Well, today is the big day. Of 48 coffees that made it past the national jury, we have whittled the number down to 33. Today is the day we decide how many of these will go on to the auction in May, many of which will fetch a price 2 to 30 times higher than what it would have otherwise gotten. Its going to be a long day...
Continue reading "Top 33 Coffees in CR"

Today will be third day of cupping the Costa Rica Cup of Excellence coffees, and so far I haven't made any terrible table blunders. The most common "mishaps" we can have at the tables are choking oneself on the coffee and being thrown into fits of coughing (enthusiastic slurping), or accidentally spitting somewhere other than one's spit cup (ie. the table, one's shoes or, the worst, a cup of coffee). And it wouldn't be embarrassing for just the obvious reasons; but some of the most skilled cuppers in the world are here.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the process, cupping is a universal method of evaluating coffees. Its also and OCD person's nightmare and perhaps strangest audio environment a group of humans make together in a professional setting. Continue reading "Spitting and Slurping with the best of them"

San Jose welcomed me with insane thunder, lighting and torrential rain. Just minutes after arriving, it started to downpour. This airport is amazing, by the way, in that there are loads of taxi drivers and airport employees who approach confused looking persons like myself and hand over their cell phones to you to use. I mean, amazing. Alonso, the airport employee who gave me a ride to the hotel, said that this time of year it rains every day for an hour or two in the afternoon and then stops. Kinda put a damper on my pool plans but perfect weather for a nap.
The Hotel Bougainvillea is lovely and I even have a patio with a view of the gardens below. As you can imagine, the greenery is beautiful with bright bougainvilleas (AKA veraneros) in pink and orange and the wildest orchids I have ever seen. There seem to be lots of birds around - though I can only hear them right now. One sounds distinctly like a rooster and I have a feeling I'm not going to be liking him too well when he starts crowing at daybreak all week.
Hasta luego...
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If I look familiar but you can't quite place me, I may be your neighborhood coffee geek. My name is Katie Garvey and I am Hubbard and Cravens Coffee's Director of Training and Development - last time I checked I think that was the official title, anyway. My wildest coffee geek fantasies are about to come true next week. I have had the honor of being invited to be a judge on the international jury for Costa Rica's Cup of Excellence. Cup of Excellence is a couple of things. 1) It is THE premier award given to a coffee farm within a given country. 2) It is an organization founded on the belief that building relationships between those who grow coffee and those who roast coffee is the truest sense of fair trade. Roasters benefit from being able to access the highest quality coffees in existence. Growers benefit monetarily, from record-breaking coffee prices, and in being able to develop a relationship with buyers who will seek out their coffees year after year. I won't go into all the details right now but you can check out their website for more information: www.cupofexcellence.org

Basically, in terms of the specialty coffee world, Cup of Excellence is it. And I am so excited to be able to be a part of it. And if that weren't enough, after my week of non-stop coffee cupping I get to visit the Barrantes family, owners of the Herbazu farm. They came to visit us in Indianapolis a few years back and now I get to take them up on their offer to come visit them. (You can check out H&C's website for more info on Cafe Herbazu: www.hubbardandcravens.com)

I'll be checking in here throughout my trip after I leave, in 3 days. But first, I have to pack. And do my taxes. Grunt.
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