Industry Update: Bird’s Eye View From where I sit in the Royal offices, I can see maps of several key producing countries, labelled with flowery titles: Colombia, País del Café (Country of Coffee), Guatemala, Tierra de Contrastes (Land of Contrasts), El Salvador, Rincon Mágico (Magic Corner). Much of the work we do alongside roasters involves […]
Introduction by Chris Kornman Ethiopia is coffee’s Mecca. The Arabica species traces its origin to the western edges of the country. Ethiopia is the rare producing nation whose internal consumption equals its export volume. In Ethiopia, coffee is not just a product, not a mere cash crop, not even a simple breakfast beverage – it is a […]
Around this time of year many roasters begin to worry if they will have enough Central American and Mexican coffee to make it till next season, or if their Sumatra is starting to taste like a musty jute sack or if their Ethiopia will start to lose its lemony luster. While those concerns are understandable, […]
Since the inception of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange in 2008, full traceability back to the specific farmer has been limited to large estates capable of exporting their own produce. Beginning in 2012, however, Royal Coffee and YCFCU began a program of separating single farm lots from the larger Coop blends. These are farmers who had […]
Royal Coffee has been sourcing, buying, and selling green coffee since 1978. During that time, our focus has always been on showcasing the best single origins we can. While single origins are an integral part of the supply chain, it overlooks something roasters have been asking for: year-round consistent blends. While we have built varying […]
When building a blend, having a set of goals is key. What is the ideal blend for your particular situation, and what is your situation, exactly? For green buyers, constant maintenance of one’s position is a necessity, and some blends are built out of this necessity. Coffee is an agricultural product that has a shelf […]
My first time cupping at Royal was right around this time of year; the weather was becoming gentler, and my nose was still sensitive to the ubiquitous jasmine vines in the Bay Area. I was a full-time barista, and used to tasting coffees that made it all the way through various levels of quality control […]
If you ever read this blog, you may notice that we harp on ripe cherry selection at the farm level as fundamental to maximizing quality. I believe that any coffee can be improved through adherence to using only fully ripe, red fruit (or orange, yellow, or pink). As you may also know, it is not […]
