Tuesday, April 30, 2002


the cup of excellence is coming soon!

this tasting exhibition and its attendant prize mean gold to struggling coffee farmers. after the recent inter-american development bank and usaid report on how central america's coffee sector can get through the current price slump by reaching consumers directly and selling over the net, it seems the specialty coffee industry is taking this to heart now.

(btw -- interested in the previous cup winner, las nubes coffee? buy it here, here or, in europe, here.)

i was encouraged to read of plans to hold these tastings more regularly. and i'm also encouraged to read that kenya's farmers are attempting to begin an operation selling direct to wholesalers over the net. such an internet auction has proved successful already in brazil.

as for my own coffee adventures, i'm still hanging on with my new mazzer mini grinder. my old lux grinder could grind adequately for espresso, but i wan't getting the crema i really should have or the guiness effect either. the mazzer has many fine "notches" for grinding, so i get a better more even grind. but this means my ground coffee is more "sensitive." a setting that would have been fine on my lux for the same coffee at 2 days old and 5 days old, is not as good on the mazzer. i need to adjust the grind a bit for that 5 day old coffee!

the result is improved crema and a strong guinness effect, as the crema bubbles throught the settling espresso to rise to the top. but it means i fuss a bit more with the coffee making.

times like this i have to remember what jim at 1st-line told me recently. "focus more on the taste," he said. "you're supposed to drink it, after all."

i plan to list the 9-month-old lux on ebay shortly. but if you're in the market for a starting espresso grinder, email me below. . .i'm looking for about $100? something around there. . .

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