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Posted on December 2 2019
I am sitting at Sao Paulo Guarulhos, almost exactly a month since I left the UK on this Brazil Trip. So now is as good a time as any to get this trip report written.
Posted on June 14 2019
June 14 2019
This year's World of Coffee show was epic. Great Coffee, Great People, Great Times had by all! What's not to love? Ben Palmer re-caps.
Posted on November 6 2018
November 6 2018
Portugal Roasters Camp Ben’s first trip abroad representing Mercanta (we were one of the green coffee sponsors) without a doubt, caused mild apprehension, considering the roasting prowess of the attendees. Wet behind the ears with little to no specialty roasting experience, there was much to learn over the course of the four days. Here’s a
Posted on February 6 2018
February 6 2018
Clients from four countries joined us on our annual Colombia residency this year. Since Mercanta set up our office in Medellin in 2012, we have sought to highlight the wonders of the marvellous Colombian Department of Antioquia to a wider audience: in a coffee sense, a city tour sense, and a social sense. The networking opportunity for
Posted on January 12 2018
January 12 2018
For many years, Mercanta has been telling you the same, old Ethiopia story: In 2008 Ethiopia began the centralization of all coffee exports through the newly established Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). This eliminated most roasters’ and importers’ ability to provide accurate information of the precise traceability of coffees. Until December of that same year, growers
Posted on April 10 2017
April 10 2017
Jantioquia: A customer’s perspective; Fiona Grant from Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters guest blogs Standing in the middle of Plaza Botero, a plastic cup of fresh mango spiked with salt and lime in my hand, musica tropical blaring out from a passing taxi and Mercanta’s Juan Cano pointing out the city sights and I’m one very
Posted on February 15 2017
February 15 2017
2017 marked the second year of Mercanta’s Jantioquia (January in Antioquia) – an event inspired by my own experiences in Antioquia some years ago. When I first began visiting Antioquia in 2010, the department (Colombia’s largest administrative subdivision) had long been overlooked with regards to both coffee and tourism. At the time, Huila held distinction
Posted on August 5 2016
August 5 2016
Pedro Echavarria and Leonardo Hennao from Antioquia's Santa Barbara Estate joined us in the UK, visiting friends and talking about FERMENTATION!
Posted on April 9 2014
April 9 2014
We were very happy this year to be an attending member of the Annual General meeting of the Norwegian Coffee Association. We were very happy this year to be an attending member of the Annual General meeting of the Norwegian Coffee Association. It is always a pleasure to share time, and on this occasion the
Posted on March 14 2014
March 14 2014
Germany is a country associated with many things, coffee not usually being one of them. However, with an average per capita consumption of around 5.6 kg, the Germans do like their beans. Coffee here is like tea in the UK and indeed the tradition of Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake), is an almost direct
Posted on December 13 2013
December 13 2013
Coffee Hunter Joanne Berry leads the German roasters’ guild on a tour of the coffee regions of Rwanda It has been a privilege this year to visit Rwanda twice; it is a country which has very quickly found its way into my heart and where, thanks to those that came before me, we have great
Posted on August 1 2013
August 1 2013
Our Head of Asia, Grant Rattray reflects on a trip to Asia’s fastest-growing coffee hotspot, Korea. In the country that brought us the hit TV show – ‘The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince’ – it’s no surprise that the fascination for all things coffee shows little sign of abating. The first impression of Seoul and
Posted on February 2 2013
February 2 2013
On Friday 25th and Saturday 26th of January we were invited by the Deutsche Roestergilde (German Roaster’s Guild) and Probat to join them at a roasting workshop and sensory exercise that took place at Probat in Emmerich, Germany. We donated four coffees to the event (Brazil Fazenda Passeio Topazio PN, Rwanda Musasa Red Bourbon, Bolivia
Posted on October 7 2011
October 7 2011
This year’s coffee hunter field trip headed to colourful Bahia in northern Brazil – a diverse and sometimes overlooked growing area, with some huge potential for distinctive specialty lots. We were lucky to take a talented cameraman with us, who made this film of the week – we hope it will help show what Mercanta
Posted on July 28 2011
July 28 2011
It seems the specialty coffee revolution is spreading further than we thought possible! Despite snow, sub-zero temperatures and a real lack of local cafés, the team at South Africa’s base in Antarctica are enjoying some very fine coffees this winter. Thanks to Cape Town based specialty roaster, Origin Coffee Roasting, some of Mercanta’s coffees have
Posted on December 18 2009
December 18 2009
The Nordic Barista Cup: The first competition took place in Denmark in 2003 and it’s been going from strength to strength every year since. These annual events bring together baristas and many other specialty coffee professionals in an environment where knowledge can be shared through meeting, learning, seminars…and a lot of very hands-on practical workshops
Posted on April 27 2009
April 27 2009
Eleven of us gathered in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for our 7th Coffee Hunter Field trip. Our host was José Ureña from Regiomontano. Mercanta has been working with José for more than 8 years. Our annual purchase of specialty Dominican Republic coffee has been stable at about one container per year. We feel that the
Posted on February 13 2009
February 13 2009
The London School of Coffee and Mercanta were very fortunate to be invited to Nicaragua by our good friend Claudia Castellón on behalf of the Jinotega Coffee Project, which supports small and medium-sized producers from the Apanas Lake in the Jinotega region. Claudia has been involved in the specialty coffee scene for many years, having
Posted on January 15 2009
January 15 2009
This year, Mercanta and specialty coffee exporter Café Noble are sponsoring the Field Trip for the winning team at the recent Nordic Barista Cup which took place in Iceland in September 2009. Sarah Allen from Barista Magazine has joined the trip and you can read her blog entry to find out what the winning Danish
Posted on May 12 2008
May 12 2008
I was fortunate enough to secure a place on this year’s El Salvador Cup of Excellence international jury. The hard work had already been done by the national cuppers whittling down all entries to a shortlist of 60 coffees representing the pick of this year’s crop. By the end of a week’s intensive cupping, the
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