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Further your education at The Coffee Education Lab by Cafe Kreyol

You may already know Cafe Kreyol from previous DMV Chocolate and Coffee Festivals, or maybe you know them as Roast Magazine's 2023 Macro Roaster of the Year! Their knowledgeable team is bringing us 3 classes each day for the 2023 DMV Chocolate And Coffee Festival! Join us in The Coffee Education Lab on October 7-8 at the Dulles Expo Center! (View floor plan here)

Saturday, October 7

  • 11:00AM - Coffee Tasting: Introduction to Professional Cupping

  • 1:00PM - Introduction to Home Roasting

  • 3:30PM - Fair Trade vs Direct Trade: Sourcing, Integrity, & Sustainability

Sunday, October 8

  • 12:00PM - Coffee Tasting: Introduction to Professional Cupping

  • 1:15PM - Introduction to Home Roasting

  • 2:30PM - Fair Trade vs Direct Trade: Sourcing, Integrity, & Sustainability


Coffee Tasting: Introduction to Professional Cupping

11AM on Saturday & 12PM on Sunday


What is cupping, and why do industry professionals use it? During this cupping introductory class, we'll cover all the basics, and answer questions on why we cup and how to perform one from start to finish. We won't just talk about the how-to; we'll actually be setting up a cupping together. You'll leave this class feeling empowered to conduct a cupping or tasting of your own, just like the professionals.


This class will be taught by Eric Girard, a professional with almost a decade of experience in the coffee industry. As Cafe Kreyol's Director of Operations, and former Head Roaster, he has experienced the opportunity to know what it feels like to make a difference in the world. Driven by the knowledge that thousands of farmers will directly benefit from his work he evaluates over 100 coffees each week, designing roasting profiles and coordinating international green coffee purchasing. Through dedicated quality control techniques, and his skilled roasting, Cafe Kreyol received over fifteen 90+ Coffee Review scores, as well as earning two consecutive "Top 30 Coffees of the Year" (2020, and 2021). In addition, Girard's roasting received a Silver Medal in the Golden Bean tournament (2022). Recently he co-authored a scientific study on post roast resting times, and the impact on sensory evaluation which can be found at https://cafekreyol.com/research/post-roast-rest-study/.For their dedication to the industry, education, sustainability at origin, and coffee quality, Cafe Kreyol was recently awarded Roast Magazine's "Roaster of the Year" (2023).



Introduction to Home Roasting

1PM on Saturday & 1:15PM on Sunday


In this one hour seminar, Joseph Stazzone of Cafe Kreyol will take you through the process, and the science of roasting coffee. By the end, you will understand basic concepts to roast your own coffee at home, or improve your already in place home roasting techniques. So if you have never roasted coffee before, or if you have been doing it for years, this class will help you along in your journey. You'll even get to see how a common household item can be used to roast delicious coffee!


Joey Stazzone is the President (and Chief Coffee Hunter) of Cafe Kreyol. In 2012 Stazzone took his experience with chemistry, cross breeding, and backyard botany, and began working in developing countries with the goal of creating sustainable employment, through specialty coffee. Through a decade of hands-on experience working with producers, he has become an expert in fermentations and post harvest processing. Stazzone has been a licensed Q Grader since 2015, and became a Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) Educator on Quality Evaluation in 2022. He has been on the international jury for the Bolivia Quality Cup Presidential Tournament 4 times, and an international judge in the Cup of Excellence. Stazzone has given dozens of lectures on Direct and Transparent Trading as well as Fermentations and Post Harvest Processing. Most recently his company was awarded "2023 Macro Roaster of the Year" by Roast Magazine. Through his work at Cafe Kreyol, he provides consulting to hundreds of producers a year, conducting experiments on coffee fermentations, pH testing, and post harvest processing, in order to help them develop their best possible option. Recently his company completed a scientific study on post roast resting times, and the impact on sensory evaluation which can be found at https://cafekreyol.com/research/post-roast-rest-study/. You can learn more about Stazzone and his backstory before coffee by watching this short documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnhR02FWNqc&t=5s)


Fair Trade vs Direct Trade: Sourcing, Integrity, & Sustainability

3:30PM on Saturday & 2:30PM on Sunday


Join Joseph Stazzone in "The Coffee Education Lab: by Cafe Kreyol" for this informative 45 minute seminar. Learn the differences, and the pros and cons of two major sourcing methods; Fair Trade and Direct Trade. Understand why they both may help or harm the area in which the coffee is grown, and what solutions are in our hands as the consumer. Discover why the value of coffee varieties differ from one another, and how pricing transparency could be a potential solution to ensure sustainability in the supply chain. What type of transparency should be provided? Best ways to make things more sustainable and much more! Immediately following this class will be Q & A.



See you on October 7-8 at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, VA! Get your tickets now!


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