“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." - Pablo Picasso
mycuppa June 2021 Newsletter
It's been a while since we have seen a 90+ point coffee land in our warehouse, and last month, we scooped a fantastic lot, scoring 92+ (or apparently 93+ points, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves).
So we are mighty pleased and excited to offer the absolute best lot of traditionally processed Sumatran coffee to arrive in Australia in perhaps the last decade - an exceptional lot of Blue Bianca; this is a top-dog, one-off - we knew it, and we pounced.
The current Melbourne lockdown
We are now into the 2nd week of lockdown here in Melbourne, and so far, it's less restrictive than last year's events. There are even more vehicles on the road early in the morning and evening when I drive to and from work.
It is kind of hard to imagine the freeways being blocked and congested at 6 am during lockdown; traffic reports of gridlocks that early in the morning seem contrary to what the lockdown is aiming to achieve - one possible explanation is the ongoing fear of using public transport forcing commuters to use their vehicles.
Fingers crossed, there have not been any significant panic buying so far, although last week was busier than usual.
The parcel freight networks are also holding up well, with some seriously rapid delivery times in Melbourne since Sendle switched to allocate more shipments to Couriers Please over Fastway/Aramex. We hope this positive trend continues.
The good news is Victorians can see a path out with a gradual loosening of restrictions from this Friday.
June 2021 Secret Label
Last month's Secret Label entered fruit-driven sweetness with excellent aromatics and complex flavours.
This month's Secret Label offering is all about jam, those delicious jammy notes of strawberry and raspberry that lift great coffees, enabling an exceptional balance across black and milk brews.
We love the sweetness of this coffee.
This month, we focus on jammy notes that generate intense sweetness with a winey finish that lingers in the cup.
June's Secret Label uses two exceptional micro-lot coffees that work together beautifully, and we love the balanced notes of sweet strawberry and raspberry in the finish.
A fair bit is happening with this cup: black cherry, strawberry, raspberry, black tea, lime, and brown sugar sweetness with hints of nougat and hazelnut.
A rich and smooth coffee, full-bodied with refined acids, is superb as a black or with milk—a truly versatile performer across any brew application.
We have talked previously about how difficult it is to prepare a coffee that works across black and white, and this month's Secret Label shines so well in both areas that the key to its impressive performance is the intense sweetness of its acids, oozing quality.
When added to milk, coffees with low acidity can be bland or sour, but this Secret Label blend produces a delightful range of sweetness without any sourness.
Grab it here - June 2021 Secret Label - All gone already. The best bet is to choose from some other fantastic coffee bean blends online here.
An exceptional lot of Sumatran coffee
While coffee and wine have many similarities, the most common yardstick used to measure quality or grading is a structured and calibrated point-scoring system.
However, you can't use the same rule of thumb in wine and apply it to coffee as it's far more common to see wines scoring 90 points or higher than it is to see coffees scoring 90 or above.
As a long-time wine and coffee lover (with zero skills in judging wines), I'd compare a 92-point wine with an 84-point coffee. Whilst that may come as a surprise to wine enthusiasts, it's essential to keep in mind that scoring systems for coffee often apply rather ruthless deductions on the slightest hint of a "defect"; sometimes, it might be the "perception" of a defect that marks down a coffee.
To put this into context, 90+ point coffees represent less than 0.25% of the total coffee market, and a 90+ point coffee has become a bucket list experience, with some over-hyped retailers charging like a wounded bull for the pleasure - demanding up to $10 or more per cup and $80 - $160 per kilo for this rare and exclusive coffee.
Historically, typical supermarket coffees range from 74 - 80 points (although they now range slightly better offerings from authentic branded specialty providers. Shame about the terrible lack of proper freshness, and I'd seriously question whether the supermarket shelf version of a branded specialty coffee was the same as its direct retail version - because nobody is checking this, of course, and supermarkets are notorious for taking a large clip of the margin).
Cafe coffees pop within 78 to 83 points, with perhaps a few exceptions ranking fractionally higher and only a tiny percentage venture above 83 facts. Feature coffees tend to play in the 82 - 86 point range.
It's a hard slog getting from 86 points to 90 and beyond. The path can be so steep few make it, hence why the amount of coffee scoring 90+ is quite limited.
Our award-winning and highly popular Kenyan is the closest match to a 90-point coffee, coming in around 88 to 89 points on a good season; yes, it depends upon the season.
Last month, we scooped up a few tons of the absolute best traditional Sumatran to land in Australia over the last decade—a unique lot of Blue Bianca and a veritable needle-in-the-haystack moment.
Available in the mycuppa store here, Sumatran Coffee Beans.
Rising coffee prices
So, what's pushing up the cost of coffee in 2021?
Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, has been facing poor weather conditions, including a lack of rain and low soil moisture during critical growing stages.
This is happening during the usual off-cycle period when crop yields are lower. As a result, the global coffee market is bracing for the impact of this bad news, as Brazil's problems are expected to affect coffee prices worldwide.
Then, a crisis developed in Colombia with a prolonged freight stoppage in the world's 2nd largest arabica producer.
The situation in Colombia has caught everyone by surprise with a total halt of all goods movements for the last seven weeks - trucks, trains and sea ports all shut down everywhere, affecting everything, not just coffee—a challenging combination of roadblocks, strikes, protests, COVID-related stoppages, etc.
There's a glimmer of hope that Colombian roads and ports are only now partially starting to open in limited areas, but the backlog of freight will take many months for things to return to normal.
There's no escape from entering a cycle with short positions emerging in the #1 and #2 largest producers.
Coffee prices have risen to 35% since a low in early April. Instead of the usual pattern over the last couple of years, where a spike is followed soon afterwards by a retreat back down, it's remarkably different as the index has found a new, higher floor price since February when the market started to run higher.
There's a measurable impact on average around $1 to $1.50 added per kilo as it stands today, and forecasters are predicting more rises to come throughout this year. This habitually spills over to smaller roots when buyers switch, so prices may reach $2/kg by the end of July if bad news from Brazil and Colombia persists.
The inflation fears in some parts of the global economy, particularly the US, push investors into commodity futures. Coffee is one of these vital agricultural assets bought up by traders seeking higher-performing asset classes or safer havens compared to risky bond markets.
Coffee farmers and exporters are sitting on their produce, reluctant or even refusing to enter into new contracts in the hope of holding out for higher prices. It's similar to vendors selling real estate anywhere in Australia right now; wait long enough, and you might snag that exorbitant and obscene price!
As we noted in a previous newsletter article, when there's a rising market, many coffee companies quickly jump into lower qualities to maintain margin, but that's not always a wise move as the Australian coffee industry is a competitive beast servicing highly sophisticated consumers with discerning tastes and high expectations that won't blink at trading brand loyalty for a diminished experience.
