FROM THE PUBLISHER

RECENTLY I RAN ACROSS a brilliant piece of advice in an opinion column in The Washington Post, which the author attributes to a local Chinese restaurant owner, “You have to do the right thing,” he said, “and you have to do the thing right.” I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard a formula for success in the coffee roasting (or any other) business stated so succinctly.
     Do the right thing and do the thing right. Anyone fortunate enough to attend the SCAA show in Charlotte, N.C., this past April had an opportunity to see the application of this philosophy first-hand at the first Roasters Choice competition. Prior to the show, Roasters Guild members were asked to submit roasted coffees to be judged by the Roasters Guild Executive Council. The council selected their 10 favorite coffees and made these coffees available for attendees to taste—and vote on—at the show.
     I would like to congratulate Oren Bloostein of Oren’s Daily Roast for being voted the number one coffee. The top 10 results were:

     1–Oren’s Daily Roast Inc., Ethiopian
     2–VT Artisan Coffee & Tea, Kenyan
     3–Gridge’s Coffee & Roasting, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
     4 (tie)–Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters, Colombian
     4 (tie)–Lexington Coffee Roasting, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
     5–Lexington Coffee Roasting, Guatemalan
     6–Ecco Caffé, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
     7–Café Imports, Tanzania Songea
     8–Cuvee Coffee Roasting Company, Kenya AA Top
     9–Caffé Pronto, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

     I have always believed that part of Roast’s mission is to recognize roasters that are providing consumers with exemplary coffee (i.e. doing the right thing), as well as roasters who have exemplary business models with respect to education, sustainability and innovation (i.e. doing the thing right). Hence, I would like to announce our third annual Roaster of the Year competition, which this year has a new wrinkle.
     The Roasters Choice competition proved that exceptional coffees are being produced by a variety of companies, some big and some small. So this year, to celebrate roasters of both sizes, we will be selecting two winners for Roaster of the Year, one for best micro-roaster (roasting less than 100,000 pounds per year) and one for best large roaster (roasting more than 100,000 pounds per year). The reason for creating two categories was to recognize the two distinct segments of the roasting community. There is a big difference between a roaster that roasts 250,000 lbs. per year and a roaster roasting 10,000 lbs. per year.
     See page 20 for more details on the Roaster of the Year contest or go directly to www.roastmagazine.com for an application. The deadline is August 31, so don’t delay. We can’t wait to see who’s “doing the right thing” and “doing the thing right”!

Enjoy the Summer,

Connie