The Canadian Barista & Coffee Academy will be offering two days of barista training at Fratello this May 26th and 27th - following the Barista Competition.

This special training academy for barista (espresso machine operators) and those interested in learning more about coffee and espresso presents its 2008 Educational Program. The hands-on training workshops are lead by Canadian and international expert trainers and professional baristas. They are for those new to the industry or those who want to perfect their coffee skills and include: Basic Training, Advanced Training and Expert Barisa workshops.

Please refer to the schedule below for details and click here to register.

Location: Fratello Coffee

4021 9th St. SE Calgary, Alberta

403-265-2112

Monday, May 26, 2008

9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Barista Level I: Beginner Barista Workshop

2 p.m. - 6 p.m. Barista level II: Advanced Barista Workshop

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Level III: Expert Barista & Latte Art Workshop

9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Opening a Successful Coffee Business Seminar

2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Coffee Cupping Workshop

Fratello Coffee is introducing a new Costa Rican to our clients this February.  We have done a lot of research to find this coffee and are very pleased with our results.  After narrowing down from 30 original varities submitted from Costa Rica, we had decided to put the top 12 into a final round of cupping.

We got to share this experience with Zane Kelsall from Bumpy’s Cafe (www.bumpyscafe.com), and got to share with him a Cup of Excellence approach to cupping and selecting coffee.  From the top 12 coffees, 6 were chosen and re-cupped to find our number 1 selection.  After many hours of cupping, Fratello has chose to work with the Coopedota cooperative.

We gave this coffee a Cupping Score of 88.6 and found that this fully washed, high altitude coffee gave an extremely clean taste, with a creamy and toffee like body.  What really stood out for me with the lingering bright and sparkling orange acidity.   Will can also pick up a slight spicey (nutmeg) note in the aromas.

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What does it take to be a “3rd Wave” cafe?  Read this post and find out what some of the best in Seattle are doing. 

On December 6th, a group from Fratello Coffee and Slayer Espresso met in Seattle for 1 day.  In this 10 hour day we visited, reviewed and tasted a lot of amazing products.  When originally planning this trip to we had 2 goals.  The main purpose of this trip was to visit the Slayer Espresso’s studio to witness their break through in brewing technology and to experience their ability to develop new characteristics in its espresso brewing techniques.  It is too new for me to talk about this, so I won’t……    

Our second purpose was to educate ourselves with a few of the great Seattle “3^rd Wave café’s” and to bring this knowledge back to Calgary to help our café’s in elevating their skills in offering excellence to their customers.  With the knowledge of new competition coming to our back yard we felt that this was the best way to help prepare our clients for what the new standard of running a café will be, and what it will take to compete on these new levels.  We know that many people don’t have the time to fly to Seattle/Vancouver them selves, so we decided to bring Seattle to them.  My next plan is to do the same thing for Vancouver.  

14 cafes were chosen, all different and all excellent in what they are doing.  This tour consisted of Chris and Jason Prefontaine, Eric Perkunder, Trent Breitkreutzt and my self.  I decided to document this trip, but please keep in mind that I am not a journalist, I am a professional coffee cupper and roaster, who simply loves coffee.  The views below are my opinion only!! 

Below are some notes and observations I made while visiting these great cafes.  I hope that this will be helpful in setting a new direction for those cafes that are looking to improve with what they are currently doing everyday.  

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Starting March 1, 2008 you will be able to purchase this incredible Direct Trade coffee from Fratello Coffee Co.   We haven’t been this excited about offering our clients a coffee since the first lot of Cup of Excellence we won. 

This coffee cupped out at a 89.5, but if you were to include the look of the beans when scoring, this coffee would have been well into the 90’s.    These giant beans give this coffee a very unique look.  We found that this coffee gave us a spicy orange and fresh pine aroma which was complimented by the thick & syrupy mouth feel.  Flavor notes of black-bing cherry, candied cloves and apple pie are brightened with the delicate grapefruit acidity.   

Finca El Limoncillo - General farm information

This farm got its name from the unusual growth of lemon trees that were originally found here.  This is arguably their most beautiful farm (out of 5). 

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I have been doing some research and have found that there is not a lot of information available for coffee consumers who are interested in learning the skill of tasting coffee properly, or cupping as its called in the coffee industry.  Cupping is a daily task which most roasters and green coffee buyers do on a regular basis.  This is a SKILL, and a skill that you can learn how to do over time.  You must teach your pallet how to do this properly, and through following some of these steps we have out lined, you can begin to learn.

Coffee lovers will agree that coffees by the same name are not all alike.  Coffee “cupping”, or comparing coffees is not only a lot of fun for the consumer, but also imperative to coffee shop owners who are committed to offering their customers the best coffee.

Good coffee is worth discovering:

Ground rules for coffee cupping:

The real art of cupping comes with the descriptive terms used when explaining the different geographical regions being tasted.    (Read the rest of this post)

Wow….I just came from another amazing supping table, and this time it was samples of Nicaraguan’s.  2008 is going to be an amazing year for coffee qualities available through Fratello.  It has been a while since I’ve cupped consistently good coffees from all origins in Central and South America.

The most unique cup so far was what I tasted today.  A Nicaraguan Pacamara Peaberry….A GIANT peaberry.?.?..I have never heard of this variety before today.

I gave this coffee an 89.5.  The aroma on this gave hints of cinnamon, pine and a spiced orange.  The cup was clean and sweet and had flavors of black bing cherry, candied cloves, licorice and molasses.   Amazing.  It reminded me of a really good Ethiopian or Kenyan.  I’m going to do my best to get some of this for next year.  Wish me luck.
Check out the size of these beans compared to the penny:

Look for this coffee in 2008.  You will not regret trying this estate.

Fratello Coffee has found a new source for its Guatemalan coffee and is pleased to announce that it is certified by Rainforest Alliance.  We have chose to work with the Nueva Granada estate and will have this amazing coffee starting in December of this year. 

Guatemalan Nueva Granada – Single Estate - Rainforest Alliance Certified Cupping Score – 87.6 – Nutty & chocolate orange aromas prepare you for the dark chocolate and creamy/silky mouth feel with lingering and zesty orange acidity.  

Nueva Granada Estate Coffee
During the harvest, Nueva Granada selects only the ripest cherries, and when the beans are in parchment form, again grades the coffees and stores them in burlap bags in a special, dry, wood-line storeroom. Once an order comes from Fratello Coffee Co., the parchment covering is removed and Nueva Granada’s blue-green beans are carefully selected and prepared for shipment.

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Russ & I had the pleasure of taking some of our staff down to Brazil last month on an educational buying trip. We met farmers committed to more then just quality coffee, but also who were committed to making a difference in the environment and to the lives of people who worked for them on their farms.

We look forward to bringing to Calgary some of these special coffees and the stories of the families who put so much heart into producing them. I want to give a special thanks to Schieder and the good people of Tristao Trading for hosting our Fratello family while in Brazil. It was a fantastic trip!

  Bolivian coffee is truly a hidden gem of specialty coffee. I was very surprised at the quality of coffee being produced, in these small farms high in the Andes Mountains.  Growing conditions reach as high as 2500 meters above sea level.      Almost every farm is organic; however, not all are certified.  Typically these farms also grow other crops amongst their coffee trees such as orange, banana, and other tropical fruits.  Walking through these farms gives you a lot of history as many have been handed down for many generations. Their farms and processes methods are very small as most farms are never more than 10 hectares.  The growing conditions and processing methods are very typical of what would be found in Africa. You will find a lot of naturals, and semi-washed coffee on these farms.    

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Well it was the final day of the 2007 Bolivian Cup of Excellence competition. There was no better way to end off my journey than by seeing all of the hard working farmers and their families cheering each other on in hopes of being one of the 26 finalists.

It was incredible to see their faces filled with joy when their names were called one by one and recognized in front of all the media and their peers for the efforts to improve quality and consistency on their farms. It sure makes it easy for me to want to continue supporting the COE Competition when you get to hear stories of how this motivates them to improve what they do, and hear them tell us how their lives change through the exportation of their coffee to our roasting facilities.  

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