Category: Coffee Research

434. The variety play (and the future of Caturra)

2014-11-24 Comments Off on 434. The variety play (and the future of Caturra)

We interrupt our series on of interviews on the CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings to bring you an important reflection on the future of Caturra. Are its days numbered?

433. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings: Intelligentsia

2014-11-20 Comments Off on 433. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings: Intelligentsia

Today, a conversation with Intelligentsia QC manager Chris Kornman and coffee buyer Geoff Watts regarding Colombian coffee varieties—the third weekly installment in my series on the CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings. Earlier this month, Chris and QC Lab Assistant Amanda Seaver staged the CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings at the Intelligentsia Roasting Works in Chicago.  Six different Intelligentsia […]

432. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings: Tim Wendelboe

2014-11-11 Comments Off on 432. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings: Tim Wendelboe

Tim Wendelboe is a former world barista champion and one of the world’s premiere coffee celebrities.  When he is not busy roasting coffee, he may be serving it at the coffee bar that bears his name.  Or sourcing it as a partner in Nordic Approach, the Oslo-based importer promoting transparency in trade.  Or writing books […]

431. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings: Counter Culture

2014-11-04 Comments Off on 431. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings: Counter Culture

Counter Culture Coffee is a roaster that needs no introduction.  Its innovations in coffee sourcing, quality and sustainability have outsized influence in the coffee industry.  Counter Culture is, in short, a tastemaker.  And Counter Culture likes Caturra. A lot. As part of the CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings, Counter Culture’s QC Director Timothy Hill cupped 22 […]

430. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings

2014-11-03 Comments Off on 430. The CRS Colombian Varietal Cuppings

Readers of this blog will know that we have partered with World Coffee Research (WCR) and some of the brightest lights in specialty coffee, research and philanthropy on the Colombia Sensory Trial–a side-by-side sensory comparison of Castillo- and Caturra-variety coffee samples taken from farms in Colombia growing, harvesting and processing both under virtually identical conditions.  […]

425. And so it begins

2014-10-01 Comments Off on 425. And so it begins

When we published our 2014 New Year’s resolutions back in January, at the top of the list was this: “enlist industry leaders and research institutes in a comparative cupping of two leading Colombian coffee varieties, Castillo and Caturra.” That public commitment set off nine months of frenetic activity during which we collaborated with the International […]

422. Women’s work in coffee

2014-09-15 Comments Off on 422. Women’s work in coffee

Last week Root Capital published this issue brief on gender lens investing in the coffeelands.  I posted some reflections on that publication here, and made reference to the fact that men and women experience the world differently as a result of the social construct of their respective gender roles. The data we collected in Colombia […]

417. The Variety Intelligence Project

2014-07-15 Comments Off on 417. The Variety Intelligence Project

I had the honor during this year’s SCAA Symposium of facilitating a panel discussion on the coffee leaf rust epidemic in Central America–a panel featuring some big names in coffee. In the end, some of the most memorable contributions to the conversation were made by folks not on the official agenda, including World Coffee Research […]

416. Colombia Sensory Trial

2014-07-14 Comments Off on 416. Colombia Sensory Trial

Back in January, I described our plans to stage a side-by-side sensory analysis of Castillo and Caturra samples grown by participants in our Borderlands Coffee Project in Colombia.  Originally, we had planned to do this exercise independently. But as we moved forward in our planning and began talking to more and more friends in coffee […]

414. CONPES 3763

2014-07-07 Comments Off on 414. CONPES 3763

CONPES 3763 may sound like the name of a coffee variety, but it’s not. (It’s not a Star Wars character, either.) CONPES is the Spanish-language acronym for Colombia’s National Council of Economic and Social Policy.  It is part of the country’s National Planning Department and advises the government on issues related to economic and social […]