Her finner du artikler som tidligere har vært publisert på nettsiden vår:
Thomas i Colombia
Thomas var med som internasjonal dommer i Cup of Excellence i Colombia. Les om hans møter med kaffeskattene.
Monday September 6th
Finally arrived in the beautiful coffee land of Colombia to begin an intense week of judging this year Cup of Excellence coffees. We are being hosted in the town of Pasto which is strategically located high in the mountains of Colombia surrounded by several coffee regions. The climate here is temperate providing a perfect environment considering we are so close to the equator.
This year’s program started with 875 coffee samples being sent in from farmers all over the country. Since the 5th of August a team of national cuppers and our own CoE head judge have pre-screening and cupping all of these coffees several times in order to sort out the best of the best for this final week of competition. They have managed to weed it down from 875 to just 51 coffees for the International Panel of Judges from around the world to cup this week.
Cupping form
For our first day we calibrated ourselves today as a group by having 3 cupping sessions followed by an open discuss of Colombian cup profiles and score evaluation. This is done at the beginning of every international CoE cupping to ensure that the group’s palate is in tune with Colombian coffee.
The farmers have done their part, the national team have done their part, now it is up to us.
Wish us luck - the pressure is on,
Thomas
Tuesday September 7th
Today we cupped 25 of the 51 final coffees and they lived up to all our expectations. The cup profile was described by many as, sweet like molasses, honey, brown sugar, with delicate acidity and hints of tropical fruits, apricot, tangerine, melon and/or notes of chocolate and nuts. I tasted many wonderful coffees today, 3 of which I scored over 90 points that will hopefully be a part of the 10 ten on Friday.
The afternoon was then spent visiting a couple of farms in the Nariño State of Colombia which graces the slopes of the Galeras volcano. Amazing landscapes with dramatic mountains jetting up to the sky covered in coffee trees, provoking the questions of how one might maintain such a farm. Yet these farms of Colombia help this country to be one of the largest coffee producers in the world.
Tomorrow we cup the next 26 coffees with great anticipation, hopefully they will be as enjoyable as those we had today.
Thomas
Plan Bonito; Thomas with the owner of the farm, Edgar Favio Castillo Rivera and children on the farm
Wednesday September 8th
Today we completed the cupping of all 51 coffees, were like Tuesday some beautiful surprises where found. The cup profile continued to deliver similar characteristics to Tuesday with one in particular jumping off the table for me which I ended up scoring it 93 points. Defiantly one of the cleanest cups of the day, with a delicate honey-drew melon sweetness and flavor notes like a basket of Tropical Fruits. Looking forward to cupping it again on Thursday.
Now; at the completion of the 1st round of cupping all 51 coffee, we as a group of 27 international judges have give 29 coffees an average score of 84 points or more and therefore moved them onto the semi-finals. Thursday will be an intense round of cupping where this year’s winners will be found.
Have a Super “Den store Kaffedagen”!
Thomas
Thursday September 9th
Thursday is always a great day during the CoE week because we have eliminated most of the lesser quality coffees and sit with the best of this year’s crop and today was no exception. We had 4 rounds with 7 unique coffees in each round that we used most of the day cupping and re-cupping, savoring almost every sip. By the end of the day these coffees delivered us the beautiful message we may or may not have already known; Colombian coffee is not just coffee but that each coffee has a depth and uniqueness for all us coffee lovers to enjoy.
Tomorrow will be our final cupping and will focus solely on the ranking of the top 10 coffees, follow-up by a round table discussion with some of the farmers participating in this year’s competition. This is a unique opportunity for both sides of the market to share and learn from each other’s experiences and one of the many reasons the Cup of Excellence program is such a successful channel for delivering excellent coffees to the market place.
Stay tune for Friday’s update of this year’s winners.
Thomas
Friday September 10th
Top ten day, where we focus on ranking these final ten coffees from 1st to 10th place. This is a huge responsibility since this can mean a difference of 10 to 20 dollars a pound from say first place to fifth and change the lives of these farmers. For us judges we only needed to remain focused on what we have been doing all week: evaluate each coffee individually based upon its own unique cup profile. In the end this is a super day where 10 coffees out of 875 have been chosen as the best of the best from Colombia.
The coffees were FANTASTIC; the first price winner received the highest score ever in Colombia - 94.92 points, I myself scored this coffee 95 points. The clarity and sweetness of the cup was exceptional, with a body of creamy richness that was like silk and to top it off, hints of fruits like melons and sugar cane. Of the top ten, four received the presidential award meaning they received a point score of greater than 90 points. I was in agreement with three, giving second place winner a 93 and third a 91 for many of the same characteristic I gave the highest to the first price. Only the cup clarity in the cup from start to finish pushed the one ahead of the other.
October 26th is now the next big day for the Colombia CoE with the auction of these 21 fantastic coffees.
Thanks to the Colombia Coffee Federation for hosting and I look forward to tasting these coffees in Norway.
Thomas
Cup of Exellence er et non-profitprogram. Her verdsettes kvalitet, sporbarhet og rettferdighet. Les mer om Cup of Excellence