August 2011 Greater Harrisburg's Community Newspaper - theBurg

Coffee Talk
A Country and a Coffee
The soul, the struggles of Haiti are imbued in its coffee.
Ambreen Esmail
“We shall prepare the coffee of reconciliation
through the filter of justice. Through
reconciliation, streams of tears will come to our
eyes.”
—Jean-Bertrand Ariside, Haitian president.
(1994)
Coffee’s history tells tales of dancing
goats and mystic romance. But
coffee’s journey also has a dark past.
No stranger to tragedy, the
history of Haiti from slavery to
revolution has known much
heartache. Natural disasters and
political instability have devastated
its economy, making Haiti the poorest
country in the world.
Coffee was introduced to Haiti
by a french officer named Gabriel
de Clieu. As recorded in the early
French periodical, L’ Année litteraire,
he transported coffee plants to the
Caribbean in 1720. According to the
notes, Gabriel shared his water ration
with the seedlings, such was the
love between coffee and man. The
accounts of coffee’s arrival in Haiti
vary in date, but the evidence of its
importance as an economic backbone
is obvious.
Haiti occupies the western onethird
of the island of Hispaniola in
the Caribbean between Cuba and the
Dominican Republic. After the Spanish
settled in, slaves were brought from
Africa to work on plantations. In 1697,
Spain ceded the western third to the
French and, soon after, Haiti became
one of the wealthiest communities in
the Caribbean due to coffee and sugar
production.
However, Haiti suffered an
economic downfall due to its long
struggle for independence and
other factors, such as repeated U.S.
embargoes on trade between 1806
and 2003. During this time, farmers
sometimes burned coffee trees to
make charcoal.
One such farmer was the father
of Nelson Robinson. Robinson, 34,
remembers his father’s struggles and
has dedicated himself in promoting
his prized “Blue Forest” bean to chefs,
restaurants and coffee roasters in the
United States.
An incredible bean, Haiti Blue
Forest has a seductive aroma and
a hint of butterscotch. According
to Todd Carmichael, owner of La
Colombe, a roaster in Philadelphia, the
original strain of this bean is almost
extinct, yet somehow Haiti Blue Forest
has survived the country’s turbulence,
while preserving the culture and bold
flavor of the original Ethiopian parent
from almost 300 years ago. Grown
semi-wild in the mountain region
of Thiotte, Blue Forest coffee is an
heirloom typica variety.
Coffee in Haiti is largely grown
by families in gardens or peti pante
alongside other crops. Due to
the small farming practices and
farmers working in co-ops, Haiti’s
coffee is mostly all organic, with no
pesticides used. Passion and care
into each harvest ensure the quality,
contributing greatly to the once-lost
culture of coffee in Haiti, which is
coming back to life.
To support the Haitian people in
rebuilding their country, many roasters
have cut out the middleman so that
every penny is put back into the hands
of farmers. As a recently appointed
manager of the La Colombe Co-op,
Nelson Robinson represents 5,000
farmers with a huge responsibility
that requires passion and a hope for a
better future for Haiti.
The “Soul of the Bean” reflects
human compassion, to build a better
world … the cup of coffee you enjoy
every day can save a life and give hope
to a people for many years to come.
Coffee means economic freedom
to many struggling countries around
the world and you can help—one cup
at a time!
Ambreen Esmail is
owner of Café di
Luna, 1004 N. 3rd
St., in Harrisburg.
Street Snap
On a beautiful mid-summer morning, Robert Jones of Mechanicsburg plays the native
American flute along the Susquehanna riverfront in Shipoke. He’s been playing the
traditional instrument for about five years.
18 TheBurg