THE FLAMEKEEPER

Presented by the Roasters Guild

IF YOU’RE READING THIS very special Flamekeeper, chances are you just might be at the 19th Annual SCAA conference right here in the hometown of the SCAA (and Snoop Doggy Dogg): Long Beach, Calif. The Roasters Guild welcomes you! For those of you that don’t know what the Roasters Guild is about, we are a trade union of the SCAA whose purpose it is to propel the role of professional coffee roasters and promote the trade of coffee roasting as a skilled craft. As of this month, the Guild is 347 members strong! The Guild also offers annual retreats and origin trips every year and in this edition, we proudly present this letter from Mike McKim, Roasters Guild executive council member, owner of Cuvee Coffee Roasters and attendee of the 2007 Costa Rica Origin trip:

     Traveling to origin is something most roasters dream of, but few of us really know how to put it together. Where do I go? How do I get there? Who do I ask for and what do I say? These are a lot of the questions that I had and would still have if it were not for my involvement with the Roasters Guild. The Guild has been offering origin trips for three years now, but I never really knew much about them. I’m telling you now that everyone needs to know about them. There are few experiences that I would categorize as life changing but the Roasters Guild Costa Rica Origin Trip was one of them.
     The first great thing about the trip was the group of Roasters Guild members. We came from all over the U.S. and there was a wide range of experience represented, from seasoned veterans like Geoff Watts and Paul Thornton to little roasters like myself. I think that I can speak for the group when I say that everyone was open, friendly, helpful, interested and really enjoyed getting to know each other. I point to the fact that there were no barroom brawls the entire trip.
     The trip covered a lot of ground in the Coto Brus, Perez Zeledon, West Valley and Central Valley regions of Costa Rica. We got to meet the growers and their families when they gave us tours, fed us fresh fruit grown on their farms, demonstrated their processing practices and proudly showed us the equipment they had purchased. The whole time I was really learning how excited they were to share their stories with us. I went there expecting to show my appreciation to their commitments to quality and sustainability. Instead, our group was treated like we were the most important people on earth.
     It all hit me while we were cupping at Coope Agril. There was a huge room with tables and samples for us to cup blindly and make notes. While we were cupping, we started to notice people peeking in the windows. Our job was to collectively rate the coffees and provide feedback, so we left the cupping room to compare notes. We stepped outside into a sea of men, women and children. It was the farmers and their families, anxiously awaiting our feedback on their coffee. It was a very humbling experience and I will never forget the look of joy and pride on the faces of the farmers who scored well. I will also not soon forget the look of disappointment on the faces of those who didn’t score so well.
     This perfect combination of fun and education is an experience that stories or pictures cannot fully describe. As we departed Costa Rica, we all left with the stories and experience of the farms on our minds, the food that was generously served to us in our bellies, and the people we were fortunate to share time in person with and will continue to within our hearts.

     The Roasters Guild thanks Mike McKim and all the attendees that made this trip so unforgettable! Keep your eyes on www.roastersguild.org for the latest information on the next Origin Trip.
     We’d also like to take this opportunity to announce the 7th Annual Roasters Guild Retreat held August 16–19, 2007, at Sugar Lake Lodge in Grand Rapids, Minn. The RG Retreat serves many functions, from allowing members to try out the latest in coffee-roasting technology firsthand to meeting the best and brightest in the business. In addition, the retreat is tons of fun, truly educational and a great networking opportunity for coffee professionals. The theme of this year’s Roastmaster Challenge Cup is, “Grand Slam Challenge,” and as always, there will be a fabulous prize! Last year’s winning group received a gorgeous Probatino roaster that was raffled off within the group.
Within the Roasters Guild exists the Roasters Guild Executive Council, which helps guide the guild and its members toward the future. This year, Timothy Chapdelaine of Volcafe Specialty coffee was elected to the office of vice chairperson, and Beth Dominick of Sacred Grounds Organic Coffee was elected to the office of secretary treasurer. Congratulations, Tim and Beth!
     Tim Chapdelaine is replacing Geoff Watts, who will become chairperson and Beth Dominick is replacing Tim Chapdelaine, who will become vice chairperson. The vice chairperson serves a two-year term, but it is a three-year commitment: one year as vice-chairperson, a second year as chairperson and a third year as immediate past chairperson.
     This year, the Guild also published the Origin Trip Guide Book. This handbook includes frequently-forgotten critical questions which may act as reminders to assist coffee travelers while visiting farms. Each question area has space to write in answers, to include family name, farm history, cultivars/tree varietals, wet or dry processes, grades, irrigation methods and more. This book is approximately 5.5’’ by 8.5’’ in size. Make sure to pick one up at the SCAA resource center or their online shop at www.scaa.org if you’re planning an origin trip.