Vincent Caloiero, Coffee Analysts’ Coffee Technologist and Sensory Specialist, has earned his Q Grader license. This certificate represents hours of training, dedication, and expertise in sensory analysis in coffee testing. We are proud of Vincent’s achievement and congratulate him on this milestone.

Upon arrival we began [...]]]> After making it through another brutal New England winter, we decided to it was time to head to origin: this time, to Guatemala. Working closely with Anacafe, the Guatemalan National Coffee Association, we studied coffee quality throughout the country, and learned first hand about the destructive nature of leaf rust (hemileia vastatrix.)

Upon arrival we began working in Anacafe’s labs, comparing operating procedures for green and roasted coffee to ensure consistency and accuracy of methods in our respective labs.  Next, we completed cuppings that explored the different quality designations found in Guatemala (Prime, Extra Prime, Semi Hard, Hard, and Strictly Hard Bean); also on the table was a natural coffee and Robusta, two types that are very limited in Guatemala.  Subsequent cuppings compared the eight distinct regions of coffee, which include designations based on cup profile, climate, soil, and altitude.  Not surprisingly, there are pretty clear distinctions in the cup!  We really enjoyed the Acetenango, and noticed an unusually unique profile in the Rainforest Coban.

Our travels outside the Anacafe labs took us to the growing regions of Antigue and Atitlan, where we visited farms to learn about procedures for processing coffee cherries, and ventured into the fields to gain first-hand knowledge of the detrimental effects of leaf rust.  In Antigue we visited Las Salinas, San Rafael Urias and Finca Retana y Anexos.  Each farm represented the best of what Guatemala has to offer; shade-grown coffees, high elevations, and sustainable farming practices.  Isidro Valdes, owner of San Rafael Urias, personally showed us around the farm.  At Finca Retana, owner Fernando Cofino showed us their worm farm where coffee pulp is processed into rich compost that can be spread back on the fields.  In Atitlan we visited Coop San Miguel, where numerous farmers cultivate micro-lots of coffee plants and share facilities for processing and distribution of the green coffee.  Co-op manager Servando Santos Chumil gave us a tour of the wet mills and drying patios. We also stopped by Chacaya, where farm manager Mario Cabrera took time out to show us around.  Our last stop in Atitlan was at Granos del Sur.  Here they purchase coffee cherry from local farmers and process it through their wet mill.  They also had a dry mill for processing and sorting coffee for shipment.

The drive back to Guatemala City took us through farm land where rubber tree farms and sugar fields abound.  As it happened, the National Barista competition was happening at the Fontabella, and we made a quick stop to take it in. It was the perfect way to end our action-and information-packed trip to Guatemala. 

Spencer Turer, the Director of Coffee Operations at Coffee Analysts, traveled to Costa Rica in early November 2012 to attend the Sintercafe International Coffee Conference and tour coffee farms.

The Sintercafe trip started in San Jose, Costa Rica with over 325 attendees from 23 nations.  While attending the event, Spencer met with coffee producers, traders and [...]]]>

Spencer Turer, the Director of Coffee Operations at Coffee Analysts, traveled to Costa Rica in early November 2012 to attend the Sintercafe International Coffee Conference and tour coffee farms.

The Sintercafe trip started in San Jose, Costa Rica with over 325 attendees from 23 nations.  While attending the event, Spencer met with coffee producers, traders and roasters from around the word discussing coffee quality and expectations for the upcoming harvest.   The conference presentations included topics such as:

• Global coffee supply issues – David Neumann, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe
• Coffee in Ethiopia – Majka Burhardt
• Costa Rico Coffee Farming Issue  – Luis Eduardo Campos, Café Altura de San Ramon Especial
• Brazilian Coffee Situation – Carlos Brando, P&A International Marketing
• Colombia Coffee Issues – Juan Esteban Orduz, Colombian Coffee Federations
• The Future of Specialty Coffee -Ric Rhinehart, Specialty Coffee Association of America
• The ICE Futures market, including financial tools for hedging -Albert Scalla, INTL FCStone

Michela Stama from Lavazza and Doug Welsh from Peet’s presented company profiles, and Miguel Zamore from FairTrade USA conducted a seminar on their current activities and programs for farmers and cooperatives.

While attending seminars and business meetings regarding the global coffee industry is exciting and rewarding, the most fun was had touring Hacienda LaMinita in the Tarrazu valley.  The area where the farm is located is called Los Santos with elevations between 3,750 and 5,000 ft.  The plantation has been owned by the McAlpin family since 1967 and has been developed and maintained to produce top quality coffee that is in demand by specialty and premium coffee buyers.  Spencer toured the coffee farm, nursery and milling operations with Mr. Sergio Cruz, the Director of Quality Assurance and Alberto Ponce from Cadexsa in Honduras.  During the tour they concentrated on inspection of coffee cherry development and the health of the coffee trees.

8:30am – 5:00pm

LOCATION 32 Lakeside Avenue Burlington, VT 05401

DATE & TIME December 13, 2012 | 8:30am – 5:00pm

PRICING (per person) SCAA Member price: $80.00 RG/BGA Member price: $120.00 Non Member price: $160.00

FOR REGISTRATION PLEASE CONTACT THE SCAA

The SCAA Instructor Development Program is one of our most popular professional development programs. Specialty Coffee Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) can advance [...]]]> DECEMBER 13, 2012

8:30am – 5:00pm

LOCATION
32 Lakeside Avenue
Burlington, VT 05401

DATE & TIME
December 13, 2012 | 8:30am – 5:00pm

PRICING (per person)
SCAA Member price: $80.00
RG/BGA Member price: $120.00
Non Member price: $160.00

FOR REGISTRATION PLEASE CONTACT THE SCAA

The SCAA Instructor Development Program is one of our most popular professional development programs. Specialty Coffee Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) can advance their training and education skills through workshops on adult learning principles in the workplace, instructional design (based on the ADDIE model developed by the American Society for Training & Development), testing, evaluation and class management. Upon completion of the one-day program, students earn the SCAA Lead Instructor Credential and are eligible to volunteer as an Instructor for SCAA. Many students enthusiastically report an increase in quality and delivery of their training and instructional design in their own companies after completing the IDP. This course is particularly beneficial for the coffee expert who trains others, but has no formal coursework in training, adult education, or organizational learning.
This course is a pre-requisite for future advanced IDPs.

1.  Recognizing education and training as an element of organizational success;
• Orientation to the SCAA’s Professional Development department
• Incorporating your company’s mission, vision and strategic goals into your training initiatives
• Instructor and trainer competencies for the SCAA and at work

2.  Applying adult learning principles;
• Recognize four key adult learning principles;
• Independence
• Preparedness
• Experience
• Application
• Grasp basics of adult learning theory and begin translating theory into practice
• Identify characteristics of adult learners and take them into consideration when conducting classes
• Recognize how adult learners process information, and strategize class design

3.  Setting clear, measurable skill and knowledge objectives.

4.  Designing instruction using the ADDIE model of the American Society for Training and    Development.

5.  Exhibiting professional presentation skills.

6.  Evaluating learner performance and leveraging learning back at work.

The course is taught by the SCAA Education Manager, Ildi Revi, M.Ad.Ed., CPT. Ildi has designed and conducted educator training for over 15 years for companies, educational institutions, government projects and NGO’s. She works with all the subject matter experts at SCAA to design, develop and deliver classes to our members.

“Attention to coffee [...]]]> Spencer Turer, Director of Coffee Operations, attended the recent NACS Show (National Association of Convenience Stores) held in Las Vegas, Nevada.  While at the show, Spencer met with many of our clients from the convenience retailer channel of trade, and had the opportunity to talk with other retailers about their hot beverage programs.

“Attention to coffee quality and improved brewing technology was the primary focus of this year’s show,” stated Turer.  Many of the national coffee roasters were demonstrating their quality capabilities by featuring singe-origin coffee, exotics, and even certified coffee, illustrating their commitment to social and environmental responsibility. Equipment manufacturers were demonstrating the newest technology for filter drip brewing and serving to maintain coffee quality attributes.  Espresso machines, both super-automatic one-step and two-step models, were prominently displayed, demonstrating to convenience retailers that freshly prepared espresso-based beverages are able to be included in anyone’s coffee program.

From branded coffee to private-label programs, and from commercial quality to gourmet quality, the overall focus at the NACS Show was to keep the hot coffee customer in their stores by delivering a great tasting cup of coffee to the consumer.

Coffee Analysts is recognized as the leader in coffee testing services to food service brands and convenience retailers, and is providing comprehensive quality support to many convenience retailers to help them achieve their sales and profit goals.

We are please to announce that Director of Coffee Operations Spencer Turer is now a Licensed Q-Grader. An article from CoffeeTalk describes what it means to be a Q-Grader:

The Q-Grader pro­gram is designed to give a com­mon lan­guage to describe qual­ity in cof­fee and is used from the farmer to the con­sumer. It quan­ti­fies cof­fee [...]]]>

We are please to announce that Director of Coffee Operations Spencer Turer is now a Licensed Q-Grader. An article from CoffeeTalk describes what it means to be a Q-Grader:

The Q-Grader pro­gram is designed to give a com­mon lan­guage to describe qual­ity in cof­fee and is used from the farmer to the con­sumer. It quan­ti­fies cof­fee attrib­utes and gets all par­tic­i­pants to iden­tify taste char­ac­ter­is­tics in the same way. The true pur­pose there­fore is to be able to com­mu­ni­cate qual­ity up and down the sup­ply chain and raise the over­all qual­ity of cof­fee in the process.

Jeremy Raths of The Roastery in Minneapolis, and a Q-Grader Instructor, describes the Q-Certification of cof­fee this way, “For the cof­fee indus­try it is the only cer­ti­fication based on Quality. It is totally blind, inde­pen­dent and adher­ing to a strict pro­to­col. It is all about the cof­fee. No guilt, no shame, just cof­fee qual­ity. It is a way that the whole chain can objec­tively look at a cof­fee using quantification.”

Q-Graders must pass a rigorous five-day exam to earn their certification, comprising of 22 sections on coffee-related subjects, such as green grading, roast identification, coffee cupping, sensory skills and sensory triangulation. There are currently over 1,000 Licensed Q Graders worldwide.

Coffee Analysts benefits by having two licensed Q Grader on staff.  Both Coffee Analysts owner Dan Cox and Spencer Turer provide leadership to sensorial evaluations ensuring SCAA and Q standards are followed for coffee evaluations, and provide training to staff members as well as insuring proper calibration amongst sensory panelists.

“We are proud of Spencer earning his Q-Grader License,” remarked Cox. “It’s a rigorous and world-renowned program, and Coffee Analysts will benefit greatly from having another Q-Grader on our team.”

Congratulations, Spencer!

Last week we got a comment on our post “Coffee Testing: What We Look For and Why“:

Moisture content in green coffee is an indicator of freshness, proper processing at the coffee mills, and proper storage conditions.

Coffee is hygroscopic—that is, it [...]]]>

Last week we got a comment on our post “Coffee Testing: What We Look For and Why“:

• Dave

  
  June 11th, 2012 at 5:08 pmWhat do you consider high moisture content in green coffee?

Moisture content in green coffee is an indicator of freshness, proper processing at the coffee mills, and proper storage conditions.

Coffee is hygroscopic—that is, it attracts and hold water in moist environments and will release water in dry environments.

Fresh green coffee upon import should be between 10% and 12% moisture for washed coffee, and up to 13% moisture for naturally processed coffees and coffees from Indonesia. The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia has a regulation limiting Colombia coffee moisture content to below 12% upon export.

Green coffee moisture will affect cup quality: Beans with high moisture content may discolor and turn light opaque during storage. High moisture content coffee may have cup quality issues as well, ranging from fruity to sour, and possibly ferment. Beans with low moisture will lose their green color and turn pale yellow quickly, with cup quality issues of flat, papery, thin and cereal characters.

Green coffee moisture will effect blend development: Variations in green coffee moisture will affect the roasting process and change the dynamics of the roast profile.

High moisture content beans will roast slower, requiring additional energy to dry the beans before Maillard reactions / non-enzymatic browning may occur.

Low moisture levels are necessary to allow coffee’s internal temperature to reach around 154 C (309 F) to begin. Low moisture contents will cause the profile roast to speed up, with higher temperatures realized earlier, creating a faster roast.

In her piece, author JoNel Aleccia cites recent results from the largest-ever analysis of the link between coffee consumption and mortality that coffee consumption may lead to a living a longer life. The [...]]]> Coffee Analysts’ own Spencer Turer was quoted earlier this week in an MSNBC article about coffee and its effects on living a long life.

In her piece, author JoNel Aleccia cites recent results from the largest-ever analysis of the link between coffee consumption and mortality that coffee consumption may lead to a living a longer life. The research, which was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that during a 14-year study period “men who drank at least six cups of coffee a day had a 10 percent lower chance of dying during the 14-year study period than those who drank none. For women, the risk was 15 percent lower.”

This is where Spencer came in:

Reassuring, indeed, for hard-core coffee drinkers like Spencer Turer, who guzzles four to six cups of coffee every day for personal consumption — and sips between 75 and 300 cups more as part of his job as a professional coffee taster.

“It’s good news for all coffee drinkers because we can feel really good about the decisions we’re making,” said Turer, director of coffee operations for the firm Coffee Analysts, which provides unbiased scientific review of coffee products. “People concerned about the health effects may choose to drink more coffee.”

Nice! Click here to read the full article.

Since MSNBC ran this post, a few other news outlets picked up the piece and quoted Spencer:

http://www.ryanmews.com/tag/coffee-analysts/
http://www.kcentv.com/story/18496649/coffee-lovers-less-likely-to-die-study-finds
http://www.counselheal.com/articles/1831/20120517/regular-coffee-drinkers-less-die-early.htm

Orange sweet pastry shell, traditional vanilla pastry cream – milk, eggs, sugar, bourbon vanilla beans and a small amount of cornstarch. Topped with fresh berries and kiwi, finished with Grand Marnier infused glaze.

City-roast coffee (48-50 Agtron) to complement the dessert of super-sweet characters, medium acidity, and slight nuttiness: Brasil NY2 Strictly-soft, fine [...]]]>

CLASSIC FRESH FRUIT TART

Orange sweet pastry shell, traditional vanilla pastry cream – milk, eggs, sugar, bourbon vanilla beans and a small amount of cornstarch. Topped with fresh berries and kiwi, finished with Grand Marnier infused glaze.

COFFEE

City-roast coffee (48-50 Agtron) to complement the dessert of super-sweet characters, medium acidity, and slight nuttiness: Brasil NY2 Strictly-soft, fine cup 100% Cerrado with sweet, creamy nutty characters and soft, mild finish will allow the fruit characters of the tart to dominate, or Costa Rica Strictly Hard Bean European Preparation Honeyed, or El Salvador Strictly High Grown Honeyed coffees, both will present a syrupy, floral and slightly wild sweetness, with rich-creamy body and bright, crisp acidity.  The coffee character will compliment the creamy custard and ripe fruit characters to make a harmonious pairing.

A Medium roasted Fair Trade Organic coffee has sweet aroma, winy-orange/apricot acidity, and medium body with milk chocolate, toasted nuts, and light caramel smooth finish.  The sweetness of the fresh fruit in the tart will draw out the floral-fruity sweetness of the coffee, without overpowering the character or intensity.

WINE / SPIRITS

Crisp, clean sweet wine to compliment the fruit acidity, and balance the cream and pastry.

• Ice Wine – dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine, the water is dissolved and the sugars are concentrated. – Pure, fresh, sweet and nicely acidic characters would lift the fruit flavors and compliments the pastry cream.
• Late Harvest Riesling – sweet, aromatic German dessert wine
• Sauternes – French sweet wine of the Graves section in Bordeaux – Both LH Riesling and Sauternes are fairly complex wines with typical floral aroma, fresh/stone fruit characters, honey, apricots and peaches, may be spicy and mineral-like with underlying sweetness and crisp acidity.
• Marenco Bracchetto d’Aqcui “Pineto”  - Dessert wine from Piedmont, Italy from 100% Brachetto grapes – This is a softly sparkling dessert red wine that adds an elegant sweet-tart balance of cherry and berry fruit with medium acidity.