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Hello Cuppers,

It is that time of the year again, it's time for the 4th Annual Coffee & Tea Festival! The event is going to be held on April 18th, 2009 at the Metropolitan Pavilion on 125 West 18th Street New York City.

Doors open at 11AM and the event goes until 4 or 5PM. Last year we were there for the opening and left early for tea and a bite to eat. Everyone who attended last year know exactly what it is about, but for those who haven't, it is 30,000 sqft of Coffee/Tea Nirvana lol...

You can expect the following:
- Coffee and tea sampling
- Lectures / Classes
- Shopping
- Contests
- Demonstrations
- Art
- Java/Tea Lounge with music & entertainment
- Funds will be raised for the official event charity, Cup for Education

This year I am happy to announce that I will be among one of the featured speaker at this event. I am going to do an hour segment on Home Roasting. Kicking off at 11AM, I will go touch upon the whys of getting into home roast, roasting systems with a brief description of the roasting process itself, equipment options for the home roaster, the roasting application, and lastly some Q/A. So for all you interested or have kicked around the possibility of home roasting, you won't want to miss this.

In comparison to other similar coffee events, this one is rather small, but intimate and definitely a good time. Last year we got in when doors opened, stayed until i think 2:30, had a late lunch, and finished off with coffee and tea at Amai Tea, an awesome little gem in downtown NYC. So come by your self or feel free to invite some friends!

I set the meeting time to 9AM on the morning of March 18th, but that time will definitely change as the train schedules have yet to be posted for that date. I am 99% sure that I will be meeting the group at the train station, unless I have to go in earlier to prep for the event. In any case I will appoint an ambassador to lead the group to the event.

Tickets:
Like last year, the CCS will receive a discounted admission rate of $10 off the ticket price. To receive this discount purchase tickets online by going to the website WWW.COFFEEANDTEAFESTIVAL.COM and enter the discount code: CTCOFFEE

I will do an event update and will send out an email as I the event draws near and ticket schedules become available. Hope you all have a great week and I look forward to seeing you!

Best,
Donny Raus

Hey Cupping Professionals/Newbies,

Hope you all are having a great start to 2009! Being that we are in the first month of the new year and have a bunch of new members, I find it only customary to kick things off with a social event.

We're going to hold the first event at SBC in Stamford. They've got good food and great in house brewed beers. It is definitely a laid back environment and a great place to kick back, relax, and meet fellow CCS members.

In February kick off the coffee cuppings, continuing in our series with the event focusing on water composition. Here we will taste/cup (haven't decided yet) coffees brewed with waters containing different mineral compositions, distilled, low, medium, high. Those differences will directly impact both the body and taste attributes of the coffee. How will each impact the overall flavor of the coffee? That is for you to find out...

Also, I am taking a trip to El Salvador in the beginning of February to visit coffee farms. I am going to take tons of pictures and most likely post another event sharing the details of my travels for all who are interested.

OK, back to SBC... For those of you who aren't familiar with downtown Stamford, it located directly across the street from the Majestic movie theater. If you don't know where that is, just use the link to map it. It is pretty easy to find. As far as parking goes, you can park directly on the street, which requires no meter money) or directly across the street in the movie theater parking lot. There you'll have to use a pay meter.

I reserved an area in the bar area, which is immediately to the right when you walk in the door of the restaurant.

I think that is about it... If I have any updates I will send out a group email. If you have any questions regarding the event, please do not hesitate to shoot me an email.

Hope all is well with you and I look forward to meeting/ seeing you all again!

Best,
Donny

Hello Cupping Professionals and Newbies,

How are you all doing??? Hope you're enjoying the cool weather and fall season. Definitely my favorite time of the year to grab a hot cup of coffee.

I apologize for not posting an event sooner, but things have been hectic and have found out that I am now a master in many different trades, although I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing. Did anyone know that concrete, if in contact with skin for an extended period of time, can give you third degree burns? Just thought I would share the wealth on what I learned first hand lol.

Without further adieu, I announce the first of a series of events to help you, the home brewer, make a quality cup of coffee in comfort of your own home. This event, we will be focusing on the grind, the specifications for each brewing process, and taste implications when the correct grind setting isn't selected.

After all the coffee festivities are completed, for those interested, we can have some lunch or morning drinks (other than coffee) at the restaurant bar and I promise that this time I will not be acting as a waiter. I'll check to see if we can get the standard price again for beers and maybe some drink specials on bellinis and the like. I will announce this as soon as I find out.

Also, I will be supplying the coffee for the event. We will be testing the grind with my Takengon Mandeling from Aceh Sumatra and will enjoy a nice press of it before, during, and after the event. If you like what you taste, I will have a few bags for sale at the event and will give a discount to all CCS members.

The event fee will be $5 per person.

I don't think I forgot anything, but as usual, I reserve the right to make changes and updates due to my lack of caffeine consumption today:) Hope you all are doing well and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Best,

Donny R

Hello Professional Cuppers and Cupping Newbies!

I bring great news! First, as I was informed by a fellow cupper and member, the Connecticut Coffee Society is meetup's most active coffee focused group in the tri-state area!! How awesome is that? Secondly, if you?re like me, you?ve been yearning for a coffee cupping? Grab your cupping spoons, because it is with great excitement that I post the first CCS cupping of 2008!

This event we will be cupping two coffees from Uganda, compliments of Crop to Cup. Both coffees use the same processing method, with one being more labor intensive and the other done in a more modern processing facility. Having tried very few Ugandan coffees, I spoke with fellow coffee guy, which I hold in very high esteem, and he had nothing but great things to say.

Here is the break down:
Coffee A is from Eastern Uganda's Bugisu region, grown at altitudes of 4,600-6,600 ft. This coffee is processed using hand-pulping machines on the farm, and small fermentation tanks (as opposed to being brought to the larger central pulping station).

Coffee B is from altitudes ranging from 5,250-6,600 and was processed at four larger washing stations around Mt. Elgon, utilizing more percise pulping machines, full plumbing, and stationary fermentation tanks. The drying process is done on wire racks in the sun and is the same for both coffees.

Very little has changed in the way we process/brew coffee. This particular scenario reminds me of the American Tall tale of Man vs Machine, Paul Bunyan and Babe vs Joe Muffaw and the steam saw... The million dollar question? How will the two processing practices effect the overall taste profile??? That is what we will find out.

Taylor from Crop to Cup will also be present at the cupping and available to answer any questions you may have regarding the coffee/farming/processing practices.

As always, I invite all those new to cupping to come a half an hour early for cupping 101. Our cuppings are very informal, with lots of slurping, spitting and all those other things you were brought up not to do. If you're still feeling a little intimidated, I'll personally guide you through the cupping.

After the cupping is finished, we will be tasting some Uganda coffee prepared via French Press and because it is a Saturday and 11AM might be early for some, I'm going see if I can pull some strings and get you all a complementary Mimosa!

The attendance fee for this event will be $5, of which the majority will be donated to a Ugandan charity that I will announce in an follow up email.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me anytime. For those of you attending the Coffee and Tea Festival, I look forward to seeing you in what should be a great time and for those who can't make it, I hope to see you at the cupping!

Cheers!

Donny

PS. If you have any questions with regard to directions, please don't hesitate to contact me!!!