The International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac), which for over twenty years has dedicated its work to the tasting of Italian espresso coffee, actively collaborating in the promotion of this product with the Italian Espresso National Institute, has now strengthened its presence in Asia with the opening of two new branches in Korea and Taiwan.

Over the past two years, the educational and promotional campaigns of the Institute in these two countries has seen significant growth in the numbers of local tasters. This area now boasts an impressive number of 38 Espresso Italiano Trainers, instructors with the task of promoting the culture of Italian espresso coffee through ongoing and varied educational activities. Alongside these figures, there are the Italian instructors who regularly hold sensory analysis courses in Seoul and Taichung.

“The creation of these branches in Korea and Taiwan will provide these two countries with more organisational autonomy, and represents another step forward for our work – commented Luigi Odello, Chairman of Iiac – These two new branches can now be added to the Japanese branch in Tokyo, now active for six years, thereby reinforcing the network that in Asia alone has nearly 700 tasters, many of whom have now reached advanced training levels”.

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.

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

 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 *

The blend seems to be regaining ground in several countries where for many years the espresso has been seen as a single origin product. We are actually receiving signs of interest in the blend from the United States, and the same can be said for Japan.

This situation often leads to a double interpretation. Some rejoice saying that the rediscovery of the blend is a clear sign of more complex aromatic research. Others however, perhaps the more pessimistic, see it from a different light: the carefully selected single origins, particularly some washed Central American origins, have become very expensive in their pure form. Laws: the profit margin has fallen drastically compared to the past.

However the fact remains that for money or for love, the blend seems to catch on again. Not a bad thing for the Italian espresso which has always cherished the blend.

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

The International Institute of Coffee Tasters will organize a new edition of Caffè Italia, the Italian Espresso event, at Foodex 2011, the most important food exhibition in Japan (Tokyo, Makuhari Messe, Hall 3, booth C01, March 1-4).

The second edition of Caffè Italia will give visitors the opportunity of tasting six different Italian Espresso blends and evaluate them. For the first time visitors will have to judge the espresso blends using a tasting card. Caffè Italia will also host training sessions held by Chihiro Yokoyama.

Carlo Odello, member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and communications manager of the Italian Espresso National Institute, will be at Caffè Italia, too. "We aim at spreading the culture of the real Italian Espresso and Caffè Italia is a great opportunity for us – Mr Odello said – Japan proved to be very sensitive to Italian Espresso, we now have more than 300 tasters in the country. We recently launched the Espresso Italiano Tasting classes in China and are looking for partners in other Asian countries such as Korea and Thailand".

Caffè is organized in cooperation with the International Institute of Coffee Tasters – Japan, the Italian Espresso National Institute and the Italian Trade Commission.

For more information: info@coffeetasters.jp, carlo.odello@italiantasters.com.

by Carlo Odello *

 Chinese people drink wine, they like it. But the wine they drink is French, not Italian…. They are starting to drink coffee, too, and here the risk is that in the future they will not drink Italian espresso, but the espresso of other countries.

Bloomberg reports that in China the per capita consumption of coffee totals about 22 grams per year. Yes, 22 grams (while Japan, a much more mature market, has a per capita consumption of around 3.3 kilos). Chinese people associate coffee to Western lifestyle, and this is why they drink it. But they are certainly not absent-minded consumers. Accustomed to a highly complex and refined cuisine, they are now discovering the sensory potential of coffee.

Where do we start then, with Italian espresso in China? Shanghai and Beijing are an immediate solution, but there are more interesting prospects in the region of Guangdong, in the South. Guangzhou, also known as Canton, is the capital of this region which is almost twice the size of Italy, with a population of 17 million people. Guangzhou is the third largest city in China. If a food product sells well in Guangzhou, it sells well all over China. The same phenomenon does not necessarily occur when a product sells well in Shanghai or Beijing.

This is why the International Institute of Coffee Tasters started its training courses in Guangzhou. We completed the first Coffee Taster Licensing course last December, and another will soon be held.

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

by Carlo Odello *

Some people still believe that simply by virtue of being Italian we are entitled to talk about espresso with greater authority than others. It is a comforting thought cherished by many. And yet it could not be further from the truth, at least in some of the markets much coveted by us Italians.

Let’s take Japan, for example, a country that loves Italy and its products: the food, wine, fashion, history (because history is also a product that has to be sold through adequate marketing; who knows, perhaps sooner or later some of our politicians will wake up to this fact). Italian espresso therefore has an advantage over the other products. And yet let no one believe for a moment that being Italian is enough in itself to sell coffee in the Land of the Rising Sun. The Japanese are careful buyers: their selection of products is extremely accurate, long and complex. But once they choose a product, they stick to it faithfully, unless of course the supplier himself turns out to be unreliable.

Let’s take the USA, which have a very strong home market boasting thousands of coffee roasters. The specialty coffee and the so-called Third Wave dominate the market. And the West Coast, from Portland to Vancouver via the legendary Seattle, is a stronghold of espresso made in the USA (but luckily there are exceptions, such as Caffè Umbria which stubbornly and successfully continues to offer the tradition of Italian-style espresso). So let’s face it: the Americans are only relatively interested in Italian espresso.

What is the best way to enter both the Japanese and the American markets? Training, of course. The Japanese want to have certainties rather than half-truths. They want to have the tools to judge the quality for themselves. For this reason they appreciate the tasting courses designed to teach how to assess the quality of Italian espresso. As for the Americans, we just need to explain to them our espresso: the training periods are therefore vital to explain to them the importance of our seven grams per cup, of our 25-millimeter extraction, the centrality of the blend, and so forth.

A student of mine, who is a celebrity barista, told me recently in California: “The coffee tasting course has opened my eyes on what you Italians mean by espresso”. There are still many more eyes to be opened. And only through training can real culture and experience be passed on. The rest is important but nowhere near as effective.

P.S. Talking about training: from 18th to 20th May there are advanced courses in Brescia run by the International Institute of Coffee Tasters.

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

IIAC Japan will organize three license courses in September:

• Tokyo (09)
• Osaka (10)
• Fukuoka (11)

More information: info@coffeetasters.jp, ph. +81 3 54116191.

by Roberto Sala Barista. His bar, the Mary’s Bar in Costa Masnaga, in the North of Italy, was set up by his great-grandparents in 1928. He was brought up surrounded by machines, bags and cups. Fifteen years ago he started his job behind the counter: from 2001, he is a coffee taster and Espresso Italiano Specialist.In February 2007, he has been appointed to the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. He is the first barista who has been appointed to such a role.

Recently, I hosted in my coffee shop some Japanese baristas who were accompanied by the infaillibly efficient Yumiko Momoi – the secretary general of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters for Japan. We spent a few hours together in my coffee shop. This was a great occasion for speaking about espresso and cappuccino and for working together at the espresso machine. Actually, Chihiro Yokoyama – a colleague who won several times the Japanese Barista Championship – was there with the group. First thought: all the baristas had an in-depth and specific knowledge of the entire coffee production process. Put it more clearly: they know what sort of processing the product they use every day went through. They’ve got clear views on the differences between the species, between the various ways of processing green beans and so on. This is not irrelevant: you can make the most of a semi-processed product such as coffee is only with a deep knowledge of how it is processed. This makes it possible to extract its specific sensory characteristics.

Second thought: strong preference for coffee with sharp acidity. The Japanese see a strong connection between this characteristic and the persistence of the espresso. They appreciate the blends from the North of Italy precisely because of their fresh acidity, nonetheless, they demand a highly delicate product. This is mainly due to a cultural reason: Japanese cuisine is a rampart of the delicacy of tastes and aromas. Adding to this point, confirmation of their preference for acid coffees came from the tasting of a pure Guatemala (for this occasion, I used the classic Italian moka because this is a delicate product which could have been ruined by the espresso machine). Anyhow, the Japanese baristas are well aware of the relevance of the blend: the single origins, despite their being interesting, are incomplete even from their point of view. This is an important common point of view with the Italian culture of espresso. Different views, instead, on cappuccino. Let’s say it: the Japanese, just like many foreign consumers adore it. There is, though, a difference between our cappuccino and theirs. The Italian traditional preparation method has no separate phase between the foamed milk and the coffee. The espresso must be blended with the foamed milk with the aim of obtaining a uniform cream. This characteristic, according to Yokoyama, is not fully appreciated by the Japanese consumer. This is the reason why the Japanese cappuccino is a mix of espresso and milk with a final top of foam which is often also decorated. This conveys to the beverage the typical note of tactile softness which comes from the milk foam on top. The point is that this creaminess does not characterise the overall cappuccino. This is a variation to the Italian recipe intended to better satisfy the preferences of the Japanese public. Given the professionalism of their baristas, the Japanese are a very lucky public.