On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 18:41:22 -0600, BubbaBob
> wrote:

>
>
> The best quality beans tend to come in through west coast ports,
>particularly Oakland/SF. Second best usually through New Orleans
>and the rest through the eastern ports. It makes sense because
>people on the west coast take their coffee much more seriously
>than easterners and demand higher quality. The quality of west
>coast small batch roasting is almost universally superior to east
>coast roasting. There are noticeable exceptions in a few small New
>England towns but generally the quality of coffee you get around
>NYC is such that you would want to hide its taste with something.
>
> Ever try to get a decent espresso in NYC? Rarer than hen's teeth.
>
>African and Red Sea beans come in through east coast ports but
>they don't have much of an east coast market, so they just travel
>on through. Red Sea beans (Yemen, Ethiopia) tend to end up in west
>coast espresso blends.
>
> I'm talking about quality Arabicas here, not Robustas. Most of
>the canned Robusta (Folger's, Maxwell House, etc.) in the US comes
>from Viet Nam, costs about $.75/lb to produce and ship, and tastes
>(and smells) like burnt tires unless the beans are thoroughly
>steamed before roasting. Cheap VN coffees are ruining the world
>coffee trade and forcing some of the finest fincas in Central and
>South America into poverty and bankruptcy.
>
> They taste so bad that only Americans would drink them but we're
>a MAJOR part of the world market.

The internet mail order is available to anyone. Not many people trek
off to the coffee warehouses. My Kona beans never go to a warehouse
and so you wouldn't find some of the very highest quality unless you
did a search on GOOGLE, or knew a green bean seller.
aloha,
Thunder
http://www.smithfarms.com
Farmers & Sellers of 100%
Kona Coffee & other Great Stuff