Ben's Blog

Recently, some scientists reclassified Pluto. It’s no longer our ninth planet; it, along with Eris and Makemake, are called “Dwarf Planets” leaving us with eight “normal” planets. If you’re a six year old taking astronomy soon, this news won’t disturb you. But, for those of us who counted on Pluto being the last planet for an test, this news has been hard to accept.

A recent article in the Boston globe helped ease my pain.  The author describes three types of facts: facts we don’t see change (e.g., the diameter of the earth, the velocity of gravity at sea level) and facts that change constantly (the temperature, the commodity price of coffee).  The number of planets falls in between these; the author calls it a “mesofact.”  Here are some examples he gives:

• The earth’s population: I learned 6 billion in my 2005 college geology class.  It is now just shy of 7 billion.
• The appeal of Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh, along with Newark and Detroit are post-industrial cities.  Since the 1970’s they’ve been places you want to steer clear of.  In 2009, however, Pittsburgh ranked 6th in the US in terms of job growth because Pittsburgh replaced industry with technology.
• The number of elements on the periodic table: in the 1970’s you would have learned there were 91 elements; today you would learn there are 103.
• Cell phone use: in 1970, only 4% of Americans used cell phones; today over 50% use them.

Most important of all, however: dinosaurs.  When I was in school, I learned…well…Jurassic Park came out.  Dinosaurs were cold-blooded, scaly reptiles who only ran fast when humans were peeling out in Jeeps.  Otherwise, they were slow footed, peanut brained lizards.  Today, however, children learn that dinosaurs are warm-blooded and feather-covered (“stripes! with orange tufts!”).

This stuff won’t change your life, but it might make you rethink your education and what it means to know something.

This is pretty awesome. I’ve been so focused on getting our business off the ground that I nearly missed the beginning of Ethiopia’s Direct Specialty Trading Platform. I posted on this already, but in one week the DST will be starting!!! Check it out here!!

A short recap. Ethiopia semi-nationalized their coffee trade in early 2008ish when it established the Ethiopia Coffee Exchange. The ECX took control of all the storage warehouses that gathered up coffee from the farmer’s and the auctions that sold it to foreign buyers. In the old system, akrabis purchased the coffee from farms, processed it, auctioned it and sold it to foreign buyers. Most of the profits, therefore, did not return to the farmers. Rather than purchase the coffee from farmers, akrabis now sell their services. In this new system, akrabis cannot receive more than 20% of the coffees final export price; 80% must go to the farmers.
Unfortunately, by gathering all the coffee up in big warehouses and erasing the name of the farm where the coffee came from, the ECX eliminated direct trade and traceability. Instead of buying Ethiopia Yirga Cheffe Amaro Gayo directly from Asnakech Thomas or Ethiopia Yirga Cheffe Idido Misty Valley directly from Abdullah Bagersh, you would buy Ethiopia Grade 2 Yirga Cheffe. Only Fair Trade Cooperatives were excluded from this.

The SCAA lobbied hard, and Eleni Gabre-Madhin, the woman responsible for the ECX, has worked with them to start the DST. Now, when a coffee is taken to an ECX warehouse from a farm, it is graded on an international scale (Q-grader/SCAA standards). If it scores above an 80, it is marked as specialty coffee and sent to the Direct Specialty Trading platform. The farm name, region, score, cupping notes, certification, price, paid , AND the buyer’s name are all recorded for BOTH the FARMERS to see and for…well everybody. If you click on the DST Lot#, you can actually find out more about the farmers who sold the coffee, including a map of where the farm is located. AMAZING. I hope it works!! http://www.ecx.com.et/DSTCatalogResults.aspx
…and I wish we were a big enough coffee roastery to order from the DST. Soon, Lord willing.

These were some smashingly good pictures that Jessica Whang took. The latte art, milk, and spro were a combo of Evan, Jessica, and myself with Paul Helms and Rodney G looking on:

I spent the morning researching bagging options. The results are in; and they suck. Simply put, no one has developed an environmentally friendly 1 lb bag for coffee bean retail. There are three basic options:

1. Non-recyclable, non-compostable petroleum based plastic (polypropylene, polyethyline, etc);
2. Non-recyclable, somewhat (1-5 years under ideal conditions) compostable petroleum based plastic (developed by Larry’s Beans and Maverick Enterprises);
3. Non-recyclable, compostable corn based polymer (Polylactic acid (PLA)).

We will likely go with either option 2 or 3 and provide (for local delivery) a tin/ceramic can exchange option, as well. The upside is that if we develop a recyclable bag, we can make our millions and retire to Djibouti. Any material engineers out there who like coffee and $$?

SCAA and the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)
Webinar

• Purpose: advocacy and information
• Providers: SCAA, Peter Giuliano (Counter Culture) and Ric Rhineheart (SCAA Executive Director)
• The short of it: The SCAA has worked with the ECX to increase quality discoverability and traceability.

A Brief Overview of Traditional Ethiopian Coffee Market

While there are some cooperatives and an insignificant, but growing number of larger, commercial farms, small holders (1 hectare sized farms) produce most of Ethiopia’s coffee.

Since the 50s, Akrabis (“collectors”) then buy and collect the harvested coffee and bring them to washing stations, which they typically own or manage, for processing. After washing, the akrabis would bring the coffee to a clue, where the coffee was graded based on appearance (as opposed to taste) and auctioned. Exporters who had a relationship with the central bank and a letter of credit system would then purchase the coffee from the akrabis and sell it to overseas importers.

Factors Unique to Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a high level of domestic consumption. This puts pressure on the export industry; exports might sell more on the domestic market than the export market. Ethiopia, however, is also dependent on coffee exports, which account for 25-30% of Ethiopia’s hard currency foreign exchange revenue. Ethiopia’s combination of high domestic consumption and dependence on foreign exchange is unique.

The Birth and Structure of the ECX

Ethiopia launched the ECX in April of 2008 to increase price and quality stability for export grade grains; they added coffee to the list of commodities in late November 2008.  Of course, all coffee has always gone through the clue and auction, analysis and export system; now it happens through the ECX. That principle has always been there.  Although the ECX is a government entity (the government owns it), the ECX was established as a demutualized corporation with a separation of ownership and management. This is a unique new public/private ownership wit a balance of owner and member interests.  The management board has government representatives and five membership representatives, and membership seats are sold by the government, but privately owned.

The ECX requires that…

• …all coffee not directly traded between a producer and a foreign buyer must be traded on the ECX.
• …coffee be delivered to one of 14 regional ECX operated receiving stations (as opposed to the old two), where coffee is graded using the SCAA cupping model to assess cup quality.
• …farmer retain ownership of the coffee until it is purchased and shipped for export.  Transporters and exporters no longer own the coffees; they provide producers with a service.
• …farmers must receive 85% of the sale price.

Common Misunderstandings

1. The ECX took away some of the exporters licenses. This is true. They did it if they suspected exporters of importing and trading/or trading coffees on the domestic market. Coffee has a critical function for Ethiopia in terms of foreign trade.
2. Fair-Trade, Organic (FTO) will not be available. Ethiopian law says that any producing entity can sell so long as it goes directly to a foreign buyer. Since most fair-trade coffees are sold directly to buyers, they will not go away.
3. Transparency is gone forever. The ECX has taken steps to provide excellent price transparency.  We will discuss this further below.  For now, suffice it so say that all transactions are recorded and made available daily to farmers and regions in real time (by the minute) reflecting the internal market and the NY market.

ECX Accommodations to Specialty Coffee

CEO of the ECX, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, came to the SCAA’s annual Symposium in April, 2009.  She opened up dialogue to express concerns and ideas to address them.  In response to this ongoing dialogue, the ECX has undertaken the following measures:

1. Adopted an industry recognizable grading system (SCAA and Q Grading) for all coffees: The ECX went through CQI and Q grading system exercises to see how close ECX cuppers could calibrate with Q graders. They had a positive correlation in cup quality.  They’ve developed a wide array of contracts based on cup quality and regional production.
2. Arrival Q grading made steps towards transparency and quality: In October, the ECX began a process of where when parchment coffee was delivered to ECX warehouses, it was cupped and graded.  If it scored above 80 by a licensed Q grader, it was recognized as an arrival Q coffee. The ECX then determined with greater specificity where coffees were coming from. They then added two specialty grades (1 and 2, representing coffees that scored 85 or higher).
3. Allow coffees to be purchased directly from a farm or coop by a foreign importer: one can go directly to Ethiopia to work with farmers and millers by entering into a  direct/transparency relationship or one can work through an agent on the DST.  In both cases, there is a small premium.
4. Addition of a direct specialty trade (DST): the ECX created an open outcry trading platform (i.e., not auctioneer, but open buy-sell trading platform where sellers can refuse prices if they are not high enough).  The ECX only introduces coffees that cup above a certain amount and then acts as a warehouse custodian until prices are set by buyers-producers through sampling (tasting) for quality.   The ECX also introduces consultants who create “transparency contracts” so all participants in chain can see what prices were paid at every step from farm to import. Thus, farmers can see how money is spent throughout the chain (from purchase price including insurance and transp and logistics).

This latter provision is especially important for specialty coffee.  It guarantees higher income for producers since all transactions are recorded, producers see the receipts, and the ECX requires that they receive 85% of the sale price.   It also preserves lot traceability.   The ECX takes responsibility for preserving identity of coffee by origin, farm, and grade and  guarantees the final product.

ECX will hold its direct, specialty trade bidding session on the 28th of January. The catalogue will be available on their website.

Questions & Answers

[The Questions were usually not read; the Answers and Questions are marked by Q&A]

Q: Foreign buyers want washing station specific coffees. Many can name specific washing stations in this coop or that Yirga Cheffe station.

A: Any coop or farmer can have their coffee milled or dry processed and sold directly to you or through the direct trade, specialty platform. Akrabis cannot sell coffee that loses its farm ownership; akrabis are now service providers.  The Farmer/coop retains ownership and the akrabis provides service at a fixed price to facilitate process. That is the optimal system, where the transaction is between farmer/coop and importer, eliminating costly (and in many countries, abusive) middlemen.

Q: What quality incentive is there?

A: The DST platform offers great incentive to produce quality. If quality is evaluated at the ECX buying facility and it cups high enough to get on the DST platform, coffees will naturally find their price (price discovery mechanism). Higher quality coffees will fetch higher prices so long as market is there for high quality coffees.  They’ve seen it happen just through ECX trading floor.

Q: Do buyers know if coffee went through ECX or not?

A: If it was bought through an exporter, it probably came through the ECX. Only coops and unions have been selling direct. This year it will be the same except for the addition of the DTS system. Buyers: ask importers what the ECX grade was for quality and origin.

Q: How can I buy direct?

A: FTO and unions. DTS. Even ECX. ECX is not a true commodity system. It instead offers many benefits to producers, akrabis, and transparency. Many have bought good coffees with high transparency.

Q: How do we know growers are getting paid a fair amount?

A: Produces are guaranteed 85% of the sale price. The grower is the producer, not the akrabi.

Q: Does the importer/roaster have input in which exporter/service provider they use?

A: If you have identified a party/entity you like, you can encourage them to make their services available. You cannot mandate, but you can encourage.

Q: Does the Coop or producer set a minimum price?

A: The selling party may elect to not accept any price. If not high enough, they can choose not to transact.

Q: What incentive is there for akrabis to provide good service if there is a fixed price for them?

A: Service provider dehulls and separates, but most quality is happening prior to service provider.  They can also have a separate billing for milling, contract, logistics, insurance, etc, so long as they are transparent. Moreover, 15% is a percent, so service providers get more if coffee sells for more. Incentive is there for quality.

Q: Will other African nations follow Ethiopia in creating entities similar to the ECX?

A: There is no strong indication that any other African nations will follow this model. Ethiopia has that high level of domestic consumption and high dependence on coffee for foreign exchange, which demanded a different solution.

…Wahoo! Today is my first day out of school as a coffee roaster.  I kicked it off with a roasting session from 6.30a – 10.30a and will finish the work day packaging and shipping some of these coffees.  Here are two write-ups for my favorite two of the five types I roasted this morning:

1.25.2010
Costa Rica Tarrazu – Montes de Oro

Emilio and Laura Gamboa and their family grew this coffee on their finca (farm) called Carrizal in the Tarazzu region of Costa Rica near San Pablo  de León Cortés and processed it in their micro-mill called Montes de Oro.

We took this coffee to a City+ roast level (16 minutes).  This “lighter” roast highlights the “miel” or “yellow honey” processing method.  In this method, the coffee cherry is “pulped” off, but the gooey layer underneath (called mucilage) is left and dries on the coffee bean.  It creates a sweeter, cleaner, less acidic cup with a fuller body than either wet and dry processing methods.

Roast level: City+
Season: July 2009
Process: Miel (pulp natural)
Altitude: 1650-1700m
Varietal: Caturra
Intensity: Medium
Tasting Notes: Stone fruit, peach and apple notes, buttery body

Ethiopia Moplaco Yirgacheffe

The United Nations ranks Ethiopia 170 out 177 countries on the UN Human Development Index marking them one of the poorest nations in the world.  Because Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, also earns one-third of its export income from coffee sales, the government has taken steps to increase their coffee industries profitability.  Thus, in late 2008/early 2009, Ethiopia nationalized the collection, storage, and selling of green coffee exports through the Ethiopian Coffee Exchange (ECX).  Unfortunately, the ECX requires that all coffees from the country go anonymously into a pool.  Although different regions are kept separate (such as Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Limu, Harrar), we cannot trace the coffee we’re offering back to source.  This means we cannot guarantee the sustainability of its growing conditions. Nevertheless, this is one of the best Ethiopians we’ve tasted.  The slightest variation in roasting creates a different tasting cup, but every cup has been fantastic!

Roast Level: City to City+
Season: Late August 2009
Process: Wet-processed
Altitude: Unknown
Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopia Cultivar
Intensity: Medium-Bold Intensity
Tasting Notes: Sweet fruits and tea, silky, buttery body

Evan and I have completed our business plan for a coffee roastery, and it is looking like this could really work! We had our first trial run last night at the Intersect Fund biannual Gala, and, over the course of two and half hours, we sold about 2/3 of the coffee we brought (25/39 bags).

Woohoo!  Other good news?  Evan and my business plan passed round one of an angel fund competition for start-up money.  It’s a church in NYC that offers both financial assistance (grants) and mentoring (1:1 coaching) for small start-up business that have a Jesus focus.  Woohoo!

I’ve also included some photos of a tasting we did at hour house a few weeks back and some latte art.

I preached my second sermon ever today.  (You can still read my first one here.)  Oddly enough, the way they look on paper/computer screen looks vastly different than what actually comes out of my mouth.

The idea for my current sermon came from a song by Jon Abel on Genesis 22 (The Binding/Sacrifice of Abraham’s son Isaac):

Like Isaac she’s a gift to me,
But like Abraham I don’t have the eyes to see.
Cause I’ve doubted my heart a thousand times or so.
Has my Shepherd ever let me down before?

…

To the alter I come on bended knee,
Afraid of what lies ahead please let me see,
Father, I’ve come, to sacrifice my son.
Oh not my will but Yours be done.

Initially, I focused on what God takes away (Abraham’s son) and what God gives back (as many sons as stars in the sky).  As I meditated more on this passage, though, the focus changed: not on what God gives/takes away, but on the God who gives and takes away.

Anyways, here is the sermon…

Benjamin Schellack
PR2100C – Fall 2009
Professor LaRue
November 10, 2009

Can I Trust Him?
A Sermon on Genesis 22.1-19

After the fall from paradise, the destruction of the world by a flood of judgment, and the failure of the Tower of Babel, God spoke to a Middle Eastern man named Abraham. God told him, “Leave your country, your home, and your family and go somewhere. You don’t know where yet, but I’m going to show you in time. Then, I will make you, Abraham, someone great, with many, many children, and through you I’m going to bless the whole world!” (Gen 12.1-3).

After that, Abraham gets lost in a foreign country, to protect himself passes his wife off to sleep with another man, has a falling out with his brother, and gets caught up in a war. “Abraham,” God finally says, “do not be afraid; I am protecting you, and, you know what, I’m going to reward you” (15.1). But, Abraham gets frustrated and says, “What does it matter, God? Even if you give me the whole world, I don’t have kids. Everything I have dies with me or goes to strangers; and now I’m too old to have any kids anyway” (15.2). So, God puts his arm around Abraham’s shoulders and walks him outside into the chilly night under the desert stars and says, “Look up. Can you count the number of stars above you? You can’t imagine having one kid, but I’m going to give you more than all the stars you see (15.3-6); you can’t imagine having one son, but you will have sons who are kings and nations (17.6); you can’t imagine your wife pregnant, but in a year’s time your wife will have a son (18.10-15; 21.1-7). A year later Abraham and Sarah have a boy they named Isaac. God’s promises to Abraham-as many as they were, as impossible and laughable as they seemed-all came true.

Yet, “…some time later, it happened that God tested Abraham…” (22.1a). We know God is testing Abraham. God knows God is testing Abraham. But, Abraham does not know he’s being tested.

How is God testing him?

22.1b: “God said to him, “Abraham!” and Abraham replied, “I am here.” ‘I am here’…these are the only words Abraham speaks to God in our whole story. It is a phrase of readiness, which says, “I am listening. Bring what you got.”

22.2: Then God said, “Please…take your son, your only child whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Set him there on the altar as a burnt offering on one of the mountains [that] I’m going to show you.” This is the test: kill your son.  Now, this should seem insane to you.  It should hurt to hear those words…they just seem wrong…despicable even!  Even Martin Luther and John Calvin called it an irreconcilable contradiction!  Thankfully, God too recognizes how ridiculous such a test must appear: “Please…” God begins. This is the Hebrew particle of supplication: “Please…(נה) take your son”, the son God specified as the one through whom God’s promises of descendants, land, and blessings would come, and God says kill him. How then can Abraham, much less ourselves…much more God (!) “hold together and embrace [this] dark command of God and his high promise”? Luther called this a contradiction that baffles all philosophy and reason.

How does Abraham resolve this contradiction? 22.3: “So, Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He then took two of his servant-boys and his son, Isaac, with him. He cut up the wood for the burnt offering, got up, and went to the place which God had told him. [4]On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes up and saw the place from afar. [5]Abraham said to his servant-boys, “Stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there to worship. Then we’ll come back to y’all.” [6]So, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and set it on Isaac his son. He took the fire in his hand, and the two of them went together.

Abraham responds in utter faithfulness. Of course, we want to add pieces in. Dramatize the story. Add motive, depth of feeling and layers to it. But they’re not there in the story. All we see is a man who obeys.

22.7: Then Isaac spoke to Abraham his father. He said, “My father…dad.” Abraham answered, “I’m here, my son.” These are the same words Abraham spoke to God. When Isaac, who is likewise frustratingly silent, finally breaks in, Abraham says, “I am here and listening, my son.” So Isaac said, “I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” [8]Abraham responded, “God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two went on together.

This is the linchpin. As far as we know, God has not explained anything to Abraham; Abraham doesn’t even know he’s being tested. All he knows is the dreadful contradiction of the promise and the command: he’s gotta kill his son. And yet, Abraham knows there will be a third way between killing his son and disobedience: despite the incoherence of Abraham’s reality, God will provide. God…will provide.

[9]Then they came to the place where God told Abraham to go and Abraham built the altar [for the sacrifice] there. He then arranged the wood and bound his son Isaac, and he placed him upon the altar. [10]Abraham reached his hand out and took the knife to slaughter his son. [11]But an angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, saying, “Abraham, Abraham!” He responded, “I am here!” [12]The angel said, “Do not raise your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him for I now know that you fear God since you did not hold back your son, your only child, from me.” [13]Then Abraham lifted his eyes up and he saw (behold!) a ram behind a thicket, caught on its horns. So, Abraham went and took the ram, and he sacrificed it in the place of his son. [14]So Abraham called that place there, “The LORD provides”, which is said [still] today: “On the mountain of the LORD, he provides.”

God provides. Abraham obeys, even when he cannot understand what is going on around him; and God provides.

[15]The angel of the LORD called a second time from heaven to Abraham. [16]He said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because of what you have done, this thing, and [because] you have not held back your son, your only child, [17] that in blessing, I will bless you and in multiplying, I will multiply your offspring as the stars in the heavens and as the sands which are on the shores of the sea. Your offspring will take possession of the gate of its enemy. [18]In your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you obeyed/listened to my voice.” [19]Then Abraham returned to his servant-boys, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. Abraham dwelled in Beersheba.

God provides. He preserves Abraham’s life, and he preserves the life of Abraham’s son. But wait, you may or should(!) be thinking. God asked for Isaac’s life in the first place. Isn’t Abraham ridiculous for blind disobedience to such a capricious deity? But Abraham didn’t blindly believe in this God. God has shown himself time and again to be faithful to Abraham: he told Abraham he would lead him to a new home; he did. He told Abraham he would have a son within a year; he did…and all this despite Abraham’s being an imperfect friend of God.

Still, God’s request of Abraham must have seemed ridiculous, and yet life is full confusion and contradictory situations for us. Like Abraham, we don’t know the reasons why we are put into certain situations. We don’t know when we’re being tested. We can trust, however, that God is faithful to provide. That’s who he is: a faithful provider…even when we don’t understand

I think of those giant Norman cathedrals in England. They’re massive and were built over the course of centuries. The masons who carved each of the massive, but heavily ornamented blocks would have spent their whole lives working on just a section or two. They would never’ve seen the master plan. They would never see their completed work. Yet, they were faithful…and because of their faithfulness, we, their descendants, can go there and see something beyond what any one of us or they could have done or dreamed of.

God calls us in the same way, asking us to recognize his provision and trust in him. So I pray with all my heart that when life doesn’t make sense, when the future looks obscure, dark, confusing, contradictory, or just plain unknown and painful, may God remind us that despite “all of this, nature is never spent/ there lives the dearest freshness deep down things/ and though the last lights of the black west went…/ Oh morning at the brown brink eastward springs!/ because the Holy Ghost over the bent world broods with warm and with ah! bright wings!” Amen.

About every six months, Evan and I run out of green beans; it is that time of the year again.  Here is a list (with some expected flavor characteristics) of our next four coffee cups:

• Guatemala Finca San José Ocaña: this coffee has a chocolate, toffee, and raisiny sweetness to it, along with a tannic mouthfeel and floral notes.
• Ethiopia Gr.3 Dry Process Yirga Cheffe: a blueberry, apricot jam, vanilla wafer aroma accompanies blueberry, peach, anise flavors.
• Sumatra Lintong Dolok Sanggul: bold and intense, this will probably be our most manly coffee to-date.  It’s got caramel, butterscotch, and malt mixed in.
• Panama Las Flores de Volcan: with a crisp acidity and “good morning!” brightness, this delicate Latin American has bittersweet chocolate flavors and a passionfruit, cinnamon aromas.

This Road
Jars of Clay

All heavy laden, acquainted with sorrow,
may Christ in our marrow carry us home.
From alabaster come blessings of laughter,
a fragrance of passion and joy from the truth.

Grant the unbroken, tears ever flowing,
from hearts of contrition only for You.
May sin never hold true that love never broke through
for God’s mercy holds us, and we are his own.

This road that we travel, may it be the straight and narrow.
God give us peace and grace from You all the day.
Shelter with fire, our voices we raise still higher.
God, give us peace and grace from You all the day through.

This Road – Jars Of Clay