Pacamara

Cup of Excellence El Salvador sees 25 coffees head to auction

J. Raul Rivera of Santa Rosa farm has won the 2019 El Salvador Cup of Excellence (COE), with a score of 90.57 for his honey processed Pacamara varietal. “At Finca Santa Rosa, we proudly represent [the] Alotepec mountain range and the variety which was developed locally, and the result of years of hard work are rewarded to farmers throughout the country,” J. Raul says. “COE has created a window of opportunity for producers of coffee. Through this event, the world of coffee is evolving for better. We need to promote COE if we want to change the industry.”
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2016 Vietnam Barista Champion Han Tran makes tracks

There are two traditional types of barista in Vietnam according to Han Tran: those that work in street vendors selling roadside coffee that’s “dark, dense, and bitter Robusta” or in male-dominated cafés that are attracted more to the female baristas than the overpriced beverage in front of them. When Han told her parents she wanted to pursue a career in coffee, naturally, she says, you can imagine their disapproving reaction. “They were against it,” she says. “Barista work had a bad reputation because of the stereotypes. A barista was not considered a profession in Vietnam. It was not respected. My parents were worried for my safety and that I would not earn a secure income.”
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