Friday, March 18, 2005


regional coffee culture, part xxxiv

"coca holding international co . . . . is expanding, with plans to open a premium italian-style coffee bar chain this year."

just another banal business announcement, yes? until you realize that this company is in thailand.

this successful company is bettin' the ranch on specialty coffee in a presently tea-drinking nation -- and also dubai, china, india and vietnam! (they're a little late in bringing thai food to india -- longtime bccy pal madhu "madman" menon already has the best thai restaurant in all of india.)

again, forgive me as i pretentiously quote myself: one world under specialty coffee's passionate sway.

but in other inspiring coffee news, i was thrilled to see this piece on how improving coffee quality among growers in rwanda has been amazingly successful. it's a timely article, because the coffee quality institute is meeting today in nyc.

most coffee lovers have never heard of cqi, but it's a fascinating institution, deeply involved with the issues of the "coffee crisis," sustainability, and improving coffee quality. coffee quality is of course of primary interest to all consumers -- because we all want to drink the very best and most beautiful coffees, lovingly roasted by dedicated artisan hands.

oh, and of course cqi's run by yet another tremendous woman-in-coffee, the awesome margaret swallow!

for my own part, i made some quality turkish coffee this morning with cinnamon, using up the very last precious teeny spoonful of the 2-week-old doma ethiopian harrar.

and in a program note, i will be travelling next week for business, but i think i have revived my ancient laptop (why o why don't i have a screaming 14" sno-book yet?) enough that we will be able to continue bccy on the road.

the more daunting question: will i be able to live (shiver!) on hotel coffee?

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