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Viewing entries tagged with 'cupping'
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The Trade Aid Coffee Harvest Roadshow
Last year while passing through the coffee cooperatives of Uganda in the back of a dusty Toyota Landcruiser, a plan was hatched to bring the back story of our coffee farmers to the coffee roasters of Aotearoa. This idea had been milling around in the mind of Justin Purser, Trade Aid's green coffee buyer of the past 6 years, but had never managed to develop legs.
Coffee Tour Dispatch #2 Cupping Ethiopia Coffees
First up, this is going to be a short post. Its late here in Ethiopia and we have a bleary eyed start on the road to coffee farms tomorrow. Here is a little glimpse into 'cupping coffee' - as it happens in the Oromia Coffee Farmers Union every day during their harvest season (Nov - Feb). In the attached video post you will see Tilahun Mekonen, Oromia's licensed Q-Graded Cupper showing us some of last years coffees (Sadly, we are too early to experience the beautifully fresh coffees that are being picked and processed as I write this!).
Cup of Excellence Palate Calibration Workshop
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a "Cupping" workshop put on by the New Zealand Coffee Roasting Association (NZCRA). Cupping coffee is much like a wine tasting where you smell the coffee, taste and spit it out, in an attempt to accurately asses all the flavours and nuances of the beverage. This program was run by a couple who are very experienced in the specialty coffee world and run a business called Cup of Excellence (COE). This competition is run every year in various countries allowing any farmer to enter their coffee. All coffees get judged purely on quality of taste, and culled until only the best are left. Finally, these exceptional coffees are sold in an online auction often for exorbitant amounts of money. Some of the farmers in the cooperatives we buy from have had placings in the COE.
