Local coffeehouse Trabant Coffee & Chai hosted a free coffee tasting March 27 to raise awareness about the coffee industry. Trabant employees emphasized the process of coffee shipping and picking, as well as the varieties of coffee that many countries around the world provide.

“There are twice as many flavors you can draw from coffee than wine,” said Alexa Baehr, a Trabant barista and coffee connoisseur.

Trabant buys all of its coffee from 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, a coffee distributing company located in Vancouver, B.C., which buys all of its beans directly from farmers and plantations.

Michael Piccolo, the master roaster at 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, travels to each farm and tests the quality and flavor of the beans before he buys them.

“I’ve been working with coffee for 10 years,” Baehr said. “I had no idea, though, that there was so much more to it until I started working here about six months ago.”

Baehr’s interest in coffee varieties encouraged her to share her newly acquired knowledge with others. This is why she started a coffee tasting seminar.

“This is my first open class,” Baehr said. “I hope it went well.”

Five different types of coffees, hailing from places such as Kenya, Colombia and Papua New Guinea, were sampled, each with their own distinct subtle flavors, aromas and drying processes.

“My favorite was the Ethiopian,” junior Kevin Jamieson said.

Jamieson and his roommate, senior Scott Claassen, bought a French press from Trabant about a year ago and enjoy using the press to brew coffee.

“We didn’t really know that much about the different kinds of coffees there were,” Claassen said. “I saw the flier and thought it sounded interesting.”

Subtle flavors like chocolate, bell peppers and cranberries differentiated the coffees from each other, according to tasters.

“It’s exciting to know that something like coffee can hold sour, sweet, woody [and] fruity flavors,” Baerh said.

This will be the first of many future coffee tastings Trabant will host. Trabant Coffee & Chai is located on Northeast 45th Street next to Neptune Theatre.

[Reach reporter Ben Schock at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]