"Truth is a pathless land."-J. Krishnamurti

Recently I have been considering the notion of the oncoming of the 4th wave of coffee in great detail in juxtaposition with our developing 'slow-coffee' project.   I have in length reviewed both the developments of the 'fair trade'(in specific regard to coffee) and the developmental lines of "Direct Trade"(the later of which we at 1000faces chose, early on, matched our style of business greater than the former(despite the fact that many of our coffee offerings are 'Fair Trade Certified'(of which we have not paid of the 'rights' to advertise.)

For those of you not familiar with the notion of a '4th wave of coffee' let me take a brief moment to explain.   In the speciality coffee industry we are generally considered to have experienced three stages of developmental waves.   The first is pretty much everything that pre-dates Starbucks, this is a weak explanation for a rich historical process though for the sake of readability I leave you to explore this on your own.   The second is generally considered to be the birth of speciality coffee in the Western world with the rise of Starbucks and similar entities(Peets Coffee, Caribou Coffee, etc.)   The third has generally been considered to be the darling of the industry, as it is the present and dominating development of small 'micro'(though now many of the companies pioneering this movement classify as a 'Macro' roaster e.i. roast over and far beyond 100,000 lbs. of coffee every year.)   The 3rd wave is responsible for so many fascinating developments in the coffee industry, I would be remise to try to demonize this movement for it is, in fact, the very movement that 1000faces has been able to join in on and reap the benefits of.   It is a very fun and successful movement.  The movement characterized by the Clover, Direct Trade, Cup of Excellence, Single origin espressos, long winded journal entries on trips to origin, Barista guides, Roasters guides....the list goes on and on and to tell you the truth it is enough to be happy with and swim in for years........FOR SOME!

The problem I am beginning to profoundly wrestle with, and when I say profound I do evoke St. John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul mentality, as it is not easy sleeping at night questioning what march it is...one is beating the drums to....is the problem of DIRECT TRADE IS A FANTASTIC PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO COFFEE BUYING AND CONSUMER EDUCATION ETC....BUT IT NEGLECTS 99.9% OF THOSE PRODUCING COFFEE BECAUSE IT DOES IN FACT, FOCUS SOLELY ON THE ELITE AND AVANT GARD PRODUCERS OF COFFEE WHICH IS NOT A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF THE POPULATION WE ARE PURPORTING TO SERVE!

Now my business editing mind starts to come into play and it screams:  "Hasn't 1000faces hung sign after sign about Direct Trade, haven't you attended countless seminars and gathering in which you have stood by Direct Trade??" The answer is a resounding: YES.   But because one has had the moment to embrace, that does NOT mean that one must stop asking the important critical and implore necessary Socratic questioning to this phenomenon....and in part this bring me to the essence of what I see SLOW COFFEE being a sign-post of.  For if we as Speciality Roasters are going to be 100% transparent, as we often claim, then in part we are going to have to come forward to our respected devoted followings with the fact that there are many cases in our world trade business models where we simply, do not know.  

I think this is crucial.  For so long we have been strutting our stuff about how much we are doing, though as we come up on seasons of bad harvests and coffee's reaching prices we can no longer fiscally justify or if, god forbid one day we show up at on of the farms we have committed to and find a bag of 10-10-10....then it is imperative on us, that we are, in the essence of slowness, coming out with this.

Still, slow coffee is more than embracing the principle of 'don't know.'   For us, it is more of a complex ecosystemological approach to coffee.  Whereby, in specific, farmers and farms are not considered in isolation.   For this is just looking at one part of the system and pointing to it as though it were the whole.   If we continue to sing the praises of one farm in a specific region than we are losing and furthermore pointing our consumers towards only one light in a galaxy filled with interconnected parts.

Why I see the Cafe Choco Andes Project, as more than Direct Trade, and a project that embodies the essence of Slow Coffee is due to the fact that this project is looking at coffee in relationship to the whole.   If I have learned anything about ecology, it is that ecology is the study of relationships.   First and foremost.

Cafe Choco Andes is a name coined by the Maquipucuna Foundation(our longtime partners) to designate a line of ecologically sustainable goods produced by growers in interconnected ecosystems from the highest points of the mountains to the sea.   This is a new phenomenon:  a coffee buyer considering how his purchasing power is effecting Cacao growers in the lowlands and visa versa.   It is slowing, but necessary.

I started this post with the quote by Krishnamurti, because it is the essence of slowness in my mind.  Krishnamurti, was selected at a young age and groomed in the finest schools in the world to be the leader of a spiritual revolution.   When he took the alter or podium to address his congregation of followers he had the audacity to say to them:  truth is a pathless land.   There is no right answer.  All the religions are distractions.  All the orders are distractions.   When the mind is silent, the door is open.   This is in the spirit of our quest.  We are on a journey of being open with our practice, and to do so, often we must stand up and say: sometimes we're not quite sure. (I know...it's a strange mix of pain and release to even say) And we are going to try our best to keep figuring it all out.  One farm at a time, with the whole in our hearts.

(more to come)