Quaffee, the resident coffee roasters at our Long Café, will be hosting two coffee talks with Ben Carlson, founder of Long Miles Coffee Project.
With the mantra “coffee, people, potential”, Ben’s passion for coffee is matched by his belief that all those involved in the coffee industry should be rewarded appropriately. An American by birth, Ben Carlson and his family relocated to Burundi, after falling in love with the country and its people.
washing stations
Ben established two washing stations in the remote Burundian hills. He realised that this was the only way to build the quality of Burundian coffee and ensure a fair price for the farmers.
One of these is located in the remote village of Heza. The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) noted that a visit to the Heza washing station could be “likened to an off-road adventure … switch-backing up mountainsides and across small, hand-built log bridges. To say Heza is ‘remote’ would be an understatement. Built into the face of a cliff overlooking the Kibira rainforest on the border of Burundi and Rwanda, with panoramic views and an ever-changing East African sky, this washing station lives up to its name, which means ‘beautiful place’ in Kirundi.” Ben’s Heza washing station serves almost 2 000 coffee farmers from the hills nearby.
tree nursery
Long Miles Coffee Project also has its own coffee tree nursery. It distributed over 20 000 trees in its first year, and more than 25 000 in 2015, notes ACE. “We are beginning to replace Burundi’s war-torn landscape and invest in the future of quality coffee.”
the beans
Quaffee roasters have three of Ben’s Long Miles coffees on their lists. The Heza beans offer coffee with “apricot and bright raspberry syrup with notes of apple cider; creamy and jam-like body lingering orange rind and lime finish”. Gishibu beans are naturally processed (“good complexity with pomegranate flavours and molasses aftertaste”), while Nkonge, “a complex coffee with sweet-orange notes” are “honey” processed and exclusively roasted at the Vineyard Hotel.
THE PROGRAM
25 October 2016 | consumer focus
To RSVP for this coffee talk, please call (021) 657 4500 or email eat@vineyard.co.za.
“What makes coffee special?”
- Burundi: Looking in at the country, its coffee, & challenges
- Coffee, People, Potential. A look at Long Miles Coffee
- Impacting a nation One Cup At A Time. Why your choice of coffee matters
- Processing styles. What are they and why you should care
- Coffee and wine. Cupping to find flavour
Coffee tasting and discussion
26 October 2016 | industry focus
Note: This talk is aimed at those in the coffee industry and will be more technical in nature
To RSVP for this coffee talk, please call (021) 657 4500 or email eat@vineyard.co.za.
“The Future of Coffee”
- Long Miles Coffee. Why we do what we do
- Pursuing possibility and staying sustainable
- Speciality vs commodity vs commodity premium
- What is Direct Trade? The various roles in the coffee industry and how you can leverage better coffee
- The South African customer and coffee. Where are we at and where “can” we go (discussion)
Coffee tasting and discussion
VENUE AND TIME
11am
Boardroom 1, Vineyard Hotel
RSVP
To RSVP for one of the coffee talks, please call Blair on (021) 657 4500 or select the below links to RSVP via email.
RSVP for 25 October
RSVP for 26 October