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Ancora at Origin

Visiting the farmers who grow our coffee is important to Ancora. In 2008 alone we've traveled to El Salvador, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Guatemala. At Ancora we believe it's important to meet the farmers firsthand and learn how our coffee is grown.

Ancora Journal

How Sweet It Is!

Posted on 8/8/2008 by Sue Krug (Cupping Team)

It’s Monday morning and I’m sitting here at my desk enjoying one of those ‘memorable coffees’…our featured Organic Ethiopia Natural Sidamo…and I can’t help but add a comment about it. It’s delicious! It has incredible nuances of citrus and an amazing aromatic of apricot while showcasing the classic characteristics of body and acidity found in great African coffee’s. This origin coffee the region where it grows exhibits the most remarkable characteristics to give you the most delectable flavors! I’ll admit I do have a bias having said this. African coffees always rate as one of my favorites, but now, after having visited both Ethiopia and Rwanda this spring my appreciation for them has expanded. It was on this trip that George and I were able to see the coffee growing areas, meet several of the attentive farmers tending to their trees, visit a cooperative where most, if not all, coffee is processed for export and cup new crop samples that showcased these people’s efforts. All in all it was a remarkable experience. Maybe it’s ‘putting faces’ on this industry but it’s a pretty remarkable world when I can sit here and enjoy this cup of coffee knowing I’ve had a chance to meet people on the other side of the world who helped make it happen! For that matter, it’s even more remarkable knowing I might actually have shaken the hand of one of the farmers who grew this coffee and picked the beans!!

Swift! It isn't just an expression from the 80's.

Posted on 6/9/2008 by Ryan Baughn (Espresso Person)

The last time I heard the term 'swift' was in 1987. I was 12 and thought I was pretty 'swift' with my slip-on checkered vans, knee high tube socks and short shorts. I had just stolen my brothers pink skate board... The current incarnation of 'swift' comes in the form of a classy looking black espresso grinder, currently sitting adjacent to our Marzocco Linnea at the King Street coffee house and it is pretty swift. We are in the process of giving it a test run. The Swift grinder was designed by Mark Barnett when he was working for Marzocco and it is a grinder that grinds(!), doses a pre-set number of grams and packs ground coffee at 30 pounds of pressure. The swift grinder removes the dosing and tamping inconsistencies us humans suffer with and puts the manipulation of shot extraction completely in the hands of the grind particle size (and water temp/pressure of 'spro machine, but that is book to be written, not a journal entry). With the barista using the grind to control shot pours the grinder standardizes the usual variance in dose and pack. We are still testing it and the jury is still out, but in the high volume environment of King St. I have to say that the practically zero gram waste, durability of ceramic burrs, and efficiencies are appealing. Come check it out! -rp

Judging Guatemala

Posted on 5/13/2008 by George Krug (Co-Founder, Co-Owner)

I just got off the phone with our Head Roaster Dennis Jackson. He called this morning from Guatemala where he's judging the Cup of Excellence. Dennis said he spent time at origin in the Antigua region, but is now back in Guatemala City for the COE cupping work...3 solid days of cupping 8 hours a day to find the COE coffees among the masses. Believe it or not it's really mentally and physically exhausting work...but someone's got to do it...And Dennis loves it. What an honor it is to be chosen to judge -- Dennis has a first rate cupping palate so this is a great time for him. After the judging is completed, Dennis will travel to Huehuetenango to visit coffee farms and mills in the region where we buy most of our Guatemalan coffees from. We can't wait for Dennis to come home and share his experiences first hand.

Poco Fundo Coop Brazil Natural

Posted on 5/9/2008 by Ryan Baughn (Cupping)

In anticipation of our next featured coffee becoming available I bagged up a half pound of our new Café Femenino Brazil Natural from the Poco Fundo Coop and headed out to King St. to develop a Clover profile for it. I started at 35 seconds and realized some of the stunning acidity and sweet flavors that this coffee boasts, but it was somewhat lacking in the creamy body and texture as well as darker fruit and spice flavors that we experienced at the cupping table. I bumped the dwell time to 43 and found the sweet spot. Great balance, subtle flavors of honey, melon, fruit and spice…creamy texture and body with some lingering spice in the after taste, but otherwise very clean. With Scott, Dennis and Ralph’s blessings I think we found a great profile for this new Brazil…enjoy! -rp

Clover Sells Out?

Posted on 5/9/2008 by Ryan Baughn (Training)

Last month Starbucks entered into an agreement to acquire The Coffee Equipment Company, manufacturers of the Clover 1s. The same brewer we recently put into our King Street coffeehouse. With this recent news we are faced with the reality of seeing the Clover brewer everywhere…interesting. Starbucks is easy to ignore, we write them off as the big corporate presence in a town where independents are favored and owner operated shops are the preference. I think this recent news is a kick in the pants to that mentality. It shows that Starbucks will not rest. They will exercise creativity and innovation as they attempt to be the strongest presence in the marketplace... even to the extent of purchasing a boutique geek-brand equipment company ...marketed to the independents as a way to provide a better product than the status quo (starbucks?). There is nothing to fear here really. Should we not be celebrating the fact that more customers will experience a better brewing system? For a decade we had the same espresso machine as Starbucks we had the same grinders as Starbucks...we have the same tools. We are just using better ingredients. As Starbucks grows, whether that is with the Clover brewer, free refills, or a high-tech super-automatic espresso machine they cannot compete with our product quality. They can't...it is that simple. To borrow from my co-cuppers, when the tide goes out we'll see who has been swimming without their shorts on. -rp
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