The new edition of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters’ book, a bestseller in the coffee business, will be presented at Host 2017. The book that has proved essential in the training of many professionals in the coffee business returns with a totally new edition: Espresso Italiano Tasting, guide to the sensory analysis of the Italian espresso. A bestseller right from the first edition in 2002 and a bet that paid off for the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac), which has translated it into 11 languages, intended principally for its associates (more than 10,000 in over 40 countries around the world) and, naturally, for anyone who wishes to learn more on the subject.

A book with one eye on the future right from the very first edition. “Iiac’s year of foundation puts it among the longest-operating organizations of the sector: 1993. Created to develop coffee tasting methods, its success story has been interwoven with the unique and compelling coffee extraction that is the Italian espresso,” points out Luigi Odello, Iiac Chairman and co-author of the book. “It was clear to the founders of the Iiac right from the start that they needed an accurate method of sensory analysis to measure the characteristics of the Italians’ best-loved cup of coffee.”

A book that serves and is of immediate use primarily to the coffee sector. “Indeed, the coffee industry distinguishes itself inasmuch as it is incredibly fragmented over space and time,” continues Carlo Odello, Iiac advisor and co-author of the volume, “so there is the risk that the different parts fail to understand each other, which is why sensory analysis assumes a crucial role today: it enables the parts involved to discuss the product in an effective manner and contributes to achieving their set objectives, the most worthy of which is to offer a high-quality espresso.”

The new edition of Espresso Italiano Tasting will be presented at Host 2017 in Milan from 20 to 24 October in the area of the Italian National Espresso Institute and the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Pav. 22, Stand T32).

We are pleased to announce that Scae invited the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac) to hold a seminar about the methodology of tasting Italian espresso at the upcoming World of Coffee in Rimini.

The seminar Espresso Italiano Experience will be held on the 10th June (10–12 AM) in the cupping room by Carlo Odello, member of the board of the Iiac, communications manager for the Inei (Italian Espresso National Institute) and founder of the Ibs (Italian Barista School). He will talk about the scientific tasting method developed to assess the quality of a cup of Italian espresso. Participants will thus learn how to use the Italian Espresso Sensory Map and the tasting sheet developed by the Inei for its certification program for Italian coffee roasters, machines and grinders manufacturers and baristas.

For more information and reserve your seat, please contact Julie Barwick, Scae Education Development Coordinator, at julie@scae.com or visit http://scae.com/news/scae-notices/919-exclusive-first-look-world-of-coffee-workshops.html

by Carlo Odello

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.

by Carlo Odello

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
 

by Carlo Odello

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.

by Carlo Odello

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

by Carlo Odello

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.

by Carlo Odello *

We just scheduled an Espresso Italiano Tasting course just the day before the Host show in Milan (20 October 2011). Many professionals wrote us asking about this course: here it is! The course will take place in Brescia, hometown to the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. This means just 1,5 hours fom the Host show in Milan.

Why should you attend an Espresso Italiano Tasting course? I can think of many good reasons, but one seems to me the most important: to go back to the roots of Espresso, to understand the culture in which it was born.

I have been working in the coffee business for some years (not counting the years I was at the university but already spent some time at the events of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and of the Italian Espresso National Institute). And I have been travelling around the world in the last few years training people how to taste Italian Espresso.

What did I discover? Easy to say: coffee is culture, means it is strongly connected to real life. It is like Chinese tea: you cannot understand it unless a Chinese explains it to you. That’s because he or she is Chinese and was born and raisen up in the real Chinese tea culture. The same for Japanese tea. And for any other specific tea culture.

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 brochure from the link below. You can also drop me an email at carlo.odello@italiantasters.com if you need further information about the course.

Download:

Italian Espresso Tasting course: brochure (PDF)

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

Espresso Italiano Tasting, the official handbook of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters, has just been published in Chinese. And more courses and seminars on tasting Italian Espresso are coming in Guangzhou next week (July 26th-31st). The classes will be held by Carlo Odello, member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. For  more information about the courses and the book please contact Ms Jolin (jolin@acoffee.cn).

Coffee Experience, the world’s biggest Italian Espresso event, is returning again this year to Verona from 7th to 11th April. The figures for 2010 have been impressive: 35 coffee blends available for tasting, more than 7,000 Espresso coffees served over five days.
If you want to put yourself to the test, then send us your application! We are looking for two baristas who will be at the centre of the Coffee Experience scene. We offer our baristas food and accommodation in Italy, and the possibility of a true and unique experience in the world of Italian coffee. Please write to carlo.odello@italiantasters.com.