Thursday, May 20, 2004


rainforest alliance gala

and today i owe a huge, huge thank you very much! to rothfos for inviting me to the annual stunning rainforest alliance event. they are wonderful supporters of the scaa consumer member program.

by the time my coach turned into a pumpkin, the gala had already raised nearly a million u.s. dollars, and i'm sure once the auction got underway, much more went to support the cause.

i was so fortunate to see many of bccy's long-time coffee pals and scaa members: karen gordon of coffeeholding, women in coffee, and cup for education; roaster's guild guy spencer turer, where he will bring specialty to the convenience store landscape in short order i'm sure; lindsey bolger of green mountain; former scaa prez steve colten and many folks from atlantic; and of course r.a.'s own marketing director, sabrina vigilante herself.

i also was privileged to meet some new coffee people: allen byrd from tembec, who apparently make most of the coffee filters on the planet; john demuria from volcafe; and both the charming president barbara roth and c.f.o. paul lawer of 8 o'clock.

paul was very interesting; he's new to the coffee industry, and so we talked alot about coffee history, specialty coffee, espresso, the importance of cupping, and how to increase coffee consumption.

i'm afraid he pronounced me "terrifying." but as someone new to coffee, and unfamiliar with specialty, he was perhaps taken aback by the passion inherent in all scaa people. i hope i politely disabused him of the notion that consumers "don't care" about coffee.

maybe that statement from the day before yesterday should be tattooed around the ankles of coffee executives too. . .on the other hand, i was heartened to hear that he is the proud owner of a saeco superauto!

he too is a coffee lover. like all of us, he is ready to begin the journey towards the premium coffee experience, to truly learn how to appreciate our favorite brew as a fine beverage!

ah! the highlight from the event: clearly, the aerialist (and another here). she was beautiful, elegant, eloquent, and amazing.

dressed in white and silver, with her slender white ribbons suspending her in space, it seemed to me her piece described freedom and longing. . .

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