Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

How do you roast coffee for milk?

It’s impossible to deny just how popular milk-based coffee drinks (such as the flat white, latte, and cappuccino) are in coffee shops around the world. According to 2020 data from Project Café USA, the latte was the most ordered drink in the UK, and the third-most popular beverage in US coffee shops. In line with […]


Know Your Sweeteners: Honey: Part Two

We continue our deep dive into honey, bringing to light environmental and animal rights concerns related to the product, and how the industry is addressing them. BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Feature photo via Unsplash This week we started our discussion of honey, uncovering how it’s produced, the differences between varieties of honey, and […]


Lvl Up Coffee Hits High Scores In Normal, Illinois

Specialty coffee in the central Illinois town of Normal has reached a new stage of quality with the opening of Lvl Up Coffee Bar. Brought to life by coffee roaster…


U.S. Coffee Championships 2023 Denver Qualifiers Reach New Heights

The next group of coffee champions moves on to nationals at the Denver qualifiers. BY KATE VAN PETTENSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE Photos by Matthew Temple and courtesy of Specialty Coffee Association The high-flying world of U.S. CoffeeChamps competitions reached new heights as coffee professionals flocked to the Denver qualifiers for the 2023 season, hosted in […]

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

Know Your Sweeteners: Honey: Part One

Not all sweeteners are made equal! In this series, we’ll take a closer look at different types of sweeteners and syrups—starting with honey. BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo by Arwin Neil Baichoo via Unsplash Though you can’t go wrong with simple syrup or the tried-and-true vanilla, there are many options when it […]


Coffee News Recap, 26 Jan: Researchers create new genetic map to “future proof” arabica production, UAE & Italian Coffee Champions crowned at WoC Dubai and SIGEP & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s coffee news stories. The word of the week is: competitions. Mon, 22 Jan Timemore launches crowdfunding campaign for upcoming Millab E01 portable electric coffee grinder. The wireless electric coffee grinder features a 5,000 mAh lithium battery […]


Three Questions with Gabriela Parfait of The Good Sourcing

After eight years working for the French green coffee importing company Belco, Gabriela Parfait has launched a coffee-focused company called The Good Sourcing.  The new venture is intentionally small, although…


Three Questions with Gabriela Parfait of The Good Sourcing

After eight years working for the French green coffee importing company Belco, Gabriela Parfait has launched a coffee-focused company called The Good Sourcing.  The new venture is intentionally small, although…

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

Breaking New Ground: A Sicilian Coffee Plantation, Part 2

The Morettino family has successfully cultivated a coffee plantation right in Sicily. Next on the agenda: making the island an international coffee hub. BY JOSEPH PHELANSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Feature photo by Tomas Anton Escobar via Unsplash Editor’s note: Check out part one of this story here. Andrea Morettino’s family has proven that coffee […]


Unique Collection in Switzerland Offers a Look at Coffee’s Rich History

Anita Vietri’s Coffee Culture Collection chronicles the brew’s journey through 1,500 artifacts. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Anita Vietri In the rich tapestry of coffee culture, there exists a hidden gem—an extraordinary collection that chronicles the captivating history of our beloved brew. Today, we meet Anita Vietri, an ardent coffee enthusiast and […]


Design Details: A Petit Le Café Coffee in Midtown Manhattan

Welcome to Design Details, an ongoing editorial feature in Daily Coffee News focused on individual examples of coffee shop architecture, interior design, packaging design or branding. If you are a coffee…


5 Amazing Coffee Drinks in Reno, Nev.

Here are some standout specialty drinks you can try in the Biggest Little City in the World. BY EDDIE P. GOMEZSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE Photos by Eddie P. Gomez Reno, Nev., has more cafés per capita than just about any other place in North America. And because it is a snowier-than-usual winter in northwestern Nevada […]

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

The immersion experience will allow participants to grow their knowledge on Salvadoran culture and coffee varieties.

BY J. MARIE CARLAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos courtesy of Cup of Excellence

Cup of Excellence is launching a new learning opportunity in 2024: the Origin Immersion Program, to be held in El Salvador from February 26 to March 5.

About Cup of Excellence

Cup of Excellence (CoE) is a 501c3 nonprofit that owns and manages an annual multi-level competition in coffee-producing countries. Since 1999, it has held competitions in 15 coffee-producing nations. CoE offers sensory training programs worldwide and focuses on small-farm specialty producers, which has helped raise the bar in coffee quality and benefited farmers.

Graduates of a Cup of Excellence Sensory Education Training course with Alex Pond (middle row, fifth from left), senior education and project manager for CoE.

El Salvador has been a featured country of the Cup of Excellence program since the first CoE competition was held there in 2003.

Carolina Padilla, president of the Salvadoran Coffee Institute, says in a press release, “The Salvadoran Coffee Institute is excited to see Cup of Excellence bringing back coffee buyers to origin. … We are proud to showcase Salvadoran coffee culture, heritage, and varieties such as Pacamara. We will highlight our traditional varieties so that coffee roasters can develop a deeper understanding on how to roast and appreciate them so they can share with their customers worldwide.”

What to Expect

Participants will get to experience the traditions of El Salvador while delving deep into the coffee industry there. Through visits to coffee farms and mills, there will be instruction in cupping, sensory training, roasting, and more. Attendees can explore Salvadoran coffee at variety workshops; learn about coffee production, processing, defects and quality control; and even enjoy a day at the beach!

CoE Head Judge and Origin Immersion Instructor Luis Rodriguez.

Meet the Instructors

The El Salvador Immersion Program will be led by CoE Head Judge Luis Rodriguez. In 2001, Luis served as the head of the economics department for the Salvadoran Coffee Council. He has since become a coffee producer, Q Grader, and instructor. He has worked with the Cup of Excellence program since 2003, coordinating the competition in El Salvador and acting as a head judge. He has also been a participant in the CoE competition as a winning producer.

Alex Pond, the senior education and project manager for Cup of Excellence, will also be instructing during the El Salvador Origin Immersion Program. He instructs and drives CoE courses and education initiatives and has taught courses in over 15 countries. Alex also works as a head judge for CoE competitions and ACE (Alliance for Coffee Excellence) Private Collection Auctions.

Alex Pond instructs a Sensory Education Training class in 2022.

Immersion Trip Details

Alex says of the course, “Along with all the farm and mill visits, students will also undertake some serious cupping training focusing on the traditional varieties of El Salvador. Students will learn from local experts how to roast those coffees to bring out their best potential. The class will culminate with an exam, just like our national jury test and SET (Sensory Education Training) exam. The top three students will be guaranteed seats on either the El Salvador CoE Jury or as observers in that CoE.”

The course will run Feb 26-March 1, 2024, and will cost $2,500 for ACE Members and $2,950 for non-members. The trip fee is all-inclusive and covers hotel, ground transportation to all activities, daily breakfast and lunch, as well as most dinners.

You can find more information on the trip and sign up here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. Marie Carlan (she/they) is the online editor for Barista Magazine. She’s been a barista for 15 years and writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. When she’s not behind the espresso bar or toiling over content, you can find her perusing record stores, writing poetry, and trying to keep the plants alive in her Denver apartment. She occasionally updates her blog.

Subscribe and More!

December 2023 + January 2024 Issue cover

Out now: It’s the December 2023 + January 2024 issue! Read it for free with our digital edition. And for more than three years’ worth of issues, visit our digital edition archives here.

You can order a hard copy of the magazine through our online store here, or start a subscription for one year or two.

The post Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0