Events

It’s no secret that many rural coffee-producing communities worldwide exist well below the poverty line.  For many communities, coffee is a lifeline crop that keeps them functioning, but not necessarily thriving.  For the Wau community in Papua New Guinea’s Morobe Province, a subsistence income is not enough to run a town with multiple needs, not

The Melbourne International Coffee Expo (or MICE) is to coffee professionals and hipsters what Mecca is to Muslims; a holy pilgrimage to a city renowned the world over for its art, culture and of course coffee.  Melbourne is truly the perfect setting for an event such as MICE. Down every graffiti encrusted alleyway you are

As part of our recent coffee discovery trip to Sumatra, the Dimattina Coffee crew were very fortunate to be able to spend a few days at Wahana Estate – which is located in the village of Lae Mungkur, Sidikalang North Sumatra. The drive to the estate from Medan (the capital of North Sumatra) is about

Today is the opening of the Burundi Cup of Excellence competition.  We met for a casual breakfast before heading over to the venue down the road.  It is a relatively new building compared to what I have seen so far in Burundi, two storeys with tinted blue glass windows.  Upstairs we can hear the hustle

Anyone unfamiliar with the annual Cup of Excellence competition could be forgiven for thinking of it as a simple process.  You taste coffee and say which one is the best right?  Well…yes…but the level of intricacy, hard work and dedication that goes into its conception is astronomical!  Cup of Excellence is something that has quite

Il Bendicion We spent the next couple of days visiting a few farms in Nueva Segovia. This was my first origin trip and I was chomping at the bit to get there. Most of the farms were within an hour from Ocotal. The first farm we visited was called La Bendicion.  One thing I noticed

Benefiico Las Segovias is a dry mill, focused on specialty coffee and working with over 200 farms in the Nueva Segovia region. The mill is located in the town of Ocotal and owned and managed by Luis Balladeras Moncada. Luis also owns and manages some of his own coffee farms. Our tour began with an

I have always been a big fan of Central American coffees, I think the combination of the mild acidity and chocolate, honey and citrus flavours lend themselves well to espresso coffees, so I was really excited when asked by Smudge Publishing to be involved in their Coffee Encounters book and assist them with featuring Nicaragua.

We were lucky enough to spend last weekend at the magnificent Leeuwin Estate Winery as part of the inaugural fine food and wine event – Gourmet Escape. I love the Margaret River region, with it’s awesome beaches and great wineries it’s one of my favourite places to spend time, so I jumped at the chance

Travelling across to Europe with the family, London would be our last stop. I was returning to my place of birth and one of the largest, most revered cities in the world. It would be a chance to catch up with friends and family and the first time my kids would get a chance to