1 00:00:00,317 --> 00:00:02,990 (upbeat music) 2 00:00:02,990 --> 00:00:04,650 It's more than just something you need 3 00:00:04,650 --> 00:00:06,050 to get going in the morning. 4 00:00:07,030 --> 00:00:08,875 Although, that helps. 5 00:00:08,875 --> 00:00:11,910 (cafe patrons chatting) 6 00:00:11,910 --> 00:00:13,700 The American coffee culture supports 7 00:00:13,700 --> 00:00:16,750 a $48 billion retail industry 8 00:00:16,750 --> 00:00:19,690 with an estimated 400 million cups of coffee 9 00:00:19,690 --> 00:00:21,363 consumed each and every day, 10 00:00:22,660 --> 00:00:27,077 served at home, on the job, and on the go. 11 00:00:27,077 --> 00:00:29,660 (upbeat music) 12 00:00:33,071 --> 00:00:37,130 But Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and now California, 13 00:00:37,130 --> 00:00:39,510 they're the only American coffees. 14 00:00:39,510 --> 00:00:42,760 So the overwhelming majority must be important. 15 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,060 Almost 20% of the total world production. 16 00:00:46,060 --> 00:00:50,730 So my coffee travels have taken me all over Latin America 17 00:00:50,730 --> 00:00:54,610 and then in Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, 18 00:00:54,610 --> 00:00:56,280 Kenya, Zambia. As the buyer 19 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,610 from Milwaukee-based Colectivo Coffee Roasters, 20 00:00:59,610 --> 00:01:02,440 Al Liu travels the world looking for coffees 21 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:04,743 that fit the company's specialty profile. 22 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,700 Specialty coffee is a higher-end product, 23 00:01:08,700 --> 00:01:11,160 a one that at least in North America 24 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,134 has become very readily available. 25 00:01:14,134 --> 00:01:16,210 (upbeat music) 26 00:01:16,210 --> 00:01:18,340 But what makes different coffees 27 00:01:18,340 --> 00:01:19,623 taste the way they do? 28 00:01:27,166 --> 00:01:29,850 (contemplative piano music) 29 00:01:29,850 --> 00:01:31,593 The answer is complex. 30 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:34,760 And like any agricultural products 31 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:36,820 includes multiple factors all the way 32 00:01:36,820 --> 00:01:38,083 along the supply chain: 33 00:01:39,050 --> 00:01:42,440 weather patterns, processing decisions, 34 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:44,762 and finally, roasting. 35 00:01:44,762 --> 00:01:48,920 (contemplative piano music) 36 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,520 There's so many gems in so many different places. 37 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:56,970 We get to have the pleasure of discovering these coffees, 38 00:01:56,970 --> 00:01:59,070 and we get to choose what we like, 39 00:01:59,070 --> 00:02:00,470 and what we want to feature. 40 00:02:04,573 --> 00:02:07,870 (Al speaking faintly) Finding unusual products 41 00:02:07,870 --> 00:02:08,823 can be rewarding, 42 00:02:09,900 --> 00:02:12,160 but in the end, business decisions revolve 43 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,835 around finding a buzzworthy beverage. 44 00:02:14,835 --> 00:02:17,053 (cafe patrons chatting) Coffee people will drink. 45 00:02:20,190 --> 00:02:21,130 We have to do a cupping. 46 00:02:21,130 --> 00:02:23,433 Just look at the bones of the actual coffee. 47 00:02:24,670 --> 00:02:28,690 Ultimately, the coffee has to hold up on its own in the cup 48 00:02:28,690 --> 00:02:30,872 for us to say, "Yes, we're gonna buy that." 49 00:02:30,872 --> 00:02:34,372 (playful whistling music) 50 00:02:44,830 --> 00:02:47,600 A cupping is a tasting ritual. 51 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,780 Not unlike a wine tasting, 52 00:02:49,780 --> 00:02:52,010 complete with prescribed procedures 53 00:02:52,010 --> 00:02:54,853 designed to get to the heart of a coffee's character. 54 00:02:58,970 --> 00:03:02,600 Smelling the dry fragrance and the wet aroma 55 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,070 are our first two steps during cupping 56 00:03:05,070 --> 00:03:07,493 to evaluate the fragrance. 57 00:03:09,330 --> 00:03:11,890 Notes are copiously taken 58 00:03:11,890 --> 00:03:15,458 each step of the way. (ominous music) 59 00:03:15,458 --> 00:03:17,780 (deep bass music) As the cupping evolves 60 00:03:17,780 --> 00:03:20,437 into a symphony of slurps, (slurps sharply) 61 00:03:20,437 --> 00:03:24,215 (deep bass music) (slurps sharply) 62 00:03:24,215 --> 00:03:25,443 (liquid sloshing) spits, 63 00:03:26,970 --> 00:03:30,763 and more slurps. (slurps sharply) 64 00:03:32,860 --> 00:03:35,650 When these professional tasters do a cupping 65 00:03:35,650 --> 00:03:40,000 and they're slurping, they're really aerating that coffee 66 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,050 so that those molecules become volatile 67 00:03:43,050 --> 00:03:45,890 so they leave the liquid and come up through their nose 68 00:03:45,890 --> 00:03:48,240 so they can really experience that flavor more. 69 00:03:49,481 --> 00:03:51,710 Matt Hartings is a professor of chemistry 70 00:03:51,710 --> 00:03:52,860 at American University 71 00:03:53,850 --> 00:03:56,027 and author of "Chemistry in Your Kitchen." 72 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,010 He says that the concept of terroir used in winemaking 73 00:04:01,010 --> 00:04:04,030 to highlight regional environmental influences 74 00:04:04,030 --> 00:04:06,540 applies to coffee as well. 75 00:04:06,540 --> 00:04:08,080 The flavor of coffee comes 76 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,070 from a number of different places. 77 00:04:10,070 --> 00:04:13,103 Certainly, where the coffee is grown has a big effect. 78 00:04:14,010 --> 00:04:17,580 Not only in the mineral content of the soil 79 00:04:17,580 --> 00:04:19,310 where the trees are growing, 80 00:04:19,310 --> 00:04:23,630 the microbiome, the local microflora of the region 81 00:04:23,630 --> 00:04:25,340 where the coffee is grown 82 00:04:25,340 --> 00:04:27,070 are gonna digest the fruit 83 00:04:27,070 --> 00:04:29,150 on the outside of that coffee bean, 84 00:04:29,150 --> 00:04:31,100 and as they digest that fruit, 85 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:32,923 they're making their own molecules. 86 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,540 Tiny molecules have big flavors, big aromas, 87 00:04:38,540 --> 00:04:40,650 and they make some really interesting notes 88 00:04:40,650 --> 00:04:42,973 that make very unique coffees. 89 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,610 There's this whole pantheon of different flavors 90 00:04:47,610 --> 00:04:49,710 and taste out can be discovered in coffee, 91 00:04:49,710 --> 00:04:51,750 and there's actually a coffee taster's wheel. 92 00:04:51,750 --> 00:04:52,750 It's like a chart (exotic music) 93 00:04:52,750 --> 00:04:54,940 with all these different flavor notes 94 00:04:54,940 --> 00:04:57,520 that can be found in coffee and often are. 95 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,300 Chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, 96 00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:01,740 baker's chocolate. 97 00:05:01,740 --> 00:05:05,880 We're looking at fruit, peach, cherry, 98 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:07,610 yellow cherry, rainier cherry, 99 00:05:07,610 --> 00:05:09,200 bing cherry versus dark cherry. 100 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,160 (exotic music) 101 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,460 A hint of this, a suggestion of that, 102 00:05:15,460 --> 00:05:17,850 but no real grapes or blueberries were harmed 103 00:05:17,850 --> 00:05:19,300 in the making of this coffee. 104 00:05:20,260 --> 00:05:22,470 Turns out, they're just simple reference points 105 00:05:22,470 --> 00:05:23,703 we can all understand. 106 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,050 They're just flavor notes, that's not like 107 00:05:27,050 --> 00:05:32,050 there's any additive or flavoring agent, natural artificial 108 00:05:32,660 --> 00:05:35,500 that's added to a coffee during processing 109 00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:36,650 to give it that flavor. 110 00:05:36,650 --> 00:05:40,230 Like a papaya. (sharp slurping) 111 00:05:40,230 --> 00:05:41,550 Yep, a little mandarin orange. 112 00:05:41,550 --> 00:05:42,383 Of course, 113 00:05:42,383 --> 00:05:45,815 taste is always subjective. (sharp slurping) 114 00:05:45,815 --> 00:05:47,778 (exotic music) (men laughing) 115 00:05:47,778 --> 00:05:52,778 (motorcycle revving) (bright piano music) 116 00:05:55,005 --> 00:05:56,300 (business owners chatting) Making connections 117 00:05:56,300 --> 00:05:59,230 with small-scale farmers and coffee producers, 118 00:05:59,230 --> 00:06:01,210 Liu experiences firsthand 119 00:06:01,210 --> 00:06:03,833 how their decisions can impact the final product. 120 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,240 You can take out a coffee from the same place, 121 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:08,700 process it different ways, 122 00:06:08,700 --> 00:06:10,370 and what you end up with in the cup, 123 00:06:10,370 --> 00:06:11,560 you wouldn't know that it started 124 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,831 with the same base, the same fruit. 125 00:06:14,831 --> 00:06:16,800 (farmers chatting) That's right, 126 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,133 fruit picked off the tree when ripe. 127 00:06:21,190 --> 00:06:23,679 The coffee bean is actually the seed. 128 00:06:23,679 --> 00:06:27,250 (farmer chatting) And processing refers 129 00:06:27,250 --> 00:06:30,980 to the different methods to remove the anatomical layers: 130 00:06:30,980 --> 00:06:35,110 pulp, mucilage, and parchment 131 00:06:35,110 --> 00:06:36,160 to get to the core. 132 00:06:38,813 --> 00:06:42,063 (energetic jazz music) 133 00:06:44,090 --> 00:06:46,880 Natural processing is perhaps simplest, 134 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,273 usually resulting in fruit-forward full-body coffees. 135 00:06:52,890 --> 00:06:57,160 The cherries are left to dry kind of like raisins 136 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,380 until they turn dark and harden, 137 00:07:00,380 --> 00:07:01,570 and then they're sent to the mill 138 00:07:01,570 --> 00:07:05,440 to strip the dried skin and fruit and parchment shell 139 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,143 off of the coffee seed or bean, if you will. 140 00:07:09,735 --> 00:07:12,735 (bouncy beat music) 141 00:07:13,590 --> 00:07:16,000 Washed coffees are depulped first 142 00:07:17,210 --> 00:07:19,193 and then fermented in a bath of water, 143 00:07:20,260 --> 00:07:24,203 typically for 12 to 36 hours to remove the sticky mucilage. 144 00:07:26,570 --> 00:07:29,300 The beans are then dried and sent to the mill 145 00:07:29,300 --> 00:07:30,500 to remove the parchment. 146 00:07:31,790 --> 00:07:35,350 Generally speaking, wet processed for washed coffees 147 00:07:35,350 --> 00:07:36,660 tend to have higher acidity 148 00:07:36,660 --> 00:07:40,540 and can also pick up a lot of fruit notes in washed coffees, 149 00:07:40,540 --> 00:07:44,400 citrus especially, grapefruit, lemon, 150 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,393 and also floral notes. 151 00:07:50,020 --> 00:07:52,410 Typically, processing decisions 152 00:07:52,410 --> 00:07:54,160 are based on traditional practices, 153 00:07:55,140 --> 00:07:57,540 but sometimes, producers experiment, 154 00:07:57,540 --> 00:07:59,290 and create new ways of doing things 155 00:08:00,237 --> 00:08:03,800 (upbeat guitar music) like honey processing, 156 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,340 pioneered by Colectivo's Costa Rican supplier, 157 00:08:06,340 --> 00:08:07,953 Beneficio Las Lajas. 158 00:08:10,370 --> 00:08:13,920 Honey processed coffee has nothing to do with bee's honey. 159 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,750 We don't use honey to process it. 160 00:08:16,750 --> 00:08:18,863 We definitely don't use honey to roast it. 161 00:08:19,970 --> 00:08:21,560 A middle-ground method. 162 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,400 Honey actually refers to that sticky mucilage 163 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:25,580 which remains on the bean 164 00:08:25,580 --> 00:08:27,413 after depulping and a short wash, 165 00:08:28,660 --> 00:08:31,421 and then is allowed to dry before the milling. 166 00:08:31,421 --> 00:08:34,800 (upbeat guitar music) 167 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:38,320 In a way, processing can reinforce the environment 168 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:39,583 where a coffee is grown, 169 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,060 providing roasters the raw material and flavors to work with 170 00:08:45,060 --> 00:08:46,283 and hopefully, enhance. 171 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,270 The process of roasting a coffee bean, 172 00:08:52,270 --> 00:08:54,490 you are reacting the proteins in the bean 173 00:08:54,490 --> 00:08:56,510 with a sugar that's in the bean. 174 00:08:56,510 --> 00:08:59,410 Every roaster has their own way that they do things, 175 00:08:59,410 --> 00:09:03,740 but if you can get interesting flavors from the bean itself, 176 00:09:03,740 --> 00:09:07,220 some of those flavors are going to remain in the coffee bean 177 00:09:07,220 --> 00:09:09,000 during the roasting process 178 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:10,130 and you can make something 179 00:09:10,130 --> 00:09:11,690 that a consumer might really enjoy, 180 00:09:11,690 --> 00:09:13,363 something that surprises them. 181 00:09:14,630 --> 00:09:16,540 Light roasts tend to retain 182 00:09:16,540 --> 00:09:20,340 more of the original bean, varied and distinct flavors 183 00:09:20,340 --> 00:09:22,730 from its origin and processing, 184 00:09:22,730 --> 00:09:25,600 and may be more likely to satisfy the growing thirst 185 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,258 for new options, long a hallmark of the specialty market. 186 00:09:29,258 --> 00:09:31,925 (upbeat music) 187 00:09:32,870 --> 00:09:34,640 Specialty coffee consumers are interested 188 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,020 in trying new things because specialty coffee 189 00:09:38,020 --> 00:09:39,200 at one point was a new thing. 190 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,700 It wasn't the same coffee that you would get at, 191 00:09:42,700 --> 00:09:45,460 let's just say, a convenience store, or a gas station, 192 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:47,860 or out of your grandmother's cupboard. 193 00:09:47,860 --> 00:09:50,270 It was something unique and something 194 00:09:51,900 --> 00:09:53,500 with a different flavor profile. 195 00:09:55,270 --> 00:09:58,200 so when you have that next cup of joe, 196 00:09:58,200 --> 00:09:59,373 be it a pour-over, 197 00:10:00,750 --> 00:10:01,713 espresso, 198 00:10:04,620 --> 00:10:05,523 or a latte, 199 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:09,310 drinking all the goods 200 00:10:09,310 --> 00:10:14,253 into making a seemingly deep black void full of flavor.