As you know we are very proud of our allegiance with the cup of excellence. We decided this year when renewing our membership to become the first (as far as I can see) UK company to be come a Benefactor member. This is just our way of giving a little something back to a program that has been so important to us in finding some awesome coffees. I guess I’m telling you lot as its your money in buying the coffees that’s allowed us to do it, so pat yourself on the backs.

I’ve got a new toy and I want to show off. Before I got into this lark I was a home roaster, always been interested in roasting, and I guess my main motivation to do what I do. So when you get one of the first in the world of a new roasting toy, you can see why I want to show off.

This is the new interactive super dooper shinny variable profile home roasting machine. I’ve done nothing but take it out of the box and turn it on but hope to tell you more about it soon.

Answers to some questions

1 How much?
price around £620 plus delivery

2. WHEN, WHEN !!!

Soon (next few weeks as long as testing goes well)

3. Can I upgrade my current hottop?

Yes there is an upgrade kit, its not easy to fit so you need some experience of electronics or someone you can rely on for support (also these will be sold on an as seen and we cant upgrade it for you and its at your own risk). Details of the upgrade can be found at the link below
LINK TO FITTING INSTRUCTIONS

4. How much for the upgrade kit.

£420 (sorry these are costing an arm and a leg).

From the last post I talked about Costa Rica, and as if by Magic, the following press release came from Cup of Excellence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MISSOULA, MT (January 19, 2007) – The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. (ACE) is pleased to announced the addition of Costa Rica to its prestigious Cup of Excellence® competition line up for 2007. The Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica (SCACR) recently announced its plans to hold the international cupping week during May 14th to 18th and the auction June 21st. Cup of Excellence supporters are already signing up to be included on the jury and to bid at the auction.

“With the new joint venture between COE and the Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica we are looking forward to motivate the Costa Rica coffee producers to continue improving their agricultural coffee practices and milling, that as a result will turn into exceptional coffee quality lots,” explained Gema Siri the SCACR Executive Director. “Through the COE Program we hope more international roasters fall in love with the quality we are producing and also open new opportunities for specialty coffees of Costa Rica to be known worldwide as one of the best coffees of the world,” she continued.

Five Central American countries are now part of the Cup of Excellence program which manages the selection of the country’s finest coffees during a very stringent 3 week process involving 2 different juries. “Costa Rican coffees are known world wide for their quality and are an important part of any specialty coffee company”, explained Susie Spindler, Executive director of ACE. “These coffees will be an exciting addition to our exemplary coffee line up and will bring many buyers to the auction”.

The winning farmers will be presented their Cup of Excellence award during an emotional awards ceremony on the evening of May 18, 2007 when farmers, press, dignitaries and the international jury anxiously will await the winners’ names to be announced.

The Costa Rican program will mark the thirty-third competition for the Cup of Excellence program since it’s beginnings in 1999. Other current countries to host the program include Brazil, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Colombia. The Cup of Excellence program is managed by the non-profit Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc, The state of the art Cup of Excellence auction has been managed in partnership with CommoditiesOne, a leading software development firm since 2002. For more information about the Cup of Excellence program, to become a member and to learn more about Costa Rica’s finest coffees log on to www.scacr.com and www.cupofexcellence.org.

I wanted to share with you our new espresso set up at the roastery. I took delivery of the La Spaziale S5 on Thursday and it is awesome. We decided to go for the bar look so when customer’s visit its like being in a coffee shop. Please be gentle as I’m no craftsman and it was all built with my fair hand.

I’m very pleased anyway 

Ok maybe not a star but you can wish on the website now. We have added a wishlist to the cart, that you can then mail to a friend. No more boring socks for Christmas, no more jumpers for birthdays, tell um what you would like not what they want to get.

The whole thinking behind this is, if like me your family know you like coffee, although they put a lot of thought into present chooseing, I really don’t need any more french presses or any pre ground gift sets from the supermarket.

A big thank you to our webmaster who broke his back to get this out in time for it to be useful for Christmas. Don’t forget to log in before or after adding as it wont be saved to your personal wish list.

Well after the Genes coming back in stock we also have another home roaster. Its taken a long while (beyond our control) but at last we have the new I roast 2 in stock ready to go out to be with you before Christmas.

Take a look by clicking here.