It's time for another installment of Jared and Nick's Wholesale Adventures.  Last time we joined our heroes they were headed west along the Hood Canal.  This time their voyage brought them east into the high desert of Eastern Washington.  Brulant was the destination and all that separated our brave wholesale team was a mountain range, 102 degree weather, a potential UFO crash site, and lots of scenic views.

Zoka Coffee cravings are not unheard of. And it may seem like those of you outside of the Seattle area are just out of luck. But wait! You don't have to worry: Zoka sells their delicious brews wholesale to coffee shops and cafes all over!

Here is the tale of two Zoka roastmasters on their way to check in with a Zoka's wholesale coffee shop: Hoodsport Coffee Company. Enjoy!

The Coffee Tour

by: Jared and Nick

Our voyage began at dawn. Our destination: the Hoodsport Coffee Company.  We started the journey with a stop at Greenlake Zoka for espresso and pour overs.  Luke Grey and Prestin Yoder provided the fuel that we needed for the drive to Hoodsport. 


There they are. It was still early...

Rain beset us as we sped down I-5, but we persisted onwards toward our goal.  The rain let up by the time we reached Tacoma, allowing us to gaze upon the majestic beauty of the Tacoma Dome (the world's largest wood structured arena). Oh, and the mountains looked alright. Driving past military homes and the occasional bunny rabbit we headed into Olympia for a coffee pit-stop with a Zoka friend.

Olympia Pit Stop

After sampling some amazing single origin coffees from our friends at Olympia Coffee Roasters and spending time with former Zoka Trainer Robbie Britt, we headed back onto long, winding Highway 101 on our way to Hoodsport.  Clear skies revealed the true splendor of the Olympic Peninsula.  Mountains and tall trees were all that could be seen for miles, broken up by the occasional espresso drive through. This may be the backwoods, but it is still espresso country. 

We spotted Hood Canal and knew that we were almost there.  The beauty of the canal was only overshadowed by the countless fireworks stands.  We could have picked up enough fire power to bring down the Space Needle.  Foregoing the purchase of fire crackers (much to Jared's dismay), we pulled into our destination at the Hoodsport Coffee Company.


The Hoodsport in all her glory.

We were created with big smiles, firm handshakes, delicious coffee, and tasty buckets of Olympia Mountain Ice Cream.  Rich, Susan, and Linda run a great shop with plenty of options -- and did we mention the ice cream?!?


Hi Susan.

The age old mystery of where to get a great cup of Zoka Coffee with a scoop of smooth ice cream on the side is now solved: Hoodsport Coffee Company.


Some real, live Hoodsport customers enjoying some Zoka coffee.

Great coffee, great environment, and great service - yep, sounds like a Zoka Wholesale account to us.  The next time you are driving through Hoodsport on the 101 make sure to stop by for a cup and a cone.  Tell them Jared and Nick sent you.

One Love,
Jared and Nick

PS: If you need to take the edge off, stop by Hoodsport Wine Company for the best bottle of rhubarb wine this side of the Mississippi.

We left off with Jeff getting a good night's sleep prior to a full 7 hour day of cupping and judging this year's Cup of Excellence Competition in Guatemala. Here's what happened next.

Competition Day

The weather here reflects the beginning of the rainy season for Guatemala - and yes it has been raining very hard for the last few days. Maybe it's not the best for sightseeing, but to me, this this is good sign for next year's crops: the heavy rain will begin the flowerings that will produce next year's coffee beans. And besides, I will inside all day judging COE.

 

Who knew searching for the world's finest artisan coffee could be dangerous? Read Jeff's travel journal as he heads to Guatemala to judge the 8th national Cup of Excellence competition, right before the volcanic eruption of Pacaya and whirlwind tropical storm Agatha (the one that caused the sinkhole in Guatemala City).

Greetings from Guatemala

By: Jeff Babcock

I arrived early yesterday after taking the red eye from Seattle via Houston to Guatemala City, Guatemala for their 8th National Cup of Excellence Competition. I've been involved with the Cup of Excellence Competition since the beginning - this is my 8th time judging it.
 
After a long nap at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Guatemala City, I had a light lunch and chatted with a couple of other early arrivals who would also be judging the competition. Twenty-one judges from around the world will cup and grade the top 40 coffees.

It's a great time. The judges come from all over the globe: Brazil, Canada, the US, Russia, Germany, Norway, Lithuania, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.
 

Ever wonder how coffee beans go from cherries at the top of a tree to mocha perfection swirling in your cup? We're lucky enough to get our mitts on a bean autobiography written by Senor Bean. Sit down (coffee in hand) and read this fascinating tale of a bean from birth to his arrival at Zoka Coffee.

A Coffee Bean is Born....

I was born deep in the coffee belt - a region that lies between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. This is also where my millions of siblings come from.  I'm from Brazil - the country that produces the most coffee. My brothers and sisters are scattered across the coffee belt from South America all the way to Indonesia.

By the way, if a coffee bean tells you he's from Florida, he's lying. The only US state that produces coffee is Hawaii! 

Nicaragua has a lot going for it: great coffee, great landscape, great friends. For the past few years I have been cultivating a relationship with two coffee growers, Roberto Bendana and Erwin Mierisch, and this month I flew south to see them face-to-face, check out their operations, and cup some of this year's prime Nicaraguan coffees. Fellow Zoka friends Jeff and Jerome tagged along. I love my job.

We flew Seattle to Houston to Nicaragua where Roberto's farm agronomist (the science-guy who studies soil and crops) picked us up. It was a good flight, but the beds at the Hotel Ritzo in Managua were welcomed that night.  A traditional breakfast preps us for my favorite kind of day: cruising farms and cupping coffee. Roberto has a full day in store for us, cupping from three of his farms - El Quetzal, Paraiso, and Los Arcedes - and visiting El Quetzal to see the farm in action. 

Travel tip: Heading to Nicaragua? Get ready for tasty breakfasts of eggs, fruit and beans - the country's traditional breakfast fare.

By: Jeff Babcock, Founder & President

The plane touched down in La Paz, Bolivia just as the sun began to sail up and over the horizon. The first thing I noticed is how clear and bright the sky is - so bright that I immediately reach for my sunglasses. It instantly feels different up here - we landed 13,000 feet above sea level, and I am puffing and panting up here in the thin air.



Cool Travel Fact: One of the oldest civilizations, Bolivia is the birth place of the Aymara civilization that predates the Incas.

Cup of Excellence Judging, the First Few Days

After the Zoka team and I collect ourselves at the Casa Grand hotel and eat a short lunch, it's off by bus to Coroico where we will stay for a week and judge some of the best and highest grown coffees in the world.  That's not an exaggeration - Bolivia has many towering peaks; the highest is Nevado Sajama at 21,463 feet.

When we arrive in Coroico, the coffees have already been whittled down from 260 farms to the select top 58 National winners.  We work with a very knowledgeable international judges group, made up of 23 expert coffee cuppers from the around the globe who will judge the coffees in a blind format for days.

On Monday, the Calibration Begins

Coffee Talk: The Calibration is a gathering so everyone can get used to the judging protocol and format - we cup several series and then coordinate to make sure all the judges are on the same page with their scoring.

Tuesday is the first real day of the judging process. We cup for about five hours and judge the first 30 coffees. Every coffee is given a code and we hand in and review our scores. If the scores are above 84,  the coffees make it to the next round. Typically judges score 10 at a time and it takes an hour and a half from start to finish. After five hours, we break for lunch and in the afternoon, it's off to a coffee farm and then home and dinner for an early start on Wednesday.

Friday's Final Coffee Countdown

This process is pretty much the same for three days. By Friday, we have the top ten selected. On Friday, we cup and score these top coffees and then sit down to review the scores. We were amazed that for the first time in the history of the competitions 7 out of the top 10 coffees had an average judges' score of over 90 points! That is truly astonishing - usually only one or two coffees score this high, but this year the coffees were exceptional and the scores proved it.

The verdict:The Bolivia coffees for 2010 are insanely delicious! And they're coming soon, so stay tuned. 

After the Cup of Excellence

At the international auction, which occurred 6 weeks later, Zoka purchased the no. 6 coffee from the farm of Luis Huayhua Chiji. His farm is called Café Central and is located near the city of Caranavi in the region of Yungas. It scored a 90.71 and is an outstanding coffee that comprises the best flavors found in any Bolivian coffee.

Expect to savor these sensational flavors in our Bolivia Cup of Excellence: cherry, orange spice, cocoa, rum acidity, brilliant red wine, coconut, raspberry, sweet and cinnamon, hints of Jasmine.

Now that you know what goes into a Cup of Excellence, you can appreciate why these coffees don't last long. We purchased 7 bags of it and we're sure we'll sell out quick. See our  Central & South American coffees and explore this wonderful growing region. 

Costa Rica Cup of Excellence 2008

The Costa Rica COE International jury met just outside San Jose, on the week of April 6-11. A week before they were to meet I found out that I was invited to be a member of the jury. I was excited and honored to be apart of the proceedings. There were 22 jurors from India, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, the UK, Japan, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Canada and the USA.

The first day was a calibration day, to get us on the same page. We did some sample cuppings to get us used to the score sheet. We then took a tour of two micro mills. Costa Rica is in the midst of changing the way they process the coffee. One reason for this is new environmental laws that the government has put into place. Another reason is the growing popularity of farms having either their own small mill (micro-mill) or a few farms getting together to form a co-op using the same mill. We were able to see the drying patios that were empty because the harvest was over and they showed us their mills with some already filled burlap sacks of green. The second farm had a few cows that they kept and they even mixed the coffee-pulp (mucilage) with the cow feed. The farmer said it makes good beef!

I was invited to Burundi to represent Zoka as a potential buyer and observe first hand the ongoing development of the specialty coffee pilot program in country. The coffee pilot program will represent the global coffee industry's first serious look into Burundi’s potential for producing high quality specialty coffee.

Burundi has 800,000 coffee growers-small farmers in the true sense of the word for most of whom the coffee tree provides the only cash income. The farmers tend between 100 and 300 coffee bushes on average per farm. Burundi represents the southernmost source of the Nile River and overlooks Lake Tanganyika which is 1400 meters deep. There are 140 coffee pulping and washing stations throughout the country and I was able to visit Bwayi, Teka and Ngogoma stations that represent the greatest promise as identified by the pilot program.

It is my belief that Burundi has the potential to produce some spectacular coffee and I am very excited to be able to cup new crop samples this year. The samples will represent the best that Burundi has to offer.

After Burundi I attended the 5th Annual East Africa Fine Coffee Association Conference in Kampala, Uganda to participate in the African Taste of Harvest Auction. The auction was cancelled due to lack of a significant amount of bidding participants which was a real disappointment in that there were a few beautiful coffees on the table. I stood by and observed the Ugandan barista competition, watched the arrival of the President of Uganda and then departed on an 8 hour journey by car to Butare, Rwanda.

While in Rwanda I was able to visit Ngoma, Karaba and Kinnunu washing stations and visit with the honorable Tim Schilling and all the folks associated with the SPREAD project. I also cupped coffees from all regions of Rwanda and identified farms and coops of interest. This will result in being able to offer Zoka customers the best that Rwanda has to offer for the upcoming season. The quality looks very good. The floral characteristics of the cups from Kivu are strengthening as the crop progresses. The washing stations are becoming more experienced as well and brighter coffee will result from more consistent processing.

After saying my goodbyes to my new found coffee friends I departed for Seattle via Nairobi and Amsterdam remembering the warm smiles from the children of East Africa.

-Thomas Hodges
Zoka Roastmaster

My first trip to Africa was a truly inspiring visit. It was a short 24 hour jaunt from Seattle to Chicago, DC to Brussels, and finally from Brussels to Kigali. I arrived in the evening and was off to Butare the next morning to hook up with Dr. Tim Schilling, other coffee judges and the staff of Spread, which is the offspring of the multi-million dollar Pearl project funded by USAID, other US and private institutions and the country of Rwanda. This project (spear-headed by Dr. Shilling since 2000) has been improving on the quality of coffee throughout the country of Rwanda with the addition of specialized washing stations and refined agricultural methods, supply chains and processing. The continued improvement in these coffees has now resulted in the development of the Cup of Excellence program in Rwanda. For the last three years Dr. Schilling, Susie Spindler and Ann Ottaway, other Rwanda staff and other COE assistants and jurors have been working relentlessly on getting Rwanda to this point. Thus The Rwanda Golden Cup competition of 2007 is the precursor to the 2008 Rwanda Cup of Excellence program and competition.

That said, I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the judges for this year's Rwanda Golden Cup coffee competition. There was three days of cupping and judging starting with 44 coffees that the Rwanda National cuppers had whittled down to scores of 84 or better.

Rwanda coffees are the result of over 500,000 farmers and the coffees from the Golden Cup competition are the best Rwanda has to offer. These coffees are brought together in over 145 local washing stations some privately owned but most local co-operatives. The final 20 best coffees came from 20 washing stations from all four of the Provinces of Rwanda and 10 districts. The final day of cupping brought five coffees with scores over 90 (presidential award winners), and another 15 with scores over 84.

Saturday came and the first competition for Rwanda's best coffees was over resulting in the best prices ever achieved for Rwanda coffees. The 1st place coffee went for over $25.00 and bidding was fierce. Zoka jumped in at the #2 coffee along with Coffee Hunters and then we went after the # 5 and 6, 8, 10 and 12 coffees. And we were successful in all of our bids. On all of these coffees, I had given scores of 88 or better and two of them scores of over 90. This was truly a great day for Zoka.

Yes, we are very lucky to have been a part of the first competition of Rwanda coffees, and to be so fortunate to be taking home some of the best. Look for these coffees on our menu starting in November.

Having been part of such a great competition, I was also fortunate to see five of the coffee washing stations that our coffees come from and to meet the directors and presidents of these co-ops. The washing stations I visited were Ngoma, Ucar, Cyiya, Ngoma CWS, and COCAF Amizero from the districts of Nyamagabe, Kaonyi, Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, and Gatsibo. All the varieties are from the Bourbon species, the #2 Ngoma is a Bourbon species named BM139. I spent two days seeing each of the washing stations as well as the countryside and magnificent Lake Kivu. Yes the coffees are in, they are great and I can't wait to go back…Jeff