I was a failed coffee trader

iTunes’ party shuffle is playing: Black Coffee – Ella Fitzgerald – Quiet Now: Ella’s Moods

I was cleaning out some of my cupboards and found a backpack filled with small ziplocs labelled X, A and PB containing grassy smelling beans.

See, there was a time a few years ago when my current business partner and I were scrabbling for something viable to do. One of the more interesting lobangs that came our way was the chance to sell raw coffee beans. We had a good price from the planters in New Guinea, and set about trying to look for buyers.

What followed was an entertainingly educational experience. First, we got to know what a raw coffee bean looked like. It was green and smelled nothing like the coffee we know, and my business partner didn’t want to take the samples home because he was afraid his mother would think they were green beans and make some Chinese dessert out of it.

Then we learnt how coffee was harvested, roasted, percolated, espressed and consumed. Fascinating stuff, but I can’t add anything to what can already be found by googling.

We didn’t sell a single bean.

But I still have the samples though, if anyone wants.

PICT0446.JPG
Pea-Berry Grade New Guinea Highlands Arabica

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24 responses to “I was a failed coffee trader”

  1. Little Miss Drinkalot Avatar

    What do the X, A and PB stand for?

    My interpretation:
    X – Xcellent
    A – Average
    PB – Plebeian

  2. Little Miss Drinkalot Avatar

    What do the X, A and PB stand for?

    My interpretation:
    X – Xcellent
    A – Average
    PB – Plebeian

  3. Little Miss Drinkalot Avatar

    What do the X, A and PB stand for?

    My interpretation:
    X – Xcellent
    A – Average
    PB – Plebeian

  4. Cowboy Caleb Avatar

    usually you find a buyer, then only go hunting for a supplier if you want to go into the trading business.

  5. Cowboy Caleb Avatar

    usually you find a buyer, then only go hunting for a supplier if you want to go into the trading business.

  6. Cowboy Caleb Avatar

    usually you find a buyer, then only go hunting for a supplier if you want to go into the trading business.

  7. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    There are different grading systems for different coffee growing countries. New Guinea ‘A’ is equivalent to Kenya ‘AA’, and is supposedly the best. ‘X’ is OK, and ‘PB’ is pea-berry, where, instead of two separate beans per berry after they’ve been dried/washed, the two beans are stuck together.

    Yes Caleb, our business maxim is now ‘Find the demand, the supply is the easy part’. But it’s not every day you get 18 tonnes of highland arabica to sell at a high margin.

  8. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    There are different grading systems for different coffee growing countries. New Guinea ‘A’ is equivalent to Kenya ‘AA’, and is supposedly the best. ‘X’ is OK, and ‘PB’ is pea-berry, where, instead of two separate beans per berry after they’ve been dried/washed, the two beans are stuck together.

    Yes Caleb, our business maxim is now ‘Find the demand, the supply is the easy part’. But it’s not every day you get 18 tonnes of highland arabica to sell at a high margin.

  9. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    There are different grading systems for different coffee growing countries. New Guinea ‘A’ is equivalent to Kenya ‘AA’, and is supposedly the best. ‘X’ is OK, and ‘PB’ is pea-berry, where, instead of two separate beans per berry after they’ve been dried/washed, the two beans are stuck together.

    Yes Caleb, our business maxim is now ‘Find the demand, the supply is the easy part’. But it’s not every day you get 18 tonnes of highland arabica to sell at a high margin.

  10. powerpuff Avatar

    looks like maggots from far!

  11. powerpuff Avatar

    looks like maggots from far!

  12. powerpuff Avatar

    looks like maggots from far!

  13. cour marly Avatar

    powerpuff, I thought you wrote “looks like faggots from mars”….

    I totally need to get my eyes checked.

  14. cour marly Avatar

    powerpuff, I thought you wrote “looks like faggots from mars”….

    I totally need to get my eyes checked.

  15. cour marly Avatar

    powerpuff, I thought you wrote “looks like faggots from mars”….

    I totally need to get my eyes checked.

  16. faith-t Avatar

    how long ago was that?

    sure not “chow sng” by now?

    or don’t coffee go bad?

  17. faith-t Avatar

    how long ago was that?

    sure not “chow sng” by now?

    or don’t coffee go bad?

  18. faith-t Avatar

    how long ago was that?

    sure not “chow sng” by now?

    or don’t coffee go bad?

  19. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    Kept in a clean, cool, dry place, raw coffee seldom goes bad.

  20. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    Kept in a clean, cool, dry place, raw coffee seldom goes bad.

  21. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    Kept in a clean, cool, dry place, raw coffee seldom goes bad.

  22. Jeff! Lim Avatar

    just out of curiosity – who did u try to approach to buy the beans?

  23. Jeff! Lim Avatar

    just out of curiosity – who did u try to approach to buy the beans?

  24. Jeff! Lim Avatar

    just out of curiosity – who did u try to approach to buy the beans?

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