BACK ISSUE

FROM THE PUBLISHER

WHEN A REPORTER from The New York Times called a month or so back, I was a little nervous but very excited. How thrilling would it be to be quoted in The New York Times? Immediately, I started thinking carefully about every word I was saying, I certainly didn’t want to say something unintelligent or heaven forbid not accurate. After talking with the reporter for about half an hour, I was sure I left a good impression.
     The gist of the piece was an exploration of the direct trade practices used by Counter Culture Coffee, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea and Stumptown Coffee Roasters. During the interview, the reporter had asked me how the industry viewed these companies and in particular, their coffee buyers. I must have had too much coffee to drink during the interview, because apparently my answer was, “Some smaller roasters just worship them, like they’re these coffee megagods.”
     Not five minutes after I’d read the paper, I received an e-mail from an industry friend. It was titled “Megagods.” Okay, so it wasn’t my finest moment in public speaking.
     Why would I say “coffee megagods”? Couldn’t I have said “industry peers” or “leaders”? Nope, I had to use the word megagods. I’m not even sure what a megagod is. It’s not listed in Webster’s and the best I could glean from Google is that it is a popular screen name for geeky online video game nuts. Ouch!
     Invented words aside, it’s always interesting to me when a name like Duane Sorenson (Stumptown), Geoff Watts (Intelligentsia), or Peter Giuliano (Counter Culture) comes up in conversations with other roasters, especially newbies or younger roasters. I can almost see their eyes glaze over while they dream about someday living the life of these “megagods.”
     Companies like Counter Culture, Intelligentsia and Stumptown (all former Roast magazine Roaster of the Year winners) have made great strides in our industry in opening the direct-trade model. These companies are successful by using the direct model not as a marketing term, but as the guiding principle that defines their businesses.
     It turns out they are not alone; there are other coffee companies that are worthy of “megagod” status as well. Take for instance this year’s Roaster of the Year winners, Zoka Coffee Roaster and Tea Company (macro) and Higher Ground Roasters, Inc. (micro).
     In order to be competitive for the Roaster of the Year honors, each applicant had to demonstrate excellence across a variety of sustainable, educational and quality areas. To win Roaster of the Year, however, Zoka and Higher Ground stood above the competition in at least one area. Zoka scores were outstanding in the cupping competition, the highest ever. Not just one or two cuppers scored these coffees highly, but across a board of six cuppers from two different labs, these coffees were judged as superior (see article on page 22).
     For Higher Ground, the written application illustrated that a smaller roaster can do many of the same things as the industry leaders. They clearly showed that being passionate and running a quality-focused business can make you great, regardless of location or, perhaps because of location (see article on page 28).
     Thank you to all of the companies who entered the competition. All of you were inspirational in many aspects of your business practices and in the quality of your coffees. Perhaps next year we will change the competition to “Megagod of the Year.” Or perhaps not.

     Warmest Regards,

     Connie