International Coffee &Tea Festival, Dubai U.A.E, November 2014

Last month Spencer Turer was invited by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the organizers of the International Coffee & Tea Festival to instruct SCAA and Roasters Guild classes in Dubai.  This coffee adventure took Spencer from our coffee laboratory in Burlington 7,500 miles away to the conference center at the Medan Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Spencer is a certified lead instructor for the Specialty Coffee Association of America and is designated as a Specialized Instructor for Sensory & Cupping classes as well as Brewing and Roasting classes.  As a former Head Judge for the United States Barista Championship, Spencer was asked to participate as a Judge for the United Arab Emirates National Barista Championship during the trip.  Unfortunately, due to Spencer’s schedule as an instructor, he was not able to participate as a judge for the Barista Championship events.  2013 UAE Barista Champion, who will be representing the UAE at the World Barista Championship 2014 in Rimini, Italy, is Mr. Kushal Balami from Raw Coffee.

The International Coffee & Tea Festival is an International Educational Partner with the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and the only internationally recognized coffee and tea exposition in the Middle East.  Students attending the Coffee Skill Building Workshops represented coffee professionals seeking additional training, newcomers to the coffee industry, and people seeking to enter the coffee industry as well.  Attendees were from the United Arab Emirates and the surrounding region including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Ethiopia, Kuwait, Syria, Iran and even Russia.

Spencer was the Lead Instructor for GE103 Introduction to Cupping, RP104 Decaffeination, and RP223 Sample Roasting.  Also, he was the Station Instructor for RP110 Introduction to Roasting Plant Equipment, RP112 Introduction to Roasting Concepts, and CP151/CP152 Introduction to Brewing & Extraction levels 1 &2.  Other qualified and experienced SCAA Specialized Lead Instructors teaching at the International Coffee & Tea Festival were Bob Arceneaux from Orleans Coffee Exchange, Neil Wilson from Wilson’s Coffee & Tea, Miguel Vicuna from Metropolis Coffee and Alex Littlejohn from Verve Coffee Roasters.

The instructor team spent non-working hours exploring the exciting city of Dubai from a culinary and tourist perspective.  Dubai is one the 7 emirates to make up the United Arab Emirates and is a constitutional monarchy ruled by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who visited the International Coffee & Tea Festival.   Dubai is home to the world tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, standing at 829.8 meters tall (with 164 floors), the man-made palm islands, and the Dubai Mall. This mall is the largest shopping center in the world with over 1,200 stores and includes an indoor ski slope, an ice skating rink, an IMAX movie theater and the world’s second largest aquarium (containing 2.64 million gallons of water!)  Some of the international coffee brands represented in Dubai were Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Horton’s, Second Cup, Caribou, Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Costa Coffee, Cafe Nero, and Gloria Jeans.