Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters 

When I arrive in Taipei on Saturday afternoon, the city welcomes me by light rain that is getting heavier. It often rains here in Taiwan. My interpreter Raffaele always jokes about this and tells me that the rainiest city in the country is the one he comes from, which is even worse than Taipei!

When I get to the hotel I’m told that unfortunately I’m too early to check-in. I have to wait: Taipei is like a small Japan and yet they speak Chinese here – however I don’t intend to upset the orderly balance of this island. Raffaele, who apart from the Italian name is one hundred percent Taiwanese, suggests that we go and visit a good friend who has just changed his job. I think it’s a good idea. Three subway stops and twenty minutes later we get there.

The place is new and manages to combine Asian refinement with that modern touch that one can find in similar coffee bars in the United States (everyone knows that the Americans are good at exporting their formats). However, this one is not part of a big chain and it serves up the espresso of a famous Italian brand.

My friend wants me to try the coffee and give her my opinion on it. To say no in Italy would be rude, so never mind in Asia, where good manners are everything. And then again I haven’t had a real coffee in over 24 hours (why do they always serve up that dark broth on the flight?).

After a short wait we are served a cup of coffee of a known Italian brand. The first sip confirms what I had observed from looking at it: it’s under-extracted. It’s watery and bitter in the mouth and the aroma barely reaches my nose. It is well known that this coffee is delicate even when fully extracted, so under-extraction destroys it. The problem is not the quality of the product; you can drink far worse in Italy, as I tell my friend. With her beautiful Asian smile she asks me what I really think of it. And I explain the problem using all the tact that I possess. I do so in technical terms because she is a taster of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters.

She nods in agreement: it is under-extracted and she explains why. Basically, the owner of the coffee bar does not allow anyone to adjust the grinding, as he is probably terrified of the possibility of wasting coffee. In a country where the least that you can expect is rain, getting up to typhoons during the summer, grinding coffee correctly becomes very important.

I think to myself that the issue is not the owner of the bar who imposes this strict diktat. The point is the Italian brand which should probably check up more on what goes on in the bars that serve up its coffee. Business is business, but not checking what customers are doing in a turbulent market such as the Taiwanese market means that you stoop to the mediocre quality offered by the American and Japanese chains that are popping up everywhere on the island.

The good news is that meanwhile it has stopped raining and I can take up the road towards the hotel. The under-extracted coffee has given me a coup de grace: I’m totally ready to enjoy the comfort of my room now.

Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

In the September/October 2012 issue of the Global Coffee Review, Michelle Gass, Starbucks President EMEA, told about the flavour of the latte (according to the American-style recipe), judged by consumers from United Kingdom as being too…milky. Therefore, Starbucks had to work hard to create the right balance between coffee and milk.

In a recent training course with Japanese students, the Italian cappuccino, made with 25ml of espresso and 125ml of frothed milk, was thought to have a too low olfactory intensity as far as milk was concerned. This is probably due to the fact that in Japan the proportion of milk in coffee-based drinks has become more and more high, according to the American coffee style, where the longer the drink is, the better it will taste.

In short: in recent years, the world of coffee has been diluted by milk, and the Japanese case above shows how this has shaped the sensory trends. However, the fact that Starbucks has decided to take a step backwards gives us cause to hope for a greater balance between coffee and milk.

And, why not, you could even consider moving on from Latte Art, which has now probably reached peaks of graphomaniac autoeroticism, to a more balanced, and complex, Coffee Art.

Brescia, 7 november – The fourth edition of the International Coffee Tasting held in Brescia on the 29th and 31st October has closed. Coffees from all around the world have been challenging each other. 26 judges from 11 countries were given the task of assessing as many as 113 coffees from 13 countries: the winning products of the competition were chosen from a truly international selection (Editor’s note: the list is below).

"The winning coffees possess an exceptionally wide range of aromas – commented Luigi Odello, president of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and Professor of Sensory Analysis at various Italian and foreign universities – accompanied by a bold but round and smooth body".

Among the competing products there were also coffee pods and capsules, a phenomenon which has increasingly grown in recent years. It is very interesting to observe how these coffees come very close to perform as espresso, but are still not able to reach its silkiness, rich body and powerful aroma.

"It is equally interesting to see how non Italian espresso roasters are progressing – concluded Odello – Many of them are definitely trying to align themselves with the Italian style ".

The competition sponsors were Wega Macchine per Caffè, Luigi Bormioli and Compak. The competition also enjoyed the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies and of the International Academy of Sensory Analysis.

The winners of International Coffee Tasting 2012 (ex aequo, in alphabetic order with the name of the winning product in brackets)

Espresso – Italian blends

•  Costadoro, Turin (Coffee Lab)
• Esperia Distribuzione, Monza Brianza (Caffè Milano)
• G.I.Fi.Ze, Bologna (Club Kavè)
• Holly di Ulivieri Raffaele, Perugia (Bar 100% Arabica)
• Italcaffè, La Spezia (Excelso Bar)
• La Genovese, Savona (Caffè Anniversario Metal Box)
• La Genovese, Savona (Caffè Qualità Royal)
• Milani, Como (Milani Gran Espresso)
• Mokaor, Vercelli (Intenso)
• Omkafè, Trento (Superbar blend)
• Taurocaf di Alberto & Anzola, Turin (Caffè Alberto Pappagallo Rosso Blend)
• Torrefazione Caffè Gran Salvador, Brescia (100% Arabica CE)
• Torrefazione Caffè Gran Salvador, Brescia (100% Arabica N)
• Torrefazione Caffè Roen, Verona (Espresso Bendinelli – 100% Arabica Gourmet)
• Torrefazione dei F.lli Morandini, Brescia (Maxima Blend 100% Arabica)
• Torrefazione El Miguel, Varese (La Cafferia – Portofino)
• Torrefazione Olimpica, Rieti (Faraglia Espresso Barrique)
• Torrefazione S. Salvador, Sondrio (Super Bar)

Espresso – Non Italian blends or single origins

• Cafés Dromedario, Spain (Dromedario Colombia Nariño Supremo "El Tambo")
• Cafés Dromedario, Spain (Pozo Artesania)
• Cafés Dromedario, Spain (Tostadora Natural Hosteleria)
• Caffè Principe, Germany (Ottanta)
• Droga Kolinska, Slovenia (Barcaffè Bar)
• Gourmet Coffee Roasters, South Africa (Häzz)
• Milano Coffee, Canada (Espresso # 1)
• P & F Coffee, Thailand (P & F Espresso Blend)
• P & F Coffee, Thailand (P & F Splendid Blend)
• Peaberry, Thailand (House Blend Coffee Roasted)
• Peaberry, Thailand (Roadster Blend Coffee Roasted)

Coffee pods and capsules

• Caffè Agust, Brescia (Natura Equa Biofairtrade capsule)
• Mocoffee, Switzerland (Bel Canto – Strato Coffee Machine)
• Torrefazione Caffè Roen, Verona (Monodose Capsule)

Coffee for non-professional automatic coffee machines

• Milani, Como (Milani Guatemala Antigua El Pulcal)

Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

 This year, the International Institute of Coffee Tasters is organising the fourth edition of ‘International Coffee Tasting 2012’, the only international competition among coffees. I have been working as a member of this Institute board of directors for years and I am proud to say that this is maybe the most important event of the association. It is an honour to work organizing it and, honestly, it is also a pleasure to be able to propose this showcase to coffee roasters from all around the world. There are some very good reasons for taking part to this event.

The first one: International Coffee Tasting is truly the only event which focuses on the preparation of coffee. There are other excellent events dealing with the coffee beans, others the baristas, other more or less original preparation methods. On the contrary, we focus our attention on the coffee for the market: the coffee which will be really used by baristas or by coffee lovers at home, in pods and capsules. Who wins the competition, wins the challenge of the market.

The second one: from this year, all winners are involved in the open-day the International Institute of Coffee Tasters will organise in 2013, the year of its 20th anniversary. A day in which all the winning products will be showed to the press and opinion-leaders. This extra visibility is combined with that already achieved by press releases, publishing the winners them on our website and, most importantly, by using the winner’s logo on the coffee bags.

Briefly, International Coffee Tasting 2012 is a competition among the coffees everyone of us can find on the real market, pointing spotlights on the best. We are not making anything up: in the wine world competitions are on the agenda, the big ones have thousands of participants. The returns for wine companies are unbelievable: winning a competition supports the trade policy in an excellent way, it represents an edge over all the others.

In the last three editions, we have helped winners in this very way: to highlight themselves and provide their customers another good reason to buy their products.

Please, find the participation form to International Coffee Tasting 2012 at:
http://www.assaggiatoricaffe.org/site/?q=en/node/428
 

Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

 So here they are: the first Espresso Italiano Trainers are ready. Twelve professional coffee tasters who are now qualified to give seminars on behalf of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. Twelve new ambassadors of our association who all share the same aim: to raise awareness about the culture of the true Italian espresso.

They are now ready to popularize espresso coffee culture through a new seminar entitled “Espresso Italiano Experience”, a teaching format which enables participants to learn the basics of espresso tasting. Participants will discover how to distinguish a top quality espresso from the growing numbers of poor quality cups now available on the market.

This offensive against bad coffee will not just be restricted to Italy: three of the twelve new Espresso Italiano Trainers will be operating abroad in the United States, Slovakia and Denmark. And, meanwhile, the first Japanese Espresso Italiano Trainers have also just qualified. We shall be giving further details about this in the near future.

The following are our new Espresso Italiano Trainers: Alfonso Paolone, Melania Lopez, Vittorio Ventura, Giovanni Ferraro, Remo Poli, Adolfo Vallini, Virgilio Lanzanova, Dario Manazza, Gennaro Buono, Massimo Pallard, Paolo Scimone and Sebastiano Garbellini.

Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

We all knew the International Institute of Coffee Tasters was landed in China. We held the first Espresso Italiano Tasting courses in Guangzhou and Beijing in December 2010. Thanks to our member of the board Darcy Sun, from March of this year, our manual Espresso Italiano Tasting is also available in Chinese. Furthermore we organized in July a new series of training courses and seminaries.

Now we are back again in Guangzhou where the International Institute of Coffee Tasters together with the Italian Espresso National Institute has patronaged a new edition of Caffè Italia. So, after the editions in 2010 held in Tokyo, New York and Paris and the 2011 Tokyo one, a new building block is added to the plan of spreading the real Italian espresso culture.

From 24th to 27th of November a Caffè Italia strengthen by the presence of 16 different blends will enter the scene during the Guangzhou Coffee Expo 2011. A tasting point proposing the Iespresso in its regional variations to the Chinese public, ranging from the region of Piedmont to Sicily. There is just one idea in mind: to continue spreading our espresso principles in China.

What is the most challenging thing of this new Chinese episode? The fact that Caffè Italia knew how to capture the attention of more roasters, a lot of which will be present in the area (if you are curious to know who they are, I redirect you to the coffee list that follows). The journey of our espresso in China is rather long but meanwhile we are making our way, and we sincerely thank those who are supporting us.  

Caffè Italia at Guangzhou Coffee Expo 2011, click to enlarge

Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

The world of coffee shops in Italy is afflicted by a widespread lack of planning. A small number of coffee shop owners know their business and are able to plan and are joined by hordes of operators living hand to mouth. Although outside Italy the situation is not always at its best, it really depends on the country taken into account, you generally meet sharper operators who think in real terms of marketing.

GREENTREECaffè is one of these cases. Vittorio Ventura and Dana Hruba have created a chain of coffee shops in Bratislava; to be precise, five coffee shops in only two and a half years, in a very competitive market such as Bratislava. The Slovakian capital has only half a million inhabitants but is a remarkable tourist crossroads surrounded by Vienna, Prague and Budapest. This is why at least two other chains other than GREENTREECaffè exist, everyday playing “the coffee battle” in the city. It is obvious that the staff at GREENTREECaffè plays on Italian espresso and related products.

GREENTREECaffè is now the first Permanent Training Point of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters in Central Europe. The coffee shop in Venturska, with a splendid room with hundred-year-old vaults, within the last few days has entered into the International Institute of Coffee Taster’s network, bringing the number of the Permanent Training Points to 28 (four of which are outside of Italy: Stuttgart, Dneperpetrovsk, Tokyo and now Bratislava). To inaugurate the Institute new embassy, on Saturday 5th November a Espresso Italiano Tasting course was held to license new coffee tasters, which followed the course held last year by GREENTREECaffè. 

Vittorio Ventura receives the plaque for the GREENTREECaffè’s new Permanent Training Point in Bratislava. Photos of the new PTP are available on our Facebook page.

What’s the state of art of the coffee market in the UK? We interviewed Simon Speed Andrews, Head of Training of Miko Coffee.

What’s the situation of the coffee market in the UK?

The coffee market is not precise, we have always been led by the culture of Italy, but serve what is more akin to America with a new lead from Australia and NL. The ‘Starbucks’ phenomenon in the early 90’s has capitulated the spread and expansion of the coffee shop. The problem lies with the fact that we drink milky style drinks and the coffee has not always been the main criteria for good coffee. The culture is now changing and the customer is seeking good quality coffee and the espresso element is becoming very important.

What is the general culture about espresso in the UK?

Espresso Culture per se is not evident, however this I think is in part due to the ‘Starbucks’ phenomenon, again with the high level of antipodeans arriving and working in the coffee industry this has changed the outlook for more artisan roasted quality blends and the focus is on the espresso but regrettably still more single origin 100% Arabica coffees rather than good blends.

What is the future of the espresso market in the UK and what do you think should be done?

The future for the espresso is very positive, however to change the culture we need to focus more on the espresso and educate not only the coffee companies but also the general public, in terms of the benefits of a quality blend and how to prepare correctly the espresso. Unfortunately little care is given to the beans by the coffee house or those that serve it and a lack of knowledge in how to prepare good espresso has led to what I can only describe, as at best a mediocre experience, to at worst nothing more than a flavourless poor experience.

Anyone who travels knows that the expression “Italian espresso” is often improperly used to describe a kind of coffee that has nothing to do with the real Italian espresso essence. It is a reality showing the lack of real product culture and sometimes even bad faith.

In recent years, much has been done to try to effectively defend this “Made in Italy” symbol. The Italian Espresso National Institute, in collaboration with the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and the Centro Studi Assaggiatori – Italian Tasters encoded the Certified Italian Espresso profile and then launched an appropriate certification.

The efforts of the Italian Espresso National Institute did not remain unheard: today that sensory profile has international legitimacy. However, if we want to defend the Italian Espresso tradition we must gather everyone who, also in far countries, believes in this product and its culture.

This is the reason why the International Institute of Coffee Tasters, which boasts a register of more than 8,000 students in more than 40 countries worldwide, has decided to create a new position: the Espresso Italiano Trainer. The aim is to train ambassadors of the Italian Espresso culture spread to the four corners of the Earth who will pass on information and basic tasting techniques to students in order to evaluate the drink. They will have only one objective in mind: prepare their students to expose false Italian Espressos and reward the best ones.

If you want get more information, just write to carlo.odello@italiantasters.com.

* Chairman of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

The Host show will take place next month in Milan. If you are attending it, why do not you consider to attend the Italian Espresso Tasting course just the day before the show (20 October)? Let us make you discover the real Italian Espresso culture. If you are interested in understanding how to recognize and evaluate the real Italian Espresso, just download the leaflet. You can also drop me an email at carlo.odello@italiantasters.com if you need further information about the course.

Do you want to prepare your trip and get more information about the espresso you will find in Milan? Just read the article about the coffee tradition in the area of Milan. And remember that if you are a member of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters you will receive a free selection of articles of our quarterly magazine in English.

 * Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters