Two weekends past, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) met in Portland, OR for ‘The Coffee Event of the Year’. In our previous post (On the Ground to Portland), we spoke a little bit about the event itself, and our experience as newbie roasters to the scene.

We also had the chance to play a different role at the event as well: as representatives of Good Land Organics (which is where I now work). It was an interesting experiment to gauge the interest level of coffee growing in a new region: California.

And this is why: It is a well known belief, or ‘rule’, that all good coffee is produced between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer: also known as the ‘coffee belt’. It’s safe to say that every single coffee grower at the convention was from a country that lies between these latitudinal lines: with the exception of one.

With what started eight years ago as a research project, Good Land Organic’s coffee production has developed into a semi-sustainable one. It is the goal at this point to see if a) there is a demand for locally grown coffee, and if b) there is a potential to build an industry in the Santa Barbara region (aka find more farms to grow coffee too).

If we were to truly develop a demand, we would first need to prove it grows successfully, and gain support from the coffee industry. Thus, our presence at the SCAA was timed nicely.

Jay Ruskey, owner of Good Land Organics and the only coffee producing farm in the contiguous US, sent me to scope the scene. I was pretty honored to have been given that opportunity. It was my intention to speak to a few key people, attend a few lectures, and drop to a few people that coffee is being grown on the US Mainland.

It seemed that with each mention of California grown coffee, the eyes and ears of those listening stood in attention. It has been a rumor around the industry of such a thing, but virtually no one has had the chance to try it themselves.

This year these beans will have to speak for themselves in a cupping. With hope, what is found in the ‘cup’ (flavor, experience) will be well received. But, at the very least, Good Land Organics gets huge kudos from the industry for producing high yields and healthy trees on California soil. I’m excited and proud to be apart of it. Let’s see how this next harvest season goes!