TODAY’S COFFEES roasted in San Diego on 4/22/26:
EARTH DAY is a relevant time to paint some broad strokes about “organic” coffees and their realities. The term is sometimes confusing and lends itself to unfortunate labelling of fine coffee that acts in organic practice, yet does not achieve the label.
Some regions, Indonesia most prominent among them, farm coffee as they ever have using traditional methods that refrain from modern pesticides and fertilizers and other general things that cause coffees to miss the “organic” label. Indonesians–Java, Sumatra, Timor, Celebes and others long ago decided against accepting outside foreign intervention in their trades; they see it as post-colonial activism working to impose unacceptable control over their agriculture. These growers and others, have adopted a “take it or leave it” approach to their trades, and their overall excellence of method and product have made them fairly immune from criticism about their integrity.
Other nations, mostly in Africa, are too poor to comply with stringent rules concerning “organic” labels. Among these are Burundi; a nation blessed by soil particularly suited to growing coffee trees and producing some of the finest coffees in Africa. Burundi suffers from many problems; aftermath of war, extreme poverty, few roads and broken infrastructure compounded by lackluster communications, yet their coffee cultivation practices may in truth be called “organic in practice” since they are too poor to afford modern fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals some don’t tolerate in their cup. Yemen, Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi are in generally similar condition, and among some of those nations, the bitter memory of colonialism rankles enough for them to adopt Indonesian attitudes.
In the end, its best to trust your preferred roaster for suitable beans. People running businesses dedicated to quality know their suppliers and many have formed personal relationships; this is known as “direct trade” and is often listed in coffee characteristics given by ESPRESSO in our daily updates on local roasters. Labels matter, of course, but far more important than mere labels are the people, conditions and history of the lands where coffees come from, and the cultures that have formed over centuries in the trades. You’re drinking that every day and you’re best informed when you ask those in the know.