ABOUT ME
Have you ever been drinking a cup of coffee and then thought to yourself:
‘Hm, I wonder where this delicious beverage comes from?’
If so, you have come to the right place.
You see, coffee is everywhere today: At home, in the office, in the café around the corner.
But at the same time, most people have no idea where this magical black powder comes from or how it’s produced. They know that some farmers in Brazil were probably involved, and that’s about it.
I started this site, so more people could learn what coffee is really about.
What you can expect
Interviews
Brew guides
Reviews
welcome to my site
My name is Asser Christensen, and I’m a journalist and Q Arabica Grader hailing from Denmark.
I have been crazy about caffeine for almost as long as I can remember.
About a decade ago, I started roasting coffee at home in my oven. The first beans were pretty dark and scorched, but it somehow got me hooked. After some time, I got it right, and once you have gotten used to drinking freshly roasted coffee, there is no way back.
Being a journalist by trade, it was only natural that I would write about my passion, and that’s how my first Danish coffee website was launched in 2015.
Initially, the plan was to use it as a coffee diary so that other geeks could get inspiration about coffee and roasting, but before I knew, the site had turned into an all-consuming endeavor.
At the same time, I started freelancing for several of the biggest online coffee sites. Before I knew it, I had gone from being a regular reporter to becoming ‘The Coffee Chronicler.’
However, the more I wrote about coffee and visited coffee farms and events in far-away countries, I realized that coffee is an international brotherhood of sorts.
Sure, I could continue writing about obscure coffee shops in my mother tongue, but to be honest, way more people would be able to follow the journey if I took the leap and started a site in English. So that’s the genesis of the website you’re browsing right now.
About the Q grader license
Today, I’m privileged to have connections across the entire coffee value chain, from farmers and baristas to roasters. I want to share this wealth of knowledge with you, the readers.
As of September 2018, I proudly earned the title of a licensed Q Grader.
The Q Grader license is akin to the sommelier title in the wine and food industry. Managed by the Specialty Coffee Association’s (SCA) charitable fund, Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), it stands as the most esteemed certification in the coffee world. To obtain this license, one must successfully complete 20 challenging tests. These tests focus on sensory and olfactory skills, many of which are conducted blind under special red light conditions to eliminate visual cues like roast degree. The examination also includes green bean (raw coffee) grading and comprehensive coffee knowledge.
It’s important to note that the Q Grader license is valid for only three years. Consequently, I renewed mine in 2021.
Pursuing a Q Grader certification is both expensive and time-intensive. However, in an online environment rife with subjective opinions and intuition, I believe it’s important with some perspective grounded in objective standards.
Unfortunately, the coffee world is still riddled with misinformation and outdated concepts. My goal is to dismantle these myths and urban legends, replacing them with substantive, accurate information about coffee beans, equipment, and brewing techniques.
If you have any questions or ideas, please get in touch either here, or catch me over on Instagram.
Thanks for reading.
Media Appearances/Selected work
