Quick aside before we start this topic: we love many of the importers and exporters we work with. We've begun building some amazing friendships, have already garnered strong trust with some, and greatly admire many of them for the work they are doing at origin and at home. Middle men are NOT innately bad. It is quite the opposite. Many do (some of what we think is) the least exciting jobs in the pipeline of coffee and with the least reward for their hard work. Do your due diligence on your own in finding reliable sourcing partners and understand that those are YOUR people. They will have your back!
A short story about OUR bad sourcing practice
It's April 30th and I've just had probably the biggest moral dilemma since starting Base Coat. Do I pull a coffee I just launched?
Today, we had this wonderful impromptu cupping with our good friend Christian, and the band he play's in, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. On the table, we had every past offering of ours and a few future ones. It was a really great time, but having our fresh crop Colombia right next to two of our recent Honduras offerings made one thing blatantly apparent. Our two Honduras were tasting incredibly tired.
How had I not picked up on this? In profiling, the age was definitely subtle. In fact, I hardly detected it in the Gesha nanolot. On the Java, it was subtle-y more apparent by the lack of acid that that Java should have, but also obscured by the fact that this coffee oddly held onto it's chaff very well. It made cupping already have an oolong character that otherwise would not have been there. (I believe this is because it spent too much time "stabilizing" in parchment, but I am speculating.) None of this means to be an excuse to our poor QC but it was one of many small contributing factors that gave us false confidence to still release this coffee that would not sit on our menu for even a month.
So, it was definitely on our radar that the three coffees we sourced this year from Honduras were already on their decline. They were also spot purchases a few months after arrival when we bought them. But, we were excited to offer Honduran coffee as extra light. We also saw and tasted a few other roasters just launch their expressions of some Honduran coffees in the extra light style, which contributed to our poorly-instilled, confidence. Then, we ignorantly sat on these lots for a few months after their arrival to schedule them "tactically" into our two coffee a month release schedule.
All of this planning came crumbling down after finally roasting first batch of the Gesha / Landrace blend we spent $16/lb on. After cupping, it had plenty of beautiful qualities: orange blossom, fuji apple, cinnamon, and turbinado, but it was ridden with bag-y and paper-y flavors. And, in low EY pourover, it was almost an acceptable quality of fade. However, when this coffee was fresh, it was so much more impressive of a cup. It started as berries and stone fruit and quickly turned into fruit loops at room temp. I had been so excited to release this coffee since tasting that sample brew. Now, it was far too aged to sell extra light (in our minds).
So, we decided that was $1200 of the $3000 we spent with this importer just gone. In their defense, all of the spot samples tasted lovely when we purchased them. But, this specific offering was not vacuum sealed like the others, which we were not aware of while it sat an extra month or two in palate storage on a shelf in our co-roasting facility. When it finally was pulled down for us, I saw the zip-tied grain pro sack, and knew the grave mistake I had made.
I think there were several more huge mistakes we made in purchasing these three coffees that could have prevented ~$2.5k loss from solely bad green purchases.
- I roasted our samples slightly darker than I normally would. I got stuck in drying with my old sample roasting method on the joper -- I've since found a new method that has an artificial cutoff to ensure this doesn't happen. I thought I was tasting through roast, but I really should have just asked for more sample green.
- We bought spot coffee, and out of peak arrival window.
- We did not pull any of the coffee when it arrived to roast and taste. We could have realistically rejected this coffee after purchasing in a small time frame after it had arrived, but we waited to taste.
- We sat on the coffee after purchasing instead of releasing it right away, which contributed to its decline.
All of this is to say, it was our fault (directly and indirectly) and we share this in hopes that people can learn from our mistakes. This year, we're buying from them again but we're taking a new approach and forward buying lots from these same producers way in advance. They'll be just as fresh as our Colombian coffees have been.
Sourcing is harder than roasting
Sourcing is harder than roasting. I say this confidently. There are traps everywhere. More specifically, spot buying is probably one of the trickiest things to do consistently well in coffee. And, as a new roaster, this will be probably the only way you buy coffee in the smaller quantities you're seeking. (Unless you have roaster friends. Make roaster friends you can split green with too.)
Most importers, somewhat understandably, treat selling spot like being a salesman. What I mean by that is spot buying feels like it often comes without pretense that you're building a longer relationship. It's easier to burn a bridge, or just simply ignore some cons of the lot you're offering to that customer. On the other end, often times, there are plenty of buyers who will probably be perfectly content with faded, past peak crop. Importers often need buyers sourcing spot in their business model and there is a market for it.
In addition, you'll probably start to observe that some importers do a better job at certain areas in the pipeline. Some are fantastic at logistics and producer relationships, but don't quite get the most exciting lots. Others treat you well, check-in often, but then, have a slower time getting the palette to your roastery floor. Some do a much better job of QCing their lots as they sit longer and longer. It is important to remember that importing is a supply chain logistics and financial risk-analyst job fused together.
Importers will continue to pay to store lots that ultimately slowly decay in flavor. This is part of the spot buying game. The price you pay on fresh spot will even account for future risk of others decaying. It is part of the game; importers are ultimately better forecasters than we ever will be as roasters.
While we chat about spot buying, it is important to observe how a specific importer markets you their spot. Some share the observed flaws in the remaining offering list in some way when others may choose to do nothing (meaning a coffee remains in a spot listings with fresh tasting notes and details when it no longer reflects them on a cupping table). Or worse can happen; some might obfuscate arrival and harvest details from their spot listings, or why they even ended up on spot -- for example, a broken contract because of quality flaws.
So, it can be incredibly hard to understand a) when the coffee physically arrived and b) if that coffee is still tasting like it's being marketed without asking directly or tasting yourself. If neither of these conditions are met, our advice is to move on from that lot or have a solid Plan B if it arrives in a worse state.
Unfortunately, there are many bag split programs for smaller roasters and home roasters on the market that are sold as offering high-quality lots in small quantity for a small premium. Sometimes, those programs even have you blind buy in confidence (breaking our condition B right from the start). Understand that not all QC standards and protocol are the same with importers. And, we do not say this lightly, the small quantity spot buying market can be slightly predatory being that it is one of the hardest markets to buy in with some of the least experienced roasters playing the game. Just know that you're not alone, many of us have experienced these same bad purchases on lots. We will be there for you!
So, what can you do?
- Always ask and ask directly
- "Is this tasting aged when you last cupped it? When did you last cup it? When did it arrive? When was it harvested? What's the moisture and water activity? (For extra light, don't buy above ~11.3% moisture without tasting. Be weary of higher water activity >0.55aw too.) What have others shared after passing on it?" are all good, generic questions to be asking.
- Pay attention to when you're buying spot and try your best not to buy out of new harvest arrival timing windows. Sometimes out of calendar sourcing (say for an exclusive with a subscription service for example) is necessary though.
- If you do plan to buy spot coffee, see if you can reserve a bag/box and sample it before buying. This gives you a small window to reject what you receive. Or, buy a lb before you commit -- even if that means it may sell out by the time you've sampled. Roast first batch (or sample) quickly, and always give the importer feedback. That's how you start to build relationships. Be transparent and thoughtful, but also kind.
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A better way: Buy forward (and commit to lots way in advance).
- This is what we plan to do moving forward. We've found a few producers whose stories resonate with us. We've contacted those importer/exporters and let them know ahead of time the quantity we want and what we're roughly looking for. The importer let us know roughly what moisture they had measured in pre-ships and a few tasting notes and processing info.
- We can contract coffee and sample on approval (a.k.a. Contract SAS). This means that we sign a contract to buy a lot so long as the arrival sample meets our expectation. Most importers do not have a high minimum order quantity to do contract SAS. Once you begin buying full vac sealed boxes, you're probably ready.You'll really only get pre-ships if you're buying large amounts (say 4x full bags) so, for a long time, Contact SAS is your safest avenue. In Contract SAS, even though you're committed to something you've never tasted, you can always deny it. Most roasters commit to 3 or 4 bags but maybe only end up purchasing 2 (on purpose). It's a silly game that is played. Just don't overly abuse that system of reserving more and denying most.
- Build relationships and do your best to nurture them.
- Communicate plans at the beginning of the year.
- Give the importer / exporter / producer clear idea that you want to buy from them and let them understand why and what you're looking for.
- Follow through with your promises. Pay early. Communicate clearly and promptly.
Getting defective or faded coffee is not an "if" it is a "when". Understanding the risk you're willing to take ahead of time, will help soften the blow so that you can avoid what we did and buy 30kg of faded coffee at $16/lb.
Lastly, when you do find faded coffee in the wild and purchase it, let others taste it in different brew methods and in cupping.
Sometimes, if you move quickly enough, you can get a coffee out the door before the window is too late. Not every coffee ages the same and some have greater windows of "acid fade" before they get bag-y or paper-y. In our minds, this is acceptable coffee age. It's still really enjoyable brewing!
Closing thoughts
Roasting can be hard, but there is so much we get to control. Sourcing is hard because we're largely out of control. Find people you trust and appreciate. If they know what they're doing, they will appreciate you back . Nurture those relationships. That will treat you the best.
I think, as roasters, we all find ourselves with faded or defective coffee at one point or another. I've found solace in sharing these experiences with others.
We're still figuring out how to lessen our blown on these Honduras coffees. Some people would simply throw this in a blender, and call it a day. I want to be more transparent with this coffee. If we do decide to sell it, you'll see a coffee that is clearly listed as "aged" or "faded" on our menu (UPDATE: WE DID NOT GO THIS ROUTE... RIP THAT COFFEE). We're also working out how to address the coffee that did go out the door that we're not completely happy with.
Stay tuned! And thanks for being here and reading this far.
Cheers, Aidan