CSC, Certified Specialty Coffees, is an association founded in 1996 that, while not directly purchasing products, organizes and carries out the necessary controls to guarantee the best coffees, through a process during which its appointees test new qualities and analyze new processing techniques, and then compare them with reference coffees and, if they fit the parameters, recognize them as certified specialty coffees. Several roasters have grasped the importance of this service, and among them, of course, could not miss Caffè Musetti, a company located in Pontenure, in the province of Piacenza.
The Association's strong point is its direct relationship with producers, who are often involved in certification activities with direct visits to plantations and processing plants, and through education in recognizing the best products through tastings, to make them concretely understand the importance of their commitment to guaranteeing a product that is of superior quality.
CSC's aim, therefore, is to promote the culture of fine coffee by recognizing which, among the hundreds of varieties, are worthy of the certification label. This fundamental process is also made possible by the collaboration of companies, which are the first to aim for the supply of fine raw materials in order to obtain thick end products and to try to stem the overwhelming power of the big brands that contribute to the progressive deterioration of the quality standards of a product so widely consumed. The common causes of this sad phenomenon are processing that kills tastes and aromas, but before that, the use of raw materials of poor quality, with the final paradox of offering the mirage of quality at a low price.
Counteracting this situation has been the slow but steady growth of courses promoted by those who have not resigned themselves to doing their work with mediocrity but have opened the door to a new level of experience, putting themselves in the frame of mind that only a great professional can hold: that of study, sharing and the will to improve, with passion. Data provided by Scae - Specialty Coffee Association of Europe - confirmed this trend, reporting 496 certifications in the past year alone and as many as 421 in the first six months of 2014.
Enrico Meschini, CSC president, noted that "if traditionally the parameters on which the barista's choice was based were the product's notoriety and its wide presence on the market, the yield in economic terms and only as a last resort the quality factor, lately it is from this last request that the research takes off." Meschini then goes on to show a certain optimism: "I think that with quite a long time - about ten years - the consumption of selected products may arrive in Italy as well, on the wave of a greater attention to quality on the part of baristas as well as consumers, who will finally be able to recognize and reward those who offer products of excellence, showing themselves willing to pay the right amount for an excellent espresso."
As in any work that seeks to improve and get ahead of the times instead of chasing them frantically, CSC's is also proving to be very important but above all very difficult. Declaring ourselves admired by the project, we wish the association well and congratulate Musetti for choosing to be part of it, a sign that the province of Piacenza is also moving in the right direction.
