2013 Coffee Year in Review
2013 was a big year at MakeGoodCoffee.com. Let's take a look at what went down.THE GOOD
- Published in Roast Magazine
In 2012, I traveled to Hawaii's Big Island with Dave Cook, friend and owner of Fire Roasted Coffee in London, Ontario, Canada. While there, we saw first-hand the damage being done by the borer beetle ('la broca' in Spanish) on coffee farms. La broca is a common pest hurting coffee crops around the world and was positively identified in Hawaii's Kona region in 2012. This has been hurting supply of Hawaiian Kona coffee, and Dave was even turned away at farms when trying to buy from them. Roast Magazine picked up our story and we were published in this year's May/June issue. Click here to check out the article in Roast Magazine.
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- Official Media Blogger at CoffeeCON
This year, I was invited to be an official media blogger at CoffeeCON in Chicago. To my knowledge, it's the only coffee show for the coffee lover rather than the coffee professional. It's OUR coffee show, featuring workshops on coffee tasting, coffee making, and coffee roasting. It was a well attended and informative event. At the show, I had the pleasure of meeting coffee giant George Howell, one of the founders of the international Cup of Excellence coffee competition, and founder of Terroir Coffee. Terroir was eventually sold to Starbucks as their way of expanding into the Boston market. My interview with George lead to literally months of content here on the site. Check out the Trip Report CoffeeCON 2013, or click here for all of the articles that came of my talk with George Howell.
- Central American Coffee Origin Trip
I've recently returned from an amazing adventure with my father, visiting coffee farms and roasters in Guatemala. We traveled Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize together by foot and chicken bus to learn more about the origins of coffee and chocolate. Along the way, we enjoyed the freshest of each, and a great bonding experience. I came back from that trip just a couple weeks before holiday travel started, so stay tuned for much more on this trip. For now, check out my abbreviated summary of the trip, Our Trek Through Central American Coffee Country.
THE BADThis year, it was with mixed emotions that I moved from Portland, Oregon, the coffee capital of North America as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure which city has more roasters per capita between Seattle and Portland, but Portland is a little warmer and it rains a little less, so I vote for Portland. My home in Portland alone was a stone's throw from three excellent roasters. I can't complain about my new home in San Diego, California. Having said that, it's never easy to move a little further from new friends and great roasters.
THE UGLYIt pains me even to bring this up, but while my father and I were in Flores, Guatemala (see Central American Origin Trip above), we needed a coffee in a bad way and couldn't find a cafe on the island. We crossed the causeway to a Burger King that we could see from the island and we -gulp- had the coffees that you see pictured here. Guatemala is one of the world's producers of excellent coffee, and while there, we had coffee at Burger King. It's sad but true.Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to coffee lovers everywhere! I'm looking forward to new adventures in 2014, and sharing many, many cups of good coffee with you. Make good coffee!