Cimbali - Rob is back in Seattle for 2015

It was just in the last year when Rob was on a trip to Seattle. Rob’s last visit to the place was in 2005 and he noted the changes in the coffee scene in Portland and Seattle since then. So in this year’s trip, he was looking forward to see whether the coffee industry has grown and developed even more.

Trips outside of the country opens our eyes and experiences to those that we do not normally find in our homes. There’s always bound to be something new to find around the corner and it’s not a wonder that there are also differences in the coffee scene from one country to the next.

Rob says, “It’s great being back in Seattle two years in a row, and is also a bit of a surprise, as the Speciality Coffee Association of America (SCAA) exhibition, which normally switches between the US east and west coasts, is this time in Seattle as it hosts the World Barista Championships (WBC) too!

My time during last year’s trip was filled absorbing the coffee culture scene and seeing how it had changed, but this year, immediately after landing at Tacoma International airport I headed straight into the SCAA Symposium, which precedes the SCAA Exhibition and the WBC.

The opening focus of the Symposium tackled some key industry issues head-on, such as how we can solve the ‘Wicked Problem’ by looking into ways to close the gap on extreme poverty.

In the early part of the century and more recently, the global recession has hit the world hard, but the coffee industry including roasters, coffee shops and coffee machine manufacturers have been less affected as people have still been buying coffee. Unfortunately though, farmers have still felt the pinch of this recession. This was really put into perspective when we saw the figures showing that many coffee farmers will only earn $3,200 per year, whereas in reality, the reasonable living wage is around $12,000. This poses a real danger in the sustainability of our industry.

There were other interesting topics covered in the Symposium such as Sensory Science. In the coffee industry, this can be used not only to expand what is usually being done but also to prove and quantify some of the things said about methods for brewing and specific coffes we use. We will be performing our own Sensory Science at the London Coffee Festival soon – but I will tell you more about that nearer the time.

Great news – the UK’s Barista Champion, Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood has just got through to the WBC finals. Go Maxwell!”

For more details regarding the SCAA annual exhibition in Seattle visit:

www.scaaevent.org

For more details regarding the World Barista Championships visit:

www.worldbaristachampionship.org

For more details regarding the London Coffee Festival visit:

www.londoncoffeefestival.com