Brooklyn Roasting Company Announces Four Newly-Certified Q graders On Staff: “The Astrophysicists of the Coffee World”

Brooklyn, NY, November 23, 2018 -- Brooklyn Roasting Company announced today that four of the coffee company’s employees have passed the ultra-rigorous, extremely competitive Q grader test. The Q grader certification program is similar to a sommelier examination in the wine world, with six full days of demanding and intensive testing in a Specialty Coffee Association sanctioned laboratory. Currently there are about 4,000 Q graders in the world who are certified by the Coffee Quality Institute, according to Qcup. In the United States, there are only approximately 400 licensed Q-graders, four of those Q-graders are now on staff at the Brooklyn Roasting Company. “We want to usher in a new era at our company. We intentionally found four people to carry the baton. As it turns out, it was a huge success. Each of the staffers spent months preparing. And as a result, we have calibrated palates capable of discerning the most extraordinary coffees on the planet. These are the Harvard astrophysicists of the coffee world, the Q graders. And we couldn’t be prouder,” said Jim Munson, CEO of Brooklyn Roasting.
To qualify for a Q-grader license, a cupper must pass 22 arduous and meticulous tests. Among some of the rigors to become certified, applicants must pass exams on sensory and analysis skills, smelling analytics, triangulation tests, matching organic acids and identifying sample roasts.

“As we grow and develop, we need to grow and develop,” said Michael Pollack, Managing Director/Head Coffee Buyer at Brooklyn Roasting. “To have a team of unbelievably skilled people qualified by the highest standards in the coffee industry is a great achievement.”

“We took passionate coffee lovers and turned them into certified Q graders. The Brooklyn Roasting Company understands at its core the importance of education. So we spent almost a year building a top-quality cupping lab at our headquarters and invested a great deal of time and money in order to propel the careers of these employees. And it worked,” says Munson.

Brooklyn Roasting Company will be launching a new line of coffee curated by the four newly-minted Q graders. Of 150 samples from importers and farming families around the world, the Q graders sampled and scored the coffee based on their extraordinary palate and skills. The Brooklyn skyline coffees will have an image of the Brooklyn skyline. The coffee is expected to launch on December 5 and will be available online and in nine cafes. www.BrooklynRoasting.com

About Brooklyn Roasting Company:
The Brooklyn Roasting Company buys, roasts and sells superb and sustainable coffees from the world’s most renowned growing regions. Brooklyn Roasting Company favors certified coffees (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, organic) and unique auction-lot coffees. All of their beans are locally roasted every day and expertly packaged in our state-of-the-art production facilities to maximize flavor and freshness. Brooklyn Roasting Company roasts coffees to satisfy the most discerning coffee drinkers and creative coffee thinkers anywhere on the planet.
More about Brooklyn Roasting Company
More about Q-grading
Interviews available:

• Raquel Lohmann, Q grader
• Lukas Holst, Q grader
• Brian DeWitt, Q grader
• Alex Smith, Q grader
• Michael Pollack, Managing Director/Head Coffee Buyer at BrooklynRoasting
•  Jim Munson, CEO of Brooklyn Roasting

For media interviews, contact Rachel Kessler/Kessler Communications, LLC
cell: 917.660.0608