SCAA Hosts Three-Day Skill-Building Event in Cleveland

What: The Specialty Coffee Association of America will host a three-day, skill-enhancing workshop event on September 14-16 in Cleveland. The event – which features six workshops – provides coffee professionals with expert training on preparing espresso, cupping (or taste testing), coffee brewing fundamentals and barista development. The classes –taught by experienced coffee professionals – are ideal for people of all levels including entrepreneurs interested in opening a café as well as existing owners and others seeking to strengthen their coffee skills.

Espresso workshops offer helpful and hands-on training on the basics of espresso preparation as well as more advanced espresso-making techniques for experienced café owners and baristas. In addition to learning how to operate an espresso machine and grinder, attendees receive instruction on the nuances of preparing a quality espresso, as well as advanced techniques for espresso extraction.

For students seeking to refine their coffee palette at the three-day, skill-enhancing event, the SCAA offers hands-on Comparative Cupping courses. The workshops allow students to taste, recognize and identify characteristics, similarities and differences within an array of coffee samples. Students also receive comprehensive instruction in palette calibration techniques to assist in heightening their coffee sensory skills.

By attending the SCAA’s Brewing Fundamentals course, students receive interactive instruction on properly and consistently brewing quality coffee.

Through hands-on preparation and tasting, students learn the SCAA’s brewing standards including coffee to water ratio, temperature, contact time and holding times.

The SCAA also offers a professional development course to enhance the skills of working baristas and café owners. In addition to learning the latest in coffee preparation theories and techniques, participants also learn the craft of latte art.

The SCAA Three-Day Skill-Building Workshop event is open to SCAA members as well as the public. The three-day event is open to SCAA members as well as the public. The cost for SCAA members to attend is $95 – with the exception of the Professional Development for the Working Barista course, which costs $125. The cost for non-SCAA members to attend any of the skill-building courses is $195 – with the exception of the Professional Development for the Working Barista – which costs $170.

For more information on the Three-Day SCAA Skill-Building Workshop Event

Who: Celebrating its silver anniversary in 2007, the SCAA is the world's largest coffee trade association. SCAA members are located in over 40 countries and represent every segment of the specialty coffee industry, from coffee growers to coffee roasters and retailers. The SCAA's mission is to be the recognized authority on specialty coffee, providing a common forum for the development and promotion of coffee excellence and sustainability. The SCAA's dedication to excellence in coffee is realized through the setting of quality standards for the industry; conducting research on coffee, equipment and perfection of craft; and providing education, training, resources and business services for members. The SCAA's annual conference is held in a different U.S. city each year and is the coffee industry's largest gathering and exhibition.

When: The SCAA Three-Day Skill-Building Workshop Event occurs on Sept. 14-16, 2007.


Where: The SCAA Three-Day Skill-Building
Workshop Event is being held at the Phoenix Coffee Roaster in Cleveland, Ohio.


Editorial Note: The SCAA Three-Day Skill-Building Workshop Event is open to media. To reserve a place at the workshop, please contact Rick Havacko at rickh@scaa.org or
(562) 624-4100.

Green Mountain Coffee Shares Fall

Associated Press

NEW YORK -

Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. fell Thursday after a Stifel Nicolaus analyst said the coffee distributor's growth may be putting too much of a squeeze on operating margins.

Shares fell $2.35, or 7.7 percent, to $28.20 in afternoon trading. The stock has ranged from $11.86 to $33.14 over the past year.

The drop came after the company reported its third quarter earnings before the market opened. Green Mountain Coffee said its third-quarter profit climbed 89 percent due to strong revenue from its Keurig single-cup brewing system and K-Cups single-serve coffee packs.

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Kenya: China in Deal to Buy Locally Roasted Coffee

Business Daily (Nairobi)

3 August 2007
Posted to the web 3 August 2007

Solomon Mburu

Coffee farmers are set for better pricing of their produce following the signing of a new deal that will see China- the world's fastest growing market -buy roasted coffee from the local market.

The deal between the Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU) and All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Co-operatives is expected to push demand above supply and ultimately pile pressure on overall coffee prices.

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Coffee May Lower Liver Cancer Risk

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter Thu Aug 2, 7:01 PM ET

THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- People who drink coffee are 41 percent less likely to develop liver cancer compared with folks who don't indulge in the brew, Italian researchers report.

"Moreover, the apparent favorable effect of coffee drinking was found both in studies from southern Europe, where coffee is widely consumed, and from Japan, where coffee consumption is less frequent, and in subjects with chronic liver diseases," the researchers wrote in the August issue of Hepatology.

One expert said it's too early to laud coffee as an anti-cancer agent, however.

"I don't doubt that the association is true, but it is hard to know the cause," said Dr. Alfred I. Neugut, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and co-director of cancer prevention at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. He was not involved in the study.

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Brazilian Coffee Crop at Risk

Brazilian Coffee Crop at Risk as Trees Flower Early (Update1)

By Carlos Caminada

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee trees in Brazil's Minas Gerais state are flowering earlier than usual because of above- average rainfall, threatening to reduce next year's crop, according to the world's biggest coffee cooperative.

About 20 percent to 30 percent of the coffee trees in the south of Minas Gerais, Brazil's biggest coffee-producing region, are flowering a month early, said Joaquim Goulart, chief agronomist at the Guaxupe Region Coffee Cooperative, known as Cooxupe.

``It's very serious,'' Goulart said in a telephone interview from Guaxupe, in the south of the state. ``It could badly hinder the next harvest.''

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A few cups of coffee may lower colon cancer risk

TOKYO (AFP) - Drinking a few cups of coffee a day may lower the risk of advanced colon cancer, at least for women, Japanese researchers said Wednesday.

The study, supported by Japan's health ministry, showed women who drink more than three cups of coffee a day were 56 percent less likely to develop advanced colon cancer than those who drink no coffee at all.

"Drinking coffee sustains the secretion of bile acid and keeps down cholesterol levels, the mechanisms thought to prevent colon cancer," the report said.

But unfortunately the effect was not seen in men, the medical research team said.

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Coffee and exercising may prevent skin cancer

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Drinking coffee and exercising may prevent skin cancer by killing off cells damaged by the sun's ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation, said a study of

The coffee-exercise combination produced a "dramatic" fourfold difference in apoptosis -- the programmed death of pre-cancerous cells -- between laboratory mice that did and did not follow the regime, said the researchers of New Jersey's Rutgers University.

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Costa Rica Adventure

Costa Rica is a small country, about 20% smaller than the state of West Virginia in the U.S. It is located in Central America, and on a world map it is the size of a thumbtack, with Panama to its south, Nicaragua to its north, and with oceans on east and west. Its size will fool you, because there is so much to see and do there. The country is so much larger once you're there.

My teen-aged son and I recently spent a week in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, going, going, going, to all the places we could cram into a week. I don't know how many kilometers we drove because the odometer was not working in the rental car, but we were out every morning at 0630, driving, taking pictures, and enjoying the sights. Jacob is 15 and likes to sleep late, as all teens do, but he was a good sport and a good navigator. We still were lost a lot, but being lost in Costa Rica is fun because of all the beautiful places to see. One exception was being lost in the capital, San José. Not fun. Don't do it.

The Central Valley is where about 40% of the population lives and is also where the coffee grows. We saw coffee everywhere and I stopped many times just to take pictures. The Costa Ricans (Ticos) probably think we tourists are nuts, stopping on the side of the road to take a picture of coffee trees. Probably what North Americans would think of someone stopping for a picture of a pasture or a corn field.

We were in Costa Rica during the rainy season, but the rain was not a problem. It rained every day, but not for long, and after, it was beautiful again. Even the rain was beautiful. The weather in the Central Valley is spring-like year around. The temperature averages 72 Fahrenheit (22 Celsius), and seldom exceeds 82 for a high and 60 for a low. It's about 10 degrees north of the Equator, so there are two seasons, rainy and dry. Rainy season lasts from May to November.

The weather changes as you move around the country. Want cooler? Go up. We went from jackets with chattering teeth in the mountains to humid, hot and sweaty on the Pacific coast.

As you can tell, I am hooked on Costa Rica. The people are courteous and friendly. The scenery is awesome. The weather is ideal, and the coffee is some of the best on the planet. Feel free to contact me for more details. I have another website with lots of info on Costa Rica: Costa Rica Links.

The photo on the right is solid coffee. If you can enlarge the photo in your browser you will see the little green cherries. The photo on the left shows a hillside with rows of coffee at the top and sugar cane at the bottom. Good combination.

More Costa Rica photos may be seen here: Photo Album

Robert

Chris Weaver - The Online Coffee Gourmet

A Brewster Smythe

July 28, 2007

Chris Weaver loved good coffee. He is a solid businessman with years of experience and knowledge. Weaver wanted to develop a lucrative online business. After careful research, and knowing he loved coffee, he decided to combine the two. The Coffee Gourmet is the result of that union.

As an internet entrepreneur, Weaver's data proved to him that the coffee business was highly competitive. However, it was also clear that there was room for a little rivalry. Because Chris did not operate a brick and mortar coffee business he knew he would have to seek out product and expertise in a different way than those business people who utilized that business model.

In the following dialogue the reader will see how Weaver set about obtaining the information he needed to be successful. The reader will also come to understand The Coffee Gourmet's secrets to customer satisfaction.

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