Coffee in america

[RDStafford]

Yes...commercial does INDEED grow in North America...in North Georgia's Blued Ridge!

Arabica coffee grows happily in the Blue Ridge Mountain of North Georgia on 4 pastoral, oak covered acres.
Our grove was begun in 2010, from Honduran coffee seed (parchment) and this summer put on white coffee flowers for the first time. In 7-9 months (Spring 2015) our plants will be covered with red coffee cherries. Now, tiny green coffee beans can be found up and down the individual stems. You can read more about Yonah Coffee (named for Mt. Yonah in nearby Helen, Georgia) at Yonah Coffee on the web.


There is also a coffee farm in California called "Organic Farms". They have about 700 plants and have been marginal in commercial production due to hot weather.

So, get readying for Georgia Java next spring, 2015.

Java Bear, President

 

[RDStafford]

Yes...commercial does INDEED grow in North America...in North Georgia's Blue Ridge!

Arabica coffee grows happily in the Blue Ridge Mountain of North Georgia on 4 pastoral, oak covered acres.
Our grove was begun in 2010, from Honduran coffee seed (parchment) and this summer put on white coffee flowers for the first time. In 7-9 months (Spring 2015) our plants will be covered with red coffee cherries. Now, tiny green coffee beans can be found up and down the individual stems. You can read more about Yonah Coffee (named for Mt. Yonah in nearby Helen, Georgia) at Yonah Coffee on the web.


There is also a coffee farm in California called "Organic Farms". They have about 700 plants and have been marginal in commercial production due to hot weather.

So, get readying for Georgia Java next spring, 2015.

Java Bear, President

 

[ensoluna]

Arabica coffee grows happily in the Blue Ridge Mountain of North Georgia on 4 pastoral, oak covered acres.
Our grove was begun in 2010, from Honduran coffee seed (parchment) and this summer put on white coffee flowers for the first time. In 7-9 months (Spring 2015) our plants will be covered with red coffee cherries. Now, tiny green coffee beans can be found up and down the individual stems. You can read more about Yonah Coffee (named for Mt. Yonah in nearby Helen, Georgia) at Yonah Coffee on the web.

hi RDSstafford,
i just checked the yonah coffee website, along with some articles that got published in few papers.
couple of things that I can not understand.

The grove of plants is thriving at 1,630 feet altitude, the ideal elevation for the best tasting coffee in the world. Plans are for a total of 1,000 bean producing plants by November 2014. The temperature of the growing room is kept between 60-80 degrees

as far as I know, good arabica coffee grows between 4500 to 5300 feet above sea level. but the website says that "1630 feet is ideal elevation for the best tasting coffee in the world" Quite a Statement !!! also temperatures ranging from 45 to 75F. Higher altitude and cold temp are needed for the beans grow slowly and develop fully, and densely. I just can not imagine growing coffee plants in that low altitude (similar altitude as Vietnam & Brazil Robusta coffee) and still be able to grow densely with maintaining all the full cupping profiles.

Also, i can see that the website is selling 12oz at $15.00 which is pretty steep pricing (of course, unless the beans are really specialty beans).
I just would like to get some feed backs from forum members whether coffee plants can be grown "as specialty high quality arabica beans" in that low altitude with high temp.
thanks
alex from ensoluna

 

[RDStafford]

Alex and Coffee Forum Participants,

Thanks for the questions. Hope I can provide adequate answers.
When coffee is purchased at our website (Yonah Coffee) the purchaser does not pay any shipping. Shipping is included in the price per unit as shown. As coffee sellers and growers, we have never charged shipping, and we normally end up loosing a small amount of profit as we always ship US Priority 2 Day Delivery. The minimum cost for our cans, boxing and bubble wrap is a $6.75 postal charge that comes off our $15 price. It is available in North Georgia at a number of retailers, there the cost is lower by about $5 per unit.

Yonah Coffee of Georgia is an experiment in growing coffee on the mainland US. As you may know, most all Hawaiian coffee is a blend of 10% Hawaiian grown coffee and 90% Central American grown coffee. Organic Farms in California has tried open growing (without green houses) for over a decade with limited success in selling to retailers on a wide scale.

We do not believe that our limited coffee grown in a Georgia will ever cause a negative impact on the economies in Central America or elsewhere. Nor do our suppliers (Copan Coffee of Santa Rosa, Honduras) believe we could never make much difference. In fact, I believe they are impressed with our limited progress.

As for "best coffee in the world" or "best tasting coffee" in the world, or it's relationship to altitude in which it is grown is well...a matter if taste and many, many other variables. The supposedly best coffee in the world grown at 6000 feet...could be the worst coffee in the world if picked too soon, making it bitter, or roasted in correctly.

We are a little like the Wright Brothers and aviation. Since the beginning of recorded history humans were told we could not fly. But that was proven wrong. Human surgery was first dismissed as dangerous, anti-religious and inappropriate. Social behaviors once thought immoral are quite acceptable today. But today it has lengthen lives and improved life. In 1989 Georgians were told vineyards would not be commercially successful in North Georgia...however we now have 19 successful wine growing companies within 30 minutes of our coffee grove.

We are in our 4th year of growing our crop and it has gained attention of the Univision, Telemundo, CNN networks as well as many newspapers, magazines and internet sites. In addition agriculture experts have made trips by the bus loads to check us out.

Finally, as to the taste of Georgia grown coffee? I suspect when our first full crop appears this coming year...and we process and roast it properly...my guess is you would not be able to tell much difference between our cupping and one from Ethiopia, Columbia or even 10% pretend Hawaiian coffee

Our cupping awaits to join our great peanuts, peaches, wine and apples here in Georgia. There are lots of great coffees in the world...we plan to be one if the best.

Richard and Candelario

 

[Robertlee]

I would be interested in seeing some tasting notes on this bean.

 

[RDStafford]

Hey Robert,
Me too. I can't wait. We will have several independent cupping experts do just that. Perhaps you might suggest who to use? We are truly hoping for great coffee.
Richard

 

[ensoluna]

hello Richard & Candelario.
how are you? this is Alex from Ensoluna and I thank you for your detailed explanation.

But, if you do not mind, I have some more questions for you. the reasons that I am keep asking you is that I have two SHB specialty coffee farms and coffee exporting company & coffee educational school in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. So mainly, I am very much familiar with Guatemala & other Central American coffees. However, I still try to learn about other coffees from different regions. one month ago, I even took few coffees (Ethiopia, Mexican and Indonesian) from some of our forum members (roasters) and I had Hector Gonzalez (one of our company partner & 2010 World Cup Taster's champion) evaluate them. Very interesting and fun process and I posted everything (photos & cupping reports) in this forum.

anyway, that is why I am very much interested in your coffee. okay, here are my questions.
1. shipping cost : $15.00 including shipping cost is okay if you buy one. but for some people who buys 3 or 4 at a time, it would be much beneficial for customers if you can charge them one bulk shipping rate. I think $15 per 12 oz might turn off some of your customers who does not know the quality of your coffee. 2 day service is awesome and great ONLY IF YOU ROAST THE BEANS COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE. if not, regular 5 day service might be okay and more economical.

2. sorry to say this, but unfortunately, i have never known or tried any good and specialty coffee grown at 1600 feet altitude. of course, any coffee will be bad if you pick too soon or late or roast bad..etc. that is not the point. Specialty good coffee plant is quite a unique plant. it needs higher altitude, preferably volcanic mountain, cool temperature and adequate amount of rain and sun. All these elements combined, the beans can grow properly.
so, can you explain to me that why and how the yunah beans can grow like high grade specialty beans at such low altitude and such high temperature? and how can be compared with Ethiopian or any other high quality coffees that are grown up in the mountain?

do you have cupping report on your coffee?

3. in your website, you said that you will have 1000 plants growing fully by Nov 2014 and in Dec 2013, you said that many of plants started to produce. so let's say that about 700 plants started to produce coffee. normal Arabica plant produce about 5 lbs of cherries. which is 1 lb of green bean. that means after roasting, 0.7 lbs of roasted beans. 0.7 lb x 700 = 490 lbs annual roasted beans. 490 lbs x $10 ($15 per 12 oz, but deducting shipping cost and bag cost...etc, probably it will be $10 per lbs sales pricing) = $4900.00 annual sales amount for coffee.

Just wondering that would be enough to do the business.

Do you only sell yonah coffee? or other coffees also?
also, i wonder how often do you roast? do you roast when you get the order or roast them in advance? if in advance, how often do you roast to ensure the freshness of the coffee (specially since you sell the ground coffee in a can. and it does not even look like vacuum packed..)

4. do you have a roaster? what kind of roaster do you have? BTW, do you roast by yourself or do you have other (contractor) roaster roast your coffee for you?

Honestly, I would love to try out your coffee and evaluate them. also, I would like to congratulate you on your "Wright brothers" inspiration. I believe that is absolutely great. even for me, I had to take very different routes to our business than others, in order to be somewhat successful. (Being a full blown Korean guy working with Guatemala farms and coffee export companies does raise a lot of eye brows in Guatemala and other countries :+)

again, I am not writing this reply to you to discredit you. None what so ever. Actually I am very intrigued about your coffee, if your coffee is as good as you says. I would love to try it. however, I am in Hong kong now, and I will be going to Taipei and China for next two more weeks to meet my customers before returning home in Los Angeles. (BTW, I have another home in Antigua, Guatemala, so I travel back and forth). then, I will order some from you to evaluate them for the forum members.

thank you and hope to hear your reply.

 

[RDStafford]

Excellent Questions,

Whew, not sure where to start. Currently, all our coffee is imported from Honduras and roasted for the most part in Houston, Texas as we order it, generally 40 lbs per order. We sell it quickly in bulk or package it the day it arrives, 48 hours after shipping from Houston to Georgia. We also order green beans from Honduras and roast those here in Atlanta, shipping or otherwise delivering same day, or following day requested.

As mentioned before, our first full crop of beans will not be ready for harvest until mid 2015. We had a full crop of flowers and those may be seen on our website. Our intention is NOT to compete with any coffee growers anywhere on the globe. Instead, we are an experiment, followed closely by agriculture experts in US to see if this is viable...not profitable, so our intent is not to make money or sell large crops of coffee bean grown in US. We have enjoyed five years on the project and look forward to our first large harvest year next spring. We have not cupped any of our coffee from our first small harvest last April...we just enjoyed it with a huge party of friends, store owners and experts in Georgia agriculture. As for the taste...that's in the cup next year...we hope to do blind cupping tasting and testing. Proof's in the pudding...uh...coffee
Richard