One of the most recent additions to the Small Axe Coffee scene is Coffee Sanctuary in Boulder, CO.  Launched last summer by John Eitel and his wife Megan, Coffee Sanctuary brings high quality coffee to the neighborhood between 30th Street and 28th on Aurora.  Read the whole review for the low down.

Washington based Pura Vida Coffee was just featured on the PBS Newshour.  The segment included a great 6+ minute video piece on their founder John Sage (featured here in US News) and their work with coffee farmers in Nicaragua.

People, can't we all just get along?  

It seems the Ethiopian government has suspended the licenses of coffee exporters.  I can't sort it out and it seems to be a disagreement over whether or not to require exporters to use some trademarked names for coffee based on the region it comes from.  What's strange is that the Ethiopian government wants to make this requirement, though a reliable system for ensuring the coffee's authenticity just doesn't exist.

George Howell sums this paradox up well in in a quote from a NY Times article on the recent events:

“What scares me is that the trademark route in no way guarantees that the coffee even comes from the particular ‘designated’ region (ironically while Yirgacheffe now becomes a trademark, any coffee lover thinks of it immediately as a region). It is merely a trademark, without any guarantee of origin or traceability.”

I'm just going to have to get to Ethiopia one day soon to sort it out.

Have you seen Black Gold the movie?  It's a great film that provides a view into coffee production from the farms in Ethiopia to the cup you drink.  Great footage of farmers, the representative of the farmers coop, a starbucks manager, and even the WTO.

A trailer is below, plus in the full post you've got links to all eight pieces.

Watch Black Gold on Youtube.  It comes in eight parts.