Specialty Coffee Roasters Showcase Craft at the 2008 Roasters Choice
Tasting Competition, May 2- 5, 2008

LONG BEACH, Calif. U.S.A. (April 7, 2008) --- In celebration of the art of
roasting specialty coffee, the Specialty Coffee Association of America's
(SCAA) Roasters Guild will present the 2008 Roasters Choice Tasting
Competition at SCAA's 20th Annual Conference & Exhibition, May 2 - 5 in
Minneapolis, Minn. The competition will feature exceptional coffees from
some of the finest coffee roasters throughout the country.

"From seed to cup, a lot of activity takes place before consumers enjoy
their cup of specialty coffee," said Ric Rhinehart, SCAA executive director.
"A vital link in this process is the professional coffee roaster who takes
his craft very seriously in roasting green coffee beans based on a roast
profile to enhance or highlight certain flavor characteristics. At this year's
Roasters Choice Tasting Competition, some of the country's top roasters
will offer their finest brews during an exciting competition and demonstration
of the profession."

All Roasters Guild members---about 370---are invited to participate in the
competition by submitting 30 pounds of coffee, which they will have roasted
just prior to the event, ensuring freshness. To determine a winner, each
conference attendee in Minneapolis will get one chance to vote for the best
of the 10 finalists. The tasting will be blind with the first three finishers
earning Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.  While a winner will be announced,
the chief aim of the event is to recognize the craft of roasting while conference
delegates taste some superb coffees. The theme of this year's Roasters
Choice Tasting Competition is "Single Origin Coffees."

The Roasters Guild is one of two trade guilds within the SCAA. One
guild is for coffee roasters and the other for baristas. These groups are
designed to bring together those professionals whose crafts most profoundly
affect the taste of specialty coffee. Through collaboration, knowledge
sharing and expert training, the members of the Roasters Guild and the
Barista Guild of America are able to hone their skills while gaining a
deeper understanding of their professions.

The 2008 Roasters Choice Tasting Competition is one of the many highlights
at the SCAA 2008 Conference & Exhibition.

As the industry's premier coffee event, the conference features in-depth
educational sessions covering a variety of specialty coffee topics, hundreds
of exhibit booths, a keynote presentation from Michael Shuman, author of
"The Small-Mart Revolution," the United States Barista Championship and the
Coffee of the Year Competition.

In accord with SCAA's mission of promoting sustainability in the specialty
coffee industry, the association has created a carbon neutrality program to
help offset emissions related to conference travel, lodging and energy
consumption.  All conference attendees are required to participate in the
program. The funds collected from will be donated to non-profitorganization,
Trees for the Future, for the purchasing and planting of new trees.

Complete details for SCAA's 20th Annual Conference & Exhibition are
available at http://conference.scaa.org/. For a copy of the conference
brochure, call 562-624-4100 or e-mail coffee@scaa.org.