We've got a great weekend of events to keep you entertained while drinking delicious coffees.

First, Erin Bode will play a live set on the patio at our Original Clayton Coffeehouse to promote her new album, "Photograph." Join Erin on the patio from 9am-10am. Pick up a CD and a pound of coffee to keep yourself "in good taste" through the week.

Also, representatives from UrbanFUTURE will be holding recruitment interviews at our Kirkwood, Clayton–Original, Clayton–Downtown, and Kayak's Coffeehouses. UrbanFUTURE is a "connector" of the Family, School and Community in impoverished urban areas. Volunteers help UrbanFUTURE by mentoring local youth in academics and character. Drop in from 8:30am - 10:30am on Saturday to learn more from an UrbanFUTURE representative.

KALDI'S SUMMER JAM 2010
Saturday, July 24th

This one day jam will focus on how to use, influence, and grow business through single origin coffees. Special guests include Chris Davidson from Atlas Coffee Importers, Bob Garver, owner of Wicked Joe's Coffee and WBC certified judge and USBC certified head judge, as well as Dan Streetman, a USBC certified head judge from Dallis Coffee in Queens, NY.

Classes will focus on brewing methods, objective tasting, single origin espresso, origin visits, and a round-table discussion with our special guests. Registration and the jam schedule are now available.

The Summer Jam will be hosted at the Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Plant and Barista Education Center, 700 St. Bernard's Lane, St. Louis, MO 63110.

We're ready to ship two fantastic new single origin coffees. They are the first in a strong arsenal of Central American fresh crop coffees headed your way.

Guatemala San Pedro La Laguna
Region: Atitlan
Altitude: 1525-1705 meters
Process: Washed
Varietals: Bourbon, typica
Description: Complex with notes of blackberry, raisin, cocoa and a creamy mouthfeel.

Guatemala San Pedro la Laguna is a washed, sundried coffee grown between 1525 and 1705 meters above sea level by smallholder farmers on the volcanic slopes overlooking Lake Atitlan. Lake Atitlan itself is a crater lake that was created 80,000 years ago by a collapsing magma chamber and as a result the whole region benefits from the rich volcanic soil.

El Salvador San Eduardo
Region: Santa Ana
Altitude: 1400 meters
Process: Washed
Varietals: Bourbon
Description: Reminiscent of candied orange with a macadamia nut-like finish

The San Eduardo farm is actually made of 3 smaller farms. All of our coffee comes from one of the smaller farms, La Trinidad. La Trinidad is the highest of the three farms at 1400 meters and is 100% bourbon.

It is also an award winning farm, placing 21st in the 2009 Cup of Excellence in El Salvador.

Be there.

from josh....

After a few weeks of reflecting on my experience at this year’s Annual Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Conference in Anaheim, a renewal of energy, ideas and commitment to grow the specialty industry runs top of mind. Each year I’m reminded of the diversity and complexity of this great industry and why it is important we stay involved with the SCAA.

My first reminder came as I sat in conversation next to two Kenyan coffee farmers at the Symposium opening round table discussion. I was challenged to focus on their introduction and business explanation as my eyes wandered around this large room of industry leaders.

The opening round table discussion was made up of top executives Dub Hay, Senior Vice President of Coffee for Starbucks Coffee Company, Larry Blanford, President and CEO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Nathan Herszkowicz, head of the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association (ABIC), and James Hoffman, founding partner of Square Mile Coffee and World Barista Champion 2007.

Conversation circled around the effects of a sluggish global economy and how new innovations such as the K-Cup and Starbucks Via are seeing strong growth. After listening to their well rehearsed sales pitch, for a split second, I almost agreed that these methods of coffee delivery could in fact be considered specialty. Instant coffee couldn’t produce quality in the cup or could it?

Due to an over committed schedule, juggling the United State Barista Championship (USBC) and preparing for the Manual Brewing Methods class CP254, my symposium experience was mostly limited to Wednesday. To my disappointment the two classes I attended, Single Serve Market, and Carbon and Coffee weren’t as enlightening as expected. The symposium highlight for me was a 60ft brew bar that lined a hallway outside the lecture rooms. Between each session attendees paused for a coffee break where skilled baristas made drinks using a manual brewing method of choice.

During a small break from the USBC action, Friday morning notables Frank McGinty and Dan Streetman assisted me in the first ever three hour Manual Brewing Methods lecture. The class seemed to be a success, so look for a level two version to be offered next year. With a slice of pizza in hand, Frank and I hurried back to our judging duties for the afternoon.

First round of the USBC gave Joe Marrocco and Micah Svejda a chance to showcase months of practice and years of experience behind the espresso machine. Both competitors represented the company well with Joe getting a bid to join Mike Marquard and eight other regional champions in the semi-final round. The caliber of semi-finalists left those in the audience uncertain as to whom the six final competitors would be. Mike’s performance earned him a spot in the final round on Sunday where he finished with a very honorable six place.

After the USBC winner was announced, the 2010 conference was officially over. The conclusion of conference always feels like the end of a long year, mostly due to the multiple over caffeinated 15-hour days. Unfortunately, I never found time to fully walk the conference floor, so I will need to read up on new coffee gadgets, teas, smoothie mixes, and so much more in industry publications. Remember, as I previously stated, this is arguably the most diverse industry in the world.

With a few weeks of rest, we are now in 2011 Conference/USBC mode searching for sites to host the Midwest Regional Barista Competition, applying new ideas learned in 2010, and working hard to grow this great industry within our region. See you next year in Houston.

United States Barista Championship
April 14 - Day 0

View some photos of our day of unpacking and driving around LA on way too much caffeine.

Micah and Joe compete tomorrow (Thursday) in round 1. We hope you'll tune in tomorrow online or at one of our watch parties!

For now, a little video to get you excited.

Become a part of the excitement surrounding this year's SCAA United States Barista Championship held in Anaheim, California by joining our live "watch parties" at the following coffeehouses:

Kaldi's Coffeehouse at the Crescent
Kaldi's Coffeehouse - Chesterfield

Kayak's Coffee

Thursday, April 15: 4pm-8pm

Saturday, April 17: 11am-7pm

Sunday, April 18: 2pm-5pm

Cheer on Kaldi's Competitors Micah Svejda, Joe Marrocco, and Mike Marquard as they battle for the title of 2010 United States Barista Champion and enjoy 25% off in-house traditional drinks.

Micah and Joe will compete during the first round on Thursday. Micah starts at 4:30pm Central Time and Joe starts at 6:30pm Central Time. Mike will not compete until the semi-finals on Saturday, where he will hopefully be joined by Joe and Micah. We will update competition times for the semi-finals as they are announced on Friday evening.

Stay tuned to this blog for commentary as we travel to the competition. Also, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the minute results and comments.

Catch all of the action at one of the watch parties or online.

Join us this Saturday at the Kirkwood Coffeehouse as we present our views and practices on sourcing and buying coffee from around the world. Tyler and I will give a short presentation on the criteria we use to select our coffees and some of the far-away lengths we go to get them. Following will be plenty of time for questions and answers. We hope to see you there!

from Tyler about his recent trip to Ethiopia...

I was invited to Ethiopia at the end of February to be a part of an annual event put on by USAID and the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association – a roundtable discussion. The goals of the event are to get together and discuss Ethiopian coffee and how we can improve on what is already there. There is so much potential for quality in Ethiopia, the next step is how to realize it. Part of that is our job as roasters is to promote these spectacular coffees and educate consumers about what it takes to produce world class coffee, both at the farm level and also at the consumer level.
There were plenty of speakers at the roundtable discussion, but the one who to me was the most interesting was KC O’Keefe. KC has worked in coffee for a long time. He got into coffee after serving in the Peace Corp in Peru and ended starting up his own exporting company in Lima, Peru where he specializes in exporting specialty/relationship coffee. He also had a brief stint working with Intelligentsia. About three months ago the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange hired KC to help launch this new auction system that would co-exist with the ECX called DST, or Direct Specialty Trade. The idea behind the DST is to allow for more transparency and also reward producers for producing amazing coffee. The one thing that will remain the same is that private wet mills will still have to sell their coffee through the ECX where it will get blended with many other lots. Only cooperatives and producers can submit their coffees to the DST.

I have heard mixed reviews of how the first auction went. 44 lots of coffee were up for bid. The producers set a reserve so their lowest price is met. One issue with the first auction is that it came together so quickly that many producers were not able to bring their coffee to auction. Also, many of the 44 coffees submitted were 84 point and below coffees, which may be solid coffees, but not “special enough” to command auction type prices. Out of the 44 coffees submitted, 17 were purchased at a with a low of $2.15/lb and a high of $4.02/lb. Despite this, optimism was very high. Coffees that had scored high were bid on and accepted. The DST is scheduled to take place once a month in Addis Ababa to allow producers and coops time to submit coffees. Since this was the first auction, there is room for improvement, but considering it was put together in a matter of weeks, it went well. Coffee producing countries from all over the world are watching closely to see how this system shakes out, but only time will tell if works.

...more to come on Tyler's experience on the 1st Ethiopian Cupping Caravan

above right, coffees are scored before the auction

above left, the roundtable discussion

Round 2 of the Midwest BGA's Thursday Night Throwdown is scheduled for March 11 @ Kaldi's Kirkwood at 7:30pm. This event will feature another head-to-head latte art showdown as well as a coffee tasters challenge.

The entry price for the latte art competition is $5. The tasters challenge will be free to enter and all are encouraged to try it out (from coffee novice to super-nerd).

Kaldi's will be featuring $2.50 Schlafly bottles. Spectators are encouraged, so bring your friends.

The BGA is searching for sponsors and hosts of upcoming April, May and June throwdowns. For more information, please email mikem@kaldiscoffee.com