It is with a great deal of sadness and disappointment that I have to announce that we wont be selling this years cup of excellence lot from the Honduras competition.  We were successful in obtaining lot 26 Los Agapantos – Rafael De Jesus Chinchilla Chinchilla. Take a look at our cupping notes here on how wonderful the coffee was.

“Was” are the words I have to use as during the milling/bagging process we found there has been a taint passed to it that makes it taste of jute and musty. There were times the cup was as wonderful as we remembered but most of the time it was not. We made a decision over two weeks ago this coffee was not going to make it to the range. But then we had to decide and feedback the problems we were having. We found we were not the only ones to find this problem and other lots have also shown this fault. We also didn’t want to do anything that was rash or damaging to the program, and we wanted to see how the coffee developed. We removed it from the bags into bulk bags to see if it would improve. It didn’t and some tough decisions had to be made.

Our importers Mercanta have been awesome. Buying these kinds of coffees is the pointy end of the business. We are dealing with VERY expensive coffees that are incredibly rare and we don’t have the same kind of safe guards of normal spot coffee. If things go wrong then it can be disastrous for us financially and professionally. Our importer partners handle bringing most of our coffee and normally if it doesn’t arrive in perfect condition then it’s their problem. But cup of excellence is slightly different, when I commit to buy a lot then there is a shift in responsibility legally. But luckily for us, morally our partners see it a different way and due to their professionalism they are insured for such things and have taken up an insurance claim against this damage. I’m grateful for their help support and diligence, the good guys of the coffee market. I also want to thank Susie Spindler of the cup of excellence who flew into London for a meeting with the importers to try and sort the problems out. She works tirelessly for the COE and does a great job.

I’m devastated you are not able to share with us this beautiful coffee, one we were proud to chase and win. I hope Sr. Rafael De Jesus Chinchilla Chinchilla is able to repeat his fantastic work again next year and we maybe get a chance to try to show you that with a little love, hard work and care Honduras can produce beautiful coffee that is up there with the rest of the worlds finest offerings.

A few months ago we had an open day where we had lots of our friends (most who happen to be customers too) come around and enjoy a day with us.

As part of this day we had a small video made (just over two mins), and we’ve managed to get a copy on the web for you to watch. Hope you enjoy it.

PS Not sure what’s happening with the audio on this, will try and get it sorted.

A press Release from the cup of excellence. Always like to keep you aware of this stuff.

Contact: Sara Pankratz Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. Email: coe@montana.com Phone: 406-542-3509

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Missoula MT. (September 21, 2006) – Amid much excitement and celebration, Edith Encisco Yasso walked away with Colombia’s first place trophy for the Cup of Excellence competition. Women owned farms in Colombia have placed in the competition and even been presidential winners, but have never taken the top place.

“I am so very happy, I just can not believe that I have won! I was #25 in the second competition in Medellín in 2005, and after that I was doing every single step in the right way to produce a better coffee, now I know that all my effort is awarded,” exclaimed Edith Yasso after receiving the Cup of Excellence trophy.

Edith Enciso Yasso, from the Tolima department, not only received first place but also the presidential award for obtaining 93.37 out of a possible 100 points during the competition. The two other presidential awards, those coffees scoring above 90 points, went to Libardo Chávez in second place and Cesar Julio Muñoz Calderon in third place with a score of 92.38. The remaining 27 winning farms were located across other departments in Colombia including Nariõ, Hulia and Cauca.

The coffees were selected during the competition that is the most stringent in the coffee industry today. A coffee has to pass through three different phases and is cupped five different times. The top ten coffees are cupped a sixth and final time to rank their order.

Roasters from across the globe have already signed up for samples in anticipation of the upcoming action on October 26, 2006. This will be Colombia’s fourth auction as they hold two separate competitions each year. Lot sizes range from 15-75 bags, allowing for roasters of any size to own one of these valuable coffees.

“Industry support for Colombia’s top coffees is rising every program,” explained Susie Spindler, the Executive Director of the program. “More roasters have asked for winning samples from this competition more than any other of the three previous competitions. We expect this to grow as Colombian farmers continue to produce top coffees that win the Cup of Excellence,” she continued.

This is the 28th competition for the Cup of Excellence® program which is dedicated to the appreciation of exemplary coffee worldwide. It is managed by the US based non-profit Alliance for Coffee Excellence Inc., in partnership with coffee producing countries. For more information about the program, for a complete list winning farms, to find out how to get involved with the program, and to receive winning samples, log on to www.cupofexcellence.org.

For most orders sent out over 1.5kg will now be sent with City Link and not ANC parcel firm. We have had lots of feedback from customers saying how un happy they have been with ANC, and we have had thing broken or go missing. So we have now moved to City Link who seem to have a much better systems in place. Now unusually it’s not cheaper than AMC and we are not passing any extra costs onto you. We worked out it was worth it for us to spend less time on claiming for damaged goods, and a few pence extra on shipping to you. Please let us know if you have any experiences you have with our new shipper, good or bad.

We’ve gone ahead and ordered a handful (and I mean handful) of some gas sample roasters. They are two barrel and will roast as little as 80g and as much as a lb in each barrel, or a profile of around 15mins or so.

We will be selling a limited amount of these, and we don’t know for how much yet, but I guess its going to be around £1400. They will be sold on a as seen basis, as they are not toys and certainly not your average home roaster, and will not have any warranty. So if I haven’t scared you off and your interested, get in touch with me to register an interest in these very limited roasters.

PS ignore the grinder attachment, they are rubbish and we didn’t have them added.

After a long wait the Café Gene’s are now back in stock and available. Take a look here