News

So my favourite coffee from the largest Caribbean Island has been banned by P*y**l. Basically if we sell any of this fantastic coffee they will not allow us to use their service. The reason is down to the Helms-Burton act, or to give it its longer name ‘An Act to seek international sanctions against the Castro government in Cuba, to plan for support of a transition government leading to a democratically elected government in Cuba, and for other purposes’.

This act has been condemned by the Council of Europe, the European Union, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and other U.S. allies that enjoy normal trade relations with Cuba. The governments argued that the law ran counter to the spirit of international law and sovereignty.

The law has also been condemned by humanitarian groups who argue that sanctions against an entire country will affect only the innocent population.

The European Union introduced a Council Regulation (No 2271/96) (law binding all member states) declaring the extraterritorial provisions of the Helms-Burton Act to be unenforceable within the EU.

The United Kingdom had previously introduced provisions by statutory instrument extending its Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980, (originally passed in the wake of extraterritorial claims by the U.S. in the 1970’s) to United States rules on trade with Cuba. United Kingdom law was later extended to counter-act the Helms-Burton Act as well.

Mexico passed the Law of Protection of Commerce and Investments from Foreign Policies the Contravene International Law, in October 1996, aimed at neutralising the Helms-Burton Act.

Similarly, Canada passed the ‘An Act to amend the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act C-54’ a law to counteract the effects of Helms-Burton.

And yet here we, are a small British business wishing to sell roasted Cuban coffee beans to members of the British public being told that we will lose our ability to trade on eBay or our own site, if we continue to offer Cuban coffee. Unfortunately as we need to use the most widely used internet payment method we have had to take down our Cuban coffee. We can only apologise. Sorry Cuba.

Two new dark roasted coffees.

 I have sourced a couple of coffees to add to our collection, both selected for being Fair Trade and Organic or Rainforest Alliance as well as producing a great cup of strong coffee when roasted ‘Oily’.

The first is from Ethiopia, and is a Yirgacheffe from the Negele Gorbitu Cooperative.

Founded in 1995 the Negele Gorbitu Cooperative comprises of nearly 1,000 producers. Most Ethiopian Co-ops use traditional organic farming methods but Negele Gorbitu with the help of Oromia Coffee Farmer’s Cooperative Union helped provide the funding to enable both Fair Trade and Organic Certification.

This certification has allowed them to implement investments in a new school for over 300 students as well as a medical facility.

At 1,960 meters above sea level, Negele Gorbitu is in a prime location to produce a classical Yirgacheffe with good citrus tones and the characteristic bergamot finish. The coop operates two washing stations and consistently turns out high quality coffee. The berries are hand-picked and only the best are selected.

As you are aware my love for Oily coffee is well known, so we have Dark Roasted these beans as they respond particularly well to this treatment, producing a pronounced sweetness and still retaining some floral notes.

 My second choice was from Central America, Nicaragua. I have always enjoyed Nicaraguan coffee and the quality is usually very good, this Nicaragua Finca Santa Luz Rainforest Alliance is fantastic.

The Santa Luz farm is found four kilometres North-east of the small town of El Tuma, based in the mountains of Matagalpa and has been Rainforest Alliance certified since 2003.

Coffee growing started in this area of Matagalpa in early 1920’s when a new road connected the then village of El Tuma with the big City of Matagalpa.

Finca Santa Luz covers 158 hectares, of which 97 are dedicated to coffee. There are a total of 127 hectares suitable for coffee and the rest are woodlands and administrative areas. The altitude of the coffee plants at Santa Luz are between 700 and 900 meters above sea level, therefore, producing Strictly High Grown (SHG) coffee, smooth and well balanced. The farm has built its own ecological processing plant which produces this very good quality coffee.

This lovely bean has responded very well to dark roasting and produces a lovely strong cup with a sweet after-taste and great body. I love it.

The Botany of Tea

The plant from which tea comes belongs to the Dicotyledonous class of the Angiosperm, or flowering plants, and is of the flowering plants in the family Theaceae. Two major varieties are grown: Camellia sinensis var. sinensis for Chinese teas, and Camellia sinensis var. assamica for Indian Assam teas.

The name Camellia was named by Carl Linnaeus honoring the Reverend Georg Kamel, a Czech born Jesuit lay brother, pharmacist, and missionary who spent a long time in the Philippines.

Kamel did not discover the tea plant, or indeed any Camellia and Linnaeus didn’t even consider the tea plant a Camellia but actually named it Thea sinensis.

Robert Sweet moved all Thea species into the Camellia genus in 1818, the species name sinensis comes from the Latin for China, the home of the tea plant.

Currently four sub-species of Camellia sinensis are recognised with C. sinensis var. sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica being the two used for tea production. C. sinensis var. pubilimba (from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan) and C. sinensis var. dehungensis (from Yunnan) only occasionally being used locally for making tea.

There are seven main varieties found of Camellia sinensis; Benifuuki, Fushun, Kanayamidori, Meiryoku, Saemidori, Okumidori and Yabukita.