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Simple Coffee

Conscious consumers are increasingly turning away from processed, unnecessarily complex foods. They want their food to have fewer ingredients, and to be prepared simply and cooked so that the intrinsic flavors within the food come out.

More and more coffee drinkers feel the same way. They don’t want their daily coffee to be a blend of coffees imported from the four corners of the world according to market prices and the dictates of the coffee roaster.  Rather, they want to taste the real essence of the coffee—the unique flavors inherent in a coffee from a place they know something about.

A drinker of single-origin shade-grown organic coffee knows a lot about what they are drinking, because there is transparency. They know where there coffee is from and that their choice is environmentally responsible—that forests are not cut down to produce it, that birds thrive where it is produced, and that harmful chemicals were not used in its production. After a short while drinking a single-origin coffee, they come to appreciate the subtle yet distinct flavors of the region where it is grown. For example, coffee from the Chiapas, Mexico highlands is known for a fuller body, pleasant acidity, and subtle hints of cocoa.   

By contrast, drinkers of coffee blends such as “Breakfast Blend” get entirely different, and completely unknown, blends with every bag, depending upon the market price of the different coffees and other supply factors.  They don’t know where their coffee café from, what pesticides and fertilizers were used to cultivate it, and what environmental practices were used in growing it. All they know is that the roaster roasted their beans until they became dark and shiny. Their roaster, not them, makes the decisions about what the coffee they are drinking, and it makes those decisions behind an entirely opaque curtain.    

Some coffee roasters claim that blending a number of different coffees allows them to achieve a certain “balance,” but good coffee is a natural product that doesn’t need to be artificially “balanced” with coffees from another part of the world. This artificial “balancing” is part of the practice of unnecessary over processing of food which affects so much of our food supply.  

Good organic shade-grown coffee is perfect the way it is, and should be enjoyed in its most natural and simple form. Over time, you will fall in love with its distinct and consistent aromas and flavors, and it will become a treasured and trusted part of your life.

Written By: Matthew Metz

Mexican Coffee Is Our Local Coffee

People increasingly want to consume food grown close to where they live. They know that local food is usually fresher, they are concerned about the carbon burned to bring their products to market from long distance, they want to preserve local ecosystems, and they want to support their local economy.

Coffee presents a challenge for locavores—coffee grows best in warm tropical climates at high altitudes. It doesn’t grow in the continental United States.

For those of us living in the continental United States, Mexico is the closest major coffee producer. The distance from the coffee growing regions of Chiapas, Mexico to the U.S. border is about 1300 miles, compared to more than 5,000 miles for coffee grown in Brazil and 9,000 miles for coffee grown in Indonesia.

Coffee can be transported from farm to the U.S. in a few days, and it can be in a coffee drinker’s cup a few days later, allowing for unparalleled freshness.

The carbon used to bring Mexican coffee to market is much less than from any other major growing reason—for the simple reason that it is much closer than coffee produced elsewhere. Also, drinking Mexican shade-grown organic coffee actually reduces carbon in the atmosphere, because it is grown in tropical cloud forests which absorb large amount of carbon. The main economic alternative to coffee farming in the region is cattle ranching, which effectively means burning down the forest and pasturing carbon-belching cattle.

Supporting sustainable agriculture by buying Mexican coffee benefits our local ecosystem. Many migratory bird species of warblers, orioles, and thrushes that breed in the northern United States, winter in the warm cloud forests of Chiapas right where our coffee is grown. By supporting the forest ecosystems of Mexico by buying shade-grown organic coffee, you are preserving habitat for the birds that you might see in your backyard in the summer.
There are also economic benefits that return to us by buying Mexican coffee. The U.S. if by far Mexico’s largest trading partner. Much of the money we spend in Mexico comes back to the U.S. in the form of Mexicans buying our products.

Coffee will never be grown in the continental United States, but by buying Mexican coffee, you can obtain many of the benefits of buying locally produced food.

Why Jaguar Forest is a Single Origin Brand

Single origin coffee is coffee from defined geographical region.  All Jaguar Forest coffee is from the “Jaguar Forest,” the forested region of the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, parts of which are sometimes known as the “Sierra Madre Occidental” or the “Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.”  Our coffees are from specific regions within the Jaguar Forest, and are not mixed or blended with coffees from other parts of Mexico, or with coffee from other countries.

Why does Jaguar Forest focus solely on single origin coffees from Mexico, when most coffee brands feature coffees from 10 or more countries? 

The best Mexican single origin coffee has a complete flavor profile, typically featuring citrus and floral top notes, and a finish of chocolate and caramel.  It already has what many coffee blends aspire to—a flavor balancing crisp acidity with depth, body, and a smooth finish.   Blending coffee often results in the flavors of one coffee stepping on the flavors of another.  A good, single origin coffee permits the true but often subtle flavors of the region to come through, without the need for those flavors to compete for flavor space with one or more other coffees in the blend.

There is enormous breadth within Mexican single origin coffees.  In the Jaguar Forest region, there are many coffee varieties and huge variation in altitude (from about 900 m to about 2000 m) at which coffee is grown.  The difference in varieties and altitude result in enormous variations in the aroma and taste of coffee, with aromas and flavors ranging from oranges to roses to mint to pecan to grape to chocolate to caramel.  By tasting the great diversity of coffees in unblended, single-origin form, it is possible to learn about and appreciate the tremendous range of coffee from the region.

Focusing on single origin organic coffees within a region of one country allows us to find the very best coffees from those areas.  It takes an enormous amount of time to get to know well even a few growing regions in one country and the many growers that work in them.  By limiting our coffee purchases to a defined geographical area, we can find the best coffees that the “Jaguar Forest” region offers.  We can also assure that our purchases have a positive effect on the farmers that grow them and the ecology of the zones from which they come.

Finally, we have a deep commitment to Mexico, to the Mexican farmers who grow our coffees, and to the forests and wildlife of the region.    Despite growing some of the best coffees in the world, and having some of the best coffee-growing regions in the world, Mexican coffees have not had the recognition they deserve on the world market.  This lack of recognition has resulted in many coffee farmers in Mexico getting low prices for their excellent coffee, barely enough to survive on.  By bringing the best Mexican coffees to U.S. consumers, we can help Mexican coffee farmers earn more, and invest more in their families and in their coffee trees.    By promoting responsible shade-grown organic coffee growing in the ecologically critical Jaguar Forest, we help maintain forest habitat for the jaguar and thousands of other endangered species. 

What is Single Origin Coffee?

Single origin coffee is made from green coffee that is cultivated in one defined geographical area.  Balam’s Jaguar Forest Chiapas coffee, for example, is a single origin coffees cultivated in the higher altitudes of the Mexican state of Chiapas.

 Single origin coffee reflects the distinct flavors of the coffee’s growing region. Organic coffee is a 100% natural product, and its unique flavors come from the earth, water, sun, altitude and air particular to the region where it is grown.  When you taste Jaguar Forest single origin organic coffee, you are tasting the roasted seeds of a bush grown deep in the forests of high-altitude southern Mexico—the region where jaguars and other exotic wildlife still roam free.  Single origin coffee drinkers come to appreciate the consistent and distinct flavors of the micro-zone where their coffee was grown. They know what they are getting and where their coffee comes from.

Many roasters prefer to blend their coffee.  While there are excellent coffee blends, blending in many cases allows roasters to mix in cheaper, inferior coffee. Blended coffee, usually labeled with generic names such as “French Roast” or “Breakfast Blend,” is generally an indiscriminate mix of sun and shade-grown Asian, African, and South American coffee. From one week to the next, the composition of the blend changes, often depending on the market prices of the different green coffees at the time they were purchased.   Because the composition of the blend changes so much, many blends are roasted very dark, so that they have a consistently charred taste which masks the significant changes in the blend’s composition.

Wine, scotch, and tequila connoisseurs know that single origin means quality and consistency.  In the last 10 years, coffee drinkers have also become increasingly aware of the importance of single origin, wanting to know where their coffee is from, and demanding the quality, consistency, and subtle flavors that single origin coffee offers. 

Written By: Matthew Metz

Jaguars & Coffee

JAGUARS AND COFFEE

The jaguar may be on a path to extinction.  A new report from Brazil finds that the once large jaguar population in Brazil’s enormous Mata Atlantic (Atlantic Tropical Forest) ecosystem has declined by 80% over the past 15 years to just 50 animals of reproductive age.  Deforestation and ranching are shrinking the Brazilian jaguar’s habitat and driving its decline.

Coffee can play an important role in preserving jaguar habitat.  Jaguar Forest coffee is grown on the fringes of the Ecotriunfo Reserve in Chiapas, where a substantial population of jaguars still live.  Because the coffee is grown organically in the forest under the canopy of large native trees, the native animals of the zone can coexist with coffee production.  Shade coffee forests maintain critical pathways to jaguar populations in other areas. These pathways link jaguar populations, enabling them to maintain the genetic diversity to survive.   

Nearby areas not involved with shade-grown coffee production have been clearcut logged  and are now used for cattle ranching,  Jaguars can’t hunt in them.

We are now in the midst of a massive extinction event caused by human activity.  (The last extinction occurred sixty-six million years ago when a massive asteroid struck  the Yucutan Penisula. It killed the dinosaurs.)     Thousands of species are dying off every year now, the victims of habitat destruction, hunting, spread of pathogens, and other changes to their environment.  A massive exterminationof our fellow animals on Spaceship Earth is under way.  Wonderful survivors of five hundred million years of evolution are gone, never to  return. 

The tropical forest regions in Southern Mexico are some of the planet’s most biodiverse.  10% of all the unique species live in a small chain of forests from Oaxaca to Panama.  

Maintaining the survival of our fellow animals on planet earth is mankind’s most pressing responsibility.  We are collectively poorer every time a species vanishes. The fate of critical species such as jaguars should not solely be the responsibility of poor farmers in Mexico trying to scratch out a living.  One small way that U.S. consumers can help is to buy shade-grown organic coffee from regions where the jaguar lives.  Your purchase   supports the farmers who maintain jaguar habitat, and keeps them from selling their land to the loggers and cattle ranchers who are willing to pay a good price for it.

Our long term goal is to expand jaguar habitat.  If we can make shade-grown organic coffee from Mexico one of the world’s most loved drinks, we can bring back the forest from areas now being used for cattle ranching, and expand habitat for thousands of threatened species.

Does Single Origin Coffee Matter?

Single origin coffee is made from green coffee cultivated in one area. Balam’s Jaguar Forest® Chiapas coffee, for example, is a single origin coffee cultivated in the higher altitudes of the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Single origin coffee reflects the distinct flavors of the coffee’s growing region. Organic coffee is a 100% natural product, and its unique flavors come from the earth, water, sun, altitude and air particular to the region where it is grown. When you taste Jaguar Forest® single origin organic coffee, you are tasting the roasted seeds of a bush grown deep in the forests of high-altitude southern Mexico—the region where jaguars and other exotic wildlife still roam free. Single origin coffee drinkers come to appreciate the consistent and distinct flavors of the micro-zone where their coffee was grown. They know what they are getting and where their coffee comes from.

Most roasters blend their coffee. While there are excellent coffee blends, blending in many cases allows roasters to mix in cheaper, inferior coffee. Blended coffee, usually labeled with generic names such as “French Roast” or “Breakfast Blend,” is often an indiscriminate mix of sun and shade-grown Asian, African, and South American coffee. From one week to the next, the composition of the blend changes, often depending on the availability and market prices of the different green coffee components at the time they were purchased. Because the green coffee in the blends changes so much, many blends are roasted very dark, so that they have a consistently charred taste which masks the significant changes in their composition.

Wine, scotch, and tequila connoisseurs know that single origin means quality and consistency. In the last 10 years, coffee drinkers have also become increasingly aware of the importance of single origin, wanting to know where their coffee is from, and demanding the quality, consistency, and subtle flavors that single origin coffee offers.

Shade Grown Organic Coffee Matters.

Shade grown organic coffee promotes a circle of health encompassing the place where the coffee is grown, the producers who grow it, and those who drink it.

It is cultivated deep in the tropical forest, under the shade of large trees. Coffee bushes grow side by side with a wide variety of native shrubs and plants, in harmony with native wildlife such as the jaguar which strides by them, and thousands of different bird species which flutter in and around them. Because shade coffee grows within the existing forest ecosystem, it relies on the forest’s natural defenses, rather than chemicals, to keep pests under control. Shade coffee is relatively slow growing, but its slow growth allows it to slowly build up optimal coffee flavors. The great disadvantage of shade organic coffee is that it grows more slowly than sun coffee, requires more manual labor to cultivate, and is therefore more costly

.

By contrast, the cultivation of sun-grown coffee starts with the cutting down of native tropical forests, followed by intensive monoculture of coffee crops. This form of agriculture produces very high yields at low cost, but it usually requires large amounts of pesticides to control abundant pests and weeds, and artificial fertilizers to boost its nutrient-stripped soils. It uses large volumes of water, requiring about 37 gallons of water to grow enough coffee beans to make just one cup of coffee. Birds and other native wildlife tend to avoid sun coffee plantations. Much of Colombia and Brazil’s tropical forests have been cut down to make way for sun coffee plantations, eliminating habitat for thousands of species, and contributing to global warming. The Natural Resources Defense Council has produced an authoritative report on the environmental dimensions of coffee production which discusses many of these issues in more detail.

The U.S. FDA and GAO has previously documented the use of DDT, BHC, Chlordane, and Endosulfan in sun coffee cultivation. A number of studies indicate that coffee producers have suffered severe health effects as a result of working with pesticides. However, because there is no disclosure required on coffee bags of the chemicals used in the production of sun-grown non-organic coffee, and there is no regular testing for chemicals, the consumer just can’t know what chemicals were used in the cultivation of their non-organic sun coffee.

Scientific literature is increasingly reporting that coffee benefits health. For example, a recent report from the Harvard School of Public Health highlights research findings showing that coffee helps prevent diabetes, certain cancers, and even cardiovascular disease. To drink coffee with confidence that it will boost your health, it is best to drink shade grown organic coffee, which offers all the health benefits of coffee, without the downside risks of possible chemical ingestion.

Shade grown organic coffee is a pure, magical and mysterious substance, offering those who partake in ita deep and healthy connection to the earth and forest in which it was grown.