SCA Expo 2024 Roundup
SCA Expo 2024 is right around the corner! Check out our round up of all the happenings at our booth and around Chicago. We can’t wait to see you there!
The Legendary Coffee Exchange Is Back
The Legendary Coffee Exchange is back! Join us for the coffee swap of the year at the SCA Expo in Chicago April 12-14.
2023 Wrapped & Strapped is here
How many pounds of coffee total did you order in 2023? What was your top origin? How many unique coffees did you sample? Find out in your 2023 Wrapped & Strapped!
New Videos Available in our Coffee Profiles
Enjoy new video content within our offerings list featuring our Green Buying team discussing their approach to sourcing in nine different producing countries.
Common Sensory Errors – An Introduction
In sensory analysis, common physiological and psychological sensory errors should be accounted for when designing cupping protocols. Welcome to a new blog series by Ian Fretheim, Director of Sensory Analysis, diving into how we control for these common sensory errors.
Proudly Bringing You Bird Friendly Coffees
We’re excited to announce that Cafe Imports is now certified to sell Smithsonian Bird Friendly coffees, produced by farmers committed to conserving the habitats of around 200 species of migratory songbirds.
Introducing Community and Farm Select Coffees
Learn about our newly organized Offering List, including two new Select Coffee offerings.
Find Us in Barista Magazine: WCP Trip Recap
Eleven travelers met in the Bogota airport early on Monday, September 11th. Five were Cafe Imports staff. The other six represented Ruby Coffee Roasters, Jibbi.Littles Coffee Roasters, City Market Coffee Roasters, Patriot Coffee, and Salto Coffee. They met for a five-day sourcing tour designed to help roasters cultivate and sustain genuine buyer-farmer partnerships with producers and cooperatives participating in our Women Coffee Producer Program.
Introducing ed+u by Cafe Imports
A brand new coffee education platform offering classes developed for both students and trainers.
Podcast: Water in Food with Ian Fretheim
This past week our Director of Sensory Analysis, Ian Fretheim, joined Zachary Cartwright as a guest on his podcast “Water in Food.” The two dove into a discussion on the role water plays in specialty green coffee, exploring findings from our sensory team’s long-term study on water activity (Aw), talking about sensory science as it relates to coffee, and getting excited about the future of cupping with our new Coffee Rose.
Pink…Bourbon?: Cryptozoology and Genetics in Specialty Coffee
One area that has been rightly ripping, in particular relative to historical norms, has been the introduction, interest in, and acceptance of new coffee varieties. When Castillo was introduced many people wanted to turn their noses up at it. In our lab, we were more accepting, as the results on the cupping table were impossible to deny. We regularly found it to perform well against Caturra, Typica, and the many other varieties that we blinded it against. When it won the Cup of Excellence, people were somehow shocked, going so far as to disbelieve the results.
And then, seemingly overnight, Castillos were broadly accepted. What happened?
Bringing two top-scoring lots from ECIEV Venezuelan producer competition to the States!
Cafe Imports Green Buyer Piero Cristiani judged and bid at EICEV 2023, bringing home the 1st place washed and 3rd place anaerobic lots.
Highlighting Carlos Guerra: Legendary Coffee Exchange Participant
Enjoy our interview with Roaster and Honduras Barista Champion Carlos Guerra, who won an Ikawa Pro 50 Sample Roaster through the Legendary Coffee Exchange at the 2023 SCA Expo.
2023 Progress Report: Now Published
A note from Founder and President Andrew Miller introducing our 2023 Progress Report.
SCA Expo 2023 Round-Up!
EXPO is approaching, and this is the round-up of everything we’ve got going on at and around the show! See you in Portland, friends.
Holiday Closure and Ordering Update
Due to increased holiday shipment demands, we anticipate December to be a challenging month for LTL freight in the United States.
Field Report: Fermentation Training Camp in Risaralda, Colombia with Lucia Solis
At Cafe Imports, we’ve noted a rise in questions about processing, many of which either center around deciphering terminology or what the growing hype about methodology in fermentation and processing means for producers/processors and the coffees they create.
New Compostable Green Coffee Sample Bags
Our new green-coffee sample bags are made from biodegradable plant-based materials and designed to be composted by you. One of our primary values is to decrease our negative impact on the earth at every chance we get, and this is a real-life opportunity to do so. We believe this new packaging is a step in the right direction, but simply sending out a compostable material instead of a plastic material doesn’t mean we’re doing anything better unless these bags actually end up in the compost.
Regenerative Agriculture and The New Generation of Specialty Coffee in Tarqui, Colombia
We’ve been sourcing some of our favorite coffees from Huila, Colombia, since the early 2000s, when we started developing relationships with producers farming along the verdant mountains that are home to this region. The delicate balance found within the cup profile of coffees from this area keeps us searching for more — strong, sparkling acidity with notes of clean fruit, carmalized sugars, and just enough body to hold it all together.