Coffee Analysts’ staff members Gwen Toohey and Spencer Turer attended the WorldTeaExpo in May in preparation for increased tea testing capabilities at Coffee Analysts. Here are their observations on the event. Gwen’s Observations: The pursuit of tea, professional or otherwise, is part spiritual path and part precise process of technical prowess and mastery. This was... Read More

Things have changed in the world of private label sales. Retailers used to stock pri­vate label prod­ucts as a way to fill shelf space. Today, retail­ers look at private-label as an impor­tant piece of their brand image. Roasters tra­di­tion­ally would fall into one cat­e­gory: pri­vate label or branded man­u­fac­tur­ing. Today roast­ers con­sider pri­vate label busi­ness an... Read More

SCAA’s Specialty Coffee Event, held at the Washington State Convention Center, wound up on April 12th and the folks here in the office had some observations to share about their experiences in Seattle. Dan Cox: The SCAA continues to be my “must go” coffee show of the year. There is always something to discover, some... Read More

Jonathan Gabbay and Ruby Ubando from RGC Coffee in Montreal visited the Coffee Analysts lab last Friday. RGC Coffee is a family-owned and operated importer of high quality and specialty green coffee to the U.S. and Canadian markets, and has been in operation since 1968. Jonathan, a third generation coffee trader, and Ruby joined the Coffee... Read More

   Spencer Turer, Vice President of Coffee Analysts, will present seminars  on coffee sensory analysis, quality control and product development and  also be leading classes on green coffee grading and cupping.  David  DeCandia, Director of Tea for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, will lead  presentations on advanced tea blending classes featuring single-estate Ceylon teas. Other educational sessions will be... Read More

“BURLINGTON, Vt. – It starts with a gong. The sound summons four expert coffee tasters to the cupping table. Talking is not allowed, but the room is far from silent. The analysts slip into something they call the Zen of cupping, taking turns sniffing coffee grounds from Ethiopia, Brazil, Columbia and Kenya, looking for early signs... Read More

(Reuters) – The percentage of Americans who drink a cup of coffee every day declined for the third straight year, the National Coffee Association (NCA) said on Friday, reflecting slacker consumption from older drinkers. Read more HERE.  

We have often heard in the industry, “the lighter the roast, the greater the acidity, the darker the roast, the fuller the body.”  So the staff at Coffee Analysts decided to study the effects of roast development on physical, chemical and sensory attributes on two Arabica coffees (Central American and East African) at 5 different roast levels... Read More

Dr. Bob Arnot, television’s Dr. Danger stopped by our laboratory  last week to talk about coffee testing with Dan Cox and Spencer  Turer.  They discussed coffee’s interesting and somewhat  complicated supply chain, quality testing protocols, and chemical  analysis of green and roasted coffee. Dan and Spencer led Dr. Arnot through a traditional coffee  cupping, where they... Read More

In July 2014, the Washington Post declared, “Almost half of the World actually prefers instant coffee” and the map below confirms this statement:                     And the news today is not getting any better. After reading this article in Monday’s Washington Post stating that Americans LIKE to drink... Read More

                  Spencer Turer, vice president of testing laboratory Coffee Analysts, said a latte’s makeup makes it a friendlier option for the spill-prone The Chicago Tribune’s story about the safety net that milk components bring to coffee are examined here, with commentary from Spencer.  

                  Every so often someone shows up, unplanned, and delights our day. Recently, Marcos and Silvia Croce, owners of the FAF (Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza) coffee farm had a flight cancelled and had an extra day to spend in the Burlington area. They had heard about our coffee... Read More

Mr. Denis Karera, the General Manager of ARFIC, The Regulatory authority of Burundi Coffee Sector, along with Nicholas Rehmus and Elias Gilman from Cottage International visited Coffee Analysts today.  Cottage International is a socially responsible company that provides consulting services to clients in developing countries. Working with all stakeholders in the farm-to-cup supply chain provides an... Read More

Coffee Analysts welcomed Mr. Jaime Fortuno Co-Founder of Café Zumbador to our laboratory.  Café Zumbador selects coffee from farms in the high mountain areas of Cordillera Central on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.  This specialty coffee is from old-style varietals including Bourbon and Porto Rico (Typica 401), as well as other modern varietals in the... Read More

I was reading with interest an article by Jon Delano on CBS Pittsburgh’s website about the increase in the number of drive-thru coffee shops in the Pittsburg area. (Read Here) Ed Arvidson, of Expresso & Coffee Consulting in Oregon, consults nationwide with anyone who wants to open up drive-thru coffee kiosks, and his take on the uptick... Read More

  Dan Cox of Coffee Analysts was recently asked by Nicole Krug of The Washington Times to comment on the current price hikes that have been implemented by Smuckers, Folgers, Kraft, and most recently, Starbucks. These coffee brands and other specialty roasters have pushed up prices for bagged coffee and some drinks as the replacement... Read More

Boycotting Starbucks:will fair trade debate bring down coffee giant? Photo credit: © Thinkstock By Crystal Park WASHINGTON (VR) – There’s growing calls for Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, to switch over to fair trade coffee. “The fair trade movement, which has gotten a lot of traction, wants consumers to pay a minimum price of... Read More