International Coffee Tasting, the coffee competition from the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac), is poised to conquer the world. International Coffee Tasting Asia 2013 will in fact be held in Tokyo this November. After four editions organized in Italy, the competition moves to one of the most definitely interesting areas for the world of coffee: Asia.

The rules and methods implemented will be the same that helped International Coffee Tasting succeed so far: completely blind tastings performed by Iiac tasters and statistic validation of data. Only the winners will be announced (those who ranked in the first 30 %), the others will still receive a sensory profile and their placement so that they will be adequately informed about their performance (in this sense, the competition is also a useful market research).

"The big difference is that the tasting commissions will be made up exclusively of Asian Iiac tasters: Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese," says the President of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters Luigi Odello, "Here is the real value of this competition: a sensorial evaluation performed by professionals who operate in arguably the most interesting export markets of the moment."

Many of the past winners have told us how being able to claim an International Coffee Tasting Gold Medal supported their export business. An award won in Asia for the Asian market could therefore have very important value.

Regulations and the application form are available at www.coffeetasters.org.

The third edition of International Coffee Tasting will be held in Brescia (Italy) on October, 26-27. The  commissions of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters, the scientific and independent association that concentrates exclusively on the sensory analysis of the coffee, will meet in Brescia to evaluate samples of coffees coming from all over the world.

International Coffee Tasting 2010 accepts coffee in all different styles, from espresso to capsules, from pods to filter coffee. Each company participating to the competition will receive its ranking and the sensory profile of its own product. The mission of the International Coffee Tasting 2010 is not only to award excellence, but also to support coffee roasters in reaching it. "The market is effectively polarizing itself, with peaks of high quality countered by example of poor quality", concluded Mr Odello.

International Coffee Tasting 2010 is open to coffee roasters from all around the world. Coffee roasters can register up until the June 30 (forms available at www.coffeetasters.org). For more information please contact Claudia Ferretti (claudia.ferretti@italiantasters.com, tel. +39 030 397308).

>> Go to the International Coffee Tasting 2010 page