CBI’s Paul Thornton Elected Chair of SCAA’s Roaster’s Guild
June 1st, 2006
Paul Thornton has coffee running through his veins. It's not a medical abnormality but rather an obsession he developed in 1982 after tasting his first cup of hand-roasted coffee at Portland, Oregon-based specialty roaster Coffee Bean International (CBI). Today, Thornton is spearheading efforts to enhance the credibility and professionalism of specialty coffee roasters as the 2006 chair of the Specialty Coffee Association of America's (SCAA) Roasters' Guild.
Thornton is one of the original Guild members still serving on the Executive Council. The Council launched the now 400-member Guild in 1998 to provide roasters with a forum in which to share knowledge and techniques, improve their skills, and stay in front of the market curve. As Chair, Paul is spearheading an initiative to establish coffee roasting as a professional occupation.
Since 1982, Thornton's passion for good - really good - coffee has fueled his mission to bring to market exciting new bean varieties from the world's premier growing regions. CBI was the perfect place for Thornton to cut his teeth. He was fascinated by CBI's artisan roasting techniques and his bourgeoning passion for coffee propelled him through the ranks to his current position as Roastmaster, which he's held since 1997. Thornton's enthusiasm, experience and vision have been instrumental in CBI's rise to one of the largest privately held specialty roasters in the nation, as he and his team roast nearly ten million pounds of 60 coffee bean varieties each year.
For more information about the Roasters' Guild, visit:
http://www.roastersguild.org/accreditation.html.
For more information about CBI, visit:
http://www.coffeebeanintl.com
