Imagine coming back form your Mexican vacation with very fond memories.

You visited the mountainous region of Chiapas and were totally impressed with the beauty. While there, you had some of the best coffee that you had ever tasted. You ask your server about the coffee and she tells you that it is locally grown and roasted right there on the premises only a day ago. She also tells you that it is organic grown and that the farmer is part of a fair trade association. Totally impressed, you promised yourself that when you returned home you were going to find some organic fair trade coffee from Chiapas and relive your vacation, enjoying that wonderful brew. So on returning home, on the very next day, you go to the grocery store and there it is, whole bean organic Mexican Chiapis. Ah, the memories! You make your purchase and head home with eager anticipation. At home you brew up your first pot of memories, you sit down to relax and take a sip. What the heck!! This isn't Chiapis coffee! You are totally disappointed.. It tastes nothing like you remembered. You think to yourself, did I pick up the wrong beans at the store? So you check it out and the answer is no, it says right on the package organic fair trade Mexican Chiapis. You ask yourself, what did I do wrong? The answer is probably nothing , other than buying a specialty coffee from the grocery store.

So you begin wondering, could this happen to me with other coffees from say Kenya, Ethiopia,
Brazil, Sumatra, or any other coffee growing region? Or is this just a Chiapis thing. Why was
there such a difference in taste? Is it possible to ever get that same cup that I had in Mexico?

Let's answer these questions one at a time.

Could this happen with coffees from other regions?
The answer is, absolutely. Coffee quality is not a given and it doesn't matter where it is from.
You can have a really good cup of Sumatra one day and a musty earthy tasting one the next.

So why the difference in taste?
Coffee farms cover vast areas of land with varying conditions. For instance, the farm that
produced that wonderful cup in Mexico could have received more than adequate rain for that
year. That could change the next year. The temperatures for that year and for that area could have been very favorable, producing an excellent crop. There are many other variables that effect coffee quality. The type of soil, the altitude, the care given the crop, the type of coffee plant, how the coffee was processed and it goes on and on. The fact of the matter is that all beans are not created equal. Even between one Arabica bean to the next, coffee quality varies greatly.

Another huge factor that comes into play is the roasting process. Imagine one of those huge
roasting facilities, you know the ones that produce hundreds of pounds of coffee every hour on
the hour. Is it really possible for them to be concerned whether or not you are getting the very
best coffee possible? It would be ridicules to think so. Volume and profit is everything . That bag of organic Mexican Chiapis that they produced is not going to be the same as the one that you had on vacation, plain and simple. They cannot be picky or choosy about their green coffee beans used for roasting. Their profit margin would be jeopardized. To much time spend searching for quality beans means loss.

Also, think about what happens after the roasting process. The beans are packaged for sale and then another process begins, the process from roasting to grocery store shelves. While packaging has come a long ways there are still concerns regarding freshness. Because of the length of time between roasting and purchasing, which could take months and months you could be left with stale beans or even worse, rancid beans. Without a born on date who knows. You'll have to take a chance. Just imagine the coffee in those grocery store bins, exposed to the air and sitting there forever, with a discount price if you have a store card. Are you getting the picture. Any comparison to that cup in Mexico, I don’t think so. Not all beans are created equal.

So how do you get that cup of coffee that you so enjoyed on your trip. Go back to Mexico, well that's not a bad idea, but there is another way. Lets think back to what made that original cup so good. The beans obviously were grown on a farm that toke pride in their product. The coffee roaster received the green beans and roasted them to the right degree and within days they were ground and brewed. The end result was that cup you so loved.
Can that process be duplicated in the United States? We are a long ways from any coffee farms. The answer is yes. How so. There are a few coffee roasters out there as well as importers that are fanatics about coffee, they both choose coffee that has been cupped for quality at every step of the way from farm to consumer. Some smaller roasters take it a step further, they offer coffee roasted to order so that you receive your coffee in days not months. The end result is that cup from Chiapis or Guatemala or Nicaragua or from anywhere around the world, that is the best you can buy, the one you remember so fondly. Does this coffee cost more. Yes more is involved, and quality comes at a price.

Here at www.backalleycoffee.com we are devoted to bring you the very best coffee at a
reasonable price.

We roast mainly organic coffees, many are fair trade certified. Non organic coffees are either from a Cup of Excellence awarded coffee, or a farm that we feel supports an organic standard though not certified, which includes many of the Cup of Excellence coffees.
Our coffees are never solely purchased because of their certifications, taste come first and
foremost. We have come to the realization that not all beans are created equal. So we purchase
only beans that will conjure up good memories. Beans you will love.

Enjoy,
Back Alley Coffee

Back Alley Coffee
P O Box 3641
Basalt, CO 81621

(970) 963-0530
Click Here to e-mail

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