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Cup of Excellence and the situation in Colombia
The Cup of Excellence promotes coffee quality worldwide, and in this article we will focus on Colombia
Colombia and climate challenges
Colombia is one of the most important countries where coffee is involved, and we have already shared with you some details about Organico Nevada, a high-quality and high-altitude Colombian coffee, emphasizing the effects of altitude on coffee plantations.
Colombia is the world’s third largest coffee producer (Stein, 2021) and up to half a million Colombian families depend directly on coffee production (Ceballos-Sierra & Dall’Erba, 2021). That is why there have been increasing concerns about the unprecedented challenges posed by climate change to coffee production in Colombia, and to agricultural production in general worldwide (Stein, 2021). According to a study conducted by the University of Illinois, the effects of climate change vary significantly depending on the location of the coffee plantation (Stein, 2021).
Colombia is a large country characterized by a very peculiar geography. In fact, the Andes Mountains cross the country from its south-west to north-east corner, and Colombian coffee grows in different areas at different altitude levels. That is why the effects of climatic conditions can be very different for low-altitude and high-altitude regions (Stein, 2021).
Source: (Stein, 2021)
The University of Illinois study aims at estimating the production function of Colombian coffee at the municipal level, and at forecasting productivity in Colombia at the same level for 2041-2060. In order to keep the production rates high, some new techniques might be needed, such as place-tailored strategies and methods adapted to evolving climate conditions (Ceballos-Sierra & Dall’Erba, 2021).
Cup of Excellence: focus on Colombia 2021
We at ArtOn Café have already talked about how the Cup of Excellence keeps promoting high quality coffee worldwide and we will now focus on the Colombian winning lots.
The winning lots are the top 30 coffees – cupped at least five times each during the cupping process – that scored over 87 at the Cup of Excellence Global Coffee Centres. The winning coffees have been selected and scored in blind cuppings, and the winning farm and the specific coffee lot details are submitted by each farmer and are not known to the public until the awards ceremony. Farm information is for educational purposes only, but it can also be used to help sell the winning coffees (Cup of Excellence, 2021).
Make sure you check the winning farms and their score on the Cup of Excellence website.
Bibliography
Ceballos-Sierra, F., & Dall’Erba, S. (2021). The effect of climate variability on Colombian coffee productivity: A dynamic panel model approach. Agricultural Systems, 190, 103126. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103126
Cup of Excellence. (2021). Colombia 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021, from Colombia 2021 website: https://cupofexcellence.org/colombia-2021/
Stein, M. (2021). How climate change affects Colombia’s coffee production. Retrieved from https://aces.illinois.edu/news/how-climate-change-affects-colombias-coffee-production
Picture credits a: Jess Kraft. Retrieved April 20, 2021, from Shutterstock website: https://www.shutterstock.com/it/image-photo/coffee-plant-covered-hills-rising-above-492588049
Picture credits b: PenWin. Retrieved April 21, 2021, from Shutterstock website: https://www.shutterstock.com/it/image-vector/ribbon-like-colombian-flag-coffee-plant-1763081576
Cup of Excellence: Spring updates
The Cup of Excellence keeps promoting high quality coffee worldwide
Chat & Coffee with Guatemala CoE winning farmer
Seize the opportunity to meet the Guatemala CoE winning farmer in 2020, Luis Pedro Zelaya Aguirre, while sipping the coffee he produced. This unique event, taking place online on Friday 16th of April, 2021, represents a great opportunity to learn something new about coffee and coffee tasting. The event comes with the following elements (Cup of Excellence, 2021a):
Source: Cup of Excellence
The Scout Guide to Understanding Coffee Quality: Volume 1 (Alliance for Coffee Excellence, n.d.) is a useful tool to learn how to grasp even the tiniest details of coffee excellence. This short book, which includes playful illustrations, will be a pocket guide during a journey in the coffee world, going from bean to cup and understanding what elements make coffee such a unique elixir.
Make sure you take a look at the detailed descriptions of the Guatemala CoE winning coffee!
Virtual Sensory Education Training Class
Sensory Education Training (SET) is the education branch of Cup of Excellence. It aims at helping students evaluate and taste coffee with greater awareness, accuracy, consistency and confidence, and at building and strengthening relationships among fellow members of the international coffee community (Cup of Excellence, n.d.). Sensory Education Events represent a great opportunity to improve students’ sensory and technical skills. The classes are conducted by official CoE head judges and SET instructors, who share with their students their long experience in the coffee sector. Sensory Education Training classes are intensive, and open to roasters, retailers, coffee producers, importers, exporters and coffee lovers worldwide. These events help participants identify diverse aspects of quality in the cup, such as clean, sweet, balance, acidity, and mouthfeel, and describe coffee quality verbally and through consistent scoring. On the final day of the training all participants receive a Certificate of Participation (Cup of Excellence, n.d.).
All Sensory Education Trainings include the following elements (Cup of Excellence, n.d.):
Sensory Education Training Virtual Calibration
Sensory Education Training (SET) VC is a global calibration event that will be led by Cup of Excellence (CoE) Head Judge Scott Conary in May 2021. Students from all over the world will cup and score coffee from award-winning CoE farmers and renowned green-coffee importers. This unique event will be a great opportunity for students to evaluate their cupping scores as compared with those of a global community of coffee professionals (Cup of Excellence, 2021b).
* Schedule based on Eastern Standard Time (UTC–5)
Before the beginning of the SET VC, students will receive a box containing roasted samples for three cuppings, sample placement instructions, CoE score sheets, an official CoE cupping spoon, and other goodies from CoE sponsors (Cup of Excellence, 2021b).
Head Judge Scott Conary will support students and teach them how to cup and score using the CoE score sheet, and explain what makes CoE award-winning coffees so special. Students will therefore learn how to set up the event cuppings in the comfort of their homes or cupping labs.
In ten days, from May 7th to May 17th, participants are supposed to cup the coffees they have received, score them and return their completed score sheets to the event coordinators. During these ten days, participants will have access to video sessions with CoE staff and Scott Conary himself. Moreover, they will have the chance to be in touch directly with their fellow participants via the WhatsApp group created specifically for this event (Cup of Excellence, 2021b).
After submitting their score sheets, students will receive individualized evaluations of their work and reports compiled by Scott Conary. These reports will give an overview of the cupping and technical skills of the students. At the end of the program, on May 22nd, participants will join Scott Conary for a virtual meeting in which the data collected from all participants will be presented. Furthermore, on this occasion students will answer questions about the coffees’ attributes, the cupping data, and more (Cup of Excellence, 2021b).
Main elements included in the SET VC
Make sure you take a look at the main elements which characterise the Sensory Education Training (SET) Virtual Calibration listed below.
Opportunities given to students taking part in the Sensory Education Training Virtual Calibration (Cup of Excellence, 2021b):
Services included in the class fee (Cup of Excellence, 2021b):
Elements included in the coffee kit (Cup of Excellence, 2021b):
Source: Sensory Education Training Virtual Calibration
Bibliography
Alliance for Coffee Excellence. (n.d.). Scout Guide to Coffee Quality. Retrieved April 5, 2021, from Collections / Publications website: https://cupofexcellence.shop/collections/publications/products/scout-guide-to-coffee-quality
Cup of Excellence. (n.d.). Sensory Education Training (SET). Retrieved April 5, 2021, from Trainings & Education website: https://cupofexcellence.org/sensory-educational-training/
Cup of Excellence. (2021a). FIRESIDE CHAT & COFFEE WITH GUATEMALA COE WINNING FARMER, LUIS PEDRO ZELAYA AGUIRRE. Retrieved April 5, 2021, from News website: https://cupofexcellence.org/blog/2021/03/29/fireside-chat-coffee-with-guatemala-coe-winning-farmer-luis-pedro-zelaya-aguirre/
Cup of Excellence. (2021b). Sensory Education Training Virtual Calibration. Retrieved April 5, 2021, from Trainings & Education website: https://cupofexcellence.org/product/virtual-sensory-education-may-2021/
Picture credits a: https://www.goodnewsmagazine.se/alla-nyheter/categories/nyheter
Picture credits b: Retrieved April 10, 2021, from: https://megaport.hu/media/14935/good-morning
ICO March Report: general price rise, but tendence to halt at the end of the month
The ICO composite indicator rose slightly, but prices faltered towards the end of March
ArtOn Café is proud to publish a monthly abstract of the ICO reports. On our website we have added the graphs of the London and New York stock exchanges. The former concerns Robusta coffee, while the latter refers to Arabica coffee. We have also added an interesting banner that presents the EUR to USD exchange rate. Please visit our website to access all these details.
Source: ICO
The following is an excerpt from the ICO market report of March 2021:
“The ICO composite indicator rose slightly, by 0.8%, in March averaging 120.36 US cents/lb compared to 119.35 US cents/lb in February, confirming an upward trend over the last five months. This is the highest monthly average since coffee year 2017/18. However, reversed this upward trend and prices weakened in the final days of the month, recording their lowest levels in the last two days of the month. Total exports by exporting countries to all destinations totaled 10.47 million bags in February 2021, compared with 11.16 million bags in February 2020. Cumulative exports from March 2020 to February 2021 are provisionally estimated at 128.57 million bags against 130.97 million bags recorded from March 2019 to February 2020. Exports over the first five months of coffee year 2020/21 totaled 52.81 million bags compared to 51.53 million in coffee year 2019/20. World consumption for coffee year 2020/21 is projected at 166.62 million bags, an increase of 1.3% on its level of 164.5 million bags in coffee year 2019/20. However, world consumption still falls by 3.11% below estimated total production of 171.89 million bags in coffee year 2020/21.” (ICO, 2021)
Source: ICO Coffee Market Report – March 2021
Sources
ICO. (2021). Coffee Market Report March 2021. Retrieved from http://www.ico.org/documents/cy2020-21/cmr-0321-e.pdf
Picture credits a: https://www.fodevarefokus.dk/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/Merrild_Lavazza_sortimentskatalog_2017_FINAL.pdf
Picture credits b: https://www.korabrewandwine.com/coffee/