COFFEE CON: LOS ANGELES
- bobadillapaul
- Feb 22, 2016
- 3 min read
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
On January 30th, Intercontinental Coffee Trading co-sponsored the 2016 CoffeeCon LA: the Consumer Coffee Festival at the lofty Reef in downtown Los Angeles. The all day caffeine binge created by Kevin Sinnot featured over 30 coffee exhibitors from around the globe. Hundreds of thirsty coffee aficionados and aspiring roasters were invited to participate in over 20 educational lectures hosted by eight different speakers and ten diverse coffee sponsors from across the country.
“CoffeeCon is the result of more than a dozen of the finest roasters having the guts to bring their best efforts to one place,” writes Kevin Sinnot. Roasters such as Portola Coffee Lab, James Coffee Co. and Klatch Coffee were among the festival’s highlights – gracefully crafting robust cold brews, showcasing sleek brewing methods and pouring complex roasts with outstanding flavor.“Coffee is at its best right after it’s brewed,” Kevin adds. “Tasting coffee is more than different bean varieties. The roasting and how it’s brewed are also important factors to taste.”
Coffee juggernaut Peter Giuliano, Director of Specialty Coffee Association of America, addressed an exclusive V.I.P. audience for a cupping demonstration called Taste Like An Expert. Mr. Giuliano, and his affiliate partners, have identified five criteria to evaluate coffee. Similar to beer tasting, coffee must first be sniffed to determine its fragrance and aroma. Second, levels of acidity and sweetness must be determined by sipping the liquid. Third, flavor must be discernable by taking slurps (if preferred). Fourth, body (mouth feel) must be measured. Finally, overall aftertaste must be assessed.
Aside from the cupping protocol and strict attention to drinking etiquette, Karen Cebreros, President of Earth’s Choice and Co-Founder of International Women’s Coffee Alliance, delivered a passionate global awareness address on poverty confronting coffee producers throughout Latin-America, and its affects on the female workforce titled Micro Finance: Breaking the Poverty Cycle of Coffee Farms.
“We depend on coffee [production] to eat,” pleas a gentle brown skinned female coffee producer in Karen Cebreros’ feature film presentation After the Harvest: Fighting Hunger in the Coffeelands. “Millennial’s want to use every penny they spend on cause-related coffee,” says Karen to an attentive audience of mostly white women.
“The fear when we talk about sustainability in coffee – fear that specialty coffee will run out – that’s not the crisis! The crisis is people will have to stop farming [coffee] because they have farm [food] to feed their families…specialty coffee has to be torn away from commodity coffee, [so] the right price is paid in order to keep it sustainable!”
In other words, coffee must be enjoyed responsibly. As coffee wages a silent war against our pocket books with inflated price points and may bring families on the fringe of famine, coffee production and consumption should make us pause and be thankful.
Coffee, like beer, is an artistic, scientific and spiritual experience – a blessing in a word, or as it is written in Genesis 9:3, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”
CoffeeCon LA and educational programs like it are only the beginning of a global movement that demand specialty coffee, suitability, social and economic justice and perfection in a cup. Let’s rejoice by singing praise to our brothers and sisters who prepare our coffee tables.
In the words of home brewer Benjamin Franklin, “Among the numerous luxuries of the table…coffee may be considered as one of the most valuable. It excites cheerfulness without intoxication; and the pleasing flow of spirits which it occasions…is never followed by sadness, languor or debility.”
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