Bean & Leaf

SWEET IN THE

SOUTH

5

FEBRUARY 2012 | SOUTHERN EDITION

Uncommon flavors to put with your cup of coffee

All’s fair in trade and coffee

Just how fair is fair trade?

Counter Culture

The Durham, N.C. coffee roaster teaches the art of cupping.

EXPLORING THE SOUTH’S SWEET TEA TRADITIONS AND RICH HISTORY

FROM THE EDITOR Meet Bean & Leaf.

We’re a magazine for the coffee and tea drinker or anyone attracted to café culture and the industry. It is our mission to complement our reader’s daily cup by informing and entertaining with word and picture. Just as cafés serve as local gathering places, B&L fosters that same community, looking to bring together those in the coffee and tea industry, as well as the everyday enthusiast and all those in between.

We want to celebrate our first sip with you. If your B&L copy boasts wrinkled, brown-tinted pages and faint coffee rings on the cover, then we’ve done our job. We think our magazine reads best when stained and wafting the aroma of espresso or spiced tea with every page turn. We think B&L belongs on your shelves, bookended by well-loved novels and old coffee canisters. We see its pages folded and worn, sticking out from your sketchbook.

Coffee and tea are important to you. Grinding and brewing, boiling and steeping have become daily rituals. This is how you wake up and wind down, and we think that deserves our full attention. The trends in the industry are constantly changing, and stories of its growers, roasters, owners, innovators and consumers continue to surface. More than just beans and leaves, we’re a magazine that celebrates people’s stories and one of the most delicious aspects of life.

In this issue, we’re focusing on coffee and tea below the MasonDixon Line. The Northwest may be the better-known café hub, but the South can hold its own with a culture rooted in a rich coffee and tea industry. This issue of B&L acquaints you with some of the region’s best cafes and companies, and you know we had to explore the South’s favorite tradition—sweet tea, y’all. Although we couldn’t find a place for fried okra or honky-tonks in this issue, other Southern icons weren’t a problem. A few ice cubes, cooled coffee leftovers from the morning and a splash of cream taste better from a Mason jar.

If you’ve had enough Southern hospitality, keep reading for nationwide industry trends, topics and traditions, or go straight to our ‘In the Café’ section for some artistic inspiration.

Join us, and raise your mugs. Here’s to the first sip.

Best,

Kelsey Snell Editor

EDITORIAL STAFF

Kelsey Snell, editor Isaac Adams Lucie Shelley Molly Green Miranda Murray Bailey Holman Margaret Croom

DESIGN STAFF

Kelly McHugh, art director Anne Marie Gaines, asst. art director Courtney Tye Lydia Harrell Rebecca Riddle Chelsea Pro

PHOTOGRAPHY Lauren vied Rebecca Yan

Special thanks to Linda Brinson and Terence Oliver

WHAT’S INSIDE FROM THE EDITOR EVENTS CALENDAR HOW TO BREW YOUR OWN SUN TEA WHICH TEA IS RIGHT FOR YOU? COFFEE CAPITAL: WASHINGTON, D.C.

BY THE NUMBERS: COFFEE AND TEA UNCOMMON FLAVORS FOR YOUR CUP BEAN BREAKDOWN FAIR TRADE COFFEE SUSTAINABLE TEA? CORPORATE VS. KITSCH THE SOUTH’S SWEET TEA TRADITION UNDER FED AND OVER CAFFIENATED WHERE HAVE ALL THE FRAPPUCCINOS GONE? TASTE AND SEE: THE ART OF CUPPING COFFEE ON THE SMALL SCREEN BREWING GADGETS TEA AS A NATUAL REMEMDY TEA TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD INDUSTRY PROFILE: OLD WILMINGTON TEA COFFEE TRUCKS HIT THE SOUTH EDITORIAL: COFFEE MONSTERS IN THE CAFE

4 8 10 13 14 17 18 21 23 30 34 38 44 48 53 58 60 62 66 68 71 74 76

Far left: Explore the South’s sweet tea fetish. See page 38 for story.

Top: Tea has been a natural rememdy for centuries. See page XX for story.

Left:Counter Culture Coffee in Durham, N.C. teaches the art of cupping. See page XX for story.

Below: How fair is fair trade coffee? See page 22 for story.

2012 EVENTS CALENDAR SOUTH

NORTH

FEB. 11-13 SOUTH EAST REGIONAL

JAN.

BARISTA COMPETITION

20-29 WINTER ANTIQUES SHOW

o The most prestigious antique show in America o Features antiques through the 1960s o New York City o www.winterantiquesshow.com

o One of six regional competitions that lead up to the U.S. Barista Championship o Atlanta, GA o www.usbaristachampionship.org

MARCH 9-18 SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST MUSIC CONFERENCE AND FESTIVAL

o A music, film and interactive festival o Austin, TX o www.sxsw.com

MARCH

22-24 “FULL STEAM AHEAD”

o Presented by the National Coffee Association of U.S.A, Inc. o Charleston, SC o www.ncausa.org

APRIL

13-15 WORLD GRITS FESTIVAL

o A wholesome family festival with various events for people of all ages o St. George, SC o www.worldgritsfestival.com

APRIL

28-29 GREAT AMERICAN PIE FESTIVAL

o Pie lovers, bakers and eaters gather together to eat and make pies o Celebration, FL o www.piecouncil.org

JUNE 7-10 BONNAROO MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL

o Multi-stage camping festival.

Brings together performers in rock, jazz, Americana, hip-hop, electronica, etc. o Manchester, TN o www.bonnaroo.com

FEB.

25-26 COFFEE AND TEA FESTIVAL NYC

o 7th annual festival o Open to the public and the trade o Event offers classes/lectures/ demos from industry pros and pioneers o New York City o www.coffeeandteafestival.com

MARCH 9-11 COFFEE FEST NEW YORK

o Includes coffee retail education, training and workshops o Specifically for all those involved with retailing coffee o New York City o www.coffeefest.com

WEST APRIL

18-19 SPECIALTY COFFEE ASSOCIATION

OF AMERICA ANNUAL EXPOSITION o Annual gathering for specialty coffee growers, roasters, baristas o Portland, OR o www.scaaevent.org

APRIL

19-22 NATIONAL BARISTA COMPETITION o The winners of the country’s 6 regional barista competitions compete to represent the U.S. in the World Barista Championship o Portland, OR o www.usbaristachampionship.org

SEPT.

21-23 COFFEE FEST SEATTLE

o Includes coffee retail education, training and workshops o Specifically for all those involved with retailing coffee o Seattle, WA o www.coffeefest.com

MIDWEST APRIL

6 - 7 RIVER BEND FILM FESTIVAL

o Opportunity for filmmakers to screen their shorts and features and network with others in the industry o South Bend, IN o www.riverbendfilmfest.org

JULY 2- 5 TASTE OF CHICAGO

o World’s largest outdoor food festival o Chicago, IL o www.tasteofchicago2012. eventbrite.com

JUNE 8-10 COFFEE FEST CHICAGO

o Includes coffee retail education, training and workshops o Specifically for all those involved with retailing coffee o Chicago, IL o www.coffeefest.com

SEPT. 1-2 CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL

o The longest running of the city’s lakefront music festivals o Labor Day weekend tradition for the past 33 years o Chicago, IL o www.explorechicago.org

FEBRU A RY 2 012 | 8

IF YOU CAN’T STAND THE

HEAT GET OUT

OF THE KITCHEN

By Bailey Holman

iness z o c g n lutchi c g u here m e f b o l l i n o w seas nths r o e h m t o r those e n n m o r a e As a v w o he st close, t a p re’s u o e t g h s t n i t w r a u i r d ask, b w it. F t o g n n k i n’s t e u n s w u a e e r d o Th a f be a fix. s like e t m y e l e i s a me i s d t y r a – u d g o t n y ho o get s calli t i y h a c r w o r w! tp e r n b o r r f anothe a r l he so d you t n f a o g r n e i shin e pow h t h s a e to unl

25 | B E A N AN D L E AF

Brew your own sun tea: Servings:

LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE? TRY REFRIGERATOR TEA:

Makes about 8 cups

Estimated prep time:

2 ½ hours (active time: 5 minutes) *Brew at your own risk: Tea that’s steeped in a glass container may not reach temperatures hot enough to kill off all bacteria, so there has been concern over the safety of sun brewing.

1. Put 4 to 6 tea bags into a clean 2-quart glass container.

2. Fill container with water 1. Put 4 to 6 tea bags into a

clean 2-quart glass container (Make sure container is first washed thoroughly with soap and hot water).

and cap with lid.

3. Place container in refrigerator.

4. Let it sit overnight.

5. Enjoy!

FOLLOW THESE TIPS FOR THE SAFEST SUN TEA EXPERIENCE: • Wash your tea jug thoroughly before use.

2. Fill container with water and cap with lid.

3. Place outside in direct sunlight

for 2 1/2 hours. Move the container if necessary to keep it in the sun.

• Don’t let tea steep in sun for more than 3 to 4 hours.

• Make only enough tea to drink for one day.

• Use caffeinated teas – they fight bacteria better than decaffeinated teas. (Note: Most herbal teas are naturally decaffeinated.)

• Do not add sugar or sweeteners until after tea has been brewed.

4. Remove container from sunlight and keep refrigerated.

5. Drink tea within a day – Enjoy!*

• Don’t drink tea if it appears thick or cloudy.

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 11

Which Tea Is Right For You?

T

ea can both lift you up and calm you down — whatever you need! Coffee can’t!” says Lourie Cosper, coowner of Old Wilmington Tea Company (see page 68).

Cosper shares her advice on what type of tea to drink depending on the time of day.

Do you want an afternoon tea?

NO

START:

Do you want an after dinner tea?

NO

Do you need a pick-me-up?

YES

Do you want a morning tea?

NO

YES NO

YES

“

By Margaret Croom

Do you want it to be sweet?

YES NO

English Manor Breakfast

Duchess Earl Grey

• Black Tea with no flavor • Has more caffeine than other teas • Tones of honey in the flavor

• A floral blend perfect for afternoon tea • Lots of flavor • Good with a light lunch or a sandwich

Rooibos (Rou-bus)

• From South Africa • Does not contain any caffeine • Has a light lemon flavor

Raspberry Chocolate Kiss

• A raspberrychocolate tea • Sweet but with fewer calories than a dessert • Drink without adding sugar

Forget-Me-Not Herbal Tea

• An herbal tea with a subtle peppermint taste • Does not contain any caffeine

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 13

Wheaton

WA

Forest Glen Twinbrook

TRYST

Expresso and Wine Location: 1359 H Street NE | Metro Stop: Union Station (On the Red Line) Contact: (202) 397-3080 | www.sovadc.com Hours: Mon- Fri: 6:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., Sat: 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., Sun: 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Woodley Park-Zoo Farragut North

Co lu He mbi ig h a ts

U M

lS to pi Ca l ra de q Fe er S nt Ce

L Enfa L’ f nt Plaza fa

y ar

Smithsonian

POUND

“We’re not just any ordinary shop – we’re Pound.”

Location: 621 Pennsylvania Ave SE | Metro Stop: Eastern Market Metro (On the Orange/Blue Line) Contact: (202) 621.6765 | www.poundcoffee.com Hours: Mon-Thu: 7:00 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., Fri: 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., Sat: 7:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., Sun: 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

G Ch alle in ry at Pl ow n

Metro Center Federal Triangle

n h h U U se rc rc M M do ou u u V en Lo n n i H a V Ch s Ch lsto Sq ia r u r t s l l nn l a l i l C a u a o a B F in C D t F ast rg es Vi E W

g r in

n no r e C tV D M q-U S

ci di Ju Sq

na

“Coffee with a cause.”

Location: 201 F Street NE | Metro Stop: Union Station Rosslyn (On the Red Line) Contact: (202) 558-6900 | www.ebenezerscoffeehouse.com Hours: Mon-Thurs: 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., Fri: 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., Sat: 8 a.m. until 9 p.m., Sun: 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

GW Fa U rra gu tW es t

EBENEZERS

Fort To

H Sha Un owa w iv rd

Friendship Heights

U StreetCardozo

SOVA

AU C nw o UD t s ey es nl N e T n Va

Georgia AvePotworth

Bethesda

Glenmo

Takoma

McPherson Sq

White no Flint “No corporate coffee, matching silverware.”

Location: 2459 18th Street NW | Woodley Park/Zoo/ Adam’s Morgan (On the Red Line) Grosvenor Contact: (202) 232-5500 | www.trystdc.com Hours: Open daily from 6:30 a.m. until midnight Sun-Wed, until 2 a.m. on Thurs & 3 a.m. on Fri-Sat. Medical Center

Silver Spring

nt nt ro fro F r e vy at W Na

Pentagon

a An

SWING’S COFFEE

“The mountains on the mall aren’t the only pieces of history.”

Location: 1702 G Street N.W. | Metro Stop: L’Enfant Plaza (On Blue, Green, Orange and Yellow Line) Contact: (202) 863-7590 | www.swingscoffee.com Hours: Monday–Friday7:00am–6:00pm

Co

t ys Cr

ty Ci al

National Airport

Braddock Road King Street 14 | BE A N A N D L E A F

Eisenhower Ave Huntington

ASHINGTON, D.C. Coffee Capital

ont

Greenbelt MARC

otten

It’s easy to find monuments and pieces of our nation’s history in Washington, D.C., but where do you find the city’s best coffee? Here are some reviews of the best coffeehouses our great capital has to offer.

The city is quickly becoming home to some of the most exciting and diverse cafés for both tourists and natives to enjoy.

TRYST

Union Station MARC

nn

g in

um di

m Ar

EBENEZERS

When you buy coffee at Ebenezers, you’re not just getting a delicious cup of fair trade coffee -- you’re also helping the community. This coffeehouse not only serves the Capitol Hill community delicious coffee, but it also uses the proceeds from each cup for local outreach projects.

Owned by National Community Church in D.C., Ebenezers has been open for five y tla a i e years. Not only does it sell fair trade coffee, N v Su SOVA anch A but Ebenezer’s also wants to entertain you Br The Northeast side of Capitol Hill while you’re drinking it. Ebenezers uses is undergoing a renaissance, with new its lower-level space in many innovative businesses and homes appearing daily. The ways, from meetings to concerts, poetry owner of SOVA looked around H Street and readings to open mic nights. On Saturdays, saw a neighborhood lacking something: a the coffeehouse also hosts a church service. or

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ad Ro n so di ts Ad gh ei lH to pi Ca ad Ro

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New Carrollton Tryst has been on one of the liveliest streets in D.C. for more than 10 years.

Landover The coffeehouse, which is also one of the Chevelry city’s best bars, features a huge lounge with comfy couches strewn about it.

Dearwood Every month, different artists cover the wallsMinnesota with their Ave work, giving the coffeehouse an unpredictable buzz. Tryst is proud to claim that its culture stands in contrast to common coffee chains. With mismatching silverware and a rejection of the trademarked, pre-made caramelnill-frapp-a-cinno culture, Tryst focuses on community commitment and quality food and drink. It also has a variety of loose-leaf teas and tisanes, which can be infused with alcohol or water. Tryst uses Counter Culture Coffee as its primary roaster because of the quality coffee as well as itsadcommitment to sustainability and fair o rR trade. nd lo

place to go for quality coffee and tea, and a good glass of wine. “What goes better with a renaissance than a shot of espresso and a glass of vino?” he asked himself. SOVA was his answer. SOVA’s mission is to serve the community with the best products possible by working with diligent and thoughtful vendors who are committed to their products. The people at SOVA are firm believers in the phrase, “you’re only as good as the company you keep.” They offer coffee from Intelligentsia, one of the country’s most respected and acclaimed coffee roasters, and their tea comes from Rishi Tea, which works only with the most skilled artisans with generations of tea producing experience. SOVA helps create the incredible feel of this D.C. community and is a great space to work, to relax and to enjoy high-quality coffee.

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 15

NORTH

) d a b d (an

Uniquely good flavors for your morning cup

By Molly Green TRADER JOE’S PUMPKIN BREAD It’s like Christmas in your mouth.

The cinnamon-spice, pumpkin flavor blends perfectly with the strong coffee tang. It tastes like a specialty blend.

Truthfully, some of the staff prefers the bread as a complement to coffee, instead of dipping it. But either way, pumpkin bread is a definite hit.

EGG The incredible, edible, mixable egg. We made the traditional breakfast of eggs and coffee more of a “to-go” concept by cracking a raw egg into a cup of black coffee. Supposedly, stirring the egg would make the coffee simply creamier. It ended up being worse than the skillet cheese experiment. Eggs and coffee work better in their traditional roles at breakfast.

SKILLET CHEESE Cheese? And coffee? Together? That’s what we thought, too. According to one staff member’s research, skillet cheese, which is pre-cooked, is supposed to complement coffee pretty well. All we discovered upon opening the package was a pungent, fishy odor. Still being brave, however, a few staff members cut off a slice and dipped it in their coffee anyway. What was most appalling was hard to determine – the fishy flavor, the chewy consistency or the failure to complement coffee at all. Turns out cheese and coffee should remain separate flavors.

18 | BE A N A N D L E A F

It’s

common knowledge that cream, sugar and honey go with coffee like milk goes with cookies. Even chocolate, hazelnut and caramel blend into specialty drinks on a regular basis these days. But here’s a list of the top curious and bizarre foods – from the supremely delicious to the not-soyummy flavors – that the Bean & Leaf staff recommends to put with your morning cup of coffee.

BANANA Strange, but true.

While dipping a banana in a cup of coffee wasn’t the most popular choice at our taste test session, staff member Lucie Shelly says it wasn’t that bad. “It tastes like a soft banana biscuit,” she says. “I would consider dipping my banana in my coffee.”

OREO That tasty treat of chocolaty goodness and cream doesn’t just complement a spoonful of peanut butter. Try dipping it in a cup of straight black coffee, or with a creamer of your choice, for a well-rounded, mocha flavor. Even the self-proclaimed non-coffee drinker of the staff enjoyed his sample. “It’s like a new kind of Oreo,” says Isaac Adams. “It’s a nice complement.”

Photo by Lauren Vied

FEBRU A RY 2012 | 19

By Lucie Shelly

Some coffee secrets, like those of magicians, will forever remain with the master brewers and roasters with generations of practice behind them. There are certain mysteries, however, that we can clarify for you right now. The only thing that should come between you and your desired cup is a slow inhale of the spellbinding aroma—not the jargon we’re bombarded with these days.

BUST THE BUZZ-WORDS: sustainable coffee:

Organic, shade-grown and fair trade methods No artificial fertilizers Natural, exotic forests are not destroyed Minimized water consumption Coffee husks are reused

hot water espresso

brewed coffee

AMERICANO

BLACK COFFEE

foamed milk

half + half

fair trade coffee:

Purchased directly from growers Higher sale price than normal – about $1.26/lb Third party certification Growers are part of a co-op Co-op determines use of profits Standard working and environmental conditions

espresso

espresso

CAPUCCINO

BREVE

milk brewed coffee

frothed milk steamed milk espresso

CAFE AU LAIT

LATTE

direct trade coffee:

Similar to fair trade, but no third party certifier Trade criteria decided by buyers and growers More flexible See page 53 for a look at leading direct trade operation Counter Culture in Durham, N.C.

shade-grown coffee:

Grown in the shade of surrounding trees Creates nutritious soil naturally and organically Conserves forests and their inhabitants

cream

espresso

espresso

MACCHIATO

ESPRESSO SHOT

FEBRU A RY 2012 | 21

ALL PHOTOS BY LAURA KIRCHHOFER

Cooperative leader, Andres Telfils, taught Kirchhofer the in and outs of coffee trees.

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All’s Tra Fair de in &C offe

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By Isaac Adams

Y

our barista hands you that delicious cup of coffee you’ve been eagerly waiting for. Your hands soak up the warmth from the mug as the fresh scent of joe wafts up to your nose.

Resting on the coffeehouse’s couch, you’ve found that feeling you’ve been searching for. You’re elated.

“It’s fair trade,” the manager assures you, trying to convince your conscience that, indeed, you did buy the best coffee possible for yourself and the world. But the question still lingers in your head and heart. Was there really a fair trade for this coffee? What does that even entail?

FEBRU A RY | 23

Tradenary

Fair Trade Certified coffee [fair treyd sur-tuh-fahyd

kaw-fee] noun - The goal of Fair Trade Certified coffee is

to alleviate poverty in farming communities around the world in ways that are socially and environmentally sustainable. To guarantee the trade between consumers and farmers is fair, a third-party certifier must ensure fair, and sustainable standards are being met; the farmer must be in a cooperative for Fair Trade certification. fairly traded coffee

[fair-lee treyd-ed-kawfee] noun - The same goals apply for fairly traded coffee. The difference is that coffee roasters have direct relationships with coffee farmers so they can purchase the coffee without traditional middlemen and certifying organizations. The coffee is said to be fairly traded if the standards of Fair Trade are being met.

24 | BE A N A N D L E A F

FROM THE CERTIFIERS

“Fair trade” humbly began in the 1940s, when a few small North American and European organizations reached out to povertystricken communities in Third World and developing countries to help them sell their products to markets around the world.

In 2010 more than 100 million pounds of fair trade certified coffee were imported into the United States in a single year, according to Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of fair trade products in the United States.

To date, more than 500 million pounds of Fair Trade certified coffee have been imported into the United States since certification organizations began.

Paul Rice, CEO and president of Fair Trade USA, says fair trade is about much more than mitigating prices that are beneficial to both sides of coffee transactions. Fair trade is a comprehensive approach to sustainable development that supports farmers with quality improvement; environmental stewardship; business capacity training; access to credit; and community development, such as the development of local schools, to help improve lives, he says.

If you see a Fair Trade certified label on a product, that means it meets the set standards for social, economic and environmental sustainability. For a fair trade transaction to occur, these rigorous international standards have to be met and evaluated by a third-party certifier, such as Fair Trade USA. On the producer’s side, the farmer selling the product must be a part of a cooperative.

If the transaction occurred without third-party certification between the coffee roasters and producers, it would be considered direct trade. But this form of trade is considered “fairly traded”

only if the business transaction is ethical and fair to both parties – especially considering the vulnerability of disadvantaged farmers who don’t have the benefit of joining a cooperative.

The Fair Trade logo has been touted by coffee producers and used in various marketing strategies in an effort to appeal to more greenminded consumers.

All this sounds great, but do the roasters and companies buying the coffee truly think these trades are fair?

FROM THE AMERICAN COFFEE DRINKER & THE INTERNATIONAL FARMER

Laura Kirchhofer, a senior at the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill, comes from Dallas, Texas, and claims to be a coffee connoisseur. “I’ve always loved drinking coffee,” she says. But her passion for working with coffee farmers wasn’t ignited until she studied abroad in Cameroon during the spring semester of her junior year, in 2010.

“I lived with a coffee farming family who had to abandon coffee because the international price of coffee had dropped so low,” she says.

“For them, coffee wasn’t just their livelihood – it was their heritage, it was what their greatgrandfather and their grandfather did. It was dear to their hearts.”

Kirchhofer says because the family couldn’t make ends meet producing coffee, they began to produce more cash crops instead.

“That was hard for them and sad for me to witness.”

Kirchhofer argues that there is a huge inconsistency between how expensive coffee can be in the United States and how little coffee farmers need to receive to get a fair price. She thinks a lot more could be done to reduce this inconsistency – though she recognizes that there are efforts to do that with fair trade and direct trade.

Coffee cherries on the tree turn red they are ready for harvest.

“Honestly, those efforts are just not widespread enough,” she says.

After her time in Cameroon, Kirchhofer came back to the United States a changed woman. She began meeting with coffee roasters and studying fair trade. She even filmed a documentary about Counter Culture Coffee – a coffee roaster in Durham, N.C. Through her studies, experiences and relationships with coffee roasters, she has developed a passion for Haiti, which in the 1930s supplied a third of the world’s coffee. Because she was proficient in French, a relative to the Creole spoken in Haiti, she saw an opportunity to learn more about the industry. She saw a broken country that was positioned close to the United States. She withdrew from UNC and went to Haiti in September 2011. She plans to return to UNC in the spring of 2012.

“I was excited,” she says. “I prayed about it, and I felt like it was what the Lord was calling me to do.”

For a month, Kirchhofer lived with Tony Jones, a missionary, and his family in the mountains of Grand Goave, Haiti. Kirchhofer worked with coffee farmers, collecting samples of their coffee and helping with development projects.

Kirchhofer returned to the U.S. with 30 pounds of Haitian coffee samples. She offers them when she meets with roasters and churches in North Carolina and Texas to see if they’ll start buying Haitian coffee to support the developments there.

Kirchhofer explained that Haitian farmers don’t think about fair trade and that it’s not as simple as “fair” and “unfair” to them. She says what was most interesting to her is that before Jones lived in Haiti, a lot of the coffee farmers in Grand Goave didn’t know that fair trade even existed.

“It’s not something they have exposure to,” she says. “They don’t even have the belief that it’s something they should try to stand up for. They sell their coffee for

“I was excited, I prayed about it, and I felt like it was what the Lord was calling me to do.”

-Laura Kirchhofer FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 25

Telfils and Kirchhofer visited many coffee farms in the mountains of Jacmel, Haiti.

much less than it’s worth and for less than they deserve to be paid because they don’t even know that they deserve better.”

Kirchhofer says the farmers are very eager to sell their coffee to Jones because what they don’t sell to him or other fair trade buyers will be illegally sold at a very low price of 50 U.S. cents to the Dominican Republic or elsewhere in Haiti.

“They have to sell their crop so it doesn’t go bad and so they can survive,” she says.

Jones pays the coffee farmers in Haiti about $2 per pound, which is four times more than the price of selling the coffee illegally or within the country. The international fair trade price ranges from $1.26 to $1.40 per pound.

“A big problem with fair trade is that it’s not country specific, and there are different prices for producing coffee in different countries based on supply and demand and the cost of different fertilizers,” she says.

26 | BE A N A N D L E A F

“But because it’s an internationally monitored thing, there has to be an international flat rate.”

Kirchhofer says in Haiti, fair trade doesn’t have a huge impact because the running price of coffee is higher than the fair trade demand price for coffee exported to the United States.

“Direct trade pays a higher price than fair trade in general,” she says.

What excites the Haitian coffee farmers most about Jones directly trading with them is that he invests in their community and gives back to it.

“They’re so appreciative of what he’s doing,” Kirchhofer says. “They want to sell him as much coffee as possible.”

But what Kirchhofer says she remembers most about the farmers is their hands. She says she doesn’t know why, but she always felt weak when she extended her smooth, unworked hand to theirs.

“I remember meeting coffee farmers and shaking their hands,” she says. “They were strong, they were rough, and it just felt like these

men had been working in really harsh conditions. Harvesting coffee is a harsh trade and environment.”

FROM THE ROASTERS AND COFFEE SHOPS

When asked whether he believed trades were actually fair for fairly traded and Fair Trade coffee, T.J. Semanchin, owner of Kickapoo Coffee, confidently responded with one word: “Definitely.”

In 2010, Kickapoo Coffee was voted No. 1 micro-roaster in the United States by Roast magazine.

Kickapoo Coffee is a one-location operation in Viroqua, Wis. As a micro-roaster, Kickapoo Coffee sells less than 100,000 pounds of coffee a year.

“But after the attention the national award brought, we’ll be selling a little over that this year,” Semanchin says. “I guess we’d now be considered a standard sized roaster.”

Semanchin says the benefits of fairly traded coffee are essentially

endless. The trade’s fairness is immediately assured because of Kickapoo’s direct relationships with coffee farmers, he says.

“The farmers are getting much bigger percentages of the proceeds.”

Brent Feito, who works as a barista at wine and espresso coffeehouse SOVA in Washington, D.C., (to learn more about SOVA see page 14), says he personally prefers

to buy direct trade coffee.

“It allows a more diverse group of farmers to enter the market,” he says. “Fair Trade requires too many certifications, and the wealthier farmers usually end up getting to sell their products.”

Semanchin and Feito agree that there are roasters who trade poorly and others who do it well.

“But a big distinction about

Kickapoo is we only work with farmers who are in small farmer cooperatives,” says Semanchin. “We help them get market access.”

Semanchin says that for Fair Trade to be certified, farmers must be a part of a cooperative. A “small farmer cooperative” is made up of farmers who own fewer than 20 acres.

“Three acres is the average size of land that each farmer usually

Women descending the mountain at Cap Rouge to go to market.

Farmers walk up to seven hours twice a week to reach market, where they will sell their crop and buy anything they need.

School children in the mountains near Grand Goave. These children attend one of the school funded by Seeds of Hope.

owns,” he says.

The size of the cooperatives can vary from 100 members to a few thousand members. The average size of small farmer cooperatives is between 500 to 600 members.

Semanchin says that he knows firsthand that fairly traded coffee is a win-win situation. “And the cost to the café owner is not much greater.”

David Fritzler, who is the beverage manager at Tryst Coffeehouse in Washington, D.C., says that fairly traded coffee is fair for the customers and reflects their values.

“People in our market generally care about this stuff and are willing to pay a little more for it, even if they aren’t aware of the intricacies or the ramifications of their purchases,” he says.

Fritzler says Tryst deals with fairly traded coffee, not Fair Trade. He says the people at Tryst work hard on having a transparent, trusting 28 | BE A N A N D L E A F

relationship based on common values with the roaster who supplies their coffee – Counter Culture Coffee.

“We aren’t concerned with selling coffee that is certified,” Fritzler says. “Instead we want our guests to develop a trusting relationship with us where they know that we care about the effects of what we sell on the people who produce our coffee and the land and communities where it’s grown.”

and hard work went into the coffee, then you definitely don’t want to blow it when brewing and serving it.”

Tryst barista Pearce Arnold says fairly traded coffee doesn’t necessarily taste better and that the taste can greatly vary from shop to shop.

“Maintaining a good consistency in brewing the coffee is what separates a good shop from a mediocre shop,” he says.

IF IT’S FAIR, IS IT GOOD?

SO IS ALL FAIR IN TRADE AND COFFEE?

Though the people at Kickapoo have the credentials to prove that the quality of the fairly traded coffee they roast is world-class, Fair Trade or fairly traded coffees don’t necessarily mean that they taste better, says Fritzler.

“But it’s generally better because people who care about these issues also tend to care about quality,” he says.

“Also, when you know that passion

Direct trade, fair trade and fairly traded coffee will never provide the perfect trade. There will always be inequity somewhere and something more to do. But you can be assured that from Haiti to the café down the street, fairer and more ethical efforts are being made every day, and these efforts are appreciated from every side of the transaction.

KERICHO STATS 25,000 EMPLOYEES

200,000 TONS OF TEA PRODUCED ANNUALLY

11 FACTORIES

100,000 DEPENDANTS

4 HEALTH CENTERS = 5,000

PEOPLE

= 5,000 TONS

98% 20% 2015 12%

BY THE NUMBERS

Energy needs met by renewable sources (hydro electric and renewable fuelwood).

Amount of tes bought

by Lipton from Rainforest Alliance farms in 2010.

Year by which all Lipton tea bags will be certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

Portion of the world’s entire production of tea that Lipton buys each year.

SOURCE: WWW.LIPTON.COM

Alliance to The Ecologist, an online environmentalist magazine.

“What we have said is that we need evidence and specifics so that independent auditors can follow up the allegations. Without these it would be difficult to do more than the thorough research audit conducted.”

Cases such as these highlight some of the social issues that face the tea industry today as producers attempt to flesh out their roles within these tea-producing communities.

DISCRIMINATION

Like coffee, tea is mostly grown on the equatorial line, where there is also a higher concentration of poverty.

This poverty is often tied to a poorly educated population, who often have no other option besides working temporary agricultural labor positions.

Ethnic minorities also make up a high percentage of the agricultural worker population because of their limited options for social mobility.

In 2007, ethnic conflict in Kenya reached a peak when the local tribes drove out the mostly foreign tea 32 | BE A N A N D L E A F

pickers. At least 14 people were killed at the Unilever estate during the violence.

“People here feel disadvantaged, because the foreign tribes who came here to pick tea live under better conditions than them,” said Kimutai Kigen, a local barber, to Reuters.

“They don’t pay rent in company houses; they get benefits.”

Milstein says that companies can reap just as many benefits from corporate social responsibility efforts as the communities they invest in, especially in countries such as Kenya where risk of social upheavals is high.

“They’re going to alleviate poverty, but they also may feel that there’s risk in Kenya, and by investing, they’re creating a more stable product,” he says.

LIVING CONDITIONS

Other issues of concern, especially on African tea plantations, are workers’ health and safety. In 2006, HIV was prevalent in more than 6 percent of the Kenyan population, according to AVERT, an

international HIV and AIDS charity.

Lipton’s Kericho estate has been proactive in tackling this “national disaster” since early 2002, according to a case study from the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The company provides free health care to its 75,000 employees who live on the estate, and in 2009, won an award for its HIV/AIDS education, prevention treatment and care programs, said its website.

Lipton also provides free housing to workers on its Kericho plantation, but the Centre has called into question how sanitary and wellmaintained these facilities are, noting that during peak tea season, the houses tend to become overcrowded.

Van der Wal writes in his study that a temporary Unilever worker said to him, “You can imagine living with someone you have (a) character clash with, you are squeezed between harsh working conditions and harsh conditions at home, this is not easy for many people.”

Many of the workers’ needs and wants could be solved through negotiations with Lipton, yet unions

are inefficient in Kenya, which makes them ineffective, writes van der Wal. The Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers’ Union, he writes, has no work plan, no transportation and no direct access to funds. The union did have some success in helping organize a strike protesting the use of pruning technology in 2010, which it claimed would threaten jobs.

THE ENVIRONMENT

While coffee can boast of shadegrown varieties of beans that can flourish without affecting rainforests, there is no simple solution for tea at this time. Like all agricultural products, tea requires the clearing of land to grow, which leads to a decrease in biodiversity and higher soil erosion.

Another energy problem in the tea industry is how the tea leaves are dried – a process that typically must happen 24 hours after the leaf is plucked. In Kenya, burning wood is generally the heating method used, which has led to tree-logging issues, writes van der Wal. Lipton has been taking active measures to address these concerns.

It writes on its website, “Specifically in Kericho, 98 percent of our energy needs are from renewable sources through four hydroelectric power stations and renewable fuel wood for our factory boilers.”

SOLUTIONS?

Even though Lipton has been proactive in increasing its sustainability efforts for both the environment and its workers, these measures still have a lot of progress to make before the 2015 goal can be reached.

Milstein says the sustainability trend has been on the same uptick since the 1990s and is being taken ever more seriously by businesses.

Several nongovernmental organizations have sprung up in the last decade on the heels of the

sustainability movement.

These third-party certification systems help businesses such as Lipton negotiate with its tea producers to identify areas where they can become more sustainable and then to find solutions and methods toward targeting those areas.

Once these goals are met, the company can label its products with the proof of certification, which can raise its consumer appeal.

HELPING HAND

Through the Sustainable Trade Initiative, a Dutch fair trade initiative involving several different crops, Lipton and other large tea companies are reaching out to now help small farmers also become more sustainable.

In an email to the initiative, Pauline Oyugi, a factory unit manager of a tea factory in Kenya, writes, “The Sustainable Agriculture project has trained our farmer field school members to become agricultural experts. They are now resource persons who train the other farmers on sustainable agriculture principles on field days and during farm demonstrations.”

The Ethical Tea Partnership, founded in 1997, also works to establish fair trade practices on both sides of the tea supply industry Unlike other fair trade NGOs, it’s the first partnership focused solely on issues relating to the tea sector.

Weaver Street Market, a cooperative commercial center with stores in Orange County, N.C., is one store capitalizing on fair trade and certified organic foods, including tea.

James Watts, head merchandiser for WSM, says that meeting customer demand isn’t the only reason they stock fair trade goods.

“The reason Weaver Street Market invests in fair trade is because we think it’s the right thing to do,” he says.

“Anytime you can purchase product from producers that can

HOW DO PRODUCTS BECOME CERTIFIED?

The new Rainforest Alliance’s Certification Program, through which Lipton has committed to certify all of its tea by 2015, is guided by ten principles of the Sustainable Agriculture Network: • Ensure farm’s adherence to certification standards • Conserve eco-systems • Protect wildlife • Conserve water • Provide access to decent housing, potable water and healthcare for workers and their families, and access to education for their children • Ensure safe conditions for all workers • Foster positive community relations • Practice Integrated Crop Management • Conserve soil • Manage waste responsibly to safeguard health and protect the environment To find out more information about the Rainforest Alliance, their efforts with sustainability or to make a donation, go to www.rainforestalliance.org.

SOURCES: WWW.LIPTON.COM WWW.RAINFORESTALLIANCE.ORG

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 33

“CAN I GET A QUADRUPLE-VENTI-DOUBLE-PUMP-HAZELNUTDOUBLE-PUMP-CARAMEL-SOY LATTE PLEASE?”

O

rders like these reflect a changed coffee culture. The Starbucks way of operating has filtered down through our overall perception of the café. Some argue that both the coffee experience and the coffee itself have been diluted by corporate chains, and the smaller independent cafes are being trodden on like discarded beans.

That’s an easy plot to believe, but there are multiple sides to every story.

Matt Souza manages 3CUPS, a local and independent coffee, tea and wine house in Chapel Hill, N.C. He suggests that the independent coffeehouses actually owe the chains for broadening the coffeedrinking market.

“Honestly, I appreciate places like Starbucks for turning people on to some idea or consciousness of quality,” Souza says.

The corporate chains are the real marketing powerhouses. From cultivating a décor to branding their coffee, everything is about constructing and contriving an image that looks like a unique, homey café. The difference, Souza says, is that the independent café lets the image and atmosphere emerge organically. By highlighting elements that contribute to a high quality drink, such as direct sourcing of the beans, the feel of the café naturally develops.

On the other hand, the Starbucks company philosophy is based on promoting an exceptional employee experience and diffusing that comfort to the customers. Drinkers can consistently get exactly what they want at any of the thousands of Starbucks throughout the world.

With orders like the above, however, it’s a wonder these customers still think they’re drinking coffee. Just

because it doesn’t say Dairy Queen doesn’t mean it’s any better for you.

THE RISE

In the past two decades Starbucks has left fast food chains like Dairy Queen in the dust. The coffee company had an exponential boom in openings in the ‘90s. In 1998, Starbucks had about 10,000 stores.

The Onion, a web-based satirical news source, ran the headline, “New Starbucks Opens in Rest Room of Existing Starbucks.” Currently, the chain has about 17, 000 cafés globally. Their gross revenue in the previous twelve months was $11.51 billion USD.

“Honestly, I appreciate places like Starbucks for turning people on to some idea or consciousness of In 2008, it introduced a cardbased loyalty program. Customers who use the cards get various freebies – “extra syrup pump, sir?”

– and earn stars that eventually amount to rewards. Like some sort of extended hot-dog eating contest, the more coffee you drink, the higher you climb up the ranks, eventually earning a Gold Card and rewards such as free drinks.

Starbucks says there is so much daily fluctuation in the program’s membership for its system to manage the data, thus making it impossible to keep track of a reliable statistic.

So, this leaves us with the question, who are the people enrolling, or rather, investing in these programs? Furthermore,

where does this leave the independent café, the careful roaster, or even the subtle drinker?

In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the same decade when Starbucks began opening a new location every weekday, independent cafés took their biggest hit in customer traffic.

Then, the cups flipped upside down.

CRUMBLING CORPORATIONS

In the early 2000s, even the super-tanker that was Starbucks struggled to stay afloat in a sudden economic downturn. The corporation had to cut employee benefits, such as personal days and hourly pay. In an ironic testament to the corporate ethos, growing employee dissatisfaction led to customer dissatisfaction.

This was the moment for larger independent operators to gain back some ground. Starbucks’s premise of quality coffee no longer had the marketing boost that a powerful brandname or trademark can give lesser-quality and massproduced goods. Companies such as Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, an independent roaster that began in Chicago, Ill., were able to capture enough of a customer base in the economic downturn to maintain actual growth. Local cafés saw slight but optimistic increase in patronage.

3CUPS was originally located less than a quarter mile from a Starbucks, and it was around the corner from McDonalds’ recent foray into the café industry, McCafé.

Souza says this actually worked to the café’s advantage.

“We take that awareness that Starbucks and McCafé bring to espresso coffee and try to broaden the experience, and the people come for it,” says Souza.

Since the early 2000s, there has

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 35

O

rders like these reflect a changed coffee culture. The Starbucks way of operating has filtered down through our overall perception of the café. Some argue that both the coffee experience and the coffee itself have been diluted by corporate chains, and the smaller independent cafes are being trodden on like discarded beans.

That’s an easy plot to believe, but there are multiple sides to every story.

Matt Souza manages 3CUPS, a local and independent coffee, tea and wine house in Chapel Hill, N.C. He suggests that the independent coffeehouses actually owe the chains for broadening the coffeedrinking market.

“Honestly, I appreciate places like Starbucks for turning people on to some idea or consciousness of quality,” Souza says.

The corporate chains are the real marketing powerhouses. From cultivating a décor to branding their coffee, everything is about constructing and contriving an image that looks like a unique,

homey café. The difference, Souza says, is that the independent café lets the image and atmosphere emerge organically. By highlighting elements that contribute to a high quality drink, such as direct sourcing of the beans, the feel of the café naturally develops.

On the other hand, the Starbucks company philosophy is based on promoting an exceptional employee experience and diffusing that comfort to the customers. Drinkers can consistently get exactly what they want at any of the thousands of Starbucks throughout the world.

With orders like the above, however, it’s a wonder these customers still think they’re drinking coffee. Just because it doesn’t say Dairy Queen doesn’t mean it’s any better for you.

THE RISE

In the past two decades Starbucks has left fast food chains like Dairy Queen in the dust. The coffee company had an exponential boom in openings in the ‘90s. In 1998, Starbucks had about 10,000 stores.

The Onion, a web-based satirical

PHOTO BY SETH WERKHEISER

Many people prefer the atmosphere of local coffee shops like Ultimo Coffee in Philadelphia, PA. 36 | BE A N A N D L E A F

“I like different cultures, and Starbucks brings coffee from all over the world and develops roasts and flavors to reflect those coffee cultures,” news source, ran the headline, “New Starbucks Opens in Rest Room of Existing Starbucks.” Currently, the chain has about 17, 000 cafés globally. Their gross revenue in the previous twelve months was $11.51 billion USD. In 2008, it introduced a cardbased loyalty program. Customers who use the cards get various freebies – “extra syrup pump, sir?”

– and earn stars that eventually amount to rewards. Like some sort of extended hot-dog eating contest, the more coffee you drink, the higher you climb up the ranks, eventually earning a Gold Card and rewards such as free drinks.

Starbucks says there is so much daily fluctuation in the program’s membership for its system to manage the data, thus making it impossible to keep track of a reliable statistic.

So, this leaves us with the question, who are the people enrolling, or rather, investing in these programs? Furthermore, where does this leave the independent café, the careful roaster, or even the subtle drinker?

In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the same decade when Starbucks began opening a new location every weekday, independent cafés took their biggest hit in customer traffic.

Then, the cups flipped upside down.

CRUMBLING CORPORATIONS In the early 2000s, even the

super-tanker that was Starbucks struggled to stay afloat in a sudden economic downturn. The corporation had to cut employee benefits, such as personal days and hourly pay. In an ironic testament to the corporate ethos, growing employee dissatisfaction led to customer dissatisfaction.

This was the moment for larger independent operators to gain back some ground. Starbucks’s premise of quality coffee no longer had the marketing boost that a powerful brandname or trademark can give lesser-quality and massproduced goods. Companies such as Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, an independent roaster that began in Chicago, Ill., were able to capture enough of a customer base in the economic downturn to maintain actual growth. Local cafés saw slight but optimistic increase in patronage.

3CUPS was originally located less than a quarter mile from a Starbucks, and it was around the corner from McDonalds’ recent foray into the café industry, McCafé.

Souza says this actually worked to the café’s advantage.

“We take that awareness that Starbucks and McCafé bring to espresso coffee and try to broaden the experience, and the people come for it,” says Souza.

Since the early 2000s, there has been steady economic sustainability in the independent café industry.

The growth, however, is balanced with failure. Places that were already open and established do well, but independent cafés that opened in the past five years have generally seen failure.

PROFITING FROM THE PIECES

There were also other corporations waiting to freeload on the flustered, flailing frappucino drinkers lost in the woods. Beginning in the early 2000s, customers at Dunkin’ Donuts

PHOTO BY JEFF WILCOX

Coffee chains like Starbucks have become so international that you can get your chai latte in Shanghai, China.

could dunk their donuts in espresso coffee as well as brewed. McDonalds, dissatisfied with the billions made by supplementing America’s obesity problem, opened McCafés in the U.S. Starbucks was once promoted as a large-scale luxury good provider.

Now, it is in direct competition with these other chains. Although Starbucks and McCafé in particular go to great efforts to promote their humanitarian angle with fair trade programs, there is a definite perception of sub-par coffee riding on a brand name and a cheaper price.

“Starbucks coffee is not good,” says Eva Panjwani, who previously worked as a barista in Chapel Hill, N.C. “They just burn their beans and call it flavor; everyone knows that.”

Conversely, Courtney Mihaich, a Starbucks barista, says the company takes great pride in its variety of flavors – and not just in the syrups.

“The reason I like working here is because I like different cultures, and Starbucks brings coffee from all over the world and develops roasts and flavors to reflect those coffee

cultures,” says Mihaich.

Coffee culture has certainly been altered by powerhouses like Starbucks and new players like Dunkin’ Donuts and McCafés.

While impressive efforts have been made by the chains to cultivate café cultures that feel ‘gourmet,’ the fact is the ultimate goal is marketing to the masses and thus the coffee experience itself has changed.

THE RESERVOIR VERSUS THE DRINKING HOLE

Economics and biases aside, why would someone choose a corporate coffee house over the local spot?

If there isn’t a significant price difference, what draws a drinker to the syrup-pumping monsters over a place that makes coffee drinks that still taste primarily of coffee?

As with any gourmet or luxury good, there are different tiers of interest. There are drinkers who take pleasure in swilling over their tongues every minute flavor that has been carefully incorporated into the liquidized beans. We’ve FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 37

TEA TIME

A look at the history of southern sweet tea.

Ca. 1799 Francois Andre Michaux brings tea leaves to South Carolina.

1811 Green tea punches, which often include alcohol are introduced. One is called "Regent's Punch" for English Prince Regent George IV.

1879 The first recipe for sweet iced tea appeared in the cookbook “Housekeeping in Old Virginia” by Marion Cabell Tyree.

1884 The first recipe using black tea leaves is printed in “Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book: What to Do and What Not to Do in Cooking.”

1904 The summer heat at the World’s Fair in St. Louis makes sales of iced tea soared.

1917 Most green tea suppliers are cut off from the United States during WWI, so, black tea leaves from India are sent in huge supply.

1930s Electric refrigeration becomes widespread, making sweet iced tea more readily available.

2003 Rep. John Noel presents legislation to the Georgia legislature requiring restaurants that offer iced tea to serve sweet tea. It is an April Fool’s joke.

by carving up ice and storing it underneath saw dust, says Boles.

INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES

Mapping the influence of different regions on the South’s sweet tea.

SHADES OF BLACK

The supposed first recipe using black tea leaves, which are the most popular tea leaves for iced tea today, was printed in 1884 in Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book: What to Do and What Not to Do in Cooking. It’s thought that this recipe is the first of its kind that recommends making presweetened iced tea, the kind that most Southerners make today. The recipe is also proof that iced tea itself was not a drink popular just in the South.

After 1900, black tea became much more popular to serve cold, especially after the start of World War II. When the war began, most green tea suppliers were cut off from the United States. So, black tea leaves from British-controlled India were sent in huge supply.

Americans came out of the war drinking primarily black tea. All tea -- including black, green, white and oolong leaves -- comes from the Camellia sinensis bush, which grows in India, China and Sri Lanka.

TAKING OFF

While it’s almost impossible to imagine a world ignorant of the blissful flavors of ice cold sweet tea, it’s true that before 1900, the world just wasn’t ready for the drink on a large scale. Many stories suggest that it wasn’t until the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis that the drink became popular. The story goes that the sweltering summer heat made it too uncomfortable to toss back a hot beverage, so sales of iced tea and lemonade soared. Emily Wallace, who works at the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says that many sources point to this St. Louis origin theory.

42 | BE A N A N D L E A F

GRAPHIC BY

But, according to Beyond The Ice Cream Cone - The Whole Scoop on Food at the 1904 World’s Fair by Pamela Vaccaro, the man credited in some stories with the popularization of the drink, Richard Blechynden, was also present 11 years before at the Chicago World’s Fair and, according to Vaccaro, “it would likewise be odd that, in the 11 intervening years, he would have been totally oblivious to the drink’s inclusion in cookbooks and on menus.”

Regardless of conflicting theories on how the drink was popularized, after 1900 is when things really took off. By World War I, many Americans were purchasing iced tea glasses, tall spoons and lemon forks and referred to the tall goblet in crystal sets as tea glasses by the 1930s. When Prohibition hit the U.S., iced tea became even more popular as a replacement for all the lost alcohol.

It was here that sweet iced tea recipes began to appear rather routinely in Southern cookbooks.

A SWEET CULTURE

In the small backyard of Beth Bullock’s home in Lucama, N.C., many a summer day growing up was spent filling jars with tea with her mom and waiting for the sun to do naturally what stove tops normally do.

“I think she would put tea bags in water inside of one of those large, clear glass jars,” says Bullock, a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill. “I actually think it was a pickle jar. Then, she would set it outside on our picnic table so that it would be in the sun for a while – I think for several hours.”

After the tea had brewed for a long time, Bullock’s mom brought the tea into the house. She then sweetened the “sun tea,” while it was still warm, poured it into a pitcher and placed it in the fridge.

“She would only do it this way in the summer,” says Bullock. “I think a large motive was that it wouldn’t heat up the kitchen and make it hotter inside. It is a little more mild when it is made this way because the brew strength is reduced. I guess that’s why I liked it.”

Bullock’s method for brewing tea is just one of many for Southerners, and represents a large part of what many Southerners consider integral to their culture. It is perhaps the best way for explaining why the drink is so popular in the South.

Travel all around the South and order tea, and it will come to the table iced and sweet. To get unsweet tea requires asking and maybe even braving a few dirty looks from people. Hot tea requires an even more specific order, especially in

44 | BE A N A N D L E A F

By Kelsey Snell For many, a cup of coffee perfectly starts the day or complements time with friends, but for people suffering from eating disorders, this favorite can be an agent of abuse.

C

arrie Arnold, fire-headed and frail, ignored her churning stomach all day at work. One cup of black coffee had turned into two pots by closing time, and she made up for the lunch hour she skipped by taking a dozen bathroom breaks. Two pots weren’t unusual for Carrie, and neither was missing breakfast and lunch. The caffeine from her coffee fueled her drive home. Usually, it was all she could do to stagger from the doorstep to her bed like a toddler taking his first steps, but today she bee-lined for the kitchen. Her shaking hand hesitantly reached for the pantry door as the duel began between her belly and her brain. Like in a classic Western film, hunger and fear squared off waiting for the other’s draw inside Carrie’s ghost town body—an abandoned stomach and dusty roads of intestines. Her growling stomach rumbled with victory as she opened the pantry.

Carrie stared. One box of granola bars had more calories but less fat, and the other brand had lower calories but more sodium. Then there were the protein bars that would make up for the missed meals, but she couldn’t possibly eat that many calories at once, not to mention the sugar.

Carrie stared. She stared into the pantry for 45 minutes, feeling more overwhelmed with every label

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 45

she calculated. Her second pot of coffee only added to the anxiety, and she began to cry, too hungry and panicked to choose. She dropped to the kitchen floor, barely left with enough energy to hold her face in her skeleton hands as tears fell to the linoleum.

Carrie’s case is not rare. Millions of Americans suffering from eating disorders stare into pantries, mirrors and toilets every day, gripped by the fear of weight gain. The positive and negative effects of caffeine and coffee, more specifically, are manipulated by people with eating disorders in order to control yet another aspect of their bodies. Although people with eating disorders don’t drink more caffeine than the average person, their motivation and mentality behind drinking coffee is completely different.

DISORDERED EATING

Eight to 11 million Americans suffer from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association will add binge eating disorder as a new classification in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also known as DSM-5. Including binge eating disorder, the most common disorder in America, nearly 24 million Americans suffer from eating disorders, according to a study by the Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders, which has locations nationwide but first opened in Philadelphia in 1985.

Carrie is still recovering from anorexia nervosa after 10 years.

Anorexia is characterized by an extreme fear of weight gain, an underweight body mass index, and a refusal to gain weight, says Antonia Hartley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus Health clinical nutrition specialist.

Bulimia nervosa is also characterized by an extreme fear of weight gain, but bulimics engage in

46 | BE A N A N D L E A F

“As bizarre as my symptoms were, I didn’t find them disgusting. I thought it was good to work out for hours each day and that it was fine to eat only apples and lettuce.” a cycle of bingeing, or eating large calorie amounts at one time, and purging, or getting rid of the food by methods such as vomiting or using laxatives. Binge eating disorder is compulsive overeating without purging.

Hartley says that people with disordered eating look to control their out-of-control environment with a variety of mechanisms such as purging.

Marlena Moore is a UNC-Chapel Hill junior majoring in psychology and currently researching binge eating among Latin and African American women. She says many suffering from eating disorders want to substitute inner emotional pains with the pain from starving, overexercising or other means of control.

“Many think that all they have is their own body,” says Moore. “They say, ‘Why can’t I control what I have?’”

Carrie, who grew up outside of Detroit, says that her perfectionist attitude and fear of failure, which are characteristics of anorexics, resulted in high stress and anxiety. She picked up extreme exercising during her junior year of college, which worked so well as a stress management technique that she began to develop an eating disorder.

WHY COFFEE?

“I was a workaholic, and I was chugging coffee trying to make it through the day,” says Carrie.

She also used coffee to manage her stress, but soon it began to control more than that.

When Carrie felt hungry, she assumed she needed more coffee.

When she felt tired, she began to rely on coffee to pick her up as a calorie-free energy source.

Cynthia Bulik, director of the

UNC Eating Disorders Program, says that coffee overuse among eating disorder patients is a real problem because it gives the illusion of energy to someone who doesn’t have any because he or she is starving.

Coffee seems to be the Holy Grail for people with disordered eating. It’s an appetite suppressant that expands and fills the stomach, but not for long because it is also a diuretic.

Coffee is also an energy booster that can be packed with artificial sweeteners to quench a sweet tooth and fuel hours of exercise despite a deficiency of natural caloric energy.

Carrie used to steal her mom’s coffee-flavored yogurts as a child, and she began drinking coffee in high school, which she says became necessary with her eating disorder because it kept her warm. Two effects of an eating disorder are low body temperature and oversensitivity to the cold.

While caffeine has its benefits, Hartley says that if you drink more than one to two 8-ounce cups a day, the negatives start to outweigh any positives.

While Carrie spent years addicted to coffee, there was a time she was scared to drink water.

She buckled with fear at the thought of anything being in her stomach. This phobia led to many trips to the emergency room due to dehydration and malnutrition, and in 2005, she began a residential treatment program. Carrie was discharged after seven months, and shortly after she relapsed into anorexic habits.

“As bizarre as my symptoms were, I didn’t find them disgusting,” she says. “I thought it was good to work

T

he short glasses lining the counter, the people milling around with spoons drawn like weapons and the wafting aroma of coffee beans rushing from the roaster are all part of the Friday tradition at Counter Culture Coffee. An industry-leading coffee roaster based in Durham, North Carolina, Counter Culture hosts public cuppings every Friday morning at its headquarters as well as its eight other training centers along the East Coast.

Coffee cuppings are similar to wine tastings, but the drag of a spoon through loose grounds replaces the vortex of juice sloshed around a fragile glass. The cupper judges the aroma and taste of the coffee by pouring hot water over raw grounds.

This particular cupping was offering two rare tastes.

The ripeness of the coffee cherry set apart two variations of Finca Mauritania, an El Salvadorian coffee. One bright red cherry was less ripe but boasted a more fruity palate, while the other was dark and smoky. Only cupping would allow you to taste the same exact coffee and analyze the sole factor of ripeness to differentiate between the two.

Cascara tea, or the steeped dried exterior of the coffee bean cherry, from four different regions was also a part of the cupping.

The coffee expert encouraged guests to get their noses in the grounds so they can fully experience the fragrances of the bean.

After the coffee was introduced, a symphony of slurping erupted, and coffee grounds freckled noses.

Friday mornings aren’t the only times cuppings take place at Counter Culture, but Founder Brett Smith says that it’s a continuous process for the roasting team. They want to know the characteristics of the bean in its purest form and eliminate all other variables, such as roasting times or brewing methods, so they can “compare apples to apples,” Smith says. The roasters compare their notes about brightness, body or aroma to other samples in their electronic database in order to track the coffees’ changes over time.

The Friday ritual started as a time for Counter Culture staff, from production to accounting, to put their work down and gather together.

“It was a communal thing for us to share what we do,” says Smith. “We would start sharing and learning about coffee and build a collective knowledge.”

It wasn’t long before Smith and staff wanted to share this knowledge with customers and consumers. They began advertising cuppings to the public.

Many coffee roasting companies offer weekly cuppings, from Seattle’s Victrola Coffee Roasters to Blue Bottle Coffee in Brooklyn.

For the same reason Counter Culture started its cuppings—it’s all about community.

“When it comes down to it, we’re all good at tasting things,” said Lydia Iannetti, Counter Culture customer relations representative in Durham.

Whether at a cupping or a café, the office break room or the breakfast table, coffee creates a gathering place around a few small cups.

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Above:

Counter Culture Coffee’s cuppings offer anyone in the public the chance to enjoy the distinct aromas and tastes of their freshest roasts.

Left:

When cupping coffees, a spoon is used to “break the crust” of the coffee grounds in order to get a full inhale of the coffee’s characteristics. Cuppers are encouraged to get their face close to the cup and focus on what they’re nose is picking up.

PHOTOS BY REBECCA RIDDLE

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 55

Meet Counter Culture Coffee Counter Culture Coffee fired up its roasters in 1995 in Durham, N.C. and was deemed the first certified-organic roaster in the state by Quality Certification Services. When terms like quality and sustainability surfaced in coffee industry conversations, two other words were likely to be mentioned: Counter Culture.

As the company expanded its espresso and educational programs, it planted training centers in Southern cities such as Charlotte and Atlanta, as well as cities above the MasonDixon Line such as Chicago and New York.

Founder Brett Smith and his team of coffee people asked, “What are we? What do we want to make sure we’re doing?”

Their answer, Counter Culture’s vision statement, now borders the wall of the Durham headquarters’ production floor: “Counter Culture Coffee is a relentless pursuit of coffee perfection, a dedication to real environmental, social, and fiscal sustainability, and a commitment to creating cutting edge coffee people.”

Check out the company’s website, www. counterculturecoffee.com to buy this season’s single-origin coffee, read the story of the farmer who grew it and learn about the Direct Trade Certification that got it into your hands.

Right

Counter Culture’s roasters cup coffees until they find the perfect roasting time and temperature. The beans here are shown cooling just minutes out of the roaster.

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Above:

A bag of single-origin Finca Mauritania coffee beans from El Salvador sits on the production floor at Counter Culture’s headquarters in Durham. This coffee is a product of Aida Batlle’s crop, a long-time farmer partner of Counter Culture.

Below:

Counter Culture builds relationships with farmers through years of partnering with them to produce the best coffees. Every packaging label is unique to that farmer and origin.

FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 57

Bringing the café home

By Lucie Shelly

We all do it.

In the solitude of our kitchens, before our esteemed and steamy appliances, we become wizened connoisseurs, and acquire Houdini-like brewing tricks. Whether we’re drawn to speed and precision or slow, delicate chemistry, with the right gadget we can produce a beverage exactly the way we want it, any time we want it. Naturally such pride ignites fierce debate about which gadgets truly produce the goods. And after we’ve concocted our marvel, what is the suitable vehicle for drinking? We can all buy travel mugs — but which ones really work? Most of the selection is personal preference, so we might not be able to give you the perfect solution, but we can lay out your options.

SINGLE SERVE COFFEE

Single-serve coffee machines produce individual cups using pods that contain coffee. The pods are placed in the machine, punctured and brewed into the cup below.

KEURIG

NESPRESSO

THE LINSKI ESPRESSO SOLO

Pros: • More affordable than many singleserve machines.

• Uses special “K-Cups,” but these are available from many brands, including Starbucks, Caribou Coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts.

• Also have tea and hot chocolate K-Cups from various brands.

Pros: • Produces only high-quality espresso quickly using small pods (no brewed coffee).

• Some have built-in milk frothers.

• The collection of pods vary in flavor notes and intensity.

• Pods ensure correct, pre-measured coffee-to-water ratio.

Pros: • A dynamic aesthetic addition to any kitchen.

• Brews long and short espresso shots.

• LavAzza branded coffee meaning decent quality beans.

• It has an easy to empty water tank located in the rear.

Cons: • They have espresso blend pods, but the coffee produced is no different from a strong brewed coffee.

• The appliances do not come with milk frother — it must be purchased separately.

Cons: •Both machines and the pods are expensive and available only through Nespresso.

• Is for only espresso coffee.

• Some do not have built-in frothers and they must be bought seperately.

Cons: • Created by Shmuel Linksi, a graduate of the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, the machine is conceptually a cool idea, but is more about the design than brewing quality espresso.

CREATIVE TEA-BREWERS

With loose-leaf tea, the brewing process can become as much an aesthetic experience as a tasteful one! Differently shaped brew baskets are filled with tea leaves and either plunged in or filled with boiling water.

THE HOURGLASS Two glasses twist together through a plastic joiner piece. The tea leaves and hot water are placed in the bottom, and the other glass is screwed on top. Flip the device and watch it brew!

THE FUNKY TEA INFUSER Concept: Yellow submarines, dinosaurs, hearts and many more shapes are now available as silicone tea infusers. Fill the case, place in boiling water and let the tea steep.

CREATIVE TEA-BREWERS

With loose-leaf tea, the brewing process can become as much an aesthetic experience as a tasteful one! Differently shaped brew baskets are filled with tea leaves and either plunged in or filled with boiling water.

THE DCI “I AM NOT A PAPER CUP…” A microwave-safe ceramic mug with a silicone top that looks like a paper cup from your favorite café.

Enjoy looks of surprise as your “paper cup” makes a resounding clunk when you place it down.

JUNG-WOO LEE’S COFFEE LOVING UMBRELLA An umbrella with a built-in cup holder where the hook of the handle should be. Just hold your umbrella, which holds your coffee, and off you go – purse and papers in hand!

Tea as a Natural Remedy “Tea, an extract of the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis, has been considered a medicine and healthful beverage for ages. The beneficial effects of tea are thought to be due to its polyphenolic components.�

- Yang CS, Prabhu S, Landau J.

By Margaret Croom

B

ased on a Chinese myth, tea was first discovered in 2737 BC by Shen Nong, the second of the three Chinese Emperors of the San Huang Period.

He was a scholar, the father of agriculture and the inventor of Chinese herbal medicine.

“His edicts required that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One summer day while visiting a distant region, he and the court stopped to rest, and his servants began to boil water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from the nearby bush fell into the boiling water, and a brown liquid was infused into the water. As a scientist, the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. The tree was a wild tea tree, and so, tea was created.”

- Andy Gilchrist Over time, tea has become a go-to drink for people feeling ill.

Herbalism, a traditional medicinal practice based on using plants and plant extracts is popular with many people around the world today.

Rob Seeman, owner of Whole Earth Marketing, Chicago, answered a few questions about using herbal tea as a natural remedy.

Margaret Croom: Do you suggest using herbal teas as a natural remedy?

Rob Seeman: Depending on the plant and the condition being treated, teas can be an excellent remedy. They have been used safely and effectively for thousands of years.

MC: What are some of the illnesses herbal tea can help cure?

RS: Due to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education act, manufacturers cannot make claims about natural products effects PHOTOS BY REBECCA RIDDLE

they have been used safely and effectively for a wide variety of health problems for thousands of years. Immune support, digestive aid, weight loss, internal cleansing are just a few of the applications.

MC: What herbal teas are best for what illnesses?

RS: Most teas have a wide range of benefits, from providing energy to supplying general nutrition. Brewing a hot water extract (decoction) is a good way to provide the health benefits of a particular plant.

MC: What makes herbal tea a choice as a natural remedy?

RS: The traditional method of hot water extraction has been used since the beginning of recorded history. Some plants may be better used as a whole plant (eaten) or juiced, but tea is widely regarded as a safe and effective way to deliver the active constituents of plant medicines. Plant medicines, or botanical remedies, provide a natural alternative to many drugs. In general, plant medicines work to support the body’s natural processes. Echinacea can boost white blood cell activity, which can help with infections. Pau d’Arco can be very anti-fungal, and help with those kinds of infections. The list goes on for thousands of pages.

MC: Is tea better as a natural remedy, or herbal tea? (Herbal tea does not contain tea leaves and so is not considered an actual tea. Herbal tea does not contain caffeine either.)

RS: Green and black teas are enjoyed as a caffeinecontaining (and therefore stimulating) beverage by many people. Many other plants that do not contain caffeine can be used as a ‘tea’ as well. I think you’re right it is an important distinction whether we are using ‘tea’ as a general term (usually called an herbal tea) or the actual Tea plant Camellia sinensis which yields green and black tea. I think Asian culture and some scientific research there shows that green and black tea, even though it contains caffeine, can be ‘healthful’. Green Tea in particular has many antioxidant properties,

TEAS TO MAKE YOU BETTER • Try jujube tea for an extra vitamin C boost.

• Research has shown that green tea contains polyphenolic antioxidants that contain cancer chemo preventive effects.

• For dry skin make a tea with marshmallow root, fennel seed, plantain and violet leaves. Combine one part of marshmallow and fennel then add a teaspoon of dried plantain and violet leaves and simmer for 20 minutes.

• Black tea for toothaches. Black tea contains tannins, which helps draw toxins out of the tooth or gums.

• Green tea for hair loss. Green tea contains an enzyme that stops hair cells from shrinking and eventually dying. Drink three cups of green tea a day for results.

• Pu-erh Chinese tea is a type of green tea.

It is rich in antioxidants and helps you maintain a healthy metabolism.

• Sage tea is helpful if you have a cough or a sore throat. It also clears toxins from the body, fights lung problems and helps with gastrointestinal problems.

• Marjoram tea helps stimulate the appetite.

It can also prevent influenza and is nice if you have a cold.

• Licorice tea is helpful for women going through menopause. It also helps those who are affected by the changing seasons.

• Lemon Balm tea helps with migraines and gives relief from indigestion nausea.

TEA TRADITIONS around the world

F

By Miranda Murray

ew plants can claim to affect the daily lives of people across the globe the way tea does. From its humble roots in Asia, the tea leaf and its

preparation is at the heart of social gatherings in various cultures. In this monthly feature, the team at Bean & Leaf magazine will highlight how different cultures pay homage

had been causing problems in the community.

During World War II, East Friesland was the only region of Germany that received extra tea rations.

ARGENTINA One taste of the powerful yerba mate tea and you’ll soon be hearing the chortle of the bombilla as you attempt to drink it to the last drop!

The yerba mate is a small tree that is native to South America, and its leaves are gathered and traditionally infused with boiling water in a hollowed-out, rich deep brown gourd that is small enough to fit in your palm, called a calabash gourd. Then the drinker inserts a bombilla, or straw, which is traditionally made of bamboo or silver, into the gourd and sips it until the last drop, which is described with the word chortle.

The drink is deeply rooted in South American culture, but there are as many yerba mate bars in Argentina as there are coffee 66 | BE A N A N D L E A F

shops the U.S. Yerba mate is seen as a social drink that calls for its own form of ceremony. The cebador is the one who prepares a gourd of mate for his friends, testing to make sure that it sips smoothly before passing it to the next aficionado. Then it is passed to each person in the circle, who drinks all the tea out of the gourd before passing it back to the cebador to refill and give to the next person to finish. The way the cebador prepares the mate some say for each person indicates how he or she feels about that particular person.

The drink originated with the native inhabitants, the Guarani , who populated regions of Paraguay, Uruguay and parts of Argentina and Brazil. The Guarani called yerba mate the “drink of the gods� and have several legends surrounding its origins. One legend says that mate was given to the Guarani people after a young woman stayed with her old, tired father after the rest of the tribe had migrated to better farmland. The girl wanted to follow the tribe, but her father could not make the

the late 1800s, and it prompted a slew of teahouses to open in Turkish cities, eventually becoming part of the culture.

GERMANY Although Germany may be more famous for a different kind of beverage, the residents of a small eastern region’s entire day is structured around tea. East Frisians drink 300 liters of tea per person each year. To compare, the average U.K. citizen drinks about 230 liters of tea per year.

East Frisians take Teetied, or afternoon tea, along with a breakfast and mid-evening tea. A special mix of black teas is commonly served in small cups over

TURKEY Caysiz sohbet, aysiz gok yuzu gibidir is a traditional Turkish saying in the central Sivas province, which means conversations without tea are like a night sky without the moon. One can’t go far in Turkey without running into a teahouse or tea garden, which serve as the social hubs of the town where children can play and old friends can have loud conversations.

Turkish tea is famously served in clear, hourglassshaped cups without handles, which allow drinkers to

Kluntje, which are tiny, crystallized pieces of sugar. The sound of the sugar crackling as the hot tea splashes over it is known as Wohlklang. East Frisians then use a Rohmlepel , a special spoon designated for tea time only, to put cream into their tea. There is a saying, “Dreimal is Ostfriesen recht,” which means it is polite to drink at least three cups of tea per sitting, and when done, to leave the spoon in the cup. Leaving your spoon in the cup is the polite way of saying that you’ve had enough tea, after, of course, polishing off at least three cups.

Local legend says that tea drinking became a part of this region’s culture after pastors promoted the health benefits of tea as superior to schnapps or beer, which

see the colors of the tea being served. Cream is generally never taken with the tea, but two cubes of sugar often accompany the tea glass.

Turkish tea, which is normally black, is traditionally prepared using a çaydanlık, or a stacked teakettle, and is offered in many stores as a sign of hospitality. There is even a specific word for the waiter who brings the tea to the merchants, a çayci.

The popularity of tea is said to originate from Mehmet Izzet, the governor of Adana, a southern city in Turkey. He published a brochure touting the health benefits of tea in FEBRU A RY 20 12 | 67