Gourmet Coffee Chatter

Last time I talked about a working definition of gourmet coffee. It all starts with a superior coffee bean. But who sets the standards?

Lots of people it turns out, depending on the standard you want to discuss.

Some have the weight of governmental power. Usually the standards here involve numbers of defects in the bean versus gram weights of the bean being exported.

The International Coffee Organization, for example, is a multi-governmental organization composed of signatory “coffee importing” and “coffee exporting” countries, 77 as of March 2008. Their goal is to stabilize the international coffee market through the improvement of the quality of exported coffee beans. By setting export standards they protect the economic health of the farmers and protect the consumer from substandard coffee products.

The governments of coffee producing countries also set internal standards. Kenya for example, has it’s own quality standard for gourmet coffee beans produced within Kenya. This standard which combines a character designation (AA, PB, E, TT, C & T) and a numeric Standard value (1-10) to determine the quality of the bean. A Kenya AA with a Standard 1 rating is the best you can get here.

Regional authorities also have their own rating standards.

Then there are the trade organizations. The most prominent ones here are those that govern Fair Trade and Oranic coffee standards. Names like Organic Trade Association, Fairtrade Labelling Organization International, World Fair Trade Organization, Network of European Worldshops, and European Fair Trade Association begin to crop up. The standards here revolve around how the coffee was grown and economic empowerment for the regional farmers.

Other organizations such as the Specialty Coffee Association of America are devoted to the improvement of the quality of gourmet specialty coffees, sometimes called varietals or single
origin coffees. (More on this in the next blog.)

Next there are the standard setters for those who prepare the coffee bean, governmental and trade organizations that certify gourmet coffee roasters meet strict preparation standards. The concerns here are often related to sanitation and food safety.

And let’s not forget the Baristas. Yes, there are guilds for baristas, to elevate the status of these dedicated professionals and train them to standards of excellence in preparing your cup of coffee.

So you see, there’s a lot of eyes watching out for every phase of the preparation of your cup of gourmet coffee. Now get that grinder going. With all this talk of coffee you must be thirsty by now.

Tags: barista, coffee roasters, coffee standards, fairtrade coffee, Gourmet Coffee, Organic Coffee, roasted coffee, specialty coffee, varietal coffee