TJ is the Marketing Director for Camano Island Coffee Roasters. TJ is a wannabe coffee snob, who enjoys writing and photographing coffee, reading books, watching movies with his wife, and hiking with his dogs.
This month, for the month of September only, we decided to pull out all the stops and feature a coffee that we haven’t featured in a couple years. — our Colombian Reserve! Our Colombian Reserve has many flavor characteristics and contains a subtle, fruit-like sweetness with a peanut-y tone in the finish. The coffee itself contains a perfectly balanced, medium body and we roast it to a milk chocolate color at a medium roast level.
Region Information:
Our Colombian Reserve comes from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains (Snowy Mountain Range of Saint Martha) which is an isolated mountain range separated from the Andes that runs through Colombia’s Northern region, along the coast. At it’s highest point, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains reach 5,700 meters above sea level. These mountains are the highest coastal mountain range in the world.
People:
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains are home to the remnants of the native American Tairona Culture. The Arhuacos, one of four groups of the remnants left from the native American Tairona Culture, grow our Colombia Reserve coffee. As a people, their main economic activity is subsistence agriculture. Most of the Arhuacos people haven’t even had a chance to enjoy their coffee as it is grown specifically to be an export to bring money into their economy. In spite of an ever changing environment and many new projects in the area by the Colombian government, the Arhuacos resist modernizing and live life the way they have for many years.
The fair has ended and once again, we had a great time. While the fair suffered a little in attendance because of the crazy weather (ie. the torrential downpour on Saturday evening), we stayed busy the whole time giving warmth to the few that braved the fair and the rain.
We went through 180 gallons of water (which equates to about 396 airpots full or about 7,920 sample sized cups of coffee) in making thousands of samples, hundreds of 12oz cups and hundreds of refills for anyone that purchased one (or in some cases, many) of our cool stainless commuter mugs! We also sold over a thousand pounds of coffee bringing a nice sum for Agros and their work.
For the 10th consecutive year, we enjoyed seeing many of you, our customers, both new and “long-term” alike. We gained many new club members to add to the rest of our great prosumers. In the beginning, our company was carried through its infancy by doing local tastings and fairs. It’s fun for me to reminisce about the days when I’d set up a Schuh Farms and sell a few pounds a day to interested visitors.
Thank you to all who came and for those that couldn’t but still support us and our vision with each purchase of our healthy coffee. We’re here and growing because of you!
August 2012 Coffee of the Month – – Sumatra Medium
Beach Brew is back! This time, we’re showcasing our Sumatra Medium Roast as our coffee of the month. This medium roast brings a richness of flavor unlike any other coffee. Sumatra coffees (as a general rule) tend to have a heavy, buttery body. Sumatra is easy to find, although high quality Sumatra coffees are harder to come by. Even so, many regard Sumatra coffee in general as a great dessert coffee due its natural richness.
Here’s the low down on this Coffee of the Month
Most people only get to drink dark roasted Sumatra coffee. While Dark Sumatra coffee is awesome — particularly our Organic dark roast Sumatra coffee — many would love the slightly lighter roast of a Sumatra Medium even more.
So which roast would be better as a monthly coffee?
The common thought is: Darker = Richer, and that has a truth to it. However, Lighter = Richer is also a true statement.
Let me explain:
Here’s the best way to describe it. Roasting coffee to a darker degree does two things:
Natural “Coffee Flavor” is baked out of the coffee more than lighter style roasts.
“Roast Flavor” or “toasty” flavor is increased due to the length of time in the roaster.
Many people really like one more than the other… or enjoy a balance of one to the other. I personally drift more towards lighter roasts because I just really enjoy tasting the flavor of the coffee bean. Many others like the darkness introduced in the roasting process and really enjoy having that added flavor characteristic. I always say “That’s what makes coffee so great! It appeals to everyones taste buds in some way.”
I find the Sumatra Medium Roast to be perfect for lighter roasted coffee drinkers like me… as well as people that enjoy the depth of darker roasts. The natural Sumatran richness coupled with a good, medium roasting level provides all the flavor necessary to thoroughly enjoy this wonderful dessert coffee – even if you can’t relegate it strictly to dessert!
So there you have it, Sumatra coffee — either dark roast or medium roast — make for great monthly coffees.
Update: Are you reading this after August 2012? You can still get this coffee fresh! Just click one of the links below!
Art by the Bay is officially over for the year and we’re sad to see it go. Camano Island Coffee Roasters was started by using local events and places as a platform to tell others about our coffee and our focus. Art by the Bay, was one of the first events we took part in and it only gets better and better with each passing year!
This year, we gave thousands of samples of coffee and sold hundreds of pounds. More importantly to us, we get to connect with many, many of our prosumers and we get to talk about the future of our business and the work being accomplished in many countries around the world.
Next year, make sure you go out to Art by the Bay – it’s a destination worth checking out!
It’s back! Our acclaimed Guatemala Coffee Medium Roast is featured this month for all to enjoy! We do, of course, carry it year-round but many wait to enjoy it for those special months that we offer it as our Coffee of the Month!
Sweet and tangy citrus accents set this Guatemala coffee bean apart from the others. With distinct and distinguished flavor and aroma, this medium roast pleases the coffee lover with its complexity and colorful aromatic qualities.
Of course, most of our customers already know there is much more to our Guatemala coffee than the great flavor. Our Guatemala Medium Roast is a wonderful Agros coffee. It’s my personal favorite, actually. From the village of Trapichitos in Guatemala, comes this wonderfully rich, full flavored, original Guatemala coffee bean.
Trapichitos “Place of the Sugar Mills”
Nebaj, Quiché, Guatemala Size: 635 acres Population: 61 families Founded: 2000
Also known as La Trinidad (the Trinity), Trapichitos is an Ixil community that has persevered through great challenges. Squeezed together for many years on just 25 acres of land, the original 85 families organized themselves to purchase land 25 minutes from their homes. After five frustrating years and many fruitless attempts to acquire land, the community approached Agros for assistance in April 2000. Agros had never worked with previously organized groups in the Ixil, thereby, presenting a new opportunity. With Agros’ support, local leaders finally had the financial backing to approach the landowner. The 635-acre tract of Trapichitos was purchased in November 2000
We realize that visiting the blog hasn’t been the most fun, happening place as of late! We do typically try to put something informative or interesting about our company, great coffee, or Agros every 1-2 weeks.
Please bear with us through our growing pains, heavy work-loads, and some new babies. We guarantee we will be updating our blog at a more rapid rate shortly!
Alternatively, if you haven’t found our Facebook page, it’s definitely a more exciting spot at the moment as our customers fuel the energy directly there! Check it out!
Coffee is great all year long whether it’s hot or cold outside. The problem, however, is that sometimes you don’t want a hot cup of coffee when it is over 90 degrees outside. As an Arizona guy (grew up there), I find that hot weather makes iced drinks SO much better! That same hot weather also seems to make hot drinks harder to enjoy. Well, I’ve got the solution for you — our Peru coffee.
Well, I’ve got the solution for you! Our Peru coffee
Our Peru coffee — dark roasted is here to the rescue. The Peru coffee is literally the perfect summer coffee. It’s light bodied and refreshing yet packs a delicious flavor. Complete with subtle, gentle fruit tones and a slight smokiness, our Peru coffee makes a great hot beverage in the morning and will continue to be your perfect companion throughout the day by pouring it over ice!
If you venture over to our coffee page, you’ll see that our Peru coffee is described as: “One of the highest in elevation in the region, this Peru bean has sweet, fruity tones that lend towards a naturally sweet cup. Our Peru coffee is our lightest bodied coffee which makes it a great choice for the coffee drinker that enjoys drinking lots of coffee yet doesn’t want to sacrifice in the flavor of the cup. This coffee is great anytime of the day and compliments many meals.”
At CICR, we get so caught up in coffees that have a “strength” in flavor or provide the drinker with a “rich” cup of coffee, that the Peru often gets overlooked. The Peru coffee, while not having that super heavy flavor, has a wonderfully mellow tone. We always market it as our “guzzling” coffee but it’s also a wonderful compliment to food. When I’m eating a meal, I want my coffee to taste great, but not compete with what I’m enjoying. This Peru’s natural sweetness only goes to compliment the meal rather than combat it.
The weather here on Camano Island has been amazing. Our ‘usual’ clouds and infamous rainy Seattle weather has left and the sun is out! This means the weekends and evenings are being more and more filled with beaches and walks outside… and coffee of course.
With the sun and the weather we are freed up to enjoy coffee in new “Cooler” ways. Iced coffee is a favorite, and a very simple treat that is perfect for at the beach or on the back porch during the bright hours of the day.
My Perfect Iced Coffee:
Pick your roast. (I like something Dark and thick, perhaps Sumatra)
Brew that coffee at double strength (just add twice the amount of coffee to your pot)
Fill a tall glass of ice for you and a friend, and fix to please. Raw sugar can be a great addition as well as your choice of milk or cream.
I recently got a chance to spend about 30 minutes on the phone with Ira Lippke. For those that may not follow us on Twitter or Facebook – or possibly just missed the messages we’ve sent, Ira is responsible for much of the photography you see on CICR’s website and some literature. He also plays a big role in the photography found on Agros’ website. Ira is a gifted photographer who is passionate about fair trade and ethical coffee.
I wanted to share a large excerpt of our conversation with you all…
Dan:What started your love for photography?
Ira: One day I was at the Stanwood (Washington) library. We had just picked up some pictures from the local photo lab and while my parents went in, I was sitting in the car looking through these family snapshots. I was 14 at the time, and I realized a couple things while looking through those pictures:
I realized that I had so much to be grateful for. There was so much beauty everywhere surrounding me. Looking at the pictures enabled me to objectively stand outside of my life and realize I had a lot to be grateful for.
Photography is such a powerful medium.
Our photos weren’t very good. It seemed that most of the photos I ever saw were dark, grainy, and lacking detail and quality. I wanted to know how to take a good picture, so I ended up going in to the library and checked out a couple books on photography. My father let me borrow his old Olympus camera and I was set.
I would often go with my friend David and take pictures just for the fun of it. Our main goal was just to take interesting photos of things we would see everyday. I ended up attending Biola University and I got the job as the university photographer. At the time, I was studying History, Philosophy, and Literature – I was working towards a Humanities Degree. During my years at Biola, I was able to pay my way through school with photography. I became known as “the photographer” among many at school. My Junior year, I took a break and started my business while living in Warm Beach (Washington). I did a lot of photography for bands at the time and shot various album cover pictures.
Dan:Did you go back to school after starting your business and finish your degree? Ira: Yes, I finished my education at Biola and received my degree in Humanities – Which I feel adds a little more substance and content to my photography rather than if I had studied photography itself. My pictures are about these same dramas and questions that literature, history and philosophy are about. I love telling stories and showing the human element. It’s been 10 years since I started my business and I now have two locations… first in Los Angeles and one in New York.
Dan:What photography style would you say is your “main” style? Ira: I describe what i do as “Fine Art Documentary Photography”. It’s a photography approach that tells stories, but with an awareness of the elements of fine art (line, color, texture and form). These days I’ve been shooting some of the top weddings in the world, and also documenting humanitarian issues internationally. I go from shooting tragic issues in remote areas and then several days later find myself photographing VIPs in Beverly Hills, Italy, Pebble Beach, or the Turks & Caicos. This creates a really telling contrast. I’ve shot some remarkably exquisite weddings – but then I go to these really grounding areas which really fills out the human element for me.
Dan: How did you hear about Agros? Ira: I’m good friends with Sean Dimond at Agros. I knew Sean before he worked for Agros and he has always been involved in humanitarian work. He told me about Agros and not long after got a job there. He is now the Director of Communications for Agros.
Dan:How many trips have you been on with Agros and where to? Ira: I’ve gone on a total of 4 trips with Agros and have visited Honduras, Nicaragua, Chiapas, and Guatemala.
Dan: What was it that made you decide that Agros was a fit for you? Ira: I always refer to Agros as my favorite charity. As I’ve travelled to Africa 4 times, Indonesia 2 times, the Middle East, India and quite a few other places, I often find myself in areas where humanitarian groups are working. Typically, solutions involve the West giving charity away to these areas but, unfortunately that is often times damaging to the local economy and the local sense of dignity. Charity of that nature can create a culture of dependence and undercut the local economy.
When I was recently in Southern Malawi I asked the chief of one of the tribes where I could go to take documentary photos. He sent me to his home village that, it turned out, he sends all visiting humanitarian groups. While I was there, people kept telling me how they needed more help for this and that and they were continuously asking for money. The generosity of the West had created a dependance there. Agros villages are the exact opposite. They are proud of what they’ve done and they are so generous. They don’t ask for money, but instead they often come up to me with big smiles and plates of food. It’s a different experience from other models I’ve experienced.
What I love about Agros is that they empower those in need to help themselves – and does it through the local economy rather than by undercutting it. It’s so much more sustainable that way. It shows that the solution is through hard work, and not handouts. Agros’ work is so humane and dignifying. It’s been an honor to get to know and document these extraordinary people living in Agros Villages. Honestly, these hard-working, hope filled Agros villagers are my heroes.
I had a great conversation with Ira. One thing that is hard to relay in type, is passion. Ira is definitely passionate about his love of Agros and their work.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed doing the interview and putting it together for you!
We’re no strangers to the occasional comments and rolling of eyes when it comes to our “Coffee Snobbery” at CICR. We all enjoy grabbing our coffee and taking it with us when we visit others, go on vacation, or just head for a short drive. We’ve also become very aware that many of our customers do the same thing!
Next time you hear a friend/family member make a comment about “the coffee snob you’ve become” or joke with you about your obsession with coffee, just think about this…
The coffee is GREAT, Organic, Shade-grown, and fairly traded – and that plays a part… but how often can you carry your favorite beverage with you and know that you’re changing the world as you move about through life?
Once you’ve thought about it, offer to make them more than a coffee snob. Tell them the story and share a cup or two… or some beans. If they join our Coffee Lover’s Club, you’ll get a free shipment, but more importantly, you’ll have added another person to the arsenal of people changing lives through responsible purchasing daily!
That’s the reason we roast/ship/drink our coffee after all!
This month, for the month of September only, we decided to pull out all the stops and feature a coffee that we haven’t featured in a couple years. — our Colombian Reserve! Our Colombian Reserve has many flavor characteristics and contains a subtle, fruit-like sweetness with a peanut-y tone in the finish. The coffee itself contains a perfectly balanced, medium body and we roast it to a milk chocolate color at a medium roast level.
Region Information:
People:
Dan Ericson
Coffee is great all year long whether it’s hot or cold outside. The problem, however, is that sometimes you don’t want a hot cup of coffee when it is over 90 degrees outside. As an Arizona guy (grew up there), I find that hot weather makes iced drinks SO much better! That same hot weather also seems to make hot drinks harder to enjoy. Well, I’ve got the solution for you — our Peru coffee.
If you venture over to our 
Dan Ericson
