Last dispatch from Kenya….

posted at 5:03pm, 30 Nov 09 by Cafédirect HQ [ 0 comments ]

The final installment from Jacquie ….

Its the last day of the AdapCC trip and its a mixture of sadness and excitement. Sadness as the end is near and excitement as today is the AdapCC workshop with our East African grower partners and other experts in climate change and the tea industry. This morning we have been delighted to see old friends from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Having seen the adaptation methods on the ground, it really brings the presentations to life that we are hearing this morning. Michimikuru has made some incredible advances in the time that it has been involved in the AdapCC project. They have established nurseries of drought-resilient trees and crops and are planting 100,000 new trees being per year to replace those being cut as firewood.

However a key project demonstrated that it was not just about reforestation (as opposed to deforestation), a reduction in consumption of firewood is also key.

One of the projects we visited was a woman’s group which had been trained in installing energy saving stoves. One of these women, Grace, told us that previously the women would collect 3 bundles of firewood a day. This meant that they were carrying crippling loads on their backs and needing to make 3 separate trips. Now, with the energy saving stoves, consumption is down to 30 – 70% and require just 3 pieces of wood a day, as opposed to the 3 bundles.

The great news is that 2000 farmers have adopted the technology so far.

Friday Fun – A Speciali-Tea For You!!

posted at 10:05am, 27 Nov 09 by Alex [ 32 comments ]

 Happy Friday everyone!
Last week we asked you to name a song with Coffee or Tea in the title and had some great responses. This week we’ve decided to take things one step further and ask you to stimulate your creative-a-tea (sorry)!
Simply take a well known song, or band and adapt it so that it’s name is relevant to Cafédirect – Here are a few ideas to get you started;
- Sweet Chai of Mine – Guns’n’Roses
- It had to be Machu Picchu – Frank Sinatra 
- Americano Pie – Don McLean 
- Espresso Yourself -  Madonna
- A Speciali-Tea for You – Kylie

As usual, the rules are simple:

Post the name of the song / band in the comment box of this blog post.
The most creative or interesting entry will be chosen by judges from Cafédirect and announced on Monday on our blog.

Coffee Lovers Treat

The winner will win a Coffee  Lovers Treat pictured left -  containing one pack each of our 100% Arabica, gourmet organic Mayan Palenque and Machu Picchu coffees, two classic Cafédirect mugs and a Cafédirect Jute Bag, perfect to use and reuse when you’re shopping or out and about.
Prizes can only be sent to a UK or Ireland postal address.
You have until 5.30 pm today to enter….

And remember, if you’re not lucky enough to win this most excellent prize, you can now buy our whole range online – free Delivery until end of November for orders over £15, just quote FSCAFE15 at the checkout!

Tea fresh from the field………

posted at 5:52pm, 26 Nov 09 by Cafédirect HQ [ 1 comment ]

Yesterday was overwhelming – true sensory overload….

We started off with a visit to the Michimikuru Tea Factory to see what happens to tea once it leaves the field.

Tea in the field at Michimikuru

Within 3 hours its at the factory and put into huge troughs onto wire mesh to be withered. This process takes out 66% of the moisture from the tea to improve the taste.

Tea withering at Michimikuru

They then go through a process of CTC (cutting, tearing and curling) which starts the oxidisation process – this only starts when the leaf is cut. The tea is then dried and graded through various types of mesh, packed into large bags and the details of the company, weight and grade stenciled on the side. Now its ready to ship. This whole process takes about 14 hours.

Michimikuru tea packed &ready for shipment

It was amazing how much care was needed to produce tea to the highest quality – and you can taste it for yourself in our Everyday and Gold Teas.

Cuppa anyone?

The journey to Michimikuru….

posted at 11:58am, 24 Nov 09 by Cafédirect HQ [ 0 comments ]

Anne and I arrived in Nairobi late at night and went to sleep to the sound of a frog chorus at an incredible level outside. It really was quite musical!

Yesterday morning we met with the Kenyan Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to discuss the effects of the drought on the tea market in Kenya. One of the other main subjects was the burden for producers of dealing with multiple certification systems and the demands from some buyers to put these in place at the growers’ own expense. We talked about potential collaborations to ease this burden.

In the afternoon we took the 5 hour journey down to the Michimikuru Tea Factory- one of the 4 pilot groups taking part in AdapCC (Adaptation to Climate Change for  Smallholder Farmers).  Michimikuru is 100% owned by the growers and they produce tea from the leaves that are handpicked on the surrounding fields. The highlight of the day was the 11km ride from the  main road up to the tea factory where we got to see the rolling hills covered in a duvet of tea bushes, a stunningly beautiful sight. It was a really bumpy road, so we needed to progress quite slowly which gave us the opportunity to see the community life around us.

  We arrived just as the growers were finishing picking tea for the day and   were bringing it to be weighed. They were carrying it in tea baskets just like the ones on the front of our Everyday Tea packs – although they look much larger in real life! The schools were letting out the kids at the end of the day so the roadside was full of people on their way home.

We received a warm reception from the 6 elected members of the board (including Andrew Ethuru who I have met at our offices in London) who met us for dinner of goat and organic chicken with rice and chapattis – fantastic food!

After a day’s travel and a truly packed itinerary, we’re getting an early night to ensure that we’re prepared for our early wake up call tomorrow! We’re off to Kiegoi, another producer partner, to meet the farmers and see their activities on the ground.

Jacquie