# Organic Coffee



## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

A necessity or not?

We use organic coffee only in our blend atm, but we will be stopping very soon.

good thing or bad thing?

Chris


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Q: Necessity or Not?

A: Only as long as the process of growing organically is sustainable for all involved

Consumer demand in your area will dictate whether or not you 'need' to have organic coffee on your menu. Many establishments have no need as their client base is only after a 'coffee' and may not be informed enough to know the benefits of organic coffee over coffee grown using spray/fertiliser/pest control methods.

It is not a necessity to have an organic coffee in a blend unless you are promoting your blend as containing organic coffee, however, if you have non-organically grown coffee in the blend then why bother promoting the oganic part as it will have been tainted by the non-organic beans.

Organically grown plants have less monetary cost attributed to them (eg no costs for insecticides, fertilisers) but may not produce as many cherries for harvest if the pests cannot be cheaply controlled by organic methods. Growing coffee using organic methods can be more labour intensive, effectively costing the farmer more in labour and decreasing their overall margins.

Many consumers cannot taste the difference between organic and non-organic coffees, but their conscience may win in a 2-way battle when reaching for the wallet.

My recommendation would be to retain an organic blend or selection of Single Origin coffee's.


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

interesting (as is the fact I have 1 more post than you







)

I find that with organic coffee, especially for its use in blends, it really ties the roasters hands behind his back by limiting the coffee he can use. Also I haven't really noticed an improvement in the quality of organic coffee in a general sense.

Organic has always been a sticking point with me, because I feel that the price, does not accurately respresent the improvement in quality that organic itself represents!

Chris


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## Neo (Jun 24, 2008)

Organic food is now a gimmick used by so many shops around here. It's more an advertising tool than a logo to show the food is grown with environmental-friendly stuff and also with awareness.

I am not so into organic food.


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

well said neo


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## SeamusMcFlurry (Jul 9, 2008)

Have you heard of Union Hand Roasted? They're not Fairtrade, or Organic certified, but they pay premium prices to farmers who are either too big to be certified, or are not part of cooperatives. They sell fantastic coffees, and are well worth a look. The Revelation espresso blend is a lovely start, a dark, Italian roast with plenty of body and a nice acidity. It's the main blend we use at work.


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

sounds very interesting, and similar to Steve at Hasbean, who refuses to touch fairtrade, I'll have to try the blend









Chris


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Some of the larger chains have various alternatives to Fairtrade in place, such as the Starbucks' Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E) Practices programme.

Organic does not seem to be featured as prominently as Fairtrade and its various other names.

In my opinion these have their own categories and should be treated separately.


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

Indeed, I guess they are easy to lump together, without thinking as they normally thrown into the mix by many undiscerning companies!

Chris


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## SeamusMcFlurry (Jul 9, 2008)

One of my main problems with Fairtrade and Organic is that people see the logo and immediately assume quality. These coffees have no quality control, only various hoops the farm must jump through in order to gain certification. I'm had fairtrade coffees which were great, but also ones which were truely dreadful. And then there's Fairtrade's 'minimum wage', but best not get me started on that...


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

I'm not tired yet, so lets get you started on that. However, I'm going to start a topic on fairtrade somewhere, so bear with me!

and here it is!


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## SeamusMcFlurry (Jul 9, 2008)

Get me started? It's 22:52, and I have a flight to Heathrow at 5am tomorrow







I think I'm gonna cry. Didn't sleep at all last night either, then had a shift at 6:45, till 3. *sighs*

Luckily, I have an internet connection in my hotel room in Florence (or at least I'm almost positive I do), so I shall rant, rave, and possibly even blog about this then. Don't worry Chris, you'll see fireworks yet lol


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

good! I want to get worked up as well!!

I love ranting about fairtrade!!

Good luck with flying!!

Chris


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## SeamusMcFlurry (Jul 9, 2008)

Cheers. Talk to you all in a couple of days then. Try not to miss me too much!

Seamus.


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## Catlady101 (Sep 26, 2020)

Hi All, Newbie here,

I am replying to this post, not because I have anything useful to say, being new to coffee , but I notice the post has not been replied to in over 12 years and aslo I am keen on organic for htis reason - I don't really fancy a cup of pesticide, however I know nothing about coffee really, I know about tea, well a bit, and not sure if the same concepts apply to coffee....

tea - if a bush or nearby is sprayed with any chemicals, those are easily absorbed by tea leaves, and hte drying process does nothing ot remove them, the temperatures are too low to affect the molecular integretity of pesticides and the temperature for boiling tea combined with the relatively short brewing of tea does nothing or little to reduce the effects of said pesticedes on the human central nervous system - i.e. not good.

coffee -questions - answers welcomed...

1:do the coffee beans or cherries I suppose they are on the bush, absorb pesticides at all - or is it surface coating only?

2:do the beans get washed before being picked and presumably dried and if so is it rigourous enough to remove all traces of pesticides?

3:do the beans get washed before roasting - if so is it rigourous enough to remove all traces of pesticides

4: does the grinding have any effect on pesticide content?

5: does the preparation of coffee be it humble stovetop to expensive all whistles machinery of which a steampunk movie would be jealous, have any effect on pesticide content?

I would love to know all these things, but would also like to hear back and see if opinion has changed since 2008 on Organic or not?


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## Agentb (Feb 11, 2017)

Catlady101 said:


> would love to know all these things, but would also like to hear back and see if opinion has changed since 2008 on Organic or not?


 Welcome always room for another curios cat.

Coffee comes from many places around the world, some still very poor and use very traditional methods so cannot afford herbicides and pesticides. There are also several methods for preparing coffee cherries which involve more or less washing before drying.

I find if the roaster puts up on their website what farm it comes from, you can do some research if they haven't - to get an idea about how "organic" they are. Organic is a broad term and most accreditations allow some form of pest control (but limit what and where pesticides are allowed)

Lots of information here. https://www.coffeehabitat.com/

hth 😺


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