We cupped four coffees from 49th Parallel. Erin and Nate are checking the dry fragrance of the samples.

To keep things under wraps, the cupping was opened to only four "civilians".

The team at Virmax let us share in a special cupping before we headed home.

Having a good discussion and cupping some coffee with Paul Leighton

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Early on in the trip, I learned that the cooperative had a rather large change in leadership. Pictured here is the new guy in charge, Francisco Javier. We had the opportunity to cup some of their coffees from the Adipy and Adintech associations, and they were downright tasty.

Also to his right is one of the loudest grinders I've every clapped eyes on. And, yes, that is styrofoam we rigged to it to avoid stray grounds!

ken, tal, amber, ryan at ninth street espresso, on 10th street.

black and white picture of a mini cupping

Pico del Tucan (Carrasco la Reserva) - Anacleto Uluri

San Ignacio, Bolivia

2005 Bolivia Cup of Excellence

Danny, who is a surfer needs help on his trapezius section and his lower back.

A view over the Compak K10 Conic WBC model; the Linea's going soon, to be replaced by a lower profile La Marzocco GS/3 Paddle Group machine.

Here Luciano, the head cupper at the farm, wanted to prove the point that:

1. Coffees from the same micro-region of the farm could taste different, depending on whether they were grown closer to the top of the slope or the bottom (100-200ft away), and that people could taste the difference when properly guided.

2. The "same" coffee dried on different mechanical dryers or on different batches on the same dryer could taste different and people could also pick up those differences. We cupped 7 different batches from one hillside.

And he was right on both instances.

It is impressive how the workers at the farm track where exactly each coffee is coming from, how that information goes to the cupping table at each stage, how the farm managers and agronomists grab that feedback and actually use it to improve how coffee is grown, fertilized and harvested in each slope on the farm. And it is even more impressive how all of that is coordinated with the "tratoristas" (the tractor drivers, each of whom manage a specific section of the farm) and a huge team (including hundreds of seasonal workers) to implement the improvements.

Dallis Bros. Coffee staff trip to the Fazenda Nossa Senhora Aparecida in Alta Mogiana, a coffee farm in the countryside of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, between May/June of 2010.

Check out more at: www.dallisbroscoffee.com

Crucial training, sample roasting and cupping area. So nice to be able to close the door to the bar when you're wanting to concentrate on the cups in front of you.

Cool but ugly way to help with the common cold.

Per also has the loudest slurp while cupping ever measured!

We had to wear earplugs (not really!)

You can hear it for yourselves here:

damatteo.blogspot.com/2009/08/koppning.html

Fun, even if all I could taste was post-dentist fluoride.

Per who represented Sweden in the last World Cupping Championship this past summer was a thrill to have with us . He is totally awsome at putting taste into words!

used by WIll Corby during his 2013 UK Barista Championships semifinal performance

850 microns on left