The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

Direct trade is when the roaster trades directly with the plantation or estate. When a relationship between the roaster and the estate has developed and sales are made without the use of a wholesaler or of an International Coffee Organization’s daily rate.

Author’s note:
One of the best ways I have found to see if a cafe / roaster has direct trade coffee is to see if the roaster has information regarding the plantation or estate. The process that the beans are picked and then dried and the altitude of the plantation, and who manages and owns it.

Depth describes the resonance or power behind the sensations that carries the coffee as it cools. It is a subjective term, but it describes how far taste of the coffee changes as it cools. A coffee that has a lot of depth will change in taste a lot as it cools, a coffee low in depth will not change as it cools.

Author’s note:
Depth does not equal quality. Depth, in my opinion, is the subtle difference between the hints of flavour you get as the coffee cools down.