Coffee of the Year

There has been a lot of talk about the SCAA event that was Portland, OR about a week ago. As a basic recap, it's an expo for specialty coffee there they have a variety of awards that are handed out and also the Barista championship. Now there has been a lot of coverage here informing people about all of the individuals that have been awarded for their brewing coffee and some of the latest gadgets, just check the previous blogs. However, one key item that I believe has been lacking in all of this coverage is the mention that Rusty's Hawaiian was a Coffee of the Year award winner!

As many of you know Rusty's Hawaiian is not only a roaster on Roaste that sells some great coffees from the Pacific, but they also grow their own coffee. So it makes sense to me that they were able to score one of those Coffee of the Year awards. I say that because they were part of last years United States Barista Champion's and runner up to the World Barista Champampion, he used a blend of their beans to be his espresso blend that helped him acheive his great success! His blend can be had here, The Pete Licata Espresso.

So it's pretty neat that there is a roaster here on the Roaste that can offer some really high quality coffee that has beaten out a lot of the competition to win this prize. I know it has really made me more interested in trying out Rusty's Hawaiian coffee more than I already was. So this might just be the push that it takes to try it out. I do admit that the price is more expensive than what is offered by other roasters/growers, but for a farm to be part of the World Barista Championship run and leading to a United States Barista Champion, and SCAA coffee of the year it appear to be worth the price.

I would love to hear if anyone has had the pleasure of trying out their coffees what they think of them. So the medium roast is now on my wishlist and I shall make it a point to get to it very soon.