On a summer evening in 1976, Vince Fedele, a Northeastern University engineering student, walked into The Coffee Connection in Harvard Square and tasted his first cup of specialty coffee. He smiles when he remembers the evening that would lead him on a journey to discover the art of coffee brewing. “It was the most outstanding coffee I have ever tasted in my life,” he says. “It was during the early start-up days of The Coffee Connection. I frequented the cafe several times a week for years.”

A farmer holds a handful of coffee beans on a plantation employing sustainable farming practices. (Photo used by permission of George Howell Coffee Company ©2007-2009)

Thirty years later, the Harvard resident was hired by George Howell, founder of The Coffee Connection, as chief technology officer and chief operating officer for Howell’s newest venture, Terroir Coffee in Acton.

In April, Fedele and Terroir Coffee were awarded the Best New Product Award at the 21st annual Specialty Coffee Association of America conference for Fedele’s development of an optical refractometer and software for brewing perfect coffee and espresso using virtually any method. Howell sold the Coffee Connection to Starbucks in 1994 and embarked on a new adventure—working for the United Nations and the International Coffee Organization. He co-founded the Cup of Excellence competition in 1999, an international award competition and Internet auction that recognizes coffee farmers for their dedication to cultivating exceptional coffees using sustainable farming practices.

Inspired by the success of the competition and having witnessed the benefits to the farmers’ families and communities, Howell founded Terroir Coffee in 2004. Since then, he has traveled to coffee-producing countries in search of the most aromatic and delicious coffees. Along the way, he has established friendships with the farmers in an effort to forge business partnerships that benefit the farmers and brings the best of speciality coffees to the marketplace.

Fedele has a deep appreciation for the delicate art of coffee brewing, and shares Howell’s philosophy that brewing speciality coffee is similar to creating the balance required in the making of fine wine. He says, “The coffee bean has to be handled with great care throughout the cultivation, processing, packaging, transportation, ‘green’ storage, and then the roasting, grinding, and the final brewing steps. Damage to the final result could occur at any stage.”

In April, 2008, Terroir Coffee had been using the Gold Cup Standard for coffee brewing that had been developed by Ernest Lockhart, and was accepted as the standard for excellence in brewed coffee for decades. Then Fedele had an epiphany of sorts.

He was watching the brewing process in the coffee lab at Terroir Coffee and realized that the Gold Cup Standard could be achieved consistently. The secret was finding and maintaining a constant ratio, by weight, of brew water to coffee. He explains, “If one likes a good, strong, but sweet cup, you would brew using a half-gallon of water, and 4.5-ounce weight of coffee. A full gallon requires nine ounces.”

Lockhart didn’t consider that water volume increases approximately four percent when elevated from room temperature to brewing temperature. Fedele did. He soon realized that the coffee weight must also be increased four percent when the brew water is measured in units of volume at room temperature.

Mountainside coffee plantations in Colombia where Terroir Coffee’s beans for espresso originate. (Photo used by permission of George Howell Coffee Company ©2007-2009)

Fedele’s quest—and that of millions of coffee lovers—to find the perfect cup of coffee, ended when he created the ExtractMoJo System. By using a hand-held refractometer, an operator can analyze the results of total dissolved solids via a software program. It allows any user to maintain a correct ratio of brew water to coffee by weight, and corrects the brewing recipe for any batch size. Fedele says, “It’s so easy to use, anyone can now brew a perfect cup of coffee every time by any method.”

Fedele recently demonstrated the software by measuring Indonesian Toarco Toraja coffee beans, grinding them to the desired grade, and adding the exact measurement of purified water to the coffee brewer. After pouring the brewed coffee into a clear glass, he said, “Let it cool for a bit so you can enjoy all of the flavors.”

The coffee was a light chestnut color, with hues of honey, and tasted of spiced nutmeg. Fedele nodded when he noticed my reaction. “Toarco Toraja has a legendary status among coffee connoisseurs,” he said.

Then, after placing a small drop of the coffee on the refractometer, he measured the percentage of total dissolved solids. He input the measurement into a computer and showed me how exactly the coffee was brewed to Gold Cup Standard.

Next, Fedele repeated the process with a new blend of espresso called MoJoSpro, whose beans come from Brazil, Ethiopia, and Kenya. He explained how the software makes it possible to blend the perfect cup of espresso even though the ratio requires a much stronger blend.

“This can be used to make iced coffee as well,” Fedele says.

Fedele is modest about his innovation, but admits, “It is one of the most significant advances to the state of the art in coffee technology in some 40 years.”