There are many factors that make coffee valuable to consumers and one of them is shade effect of growing on coffee quality. Shade matters to some from an environmental perspective; others because they feel it influences the flavor. What I actually know about these important issues is :

The good news is, much research has been done on the ecological and economic impacts of shade-grown coffee. Sadly, there is far less information available on how this influences cup quality. When we hear the term “shade-grown” coffee we many imagine a pristine ecosystem where coffee just happens to be planted and coffee farmer happen to be walking around in the woods picking the beautifully ripe coffee they stumble upon. This romantic vision is rare in the coffee industry. There are, however, varying definitions and variations of forested coffee and agroforestry to consider when thinking of purchasing or promoting such a coffee.

Trees and agroforestry can provide environmental advantages to the planet, and simultaneously in coffee production. Trees act as carbon sinks in the landscape, make oxygen, save water, and provide a myriad of other benefits to the local microclimate and ecosystem. Trees provide the ecosystem with structural and chemical resources. Their roots help prevent erosion. They offer the soil much-needed nutrients from their fallen litter, and certain species can fix nitrogen from the air.

Trees act as buffers to the coffee microclimate. That means that they can act as insulators for the understory, where coffee grows. They can both protect coffee from frost as well as cool the microclimate during very warm weather. Another large way that trees regulate microclimate conditions is through holding moisture in the ecosystem, leaving more water in the soil and therefore theoretically available to coffee plants. There is also evidence that tree cover reduces the leaching of nitrogen from the coffee.

There is a large body of literature supporting the idea that when shade is added to a coffee-growing system, the biodiversity of the ecosystem increases. Here we should stop, and remember that biodiversity is an important intrinsic value. It is a choice to recognize and care about biodiversity. While many of us hold this value, the challenge is to quantify the value of it. How much “better” is a coffee that is produced in a highly diverse environment? Our community faces this challenge daily.

What about flavor: can we taste shade-grown coffee?How does it impact the coffee quality? The answer varies depending on the individual situation. What we do know is that generally, the smaller coffee yield under shading leads to fewer, larger coffee fruits. Also, there is evidence that shade-grown coffee seeds have higher sugar and lipid contents than sun-grown coffee, which may increase the cup quality of coffees. Multiple studies have found that the acidity and body of brewed low-altitude coffee was improved by shading. They suggested that a lower growing temperature (provided by shade) produced a more uniform ripening of berries, which led a better quality cup. However, there are also conflicting studies that have found no perceivable difference in quality. What is the problem here? In the end, unless we understand the biochemistry of fruit ripening time and how this directly affects the chemical composition of coffee seeds and link this to repeatable and consistent flavor differences, it is impossible to say with certainty what is going on. That’s right folks—here is another example of why we reach this same conclusion again and again: more research is needed to help fully understand why coffee tastes the way it does!

Unfortunately, there can also be true drawbacks to shade-grown coffee. In many situations, shade lowers coffee yield, delays ripening, and is more labor-intensive to harvest. These are luxuries that not all producers, as people who must balance costs and benefits, can choose. Any value or perception thereof must make business sense. Fortunately, some farms that use agroforestry can benefit from pricing incentives offered by certification programs. However, the reality is, that the value of shade coffee is not always translated into farmer benefit.

How does it impact the coffee quality?

Where does this leave us? Certainly, flavor alone is not an indicator of whether or not a coffee was shade-grown. Great-tasting specialty coffee can be produced using many/any/all/unknown production strategies. There are real ecological benefits of shade-growing coffee, and there may be quality benefits too. However, if we seek to support this method of coffee growing, we must recognize and value it for its own sake.

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Coffee competition

(some of the information are from WCE site)

Coffee competitions are the epitome of the best coffee. Whether it’s a regional, national, or world championship, they will stretch you to your limit. By participating, you’ll hone your skills and discover how great your love for coffee really is. I’ve had the privilege to compete, judge, and coach in barista, brew, Aeropress, cup taster, roast, Cezve and latte art competitions over the last ten years. Getting up on that stage is no easy task, but I believe any coffee person who sets their mind to it can achieve it. Because competing is about more than technical skills. It’s also about attitude, mentality, lifestyle and what ability that you have but you don’t know, you can just sort it out by being on stage. So let me take you through what attitudes you need to achieve your best – whether in any kind of competition or simply in your daily coffee shop routine.

First, you need to know the most important coopetition in all around the world and the old one is which holding by WCE,

World Coffee Events (WCE) is an event management organization registered in Dublin, Ireland.  WCE was originally founded in 2011 by the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe and the Specialty Coffee Association of America, which have since unified to become the Specialty Coffee Association. The current WCE portfolio includes the World Barista Championship, the World Cup Tasters Championship, the World Latte Art Championship, the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, and the World Brewers Cup, as well as features such as All-Stars, the Espresso Bar, and the Brew Bar. WCE is supported by a robust group of volunteer committee members. These members collaborate on, generate, and refine many materials, processes, and documents that help support our mission statement. WCE’s committees are critical to helping develop and shape the organization, and in supporting our strategic initiatives. Annual working groups may also be formed to help with specific projects related to one activity or championship. A volunteer leadership team designed to address competition needs and questions at the highest levels, interfacing with the SCA Board of Directors and other internal and external groups. Assists in developing format and strategic planning for all of the championships, including rules, regulations, judges, communications, and marketing. This group brings together long-time competition experts from many perspectives, meeting throughout the year to consider how to keep the competition formats moving forward with our industry.

The World Barista Championship (WBC) 

is the preeminent international coffee competition produced annually by World Coffee Events (WCE). The competition focuses on promoting excellence in coffee, advancing the barista profession, and engaging a worldwide audience with an annual championship event that serves as the culmination of local and regional events around the globe. Each year, more than 50 champion competitors each prepare 4 espressos, 4 milk drinks, and 4 original signature drinks to exacting standards in a 15-minute performance set to music. WCE Certified Judges from around the world evaluate each performance on the taste of beverages served, cleanliness, creativity, technical skill, and overall presentation. The ever-popular signature beverage allows baristas to stretch their imagination and the judges’ palates to incorporate a wealth of coffee knowledge into an expression of their individual tastes and experiences. The top 15 highest-scoring competitors from the first round, plus wild-card winner from the Team Competition, advance to a semifinal round. The top 6 competitors in the semifinal round advance to the finals round, from which one winner is named World Barista Champion!

The World Latte Art Championship

highlights artistic expression in a competition platform that challenges the barista in an on-demand performance. For the preliminary round of the championship, baristas produce a single creative latte pattern at the Art Bar, then move to the WLAC stage to create two identical free-pour lattes and two identical designer lattes (which allow etching and decoration). Scores from the Art Bar and Stage are combined, and the top 12 qualify for the semi-final round, where competitors make two matching sets of different free-pour latte patterns, and one matching set of free-pour macchiatos. The top six semi-finals competitors qualify for the final round, where competitors make two different matching sets of free-pour latte patterns and one matching set of designer lattes. The top-scoring competitor in the final round is declared the World Latte Art Champion. Baristas are judged based on visual attributes, creativity, identical patterns in the pairs, the contrast in patterns, and overall performance

The World Cup Tasters Championship

awards the professional coffee cupper who demonstrates speed, skill, and accuracy in distinguishing the taste differences in specialty coffees. Coffees of the world have many distinct taste characteristics and in this competition format, the objective is for the cupper to discriminate between the different coffees. Three cups are placed in a triangle, with 2 cups being identical coffees and one cup being a different coffee. Using skills of smell, taste, attention, and experience, the cupper will identify the odd cup in the triangle as quickly as they can. A total of 8 triangles are placed in each round. The top 8 competitors with the most correct answers and the fastest time proceed to the next Semi-Finals round. Then the top 4 will compete again in the Finals round to determine the next World Cup Tasters Champion.

The World Coffee Roasting Championship

debuted 2013 in Nice, France. In this 3-stage event, competitors are evaluated on their performance evaluating the quality of green coffee (coffee grading), developing a roasting profile that best accentuates the desirable characteristics of that coffee, and on the ultimate cup quality of coffees roasted.

The world Cezve/Ibrik Championship

(also known as ibrik) is a pot designed A still from a previous Cezve/Ibrik Championship specifically designed to make a particular style of coffee that is largely consumed in parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, The body can be made of metal, brass, copper, or ceramic but it features a distinctive long handle and a brim that is designed to serve the coffee. This event showcases the Cezve or Ibrik preparation of brewing coffee, set in a competition format that celebrates the cultural tradition. In this championship, it is encouraged that the competitors bring their own style/cultural element to their performance to showcase what is one of the oldest forms of preparing coffee.

The World Brewers Cup competition

highlights the craft of filter coffee brewing by hand, promoting manual coffee brewing and service excellence. In this Championship, competitors prepare and serve three individual beverages for a panel of judges. The Championship consists of two rounds: a first-round and a finals round. During the first round competitors complete two coffee services – a compulsory service and an open service. For the compulsory service, competitors prepare three beverages utilizing whole bean coffee provided to them by the competition. For the open service, competitors may utilize any whole bean coffee of their choosing and must also accompany their beverage preparation with a presentation. The six competitors with the highest score from the first round will go on to compete in the finals round consisting exclusively of an open service. One competitor from the final round will be named the World Brewers Cup Champion.

The World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship

promotes innovative beverage recipes that showcase coffee and spirits in a competition format. This competition highlights the barista/barkeeper’s mixology skills in a setting where coffee and alcohol go perfectly together. From the traditional Irish Coffee (with whiskey and coffee). to unique cocktail combinations. During the preliminary round, competitors produce four drinks – two identical hot/warm coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks, and two identical cold coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks. The six competitors with the highest preliminary round scores will compete in the final round. The final round requires competitors to produce two Irish Coffees and two coffee-and-alcohol-based designer drinks. The highest-scoring final round competitor will be named the World Coffee in Good Spirits Champion.

Now, this is all about what happened on the coffee planet about coffee competition, there is a lot of fun competition in another hand like barista League (the Barista League isn’t like the Barista Championship. But it isn’t trying to be. The latter requires extensive preparation, customer service, and 12 truly special drinks. It’s a rigorous competition that demands everything a competitor’s got. But the League will put baristas on the spot, quizzing them on general knowledge, asking them to develop recipes for mystery coffees, and seeing how many coffees they can make with alternative milk within a time limit. It’s challenging, and it’s also fun)

and also coffee masters (Coffee Masters is the fast-paced, multi-discipline global barista tournament taking place twice a year. The competition sees some of the world’s best baristas compete head-to-head in a series of disciplines for the prestigious Coffee Masters title and a £5,000 cash prize in London, and $5,000 cash prize in Los Angeles.)

Now chose one, do you want to compete or no? do you want to make a challenge for yourself? Or may you want to be a judge? all are fun but serious at that moment.

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