Crimson Cup Innovation Lab to Host Peruvian Coffee Farmers for Seminars on Brewing, Cupping and Roasting Coffee
COLUMBUS, Ohio (PRWEB) December 01, 2017 -- Representatives from Peru’s NARSA co-op will visit Columbus, Ohio from December 4 through 6 to learn how to brew, roast and cup coffee to American tastes at the Crimson Cup Innovation Lab, 700 Alum Creek Drive. Training will be provided by Q Grader Brandon Bir, director of sustainability and education for Columbus coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea, and other members of the Crimson Cup Innovation Team.
“Our goal is to arm NARSA members with the skills they need to craft exceptional high-point coffees,” said Founder and President Greg Ubert. “Better coffee quality yields higher prices, which in turn will allow the co-op and its smallholder farmers to invest in continuing improvements in growing and processing.”
The delegation from Peru is headed by Don Julio Abel Arevalo Tello, who founded NARSA (NEGOCIACIONES AGROINDUSTRIAL AREVALO S. A.) in 1988 to help indigenous coffee and cacao farmers in Peru’s Central Highlands and Amazon areas market their crops. NARSA’s affiliated COOPERU organization promotes better farming practices among a network of approximately 3,000 coffee and cacao farmers. Other attendees include Arevalo’s wife Denise Carrión, commercial manager for NARSA and COOPERU, and COOPERU Quality Control Chief Richard Velasque, Field Promoter Leonel Pinto, Commercial and Finances Coordinator Eshime Secce, Traceability Manager Giuliana Leon and Commercial Manager Manuel Montenegro.
“Working with NARSA over the past five years, we found that lack of access to information about specialty coffee characteristics presented an obstacle to improving the quality of the beans,” Bir said. “To help address this issue, Crimson Cup partnered with NARSA and COOPERU in applying for a grant from the Peruvian Ministry of Production’s National Innovation Program for Competitiveness and Productivity.”
During an intensive three days at the SCA-certified Crimson Cup Innovation Lab, the group will follow the SCA curriculum in learning how to use different roast levels to optimize coffee bean flavor and how to perform a sensory evaluation through cupping. They will also explore how different brewing methods affect the cup.
“When they return home, Don Julio and his team will use their new knowledge to guide co-op farmers in better understanding the expectations of American coffee consumers,” Bir said.
Crimson Cup is funding a quality lab to give the NARSA team the equipment they need at origin to properly evaluate coffee.
“Our goal is to have the Crimson Cup Quality Lab at NARSA up and running within the next few months,” Bir said. “We’re designing the lab to SCA standards and hope to pursue SCA certification after the lab is complete.”
About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea
Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is Roast magazine’s 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Since 1991, Crimson Cup has roasted sustainably sourced specialty and craft coffee in small batches, which it sells directly to consumers and as wholesale coffee beans. The company also teaches entrepreneurs to run successful coffee houses through its coffee franchise alternative program, which includes a coffee shop business plan. Crimson Cup coffee is available through a community of more than 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 29 states, Guam and Bangladesh, as well as the company’s own Crimson Cup Coffee Houses. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com.
Cheryl Claypoole, Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea, https://www.crimsoncup.com/, +1 614-361-5023, [email protected]
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