Os Mutantes... Not The Cool Brazilian Band

I selected these green coffees not for their attributes, but for their defects.
This group was pulled from larger coffee samples.

In theory, very few of these beans should be sold, roasted, ground or served in "Specialty" or "Premium-Specialty" grade coffees.

However, that is not reality.

Some defects, are visually apparent if you know what to look for. Other defects require careful evaluations of the bean's roast, fragrance, aroma and taste of the grounds and brew.

For businesses that buy Specialty grade coffee, especially those that aspire to get only the best of those designations, gambling with green purchases is the last thing you want to do. The visual inspection of green samples is almost as important a step in the cupping process as the sensory evaluation, itself
.
Things to look (and feel!) for;

bean size, density, uniformity, color, broken beans, cut beans, misshapen (I call them "Mutants") beans, fungus and insect damage, husks, parchment and "foreign-matter", like sticks, rocks, nails or chicklets.



That being said, many Indonesian and African coffees, especially those that are "dry" or "natural" process reach our shores fraught with defects, however, they are still iconic flavors and often sold justly, for a premium.

I'm not alone when I wonder how good these coffees could be if their Motherland's were politically and economically stable.

Some dedicated importers, and non-profit groups seek to build relationships with farms and Co-Operatives to help reduce defects and improve growing and processing techniques at origin.

By providing financial incentive and infra-structure investment for farmers to improve their farms, two things are happening;

1) the coffee tastes better

2) the farmer can get a better price for her crops

Exclusivity of the coffees is important for importers who invest financially in coffee farms.... but as we all know, "No good deed goes unpunished".

There is great danger in such endeavors as there is no "International Coffee Police" to hold remote coffee farmers to their contracts if they choose not to honor them the next season.

Geo-politics, economics, beauracracy, warlords, weather and natural disasters are very real pressures to coffee farmers, the influence of which can be greater than that of the coffee importer when times get tough.

... but then again, nothing worthwhile is ever easy, right???

It seems contrary to the often ruthless capitalist business model so prevalent in America today, but by boldly working with farmers to increase the value of their crops, coffee importers can also profit.