Terroir definition and tasting terroir in coffee

Posted on by in Terroir +.

Definition: Terroir is the relative expression in a food or medicine of a subtle set of particularities, influenced by geological and geographical locality, soil composition, micro-climatic variations in heat, moisture, and wind, botanical specifity, horticultural idiosyncracy, varying expressions of secondary compounds and alkaloids, and among crafted end-products terroir is also the so-called maker’s imprint, a combination of creators’ intentions and the perception of those who experience their creations.

Attribution of terroir in coffee: Through tasting an enormous variety of coffees over the past few weeks I cannot attribute taste differences to terroir in a strict sense. The roasters we have talked to view terroir as having little impact on the resulting flavor of coffee, and the processing and roasting as having a much greater effect.  However, in our personal views, the processing and roasting are key components that plays into the terroir.

Photo credit: taken by Armando

Insights from roasters and how cafes portray terroir

Posted on by in Field Study.

Three favorite insights from OCR and B & B:

Insight From Who/Where When
Intensity of testing coffee before buying Oliver at Olympia Coffee Roasters 11/10/15
Starbucks is ‘Specialty Coffee’ Olympia Coffee Roasters 11/10/15
Fermentation may homogenize flavor Batdorf & Bronson 11/17

How Olympia cafes educate on terroir:

Business Name Business Address Aspect of Terroir
Batdorf & Bronson 111 Market St NE, Olympia WA Coffee origin and flavor profiles
Burial Grounds 406 Washington St SE, Olympia WA A lot of emphasis on flavor rather than origin
Sizizis(closed) 704 4th ave E, Olympia WA Marketed specific origins of their coffees and teas
Obsidian 414 4th ave E, Olympia WA Use of local herbs and flavors in mixed drinks

Photo credit: http://www.vintagecitymaps.com/images/maps/Olympia_WA_1879_Glover.jpg

Coffee rocks

Posted on by in Permaculture and Coffee.

There are two species of Coffea which are grown for commercial purposes: Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta.  Both are cultivated solely between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, 23.5 degrees north and south of the equator. However, C. robusta is more pest and disease resistant and can withstand wider growing conditions suitable for commercial cultivation such as lower altitudes and higher temperatures, though it produces a reportedly unpleasant flavor (Hoffman 12).  When planting land to coffee, young volcanic soils are very sought after due to high nutrient content leading to high yields (Preston 226),.  In Brazil, “the most advanced and industrialized coffee-producing country in the world” (Hoffman 184), coffee is predominately grown on Terra Roxa, a soil derived from igneous rocks, and between 80 and 90 percent of the cultivated Terra Roxa land is planted to coffee (Preston 239). The 19th and 20th centuries brought a wave of land grabs for coffee production in Brazil: forests were cut and burned, soils robbed of their fertility, accelerated erosion, and land prices driven through the roof (Preston 226-238).  A solution to alleviate erosion and regulate fertility loss in coffee lands is the implementation of agroforestry methods, or producing shade-grown coffee, as mineral nitrogen is better retained in a system incorporating nitrogen-fixing shade trees than in coffee monocultures (Munroe 40 & 45).

Works Cited:

Hoffman, James. 2014. The World Atlas of Coffee. 1st ed. Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books.

Munroe, J.W., G. Soto, Filho Virginio, R. Fulthorpe, and M.E. Isaac. 2015. “Soil Microbial and Nutrient Properties in the Rhizosphere of Coffee under Agroforestry Management.” Applied Soil Ecology 93: 40–46.

Preston, James. 1932. “The Coffee Lands of Southeastern Brazil.” Geographical Review 22 (2): 225–44.

Photocredit: http://www.jackeez.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/B/r/BrazilCoffeeCookie/1lb-Fresh-Roasted-Gourmet-Brazil-Cerrado-Coffee-Calusa-Coffee-Roasters-33.jpg