Governments of countries which export coffee usually operate or advise a department or agency which establishes a standard, regulates and monitors the coffee trade, and assesses bean quality through quality control inspectors. In many countries the administrator is a coffee board authority; in others it is an institute, possibly under the control of the ministry of agriculture or
of trade and industry.

Far more is done on a coffee plantation than just growing and harvesting the fruit. 

When coffee cherries ripen, they must be picked almost immediately, not an easy thing to time when a single tree’s fruit is in various stages of maturity simultaneously. In most Arabica-growing areas the ripe cherries will be carefully hand-picked and dropped into the picker’s basket, the weight of which determines the picker’s pay and, in areas of smoother terrain and shorter trees, can be as heavy as 100kg by the end of the day. The same tree will be visited on several different days as more cherries ripen.

Following on from our last entry, here is some of the history of the prestigious Cup of Excellence Award. We have two Cup of Excellence coffees from El Salvador available now through the Limited Editions section of our site. Act fast, as we have very limited stock of each!

The Cup of Excellence is the highest award you can receive for coffee. These awards come from a strict competition that selects only the absolute best coffee produced in a country for that year.  These winning coffees are chosen by a select group of national and international cuppers and are cupped a minimum of 5 different times throughout the duration of the competition. Only coffees that consistently score high enough are allowed to proceed in the competition. The final winners are awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence and are sold to the highest bidder during an internet auction.

Last week I finished off my Q Grader assessment with Coffee Logic in Sydney. The philosophy behind the Q Coffee System is that the taste of coffee is affected by the many variables in roasting and brewing. Q Coffees™ certify that the beans are among the highest quality in the world; properly processed with characteristics that distinguish them from other coffees. All this boils down to the notion of the first step toward achieving a perfect cup of coffee is a good bean.

When a coffee moves through the Q Coffee System and becomes deemed as a Q Coffee™, it refers to an independent confirmation of quality that can truly ensure specialty status. Green coffee samples are submitted to an in-country partner, and 3 Licensed Q Graders (professionally accredited cuppers) cup and score the coffee.

Coffees that meet the standards for green, roasted, and cup quality are issued a Q Certificate. If a coffee does not meet specialty standards, it receives a technical report that explains why. There are just over a thousand Q Graders worldwide with the majority being located in coffee producing countries and associated with the coffee growers. There are only 10 registered licensed Q Graders in Australia right now.

Last Friday a group of us cupped a very rare and extremely sought after varietal of coffee - the Geisha Varietal. The coffee was grown at Finca La Candelilla in Costa Rica. We tried it as a light to medium roast as well as a medium to dark roast.

This year we are lucky enough to have secured limited amount of one of the world’s finest coffees.
The varietal is the very rare Geisha varietal. Geisha Coffee plants are known for their elongated fruits, or coffee cherry, and the Geisha coffee is distinguished for its light body with honey and citrus flavors that provide an outstanding taste profile and cup character. It is a very low yielding quantity coffee, so it is never used for plantation farms. The varietal was first discovered in Abyssinia in southwest Ethiopia in 1931, and was first brought to Panama and Costa Rica in 1963. Panama and Costa Rica are the only countries in the world that produce Geisha Coffee and quantities are very limited and therefore very expensive. This Geisha coffee is fully washed and sun dried.

Recently we visited the SCAA Exposition in Houston Texas. While we were close to the area or closer than Australia anyway we though an origin visit to Honduras was in order. We flew from Texas into the industrial capital of Honduras, San Pedro Sula.