In Long Beach, Black Ring Coffee Bootstraps Its Way To Success

In a city dense with specialty cafes, and in a field still mostly dominated by men, coffee roaster Juliette Simpkins and her partner, Trevor Moisen, opened Black Ring Coffee in Long Beach, California in the summer of 2017. It took them just shy of six years of work, planning, forming relationships, and learning. They opened with no outside funding.

Black Ring sits on a busy section of Long Beach Boulevard in the city’s northeast section, Virginia Village. The shop’s industrial design and dulcet vibe reflect its steady owner, who seems both unfazed by her newfound responsibilities and determined to will her cafe’s success.

She tells me she’s plenty fazed, that she gets very little sleep, and that she’s taken very few days off.

Then again, six years ago Simpkins quit her job as a therapist for a mental hospital in nearby Orange County. “It was tough,” she says. “You’re seeing people at the worst parts of their lives. A lot of times you help them get better and then you see them back.”

Coffee offered an escape—”It makes me happy, and I was not happy working in that hospital”—so she moved to Long Beach and set out to learn roasting. Primarily self-taught, Simpkins’ journey started humbly. She purchased a Behmor roaster, watched YouTube videos, and read The Coffee Roaster’s Companion several times. A two-year physics degree helped, but there was an unfortunate incident involving a melted air popcorn popper along the way. Eventually she took a roasting class with Boot Coffee and talked frequently with other roasters, sometimes roasting with them. “Now my roasting is an amalgam of everything I’ve ever learned from every roaster that I’ve roasted with,” she tells me. “I’ve tried their way and then kind of created my own way.”

By late 2014, her roasting dialed in, she and Moisen started supplying MADE Millworks in Long Beach. The coffee’s popularity had them roasting around the clock during the holidays.  “We were taking sleeping shifts so that we could roast the coffee for all of the orders we got,” Simpkins says.

Simpkins borrowed roasting time from Heartbreak Coffee (now in Oxford, Mississippi) and rented time at Arcade Coffee Roasters in nearby Riverside. Soon, they were selling coffee to several homegrown retail shops, like Long Beach Creamery, which makes a signature coffee ice cream using Black Ring’s coffee.

A Black Ring shop was not a foregone conclusion. Long Beach has been in the throes of a massive revitalization, from its downtown corridor to its nether-reaches, and its specialty coffee scene is already getting crowded, with more than a dozen dedicated specialty shops by my count, not including multi-use cafes or large coffee chains. One of Black Ring’s baristas told me she’s opening her own cafe in downtown Long Beach, and Portola Coffee Lab, with six Orange County locations, is opening a new shop in Long Beach imminently.

In late 2016, Simpkins and Moisen identified an empty spot in north Long Beach, a 100-year-old storefront that had been vacant since 2004. It was once a courthouse, and also a jail. The city was anxious to have a tenant and north Long Beach had no specialty cafes.  Together they plunged into the unknown, and Black Ring Coffee was born.

Black Ring Coffee is in elite company among Long Beach cafes in that it roasts its own coffee on premises. It lucked into a used Ambex YM10 from Augie’s Coffee, sliding just under restrictions that would have required air quality bureau approval. A BUNN grinds for FETCO-fueled batch brews and pour-overs. For its espresso drinks, Black Ring uses a Mahlkönig K30 and La Marzocco Linea Classic, the latter another hand-me-down purchased from nearby Steelhead Coffee.

First-rate equipment at second-hand prices. More bricks in this bootstrapped build-out.

Add them to those bricks adorning Black Ring’s interior walls. Simpkins, who designed Black Ring’s cafe, decided to expose that underlying bit of character in the century-old building to create a friendly, inviting spot that could also seat lots of people. It’s narrow, open design features a short countertop at the coffee bar and a thin, sturdy counter traversing the opposite wall, where customers can hang out as they drink the popular honey-oat latte (tasting notes: honey-nut cheerios).

The roaster is closed off in its own room. For now. Although Simpkins allows customers to watch, she typically roasts in solitude. When I come in one Sunday morning to watch, she is zoned in. It almost looks therapeutic.

Food partners rotate. Simpkins prefers local Long Beach suppliers, like Colossus Bread, which has no permanent home, calling itself a “community-supported bakery.” She’s also fond of Rye Goods out of Tustin, California, a company that mills its own grains and has a certified commercial kitchen in a garage. Black Ring hosts art shows in the shop, with the showcase artist, bands, and food trucks, turning the venue into a community space.

All of these little black coffee rings, they leave their mark.

Black Ring Coffee is located at 5373 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Fritz Nelson is a freelance journalist based in Long Beach, CA. This is Fritz Nelson’s first feature for Sprudge Media Network. 

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Lavazza Acquires Coffee Division Of Mars Incorporated

Wheel of acquisitions, turn turn turn. Reuters reports that Italian coffee company Lavazza has purchased Mars Drinks, the coffee arm of Mars Inc. Known more for their candy—M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, Starburst, etc—Mars has agreed to sell their coffee businesses for a reported $650 million.

According to Reuters, Lavazza is hoping the purchase will increase their global presence, particularly in “office coffee service (OCS) and vending machine segments,” where Mars owned leading brands Flavia and Klinx systems.

“This acquisition strengthens Lavazza’s position in the OCS and vending segments, which offer considerable opportunities for growth and development,” said Antonio Baravalle, Lavazza CEO.

The purchase from Mars comes hot on the heels of Lavazza’s July acquisition of Blue Pod Coffee in Australia, a move that helped the Italian company eclipse 2 billion euros in revenue. The deal is expected to be in effect by the end of the year, with Lavazza acquiring “Mars’ coffee businesses in North America, Canada, Japan and in Europe, including its production plants in Britain and North America.”

Generally speaking, the newest acquisition has little effect on specialty coffee. Office coffee is still gonna be office coffee. You’re still going to need to bring your own coffee and AeroPress to your desk to get a halfway decent midday cup. The only real difference for you is that you’ll now be subject to whomever is pouring themselves a cup of office coffee—and undoubtedly loading it up with powdered creamer and artificial sweeteners—ranting about how the coffee used to be better.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

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Can We Improve Efficiency & Quality in Coffee Picking?

Do you want to produce high-quality coffee that should result in higher prices? Or do you want to efficiently produce coffee, reducing investment and so increasing profit margins that way?

What if you could do both?

The coffee harvest is a key stage in determining a coffee’s worth. It’s important that only ripe cherries are harvested to ensure the final product is of the highest quality.

But while global demand for coffee is increasing, many coffee-producing countries are facing a labour shortage – one that, in the worst of cases, can lead to coffee cherries being picked too late or even going unpicked.

I had the opportunity to speak with Alvaro Gaitán, Director of the National Coffee Research Center Cenicafé in Colombia, about how Colombia is responding to this challenge.

You might also like How Ripe Is Too Ripe? A VIDEO Guide to Coffee Cherry Picking

Carlos Ramirez inspects the ripe Castillo coffee cherries on his farm, La Palma, in Gaitania, Tolima, Colombia. Credit: Angie Molina

Why Is Cherry Picking So Important?

In 2016, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (now part of the Specialty Coffee Association/SCA) and Solaridad released a report, Understanding The Situation Of Workers In Corporate And Family Coffee Farms.

The report found that:

“Quality coffee and labour availability are closely related. So are the need to manually select and harvest the ripe fruit, and the producer’s ability to manage pests such as berry borer or coffee rust. Labour availability is redrawing the map of coffee production areas in several countries and challenging the definition of high quality and commercially viable coffee in the coming years.”

In other words, coffee quality is often determined by labour. It’s labour that determines if you can follow best practices, including harvesting ripe fruit, sorting out defective cherries, and carefully processing and drying the beans. And in turn, it’s doing this that helps you protect your farm against coffee pests.

Consistency is also a key part of quality: consistent cup scores, consistent processing methods, and consistent farm methods. This means that having an unreliable labour force can be as problematic as having one that’s too small.

And the solution is not as simple as paying better wages, especially when labour is already such a large part of the average producer’s budget. According to Alvaro, in Colombia, it accounts for 40–42% of the cost of production.

So, what can producers do?

A view from a coffee farm in Planadas, Tolima, Colombia. Credit: Angie Molina

Researching New Picking Methods

Alvaro tells me that the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, through Cenicafé, has been working on coffee-picking technology since the early ‘90s. “Over the last few years, the labour shortage is what has made us move towards these technologies,” he explains.

They’ve been looking to countries like Brazil, where automation is common across many of its large and relatively flat farms. However, Cenicafé have been working to adapt the technology to Colombian coffee-growing conditions. This means considering the local topography, weather, and typical pattern of fruit ripening.

Find out more! Read Hand-Picked vs Mechanized Coffee Harvesting

He explains that the objective is not 100% automation, but to find ways in which automation can aid producers in harvesting.

This includes technology such as mechanical shakers, with vibrating “hands” at the end that shake the cherries off the tree. This technology is already in use in countries like Brazil, but Cenicafé has been testing it to see how it affects efficiency and quality.

They’ve also been conducting their own research to support what they’ve learned from Brazil. “For instance,” Alvaro says, “[we’ve been researching to] know many details about the physics of the coffee tree and the coffee cherries and understand how the tree moves and how much strength (measured in Newtons) is needed for a green or ripe cherry to be removed from the tree.”

What’s more, they’ve integrated feedback from producers. “[Labour shortages] push owners to ask for more technology, to look for it and test it, and this has helped us a lot… When they start to try it and see that they need it, then it gives us feedback and helps us to improve the designs and understand what’s needed.”

The view from Finca Villa Coffee in Bilbao, Tolima, Colombia. Credit: Angie Molina

Two Tools to Aid Coffee Picking

Alvaro tells me that Cenicafé has been working on two particular tools for producers: meshes and mechanical shakers.

The mesh can be placed on the ground underneath the coffee trees. Then, all of the cherries can be picked at one time and allowed to fall onto the mesh, meaning up to three times as many cherries are collected at once. At this point, the cherries should be sorted, with any unripe ones removed.

The meshes are made of Saran and have Velcro ends, allowing multiple meshes to be attached together. In this way, all the ground between the trees can be completely covered.

Alvaro emphasises that, for Colombia, this is a completely new way of working: one that’s more efficient but still requires quality control. It may also mean a new payment system for pickers. This is because coffee pickers are typically paid by the kilo. However, with the mesh, it would be much harder to determine who picked which cherries.

Juan Carlos Monsalve is the General Manager of Finca San José in Quindío, Colombia. He tells me that he sees the mesh enabling better teamwork. “This could increase the yield of the picking and eventually improve the processes,” he says.

The other method, the mechanical shaker (which Cenicafé calls a derribadora), removes cherries by shaking the branches. The weight of the riper, heavier cherries causes them to then fall off. It could also be used in combination with a mesh.

Placing a mesh underneath coffee trees, ready for picking the cherries, in Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia. Credit: Cenicafé

Best Practices for Using a Mesh

However simple the mesh may sound, it presents new challenges. In particular, Alvaro highlights the facts that, in Colombia, coffee ripens at different times across the country and many trees are planted per hectare. The high density can make it hard to place mesh in between the trees.

What’s more, the mesh is traditionally used for for strip picking, meaning that all the coffee cherries are removed from the tree at the same time. Yet Colombia’s conditions better suit harvesting the cherries in several goes, only picking the ripe ones each time.

Alvaro says that, with a mesh, you would need to wait longer before beginning harvesting to ensure that as many cherries as possible were ripe.

“One of the recommendations we give in Colombia is to not pick so often,” he says, “as there are some who pick every 14 days. So, we ask producers to leave the cherries on the tree for thirty days. In this way, they will have a greater yield to pick and so be able to use the mesh. When using mechanical harvesters, once the coffee is picked, producers could use a machine that selects the fruits according to the colour and only depulps the ripe cherries.”

Producers, you should also consider the variety of coffee that you’re growing. In high humidity, Alvaro says that varieties such as Caturra and Bourbon ripen quickly. The cherries may even fall from the tree if the harvest is too delayed, meaning they become unusable and the yield greatly decreases. “With our Castillo and Cenicafé 1 [varieties], we don’t see a lot of fruit falling,” Alvaro adds.

Carlos Felipe Hoyos is the General Manager of Finca La Esperanza in Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia. He adds that leaving the cherries on the tree for longer may lead to problems if you’re struggling with pests. The coffee berry borer beetle (la broca), for example, can cause huge problems for a farm.

Alvaro agrees with this. He says, “If you do a good integrated pest control, and delay cherry picking [on a farm] with a low incidence of borer beetle, you won’t experience an increase in the amount of beetles on the farm.

“But if you wait longer to pick the cherries, and you haven’t done a good treatment, and you delay picking [on a farm] with high levels of borer beetle, you will see it in [even] higher levels. So, the early treatment is very important.”

Castillo coffee grows at Finca Buena Vista in Gaitania, Tolima, Colombia. Credit: Angie Molina

What About The Unripe Cherries?

Cherry ripeness is crucial for coffee quality, which is why you must sort out unripe cherries if you use a mesh. However, what should you then do with the green cherries? And what about the overripe ones? Do they go to waste?

The unripe cherries:

Alvaro tells me, “We are figuring out how we can do a pre-fermentation and then process these cherries as normal.” He explains that they may be able to turn these cherries into coffee of varying quality and so avoid “losing income” due to having more green cherries.

The overripe cherries:

As for these cherries, Alvaro tells me that initial results look positive. “We have done some cup quality testing and the quality has not been negatively affected,” he says. “We have had very good cups. We haven’t noticed any new defects. What we have seen is that we can keep these cherries and, in some cases, improve the quality in the cup.”

Castillo cherries are collected on a mesh. The green, unripe ones will be removed in sorting. Credit: Cenicafé

The Cost of a Mesh

Alvaro tells me that the mesh is not an expensive investment, but neither is it remarkably cheap. “A mesh that’s 10 metres long and three metres wide can cost 250,000 Colombian pesos [US $85].”

And the harvesting machines? “Hopefully, they can cost the same as or less than an industrial grass trimmer, which is commonly used on farms for weeding and costs around 1.3–1.5 million Colombian pesos [US $445–514].”   

Although it’s an initial investment, Alvaro believes it could pay off for producers who experience increased efficiency without sacrificing quality. What’s more, he believes farm labourers will appreciate it.

“With this technology,” he says, “workers will have better ergonomic conditions for coffee-picking. They won’t get too tired and they will be more efficient. Also, I hope that, in terms of remuneration, this can be an attractive job.”

Coffee producers set up a mesh underneath a coffee tree, ready to begin picking cherries. Credit: Cenicafé

Coffee producers, you need to work towards the golden triangle: quality, efficiency, and productivity. Every element is important for profitability. But achieving all three is not an easy task.

And as the coffee industry changes, with growing demand for coffee but continuing labour shortages, innovation is needed. It’s important that you find ways to harvest all your coffee without sacrificing quality – and, if you have less workers on the farm, that simply means that efficiency must become even more important.

Found this interesting? Check out How Ripe Is Too Ripe? A VIDEO Guide to Coffee Cherry Picking

Written by Angie Molina. All quotes translated from Spanish to English by the author.

Please note: This article has been sponsored by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation.

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Tusell Tostadores, Los Pirineos, El Salvador

Qué vida llevo. Recuerdo que hace dos años recibí un paquete precioso: una bolsa de “Salva D’Or” recién tostado. Un café de origen único de El Salvador, Bourbon elite, tostado a mano por Nino de Tusell Tostadores en Barcelona.

Tostando café en una Probar. 

Salva D’Or, Los Pirineos

La Finca Los Pirineos tiene un café ganador. ¿Por qué? Gilberto Baraona, propietario de tercera generación de esta finca, ha ganado la ‘Taza de la Excelencia’ 7 veces y, en 2007, Los Pirineos logró el décimo lugar a nivel mundial en la competencia de café de Rainforest Alliance. Impresionantemente, el micro-lote ha ganado los contratos de tostadores famosos, Tim Wendelboe y Fratello. Ahora Tusell Tostadores lo está tostando …

En caso de que yo no estuviera lo suficientemente emocionado, Nino Tusell, originario de San Salvador, me informó que es amigo de la familia de Gilberto. Tenía en mi poder un café cultivado bajo sombra y tostado por amigos salvadoreños, verdadero comercio directo.

¿Pero qué lo hace un café ganador?

Nino, el tostador latino, en la izquierda.

¿Cuál es la Historia detrás de la Taza?

Los Pirineos ha pertenecido a la familia de Gilberto desde 1890. Esta finca se encuentra a una altura entre 1400 -1480 m.s.n.m., en las laderas ricas en potasio y fósforo del volcán “Tecapa”, en Usulután; está ubicada en el clima ideal para el cultivo de café. Las precipitaciones estables y las bajas temperaturas alargan el ciclo de maduración, lo que significa que los granos de café de Bourbon elite elegidos a mano o Pacamara, (originalmente proviene de la Isla Reunión) están impregnados de azúcares más complejos, produciendo sabores más complejos y profundos.

Sin embargo, un café ganador no solo depende del clima. Gilberto tiene un enfoque meticuloso en la calidad. Este productor a pequeña escala se ha dedicado a su plantación para alcanzar la perfección. Los Pirineos, un microbeneficio impecable, cuenta con plantas despulpadoras Aqua estilo colombiano, y el beneficio de secado perfeccionado utiliza tecnología de Brasil, como el secador mecánico “Guardiola”. Gilberto ha ajustado varias técnicas de procesamiento natural y lavado; camas de secado africanas, patios de secado de arcilla, secado a la sombra e incluso un segundo lavado.

Café procesado en un hermoso paisaje.

Siento que el término “productor” no hace justicia a la devoción de Gilberto. Es un tecnólogo y un ingeniero del sabor. Para el 2015 realizaba “experimentos” con 77 varietales en su vivero-taller, en busca del mejor perfil de taza. Las variedades incluyen Geishas, Java, Kenias, Rume Sudán, Ramon, Ipar 59 y Serpen Florens. Hace pruebas con cafés de proceso semilavado, lavado, procesos naturales e incluso redes de sombra. Gilberto incluso defiende las innovaciones ecológicas; el mucílago de cereza se convierte en un fertilizante de café rico en nutrientes utilizando gusanos rojos californianos y recicla y reutiliza el agua de lluvia para su procesamiento.

Aquí puedes ver el proceso:

¿Cómo Preparé el Café?

Experimenté con V60, AeroPress y prensa francesa. Pero logré mejores resultados cuando bajé corriendo al “Fine Grind Espresso Bar” (Tunbridge Wells, Reino Unido) para extraer unos espressos en su máquina artesanal La Marzocco. El propietario, Matt, impulsado por los pequeños detalles, vierte su corazón en el café en busca del “shot divino” y disfrutaba de la posibilidad de tomar un café exótico y desconocido.

¿Qué Tal Su Sabor?

En una frase, tenía el intenso perfil de sabor afrutado de un Yirgacheffe etíope natural o un AA de Kenia con una sensación en boca completa, suave y aterciopelada que esperaría de un guatemalteco de Antigua. Era fresco, limpio y corto. Tusell Tostadores había dominado el tueste. Al primer sorbo del espresso de tueste medio, notas de arándanos (o uva roja) explotaron en mi paladar. Esta sensación suave y con gran cuerpo duró varios segundos antes de disiparse. No quedaba un regusto desagradable persistente o “sabor fuerte” … Estaba en el paraíso del café.

A cualquiera que beba café le encantará esto. Mi padre lo adoraba y mis colegas que no bebían café de especialidad lo elogiaron (no era muy afrutado, pero “sabía a café”). Para mí, esto muestra lo que el café puede ser…

Catamos espresso y flat whites, y la reacción de Matt (en el video a continuación) lo dice todo….

Traducido por Alejandra M. Henrández.  Traducción editada por María José Parra.

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Join Sprudge + Department Of Brewology To Fight Cancer In October

Cancer sucks. A lot. And the fight against it makes allies of us all.

That’s why Department of Brewology and Sprudge are teaming up for the entire month of October to support cancer research. The “Make Coffee Stronger Than Cancer” campaign is an effort to activate the coffee community to raise awareness and charitable funds about an issue that not only deeply affects coffee professionals, but many loved ones around us all. No matter who you are reading this, cancer has touched your life in some way—and so let’s all stand up together and fight back.

How it works: We’re inviting any coffee-related business (or any business for that matter!) to join us in raising funds during the month of October for a cancer charity of their choice. Our recommended organization is the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, but you can raise funds for a local or national charity of your choice, based on what speaks to you and your community.

Fill out this brief form to let us know who you are and what organization you will be supporting, and we’ll keep a running list of partners and a link to their supported cause. Additionally, Department of Brewology has created a campaign poster that they will be providing the image of for supporting partners, who can display their involvement to their patrons. Sprudge + Brewology will be featuring participating cafes across our platforms over the month of October, so sign up, raise funds, and get featured!

We see this campaign as the latest extension of our bi-annual Night of 1000 Pours initiative, activating the coffee community for charitable good works. On behalf of everyone at Sprudge and Department of Brewology, we’re honored to continue efforts to use the coffee community as a force for philanthropy for issues that deeply affect us all, and appreciate your support on this journey.

—Sprudge Media Network + Department of Brewology

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Black Coffee Is Coming To New York City And Washington DC

Black Coffee is back.

The original live event from creative director Michelle Johnson (The Chocolate Barista, Sprudge) returns for two exclusive engagements on the American east coast, happening in NYC on October 15th and Washington DC on October 19th.

Exploring the intersection of race and coffee culture, Black Coffee takes the form of a lively on-stage panel discussion—a dialogue that centers the voices and experiences of Black coffee professionals and enthusiasts alike, all with unique perspectives that span intersectional identities and roles on the retail end of the coffee chain. The program launched earlier this year in Portland, Oregon, and you can watch a full video presentation of that evening right here.

On Monday, October 15th Black Coffee is in Manhattan at the Classic Stage Company (136 East 13th) in an evening sponsored by La Marzocco USA, Revelator Coffee, Oatly, Everyman Espresso, and Oren’s Daily Roast. This conversation is hosted by Michelle Johnson, with co-hosts Tymika Lawrence (Genuine Origin) and Ezra Baker (Oren’s Coffee Co.). Panelists include Lem Butler (Black & White Roasters), Kristina Hollie (Intelligentsia), Winston Thomas (Barista Champion of South Africa/Urnex Ambassador), and Candice Madison (Irving Farm).

Black Coffee PDX (left to right, bottom to top) Zael Ogwaro (Never Coffee), Michelle Johnson (The Chocolate Barista), Ian Williams (Deadstock Coffee), Adam JacksonBey (The Potter’s House), D’Onna Stubblefield (Icon Coffee), Cameron Heath (Revelator Coffee Company), Gio Fillari (Coffee Feed PDX) and Ezra Baker (Oren’s Coffee Co). Photo by Shaunté Glover for Sprudge. 

Buy tickets now for Black Coffee NYC. Sales benefit Brownsville Community Culinary Center.

On Friday, October 19th Black Coffee is in Washington DC at The Line Hotel (1770 Euclid St NW) in an evening sponsored by La Marzocco, Oatly, Revelator Coffee, and The Line Hotel. This conversation is again hosted by creative director Michelle Johnson, with co-host Adam JacksonBey (The Potter’s House/Barista Guild of America). Panelists include Aisha Pew (Dovecote Cafe), Candy Schibli (Southeastern Roastery), Reggie Elliott (Foreign National), Victoria Smith (The Cup We All Race 4), and Donte Gardner (Vigilante Coffee Company).

Buy tickets now for Black Coffee DC. Sales benefit Collective Action for Safe Spaces. 

Poster art by Taylor McManus. 

Read Michelle Johnson’s original statement of intent for Black Coffee. 

All Black Coffee coverage on Sprudge. 

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Del Grano a La Taza: ¿Cómo Cultivan Café los Productores?

Un espresso: 20-30 ml de delicioso café. Beberlo solo toma algunos minutos. Pero lleva años producirlo. Desde seleccionar cuidadosamente y plantar el árbol de café hasta cosechar, procesar y secar los granos, el trabajo de un productor nunca se detiene.

Pero, ¿cómo deciden los productores qué café cultivar? ¿Cómo lo cosechan? ¿Qué implica el procesamiento y secado?

Read this in English From Seed to Cup: How Do Producers Grow Coffee?

Plantas de café en el vivero de Fazenda Bella Época en Brasil. Crédito: Ana Valencia

Eligiendo el Café Adecuado Para Cultivar

Hay más de un tipo de café. Algunas variedades producen granos de alta calidad, pero son susceptibles a enfermedades. Otras son más resistentes. Algunas tienen mayor rendimiento que otras, algunas son más dulces y otras se adaptan a ciertos tipos de suelo.

Entonces, ¿cómo elige un productor el café que va a cultivar?

Valentina Pedrotti, bióloga del ICFC Panamá y analista de la cadena de valor del café, me dijo que esto varía de país a país. El clima y la cultura local a menudo determinan la elección del productor. Muchos simplemente cultivan lo que es común en un área determinada o lo que siempre se ha cultivado en su tierra.

Pero el suelo, la altitud, la humedad y otras características climáticas tienen un impacto en el sabor del café final, por lo que es importante elegir sabiamente. Otros temas a considerar incluyen el costo y el valor esperado en el mercado para los granos, y si las enfermedades y las plagas son un problema.

En algunos países, existen asociaciones cafeteras nacionales, como la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros (FNC) en Colombia o Anacafé en Guatemala. Es posible que los productores elijan cultivar una variedad de café recomendada por estas asociaciones. La FNC, por ejemplo, invierte en la investigación y el desarrollo de variedades resistentes a enfermedades como Colombia y Castillo.

Y la disponibilidad de algunas semillas es una limitación constante. Tomemos como ejemplo los híbridos F1, como Starmaya. Es de alta calidad, alto rendimiento y altamente resistente a las enfermedades, en otras palabras, la planta de café ideal. Sin embargo, es una variedad nueva y solo pocos productores tiene acceso a ella actualmente.

Con todos estos aspectos para considerar, puede ser difícil elegir la mejor variedad. Arturo Aguirre de la premiada Finca El Injerto en Guatemala, me dijo que es importante que los productores conozcan su tierra. “Debes saber dónde está realmente tu finca”. La ubicación y el suelo son factores decisivos para determinar si ciertas variedades pueden desarrollarse.

Aguirre también dijo que se debe tener en cuenta que toma alrededor de tres años saber si una nueva variedad prosperará en la finca o no. Después de todo, ese es el tiempo que tarda un árbol en madurar.

Descubre algunas de las variedades más comunes Geisha vs Bourbon: Un Curso Intensivo de Variedades de Café

Plántulas de café en su período de crecimiento controlado; más tarde, serán plantadas en la finca.

Plantar La Semilla

Hemos elegido la variedad, ¿y ahora qué?

Ricardo Álvarez, agrónomo de la Finca Los Tres Potros en El Salvador, me dijo que, para las dos primeras etapas del proceso de cultivo de café, la temperatura es mucho más importante que la elevación. Por ejemplo, el rango de temperatura ideal para el Arábica es de 18 ° C – 21 ° C (64 ° -70 ° F). Si la temperatura es superior, la planta se puede estresar.

Álvarez me explicó que comienza con un semillero lleno de arena tratada para estimular la germinación y el crecimiento inicial, y también prevenir enfermedades. Estas semillas de café permanecen en el semillero por 70 días.

Luego, trasplanta las plántulas a bolsas individuales que contienen de una mezcla de tierra fértil. Las plantas jóvenes permanecen en el vivero durante un tiempo de entre 7 meses un año. También las cubre con envoltura de plástico para controlar la cantidad de luz. En esta fase, es esencial que las raíces principales crezcan verticalmente para dar estabilidad y permitir que la planta viva por más tiempo.

También te puede gustar Variedades de Café: No Todos Los Gesha Tienen El Mismo Sabor

Productor de Nicaragua poda la planta antes de cosechar las cerezas. Crédito: Maren Marbee via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Cuidar La Planta de Café

Álvarez enfatizó en que antes de sembrar plántulas en la finca, es importante decidir con qué densidad se deberían plantar los árboles. El productor lo decide basándose en cómo podará y realizará su sistema de zoca para las plantas más adelante. También debe considerar cómo se llevará a cabo la cosecha y las características de cada variedad.   

¡Aprende más! Lee  ¿Por qué Sembrar Café en Filas?

El mantenimiento es necesario para que las plantas de café duren y para que la producción sea consistente. Es importante podar o recortar las ramas productoras y los troncos verticales principales después de cada cosecha.

Además, la planta debe pasar por zoca regularmente para asegurar un buen rendimiento. Esto significa que cada planta se corta a 30-40 cm desde abajo para permitir un nuevo crecimiento. La frecuencia con la que se debe hacer esto depende de muchos factores, incluida la densidad de siembra y la cantidad de sombra. Las plantas pasadas por zoca no darán fruto hasta que vuelvan a crecer, por lo que es importante dividir la finca en lotes e intercalar el zoqueo.

Los productores también pueden necesitar volver a plantar por completo determinados lotes en su finca después de que los árboles alcancen cierta edad.

Recolectores de café cosechan cerezas maduras en Laos. Crédito: Thomas Schosch via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

La nutrición de las plantas de café ocurre en la hoja y la raíz, y ninguna de ellas debe descuidarse. Álvarez me dijo que es extremadamente importante cuidar el suelo y mantenerse al día con el calendario de fertilización para proporcionar a las plantas la nutrición que necesitan.

Durante la temporada de lluvias, la limpieza de maleza ayudará a prevenir el desarrollo de enfermedades. En otras épocas del año, los productores deben estar atentos a la roya. Esta infección por hongos es extremadamente común y puede devastar los cultivos al dañar las hojas, que son necesarias para convertir la luz solar en energía. En otras palabras, sin las hojas, la planta no puede sobrevivir.

Para las fincas que cultivan bajo sombra, Álvarez también resaltó la importancia del mantenimiento de la misma. La cantidad de sombra necesaria para producir una buena cosecha dependerá de la elevación de la finca y de la especie de café, pero el mantenimiento adecuado de la sombra permitirá que las plantas maduren a la velocidad ideal.

¡Conoce más! Lee Guía Para Cultivar Árboles de Café Saludables

De la Finca a La Taza

Cada año, los árboles florecen después de la temporada de lluvias. Pero, estas flores blancas delicadas, con sus dulces aromas, son más que bellas. Son importantes para el crecimiento de la cereza de café.

Con el café Arábica, hay un período de espera de nueve meses entre la floración y la cosecha de café. Pero este no es un período de descanso. El productor debe inspeccionar regularmente las cerezas en desarrollo para asegurarse de que estén madurando en el momento correcto, y también detectar plagas.

Y no subestimes la dificultad de la cosecha. La recolección de cerezas es una tarea larga y difícil, especialmente cuando los productores orientados hacia la calidad buscan cerezas perfectamente maduras. Clasificar la cosecha también es importante, y toma mucho tiempo. Incluso unos pocos granos de baja calidad o defectuosos pueden reducir la calidad de un lote, que de otro modo sería excelente.

Después de que las cerezas se hayan cosechado se deben procesar. Esto significa que se deben remover las semillas de café de las cerezas para luego pasarlas a la fase de secado.

Los principales factores a considerar durante el procesamiento son el clima, la luz solar y la infraestructura. Mientras se seca, también es importante mover los granos periódicamente para evitar la fermentación y el moho.

El procesamiento se puede hacer de muchas maneras, pero existen tres métodos principales:

• Natural: los granos se secan con la piel de la cereza, esto agrega dulzura y notas afrutadas. Puede ser más difícil lograr consistencia.
• Lavado: los granos se remueven de las cerezas y se fermentan en agua antes de secarse, esto genera un perfil limpio y consistente. Requiere más equipamiento que el procesamiento natural.
• Honey / despulpado natural: Parte de la fruta se elimina, dejando una cierta cantidad de mucílago en los granos durante el secado. Entre más mucílago se deje, el café será más dulce y tendrá más cuerpo. Este proceso implica un esfuerzo y riesgo mayores.

¡Lee más! Proceso 101: Lavado, Natural Y Honey Producción de Café

Granos de café después del procesamiento. Crédito: Adam Jones via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

Aguirre dijo: “Es muy difícil cultivar café. No solo el productor está luchando contra las adversidades de la naturaleza, sino que una taza de café requiere mucho trabajo, muchísima gente … Ese es el verdadero valor del café”.

Porque para muchas personas, una taza de café es una bebida diaria importante. Pero para los productores, representa días, meses y años de cuidado intensivo de sus cultivos. Son madrugadas y largas tardes bajo temperaturas frías. Es el trabajo de su vida.

¿Disfrutaste este artículo? Lee Conoce la Planta de Café

Escrito por Miguel Regalado.

Traducido por Alejandra M Hernández. Traducción editada por María José Parra.

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