For the past 5 years the Farmer Bros Coffee Headquarters in Torrance, CA has roasted an average of 22 million pounds of coffee per year. Although this may sound like an enormous amount of coffee to roast, it is actually down from 51 million pounds per year at Farmer Bros’ height. I was fortunate enough to be given a tour of the entire Farmer Bros’ Campus this past Thursday, where I was able to experience their entire roasting facility and the brand new state of the art coffee lab. The coffee lab is the most sophisticated in the United States and was recently featured in a cover story of Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine, which you can read here. In this post I want to share a bit of what I learned on the tour as well as some cool pictures of the roasting facility, which would fascinate any coffee lover.

Roaster & Packaging Line in the Coffee Lab

I first met with Cindi on Thursday morning and headed straight for the coffee lab. According to Specialty Coffee Retailer the Farmer Bros’ coffee lab is a 6,500 sq ft brand new facility worth $1 million dollars. There are a few other coffee labs like this in the world but nothing like it in the United States. What makes it unique, however, is its mission of pure research to expand the knowledge of coffee. Where other coffee labs are to solve problems for o†ne coffee company, the Farmer Bros’ coffee lab is to solve problems that affect the entire coffee community.

After visiting the coffee lab, the tour headed straight into the meat of the operations. I walked into a hanger sized building, where I donned a hairnet and was greeted by nine packaging machines running nonstop (First Picture). Passed the packing line were silos, where roasted coffee is stored. From what I remember, though I’m not sure, I believe each silo could hold up to 9 tons of roasted coffee.

The rest of the warehouse that wasn’t processing green coffee was dedicated to storage. They have about 6 months worth of green coffee inventory stored in sacks piled to the ceiling.

Green Coffee Storage

A business unit of Farmer Bros called Spice Products Company also runs out of an adjacent building on site. A strong, almost nose burning scent comes from this part of the campus. You could tell from the smell that on this day they were processing cumin and chili. In fact, if you have use Tapatio hot sauce, the chili Tapatio uses is processed here.

Tapatio Chili Being Grinded

After everything was said and done my feet and back were a bit tired from touring the facility, and it was an awesome experience to witness such a mammoth sized operation in process.

Barista Set Up in Front of Doors

Day 3: Peering through the Sight Glass

Normally, before I travel or indulge in an event I outline and define:

• My purpose (If there’s no purpose, I probably shouldn’t be going)
• Distinct objectives (what I would like to accomplish)
• Areas of interest that I would like to visit
• Independent Coffee Shops and Roasters

Of course, I have to have a great cup (at least one) of coffee to start my day, and the Starbucks offered in our hotel wasn’t going to do it for me. I heard of a start up retail roaster called Sight Glass and had to check these guys out.  On the 3rd morning in San Fransisco the team and I walked to Sight Glass from our hotel and were pleasantly surprised.  They have a shop however still under construction, so they posted up a temporary portable shop right in front of the door. Again, there was an incredible amount of people in line for pour over coffee and lattes.  Anyways, this specialty roaster was started by two bothers, Jerad and Justin, who formally worked at a few other specialty coffee roasters in the area before venturing off and creating their own product. After our first cup of coffee, we decided to look through the glass for a while admiring their soon-to-be coffee shop.

After about 25  minutes of pure peering through their glass, we recognized this habit might look a little creepy to the people inside and decided to get another cup and asked the barista if  the owners were up for meeting us.

Surprisingly, Jerad and Justin were willing to meet us, even though they seemed a bit sleep deprived. So much time and energy go into starting a business, especially one that is labor intensive, like building a coffee shop. We introduced ourselves, our company, talked for a short few minutes, and were on our way out.

We’ll have to go back for round 2 when the shop is done, here is what it will include:

• One roasting and packaging section
• Upstairs terrace
• Oval-shaped coffee bar where customers can order single cup brews, espresso, and espresso drinks

We ventured to the Fancy Food Show again wandering the floor, speaking with representatives from various booths, and trying different coffees, chocolates, and unique foods from different parts of the world. Some of my favorites were Heritage Shortbread, Kakao Berlin (chocolates), and FORLIFE.

Heritage Shortbread is a unique, family owned company with a recipe for shortbread that has been passed down for years. All of their shortbreads are handmade, packaged delightfully, and contain an unforgettable taste. Really, the best shortbread I have ever had. They even make a hand-dipped in chocolate shortbread!

FORLIFE is a company that specializes in manufacturing tea accessories which are useful, great designed products. I happen to really like products that are both functional and creatively designed and FORLIFE does a really great job fulfilling both requirements. They happen to design and manufacture a press pot made of porcelain that we may be looking to carry in the future.

After a while, we had enough and sat down for a late dinner to recap our experience of the morning coffee adventure and the show. Our dinner choice was Izzy’s Steaks and Chops located in the Marina district (their blackened fillet just melts in your mouth). We also used this time to have a meeting about our future objectives and direction of the company. It was a nice, relaxing, long dinner with great talks and laughs about our weekend.

Day 4: The Perfect Ending

Four Barrel “Slow Coffee” Station

Upon arriving in San Fransisco, I researched some specialty coffee roasters that I was interested in seeing and meeting to owners/operators of.  I met Tracy Allen, consultant and educator in the specialty coffee industry, at Seattle Coffee Fest in 2010 and have kept in touch with him since. I decided to ask him for recommendations of coffee shops and specialty coffee roasters in the San Francisco area. Among the list of roasters Tracy suggested was Four Barrel Coffee.  I contacted Jodi Geren who happens to hold many positions at Four Barrel, and she got back to me about meeting her at Four Barrel. I arrived around 9:45 a.m. and started with a pour over of the Ethiopia.

The barista gave a pleasant experience allowing for a smell after the beans were ground and before the coffee began to brew through the cone.

Jodi spent about an hour with us, aside from being extremely busy with her own work, touring the shop, describing the layout and content, and answering any of our questions. It was an incredibly unique experience and we were very appreciative of it.

If this had been the only thing we did all weekend, I still would have considered it a successful trip to San Fransisco.

Read a more detailed description of my Four Barrel experience in my blog post titled Four Barrel Coffee: An Inside Look featured on Barista Hero.

I stopped by the Fancy Food Show one last time to speak with a company about pairing our coffee with one of their products. During the previous day at The Fancy Food Show I toured the floor looking for a chocolate to pair with espresso or coffee. Kakao Berlin (mentioned above) carries a rare chocolate from Vanuatu in Micronesia. It carried very strong caramels on the pallet and was a mild, odd taste that one wouldn’t expect from a chocolate.

Next we headed for lunch and tea at Samovar. We happened to go to the one closest to us at Yerba Buena location where we could see the city skyline from the tall glass windows that lined the shop. It was a relaxing experience which triggered the wind-down of our weekend. We spent the rest of the day walking around Union Square area and had an early, extended dinner at the Cheesecake factory on the outside terrace.

By the end of our four day trip we had walked 25 miles, fully indulged in San Franciscan coffee culture, toured the city, ate great food, and immersed ourselves in the Fancy Food Show.

Taken from the terrace outside Yerba Buena Gardens Samovar Location

Day 1: The Arrival

The Posh Portage team spent this past weekend at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. This event is made up of exactly what you would expect: food, drink, more food, and anything that has to do with food. We arrived in San Francisco in the early morning on Saturday, January 15, one day before the event began. We used the day on Saturday to scope out some specialty coffee roasters in the area (which I will address in my next post) and to get acquainted with our surroundings in the city. After 11.5 miles of walking we had accomplished our mission: we stopped by two specialty retail coffee roasters, ate at a sandwhich shop with a line around the block, walked through 5 sections of the city, and had an incredible desert.  Since we were staying at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square, we thought that would be a good place to start.  We headed toward the direction of the convention center (where the Fancy Food Show event was being held) passing through SoMa (South of Mission), Mission district, Castro, and headed back to our hotel.  We ended our day in the Castro area after we figured we wouldn’t make it walking to Golden Gate park to see the Bison before sun down.  We walked back toward Market, caught a taxi, headed to our hotel to rest our feet a little, and ended the night with a walk through Chinatown.

Places, Shops, and Eateries Visited:

• Blue Bottle Coffee
• Ike’s Sandwiches (which surprisingly you now have to order from a place called Lime that blasts club music in broad daylight and has a champagne deal on weekends)
• Bi-Rite Creamery (where I tried the salted caramel)
• Bi-Rite specialty food store (located just down and across the street from the creamery)
• Ritual Coffee Roasters

San Francisco is a city with an enormous population density. All of the places we visited are popular and well known in the area, meaning, each place had a line out the door with approximately 10-15 people ahead of me. Luckily, the operations ran smoothly at each place and the wait wasn’t very long, only at first slightly intimidating. Each place we visited was unique in itself and unique to the area in which it was located.  The experiences were very pleasant, service was right on and friendly (regardless of customers waiting and lines out the door), and everything I tried was fantastic.

Day 2: More Walking and The Food Show

Mona Lisa Made of Jelly Bellies

We started our day with an interesting cafe breakfast where service was sub-par but an enjoyable time nonetheless. A place where you order at a counter, seat yourself, and have to serve your waiter to get a refill (at their earliest convenience). Close to our hotel, on the way to the convention center, and an experience to laugh at. Before entering the food show we outline our objectives, people and companies we wanted to see/meet, and unique things we wanted to try.  After a few hours, we left and headed toward the Bison at Golden Gate Park.  Had we known the park was so large, we would have gotten dropped off closer to the bison.  Our legs and feet were sore from the previous days walk but we practically covered the entire park with persistence (we were not leaving until we found the Bison). We sat down for an early dinner at San Tung Chinese restaurant where we had a very satisfying Chinese meal.  This place was extremely popular with a not so bad 25 minute wait, but a mere 12 parties ahead of us on the list.

Post continued in Part II of the San Fransisco Fancy Food show, stay tuned. Post will include our run in with Sight Glass owners and Four Barrel Coffee (both in the specialty coffee industry and roast their own coffee beans).

We first used our simple syrup when we made this Shaken Iced Latte.

Coffee flavoring syrups come in several varieties and here is one you can make yourself, in five minutes at a minimal cost.   If you love espresso and you enjoy experimenting with new ideas and recipes you will certainly enjoy this natural flavoring syrup.  It is made with one part raw sugar and one part water.  Simply add equal parts of raw sugar and water to a sauce pan and heat until a gentle boil.  Once the mixture has reached boiling it is completely dissolved.  Let it cool then funnel it into a serving bottle that you can cover tightly and refrigerate.   Raw sugar simple syrup should be made in small batches and should be kept refrigerated since there are no added preservatives.

Add one ounce of Raw Sugar Simple Syrup to your espresso and espresso milk beverages for a special 100% naturally sweet treat.   My favorite recipe for this Raw Sugar Simple Syrup is the Shaken Iced Latte.

Instructions:

1. Turn the machine on with the power button. Power button is furthest left button on machine.

2. Steam and froth milk using wand. After machine has warmed up and is ready for use, press the right button on machine to activate the steam wand. When steam is warm and ready to use (green light will stop blinking and become solid) place steaming wand in cup with milk and begin to steam. (To begin steaming: twist knob on side of machine toward you.)

3. Press the steam button so that coffee and steam operational lights are both blinking. While the two lights blink, purge water from the steam wand (using the knob on the right hand side of the machine). After sufficient water has been purged, machine is ready to brew; both green lights will have stopped blinking and there will be a solid green light near coffee (middle) button.
Note: machine will not brew after steaming until water has been purged from steam wand.

4. Adjust the dial for espresso.

5. Press coffee (middle) button to begin brewing espresso.
Note: press coffee button two times in a row for a double shot of espresso, three for a triple, etc. if a stronger latte drink is desired.

6. Add steamed milk to espresso and enjoy your latte!

You can use the dial located on the front of the machine to adjust the strength and volume to meet your specific taste.

The Allston v. Cambridge Coffee Experience

I spent this past weekend in Boston, Massachusetts.  I thought I would check out the coffee culture and ventured out to a few independent coffee shops in Allston and in Cambridge.  I found the indie shops, especially in Allston, attract a hipster crowd.  There are few (but major) differences between the two sections of town and their indie coffee shops, however, the consistencies are unique to the area.

Differences

The major differences are the crowds that gather at these indie shops.  Allston attracts hipsters that walk around in socks, are likely to be seen in groups, and have a vegan diet.  While Cambridge attracts the solitary human who gathers at the shop to do work and mainly keeps to himself.  Allston shops, maybe because of the type of person attracted to them, are not spotless and on the dirty, grungy side.  Cambridge shops are kept well; there aren’t dirty tables, floors, or any messes to be found.  I also found many shops in Allston that claimed to be independent coffee stops but were more like food stops that served specialty coffee.  The emphasis was not on the coffee, although the shop names would tell you different.  For example: An indie shop I encountered off Harvard Street, called “2nd Cup Café” was actually a Pizza and sub parlor that served simple breakfast and coffee in the morning. Cambridge emphasized their coffee, unique beans, and also served food but had less emphasis on the coffee shop name and the food.

Similarities

Not knowledgeable and unfriendly staff.

I visited five independent coffee shops over the weekend and asked each about the types of beans they use, where they came from, and where they were roasted.  There was one shop that could answer the questions but, in my opinion they didn’t seem happy to answer questions and a bit annoyed that I was asking.  Although there was no one in line behind me, I felt like the employee had better things to do and I was wasting their time.  The other shops had no idea where the beans came from and what type they were and also didn’t seem to care that I perceived them as ignorant.  They made it a point to make me feel like they were doing me a favor by serving me coffee.

Setting not made for comfort or lounging.

The coffee shops were set up to cater to crowds that were there to get work done.  Small tables and chairs lined the floors and somewhere you could find a counter for individuals in each coffee shop.  Most people were doing work on their Mac books, conducting a meeting, or reading over coffee and a meal.  No couches or lounge chairs were present in the setting, not even in Allston, the hipster neighborhood.

Mediocre Coffee

When I asked for a specific brew, the staff was not willing to deliver.  I would have liked the staff to serve me coffee from a different source other than their carafes.  The coffee tasted like it could have potential, however, it was scorching, almost to the point of being burnt.  I asked if I could have coffee prepared a different way (any other way than coffee that had been sitting around for hours, burning), and the staff denied me a different experience.

Upon arriving in Boston, I was excited to experience a new coffee culture and indulge like the locals.  Either I missed something or the quality and people made the experience so unpleasant that I wasn’t willing to explore further.  Regardless, that didn’t stop me from obtaining my daily coffee fix.  I went to a seminar recently at Coffee Fest, Seattle.  One of the speakers, Bruce Milletto, said (in relation to coffee), “Once you try that $40 bottle of wine, the $6 bottle that you frequently drank doesn’t taste the same anymore.”  I truly believe this, especially after having to give up my standard cup (equivalent to the $40 bottle of wine) and settle for something else this weekend.  Learn about the aromas, tastes, beans and quality you prefer in a cup of coffee; once you find that, it’ll be very difficult to consume a lower quality coffee drink.

What You’ll Need

1. Shaker
2. 2 Shots Espresso or 1 Depending on Taste
3. Ice
4. Simple Syrup
5. 1 cup of cold milk

Instructions

1. 1 oz Simple Syrup in cup
2. Pull espresso shots over simple sugar
3. Pour mixture in shaker with ice
4. Pour Milk into shaker
5. Shake, server and enjoy

I recently just made my first YouTube video demonstrating my morning coffee ritual. The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is make coffee with my french press. I’ll list the tools I use to make my coffee as well as the instructions I use for my specific technique.

Tools

1. Frieling Stainless Steel French Press
2. ADE Scale
3. Baratza Virtuoso Coffee Grinder

Instructions

1. Pre heat French Press and Coffee Cups with hot water
2. While water is heating, pre measure coffee beans (Ratio of 10 grams of coffee or about two tablespoons ground to 6 fl oz of water)
3. When the water is right below boiling point, I empty out the hot water from the French Press and grind the beans
4. After putting the coffee grounds into the French Press, I pour my hot water over the grounds slowly and in a circular motion to immerse all the coffee in the water (Use the 10 grams of coffee per 6 fl oz of water ratio.)
5. I put the lid on top of the French Press and let the coffee brew for 4 minutes before pushing down on the plunger to separate the grounds.
6. Pour the coffee in your empty coffee cups and enjoy.
7. Always experiment and play  around with all these variable to find what you like, however, this is a great launching pad for you to take off from.

A Bit of History

I spent this past summer in Shanghai, China building networks, learning about the culture, and interacting with the people. Traditionally, China is a tea-drinking nation and has been for thousands of years. China, popularly known for operating as a communist government, has spent the past three decades opening its borders and introducing its citizens to the western world.   Western economies continued to evolve and expand business to foreign countries which enabled China to see the benefits of having an open trade economic system. Westerners took advantage of great opportunity abroad and China wanted a piece of what the rest of the world had to offer.

While I was there, I witnessed the mixture of traditional Chinese culture with western culture. One aspect of this transfusion grasped my attention: I asked, in a predominantly tea-drinking culture, why are so many young Chinese participating in an active coffee culture? My curiosity grew and during the summer months I dedicated time to observing, asking questions, and drawing conclusions about the mysterious spike in coffee consumption among the younger generations.

The Conclusions:

1. Chinese will adopt activities deeply related to culture.

Coffee is deeply intertwined with American/Western culture; it powered us through the industrial revolution and is apart of most Americans daily rituals just like tea is to Chinese people. Chinese have a long standing culture that is embedded in them and are more likely to participate in activities if they observe and relate it to a type of culture. In this case, because the ritual of coffee drinking is stitched into Western culture it peaks the interests of Chinese people. Just think about how often Chinese people must see Westerners drinking coffee in the media, one could not help but be curious.

2. The fairly recent exposure to the western world has encouraged younger generations to adopt a coffee drinking culture.

Chinese admire westerners and their cultural “norms.” As westerners entered China for business, they brought with them some of their favorite products. Chinese began to adopt certain products, like coffee, in order to fit in and become more westernized.

3. Coffee is seen as a sophisticated, luxurious commodity in China due to the popularity of the drink among westerners.

This is to the point where if you’re not at the coffee shop, you’re not with the in crowd.  Chinese admire westerners and they trend toward activities their western counterparts participate in. In the eyes of Chinese, people accumulate at coffee shops to be sophisticated, socialize with peers, and indulge in a specialty item they are privileged to drink. What they don’t see are other reasons westerners drink coffee: they are in need of workspace with wireless internet, convenience, a place to meet friends outside of their homes, for an energy boost, and perhaps most importantly, because they enjoy the taste.

4. Chinese coffee drinkers are more concerned with what they are doing, who they are with at the coffee shop rather than how coffee tastes.

I spoke with many people who didn’t care for the taste of coffee (the reason: the main markets are in instant coffee and in Starbucks. Clearly the quality lacks in each of these products).  They were, however, concerned with following the western way. Simply, Chinese “copy” westerners as they perceive coffee culture as fashionable. Unfortunately, they are not crazy about the taste, meaning, they are not enjoying the same delectable tastes when they sit down and consume coffee with their friends.

5. Chinese have taken the western grab and go caffeine pick me up and transformed it into a cultural experience.

Since Chinese citizens spent so many years isolated from western economies, they only had the chance to observed westerners that lived in and visited their country. What they observed was westerners drinking coffee and socializing while doing it. Chinese coffee drinkers are mostly looking to replicate this Western experience rather than to enjoy the taste of the coffee or enjoy the coffee caffeine boost.

Give It a Try

If you venture to China, I encourage you to observe the mixture of traditional Chinese and Western culture. Notice the younger generations participating in imported culture. They are willing to try new things, acquire different tastes, and transform their nation. Although Chinese citizens concentrate on the social aspects of coffee consumption, inevitably their pallets will develop a taste for great tasting coffee. We also believe that Americans have a lot of work to do on this front as well.

1st place cup from the latte art contest

Day two of Coffee Fest Seattle 2010 was a repeat of day one pretty much. We went to conferences from 8am to noon, had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory across the street from the convention center, and then we headed to the show floor. I attended a workshop called Real Numbers and a workshop for coffee roasters about purchasing and installing a roaster. Real numbers is where I met Wes Herman, who cut costs and increased revenue by offering full health benefits to baristas his coffee shop.

Real Numbers Workshop

Real Number was given by Wes Herman from The Woods Coffee. This workshop was to establish estimated costs in starting up a retail cafe as well as to show expected percentages of these costs. One of the key points I took away from this workshop, however, was how Wes solved the problem of a costly high employee turnover rate.

Wes said that at one point The Woods Coffee shops, which has over 9 locations, had an employee turnover rate of 70%. This is a typical turnover rate for baristas at a coffee shop, especially when you have a lot of part time college students as employees. Having such a high turnover rate imposes a high cost for specialty coffee retailers because training a new barista to make perfect coffee beverages is a timely endeavor (some say a barista often needs over 10 hours of training before making coffee for a customer). Another negative to this part time employment model is that a part timer in general will not have the same knowledge about coffee and quality customer service as a full time employee (BTW, excellent customer service in a coffee shop is imperative). This may be because a part timer sees his role in the company as a temporary gig and will not be as passionate about the business because it’s not worth being passionate about something that is so short term. To cut costs and create a better customer experience Wes had to change the way he hired his employees.

Wes needed to stop hiring part time workers. In order to do this, a breakthrough needed to happen. To hire full time workers in a coffee shop, an employee must see a coffee shop as a career rather than some part time gig for some beer money. Wes added full health benefits for all of his baristas, and a few other benefits as well. With the help of the new health benefits package and a slumping economy, which led to an increased pool of job applicants, Wes all the sudden started hiring bright college graduates full time. Wes didn’t go too far into detail, I wish I would have thought to ask him this, but I am guessing that with health benefits The Woods Coffee must offer something else to keep full time baristas. There must be some other incentive to stay with the company; I’m guessing that the baristas see themselves growing with the company by taking on more challenging roles in the future.

The results of these employment changes were pretty dramatic. The Woods Coffee  saw a 70% turnover rate drop down to 7%. The Woods Coffee also has a dedicated team, that has the job of retaining employees. The Woods Coffee now has a group of seasoned baristas, who know the specialty coffee industry, educate customers with their knowledge, and provide an excellent customer experience. On top of all this The Woods Coffee was actually able to save money by cutting the expensive costs of training employees and increase revenue through the added value a seasoned employee offers.

If you would like to learn more about employee turnover and how to calculate turnover rate check out this blog here.

Some other tips from Wes:

1. Watch and calculate the amount of tips your employees are receiving. He says that tips correlate positively to the quality of customer service your employees are giving your customers.
2. Be careful of the Triple Net Lease. A Triple Net Lease is when a lessee pays rent to the lessor, as well as all taxes, insurance, and maintenance expenses that arise from the use of the property. Some lessors may put in the contract that the triple net will increase in percentage each year. As we learned from my last post, a poorly executed lease can destroy your business, so always carefully look it over.

Quick Tips For Buying A Roaster

The roaster is the engine behind the coffee roastery, obvious isn’t it? Here is a tip that might seem not as obvious at first; before you buy a roaster make sure it will fit through the door into your roastery. I know this seems obvious, but it happens more often than you might think.

• Roast with the roaster you’re thinking about using for a few batches before purchasing.
• Ask someone who has used the roaster how they like it. Roasters have several minor nuances that may come across only after repeated usage.
• Investigate local emission control laws. Depending on the size of the roaster and the local codes you may need to install an after burner, this will increase costs. You may also need permits.
• Adding a roaster to rented space may impact rent. Research this before hand.

This is a short list but but these items are all necessary requirements when purchasing a roaster. If you want more in depth knowledge, I suggest you checkout the September | October 2010 Roast Magazine. There is an article in there all about buying a roaster.