One of the most exciting events for the coffee lovers and professionals in Europe is approaching and we will definitely be part of it. 

Europe’s best-loved coffee event, World of Coffee, heads to Amsterdam in 2018. Our DABOV Specialty Coffee’s team is going to join the Specialty Coffee Association at World of Coffee from 21 till 23 June and reach thousands of coffee industry buyers and influencers within a unique mix of a trade show, education program, social events, and most importantly, the 2018 World Barista Championships. We can’t wait!

Europe’s Fastest-Growing Coffee Show

Traveling to a different European city each June, World of Coffee is the essential event for coffee professionals on our continent – drawing a loyal audience from the global specialty coffee community, more than 80% of whom return year-on-year. Brought to you by the Specialty Coffee Association, the event has more than doubled in size and stature over the last five years, growing from 3,000 visitors and 45 exhibitors to 6,800 visitors and 240 exhibitors in just 5 years. These results are impressive, aren’t they!

World of Coffee is a festival of innovation, entertainment & knowledge

The backbone of World of Coffee is the dynamic 5000 sq.m. exhibition featuring over 250 of the world’s leading coffee and Horeca industry suppliers. But Europe’s top coffee event is more than a trade show, it is a festival of innovation and learning comprising of several distinctive panels. Check out which they are so that you can make your programme and don’t miss anything important:

• World Barista Championships
• The SCA’s cutting-edge lecture series
• Two busy cupping rooms
• A week-long social programme of parties and networking events
• The ever-popular Roasters’ Village
• The Sustainability Forum
• The SCA Guilds Area
• The highly competitive World of Coffee New Product of the Show Awards
• The SCA Shop

We are thrilled to share with you that this year we are going to be straight into the eye of the specialty coffee storm during the World Barista Championship!

The 2018 World Barista Championship is fast approaching – in just under few weeks, from 20th to 23rd June, over sixty competitors will take to the stage in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at the World of Coffee show. With regional competitions well under way, qualified competitors will have started planning their preliminary round performance – preparing three espresso-based courses in fifteen minutes to a panel of judges and the audience. Alongside the preliminary round on day one and two, competitors will also collaborate in groups of teams, as part of the WBC Teams Competition.

The Netherlands’ coffee industry is thriving, and what’s more, sustainability is of high importance to Dutch consumers – last year, the CBI went as far as to describe the country as “the epicenter of sustainability initiatives within the coffee sector”.

SCA has also announced a new round of Qualified Sponsorships

The Specialty Coffee Association has also announced a new round of Qualified Sponsorships for World Coffee Competitions starting in 2018 – affecting what equipment can be used for in the championships. At the moment, Simonelli and Mahhlkoenig are the espresso machine and grinder sponsors respectively. Other sponsors include Ally Coffee, Swiss Water, and more. Information about Qualified Testing for the sponsor position will be announced soon.

Over the last eighteen years, it’s been clear to see that behind every barista, there is a strong support network—from coaches to producers, to roasters. The World Barista Championship Teams competition is designed to foster and encourage that same spirit of mutual support amongst competitors. Participating competitors are grouped into ten teams, equally weighted based on historical performance of their National Body. Competitors continue to give the standard on-stage performance to the audience and a panel of judge, while working with and supporting their teammates behind the scenes. Each team also works a shift on the Team Bar, where competitors will work together to decide on a menu, equipment, and service.

Here are some of the baristas, that are going to participate this year:

The overall winner of the Teams competition will be determined by combining each team member’s individual score from the WBC preliminary round. The team with the highest combined score win the WBC Teams Competition, and some great prizes, including the chance to participate in a future WCE All-Stars event. The highest ranking member of the winning team who is not already qualified into semi finals will win a spot as the sixteenth semi-finalist, and continue in the World Barista Championship. In 2017 the WBC Teams competition was won by Team Tamper, which included Canada, China, Italy, Kenya, and Romania. Kenya’s Martin Shabaya qualified into semi-finals, and also joined the WCE All-Stars event at Hotelex Shanghai—keep your eyes peeled for more of the 2017 Team Tamper at upcoming All-Stars features!

Stay tuned for some more freshly roasted info, photos, and videos, straight from the event!

Sources:
https://www.worldofcoffee.org/

https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2017/01/world-barista-championship-2018-amsterdam/

https://worldbaristachampionship.org/announcing-2018-world-barista-championship-teams/

After a few days of cupping, scrupulous selection and evaluation, the winner of the Best of Panama competition for 2018 was selected.

The annual edition of Best of Panama was held in Valle Escondido Resort & Spa and ran from 22 to 26 May. The event hosted more than 15 local judges, 18 international judges from the USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, EUA and Japan and over 25 international guest testers from Asia, the United State, and Europe. We are also proud of our founder, Jordan Dabov, who was the only European to be invited as a judge for the last few years! They all confirm that the Geisha variety has the best and most deserved reputation in Panama.

On Best of Panama, a new record was scored by the washed Geisha

The washed Geisha scored a record result this year – 94.38 points out of a maximum of 100! This is a historic record since the highest rating so far is 94.11. It is for this reason that the question arises whether a maximum score of 100 points can be reached? “It would be great, but it would also mean that there would be no better coffee,” said Wilford Lamastus, President of the Specialty Coffee Association in Panama.

Will last year’s highest score on Best of Panama be reached in 2018?

For comparison, natural Geisha received 93.63 points, which is 0.48 less than its personal record from previous years of 94.11 points. Last year, the winner coffee was sold for $ 601 per pound at an online auction. Five years earlier, the price for the winner was $ 350.25. These differences not only show the quality of coffee but also help local development and gradual improvement in production. One can only guess how much the buyers will be willing to pay on this year’s online auction.

“Our costs are very high compared to the rest of Latin America. Only if we remain in the special category, this branch of coffee can provide better returns to the country,” appreciates producer Ricardo Koiner, manager of Kotowa.

Koiner supports his assessments of climate challenges, and Lamastus adds the impossible competition in volume with other exporting countries.

The weather this time led to the farms to have low production rates. “In many regions, 50% of the capacity was produced; in others, only 20%, “recalls Koiner.

In terms of volume, Lamastus takes Colombia as an example. The South American country sends abroad a minimum of 11 million bags per year. The special category of the Chiriqui highlands allows the harvest of some 200,000 bags, of which an average of 50,000 are sold in other markets.

For these and other organoleptic reasons, that is, texture, color, aroma, flavor and acidity, according to Bermúdez, the 50,000 bags of Panamanian special coffee captivate the public that seeks the most exalted grain.

Since last Wednesday they participated in the tastings of the coffee varieties produced in the highlands, where the pacamara, traditional, natural and geisha varieties are worked in their different modalities.

They are the cream of the coffee industry. “The buyers come, savor and negotiate quantities of 80 or 100 bags with the producers,” says Lamastus.

Others wait until the July auctions to compete for the most exquisite pounds of coffee in the world. Last year a buyer paid $ 601 for a pound of Geisha from Best of Panama. This year, experts now consider, that record can be broken.

Stay tuned for more info from the world of Specialty Coffee!

We are thrilled to share with you that one of the most significant events in the world of Specialty Coffee is currently underway – Best of Panama 2018!

Founded in 1996 by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), the competition is now held for a 22 time! This event gives the world the opportunity to get closer to some of the most exclusive cafes such as Geisha for example! Thanks to SCAP’s members who have developed and established cultivation systems and processing methods that aim to create an outstanding product: „Our coffees have been ranked by experts as some of the best in the world in many international competitions, and our production is highly prized by the most demanding and discerning in the industry. We strive to promote a culture that is friendly with the environment: We understand that our water sources, forests, and wildlife are not only a key part of the success and uniqueness of our coffees, but also the most important asset to our communities,” said the locals.

Currently, SCAP has more than 50 active members that export its varieties of Specialty Coffees around the world and that are winners of prizes and recognition in different international taste competitions.

Also, the best of Panama represents the opportunity for local estates to promote the quality of their harvests, as this competition is overseen and judged by national and international experts in the specialty coffee industry. „For us coffee growers, the Best of Panama is a very important event, as it continuously raises the bar for the quality we strive to offer in our product,” said the producers.

This year, Best of Panama 2018 will take place in Valle Escondido Resort & Spa on May 22-26th. The event will host more than 15 preliminary local judges, 18 international judges from USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, EUA and Japan and more than 25 International Guest Cuppers from Asia, USA, and Europe.

We are so proud to announce that our coffee hunter Jordan Dаbov was invited to be a part of the international jury in Best Of Panama. This honour is granted to cuppers from USA, Asia and Australia with high experience in cupping quality coffees. For years a European judge has not been a part of this event.

Follow us for more up-to-date information about the event and the results!

The adventure in search for the Truth About Coffee has begun! A month of exciting coffee events is ahead of us. 

Our founder, Jordan Dubov, will embark on an exciting journey to Central America for a month, and in particular to Nicaragua and Honduras. He will join the international jury of the COE – Cup Of Excellence and also visit local farms! Meanwhile, however, he will also visit major coffee events in the US!

This year Cup of Excellence Nicaragua is going to be held from 9 April to 12 April.

The national jury started with 213 different coffees, 107 of which were only allowed to a national round. These coffees come from all over Nicaragua, used different methods to process them. This week, the national jury identified 40 coffees that qualified for the final. For the first time, Jordan Dabov –  the founder of our company Dabov Specialty Coffee, will take an honorable participation in the jury.

Learn more about the process, the participants and the jury here.

Specialty Coffee Expo 2018

We are so happy that our founder Jordan Dabov is in the eye of the coffee storm and will share with us some of the spicy innovations from the World of Specialty coffee.