the fantastic Mr Syafrudin, the Head of the Indonesia chapter of the SCA. We headed over to the hotel where the welcome dinner was to take place, and what a welcome dinner it was. We were greeted and treated to some traditional Indonesian music, ‘Gamelan’  

which was fantastic and a real privilege to watch. As we started to eat the amazing buffet of Indonesian cuisine I started to get to know the group. On the field trip there is 21 people from 11 different countries, all with different levels of coffee knowledge but everybody so far has been super nice, remembering names is an issue though.

After a great meal we were all eager to start another day.

Up at a decent time this morning (friday) to embark on what we thought was a four hour coach ride to meet the Bupati of Bondowoso, this turned into a six hour coach ride. We did managed a cheeky stop to sample a ‘ginger coffee’ at a road side shack, this was some local Bondowoso coffee with a spoonful of ground ginger mixed in, I liked it. I also saw a monkey so win win all round really.

The Bupati is the Major of the Bondowoso area at if was fantastic of him (and his team) to welcome us and also provide lunch. I managed a quick chat and photo with him but he is a busy man. 

After lunch and a quick couple of coffees we had a police escort up to the Ljen Coffee Estate. At last, i was going to see the coffee cherry in its natural state for the first time : )

The Ljen Coffee Estate is a grouping of 25 farmers owning 68 hectares in the surrounding area of the Ljen mountains. We were treated to a quick demo of the coffee pulping process as well as seeing all the drying beds not to mention the opportunity to cup different coffees from the estate. 

I thought some of the coffees were fantastic, nice and bright, great balance and some unusual flavours I had not tried before. This is where I saw and opened my first red coffee cherry. I’ve read a lot about them but it was a really special moment for me to see them in the flesh.

 I even tried some of the mucilage, a sweet stick substance in-between the bean and cherry, I enjoyed it, a lot!!

After the cupping, there was several more coffees to try as espresso of filter if we wish, and you guessed it, I tried them. We left the Ljen Estate at around 6pm and headed for a 90 minute drive up to the Blawan guest house in the Ljen highlands.  This is in the heart of the coffee plantation, but unfortunately it was pitch black on the drive through so still not seen the cherry on the tree, tomorrow though : )

It’s a strange feeling...

Having work in the hospitality trade for over 15 years I felt that I needed a change of direction. I got to know Cafeology as they supplied the pub where I was working at the time. They were on the look out for a new delivery driver. I applied for the role and as luck would have it I got the Job : ) It didn’t start to well as I managed to scratch the van in the first week ( I think they have forgiven me by now) but things improved very quickly At this time I was enjoying the odd latte with two sugars, I wouldn't dream of trying an espresso let alone think of where I am now. Some years passed and my passion and interest in coffee continued to grow and develop, first the sugar went, then I moved from Latte to Americano to filter coffee and even Espresso. Now you will be hard to find me without a nice black filter coffee, (or the odd craft beer) Cafeology wanted to start Roasting some of their coffee for the local Yorkshire market, We had some long discussions and I was given the opportunity to head up our new project ‘Roastology’. I jumped at this chance and we started setting up our very own Roastery based in Sheffield. My education into coffee really started to kick in, I passed my SCAE foundation & Intermediate ‘Coffee Roasting’ qualifications at the UK HQ of Diedrich Roasters, I then passed my (now) SCA Green coffee & sensory skills qualifications. I started to visit all the coffee festivals around Europe and even got the chance to demo some of my espresso on the Rancilio stand at this years London coffee festival. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I am lucky to know a couple of Q graders that have really helped me develop over the last year. I am now then Head of Coffee at Roastology and love my job, I get to try new origins, roast coffee, create new products, work with customers and basically, I get paid to talk about coffee all day, lucky guy At Roastology we have created some fantastic products and I am really hoping this trip will allow me to learn so much more as well as give me the chance to source some brand new fantastic green bean. I hope you will enjoy reading my blog and stay tuned for more updates as my trip develops…. That for now, is Steve out…

My experience at Cafeology.

On the 24th of October I spent a few days working and learning beside my Auntie Toni and Uncle Bryan in order to watch and learn how they manage and run their business. I have come out of the experience highly motivated to succeed within my own business interests. During my time with Cafeology I learnt how all aspects of the business worked and took place. First I learnt and shadowed my Auntie Toni sorting all the accounts and financial expenses. This was eye opening to see how important it is to monitor and manage finance and accounts in order for the business to run successfully. This includes ensuring profit revenue but in order to do this Cafeology ensure to exceed and meet customer satisfaction. They do this by taking pride in what they do and realising the significance of the quality of coffee and customer service they provide to buyers.

Cafeology genuinely care and are highly passionate about the quality of coffee and products they offer to customers. I have learnt this when viewing and shadowing coffee tasting and testing etc. This consists of tasting and reviewing products in order to ensure high quality taste and the additional expected qualities. Concerning coffee I was lucky enough to see raw coffee beans called cherries in their original form which were to my surprise green. After the cherry’s have been picked from their trusted suppliers within locations such as Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala, they are then roasted in a huge oven-like machine in order to produce the brown coffee bean. I was surprised as factors as little as weathering or dints in coffee beans can strongly effect the flavour and taste of the end product. This is all took closely into consideration by Cafeology by ensuring the quality of coffee beans are to a high standard to produce premium end products offered to customers.

Another lesson learnt from my time at Cafeology is the significance in maintaining strong relationships with all stakeholders. Cafeology exceeded my expections by the levels of personal relationships they have with not only their customers but their overall workforce including their suppliers overseas. I was shown videos by my Uncle Bryan that he had recorded when visiting the farmers within the various locations as listed previously who supply their Coffee beans. I was told they visit their suppliers frequently. This is important in order to maintain a strong relationship to ensure and produce a positive perception of Cafeology and their business. Cafeology claim to be ‘100% ethical’ in everything they do and I can say from my experience I strongly agree with this statement. They follow this statement by offering products which carry recognised marks such as Fairtrade, Rainforest allowance and Soil association. This shows the ethical factors Cafeology have and work with in order to make a difference to the farmers who they buy supply’s from. This also illustrates how Cafeology genuinely see the significance and importance in supporting their suppliers financially and professionally.

Aswell as their suppliers, customers are taken strongly into consideration by the Cafeology workforce ensuring all orders are accurate and to a high quality. They hold personal meetings with their customers and maintain a healthy positive relationship with each individual buyer. I saw the importance of high level customer service to secure good relationships, customer confidence and repeat sales. I am confident to say Cafeology is a highly trusted supplier and will ensure to meet all expectations and needs of a customer.

A Day in the Trade @Cafeology by Hannah Minifie 

I was lucky enough to spend a day at Cafeology with my Aunt and Uncle, where I learnt about the principles of business and many interesting facts about coffee. I have grown up with Cafeology being a thriving business, so I was very interested in how the business was set up, i.e.how their suppliers were found; through a green bean broker. 

 I started the day by visiting the warehouse in Vantage park to learn about how the supplies were arranged and released. I found out that the items are stored by popularity with the most popular at the front near the office so they can be packaged quicker and the less frequently ordered at the back. I also saw the forklift truck in action lifting items off the high shelf. In addition I saw the order  come in from master-roast, the roastery, then I saw the bags with a hole in it from the hook and a large slit where the  beans were emptied, when their package was opened. I additionally asked  about delivery, coffee is either delivered straight from the roastery, by interlink for next day, shepherds for pallets or  hand delivery using their own vans. 

 Then when we went to the office I helped to pay the wages for the pod in Decathlon, under careful supervision to make sure I didn't add any extra 0s!

 Next I learnt about the processes used to get the coffee to the consumer. First it is grown and picked when it is ripe, then the red cherry is removed, this  is called  pulping. It is then sun dried and milled to remove the yellow parchment. Then it is cupped to check the quality at both the farms and the port. Then it is shipped to Tilbury in Essex, delivered to master-roast and roasted and has to pass meticulous tests before being sent to consumers or the warehouse when ordered. The freshness of the coffee can be determined by the batch number year week week day. 

 I also learnt about how instant coffee is made, it is freeze-dried. Decaffeinated coffee is made using one of two methods; the chemical method or the Swiss water method. 

 After learning about this Toni drew me a diagram to show  how orders were processed and dispatched and another about how the office worked. Then I helped Kristie process an order and edit the stock charts accordingly.

 I then went on an emergency delivery to a customer who had run out of something and needed their delivery a day early, this shows the dedication of Cafeology to their customers and their desire to never say no. After returning and asking lots of questions over lunch I learnt about and discussed assets and liabilities; what you have and haven't got. Examples of assets are stock, money in the bank and debtors, examples of liabilities are creditors, overdrafts and loans.  I also learnt that assets-liabiities=working capital and cash is king.

 Then my Uncle and I made hot chocolate from the raw ingredients-  100% cocoa and cane sugar which we added to hot milk. Next I made hot chocolate using cocoa ology powder and hot milk and wrote down the method so I could make it at home. Finally we checked to see if any invoices had come through and finished by tidying up and getting all my things together.

 I was nervous before I went but once I met everyone that melted away, the team at Cafeology welcomed me and helped me to learn many new things and turn my brain on after having it on standby for so long during my summer holidays! They were really helpful and kind when I asked them questions or chatted to them which shows that it pays to have a little confidence as if not I would have never had the courage to meet such amazing people. 

 I learnt many new and valuable things whilst still having fun, so altogether it was a great day.

20th April 2016 Asoapia, Colombia - by Bryan Unkles, Cafeology Founder and Director After a good night’s sleep, I woke up at 6am - 90 minutes before we were due to meet. It was a good opportunity to catch up with some work before heading out. Bang on 07.30 Pacho arrived in the living area from his apartment above and the three of us headed downstairs to the office. It looks like we were too keen as the coffee hadn't been put on yet! This was a disaster but Pacho soon got it brewing. We then headed off to Fanny's for breakfast, passing one of Asoapia's competitors, so Pacho took me in and introduced me. A funny moment, but great to see them getting on so well. Not remotely hungry, I once again tried the local dish which was scrambled egg with rice. It sounds strange but tasted great. The breakfast was accompanied with a large bowl of hot chocolate, something which I was advised is extremely popular in Colombia for breakfast.

Shortly after breakfast we returned to the office and met our driver Sigifredo Moncada in a 40-year-old jeep - amazing vehicle, which is clearly built to last! Sigifredo is a farmer within the 450-strong cooperative, so he knows how to get up the steep hills of Apia.

We then headed off up the mountain - they really are mountains - to visit a couple of plantations and hand out some gifts, mostly clothes, which had been donated by both Cafeology and our customers.

The plantations were in great shape and this year’s yield looks to be an excellent one. The driver left us at the plantation which was at 1662m as Pacho wanted to take us on a walk and show us this area of natural beauty. Keeping up with Pacho was taking some doing as he is incredibly fit and despite the heavy rain experienced during the night, it was Mariano and I that found traction on the steeper inclines a little more challenging.

Pacho then took us to his own wormery; something he set up as a teenager to produce compost. His father used to have a plantation that had cows on it and when he approached his father to use the cows’ excrement to form compost his father thought he was crazy.

After experimenting with the dung and worms he produced five tonnes of compost. He approached his father to see if he could use this in his coffee plantation but his kind offer was sternly rejected. Pacho explained that organic compost must contain dung: “anyone who says different is talking s#*t” he joked. He then decided to use it with the fruit trees (oranges, lemons, bananas etc.). It was a huge success and Pacho approached his brother to buy a coffee farm, which was Pacho’s introduction into coffee in 2005. After travelling to the SCAA, he decided to purchase some more coffee plants but this proved expensive. He managed to buy a small amount of trees and now has a significant plantation which forms part of the cooperative. We were then met by Sigifredo who took us to another farm which was sizable. Whilst looking at the African drying beds I was met by a familiar face, Enrique, who was running a different farm, La Clarita, when I met him in 2009.

It was great to see him and his family again and good to know he's growing his production at the new farm. After leaving that farm Sigifredo took us past La Clarita farm and we headed to a view point to take photos of the town.

We then made a trip up the other valley to visit another plantation within the cooperative. We were now over 1800m above sea level but the hot temperature was not cooling down. The views from here were spectacular. This area wasn't part of the cooperative when we visited in 2009 and back then there were only 246 members.

We also visited a small plantain farm. As Pacho knows everyone he can wander in anywhere so he introduced Mariano and I to the workers.

It was now getting towards lunchtime so we headed back down to Apia for lunch at - you've guessed it! - Fanny's. Once again, the police were also enjoying lunch and needless to say, Pacho knew all the customers in the cafe. We returned to the office for a meeting in which we discussed a number of things including the possibility of purchasing a mixed container of single estate coffees, which I will be talking to customers about on my return. I had taken some gifts with me, the main one being a knife set which was made in Sheffield. This also included a soft shell body warmer that thankfully fitted him perfectly.

I was presented with some coffee along with the banner that was hanging in the weighing station, as well as some cupping bowls and aprons and books on the wildlife in the area. All were packed in a rather swanky black and orange Asoapia bag. When challenged about the similarity to our brand colours, it was met with a mischievous laugh. If the colour scheme has been copied, it's certainly the biggest compliment I could ever wish for!

It was now getting late so when Mariano asked Pacho about the taxi back (to Pereira), he looked a little surprised. He had forgotten to book the cab... We were shortly on our way and 90 minutes later we would reach our hotel in Pereira ready for our flight back to Bogota in the morning. In the evening Mariana and I decided to venture out into the town for some food but disappointingly there was no Fanny's so it ended with a waffle... This was always going to be my highlight of the trip and so it turned out to be. Relationship coffee appears to be growing but very glad that we have seen this group develop over our seven-year relationship. Sustainability is at the heart of Cafeology and although our coffees may not always be the cheapest, I believe the quality speaks for itself. It is Pacho's mission not to grow the cooperative but to continue produce even greater scoring (quality) coffee. Of course without your (our customers’) support, we would be unable to assist with this sustainable partnership and improve the lives of the farmers and their families of Apia. I am extremely grateful to both our producers and of course our customers.