One of Amy’s tasks while she is Nepal is to take ‘Great Adaptations’, the coffee and cardamom stout brewed by Wiper and True, back up the supply chain to thank those involved, and to give them a chance to taste the final product.
Great Adaptations is infused with cardamom and coffee grown in Solukhumbu, home of the TGT supported Deusa Agro Forestry Resource Centre (AFRC).
The coffee was then roasted - in country - in Kathmandu, by Nepal Organic Coffee, before being shipped to the Wiper and True brewery in Bristol, U.K.
Amy visited Nepal Organic Coffee in the legendary Thamel district of Kathmandu on Sunday. She was joined by TGT’s Nepal based Co-Director, Richard Allen, and Narayan Dhakal from EcoHimal, our partner NGO who are playing an instrumental role in spreading the AFRC model across Nepal.
Richard, Narayan and Amy with the Ghimire family at Nepal Organic Coffee
Nepal Organic Coffee is a family run business. They have been growing coffee since the 1970s and roasting it since 1989. Working with many small scale organic coffee farmers, they have gradually built up a profitable business supplying the cafes of the Kathmandu valley.
Saroj Ghimire and his father, Dhakeswor, take their first sip of Great Adaptations, it turned out to be the first time Dhakeswor had ever drunk beer! They put the empty can in their display cabinet as a memento.
Deusa’s coffee farmers sell their coffee parchment to Nepal Organic thanks to the relationship EcoHimal have developed with them. The ‘Nepal Glacier Coffee’ we sell through our shop is therefore roasted by Nepal Organic, it is a partnership we’re very proud of.
We believe strongly in the need for coffee to be roasted in country for the simple reason that more of the money made along the coffee supply chain stays in the country of origin.
This helps, in this case, the Nepal economy to grow. It gives the people and communities of Nepal a greater chance of implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies that make sustainable development possible.
Wiper and True’s limited edition ‘Great Adaptations’ stands proudly next to two packets of Nepal Organic Coffee ready to be tasted.
We hope to develop our relationship with Nepal Organic Coffee further, perhaps importing greater volumes of coffee to the U.K. As we do currently, we’ll return any profit we make back to Nepal.
It might be that the coffee is used for grinding and drinking, but it could also be used again as an ingredient in a beer, or maybe in a coffee cake, or some sweets. If you’ve got an idea, please get in touch!
We love the coffee - roasted in country in Kathmandu, the Nepali way - and it seems ‘Great Adaptations’ has gone down very well in Kathmandu, cheers!
With thanks to Wiper and True who, by buying coffee roasted in country in Nepal are already supporting the Nepal economy, Nepalese farmers, and small businesses like Nepal Organic Coffee, but who are also going further by donating profits from the sale of Great Adaptations to TGT’s work in Nepal.
Thank you to Nepal Organic Coffee for hosting (and roasting), to EcoHimal for arranging the meeting, and to Amy and Richard for organising the tasting.
Amy has moved on with Narayan and EcoHimal to Mandan Deupur, we’ll be sharing her stories from the new AFRC there later this week.
She will then head onto Deusa AFRC in Solukhumbu, for another beer tasting event, in the shade of the coffee trees that grew the coffee that went into Great Adaptations!