17+ years
France, Turkey, Russia, Philippines, US (including Hawaii)
How can I choose? One of my favorite things happening in coffee right now is all the experiments taking place with coffee processing. Because of this, my 'favorite' coffee origin constantly changes. For coffee drinking purposes, I will rarely turn down a clean natural Ethiopia; I will never turn down a clean Yemen from Port of Mokha, and I am always excited to try a coffee from a farmer who is trying something new. For coffee origins to visit, I love visiting all coffee farms (yes, including Liberia, Robusta, etc).
Taking the Q Course can be beneficial to almost everyone in the coffee industry. Taking the Q Course allows one to understand how to assess quality, which is beneficial from the farmer to the consumer and everyone in between. I have had consumers, non-coffee professionals, take the Q Course and have come out of the experience knowing more about coffee (not to mention being willing to pay more for quality coffee because they realize the amount of work that goes into a high scoring coffee). At every level of the value chain, we are assessing quality in one form or another. Becoming a Licensed Q Grader gives one the ability to assess quality with confidence knowing he/she has been trained and is calibrated with the rest of the specialty coffee industry.
English and Bambara (West African)
I am currently the Vice Chair of the SCAA Pathway Taster's committee, I enjoy doing quality control for various clients throughout the world and teaching others about cupping and roasting.
I also have two small daughters that you might see cupping with me in various labs around the world. My husband is also in the coffee industry, Kris Wieser, so we are definitely a coffee family!
