Poul Mark

Poul Mark founded Transcend Coffee in 2006 with a passion for great coffee and community. By his own admission, his entry into the specialty coffee industry was one largely built on naivety. However, his passion led to a growing determination to bring better understanding and appreciation of coffee to the Edmonton area.

In a few short years, Poul has built a thriving and multi-faceted business and has established himself as an world expert in coffee. He has been invited to judge several international coffee competitions, including the Best of Panama, the 2009 El Salvador Cup of Excellence, the 2010 Honduras Cup of Excellence, and most recently Taza Dorada 2011 in Ecuador. Poul is one of only 16 Canadians who are certified Q-graders—an international professional accreditation for evaluating both green and roasted coffee. Poul invests a significant amount of time to travel to origin, making several trips a year to meet coffee farmers face to face, developing relationships with producers and constantly learning more about the unique challenges of each coffee growing region. Poul was part of a three person panel invited to speak on the topic of micro lots and direct trade at the 2011 Ramacafe conference in Nicaragua. Poul also writes on various coffee topics for trade magazines, and works as lead consultant on cafe design projects and equipment procurement.

One of Poul's most meaningful experiences in coffee was traveling to Burundi in the Summer of 2011 to serve as a consultant to a couple of small coffee associations in the Kayanza region. In conjunction with Food for the Hungry Burundi, he worked with producers to identify strategies to improve quality and production yields. He is presently working on a five-year plan to assist producers in accessing the North American specialty market.

Poul hosts our popular coffee tastings, the Transcend Coffee podcast, and has been invited to speak to various groups on the subjects of coffee, roasting, and the art and science of taste. Poul also holds a Level 3 Advanced Certificate in wine tasting issued by WSET. If you would like to have Poul speak at your conference or private event, please contact him.