I first met Dan at Grandmother Coffee Roastery and he brewed a fantastic carbonic macerated Ethiopia from their CM Selection series. This was the Ethiopia Koke Amber Lot PR12 on his favorite brewer - the Aeropress. Notes of sweet peaches and grapes with pleasant acidity working in the background. You can read about my visit here.

Dan started his coffee journey in Rwanda more than a decade ago. He worked in a roastery but he also spent a lot of time with farmers focusing on quality control and training. He has also completed several advanced coffee courses in California and uses his expertise to educate and pass on knowledge to his peers.

He is working as a Barista Trainer at the roastery. Time flies whenever I talk about coffee with him. There’s always something new to learn in our conversations and they revolve around farming, processing, roasting, and learning in the coffee industry. Keep reading because Dan had a lot to share and he only shares to make an impact.

Dan de coffee man, tell me a bit about yourself.

I'm from Rwanda and I've been behind this cup of coffee for about 13 years now. Over the years, there has been a lot to learn and I am still a student. I started in 2008 as a packaging boy in a coffee roastery. It was one of the best in my country. We were focusing on Rwandan coffee, of course, but different regions.

In most of the producing countries, coffee from other origins are not allowed. The goal is to promote local consumption. I learned to make coffee here. I think I was 18 or 19. I was also carrying the coffee bags to the third floor as there was no elevator. I wasn’t aware of coffee farming at the time, only brewing and roasting. I worked there for four years.

And then, I went to the farm to work with the farmers. The goal was to train them and make them familiar with quality control of the coffee cherries; how good and bad cherries affect the taste of coffee. We wanted the farmers to understand that anything that goes wrong during picking, it will affect everything in the process up to the cup of coffee.

We were not only focused on quality but also transparency. That's when I became passionate about coffee and I owe it to the farmers. You need to see how hard these guys work from their perspective. To transport the cherries to the washing station is an arduous journey. The terrain is rugged and hilly, and you don’t have access to proper infrastructure.

The picking season and rain seem to team up and always conspire against the pickers making their task even more difficult. You have to carry the coffee on your head. The farms are on a higher elevation and the milling stations are always at a lower because that's where they can access water. So they need to take the coffee from the mountain down to the valley where the processing is happening.

Hard work and long hours. You mentioned you taught them how to brew coffee, what did they drink otherwise?

I have spent a lot of time with farmers teaching them on how to brew a cup of coffee at home and we cup occasionally. We also taste the cherries to identify the juicy ones. We look for cherries that are sweet and this helps achieve optimal roasted coffee. This exercise aims to increase quality on the farm.

They drink tea. Black tea. It’s affordable and you can brew easily at your home without investing in special equipment. Boil water in a pot, immerse tea leaves, add sugar and that’s what they enjoy. I was involved with farmers for five years. We also promoted the same coffee in different cafes. We were working on the entire value chain.

When did you come to Dubai?

Before coming to Dubai, I spent a month in Boot Coffee Campus in early 2018. I learned about roasting, sensory and green coffee trading. This school is owned by Willem Boot. He used to be one of the directors for SCA, but now he is a consultant and an educator in this industry. He is also the co-owner of Finca Sophia, the winners of the 2020 Best of Panama.

I decided to move on to a new adventure and explore more coffee, perhaps become a roaster and get connected with a different origin. It would not have happened if I was in Rwanda. I haven’t yet roasted beans in the UAE but I think that time will come. I have worked with many roasters such as Giesen, Probat, and Diedrich.

I was in Dubai later that year and joined The Espresso Lab. I started making filter coffee, Spanish lattes and latte art. Tasted coffee from Yemen, Costa Rica, Mexico, Indonesia, Burundi, and Kenya. It was a lot of tasting. I wanted to get an experience all all these varieties and origins.

And now, I am based in Grandmother. Doing what I like to do best. I train baristas. Providing education to me is the most rewarding experience. Education was something that I was fascinated about when I didn’t having enough training myself.

I've been training baristas since 2015. Some of them are now working in Dubai. It’s gratifying when I see my students doing well.

How do you train baristas?

It depends on the barista. Some baristas have the basics which is good and some have no knowledge at all. Some are on the professional level and you just need to recalibrate them. I have categories, the first one is Zero.

I need to train them the basics. How to start up the machines to tasks they need to perform in their duty. And of course, they need to understand that the coffee doesn’t come from the supermarket.

I deal with many baristas who are behind the bar just to make money. There's no passion, they are not interested in calibrating the beans, engaging with the customer and the list goes on and on. I always gauge the level of my student first to see the knowledge that I need to provide.

I truly believe you need to understand your coffee first. Will calibration solve the problem? The customer will complain because they want to complain. It’s the barista’s job to check if the coffee tastes right, and if it does, explain to the customer why it tastes the way it does.

It’s easy when the barista needs to learn a concept, I can provide them with the knowledge. It becomes difficult when they are missing the passion. Baristas are ambassadors for those who cannot be in the spotlight.

We represent the farmers, who work really hard to produce the best coffee out there. If you have no love or passion to constantly level up, then you shouldn’t be in that place. So, my main job is to help those who need my help to put in more effort and love what they do.

You have spent a lot of time with the farmers. Many of them are not very fortunate. The coffee might taste good but its not a pretty sight behind the scenes.

Yes, most of the producers don't know what is happening after the coffee leaves their hands. They have no idea what is next. A big percentage of them are not interested that they’ve harvested this coffee but what is the next step, that's the most challenging part of specialty coffee. I don't see the NGOs behind the coffee doing the work that is supposed to be done.

There’s hardly any change in the producer’s lives. If you go back to the farm level, and compare the condition of the farmers in the past five years, it’s still the same. There are people who claim to support the farmers, but in reality no action has taken place.

What do you think should be done to make some real changes?

Fair and ethical way of doing business will probably solve the issues. You need to understand that your beneficiaries are the farmers. You can do the business, make a profit and at the same time, think about the farmers.

Understand that your business is fully connected to the farmers, a positive impact for them will reap positive benefits for you. That’s where empathy comes in. You can definitely buy the coffee for a premium price. The point is to be connected to them, and be a part of their lives.

What is your view about transparency that's been floating around in our industry?

There’s no transparency in the coffee industry. It’s missing. If you try to see what's going on in our industry, specialty coffee is not about the coffee. It’s about what you do with those you work with, and how it impacts everyone in that chain.

That element is missing because profit takes precedence. You need to understand that specialty coffee is more about taking care of the people behind the cup of coffe. They will take care of the coffee. Give some love to the farmers. That's the only way we can all enjoy this industry.

And we're seeing that trend also, most of them are abandoning the farms. They will send their children to pursue education other than farming for example.

It is clear that if my parents have been growing coffee for the past 50 years and they are still struggling to pay for my school fees, why do I need to invest my time and effort in coffee farming again.

This confirms that their children want to change their lives rather than live the life of their parents. They can see the history played out in front of them and do not want it to repeat.

That’s all the time Dan had for us unfortunately. The topic of producers and farmers riles him up good, motivates him, and to be honest, he can be a pretty good spokesman for them.

If you are heading to Grandmother, say hello to this inspiring man, and ask him anything in the lines of farming, and I’m sure he will happily answer your queries.

You can also read about some of the topics on the 2021 Global Coffee Townhall. They align with what Dan discussed above.

The next Coffee Story is also coming from the Grandmother Coffee Roastery. Be ready because she is a champion in the making. Meanwhile check out this list of my favorite roasters featured on portafilter.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Coffee Story: Dan de coffee man

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