Part-time barista needed at Transcend
By Poul Mark | March 10, 2010
It is true, we have been hiring a lot of new staff for T2. This however, is a call for a dedicated individual who is in love with coffee, drinking it, rolling in it, wearing it, dreaming about it…
you get the picture, to come and work at the mothership. Previous experience as a barista is always a plus, but if you haven’t had the chance yet to get behind the bar, but have always dreamt of it, then drop us a line. We are looking for someone who can do both opening and closing shifts, and is also available for some Saturday shifts (which by the way, is the craziest and most fun day to work at Transcend). So, let me reiterate, you must be crazy about the dark nectar that we all work with every day. If you are, we can promise you entry into a great team of people who work hard and play hard too. Interested folk can send inquiries or resumes to melanie@transcendcoffee.com
Topics: job postings | No Comments »
Reorganized roastery…. and beyond
By Poul Mark | March 8, 2010
Chad spent quite a few hours reorganizing the roastery this weekend. We had a chat last week where he indicated that there was room for improvement with the current set-up in the roastery, and wanted to tweak the way it was set-up in order to both create a better work space and make the roastery more efficient. For me, this was a no-brainer and I set him free. To be honest I wasn’t prepared for what I walked in on yesterday, as what I witnessed was a major overhaul to what I was used to. This is not to convey, in any way, any displeasure with the change, but it was a shock nonetheless. You see, the roastery has remained largely unchanged in its orientation for the past 3 years. All in all, it was a good reminder for me how things can become needlessly entrenched after a while, especially when there is no impetus to change, or external pressure to adapt.
We are at a crossroads of sorts at Transcend right now as we prepare for the opening of T2 (yes, it is delayed, and we hope to be open mid April). This is the most significant thing we have ever done, and apart from simply raising the cash to get the job started, hiring 8 new baristas and getting them trained and ready to rock Edmonton with a spanky new cafe is monumental. The truth of the matter is that every day I do something that I have never done before. I had never roasted coffee professionally before opening Transcend. I had never been a barista before opening Transcend. I had never been a boss before opening Transcend. You get the picture, of how each day in this exciting industry brings new and challenging experiences into my life, and now into the lives of those working alongside of me. Truthfully it is often overwhelming, and it requires serious self-assesment, at least on my part, to be willing to acknowledge that I don’t have everything figured out, and that the way we have done it in the past, is not necessarily the way it should be done anymore. I find it hard to believe how quickly things change, and how fast the organization has grown into something other than a few coffee geeks hanging out serving coffee. Now Transcend is a “real” company with many employees, and the challenges it faces daily to maintain not only quality but accessibility to our customers can be daunting. Having said that, we are up for the challenge. We remain more committed than ever in increasing the quality of our coffee, in addition to the experience that accompanies the drink. To that end, we remain open as always to customer feedback about both drink quality and customer satisfaction. At the end of the day, this journey I began over four years ago continues to be one that constantly amazes me with unique opportunities to grow and learn about both coffee and business on a daily basis.
Topics: Owner Opinion | No Comments »
Ethiopia! – transcend coffee podcast – episode 17-march3
By James | March 4, 2010
Poul on location in Ethiopia discussing the state of the industry in the birthplace of coffee, with video and pitures from the ground-breaking mobile roasting and cupping tour of Sidamo and Yirgacheffe regions.
Topics: Transcend podcast, coffee education | No Comments »
Ethiopia reflections
By Poul Mark | March 3, 2010
Since I arrived home on Sunday (sleeping only 4 hours out of 48), I have firstly been trying to get caught up and readjusted to Mountain time, but more importantly, I have been thinking a lot about the trip. People inevitably ask me how my trip was and what were the highlights. Truthfully, it is a bit hard to answer these questions, as the trip – especially the drive out to Yirgacheffe and Sidamo – was overwhelming. The landscape and topography of Southern Ethiopia is beautiful. The people of Ethiopia are beautiful too, and are plentiful. I found it hard to comprehend that there were so many people, and people everywhere; on the roads at all times of day, doing all manners of tasks. There is dramatic poverty, visible hardship, and yet at the same time there is much laughter, hard work, learning and playing.
In terms of coffee, I truthfully barely scratched the surface of what Ethiopia has to offer. While in Ethiopia I learned that there are literally thousands of varieties of arabica coffee growing wild in the forests. It is speculated that unique varietals are lost each year, as forests are cut down for agricultural expansion. I had the opportunity to learn first hand about this, while out for dinner on Saturday evening before leaving for home. By happenstance, I had the pleasure of meeting Samson Guma who owns both a washing station in the Wollega region, and now has recently purchased a farm in that region as well. He is an articulate man (having lived in the US for 25 years) and is thoughtful and passionate about Ethiopia coffee. He is committed to not only growing quality coffee but preserving the forest in which the coffee grows as well. Samson (or Sammy as he is known by his friends) was the first to have a farmers group – Anfilo Specialty Coffee Enterprise – (ASCE) certified bird friendly coffee by the Smithsonian in Ethiopia. This group of around 118 farmers when first established, would bring their coffee cherries to Samaon’s washing station where the coffee was processed and prepared for export.
In our dinner discussion, Samson informed me that in the 500 hectares or so, where the Anfilo farmers grow their coffee, they talk about 10 – 12 distinct varietals of arabica coffee. They have their own names for the coffee, based on the taste variation they have grown familiar with. I was excited about this taste variation and asked Samson whether he would be willing to harvest 5 – 10 lbs of coffee next year from each of these unique growing zones so that we could cup them and begin to establish micro lots from the Wollega region. He was excited by the prospect, and I think that the future of my work in Ethiopia is going to be directly related to discovering more amazing washed coffees, and working with local producers to increase both quality and their exposure to the Canadian market.
At the end of the day, the coffee industry in Ethiopia is complicated. There are so many dynamics at play in terms of the growing, production, and exporting of green coffee. Currently most domestically sold coffee fetches a higher price than the coffee that is exported. This is a problem. The newly established ECX was created to both clamp down on corruption, as well as establishing standards for the grading of coffee traded in the country. The system is still young, and there are still issues at play from my perspective; but I am sure that over the next year or two, things will get sorted out, and begin to operate more efficiently. One of the challenges still facing roasters in North America is the timely delivery of green coffee from Ethiopia. Currently it takes too long to get coffee out, once a contract is signed. We are looking at bringing in around 60 bags of coffee from Yirgacheffe and Sidamo, and realistically, we are hoping to have those coffees on our doorstep by July, which is too long in my opinion.
Having said all of this, I still think Ethiopia has much potential and many opportunities to introduce the world to some amazing coffees — some of which have never been tasted. What is exciting for me is that I will hopefully get to be a part, albeit a very tiny part, of supporting and encouraging that process. So on a final note, I want to thank everyone in Ethiopia who made my visit so rewarding, Dante, Abdullah, Tom and his staff, Aylwyn, Avy, Samson, the folks at Aregash lodge, and yes, even our goto cabbie, Teddy. Until next year….
Topics: Coffee Origin, Owner Opinion | No Comments »
UKBC Semi – Finals
By Poul Mark | February 28, 2010
EAVB_IRERJVOQZD
Topics: Competitions | No Comments »
Willem Boot’s Video on the Cupping Caravan
By Poul Mark | February 26, 2010
Topics: Transcend on the Road | 2 Comments »
A Response to Jody’s Question
By Poul Mark | February 26, 2010
Jody Carlson asked me whether or not we cupped any great naturals on our cupping caravan. I thought I would respond to his question as a new post, as it is an interesting question.
Jody, to my surprise, we only cupped one natural on the entire caravan cupping trip. Out of 27 coffees, we cupped the Worka natural. The Worka scored well on the whole, I gave it 86-87 points which categorizes it as a Q+ coffee. It had floral and red fruit, berries and spice on the nose. In the cup it was guava with nice balanced acidity. I would be happy to serve this coffee at Transcend. Having said that, we tasted some washed coffees which were home runs in comparison. As I have learned on this trip, I should not have been surprised to only taste one dry processed coffee in the Sidamo and Yirgacheffe regions as they are predisposed to washing coffees there (although in Yirgacheffe, only 1/3 of the coffees produced are washed). Obviously Harrar is very well known for its natural coffees, but that has a lot to do with the climate and the lack of water available in that part of Ethiopia.
Frankly some of the washed coffees we tasted on this trip blew my mind. I definitely went to school on this trip in terms of what is possible in the cup when it comes to washed coffees. We cupped a washed coffee from the Aleta Wondo region which blew my mind. Most of the people cupping this coffee scored it 90+ and frankly it was one of the best coffees I have ever tasted out of Ethiopia; and it was definitely the best coffee we cupped on the caravan. But we will likely be buying a couple of beautiful coffees from Yirgacheffe and Sidamo which are washed, and possess amazing structure, flavour and sweetness. While I enjoy a great natural – we are selling the Amaro Gayo right now – they can often be a bit difficult to manage, and can present a challenge to the roaster. I am slowly starting to find myself being drawn away from the naturals, and being drawn more consistently towards the amazing washed coffees available, not only in Ethiopia but the rest of the coffee world.
Ethiopia is a treasure trove of coffee. There are thousands of varietals of arabica coffee growing wild in the forests of Ethiopia which have yet to be identified. I could spend the rest of my life only drinking Ethiopian coffee and probably never come close to experiencing all that this country has to offer. One thing that I have learned on this trip is that there are some delicious and beautiful washed coffees and there are so many more that have staggering potential. Like everywhere else where coffee is grown, the key to great coffee is picking ripe cherries and then processing that ripe fruit in a careful and attentive manner. One of the issues we encountered at a few co-ops had to do with inconsistent drying techniques. Bear in mind that these were all washed coffees, and still we found that the parchment was not properly dried. As a result the cup quality was significantly compromised. This simply goes to illustrate the challenges the farmers and co-ops face in processing their coffee. It isn’t easy, and frankly, processing natural coffee is even more risky for farmers. So in ending this long-winded response to your question Jody I would also refer you to the interesting and educational debate on natural vs. washed coffee over at James’ blog. If you haven’t read it, give yourself an hour, it is a long read but it is worth the time and effort. BTW, thanks for the question.
Topics: Transcend on the Road | 1 Comment »
Yirgacheffe and Sidama Updates
By Poul Mark | February 25, 2010
Mobile Cupping Unit (Feb 21, 2010)
Today we made our way from Addis to Yirgalem. The trip was quite long, all told we spent about 6 hours in the vans. On the whole the trip was quite easy, apart from the duration, we made our way without incident. The country side is dotted with farms and immaculately kept little properties. I was impressed with the level of care and concern that is obviously given to smallholder’s property. Some little farms have the traditional round huts, and others a more square type house, but regardless, all of the small farms I saw along the way were exceedingly well kept. We made our way to Awasa where we had some lunch, and then had our final stop in Yirgalem. After dinner we spent a good three hours getting together a mobile cupping lab. Starbucks had donated two mobile labs which consist of cups, a kettle, a Gene Cafe home roaster, a Barista grinder and all the other required items. It took us about 3 hours to finally get both roasters working off of the VW Van battery, which was hooked up to a 2300 watt inverter and then converted to 220 amp power for the european power requirements. We were up to after midnight, but after shortening runs, and doubling up cables, we finally had both roasters working and only drawing 2100 watts which was completely manageable. The mobile lab is our back-up plan, as we hope for power at the stops we make tomorrow, but if we don’t have power, the mobile lab is completely operational. This was a cool little project, that hopefully can be replicated in other countries too.
Yirgacheffe, a day with the Co-ops (Feb 22, 2010)
I am writing this email at 10:30 Ethiopia time. We are in a bit rough of a hotel, no hot water in my room, loud music in the empty bar, and I am tired as we have had a full day of roasting, cupping, and meeting with producers. We were at two co-op stations today, first at Bale Kara and then after a late lunch at a station which featured the likes of Koke, Konga and Harfu Sa. After being up late last night and getting up early today, I am pretty tired. Today was a good day though as I tasted a couple of coffees, maybe three which would fall into the 87 – 90 point range. All of the coffees today were washed, meaning that they possessed very defined acidity, quite nice fruit, floral characteristics, and decent body to boot. By the way, did I say already that I am really tired. I need and want to go to bed, but I don’t want to get into the bed in my room. I want the music to go away, truth be told, I want to teleport home just to have a good sleep in my own bed. I think I will probably come home 10 lbs lighter than when I left. In addition to cupping a bunch of very nice coffees today, we also spent time with some of the co-ops, chatting with them about issues of quality and their concerns about processing in general. The bottom line is that while there is spectacular coffee in Ethiopia, there is also room for improvement, and I know that some of the co-ops can do better quality than they currently do now; given the potential that we tasted today which could be even better with more care and attention towards picking ripe coffee, and also more care in the processing of it. All in all it has been a day where I learned more form the farmers than we taught them.
Aleta Wondo (Feb 23, 2010)
We are just in the midst of setting up our mobile cupping lab. Today with Jeremy’s help we have better electrical contacts and we think that we will be able to roast with two machines instead of one like yesterday. We have 9 coffees to roast and cup today. Yesterday was a good day in terms of cupping. We stopped at two washing stations and cupped 9 coffees. After cupping we review our scores with the farmers present and allow for questions and answers. Willem does his spiel every day with the farmers explaining the value chain of coffee extending from the consumer in North America all the way down to the farmer in Ethiopia. It is a visual presentation, which seems to engage the farmers. I am typing this post sitting out in the open beside the running diesel Volkswagen Transporter which powers our mobile lab. The caravan crew is scattered about and the farmers from this co-op are all gathered behind me.
Everywhere we go we are a spectacle. The kids are continually running up to us yelling “you you you you you you you you” in a melodic way, and while they typically are asking us for a donation, they are mostly just curious about all of us white folk driving in caravan across their country. They love getting their photo taken and are thrilled to see themselves in the view finder; the joy of digital photography when at origin. Ethiopia is nothing at all like Latin America; not that I expected it to be, but now that I have been here, I can speak with authority about how differently things operate here compared to Central America. The discussions with the various co-ops have been very instructive for me. We hear the same question being asked over and over, which essentially gets boiled down to asking for more money for the cherries picked. Our answer has consistently focused on the correlation between quality and the price we are willing to pay for cherries. Other issues are also talked about, for example when we were talking to members of the Harfusa co-op the other day, one of their frustrations had to do with their eco pulper (or micro mill) which wasn’t separating the green cherries from the red cherries. Part of solution to this issue is properly calibrating the pulper, but the more important issue identified in this concern has to do more with harvesting, and specifically harvesting not just red cherries. All in all, the conversations have been very useful, for both us and the co-ops and they have been very grateful that we would make the time to come and not only visit, but cup their coffees with them right at the washing stations.
Side note, our power inverter is misbehaving again today, so now we are down to one roaster which will slow us down. Mr. Ryan Brown from Ritual Coffee is at the Gene Cafe today, replacing me. I have been roasting all the samples for the last couple of days and thought some one else should get to burn their hands and push the red button.
I have much to write about this trip, as I have learned so much. I am actually pretty overwhelmed and have a lot to process. Obviously the basics of coffee harvesting and processing remain the same no matter where you are in the world. Pick red cherries and take care in the processing of the fruit regardless of whether it is a natural or washed process, or something in between. But the social dynamics here are completely different than they are in Costa Rica, or Panama, or any other country, which is no surprise. At the end of the day we are all about finding great quality coffee, and I think the responsibility of roasters within the specialty industry is to pay more money for quality when they find it. Within the specialty industry, roasters have to start thinking about more than just differentials and the C market. I know that I am willing to pay more, and I also know that I need to pay more for coffee, so long as that price corresponds to the quality provided. I know that I need to work harder at the relationships I have established already, and in building new relationships. I know that I need to work harder at communicating my expectations to both importers and farmers, so that they understand what I need, but at the same time, I then have to be prepared to reward the quality when provided, and not simply pocket any increased margins. The growing realization for me is that we need to work together, and thankfully in this day and age of technology and efficient travel, it is much easier to build relationships and work together than ever before.
Topics: Transcend on the Road | 1 Comment »
Bagersh Cupping
By Poul Mark | February 20, 2010
Today we got up and all headed over to Abdullah Bagersh’s office for a cupping of mostly washed Ethiopia coffee. Almost all of the coffee we cupped today was purchased on the ECX, so traceability ends at the Bagersh warehouse. The cupping was quite enjoyable, and truthfully it is the best cupping we have had so far in Ethiopia.
The highlight of the day though was the ad hoc session we had with Abdullah before the cupping started. Abdullah who is both an exporter in Ethiopia (famous for the Aricha and Beloya coffees of former years, now lost to the ECX) is also on the ECX board. He spent over an hour with us walking us through the logistics of the ECX, giving us the history and rational which influenced the implementation of the ECX. It was a great session and I learned so much about the current process and had opportunity to ask questions which clarified a lot of things for me. It was great to have time with someone so knowledgeable and integrated into the Ethiopian coffee culture. Abdullah is a passionate and positive man focused on raising the quality of Ethiopian coffee to new heights. I was excited to hear that he has a number of farms in various regions in Ethiopia, which means that in the years to come, he will be able to sell traceable coffee either directly or even through the DST if he so chooses. He is committed to raising quality, now in terms of horticulture, harvesting, processing and timely delivery. My hat goes off to him for his hospitality and his willingness to spend time with us all on a Saturday. Tomorrow we depart Addis and head south towards Sidama and Yirgacheffe.
Topics: Transcend on the Road | No Comments »
Starting to get my legs back
By Poul Mark | February 19, 2010
To be honest, today is the first day since I left on Sunday where I have begun to feel like I wasn’t run over by a bus. It is amazing what a 10 hour time shift will do to your physical and mental well being. Ethiopia (or I should say Addis Ababa, as we haven’t been anywhere else) is overwhelming in many ways. The smells, the sights, the food, the noise, the traffic, it all is so different than my cold world of Edmonton. The people here are very nice, friendly, and everyone I have met has been great. The crew along for the Round Table and Cupping Caravan are great too. We have a good contingent with representation from Greece, Germany, the USA, and me the one Canadian. Today was a networking day, and a day of cupping. I got to see first hand the new grain pro bag with a ziplock (exciting). We also finished the day off with a bit of a crazy cupping outside of the Hilton, and I say crazy as there were about 50 people cupping around a table with only three bowls per coffee. It is always a bit of a gong show when that many people are trying to get around a table in a reasonable amount of time. We were then over to Trabocca’s office to cup the coffee that Menno and his crew have for sale this year.
To be honest, I am itching to get out of Addis and into the country of Sidama and Yirgacheffe. I am bracing myself for the long trip, but am anxious to see the country side and the coffee. It seems odd to travel half way around the world to spend time at a Hilton hotel (as nice as it is). Once again I am reminded of the relationships we build in the specialty coffee world, and that is what continues to drive me forward; that and the great coffee we get to drink. Tomorrow morning we are supposed to do a bit more cupping, and then the rest of the day is free (Lion Zoo here I come). Then it is off to the south of Ethiopia on Sunday morning. Events like this one continue to reinforce how much I have to learn, and how little I really know about coffee. Ethiopia is a whole new world for me, both in terms of flavours, regions, culture, quality. It is easy for me to start to think more of myself than I ought to when I just spend time in Edmonton. There people tend to think of me as the “coffee guy”. Here I am a nobody, someone who doesn’t understand much of anything going on. Sure I still know what I like, and what I don’t, but apart from that, I am back in kindergarden, looking wide eyed at all of the things which I have never seen before. It is what makes the world of specialty coffee so interesting and exotic; albeit sleep deprived and exhausted, I wouldn’t trade it in.
Topics: Transcend on the Road | No Comments »
