#29: How Can Yeast Help in a Rural Ugandan Setting: Consulting w/ The Coffee Gardens

12/08/20 • 44 min

Today you get to be a fly on the wall of a consulting session between myself and a coffee producer in Uganda. The Coffee Gardens is a newer project of coffee producers who have partnered with select coffee farmers in Eastern Uganda. They currently work directly with 300 small holder farmers. They have a micro-processing station in the foothills of Mount Elgon.
This episode might be most relevant to a coffee producer, so if you know any, please pass this episode along to them. Especially if they are curious about using yeast to control their fermentations.
Today we cover how to process undesirable cherries, we talk about the challenges in scaling up from a small trial to full scale lots. We also discuss yeast usage in very rural settings, is it even appropriate? At what volume should a producer consider using yeast?
Even if you’re not a coffee producer I hope you will listen to the questions and concerns of a coffee producer and better understand their reality.
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Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee
Mentioned in the Episode:
The Coffee Gardens

Previous Episode

#28: Origin, Native, Indigenous and Local: Building Our Coffee Vocabulary

If you started the season with me in October you’ll remember that I started exploring the topic of what we lose when we take a plant from its native environment. Episode #25: A California Coffee Farm & Native vs. Local Yeasts looked at the relationship between coffee trees and the fermentation.
Dr. Aimee Dudley’s research showed that the native microbes do not travel with the plant material and therefore all coffee fermentations outside of Ethiopia are non-native fermentations.
Episode #26: Do Coffee Trees Talk? How Underground Fungi Affect Coffee Quality showed that when we take a plant from it’s native environment the microbes it needs to have strong immune response are also left behind.

So we’ve touched on the above and below ground microbes that we leave behind.
But is it only about microbes?
Are microbes the most important thing we leave behind?
I argue that it is not. As important as I think they are, I think there is something more valuable that is lost.

Today, in part 3 I want to talk about another aspect we miss out on when we take something from its native environment.

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Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee
Mentioned in the Episode:

Podcast: How Not To Travel Like A Basic Bitch
Dr. Aimee Dudley's Research Lab
Maca Pirate Video
The Nagoya Protocol

Next Episode

#30 Untangling Sugar, Sweetness and Brix

Where does sweetness come from? Can something taste sweet that has no sugar? How can we measure sugar in coffee?

This will be a more technical episode where we will talk about the sugar compounds like carbohydrates, sucrose, glucose and fructose and sweetness as a concept. We will also look at how sugar content differs based on processing style: washed, honey or natural.

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Sign up for the newsletter to stay informed.
Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Intro song: Elijah Bisbee
Mentioned in the Episode:
Brodie Vissers Youtube channel
Brodie Vissers InstagramVanishing Fleece by Clara ParkesBoss Barista C-Market Part IBoss Barista C-Market Part II