We're thrilled to announce that our roastery was recently awarded Certified Organic status! It means we can now buy organically-grown coffee beans, roast and sell them as Certified Organic coffee under EU rules which require both farms and processors to have certification. In fact, quite a few of our previous coffees were organically grown, we just couldn't tell you about it.
As farmers ourselves we believe strongly in the principles that underpin the organic movement, including the use of natural inputs like compost rather than artificial fertilisers or pesticides. This helps promote healthy soil and biodiversity - both essential for the long-term sustainability of our agricultural systems and indeed the planet. Composted coffee cherry skins and chicken manure are just some of the natural ferilisers used on the coffee farms that we’ve visited in the past.
Does organic coffee taste better?
Almost as an extension of these sustainable practices, many people associate 'organic' with improved flavour. However, an ‘organic’ coffee doesn’t necessarily taste better just because it is organic. Overly roasted or commodity coffee can have a poor flavour even if certified organic, a scenario we’ve encountered quite a bit in Ireland. While we salute the sustainable growing practices of the farmers, we believe flavour is of equal importance. At Carrow our organic coffee must also be tasty and we will be hunting out the best beans to ensure that it is. This includes our first certified organic coffee Huehue Mujeres from Guatemala. This coffee celebrates the work of smallholder women farmers in the Huehuetenango region. The premium paid for it helps them to secure organic fertiliser and other essential materials. We love its caramel and citric notes with an abundance of dark chocolate on the finish. It is roasted for espresso and tastes great with or without milk!
Is organic the only way?
Does our recent certification mean that we will only be buying organic coffee in the future? Definitely not. Many of the small-scale farmers that we met while living in Colombia simply can't afford organic certification but they still grow chemical-free beans. Other farmers like Joao Hamiliton in Brazil, the grower of our Serra do Cigano espresso, go above and beyond organic guidelines but choose not to certify, while certain countries like Ethiopia have very low levels of artificial fertilizer use in the first place. In short, we are thrilled to now offer you certified organic coffees although environmental sustainability is a key factor behind all the coffees we buy and roast.
What next?
As you know we’re keen to constantly move in an even ‘greener’ direction and we’re working hard to source a fully compostable coffee bag. Researching the right bag has taken us quite some time as there is a limited offering out there. But we feel we’re getting closer and will soon be able to offer this. We’ll keep you posted on the next steps, and in the meantime… enjoy your coffee!
