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

by Trish Skeie, Zoka's Director of Coffee

My second morning in Ethiopia, I woke not remembering where I was. As my eyes began to focus themselves, I saw intricately woven bamboo above and to all sides of me. Through a window, I could see the sun had just come up. The jungle was alive with monkeys running and jumping from tree to tree, rustling the leaves and shaking the branches where vultures sat waiting.

Africa! Oh, yes, I was in Ethiopia! The bamboo that surrounded me was a typical Sidamo style house at the Aragesh Lodge. There were about eight of these structures on the lodge's grounds surrounded by nature preserves. I rolled out of bed and made my way to the dining house for breakfast. There was a lot of work to be done and we'd better get a move on.

by Drew Billups, Zoka Coffee Roaster

It's been a desire of mine to visit origin since I first started out in coffee seven years ago, so when Zoka offered me the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica for this year's coffee harvest, I jumped at the chance. The geography of coffee, the way it connects us to people and places across the globe, has continually fed my infatuation with this drink, and I was thrilled to be able to experience how it is grown first hand. I knew I'd be able to meet farmers and experience how coffee cherries are processed, from picking to milling. But the part I didn't expect was the full extent of the hospitality and warmth with which we were welcomed by the Costa Rican coffee farmers, and the evidence of how directly the government of Costa Rica helps support them in their endeavor to grow great coffee.

by Trish Skeie, Zoka's Director of Coffee

Hard to believe that after three days lost in red tape at the Brazilian consulate, on countless 1-800 customer service calls, and pleading my case at various airport check in desks, I was finally standing at a table in Brazil readying myself for tasting. I don't want to bore you with too many details - just that an accidental stroke of a pen had kept me from keeping an appointment to cup coffees from the Minas Gerais region in southern Brazil. And now, here I stood, before two long tables set with 40 samples of the sweet brew. To make the moment even sweeter, our host had just whispered in my ear, "Patricia, your fellow cuppers have decided that you will break ALL crusts this time."

by Erik Evenson

Rumpelstiltskin used to turn straw into gold. No one knew or cared how he did it; the only thing that mattered was the final product, and everyone only ended up greedily wanting more. In the world of specialty coffee, roasters feel a similar pressure, but even less appreciation in the public eye. For twelve hours a day, Zoka's roasters work tirelessly behind the scenes, transforming green coffee shipped directly to the roasterie from around the world into the rich, aromatic beans that customers consume every day at the cafe or buy for use on private machines in their homes. "Keep it coming, " everyone seems to be saying. "We don't care how you do it; just make sure it tastes good."

Day Six (7/26/06): Popayán to Sevilla to Armenia

Visit the Photo Gallery for pictures of this trip!

Another early morning packed with fast riding. We covered the 300 kilometers from Popayán to Armenia in a little less than three hours. Our agenda for the day had us visiting several farms that were in various stages of being certified by Rainforest Alliance; a non-profit organization that sanctions farms, which have committed to strict standards in areas of cultivation and harvest quality, processing quality and working conditions for the employees. High speeds and twisty curves lead us to a narrow ridgeline dividing the Valley of Cauca and Armenia. None of us were prepared for the worst disaster imaginable on a motorcycle trip. After all the dangerous high speeds and radical traffic, our good friend and guide Juan Manuel was riding at less than 20 miles per hour when he braked hard to avoid hitting a motorcycle in front of him and dropped his bike on his left side; sliding almost 20 feet before coming to a stop.