Monthly Archives: January 2014

382. The Castillo-Caturra cage match

2014-01-27 Comments Off on 382. The Castillo-Caturra cage match

At the top of our list of New Year’s resolutions for 2014 is a comparative cupping of leading Colombian varieties.  In a snarky Tweet earlier this month that invoked the glorious Latin American tradition of lucha libre, I referred to it as a “steel cage match” between Castillo and Caturra.  But this is not a […]

381. Introducing the farm-facing cupping form

2014-01-20 Comments Off on 381. Introducing the farm-facing cupping form

When I published this list of New Year’s resolutions earlier this month, there was one I forgot: create a cupping form for farmers.  

380. Overheard at Let’s Talk Robusta 2013

2014-01-14 Comments Off on 380. Overheard at Let’s Talk Robusta 2013

Let’s Talk Robusta 2013 was by all accounts bigger and better than its predecessor.  Here are 10 of the most memorable quotes from the event.

379. Just how big is the market for fine Robusta?

2014-01-13 Comments Off on 379. Just how big is the market for fine Robusta?

Over the past two years, CRS has partnered with Sustainable Harvest to create Let’s Talk Robusta, a workshop series held during the importer’s annual Let’s Talk Coffee event.  After more than a decade of working almost exclusively in the realm of specialty Arabica, we have seen Let’s Talk Robusta as a kind of market intelligence […]

378. New Year’s resolutions

2014-01-07 Comments Off on 378. New Year’s resolutions

It’s that time of year again — the time we all make New Year’s resolutions that are destined to be broken.  So here are three from the coffeelands: Generate more results-based evidence. Help the coffee sector navigate uncharted waters. Borrow a page from the microfinance playbook. Only we plan on keeping these.