No Hype, Just Damn Good Coffee Westside Santa Cruz

We recently received this adorable write up and video short from a local realtor named Kristen Valenza. She completely nailed this description of us! Thanks Kristen!

“First, there’s Alta Coffee. No sign screaming for attention, no overcooked branding campaign—just a quiet hum of authenticity. All-women-owned, organic beans, a menu written in that careful writing that tells you someone gives a damn. It’s the kind of place you stumble into and immediately feel like you’re in on a secret the world hasn’t ruined yet… I mean if you care about coffee, about atmosphere, about people doing things the right way for the right reasons—go.”

Journey Coffee Makes and Processing Green Beans

Here at Alta Organic, we care deeply about the planet. Here's Part 2 of our newsletter talking about coffee, coffee farming and ways they are fighting to combat global warming. In this issue, we'll talk about the journey coffee makes and processing green beans.

There are two types of coffee beans - Robusta and Arabica. The Robusta bean grows in the lowlands and lacks the fragrance and flavor of the Arabica bean. The bean we are concerned with is the high grown, Arabica bean, growing at altitudes between 2,000 - 7,000 feet in the mountains of the tropics called the Coffee Belt. The Arabica tree cannot tolerate extremely high or extremely low temperatures. That's why it grows best in well watered mountainous regions of the tropics.

Provided a coffee seedling does not meet with climatic disturbances or disease, 3-5 years will pass before it begins to produce a crop. Once it has begun producing berries, it will bear coffee for another 20 years. Generally, rainfall and temperature determine the number of annual harvests. Regions with two distinct wet seasons, such as Costa Rica, usually have two flowerings and two harvests per year. One Arabica tree will yield between 1 - 1 1/2 pounds of coffee beans per harvest.

The coffee bean is really a seed that grows inside a berry. For the sweetest flavor the berries are picked when the fruit is red. Workers walk between rows of trees with baskets or bags around their waists, leaving both hands free to pick the ripe cherries. The workers must return to the trees more than once because all the cherries do not ripen at the same time. It is important to remember that there are no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers used on organic farms so the workers, including men, women and children, are not at any health risk. On "technified farms" the increase in birth defects and cancer due to chemicals used is astounding.

Green Bean Processing
Once the harvest concludes, processing must take place to remove the coffee beans inside each cherry. Two processing methods exist, the wet (washed) method and the dry (unwashed) method.

The processing method helps determine the ultimate flavor of the brewed coffee. For example, wet processed coffees tend to have a cleaner flavor, while dry processed coffees often exhibit a heavier body. In the wet method, a machine breaks away the cherries' outer skin, removing most of the pulp and exposing the parchment-covered beans. To remove the sticky coating called mucilage, the beans are placed in large tanks of water to ferment for about 24 hours and then are thoroughly washed. At this point when the water is released, it flows into nearby rivers so it is critical there are no chemicals in the berries that could end up in the water polluting the streams and rivers big time. The clean beans dry in the sun for up to six weeks or are dried by a machine. In the last step, a hulling (milling) machine removes some of the parchment and silver skin to expose the green beans. They range in color from blue/green or gray/green and tend to command higher prices because of the additional labor and equipment involved in the processes.

Some countries such as Sumatra and Ethiopia use the oldest and simplest method of processing - the dry method. In this method, the ripe cherries partially dry whole on the tree and then are spread out in the sun on patios. Raked and turned several times a day for another two or three weeks. Finally, the dried beans are put through hulling machines to remove the dried pulp, parchment and silver skin. Dry processed coffee tend to be greenish to brownish in color. These coffees are often referred to as naturals and usually have more body and earthy overtones after roasting.

Reference: Biological Conservation Newsletter #161.

Birds, Beans and Global Warming

Here at Alta Organic, we deeply care about the planet and strive to do our part to combat global warming and support local and organic businesses. Over the next couple of months, we will be featuring articles that talk about coffee, coffee farming and ways they are fighting to combat global warming. In this issue, we'll talk about biodiversity and coffee in Latin America.

During Fall, fair weather birds of the United States leave in droves for Mexico and Central America in search of a patch of forest in which to sit out the harsh winter until the next breeding season. Unfortunately, less and less forest awaits them every year due to clearing. As little as 10% of the original forest cover remains in some Latin American countries, so many birds have sought refuge in the next best thing: coffee farms. Traditional coffee farms to be more exact.

In traditional coffee farms the shade tolerant coffee shrubs are grown beneath a canopy of native forest trees intermingled with fruit trees and other plants. A wide range of migratory birds such as tanagers, orioles, warblers, and vireos as well as year round residents such as parrots, toucans, trogons and woodpeckers (few of which actually eat coffee berries) find this environment attractive. The number of bird species supported by traditional coffee farms is sometimes only exceeded in undisturbed tropical forests.

The ecologically diverse coffee farms also benefit farms economically by providing a variety of products for local consumption and sale, plus some insurance if coffee prices are low. Costs for the farmers are reduced too as the virtually self-sustaining ecosystem requires no pesticides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizers. These are supplanted by such phenomena as natural predation of insects by the diverse animal life, a mulching leaf litter that reduces evaporation, erosion and weed growth and a protective canopy that buffers against drying winds and eroding rain. Shade trees can provide another income source for some farmers who replace old shade trees and sell them as lumber or turn them into furniture to sell. Some bird-friendly trees are not only good for birds but beneficial to the farmers as well. Bird friendly trees can absorb nitrogen in the air and transfer it to the soil making it more fertile. And by inviting more birds to the coffee farms, producers are getting pest control services in return.

Despite these advantages these seemingly safe havens are becoming scarce as many farmers converted to modernized coffee farms. This process started in the early 1970's as coffee farmers began to adopt modern methods that relied on new, high yield, densely packed coffee plants. These dwarf plants are usually grown in evenly spaced rows in full sun, nurtured with synthetic fertilizers and protected against attack by an array of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides.

Seduced by the higher yields and, initially at least, protection against a fungal pest known as leaf rust, many farmers willingly dismantled their traditional farms along with the overstory and replanted modern, full sun coffee plant varieties. At the same time they exposed bare soils to rain, sun and wind. The results have been increased erosion, polluted run-off, a substantial reduction in wildlife habitat, and increased exposure of workers to hazardous chemicals. These modern "technified" farms reportedly suffer significantly more soil erosion than farms with shade trees, especially on steep slopes where coffee is commonly grown in Latin America. Overall the conversion from shade to full sun coffee renders coffee farms useless for wildlife.

Here at Alta we only sell organic shade grown coffee beans which benefits our customers, helps birds and other insects, and is good for the environment and coffee farm workers - a win-win. Next time you are sipping on your cup of Alta, you can feel good knowing you are drinking coffee with a good conscience.

You can take Alta coffee anywhere!

A blurb from a poem called “Ways to Take Your Coffee” by Leath Tonino made me think of when Max Spooner, Patti Spooner’s son, went camping in the Eastern Sierras and, of course, brought some Alta Organic Coffee with him.

“With ancient mountains all around and an ancient mountain beneath you and the climb still burning your legs and clouds building on the horizon, a storm coming for sure, but you’ve got time, you and your best friend, plenty of time to fire up the stove and brew a strong pot and trade sips back and forth while two golden eagles circle, circle the summit, never once flapping their wings.”