Upon arrival in Managua, we were chauffeured to Selva Negra by the owner of the farm, Mausi Kuhl. Situated on the border of Matagalpa and Jinotega, Selva Negra is about a three-hour trek east of the capital airport. On the way, Mausi and her son-in-law, Steve, gave us a quick history of the farm and tried to prepare us for what we would encounter in the next couple of days. In the late 19th century, Nicaragua actively recruited Western European immigrants. Mausi’s and Eddy’s (her husband) ancestors were among this first generation to arrive, both from Germany (Selva Negra is Spanish for Black Forest, their ancestral home). They married local women and started farming coffee, gaining patents for some of their coffee-processing technology. The estate was a fairly conventional farm until the 1980’s when Eddy and Mausi decided to evacuate the farm during the Sandinista-led civil war. Once they returned at the end of the decade, they reclaimed their land and decided to become as self-sustaining as they could, relying on the Sandinista-controlled public utilities as little as possible.

Since that decision, Selva Negra has become a true community. About 250 people live on Selva Negra year-round, and a few years ago, they started promoting themselves as an eco-tourism site. Simple hotel accommodations and cabins are available for rent and a full-service restaurant supplies lodgers as well as local families from Matagalpa who drive up the mountain for a special dinner on weekends. Arriving long after nightfall, we would have to wait until the next morning to begin to appreciate the beauty of the surrounding rainforest and farmland and to understand how Selva Negra has made itself a model in the coffee industry.

Daybreak comes early in Nicaragua. Full sunlight and chatty geese arrive by 6am. Once we were convened in the restaurant, we feasted on eggs collected on the property and sausage made on-site from pigs raised on the farm. Our tour started with the cluster of housing for the year-round workers. Families live in cabins and temporary workers (who come in for about six weeks during the height of the picking season) stay in large dorms with private, fully-enclosed bunks. A kitchen prepares all meals for the workers (cooking with a combination of methane harvested from wastewater and coffee parchment for fuel) and a nurse’s office and school are located in the center. A small cheese factory is located behind the kitchen, on the way to the horse stalls and cattle pastures. Off to the side are the greenhouses and water-treatment areas. Slightly up the hill, sits the de-pulping station right beside Eddy and Mausi’s house. Further down the hill are the composting facilities and the hydro-electric plant.

Coffee is grown all over the farm. Since this is a Rain Forest Alliance-certified property, coffee trees are grown in the shade of grapefruit, papaya, cacao, and a variety of other indigenous plants. We visited during the end of the picking season. Coffee cherries continually ripen throughout the season, and must be picked by hand only when they are bright red and at their ripest, making for a very labor-intensive product. Most of the trees had been picked 5 times by the time we were sent out to harvest and collect our own coffee cherries. On this final pick, all cherries had to be removed, no matter how ripe or unripe, to keep bugs from infesting the trees during the off-season. We spent about 45 minutes picking cherries, during which time, the seven members of our party harvested enough to slightly over-fill one basket. The foreman who showed us how to pick, can usually fill 12 of those baskets in one day.

At the end of each picking day, the entire yield is trucked up to the de-pulper. There the outmost layer of the cherry is removed and the coffee is allowed to rest in pools of water. This resting period starts the natural fermentation process by which the remainder of the mucalegen layer is removed. Once this pulp is removed, the beans are sorted and laid out on racks to begin the drying process.  Also, at this point, the most perfect coffee beans are separated out to become seedlings and be planted on the farm the next season.

The next part of the drying process is accomplished at the beneficio, or dry mill. Recently, Selva Negra was able to open its own beneficio about half an hour away from the farm, down the mountain where it is hotter and drier. Once the beans are transported there, they are spread out on large drying patios and turned several times a day by manual raking, a task we also got to try our hands at. Sufficiently dry after a couple of days, the beans are then sent through a couple of machines that remove the parchment (collected to be sent back to the farm as cooking fuel) and start to separate out the broken bits and mis-shapen beans (which will go into the lower grades of coffee). They then pass down a conveyor and are sorted by hand- each bag sorted twice. Finally, at this point, they are loaded into the hand-stenciled 65kg bags and sewn shut, stacked in the warehouse out of direct sunlight until they are loaded onto a ship for transport. All of these steps, I had read about and knew, but to actually take part in them helped me to better understand them.

Since the Kuhls returned to Nicaragua and made the decision to make the farm as self-sustaining as possible, they have been open to trying new ideas, constantly searching for ways to become more efficient or to re-purpose materials. Using the coffee parchment as cooking fuel is just one of the more striking applications. There is an active laboratory on-site, where they experiment with natural fertilizer and bug-deterrent recipes. All food waste, plant waste, and manure goes to a composting facility at the bottom of the farm, where millions of worms convert the material back into healthy humus to be used in the greenhouses. They have recently started a mushroom cultivating project, growing the fungi from inoculated bags of used coffee grinds. They are early into a cacao-growing project, having contracted a chocolate manufacturer to help them grow the trees, harvest and dry the pods, and convert the cacao to finished chocolate. Everything that can be is recycled here. Used metal goes to the metal shop to be re-configured into useful tools and plastic water bottles are cut open and made into traps for the coffee-damaging broca insect.

Our couple of days on the farm passed quickly but they left great impressions. I’m excited to go back and visit in another year or two to see what else they have accomplished.

Ever wondered how much goes into your morning cup of coffee? This short film by Pablo Agurcia shows the impact our simple choices have and includes interviews with Charlie Mustard -Jittery Joe’s Master Roaster and Christian Hampton -Jittery Joe’s Warehouse Manager.

Our new Brazilian coffee is a direct trade coffee offering from Jittery Joe’s through Bob-o-Link Coffee. Bob-o-Link is a result of a network of farmers located in one of the best regions for coffee in Brazil, which have in common the vision of producing the best coffees. The sustainable agriculture methods they use reduce the “heavy footprints” of humans on earth. Most of the FAF coffee farmers are formed by small properties, run by single or extended families, located at the top of the mountains, the perfect environment for the best coffees. The beans are picked selectively and dried in terraces next to their homes, under close watch and care of the farmers.

At Jittery Joe’s, we know the importance of direct trade. It’s is a great way to know where our quality coffee beans come from, how they are grown, and their impact on the environment. We get to be involved in the process, ensuring that the coffee you drink is the best it can be, in every way. Added bonus: we roast all the beans here at the Athens roaster so your coffee is always fresh, delicious, and locally maintained.

Interested in our Bob-o-Link Brazil coffee? Here’s a little bit of information about this amazing new direct trade coffee.

Country of Origin: Brazil
Region: Alta Mogiana (Northeastern Sao Paulo State and parts of Minas Gerais State)
Trade Type: Direct trade – Coop Direct
Varietal: 100% Arabica – Red and Yellow Catuaí
Process: Natural/Dry Process

Coffee Characteristics
Aroma: Nutty
Acidity: Low and delicate acidity
Body: Medium-bodied
Taste: Lots of chocolate with outstanding sweetness
Aftertaste: Long and pleasant

Interested in some of the smoothest tasting coffee on the market? We’re doing a limited roasting of 100% Kona Coffee through direct trade with the Brazen Hazen Coffee Estate. The Brazen Hazen Coffee Estate is located in Holualoa (just east of Kailua-Kona), on the western slope of the Hualalai volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. At 1900 feet, the local climate includes seasonal rainfall and afternoon cloud cover that provides a splendid growing environment for naturally shade-grown coffee. Sheltered from the Pacific trade winds, this area produces some of the best coffee in the world. Here, Kona coffee is grown. Kona coffee comprises only 1% of the coffee grown in the entire world-and is some of the smoothest tasting coffee on the market.

Have a few questions about this delicious, special coffee Jittery Joe’s is bringing to you – and roasting.

Q: Where is Kona?
A: On the west side of the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Hawaii is the only state that produces coffee.

Q: What makes 100% Kona coffee so special?
A: Where to begin? For starters, the climate is ideal for growing coffee. Morning sun followed by afternoon clouds and rain, volcanic soil, and elevation all combine to produce perfect conditions for happy coffee trees. By law, only coffee grown in the 1 mile wide by 30 mile long Kona Coffee district can call itself Kona Coffee.

Q: Why is 100% Kona Coffee more expensive than the grocery store stuff?
A: Brazen Hazen’s beans are top quality Arabica Typica which comprise only about 5% of the world’s coffee crop. Further, Kona coffee comprises only 1% of the coffee grown in the entire world. Also, be sure that you are buying 100% Kona coffee and not a blend. Otherwise, the delicious Kona flavor will be overshadowed by the inferior “filler” beans.

Q: How is the coffee processed?
A: After picking, the coffee looks like a cherry. The skin must be immediately removed, then the coffee sits in a bath overnight to ferment and to remove the remnants of silky muscilege from the bean. In the morning, it’s put on the sundeck to dry. From there it goes to the mill to have the outer skin (parchment, like on a peanut) removed. At the mill it is also sorted by size and any defective beans are removed.

Now you know. Thirsty?  Order your Jittery Joe’s limited edition Brazen Hazen Kona now and enjoy the unique, full taste of this amazing coffee brought through Direct Trade to you by Jittery Joe’s.

René Shoemaker exhibited her one-of-a-kind textile paintings of Athens Above, a unique view of the skyline of Athens, Georgia at Ciné this month. One of her hand-painted silks exhibited is the view through our window at the roaster (looking up towards downtown). Rene’s art is a technique of hand-painted silks that she has been practicing for over 30 years in Athens. We are glad to be a part of such an amazing community of artists. Thanks for sharing your talent and view with us René. Learn more about her work here.

BARISTA

GENERAL MANAGER

And this month’s Bicycling, the World’s Leading Bike Magazine, features us and our amazing, scenic hometown of Athens, Georgia. The editor of Bicycling chooses Jittery Joe’s as her everyday fuel at our New York location and says that our coffee “revolutionized my midday buzz.”

The article also highlights our friends at Five Star Day Cafe, and Ike & Jane’s (who both serve our coffee), and Terrapin Beer Company (with whom we’ve collaborated to do Wake & Bake and Depth Charge… ring a taste bud?)

The article mentions our two coffee blends that support the cycling community: Alternative Fuel, which benefits Bike Athens and Morning Ride, which benefits our Professional Cycling Team Mountain Khakis fueled by Jittery Joe’s.

Familiar with the comforting sights and sounds of cozy Athens? The article details the great rides in the Classic City. Love to ride? Try ‘em out. Wanna chill? Grab a cup of joe and enjoy the Athens atmosphere.

So, check us out on newsstands everywhere! It’s the Bicycling Spring Training Issue, March 2010.

The segment will air on Headline News at some point during the following half hours.

Monday: 6am-6:30am
Wednesday: 6:30am-7am
Thursday: 9am-9:30am

Or, you can watch the segment online at CNN.com

Don’t worry, we won’t get a big head, move to Hollywood, and star in the next big vampire movie, but we wanted to say how proud and excited we are to be acknowledged. To us, success means our ability to do what we love every day: bringing you the most delicious coffee possible and serving our community in the best ways we can.

It may not be showbiz, but it’s our biz. And we love it. Thank you for the support!