The 2008 International Coffee Tasting was held in Brescia (Italy) on the 30th and 31st of October. 130 coffees from all over the world took part in the competition organised by the International Institute of Coffee Tasters with the technical cooperation of the Centro Studi Assaggiatori (Taster Study Center).

After two days of work, 26 tasters were able to award the best coffees with the Golden Medal. They evaluated each coffee blindly using a tasting card. The cards were collected and processed by the technicians of the Centro Studi Assaggiatori. A list of the winners was eventually issued.

“As far as the Italian market is concerned, the tasting sessions demonstrate an improvement in the average quality of coffee – told Luigi Odello, secretary general of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and professor of Sensory Analysis in several Italian universities – Espresso confirmed as the best way to prepare coffee: the moka pot, the filter, the neapolitan and the home machines cannot reach its level of quality”.

All the winners of the 2008 International Coffee Tasting: the Golden Medals

Category: Italian espresso blends for the horeca

• Caffè Agust- Agust Natura Equa - Miscela di Caffè 100% Arabica da Agricoltura Biologica - Speciale Bar
• Caffè Haiti Roma di Azeglio Martella & C. Srl - Caffè Gran Riserva - Prodotto Italiano di Qualità
• Caffè Terzi Sas- Miscela Terzi n. 1 - 100% Arabica
• Costadoro Spa - Master Club Coffee - 100% Qualità Arabica
• Caffè Paranà di Giannelli Emilio - Espresso italiano in grani
• Holly di Ulivieri Raffaele - Torrefazione Caffè - Special Bar 100% Arabica 
• La Genovese Sas - Caffè Qualità Oro 
• Minuto Caffè Srl - Bar Gourmet Espresso 1 Kg - 100% Arabica 
• T.M. Srl dei F.lli Morandini & C. - Miscela Oro 90% Arabica Certificata in grani
• Torrefazione Artigianale Caffè Roen - Espresso Bendinelli "Gourmet 100% Arabica"
• Torrefazione Aryscaffè - Aryscaffè Eurobar 
• Torrefazione Caffè Avana - Miscela Degustazione "Sublime" 
• Torrefazione Gran Salvador Snc - 001 - Oro 
• Torrefazione Saturno Srl - Miscela 1 Bar Caracol 
• Torrefazione Taurocaf Snc - Caffè Alberto Miscela Pappagallo Oro - Espresso 
• Torrefazione Taurocaf Snc - Caffè Alberto Miscela Pappagallo Rosso - Espresso 
• Tris Moka Srl - Gran Caffè Gourmet

Category: Non-Italian espresso blends for the horeca

• Café Dromedario Sa (Spagna) - Cafè Colombiano Nariño Supremo "El Tambo" Café Dromedario - Café en Grano Natural
• Café Dromedario Sa (Spagna) - Cinco Alturas Cafes La Brasileña - La Tostadora - Café en Grano
• Café Dromedario Sa (Spagna) - Especial Espresso Cafè Dromedario - Café Natural en Grano
• Massimo Cerutti S.A. (Svizzera) - Cerutti "Il caffè" Qualità Extra Milano
• Monardo - AMeL Commercial de cafes e complementos (Brasile) - Antonello Monardo Caffè Espresso Blend - Sul de Minas Gourmet - 100% Arabica

Category: Home automatic coffee machine

• Caffè Mokarico Srl - Bar - Caffè torrefatto in grani

Category: Single-dose coffee machine

• Angelo Morettino Spa - Caffè Morettino "100% Arabica Espresso" - Cialda
• Caffè Cagliari Spa - Cialda Gran Caffè - monodose per macchine espresso
• Costadoro Spa - Cialde Costadoro - Coffee Pod
• Omkafè Srl - Cialde Top Quality Omkafè

Category: Moka coffee pot

• Angelo Morettino Spa - Caffè Morettino "Arabica Club" 100% Arabica - Morbido e raffinato
• Caffè Cartapani Srl - Miscela "Primeiro" 100% Arabica - macinato
• Café Dromedario Sa (Spagna) - Café Colombiano Nariño Supremo "El Tambo" La Tostadora
• Corsino Corsini Spa - Colombia Caffè Medellin Supremo - Compagnia dell’Arabica
• Milani Spa - Puro Portorico Yauco Selecto - 100% Arabica
• Minuto Caffè Srl - Fior di Aroma Macinato 250 g - 100% Arabica

Category: Neapolitan coffee pot / Filter

• Torrefazione Principe Gbr (Germania) - La Nera Espresso Casa

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International Coffee Tasting 2008 will be the record-setting competition. Actually, more than 140 coffees from all over the world have registered for the biennial competition organised by the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. A sharp increase of the number of coffees compared to the first edition in 2006, during which, for the first time ever, tens of coffees were assessed by commissions made up of judges from the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. «A unique initiative which already in 2006 attracted also the attention of the media – said Odello – The mission of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters is that of promoting a scientific method for coffee tasting. Praising the best products of the sector means also rewarding those who work in a competent manner in order to provide consumers with a truly high quality coffee». Currently, the tasting commissions made up of tasters, both Italians and foreigners, from the Institute are being formed. See you all then on the 30th-31st of October when the international competition will take place in Brescia.

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by Luigi Odello

Secretary General of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters, he is also a lecturer at the University of Udine, Verona and at the Cattolica in Piacenza. In addition he is the Chairman of the Taster Study Center and Secretary General of the Italian Espresso National Institute

Without competition, there can be no improvement. This is a genetics law but it is true also for the business world. However, many companies in the coffee sector are not that keen on competition, especially if it is on the sensory impact of the blends. Think about wine, a product from which coffee should draw inspiration if it wants to a step further towards the life of consumers. There is an incredible number of guides with all sorts of comments - expressed in differing ways - valuations at exaggerated rhythms and competitions with tens of editions left behind.

In our business, the International Institute of Coffee Tasters has recently finalised an unprecedented investigation on quality at the bar: 907 surveys in bars in the entire Italian territory, 20 bars in he city centre of Milan and Rome examined by means of the environment and sensory analysis.

On the one hand, the joy of the winners has been expressed in quiet tones, on the other, the anger of the excluded has been strong to the extent that the poorly appeased acrimony reached the governing bodies of major institutions. We should be happy about this because it is anyhow a reaction which means that something will happen. We would like this to turn into food for thought for everybody on what to do to improve rather than to boil down to plain expression of sorrow.

These are our thoughts while we are busy with the organisation of another big event at an International level: the second edition of International Coffee Tasting. The first edition, in 2006, was a success. Not only in terms of the number of attendees. Some companies bought entire pages on newspapers to advertise the award they won. Other participants asked if it was possible to display the logo of the competition on their product. Let alone the company that received an order of coffee from a big Dutch agent in order to supply 5000 families with the gold medal product.

International Coffee Tasting is the first and only competition in the world of this kind. Its rules are based on the strict rules applied to wine tasting and defined by the International Organisation of Vines and Wine. Expert tasters from the International Institute of Coffee Tasters taste, anonymously, the coffee and the data is processed with the support of the most modern statistics techniques.

What else can be done? Well, we are already aware that the anger of the excluded will show once again.

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In November 2008, there will be the second edition of International Coffee Tasting, the only one international competition where coffee is tasted according to the scientific rules of sensory analysis. While for wine there are many competitions and they are now part of its history and tradition, in the coffee sector competitions are often focused on the barista and almost never on the product.
Coffee Taster is aimed at promoting a competition between the coffees from all over the world as to highlight the degree of pleasure offered by the product that comes from well renowned areas, that is cultivated with all the necessary attention, thoroughly processed, skilfully selected, properly roasted and, when needed, finely blended. It puts emphasis on the most prestigious products and points out to the consumers the best products available on the market, thus stimulating producers to pursue quality in its most modern sense: customer satisfaction.
International Coffee Tasting 2008 will be organised, just as the previous edition, by the International Institute of Coffee Tasters with the technical and scientific support of the Taster Study Center. Single origin coffees or blended, in beans, ground or in single dose for espresso, moka or filter will be admitted to the competition.
During the 2006 edition, 81 coffees have been evaluated by three commissions of expert tasters. Medals have been awarded based on threshold scores in full compliance with the competitions rules which established that the coffees which could be awarded a prize had to account for maximum 30% of all participants. It was a very tight competition and some products did not win a medal just for a few tenths of a point. There was a very strict selection that awarded prizes only to high-level products.
The announcement of the competition and the application form are available at www.coffeetasters.org. For further information please write to info@coffeetasters.org.

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