Posted on January 12, 2002 - by deCadmus

Presenting…

Presenting…
In cahoots with Riley’s Coffee and inspired by fellow alt.coffee denizen Ted Simpson, Bloggle is proud to announce the MYSTERY CUP CHALLENGE — a unique opportunity to test your cupping and blending skills!

Here’s what you get:
Six one-half pound bags of coffee [green* or roasted, your choice]. Five of these are from five different coffee-growing origins — labeled simply with the letters A - E. Bag number six is “Mystery Blend X” and it contains coffees from bags A-E. But which beans, and in what ratios? — That’s part of the challenge…

THE CHALLENGE

Level 1:
Use your cupping skills to determine each coffee’s flavor characteristics, and world origins. Rate the flavor, finish, acidity, body, and balance — and try to figure out what part of the world each coffee hails from… Africa? Latin America? Indonesia? Someplace else?

Level 2:
Ready for more? Determine the regional origin! Can you name the country the bean was grown in? The region? The farm?

Level 3:
The heat is on… blend those beans! Sure, there’s dozens of ways to blend them — but we picked one in particular (actually, all the other blends we tried were bad or boring). Can you come up with the formula to match “Mystery Blend X”?

But wait! There’s more!
What’s a challenge without the chance to earn some bragging rights? Post your results on Bloggle.com’s coffee pages! On-line cupping and blending forms will be provided for you to submit your entries. Cupping results [and guesses] will be revealed as each challenge level is completed — but the origins themselves remain secret until February 8th.

The nitty-gritty details…
You can order your Mystery Cup Challenge beans any time between now and Noon Central Standard Time, Friday, January 18, at Riley’s Coffee. The package is only $15.00 for US orders, and $20.00 (shipped Global Priority Mail) for international orders. Roasted beans are available only for US orders, and those’ll run you $22.00. Not a bad deal, eh? It gets better… that price includes shipping to your door. Orders will be shipped on January 19, 2002.

Enter now… and let the Mystery Cup Challenge begin!