There's nothing like a coffee cupping to kick start a Friday morning and today's cupping delivered. Cuppers traveled the globe in a study of four single origins: 1. Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea 2. CEPICAFE s Piura, Organic, Fair Trade, Peruvian, 3. Slow Food Internationa's Huehuetenango, Guatemala and 4. the Lima family's Santa Josefita, El Salvador. Coffee notes ranging from motor oil to onion, from cherry to cooked, sweet green beans, toasted hazelnuts to pine nuts, wood to sweet bark....The result, cuppers declaring varying favorites and taking time to advance their coffee education and appreciate the nuance found in each cup.

Then we tried the latest product released from a national coffee outfit, instant coffee. Several tasters thought this was the best version of instant coffee they had tried, but this is not necessarily an accolade. One person shared that this might do the trick if they were in the middle of Wyoming observing the bison. Another taster responded to this comment, that they would rather try to find a diet coke. Yet another cupper said, this is better then coffee on airplanes. The initial flavor is ok, first 1/3rd second, then it quickly falls flat and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

Fortunately the coffee cupping ended with a bang! Shannon, our Barista Trainer extracted HOPE project, Tanzanian Peaberry espresso shots, a choice inspired by Cody, one of our 2010 barista competitors. This single origin espresso is beautiful, it starts with subtle, smooth vanilla hints and then bursts open with chocolate and cherry. Everyone was impressed!