Posted by TheShot on 03 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew, Quality Issues
Continuing the story on Italy’s (seemingly retroactive) efforts to standardize and certify the espresso, England’s Channel 4 reported yesterday that a member of the Italian parliament and head of Italy’s agricultural commission, Marco Lion, proposed a bill to set a espresso “gold standard”: Channel 4 - News - Coffee: A nation’s obsession.
According to the proposal, [...]
Posted by TheShot on 03 Jul 2007 | Tagged as: Consumer Trends, Fair Trade
Although Fair Trade coffee has been around since the 1980s, it wasn’t until the past couple of years that it received heavy airplay. And unless you’ve been reading a rare opinion, such as this one (or the rare reader of The Economist), you’d think that to question the value and effectiveness of Fair Trade certification [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 19 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade, Foreign Brew
Today’s Chicago Tribune published an article that briefly compared Fair Trade, Direct Trade, and a number of their socially conscious coffee bretheren: All’s not always ‘fair’ in coffee labeling | Chicago Tribune. It’s about time the mainstream media tried to clear the air and dispel some accepted myths about certifications and labelling.
In specific, the article [...]
Posted by TheShot on 05 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade
Today’s Santa Barbara Independent published one of the more informed, and hence balanced, views of Fair Trade coffee I’ve seen in the past year: The Santa Barbara Independent :: cover story :: Bean Counting. By choosing Fair Trade coffee, you’re essentially outsourcing your ethical decisions to a third party proxy. All is well and good [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 26 Feb 2007 | Tagged as: Barista, Café Society, Fair Trade
Some of you may recall just how much the zombie children of the Fair Trade cult scare the bejeezus outta me. Ritual Coffee Roasters barista, Gabriel Boscana, wrote a much more tactful and civil approach to these single-issue customers in this month’s issue of Barista Magazine: FebMarch 07 - Certified Coffee Pusher. It was oddly [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 13 Feb 2007 | Tagged as: Barista, Fair Trade, Foreign Brew, Roasting
Today the Chicagoist blog published an interview with Intelligentsia founder and CEO, Doug Zell: Chicagoist: Chicagoist Grills: Intelligentsia Coffee & Roasting Works CEO Doug Zell.
Intelligentsia not only boasts some of the best roasted coffee in the country, and the reigning U.S. barista champion from one of their cafés, but they also helped set a standard [...]
Posted by TheShot on 02 Jan 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade
According to an article today published by the CBC News, more than one million pounds of coffee sold in Canada with “Fair Trade” labels last year were fakes: Fair trade supporters seek federal regulation. Lacking certification from the Canadian organization that independently audits and certifies Fair Trade goods, many of these certification labels on the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 29 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Quality Issues
The Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano (INEI), or the National Italian Espresso Institute, was born with the certification of quality standards for the Italian Espresso in 1998. Today they announced new certification standards for the Cappuccino: Agenzia Giornalistica Italia - News In English - Italian Products: Cappuccino Obtains Certificate of Quality.
Organizations such as the INEI really [...]
Posted by TheShot on 29 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Fair Trade, Quality Issues
One of coffee’s big stories of the past year has been the seemingly sudden discovery and public awareness of Fair Trade coffee. Twenty years after the founding of Equal Exchange, Fair Trade coffee awareness reached critical mass this year in the U.S., the U.K., and many other nations around the world.
This awareness began with a [...]
Posted by TheShot on 29 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Quality Issues
In the most recent issue of Fast Company, they named Coffee Klatch Belle Espresso blend among the “12 Best Cups of Coffee of 2006″: Fast Company Magazine | 12 Best Cups of Coffee of 2006. The coffees were reviewed by noneother than Kenneth Davids of coffeereview.com.
This blend, the only espresso blend on this list, was [...]