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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Triple digit heat will stick around Rogue Valley for awhile ... Ashland Planning Commission votes 3-2 to save cottonwood tree ... Free composting classes offered ... Triple digit heat will stick around Rogue Valley for awhile ... Ashland Planning Commission votes 3-2 to save cottonwood tree ... Free composting classes offered ... GOOD FOOD Ashland coffee roasters win nationwide honors Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jan. 13, 2015 at 7:41 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jan. 13, 2015 at 7:41 PM » Social News Two Ashland coffee roasters — Case and Noble — have won the 2015 prestigious Good Foods award, the only roasters in Oregon to do so. In the coffee category, the awards are granted for sweet, clean, well-developed body, exemplary flavor and balanced acidity, with “phenomenal aromatics.” In addition, competitors must excel in fairness and transparency with their growers and sustainability in the environment, according to www.goodfoodawards.org/coffee/. At the blind tastings and award ceremony in San Francisco over the weekend, a top award for the Northwest went to Tim and Katie Case for their Kenya Muthonjo, which Katie describes as “sweet, clean, complex and syrupy.”  Case, whose coffee shop is at 1255 Siskiyou Blvd., across from the college, also won a Good Food award in 2013 for its Nyeri Gaturiri Co-op Peaberry.  Noble won for its Ethiopian Shilcho, which owner Jared Rennie describes is as “very balanced, complex, with higher-end acidity and notes of apricot, citrus, mandarin” and an "underpinning structure like black tea, like darjeeling, very aromatic with nice sweetness.”  Located on 4th, near A Street, Noble won in 2011 and 2012 for its Columbian Finca San Luis.  “It’s very exciting to win this again,” says Rennie. “They have lots of awards for food and other beverages, but only one for cofffee. This is the one that matters most in our industry. It’s been going on for five years and we’ve been among the finalists every time. Getting the top award three out of five ain’t bad. This puts us in the top four or five coffee roasters in the U.S.”  The “northwest” region in which Noble and Case competes includes coffee-savvy Portland and Seattle — and stretches east through the Dakotas. The competition is no cakewalk but features 1,600 competitors in all categories. Case recently doubled the size of its coffee shop and, like Noble, roasts on site. Katie Case says they’re “excited, proud and happy,” but coffee-lovers should get down there and quaff their fill of the medal-winner, because they’re about to run out.  So, how do you explain two top awards for tiny Ashland and none for giant, trendy Portland and Seattle? Rennie has long predicted a “gradual renaissance” in appreciation of foods and beverages in the Rogue Valley, as “we live in a real special area and have seen the coffee landscape change quite a bit in the last seven years.”  Owners of the two companies say they go out of their way to pay growers and others in their “coffee chain” two or three times the fair trade price.  “All our coffee,” says Kati Case, “is sourced from farms that are raising coffee in environmentally responsible ways ... we take a lot of care with our sources, to get high quality coffee and make sure everyone gets a fair wage. We’re expanding our accounts across the country and have them now in New York, Arizona, also local strores and restaurants. We’ve got coffee subscriptions even in England. We’re getting noticed.” By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jan. 13, 2015 at 7:41 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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