#eiica

As the year comes to a close, one of my favorite annual moments for coffee recently occurred, shining a much-needed, positive light on 2020.

The meeting of 27 coffee growers from nine countries, an A-list international fashion model and Giada de Laurentiis for the 2020 Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award (EIICA), this year’s annual celebration of growers whose sustainably nurtured harvests are of the world’s highest quality, as judged by illy’s own experts and an independent panel of judges. (Giada was among those judges, and the model, Arizona Muse, a dedicated sustainability activist who served as the event’s emcee).

EIICA festivities are typically held in New York City in October, starting with a celebration for the international community of coffee growers at the United Nations, topped off with a gala at a landmark NYC venue. The three top growers from each of nine countries travel to the event courtesy of illy, one of which, by evening’s end, is named “Best of the Best” by the expert panel. A separate “Coffee Lover’s Choice” honor is bestowed upon the beans voted as tops by illy fans who got an early taste at illy Caffè shops in key cities.      

This year being a year like no other, EIICA went virtual for 2020, and because of it, was truly global in nature. Hundreds of coffee-interested journalists, culinary experts, coffee industry leaders and others from around the world tuned in live on December 3. Along with, of course, the 27 growers themselves. The ceremony was produced jointly in Milan and Trieste - illy’s hometown - with illy family members, our global CEO and others appearing to share the stage with Arizona.

When all was said and done, quite incredibly, one grower took home both awards: Cooperativa Cocabel from Honduras. The co-op has been an illy supplier since 2017 and consists of 84 members, who are chiefly small-scale growers able to achieve incredible quality. I can tell you that their harvest was exceptional, having tasted the evidence in my cup. Their beans, along with those of first-place winners from the other eight countries, will contribute to next year’s illy blend.

Arizona, our emcee, fulfilled her role with not just stage presence, but also a sense of shared values and mission. Her knowledge and appreciation of illy’s pioneering role in sustainability and ethics was hard to miss, highlighting the role that direct coffee trade and guaranteed profits play in creating a virtuous circle, where growers can be prosperous for achieving great quality coffee, which in turn is enjoyed by coffee lovers, who see the value and are willing to pay as well for this amazing quality experience in their cup.

Who knew a virtual event could be so amazing? With each EIICA, my appreciation for coffee growers remains with me, as I hope it does for coffee lovers all over the world.

If you have time this holiday season, check out the archived video of the event here at www.EIICA2020.com

Autumn is always a very special time of year for illy and the entire coffee industry, filled with events and new flavor offerings all centered on our favorite beverage. For me, there is no better time!

The coffee-centric season kicked off with International Coffee Day, which celebrates the millions of people around the world – from growers to roasters to baristas – whose dedicated work every day is to produce and craft the beverage we love so much. Just like coffee, music is a universal language. So to celebrate the day, illy created the first-ever coffee symphony inspired by the beautiful sounds made by coffee at every stage, from plant to cup. Coffee lovers from around the world also participated by recording their own personal "thank yous." Hearing is believing, so take a listen at illy.com/thanks4thecoffee, be inspired, and give extra thanks when you enjoy your next coffee. Hint: the sounds were recorded in Rwanda.

I was treated to a live performance of the symphony by its composers. Danila Rea and Martux_M, during the fourth annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award (EIICA). The evening was a celebration of illy’s growers and the high-quality coffee they nurture through sustainable means. Among the awards and special recognitions were an expert-jury determined “Best of the Best,” won (in a big surprise) by a grower group from Colombia, and a consumer-voted “Coffee Lover’s Choice” honor, earned by a group from Rwanda for the second year in a row! I had the distinct pleasure of serving these two coffees, along with seven other remarkable single origin beans, to guests and watch as they enjoyed the notes that ultimately combine in the beautiful symphony that is the illy blend. The perfect way to cap off an inspiring night.

Both International Coffee day and the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award are really about bringing coffee drinkers and coffee growers closer to create even more appreciation and understanding of each other.  As this continues, we continue to create a virtuous circle that benefits both the coffee grower and the coffee lovers mainly by creating more connoisseurship and value in high quality, sustainable coffee.

I also had the pleasure of delighting New York foodies with the innovative illy cold brew Aria and espresso during the annual New York City Wine and Food Festival. We served my personal favorite Orange illy Cold Brew during a Sunday Brunch event where the masses mingled with the likes of Scott Contant, Alex Guarnaschelli and other celeb chefs. We closed out the weekend at Italian Sunday Supper hosted by our dear friend Giada De Laurentiis. Guests roamed and tasted room after room filled with fine Italian cuisine, topped off by our expertly crafted espresso.

What an incredible time! I look forward to all that is to come next Autumn. In the meantime, it’s time to prepare for our many holiday coffee festivities. It’s always a busy time in coffee world!

I’ve had a busy month and it involved tasting lots of coffee. Excellent, award-winning coffee to be more specific.

The whirlwind month of October kicked off with a highlight: an International Coffee Day pop up at Chefs Club Counter, right in the middle of Soho in NYC. illy brought in two Michelin-starred chefs from Italy and took over the space to treat guests to some of the greatest Italian fare and coffee they’d ever tasted.  That coffee truly was some of the world’s greatest: the nine single origin coffees that had been selected as finalists for the 3rd annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award (EIICA). In case that accolade wasn’t prestigious enough, these nine single origin coffees will also comprise the legendary illy coffee blend for the next year. Guests sampled each lot in a blind tasting and voted on a favorite. Those votes were then added to votes tallied at similar events held all over the world, to ultimately determine one “Coffee Lover’s Choice” award-winning grower.

Speaking of tastings, I was lucky enough to be on site at the official EIICA jury tasting, helping prepare each finalist’s coffee beans in drip, espresso and cold brew formats, which our highly-esteemed panel of experts and enthusiasts then tasted to determine which bean would earn “Best of the Best” status. The jury members based their decisions on criteria such as aromatic richness/complexity, balance/elegance and aroma intensity/strength.

After copious caffeine consumption, the winner was…coffee grown by Rwanda’s Ngororero Coffee Washing Station!

That wasn’t it for those magic beans from Africa. Once all the coffee lover votes I mentioned earlier were counted (and no recount was necessary), Rwanda’s Ngororero Coffee Washing Station came up a winner again by taking “Coffee Lover’s Choice” honors. With a striking balance of delicate, aromatic floral notes and a hint of citrus, this Rwandan coffee was formidable competition.

But not all tastes and preferences are the same, as I learned later this month when I hosted a tasting with editors from the website Greatist that featured four different EIICA finalist beans. We were also able to show off the new Arabica Selection product lines, which are single origin coffees available in-store for coffee lovers in either whole bean or K-cups. Different than the EIICA coffees, the Arabica Selection is innovative in that the roasting experts in Trieste created proprietary roasting degrees to highlight very specific taste notes. It’s quite amazing to leverage the science of coffee to enhance these beautiful beans. It takes connoisseurship to the next level when tasting and pairing foods and desserts with coffee.

The tasting at the Greatist was a great pleasure. It gave me the opportunity to answer questions and share tasting techniques with their team. When all was said and done, no two people had the exact same taste preferences. But that’s just life…and coffee.

As these images illustrate, what a month it was!