Wu also says that most of the county’s coffee farmers only know how to grow coffee, not how to roast it or market it. Prior to holding the review, in order to help participants better understand how coffee is made and to improve overall quality, the county government requires everyone to take a three-hour class and select unroasted coffee berries during the event. The government hopes to develop a “Taitung coffee brand” that can eventually become Taiwan’s most famous coffee.
The local government had originally planned to collect coffee beans from the farmers and judge them in the middle of March. Each farmer has to hand over 20kg of beans with hulls intact. Taitung Coffee Industry Development Association president Liao Tien-cheng and local coffee farmer Chung Chang-hua say that this year’s cold weather has postponed the harvest by nearly a month. Coffee berries growing at middle to high altitudes have not been harvested yet, so they suggested deferring the event to a later date. Wu Hsiu-lan, the class president of a coffee production and marketing class in Changbin Township, says that Changbin only started growing coffee two years ago, and so she suggested allowing students to compete in the competition as groups representing their respective classes since the crop yield is so small.
After the discussion, Wu Ching-jung said that the judging schedule would be put off until April. Beans will be accepted April 14-15 and evaluated by judges April 19-20. Scores of 80 or higher on a 100-point scale will be awarded gold medals and then given standardized packaging and sold by the county government.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
資料來源：http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2014/02/22/2003584043
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