African Fine Coffee Association 2013 Taste of Harvest Winners
AFCA (formerly EAFCA) today announced winners from the 2013 Taste of Harvest competition, held at the 10th annual African Fine Coffee Conference & Exhibition earlier this month in Kampala, Uganda. "AFCA is pleased to announce the completion of the 2012-2013 Africa...
Los Angeles R Grader course scheduled Jan 18-21
We've just scheduled the next Los Angeles R Grader (Fine Robusta) certification course, which will be held January 18-21 2013 at the Farmer Brothers SCAA Certified Lab in Torrance, California (between Long Beach, Los Angeles). This class is a 4-day accelerated version...
Fine Robusta Coffee’s Trial by Media
Last week I was surprised when my colleague Shawn Steiman pointed out that our mutual friend Miles Small of CoffeeTalk Magazine had published a scathing editorial commentary about the recent surge of interest in Fine Robusta coffee among specialty coffee roasters....
Let’s Talk Coffee to Talk Robusta
This year's 10th annual Let's Talk Coffee conference and training event in Medellin, Colombia will feature a first-ever session on fine robusta coffees co-presented by the venerable Dr. Sunalini Menon of Coffeelab Private Ltd. from Bangalore and me, Andrew Hetzel. The...
Golden Bean Australia Q Grader Prep Course
We will be holding a one day Q Grader introduction / prep course at the Golden Bean Roaster Competition and Conference this October 20th on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. The one day workshop will act as an introduction and practice session for many of the Q Grader...
Soyuz Coffee Announces 2012 Spasskaya Baristas
As a continuation to last month's announcement regarding the return of the Spasskaya Tower Festival and its Specialty Coffee Show Starring Barista Champions, Soyuz Coffee Roasting today announced the ten who will participate, they are: Appearing September 1-4 Raul...
David Roche to Head Coffee Quality Institute CQI
Congratulations to David Roche has he transitions into the role of Coffee Quality Institute Executive Director, as was initially announced at the SCAA CQI luncheon in Portland earlier this year and confirmed by the statement below released earlier today. The press...
Catador: iPad coffee cupping scoresheet app
A friend of mine in the coffee business complained to a programmer she knows that nobody had yet produced a useable electronic SCAA Cupping Scoresheet, so he sat down and made one... apparently in a day or two. The result is the first functional computer scoring form...
Strategic Planning and the Walking Dead
Every once in a while you come across a business article that makes you pause and reflect on the author's keen observation, as I did after reading Margaret Heffernan's contribution to Inc.com this morning, Strategy & Planning Are Not Optional. Margaret Heffernan is...
Q Robusta Certification to Begin at CQI
Advancing the quality of Robusta and improving the lives of farmers that rely its cultivation and trade is something that I care deeply about, so it is an honor for me to announce my personal involvement in the first North American R (for Robusta) Grader certification...
Soyuz Coffee Roasting Barista Champions Return to Red Square
Rock star baristas from around the globe will return to Moscow this September for a second consecutive year to demonstrate their coffee-making skills on Red Square during the annual Spasskaya Tower international military tattoo and music festival. The Spasskaya Tower...
Build an effective single origin coffee program
The May 2012 issue of Specialty Coffee Retailer magazine included an article on the topic of effectively implementing a single origin coffee program (or single source, as they call it) in retail coffee shops. The full article is included here, as are my notes from the...