Calling Canadian coffee tasters!

If you're a frequent reader of our little blog here, you know that we take tasting coffee pretty seriously. On any given day you can peek through the glass at our roastery & coffeebar and see Chad, Jeff, Poul, Josh or really any of the rest of the Transcend crew busily cupping (blind tasting) coffees, either for quality control or trying out new samples and roast profiles.

We love to engage our senses, perceptions and memory in the craft of tasting coffee. So we've decided to take that sensory experience, add some drama, excitement and competition and bring the first official Canadian Cup Tasters Championship to the Canadian Coffee and Tea Show September 26 & 27 in Toronto. Now, technically, there have been other 'Canadian' Cup Tasters competitions, but they have not actually taken place on Canadian soil, so we hardly think they count.

Here's the exciting part. We'd like to officially invite you to compete in the championship. That's right. If the nuances and subtleties of different regions and micro lots pique your senses and ignite your curiosity when you're sipping your daily brew, then you may have what it takes to be the Canadian Cup Tasters Champion.

The event works like this: participants taste coffees arranged in eight triangles (groups of three). In each triangle, two cups are identical, one is different. Using your superior skills of smell, taste, memory and concentration, you will try to identify the odd cup out in the triangles, in the shortest time possible. Twelve cup tasters compete in the first round and four go on to final round.

The winner will be crowned the Canadian Cup Taster Champion and will walk away with an armload of excellent prizes as well as the right to compete at the 2011 World Cup Tasters Championship.

Registration opens today, August 16, 2010 and will be limited to only 12 competitors. So register today!

More information on the event can be found on the Canadian Cup Tasters website and you can register here. You do need to be planning on attending the Canadian Coffee and Tea Show in order to compete in the Cup Tasters Championship, so be sure to register for that as well.

Volunteers are also needed. If you do not wish to compete, but would like to help brew coffee set up, or organize the event, please email me.