Our Coffee

Coffee Cherries about to be processed at our mill

When we started Underground Coffee in 2011, we wanted to be able to use coffee as a way to fundraise and support our missionaries that live and share the Gospel with coffee farmers. The goal has always been for UCI to not only raise support for these missionaries, but also to provide a market for the coffee they grow. Basically the missionaries work with farmers to produce the coffee and then the coffee comes directly to you through UCI. That’s always been the goal (and turns out it’s been a lot harder than we thought).

After we started working with coffee farmers, we quickly realized that it isn’t easy to produce coffee and get it to America. It takes years to grow new coffee varieties and change the customs of farmers who are used to only producing low grade coffee. It also took a lot of equipment and money; since we’re a small organization that doesn’t have millions of dollars, that meant building up all that infrastructure took time. We also had to gain the trust of farmers and for them to try something new is always an ongoing part of the work. And finally, we needed to produce a large enough volume that we could ship it in a container to America.

But back in the summer we were able to complete our first successful export to the US! We’ve been able to partner with a great roaster from Colorado who has helped us to bring the coffee stateside (which was no small task). He’s also started helping Underground Coffee out by roasting and distributing our coffee. This will mean some changes in our coffee selection going forward. We will no longer be able to carry different flavors but instead will have a dark and medium roast option. And the coffee is a little more expensive, but it’s also much higher quality (if I do say so myself). It’s a single origin coffee that comes directly from our farmers and was produced by Underground Coffee missionaries. The biggest reason the coffee is more expensive is because the farmers are paid a respectable wage for their coffee.

So please go and buy a bag of our coffee. By buying a bag, it not only directly funds our mission work here in South East Asia, but it also helps grow the market for our coffee. The more bags of coffee that get sold, the higher the demand, which means we can work with more farmers and produce more coffee next year.

We’re personally been involved with every single coffee bean that now comes through UCI. And that’s pretty exciting!

You can purchase our coffee here: undergroundcoffee.org/products

2019 Recap

So these blogs are starting to become more of a yearly event as opposed to every few months. In my defense, the work here in South East Asia has ramped up quite a bit this year and it is keeping all of us busy. 2019 was a great year for Underground Coffee and here are a few things to celebrate:

1. Warehouse and Office Construction

At the end of last year we received a grant that allowed us to build a warehouse that will hole enough coffee for us to grow and become sustainable. It is a little strange to go inside of a huge empty building, however it is a reminder of the hope that we have with the work here. It will be exciting to be inside in the years to come and see it full of coffee.

In 2019 we were also able to finish construction on our office/training center in the village. Having electric, water and internet make it much easier to be in the village (I’m actually writing this blog from the village as we wait on coffee to be delivered). We spent the rainy summer months doing things like building bunk beds, tables and shelves, which allow our team to come and stay in the village for long weekends or when things are busy on the farm. There’s still quite a bit of decorating to do, but it has become a great space to work and have meetings.

2. Seedling Share Program

This year we continued and expanded our seedling sharing program. In the spring we distributed 20,000 seedlings to over 15 families in our village. In the coming years, when the coffee starts to produce, it will produce a high quality coffee that will significantly increase the farmer’s income. These families have also become great connections in the village that we followup with monthly.

3. Coffee Harvest

Last fall we harvested coffee for the first time. This is actually about a 4 month process. Coffee harvest takes a couple months, then letting the coffee moistures level out (approx. 6 weeks) and then dry-milling and hand-sorting. All of the milling and processing was our biggest project this spring as we tried to figure that out for the first time. Turns out it a A LOT of work... Currently we’re at the tail end of our 2nd coffee harvest. This year has been mainly focused on farmers in our village as we’ve bought about 5x as much coffee as last year. And we think we’ll finally get some coffee exported to the US in the first half of 2020! Prayers as we continue to work with farmers and try to ramp up operations in the coming years.

4. Multiplication of believers and trainings

Finally, 2019 has seen quite a bit of spiritual growth in our area. Our church here in the village has grown and we have more leaders to help share in the work. There has also been a small children’s program started here that teaches kids Bible stories and songs.

Last winter, our farm manager shared with some of his family from a neighboring province when they came to harvest coffee. A few of these family members became believers and started meeting for worship in their village. Their province has quite a bit more persecution of Christians than where we are, and the gathering was told they needed to stop meeting or the Christians leave the village. Our farm manager travelled there and sorted things out, however he decided it was probably better to bring them to our village once a month, train them and then they can safely go back to their village. This was all something that was born out of his own desire to see people there know about Jesus. Over the past few months, over a dozen people have become Christians and several were baptized during these trainings.

2019 was a great year here at Underground Coffee and we’re looking forward to an even greater year in 2020. Thanks again for everyone who continues to support the work here (despite the lack of regular blog updates).

2018 Recap

2018 was one of the biggest years we’ve ever had with Underground Coffee. As the year draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment and revisit a few of the accomplishments from the year. None of this happens without lots of prayer and support, so as much as this post is about updating from this past year, please also view it as a list of things to rejoice in as well as things to pray for going into the next year. So here are a few of the bigger highlights from 2018:

1. Training Center Construction

After several hiccups with construction contractors, we finished all the major construction of our training center last month. We are excited to get electric and plumbing done in January as well as start furnishing. The training center will be a key piece of our ministry going forward into 2019. Other than a place for trainings, we will be able to stay there overnight, roast and check quality on coffee and hold trainings.

2. Seedling Share Program

This year we started a seedling sharing program where we partnered with local farmers to distribute high quality coffee seedlings around our area. In 2018 we distributed over 10,000 seedlings to farmers and plan to double that in 2019. The program has been well received and we already have a lot of requests for seedlings again. This program has also been a great way for us to form new friendships in the village and get to know people on a deeper level.

3. Team Truck

We bought a truck! After a lot of support from people in the US (and a lot of waiting on the local car dealership) we bought a KIA cargo truck. The truck has been much more of a blessing than we could have imagined. During the long days of harvest this fall, we would have to drive home on mountain roads at night. Having a truck to move supplies as well as safely get up and down the mountain has been a key piece to our success in 2018. I’m incredibly thankful we didn’t have to drive my 20 year old jeep up and down every night.

4. Our First Harvest

This fall we participated in our first coffee harvest. This year was all about learning systems, capacities and figuring out how everything worked. All of these goals were achieved, as well as we produced some great coffee. In 2019 we will start to scale everything up and try to produce enough volume to hopefully bring high quality coffee to the US market.

2018 was an incredible year. We are very excited to start 2019 and see what God will do through Underground Coffee here in South East Asia.