Coffee Master Recertification Questions Flashcards
How does the altitude at which coffee grows impact its quality?
Elevation is a mark of quality. High altitudes maintain ideal temperature, sunlight and rainfall that create special microclimates perfect for nurturing beans to allow complex flavors to develop.
How long does it take for a coffee tree to mature and produce its first commercial harvest?
3-4 years
How long does it take for coffee cherries to ripen?
9 months
Name the six layers of a coffee cherry.
Outer skin, pulp, mucilage, parchment, silver skin and green bean
What size farm produces the majority of the world’s coffee supply? What is their average size and how much do they produce?
Smallholder farms; 2-5 hectares in size producing 1,000 - 2,000 pounds of coffee beans.
What is a cooperative? How many farms are included in a cooperative?
Coffee farmers organized into groups, who join together to help promote and sell their coffee. They vary in size, and can include 100 - 15,000 farms.
When and where did our relationship with Conservation International (CI) begin? What has been the focus of our relationship with CI?
Mexico, 1998. The focus has been to address the link between coffee farmers and conservation by developing our ethical buying guidelines for C.A.F.E. practices.
What is the focus of our 2008 renewed relationship with CI?
Tackle global climate change head on and measure the impact of our responsible growing practices on farms and the surrounding environments.
What is the goal of Fairtrade (Fair Trade)
To empower smallholder farmers belonging to cooperatives to invest in their farms and communities, protect the environment, and develop the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
By the time the coffee arrives in your store, how many times on average has it been sampled throughout its journey?
~26 times
How many cups of coffee does the global green coffee quality team taste annually?
250,000 cups annually
Name the three decaffeination methods Starbucks uses.
Direct contact-method
SWISS WATER process method
Natural Decaffeination process
Explain the difference between a pre-roast and a post-roast blend. Are Starbucks Christmas blend and Caffe Verona pre- or post-roast blends?
Pre-roast blends call for blending green coffee and roasting it all together in order to focus on a single roast expression versus Post-roast blends where multiple roast expressions are roasted separately, and blended after.
Caffe Verona: Pre-roast blend
Starbucks Christmas bled: Post-roast blend
Explain the three coffee-processing methods.
Washed Processing: during fermentation, mucilage is dissolved in large tanks resulting in a cleaner bean and a more acidic flavor in the cup.
Semi-washed Processing: partial drying and no fermentation, results in coffees with herbal, earthy flavors and big body
Natural Processing: unique to this method is the absence of water. In this dry processing, the fruit of the cherry is allowed to dry right on the bean
How does processing impact the flavor of the coffee?
Washed processing adds a more acidic flavor
Semi washed adds more herbal, earthy flavor and big body
Natural processing adds more fruity natural flavor a
