Taipei – “International Coffee Tasting Asia” is the Asian edition of the competition by the same name held every two years in Brescia at the Istituto Assaggiatori Caffè (Institute of Coffee Tasters). As with the Italian edition, ICT Asia consists of a competition open to coffee producers from around the world engaged in different types of coffee preparations. For each category, products are tasted by a panel of trained tasters – all trained at the Institute and all from Asia. The goal of the blind tastings is to set a score for each product, based on the sense characteristics the tasters can uncover. The gold medal is awarded ex aequo to the best 30% in each category. The Torrefazione Caffe Roen (Verona) owned by Sergio Bendinelli has been active for more than 35 years, selecting, mixing and roasting coffee beans to perfection before delivering them into the hands of professionals and aficionados alike. The Torrefazione won in the “Italian mixtures for beans regarding the preparation of espresso”. “This victory comes as a big surprise, not because we ever doubted the quality of our work and product, but rather because it let us understand that passion and hard work can still be winning elements in this industry,” commented Bendinelli. (9Colonne)