With less than a week to go, things are getting a little frantic. The practice schedule in the lab is intense, routines are constantly being tweaked we're sifting through as many last minute details as possible.

In case you don't know what the PRBC is all about, here's the low-down.

Ten baristas from Alberta (though folks from AB, SK, MB, NWT and YK were welcome to enter) will compete this Saturday, August 7 at Fratello Coffee Roasters in Calgary. Each barista must prepare four espressos, four cappuccinos, and four original signature drinks to exacting standards in a 15-minute performance. Qualified judges from across the country evaluate each performance on the taste of beverages served, cleanliness, creativity, technical skill, and overall presentation.

Transcend is sending two competitors: (Rockin) Josh Hockin, and Chuck (Charles-in-Charge) Elves. Both have been practicing like mad men (not 1960s advertising executives, but rather men who have perhaps lost a little sanity in the pursuit of espresso perfection) and are ready to bring their A-game on Saturday.

This is important: you should come. Seriously, if you like coffee and would like to learn more about coffee and connect to the coffee community, there is no better place to be. There will be a excellent pre-party on Friday night, and all day Saturday will be competition and caffeine comradery. Come cheer on Josh and Chuck. We will be livestreaming the event as well (link coming soon) if you can't make it.

Transcend Coffee is looking for more people to add to its dynamic team. We are looking for one part-time person who would like to join the cafe staff. This position would have you working along side of the existing team of baristas, and interacting with our customers. If you love coffee and enjoy working with people and have 20 - 30 hours a week to offer us, please contact us or send a resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The second position is for a full-time (35 hours per week) warehouse manager. We are ideally looking for someone with some experience handling shipping and receiving, ordering, and generally keeping a hopping roastery organized. You should love coffee, and want to join Transcend in helping us get our coffee out the door either to the fine folk who order it online, or to our growing number of wholesale customers. If you are interested in this position, please forward a resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Transcend Coffee is a little coffee company with lots of heart and a dynamic and growing team of people committed to providing Edmonton, and Canada with the best coffee it can find.

From Neyeri Kenya, our newest coffee offers bright citrus acidity balanced by intricate sweetness.

We're thrilled to have one of our favourite coffees from Terrazu, Costa Rica back again this season.

While this episode of the podcast does actually have a lot to do with the environment, 'getting green' here doesn't refer specifically to water conservation or carbon footprints (we'll save that for another podcast) but rather the challenges and complexities of acquiring exceptional green coffee.

We found two excellent items that really drive home the points made in the podcast and are worth checking out. First is a news video, from Al Jazeera (English) of all places that reports on the devastation in Guatemala specifically in relation to coffee farming. The second is the fact that the Bolivia Cup of Excellence has been cancelled due to bad weather and politics. Part of the email announcing the cancellation is copied below.

"Dear Cup of Excellence supporters-

You have signed up for either the 2010 Bolivia samples and/or its auction. Regrettably, the Bolivia competition has been canceled for 2010. This is certainly heartbreaking news for ACE and for the farmers since Bolivia has advanced so much due to the Cup of Excellence program and its recognition of exemplary farmers.

In the past our partner organization FECAFEB has received donor funding for almost 100% of the costs. This year not even partial funding was made available for Cup of Excellence by any donor or governmental agency. ACE has been advising FECAFEB on plans for a scaled down program which could be mostly funded from the auction commissions from the last 2 years. However given last weeks severe weather there is now a fear that the harvest will also be too small. In a letter received yesterday the Board of FECAFEB asked that ACE and its members understand and support Bolivia's return in 2011.

Those of you that travel to producing countries and work with coffee farmers are aware of how fragile some of the supporting organizations are and how political and economic situations can change on a yearly and sometimes even on a monthly basis. A severe weather event can completely disrupt the coffee sector, politics and security can change overnight and monies coming from outside of a country or from internal sponsors can dry up just as fast. ACE has been working with a project of The United States Agency for International Development to bring Cup of Excellence to the Bolivian farmers. The program, now ending, has been hugely successful at creating a more stable and financially rewarding specialty coffee sector. However, recent politics have often been tense. In Bolivia coffee is now managed under the vice ministry of coca and the priority for its development has changed.

We know this cancellation will cause disappointment and hope that you can contact Bolivian farmers directly for the wonderful coffees that have been discovered."