A taste of Coffee ConsulateCoffee Consulate is an independent training and research centre based in Mannheim, Germany, offering training for the coffee industry and coffee suppliers (hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, etc.) as well as the training programme for coffeeologists covering the entire value chain from bean to cup. New programmes are constantly being developed and workshops and masterclasses with special topics and various internationally recognised speakers are ;Dr Steffen Schwarz is Managing Director and founder of Coffee Consulate as well as CEO of Coffee Store GmbH, a high-end coffee shop and roasting company working with exclusive terrace coffees from direct trade with five coffee ;He has been heavily involved in the specialty coffee movement and was national coordinator of the German Chapter of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE, 2004-2006) as well as a board member of SCAE in London (2006-2010). As Chairman, he was instrumental in shaping and influencing the various Coffee World Championships.  In the network of the Coffee Consulate he cooperates with various universities, colleges and scientific institutions at national and international level. He is organising the "International Coffee Convention" in Mannheim from - Dr Schwarz is a regular author in professional journals and writes scientific papers.  He is the initiator of the "International Conservation Collection of Coffee Varieties" at the Wilhelma in Stuttgart, one of the largest living collections of coffee plants, which now houses over 120 different coffee ;Dr Schwarz is a guest lecturer at various universities and has already offered lectures for the Master's degree course in Food Systems in cooperation with the UHOH, invited students to company tours and coffee tastings and supervised successful final theses on the subject of coffee.