Jim Seven

New Blog Home!

2006-07-26T21:58:00.000+01:00

I am now running the blog here: jimseven.com This is the last post on this blog. James

Jimseven will be moving

2006-07-25T20:20:00.000+01:00

My frustrations with the short-comings of blogger have gotten too much, so jimseven will be moving to a better place. I will let you know when it is ready..... James

Frustration

2006-07-22T22:54:00.000+01:00

Further talks with folk about my planned sig drink for next year have hit a brick wall. Looks like it is a no go, unless someone wants to lend me a few thousand (at least) to do the development on it. Bugger.

The most inspiring moments in coffee.....

2006-07-20T23:36:00.000+01:00

... are probably the most frustrating ones. Swung by Mercanta and had a brief chat to Flori Marin who had just arrived back from a whirlwind tour around the farms they buy from in Brazil, with a couple of people from Monmouth in tow. (They have monkeys at Cachoeira! This seals the deal, I must visit this farm!) She was really excited about one farm in particular that had been developing a new twist on dry pulping that was yielding incredible sweetness in the bean. Went up to the lab and had a look at the green and the prep looks really unusual. Talked to a couple of people who cupped it the day before and they were raving about it too. So, stood there with this bag of green in my hand I want to roast it and brew it for espresso that very instant - it is killing me. But I can't. I have to go and get on with my day. I cannot wait til the full shipment of that coffee arrives and I can get stuck into some. It doesn't matter if it fails to fulfil my expectations of it, or if it maybe isn't the coffee that I want it to be. More importantly it fired my mind and my passion for what I do.

Italian Espresso

2006-07-18T17:55:00.000+01:00

Would it be fair to say that one of the biggest assets Italian coffee has is that most baristas will regularly taste not only their own coffee several times a day, but also the coffee served around him/her?

Cropping up all over the place

2006-07-17T22:02:00.000+01:00

It is most interestjng to check the stats pages and see where people to this blog from are coming from. It is from a delightful mix of sources, though amongst the most intruiging (and pleasing) was an appearance on the newsletter for Espresso Warehouse, who are lovely people and very helpful to me in the run up to the WBC, which contains an interesting article on barista competition in the UK. They also (quite wisely I might add) suggest visiting Stephen "The Irish Beard" Morrissey's blog which is covering his exploits as a barista in Vancouver for a couple of months. He's a geek but tries hard to pretend otherwise. He is also a splendid barista. The one thing about the increased traffic is that I feel I ought to post more content, and I know I promised an article about lipids and coffee (I wrote it once, and then switched off the laptop without saving the post in bloggar! Arse.) It will arrive at some point. Honest.

I've been quiet of late...

2006-07-15T23:16:00.000+01:00

on the coffee front. Mostly because there hasn't been much in coffee firing my imagination of late. I, like a few others no doubt, are sort of waiting for the next big thing - the next Clover, the next naked pf, the next new whatever. Something to force us to think and perhaps to taste something new. So - good readers - what is firing your minds in the world of coffee or is it quiet in our industry right across the globe?

New logo time

2006-07-09T14:25:00.000+01:00

With my old logo image files lost in the depths of the stolen laptop it is time for me to try and come up with a new logo. Any thoughts, comments or ideas would be very welcome!

Steve Ford's First Cup Series

2006-07-08T20:15:00.001+01:00

Impressive work by Steve Ford of Ecco on taking 365 days worth of pictures of his first cup of coffee. The set is up on Flickr - it really is worth a look, though if you need convincing Steve has cobbled together a few of his favourites on his blog. I've really enjoyed these pictures over the year, and they have been a constant reminder that coffee can be many different things, really doesn't have to be espresso or espresso based to be excellent and that its all too easy to get caught up in what you do (certainly for me) when there is a wonderful world going on outside. That said the article on lipids and coffee oil is almost done and should be up soon and I've included my coffee blogroll from bloglines on the site now so the most recently updated blogs site at the top.

Bit of shopping

2006-07-05T01:13:00.000+01:00

Was delighted to pick up all six volumes of Clarke and Macrae's "Coffee" series for around $300 (£160!). That sounds like a lot but when I was in Foyles I saw volume 5 alone for £140 ($260)! Vol 1 - Chemistry Vol 2 - Technology Vol 3 - Physiology Vol 4 - Agronomy Vol 5 - Related Beverages Vol 6 - Commercial and Technico-Legal Aspects Combined price on amazon is well over £800 ($1500+) All that I really want now is the Sivetz and the Wintgens. Anyone got a few hundred to spare? And the other Clarke of course.... Hmm... Maybe no more books for a while!

Mark Prince's Barista Creed

2006-06-27T23:52:00.000+01:00

Recently Mark Prince has been talking of what he believes the barista creed should be: Any Coffee. Any Machine. Any Grinder. I agree with this, whilst also am deeply opposed to this dependent on how you interpret those words. If you take it to mean that if you put a barista in any situation then he should work with what he is given to do the very best he/she can using a skillset and understanding developed through training and practise. Knowing about burr type, age and motor speed of a grinder, coupled with the heat exchange system in the machine, and knowledge of rougly where to aim brew temp with relevance to brew temp are all good things to know about, and in situations where you are out of your depth, and out of your comfort zone these are the things you should revert to. Systematic, though also natuarl. However, it is very easy to intrepet this to mean that it is all about the barista. And its not, its really really not. I've been saying for some time that I believe that a barista is only ever as good as their coffee. The best barista in the world is not a magic wand and can never exceed the potential held within the coffee. I think that a barista has two roles, one where they should be very visible, one where they should aim to be invisible. You buy your coffee from people, and a barista should be a host - gracious, polite, a pleasure to interact with first thing in the morning or when you sneak a shot in before closing time. Look me in the eye, talk to me, smile at me. Eventually maybe even remember me! When it comes to brewing - the mechanical and chemical process of extraction - I want the barista as invisible as possible. If you, the barista, show up in the cup, then it is because something has gone wrong (bad grind, bad extraction, bad service). When everything is "perfect" it is only the coffee that is on show in the cup and to me that is the goal of the barista. Not to get in the way. Same job a roaster has, to some extent, and the same job as the farmer. To get as much of what is great about the coffee to the person paying for the sensory experience of consuming it. A barista is a part of a chain, and no more important in that chain than anyone else. Some people have the glory jobs - such as roasters and baristas - where the skill is more obvious, but the person milling, washing and drying the coffee we are lucky enough to work with has an equally important role to play. So - I guess it comes down to: Any Machine, Any Grinder - Any Time. Any coffee - never!

A much needed weekend

2006-06-23T23:12:00.000+01:00

At the end of a very long week I am very much looking forward to this weekend. Of nothing. Today I judged an in house barista competition, technical thankfully - I just couldn't face 30 odd coffees at the moment. Lots of fun, and just about everyone took something positive out of it. It was the first time I had done any judging, and it was very interesting. The day before had been a trade show, which was not so much fun. I was working, supporting a customer, and they stuck me on the machine, put a menu behind me and then gave away coffee. They were the only people doing coffee at the show. A little under 6 hours later, I'm 8 kilos to the good and it feels good to maintain a quality of drink when busy like this, and in ridiculously large take out cups, whilst also chatting to people, talking about coffee and all sorts of everything. I don't often get the chance to be a working barista these days so its pretty good for me to have a busy day once in a while!

Maillard Reaction, Strecker Degredation and Caramelisation

2006-06-20T20:54:00.000+01:00

In the next of my apparent series of articles on all things coffee and chemistry I am going to tackle in a pleasant (I hope) depth these three types of reactions as they appear all the time in coffee articles. Obviously we are going to need to get into a bit of chemistry but hopefully it will remain understandable! All of these are forms of non-enzymatic browning - opposed to reactions causing foods to go brown because of one of many enzyme actions, such as your apple turning brown when bitten into and left for a bit. This seems an obvious distinction, but I think it is important to include. As usual - questions or mistakes in the comments! The Maillard Reaction Luis-Camille Maillard was the chemist after whom these particular reactions are named, as he was one of the first to investigate them in 1912. The term describes a very specific set a reactions - browning reactions occuring between amino acids and reducing sugars. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and just as the 26 letters of the alphabet can be used to write an infinite number of different texts, the 20 standard amino acids are put together to create a potentially infinite number of different proteins. I won't dwell on the chemistry but all amino acids have the same end to the chain: The R symbolises the rest of the chain, and obviously this is the bit that is different from amino acid to amino acid. So anything with protein in it is a candidate for the maillard reaction. All we need now is the presence of a reducing sugar. The term reducing sugar implies something more interesting than what we find. Simply put a reducing sugar is any sugar with an aldehyde group. We often talk about aldehydes in coffee's complex aroma chemistry (such as benzaldehyde - which has the characteristic smell of bitter almonds, and is used in just about any almond syrup), but to be an aldehyde means you have to have this arm tacked onto the molecule somewhere: (again R is the the Rest of the molecule) A list of reducing sugars is full of familiar names: fructose, glucose, lactose and maltose to name a few. However, and this is important, sucrose - table sugar - is not a reducing sugar and takes no part in the Maillard Reactions (but does get involved in caramelisation). These two react together and form new molecules with a brown colour - melanoidins (which you may recall being quite important to crema). Heat is not absolutely necessary, you could mix the two, put them in the fridge and they would turn brown - just very slowly! Heat helps speed the whole thing up. Equally they can happen with water present, but water slows it down. Without the sugar there can be no browning - this is why quakers stand out in roasted coffee, and are so pale. Problems arise in the full description of reactions because different sugars and different amino acids produce different molecules, and then to complicate the picture these molecules begin to react and interact further. It is almost a cascading set of reactions. Therefore there are a great deal of different compounds created, both aromatic and non-volatile. There is of course commonality between Maillard Reactions in different food products - coffee and chocolate share a great deal in terms of flavour as many of the same reactions have occured. Roast beef should also share some similar chemistry to roasted coffee, though whether there is enough commonality to make the combination palatable is debatable (though I have a collection of recipes for roasted and barbequed meat with a coffee crust!) The Maillard reactions are the reason that milk left on a steam wand quickly turns brown. These reactions are dependent on a few variables: the different amino acids available, the pH, the amount of water, any salts and the period of time held at a temperature. The Strecker Degradation This is one I thought I should include because I see it referenced quite a lot, in any text concerning roasting chemistry and is instrumental in the creation of the brown pigment as well as a myriad of volatile aromatics. It falls under the umbrella of, and requires compounds created by, the Maillard Reactions. Unfortunately this one isn't so simple to explain. It involves amino acids again, but instead of reacting with a sugar it is reacting with a molecule with two carbonyl groups, which look like this: The compounds begin to trade parts of themselves, one of the carbonyl groups ending up on the amino acid (the acid having lost on carbon from its chain) creating an aldehyde as wll as an amino ketone. This is an intermediary stage and reactions continue to create many different volatiles. I have refrained from making explicit descriptions of groups of aromatics. Ketones could be broadly described as having buttery, caramel flavours but key aromas in both raspberries and grapefruit are ketones. Therefore I don't think it is terribly helpful for me to claim that furans taste of this, and aldehydes taste of that.... Perhaps a description of each group of aromatics - esters, phenolics, terpenoids and thiols - would make an interesting article. Caramelisation Much slower than Maillard reactions, and requiring much higher temperatures these reactions begin exclusively with sugars. They really begin up around 150C to 180C, with water being lost from the sugar molecule beginning the chain of events. In all cases the sugar is converted to a furfuryl. These are a type of furans that have a caramelly, slightly burnt and also slightly meaty notes. The same compound is produced via a different route in the Mailllard reactions. However it is with prolonged high temperature that many other types of aromas are generated. Caramelisation is more predictable than Maillard reaction due to less variation in the starting compounds. Without the sulphur or nitrogen found in the amino acids caramelisation is unable to produce flavours as meaty as Maillard reactions It is interesting to note how the sugar solutions taste changes in caramelisation. A sugar solution initially will be sweet with no aroma. Through caramelisation it becomes both sour and a little bitter, as a rich aroma develops. Generally the longer sugar is caramelised the less sweet it tastes. Extended Reading: General Book: The Maillard Reaction Website: Course Information and A nice Diagram Coffee Specific: The Science of Quality Hopefully this will give the reader an insight into the basics of the different types of chemistry going on when you apply heat to food and it turns brown. Because of the broad range of applications I haven't focused this one completely on coffee, though no doubt that will change when I come to review it. Any mistakes or obvious omissions then please let me know!

A couple of excellent purchases

2006-06-19T20:19:00.000+01:00

Two books arrived today from a range I highly recommend: Food Flavours and Food: The Chemistry of its components Both a perfect level for me, just past what I comfortably understand. Getting stuck into the Flavour one tonight. I have their one on chocolate too which is excellent. I love books!

I can't believe its sucking me back in already!

2006-06-14T23:26:00.000+01:00

Had a chat with my friend at The Fat Duck's lab today. I'd had a ridiculous idea for a signature drink that I wanted to run past him. The conversation went from "Nope, not possible" through to a "hmm, maybe", we kicked around a couple of ideas and now it seems very possible. We just need to pick the brains of a few flavour experts. Development costs for this would be a little high but I think I'd definately like to do something ground breaking so fingers are crossed. I worry that its got me all excited! I suspect I am going to need to read a few textbooks!

Foams

2006-06-13T14:55:00.000+01:00

It is about time I tackled this rather monstrous subject because it is something that is important in what we do. There are two foams of real interest to the barista - milk foam and crema. Before I go into detail on either I think it is best if we just started with a little basic foam theory. So - why does causes a liquid to foam? At some point a bubble has been introduced to the liquid. In a foam this bubble is made strong, because something has wrapped itself around it and made the bubble strong (increased its surface tension). In most food foams it is protein that wraps itself around the air. The reason that it does this is that part of the molecule is hydrophobic, and is repelled by water. For this reason it is looking for anything that isn't water to face/bind too. Normally a protein chain is all coiled up, with the hydrophobic parts facing inwards, away from the water solution in which it is dissolved. It takes some sort of action, be it heat or - in the case of egg whites - an aggressive physical action like beating it. So - the air bubble provides solace for the section of the protein repelled by water and what you get is the protein lining the air water interface. This is now a surface active agent, or in the parlance of foam - a surfactant. What makes a foam burst? If the surfactant is in water solution then a primary reason for failure in the foam is drainage. As gravity pulls the solution from between the bubbles, the surfactant is also drained away. This leaves the foam brittle and inelastic causing the bubbles to burst. This doesn't explain why your souffle went horribly wrong. Here the enemy of the foam is fat. Fat and water don't mix. This is because one is polar (water) and one non-polar (lipids). The part of the protein that is hydrophobic is non-polar, hence is repelled by the water. If fat is introduced into the foam then it can give the non-polar part of the protein another choice, so it can either wrap around the air bubble of the fat. This is why fat destabilises foams, and your souffle went all to hell. (This is also why you need to make sure you never get any yolk in the whites if you want to beat them up). A simple picture (cribbed from a text book and slightly changed.) By no means perfect but goes some way to explaining why surfactant bind to air bubbles: Milk Foam: In milk foam our surfactant is a whey protein, with the amazingly exciting name of beta-lactoglobulin (this is unlikely to be the only protein involved in the foaming process but it is the most important one). The reason most milks won't foam is that the milk fat has broken down and the free glycerol from the tri-gylceride is interupting our foaming process. Drainage plays a slightly different role for the barista. Drainage is linked to viscosity, to the thicker the liquid the slower the drain. This is why full fat milk is generally easier to work with. It will stay wet longer than skimmed that dries out pretty quick making latte art a little harder. I will also speculate that you will get a better, more stable foam from your good technique (stretch only whilst milk is cool, churn/spin up to final temp) because you have formed your stable foams before the milk fat has reached body temp, at which point it turns from a fat to an oil, and is more likely to mess with the foaming process. Any further questions on milk foam please leave a comment and I will answer (if I can!) Crema I don't know why we make crema more complicated than it is. It is constantly horribly misdescribed. The most common description of it is "emulsified oils". Well, I suppose, in a very very small way this is true. Espresso, as we know, is unique as a brewing process in the quantity of oil that is gets from the ground coffee. It does this by spending the energy of the brew pressure emulsifying the oil by creating such small droplets that they can be suspended in the solution without flocculating. Yet we know that oil causes foams to fail. The percentage of oil in espresso, as a total, is extremely low. Crema has nothing to do with the oils. CO2 from the roasting process is liberated during the brewing process and the change in pressure causes it to come out of solution forming bubbles. So what is the surfactant here? It isn't a protein (the roasting process has pretty much gotten rid of all the useful proteins here, as they've gone off to contribute to all sorts of reactions including everybody's favourite friend - the maillard reactions). The acting surfactant is probably a derivative of a protein. It is a melanoidin. This is rather a broad term for molecules formed during the roasting process, and they also contribute to the brown colour. This is working with two other polysaccharides to create a stable foam. (The sugars role appears to influence foam volume and stability without actually being surfactants themselves). Crema is essentially a foam of the coffee underneath - so the colour of your crema is a direct reflection of the colour of the coffee underneath. (This is a bit confusing because in a shot glass the liquid coffee from a 15 second shot looks just like the coffee from a 30 second shot - I assure you they are totally different colours, put a single drop on some white paper if you don't believe me). So - the lighter the crema, the lighter the coffee, the less dissolved underneath. There is speculation that the oil is a factor in how quickly the foam dissipates. The fact that arabica has nearly twice the lipid content of robusta goes a way to substantiating this. Along side this we also have drainage. A good shot has a substantially different viscosity to a poor one, which is why a quick shot's crema will go very quickly. Again it is down to how much you have in solution, so colour of crema and stability should be linked. Tiger flecking is something I don't totally understand, and will be doing some research on soon. I currently speculate that it is particles of roast coffee suspended in the foam. Some microscopic photography is in order! I hope to add more to this article as and when I can, and to answer questions that will inevitably come from it. Plus I will reword things I've probably explained really badly! Questions in the comments please!

Had my laptop stolen

2006-06-08T00:30:00.000+01:00

Had my laptop thieved from the trade show I was working at today. At first I was just a bit cross. Then it started to sink in. Gone are photos - both private and work/travel/WBC related (thank god for flickr), articles (downloaded, written and in draft), pdfs, e-mails, attempts at research, all sorts of everything. I am very cross. And also completely gutted. So.... if I likely had your e-mail address, if you have any interesting articles just lying around, or anything like this... please, please send me an e-mail with it to: kingseven at gmail.com and I would be very grateful indeed.

The problem with the blend....

2006-06-05T10:49:00.000+01:00

Inevitably we are moving closer and closer towards controlling certain aspects of espresso. Be it experimentation with brew pressure from the folks down at Versalab or Andy Schecter, we are getting into the details. So - we evaluate the effects of changing one parameter at a time, from a sensory point of view. Now say you are using a simple 4 or 5 bean blend. Which will change the taste in the cup more: 0.1bar or a slightly different ratio of the components in the blend? Could a stronger sweetness simply come from the sweeter component being found in a larger quantity? How many times should you pull each shot to test the variable? And in pulling that shot are you absolutely sure you didn't updose by 0.2g? How much of a difference does that make? So - would testing with a single varietal, single estate shot, screened to size 17 and profile roasted coffee? In fact - should a roaster building blends now look for coffees that have a similar ideal brew temperature, and work from there? By hunting for the sweet spot in a blend are we too late in the process and ultimately looking for compromise? I remember Chris Tacy posting about multiple sweet spots within a blend whilst messing around with the GS3. Imagine if you had a blend where all the sweet spots peaked at the same place. A difficult blend to work with, no doubt, but one that would be immensely rewarding when you got it right.

Being a bit useless

2006-06-03T01:12:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry that I haven't put up my finals report yet. I think maybe because all the interesting stuff was in the semis and I kind of suffered a mixture of being really tired, having very little time this week (excuses, excuses) and running a little low on motivation. Its been crazy since Bern. Straight back into a build for a trade show, up at 4.30 in the morning to appear (due to the segment being cut short) for no apparent reason on breakfast tv on the BBC. Two days of a very busy trade show, where a worrying amount of people recognised me from the news that morning and I made a lot of coffee. Used up the last of the WBC blend on the punters and people seemed to enjoy it, which is great. Thanks again to Steve for that - the man is indeed legend. He's got the Canario from Cachoeira up on his site for sale now. Its tempted to buy an aeropress just so I can enjoy it without having to work.... The one thing I am struggling with is constantly being introduced as UK champion or whatever, and not really knowing how to acknowledge this. To the vast majority of the public it is no more important than someone winning an award for really good sandwiches. Still, its quite fun. Another trade show next week, and a few articles to write for here and there. Should stick a few pictures up soon. Had a nice flight to Cornwall at sunset and was bored enough to point my camera out of the window. Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that my brain is already plotting signature drinks for next year. I've had a great idea but I think the chemistry is a little beyond anything I'll be capable of in a year. But if I can do it.........

The WBC Post (Part 1: Arrival and the Semi Finals)

2006-05-26T13:01:00.000+01:00

(warning - another long post with lots of photos!) another warning - my head is still a mess and I will forget stuff! So - the WBC.... What an incredible experience. I arrived on the Tuesday evenings, having found Switzerland full of every intention to fulfil its international cliche (nothing but adverts for watches in the airport and suitably wondrous trains). Bern I was glad to be in the Novotel over the road from the Expo as (like everyone competing) I had far too much luggage. Snuck into town to meet up with Anette who had been there since Monday and was with Jeff Talyer, Chris White, Emma Markland-Webster and Joseph Riviera. Chris, Joseph and Jeff: Wednesday was all about picking up some last bits and pieces and a few ingredients for the comp. Coming back to the Expo after I met up with Sammy Piccolo, Jackie Mweni, Klaus Thomsen and a few other competitors. They'd just finished setting up all the practise machines so they said we were welcome to have an hour on them. I had nothing with me so I ended up hanging out with Sammy on a machine as he madly pulled shots for everyone around him. I have to say the ones I had were absolutely delicious. I sometimes worry that we lose all persepctive at WBC. Take me anywhere in the world and show me a better shot than I had there, and I will pay $1000 for it. I am not saying you couldn't get a different shot, which difference nuance and texture and qualities - but thinking about it: I have one of the best baristas in the world, working with a new top machine, new grinder, high quality coffee, freshly and carefully roasted. How does it get any better? I am still annoyed I never got a shot from Klaus. I have some of their coffee though. Sammy and Anette backstage (I hate flash and everyone moves too fast!): Anyway - rant over. I could say the same thing about the double shot of Hairbender that Bronwen pulled me the day after... On Wednesday evening Anette and I wandered into Bern and ended up in the same place as Klaus, Siggadora and Peter (the roastmaster from Estate Coffee). Last year in Seattle I had the impression that things weren't all that friendly backstage. This year there was a great atmosphere amongst the competitors. Thursday was the competitors meeting. Oddly I was nervous to stand up in front of 40 of my co-baristas to introduce myself. This, in my head, didn't bode well for nerves the next day. Some people started practising on Thursday so I just got out of the way. I was last up on Friday so I didn't have any time on the machine til Thursday morning. That evening Anette and I went out with Troels, Morten and Jens from Kontra, Njall, Stine, Tim Wendleboe and Sarah from Barista Mag. I am convinced I've forgotten someone and I will be a dead man. Anyway - the food was good, the conversation often in a language I don't understand but still very entertaining. The lady who ran the restaurant worked out we were all in coffee. After dinner we were offered coffee and Tim decided he would accept if he could make it. So off he goes to the bar to get stuck into the little Cimbali. The espresso Tim produced was pretty damned awful! Looked ok - tasted like coffee's painful, rancid death. Not a fan: Truly the fudge was the saving grace (Morten looks very relieved): Tim serves the delightful muck: This was almost a relief. The whole idea behind my presentation is that it is all about the coffee. All our potential (as baristas) lies there. So to see the best in the world serve filth, because thats all he had to start with. So..... The Semi Finals I'd decided not to watch anyone before going on. Prep time had gone ok and I was nervously pacing around backstage when I was pounced upon by Nick Cho (the podcasting machine) and Ellie from Intelligencia. I was nervous and babbled about for a bit. I am sure it is pretty obvious in the podcast up at portafilter.net (Mark Prince took the awesome photos from my set - I think they are great!) I wanted a really stripped down, simple presentation this year. It was all about the coffees I was using. I used a little oak for the place settings and that was about it. About to go: The crowd was really great for me, really supportive. Things went wrong pretty early in the competition when I went to pour my first capps and noticed something was wrong. Turning back I found the second set of shots still pouring (and pouring and pouring). Had to dump them as they were way too long. I can't pretend my brain didn't suggest serving them. But no, at WBC you serve the best you can. So I dumped them, annouced I had screwed up and went on to build them again. Pouring a capp: I have to say the audience from this point on were great - really pushed me on as I worked hard to get back on track and to stay in time. If this had happened in the UK the place would be like a mausoleum. My blend was similar to my UK comp one: 30% Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira Canario 30% El Salvador La Fany 20% El Salvador San Roberto 20% Bolivia Anditrade BV Monterry Not a very easy coffee, by any stretch. I presented the coffees individually as green, roast and ground so the judges could maybe interact with them a little more. This was not an easy coffee to nail, lots of acidity and very easy to lose the balance which it needs. When it is on the money its great, interesting, different and very pleassing. The signature drink: Split I had a lot of questions and comments about this afterwards so I suppose I better explain. I used fluid gels. These move like liquids but once stationary will gel. The idea came from the Fat Duck who use them to serve a tea that is hot in one half of the cup, and cold in the other. If you pour into your vessel with a divider in and then remove it they stay seperated. Flavour wise I used Glogg (can't find the o with the line through it - sorry Scandanavia!) on one side. It is basically mulled wine spice - clove, cinnamon, cardamon and all sorts. It is traditionally served with almonds so I infused some almond essence and some roasted almonds into a little cream (for colour and texture). In the perfomance I have two batches of plain gel (taste like water) which I flavour with a little aerolatte (can anyone confirm if I am the first to take this tool to the WBC finals?) I then pour them into their glasses: Pouring: Dividers removed: On top of this I wanted to put a coffee mousse. I added a little honey to the espresso. In the honey there was a plant extract that has some cool foaming properties. A lot of people have done coffee mousses but I worked very hard on the texture of mine. You don't get much volume, but it feels very pleasant (for about 30 seconds then the coffee gets really bitter!). Preparing the mousse: Unleashing any sort of liquid from the cream whipper can be frightening. I was pleased I didn't screw it up. I had an amazing time on stage, really good fun. In the next exciting episode: The latte art comp, the announcements, the WBC Finals, The winner and the barista party. Stay tuned...

So....

2006-05-20T18:09:00.000+01:00

I made the finals. I am genuinely surprised, but extremely delighted. I have done what I came to do - to be the first in the UK to make top 6. Now I can enjoy tomorrow and hopefully give the presentation I wanted to in the first place! After a weird day with the latte art comp (I was crap - and I mean handsomely shit people , was somehow in second until the recounted the scores and I dropped to fifth.) this was very very welcome! I hope I sleep. If not I'll post todays pictures. Wish me luck everyone...

What a day...

2006-05-19T17:18:00.000+01:00

Just back at the hotel after my performance. Things did not go quite to plan. Somehow I ended up with my second set of capp shots running really long (either I didn't hit the button properly, or perhaps not at all!) I chose to redo the shots. THis kind of knocked me off course a little bit, and I didn't really present in the way that I had planned to. Still, it was a lot of fun, the crowd were amazing, really really great. It felt like an honour to be on that stage and i am proud of my performance and my recovery. The signature drink went ok too. I am pretty happy. Off to the Mercanta party tonight. A friend took a load of pictures of me performing and I'll try and upload them and a few more when I get back later. Klaus was awesome I hear, so was the Icelandic girl. Sammy sounded great from where I was though I was prepping through his whole performance. I am sure there were loads of other great competitors that I missed. Will link to the pics when they are up. Thanks to everyone who sent messages of support - you've all been amazing. This goes for other competitors too - there is a really wonderful atmosphere backstage.

A quick post from Bern

2006-05-17T14:13:00.000+01:00

A quick hello from the hotel. Bern is very pretty (pictures to follow at some point) and I could get very fat if I had to spend some serious time here.... oh lord the cakes! The show is still being put together. The comp area looks cool, very long and thin. Bright blue GB5s and the lighting for the groupheads is better than Seattle, less of a blue light. Lots of familiar faces around. A very patient Bronwen gave me a shot whilst setting up for the judges callibration (from which I was ejected, having not noticed that they'd started. Oops!) Was a nice shot, really nutty, quite sweet. More than that it was some very necessary caffeine! Backstage looks good, loads of room. Haven't bumped into any of the other competitors yet, but I am sure they will all be out tonight. I'll be taking a LOT of photos this week, so stay tuned. Really nice atmosphere here at the moment, which is good.

Packing it all up....

2006-05-15T22:10:00.000+01:00

Well I am now the proud possessor of luggage stuffed with bubble wrap. I'm really quite relieved that the guys from Mercanta are driving over so I could stash some glassware and a grinder with them! My luggage is hideously overweight - though nothing like the 140kg of luggage David Makin's entourage are lugging from Australia (gawd bless em) With final practise sessions over I feel quite relaxed. Not confident, more resigned I guess. Looking forward to finally getting my hands on a GB5 - for so long I've always said that not knowing a specific machine is not an excuse. I guess we shall see for sure. As for the perfomance - I've decided to ditch any sort of scripting, in favour of the braver/foolish improv. Of course no one will be able to tell if they only see me perform once. If only that were a good enough reason to stick me in the finals! What I really hope is that I enjoy this, that I meet some great people and come away with some good memories and a reinvigorated passion for what I do. On that subject I was lucky enough to cup a pretty full table of Guats, Harrars (one with the most unusual artificial strawberry taste - like Starburst strawberry - that was fun. It was really quite distinct, and I've never been a fan of pointlessly flowery language!) and other bits and pieces. I love cupping, just quietly working along a table of coffees, mentally filling out notes and chatting about them afterwards in good company. A better way to spend my last day before competition than making myself nervous and demoralised. Up early to fly tomorrow - next post should be from Bern....

A few quick thank yous

2006-05-12T10:19:00.000+01:00

Lots of people have been great in the run up to Bern - and I ought to say thanks: Flat white for the espresso cups, Coffee Cups for the capp cups, Espresso Warehouse for essential kit, HasBean for roasting far too much coffee on my every whim and doing it incredibly well to boot! And of course Anette for the vast amounts of patience and tolerance necessary for being around me this month!

This looks "delicious"

2006-05-09T13:46:00.000+01:00

Coffee chewing gum

Just got my WBC information

2006-05-09T09:36:00.000+01:00

An inbox full of pdfs this morning. I now know when I am practising and performing. I will be the last competitor on the Friday (20th to go). There are a few of the big guns that day too - Klaus is 15th, and Sammy is 19th - right before me. At least that should guarantee a good crowd! Karl, Matt and Halvard all go on day two. Everything is slowly coming together now, which feels good. In many ways I cannot wait for a week on Saturday! Best of luck to everyone

Competition, Music and Moaning

2006-05-06T18:10:00.000+01:00

In between the endless and dread-filling WBC run throughs it is kind of nice to just stop, taste your coffee, and remember why on earth you are putting yourself through this! I find practising very hard, there is something about it that I just really don't like, though talking to an empty room can make you feel a little crazy! In other news - I have finally succumbed and create a myspace page. I don't know why - I hate the site, the layout, the everything about it. But it is quite a useful place to store music so I can send it to people and stuff. And finally on to the moaning. I am a little surprised to have heard nothing from the WBC. At all, apart from a confirmation e-mail that I was who I was and I was supposed to be the UK entrant. A lot of time and effort went into testing machines applying for WBC sponsorship. Temperature was the deciding factor as this is, as we all know, crucial to the taste of the espresso. Why then, with less than two weeks to go, aren't competitors recieving the vital information about the brew temp it will be set at? (I know it is 200F on the middle group, but that is because Mr Sanders told me so, in person over lunch) Everyone wants their coffee to taste as good as possible and adaptations can be made around brew temp - though this is unlikely for those that haven't been informed. I might be wrong - maybe the data is online at worldbaristachampionship.com or at worldofcoffee.ch and if so then I apologise. It wouldn't be the first time I've just been too blind to see something obvious! What I would like to know, however, is when I am drawn - as a day is a long time in the life or roasted coffee......

Anette at the Kenyan Barista Competition

2006-05-03T15:48:00.000+01:00

Anette got back from Kenya on Monday, having trained and judged out in Kenya, with Tim Wendleboe and John Sanders amongst other faces.... Have a look at the pictures here

El Salvador - 6 amazing days

2006-04-24T18:25:00.000+01:00

(warning - long post!) [UPDATED 03/05/06] Arrived back from El Salvador this morning. Being the wrong size for planes I haven't really slept so everything is a little bit dreamy. No doubt I will come back to this report in time and update it, rewrite bits and add more photos as they come in from other people. So..... I was invited to go to El Salvador as a guest of the Consejo (The El Salvadoran Coffee Council) due to the fact that two of their coffees featured very heavily in my blend that won the UKBC this year. For a variety of reasons the trip had to be the week after Easter and had to be relatively short (six days including travelling). Having picked us up from the airport and whisked us to the hotel, it became apparent that it was going to be a busy few days as the schedule was revealed. Starting early wasn't a problem all week as my body never quite got the time right. This was my first visit to origin. I don't think it could have been any better. Also waiting for us at the hotel was a box full of gifts from the Consejo with all sorts of everything coffee related in their. Their generosity throughout the week was amazing and very humbling. I learnt a great deal about not only the current situation, the past problems within the country, but also about the varietals specific to El Salvador and how they came about - the Pacas and Pacamaras in particular. This is probably deserving of a seperate post... Most of the time we were looked after by Luis Rodriguez, who works for the Consejo. He's been working in coffee for about 5 years, was great company, acted as host, guide, translator (I really need to learn more Spanish, it drove me nuts to be so unable to communicate!) and was an all round solid bloke. You can hear Nick talking to him on the portafilter podcast from the SCAA show floor. Day 1 After a quick breakfast briefing on the current state of specialty coffee (something I will write more about later) we headed off from San Salvador to the Santa Ana region. The first farm I would visit would be San Roberto, which produced the winning coffee at the Cup of Excellence 2005. We were met by not only Don Lito, who owned the farm, but Alfredo who owned the mill that produced the coffee. San Roberto is by no means a big farm - 4 or 5 hectares. It is part of a larger plot divided into six. Alfredo was a great guy, very funny and kept us entertained as we wandered around. The eruption last year had affected the farm, and many more around it, and there had been some overly heavy rains last year which had also caused a problem. Alfredo explained the effects of this as well as telling some stories about Duane from Stumptown who has recently visited the farm too. San Salvador in the morning: A coffee flower: Alfredo smelling the soil: It's an unusual story behind the coffee. Lito had every intention of selling the farm but was convinced to harvest the crop this year and submit it anyway. The farm itself had not really been looked after and yet was able to produce a great coffee. I found this quite surprising - to see the extent that nature alone can produce a coffee like this one. With the proceeds from the auction he is now passionate and enthusiastic about his coffee, reinvesting in his farm and his future crops. I can only wonder what it is capable of producing in the futre. Don Lito: The group (I am the wrong size!): After lunch, over which a variety of interesting things were discussed - it is always nice to hear what farmers have to think of things like Fair Trade and where their coffee ends up, we head to the Alfredo's mill called Rio Zarco. Alfredo mills coffee for a hundreds of very small farms. Everything they do is washed, and I have to say I was staggered by the size of the drying patios for what is described as a mid-sized mill. It was fascinating to be guided through the process. Whilst I knew very well what step follows which it really is very different to see it - you understand so much more completely. Everybody says that it is different once you see it, and whilst I often put this down to the romance people find in coffee or down to general waxing lyrical (due to the fact that I hadn't been to see it, and didn't like that I was deprived of an understanding I suppose). The annoying thing is that they were all right. It is different. Anyway - Rio Zarco was great, interesting to see such huge quantities of parchment coffee stored (I've never really been around any sort of coffee warehousing so this was quite mind boggling). I also tried my hand at working on the conveyor belt for hand screening the coffee. The constant motion of the belt gave me a bit of motion sickness and I looked horribly slow and malcoordinated compared to them women around me who made it look effortless. Parchment coffee in storage: On top of a mountain of parchment coffee: At dinner that night - out of nowhere - materialised a tamper for me made from coffee wood, with my initials on the top. A lovely gift, and much appreciated! Day 2 On paper the first and second days were very similar - a visit to a farm and then the mill they use. The second day proved to be entirely different in what I saw. We started at a mill called Los Ausoles. The mill is run by Ruben, who used to be in charge of the Consejo. We talked over some coffee about who they supply - Starbucks being one. I was interested to see how much Starbucks demanded for their premium - not only must the money be invested in the mill and its workers, but they demand complete financial transparency - to see exactly what you spend and where. They were very proud of their clinic, and rightly so. The mill, like every other one, suffered at the hands of not only the global coffee crisis, but also from the troubles in El Salvador. In the country the production - in terms of weight of coffee per unit of area - has decreased a great deal. Los Ausoles decided the only way to work with reduced quantity was to increase quality and restructure their processes around that. Whilst almost halfing their output they still make the same money they did, if not maybe more. Again the patios were just massive - 35,000 square metres can dry a lot of coffee. The mill has been geared a little more around milling coffee from each farm seperately. How the coffee arrives, or where it is stored, have all changed. What did amaze me though were the storage bins for the parchment coffee. Huge wooden boxes, which hold weights of coffee I can't quite get my head around. The mill and patios: Emptying the silos of parchment coffee: I think my favourite part of the mill was when we headed down to the water treatment ponds. They use processes in 4 seperate ponds to clean the water and that water is then used by workers in the mill to grow crops on the mills land, and I didn't really want to stop walking amongst the vetiver grass and the lemon trees, down the hill away from the mill. It was very peaceful and calm there. We also cupped a few of their coffees that they are going to enter into Cup of Excellence. A natural: Luis photographs the cuppers: After lunch - the food was so good, but I do like my meat so it was always going to go well - we headed up to the hills around Ahuachapan to La Fany. I've known this coffee for a couple of years now and I love it. I knew from Asa Petterson that the people were great, and nothing about it disappointed. Just as Los Ausoles seemed a more efficient and precise mill, La Fany was a carefully tended and well looked after farm. We watched the staff on the farm pruning, something about which we had learned at San Roberto - which bits to cut, what angle, how to manage the trees to get the to branch in the desired way. Walking along the narrow paths on the steep hillsides with the views was another very memorable experience. View from La Fany: Luis: A friendly chicharra: We retired to the house of Rafael and Carmen for some coffee and to talk about the role of the barista and the farmer, each at opposite ends of the same chain. They are hopefully coming over to visit London later this year, and I hope to see them again soon. We stayed at a hotel up in the mountains in Apaneca. My only regret about it wasn't the amount of rum consumed, more the lack of time to get properly aquianted with the hammocks littered around the gardens. Day 3 We returned to San Salvador and headed to PROCAFE, an organisation retained by the Consejo to research and transfer coffee technology for farming coffee. We drove out to their varietal garden where I was able to have a look at a huge variety of different species, cultivars and hybrids. I only wish I coudl have seen them all heavy with fruit. It proved very hard to photograph each tree in a way that communicated what was interesting about it. A soldier: Huge C. Liberica leaf: After wandering around we went back to their offices for a cupping. We did three short tables, and it was nice to cup with Luis and to chat about the coffees as we went, to see what he liked and what expectations are within El Salvador. Overall my favourite, and his, turned out to be a coffee from a little co-op from the San Salvador volcano region called El Boqueron. Frustratingly only one cup was exceptional, the other just not as good (though not defect). We also saw their genetics lab where they try and decrease the time to create a new varietal from 30 years to around12 years. Cupping room: Genetics lab: In the afternoon I was expected to give a talk on being a barista, their role in the industry, competition in the UK, why I used El Salvadoran coffee and anything else I though appropriate. I hadn't really known until I arrived that I would be doing this. The Consejo advertised it and expected around 50, maybe 70. Instead over 150 people turned up. I really enjoyed it, and very quickly the nerves go and you just start talking and hopefully say useful things! I think with questions it overran quite heavily, and due to their being a machine there I was in demand once it finished as people wanted to taste the coffee. It was a lot of fun. And there was another gift from the Consejo - a lovely box full of green coffee with a big wood bean in the middle as a thank you for using El Salvadoran coffee in my blend. Later there were even more gifts included 6 of their cupping bowls. As I said earlier - their generosity seems to know no bounds! I talk (its all in the hands!): Oddly, people listen: Carolina, from the Consejo, was the MC: My box of coffee: Day 4 By a genuine coincidence the co-op we went to see turned out to be El Boqueron, whose coffee I had really enjoyed at PROCAFE. A relatively new co-op of 80 members, they are started to wake up the idea of quality and are trying to change their practises around it. They took us down to a farm that was divided into 8 different ownershpi parcels. It was interesting to see different management technqiues and varietals in each of the plots. The farm was on the side of the San Salvador volcano and the views were stunning. After this we headed up to the summit to have a little look - I'd never seen a volcano up close before and the scale is staggering. In the next 40 minutes we dropped 2000 metres from the summit of the volcano to a lovely restaurant on the beach. I could have spent some serious time there, but duty called and we had to head back to San Salvador as I was due to be in a mall for a novel approach to barista jamming. On the way the weather switched from being immensely hot to really throwing rain down - much to the relief of the farmers who have been somewhat short of rain though a great deal was forecast. Looking at the view: The farmers: The Volcano: The beach: The rain!: The idea behind the barista jam was that I would work in 4 different coffee places, working with the staff and trying to improve what I could. This way they could stay open on a busy Saturday and hopefully gain something in the process. Latte art was much in demand and each place turned out to be very different - one turning into a little lecture for the interested public who had stopped by, another into trying to put into place simple and important routines and techniques to pick up the quality. As many coffee shops are using the coffee from a family farm, roasted by a friend, there is a lack of a knowledge base that would usually be found in coffee suppliers. If the Consejo can get on top of this before espresso really takes off in El Salvador then perhaps they will have something very special as the potential is most definately there. The jam was supposed to last from 4.30pm to around 7pm. I think we left the last place at 11.30pm! I really enjoyed it though I wanted more time in each place to try and cement ideas that we discussed. Baristi in particular had such a passionate staff and such a hunger for knowledge that it was hard to leave - though staying any later would have been somewhat unfair on Carolina who was looking after us and probably wanted to go home to bed! Just talking to the baristas at the first place turned into an impromptu lecture for those passing by: I spent a lot of time at a place called Baristi where they were so keen to learn more, lovely people too! They were very interested in latte art: Day 5 And so I had to catch a plane and head home (that being Saturday when I left and now it is Sunday afternoon and I am missing some sleep!) I will add to this over time, update photos both here and in my Flickr gallery. El Salvador was an amazing experience, I loved the place and the people who hosted us there. I look forward to going back.

Quick Hello from El Salvador

2006-04-21T22:39:00.000+01:00

Very short post for now I am afraid and no pictures yet (a LOT to come). This place is amazing, I love it here. I think I may have gotten a taste for origin! The people are so lovely, seen some farms and mills and stuff. (will write more I promise!) About to give some sort of seminar to about 100 people which was something of a surprise so I hope not to make a fool of myself! Going to do a jam tomorrow in some shops which should also be great. I am very happy! I am back on Sunday and will write up a big long post then....

El Salvador tomorrow....

2006-04-17T18:09:00.000+01:00

My flight leaves at half nine tomorrow morning and at some point, having briefly touched down in Texas, I shall get to El Salvador. I have no real idea of my iternary, but I know I'll get to see a couple of farms whose coffee I want to use. Cannot wait to meet the people, see the processing and learn a whole lot. There will be a lot of pictures, and blog updates when I get the chance.

Busy easter

2006-04-16T10:39:00.000+01:00

Not strictly coffee related but so far my Easter has been spent lugging things up stairs. New flat, lots of space, not a lot of time! I am utterly shattered, I hope to sleep most of the flight to El Salvador! In more WBC related news - need to do some shopping for the sig drink. Who knew I would need a pressure cooker or that they were so useful? (Don't worry - I won't be using it on stage, but I will be using it to make some excellent vegetable stock at home) I am aware that a lot of WBC competitors will be getting on the GB5s for some serious practise time. I don't have that option. I don't think there is a single GB5 in the UK - though I think Karl might be able to get on one in Dublin. It isn't a major concern. I had a little play on them in Seattle and they were fine. I think it would be childish to complain about not being able to use a machine, or that I didn't do well because I didn't know it. A barista should be capable on any machine, and I don't think practising on one is going to give me a major advantage. I have a Linea I've dialled in to act like a comp machine (pressure, temp, basket etc) so I can get my blend sorted. The rest is down to practise, prep and determination.

Lecture in Dublin

2006-04-13T10:44:00.000+01:00

Got back yesterday from Dublin, having given a talk for the SCAE Irish chapter, and being hosted by Marco. I hope the lecture went well (I get my feedback forms soon, so I will know for sure then!) I think I achieved what I set out to do, and that was to show people something that they would struggle to see anywhere else. I wanted people to go away with a lot of questions about their coffee, to talk less of strict rules and more of the guidance of taste. It was a fairly well attended talk, with 40 of the top coffee people in Ireland there. Joe Smith introuduces me: It would have been nice if I could have spent some time with the coffee I was using before hand to get to know it a bit better. However it was nice to introduce the concept of brew recipes particular to every coffee to some people there. What tied in with all this was the book I read on the way over. I picked up a collection of short works by Richard Feynman. (Perhaps I thought I could learn something of explaining difficult subjects to audiences from one of the great masters!). I can see why his style is often called infectious - it makes me want to be a proper scientist! What I really want to take away from it is his approach to science, the necessity of doubt - not only for progress but for integrity. Teaching as I do it can be all too easy to make bold statements of fact, and what I want to do is more actively question them, examine them and learn more. I identify quite strongly with the desire to have the experience of a new understanding, that incredible pleasure from finding something out.

Oddly popular picture on Flickr

2006-04-13T09:44:00.000+01:00

A request from someone at toomuchcoffee for a shot of a naked portafilter single pour seems to be very popular on flickr. This sort of stuff always amuses me - though I must say I'm pretty proud of the shot. It even tasted good too!

A good weekend

2006-04-09T20:55:00.000+01:00

A busy weekend for me. I'm covered head to toe in sawdust at the moment having taken some proper machinery to the floors in my new flat. I cupped a couple of potential WBC blends and they were simply excellent and yet I think they have more to give (which is very exciting indeed). Cooking up a batch of special something to take to the Fat Duck tomorrow as they've never seen (or tasted!) the drink they helped me to create. Hopefully I will come away tomorrow reinvigorated and with a few fresh ideas. Finally I must confess that I am very jealous indeed of all the people over at the SCAA show in Charlotte. I'd love to have a look round a fair few of the booths there and have a quick look at the USBC. Looking forward to reading as many reports as possible and hopefully catching a few videos very kind people upload for the foreigners like me! Presentation for Dublin is just about done. I hope not to say anything wrong/politically unwise. An achievable goal I hope!

Latte art course today

2006-04-07T17:47:00.000+01:00

I taught a latte art course today that was quite fun (though I always worry about these things, and that people are satisfied!) Here are a few pours from the attendees (all ladies today!) Rosetta by Lee-Ann: Rosetta by Sam: One by Joyce: A good day!

For you Marzocco nuts....

2006-04-05T22:42:00.000+01:00

Here are a couple of pictures that are from advertising literature from the 50s. I've been going through tonnes of this stuff for Dublin. I won't be using these so may as well post them up here.... Full Advert: Little picture of an old 1 group:

List of coffee blogs

2006-04-05T11:21:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd list up all the coffee blogs I found and then stick this post in the links section. There are far too many now to have them listed individually. Open up your RSS reader and add away! (they are kind of alphabetical from my bloglines list) Again - don't say I'm not good to you readers.... (edit - this list is being updated with any link left in the comments - thank you everyone) Last updated 16th April 2006 2 Percent Blog 9 bars A Boston Espresso Blog Alright Mr Gekko.... Michel Buis cafenation.com.au stenqvist (mostly in Swedish) bloggle Blue Bottle Clown College bread, coffee, chocolate, yoga caffeinated rantings Cafe Metaphoric Chemically Imbalanced Coffee Activist Coffee Aspirations The Coffee Press Coffea Arabica Coffee Stash The Dirty Portafilter The Dismas Blog Dutch Barista Dwell Time East Coast Barista The Elektra Micro Casa a Leva home espresso blog Espresso Journey Espresso Passione Espresso: A journey espressolab the flying thud gauperaa gimme! coffee God Shot coffeesage I am green bean Jay's Strange Blog KitchenShiva Macchiato Matthew's Blog Onno's Barista Tales portafilter.net Pulling Shots Reighlok's Wilco Shot Zombies Stone Creek Coffee Blog Tonx theshot.coffeeratings.com Victrola Arizona Coffee Espresso Parts Blog Hill & Valley Kona Farm Girl Has Bean Abstract Gourmet Smelling the Coffee Andy Ciordia Zoka Coffee Blog Ugly CoffeeCrew Blog CafeKiller Aldo Coffee Bella Tazza If I have missed any out please leave a comment and I will amend.

Watching the UKBC 2006 DVD

2006-04-03T20:50:00.000+01:00

Caught a sneaky peak at this - it is really quite well done. Two sections - first one contains an edited 15 minute version of the day, with snippets from everyone as well as a little bit of the winning announcement, but for the hardcore devotees there is a second section with people's perfomances in their entirety. For some reason I can't get mine to play, and have only looked at a couple of others but the short video at the start is great - good for spreading the word of the competition certainly. Makes me realise I have even more to do for Bern than I thought but that is no bad thing! Can't stand listening to myself talk though - as if anyone can - and my face after I've finished is priceless. Hopefully this should be available to one and all quite soon. Another nice surprise today was to find some not only my new Fluke at head office, but some specially printed espresso and cappuccino cups with my name and UK Champ on the inside courtesy of Quickfire cups. I must update this post when I have a proper link for them to hand. Very nice people all round!

Writing the Espresso Presentation for Dublin

2006-04-02T18:23:00.000+01:00

It has been a great experience writing this seminar I am giving in Dublin. I made the decision early on that everyone has seen the same old espresso presentation. Instead I plan to discuss the variable in the process and giving some context for each "rule". What has been really great is going back though all my notes, articles and books to relearn the details I plan to talk about. I plan to present something I'd have loved to have seen a year ago or so. It is also really challenging me to get my head around a few things that I was somewhat light on previously - such as staling chemistry, further inspired by a thread over at home-barista.com. Paul Songer's paper that I found ages, written for the SCAA is very interesting though has limited application for espresso. And all this does for me is raise a load of questions I don't know how to answer (and I hope nobody asks on the 11th!). The problem I suppose is being not sure exactly what questions to ask or who to ask them too. For all the open discussion on the net there still remains doors that don't open until you've really made a name for yourself, and I'm not entirely sure how I am going to do that (to assume that WBC is my ticket is desperately arrogant). That said I looking forward to meeting a lot of people in Bern, in Seattle I was kind of half jet lagged, tied up with backstage at the comp and not very sure of myself. I look forward to meeting Nick Cho from Murky Coffee and Jay Caragay too, if he is going. One day I'll make it onto a portafilter podcast, if only for the novelty accent. Be nice to see Halvard again (the Norwegian Champ) having briefly met him in Athens last year. As a former co-worker of Anette's I am sure her loyalties will be a little divided! I'd really love to get over to the US too, there are far too many baristas over there I'd like to meet, so many cafe's I'd like to see - if only to try and give me some reference for all that is talked up online. In other news My new blend should be coming in at the end of next week, but I think I'll have to wait until the weekend because I am teaching a latte art course at the LSC. Goodbye to another weekend then... Really looking forward to my trip to El Salvador which merits a post of its own, but I am still waiting on a few details before I rant overexcitedly about it. Enjoying work - which sometimes I suspect I'm not grateful enough about. Before this I'd always had terrible jobs, and kind of assumed everyone hates their job. Now I don't have one I hate I feel pretty lucky. Off to Newcastle this week. Should be interesting, haven't been up their since I left Uni. Must remember to pack extra warm clothes!

A coffee blog from Dublin

2006-03-31T00:10:00.000+01:00

Check out Stephen Morrissey's new blog. Only one post old but worth getting the feed stuck into your RSS consumer of choice (I'm a bloglines man meself) Enjoy!

I can't stop buying books

2006-03-27T00:56:00.000+01:00

Today I have bought the following (some took ages to find, I have no idea if they are any good!): Hacienda La Minita: Photographs and Essays of the Renowned Coffee Farm, William j. McAlpin Inspired by Coffee: A guide to the world of coffee, Ian Bersten The Connoisseur's Book of Indian Coffee (no name yet) Open-Economy Politics : The Political Economy of the World Coffee Trade, Robert H. Bates The Complete Book of Coffee, Henry Rolnick Vassouras: a Brazilian Coffee Country (1850-1900), Stanley J. Stein Land of Coffee, Frederick Hall They are all being shipped from round the world, which means a long and frustrating wait until I get my hands on them. Really looking forward to the new flat where I can get some proper shelves and give my little library a proper home.

Rosettas - one or more?

2006-03-25T22:51:00.000Z

This is something I've been thinking about for a while. A year or more ago I was really into doing multiple rosettas. 3 in a 5oz cup type of thing. I loved the pictures that were up in the Vivace gallery with Bronwen's heart and rosetta in the same cup. Actually I still love that picture. For me it is the exception. I've come to find multi-art really boring. More than that I think it is really quite ugly. Granted there are a few that can do something ündoubtedly special with it, but would you really rather have three thin rosettas crammed into one cup than one full, symetrical, delicate and detailed leaf spread out, filling the cup? It is one of those things that gets a little obsessed about by those within the community with zero impact to the consumer. The average consumer has no idea what skills are required to pour latte art. They assume that if you can do one then you can do two, three or more. I think if we are going to put things in the top of people's drinks it should be for them. Pour them something that is as aesthetically pleasing as you are able. Multi-art is really just about showing off to your peers, and is turning latte art into a pissing contest really something that we want to do?

Gallery of Header Images

2006-03-25T11:34:00.000Z

I like a lot of the images I've used for headers in the past so I've stuck them in a gallery at flickr Also - if you click the title of each header it will take you to the same set. Enjoy!

I love my Juan Valdez cups!

2006-03-23T17:39:00.000Z

Anette got a couple of Juan Valdez espresso cups/bowls/whatever they are, whilst out doing the Cup of Excellence in Colombia. I love them - they look much larger than they are, barely holding 2oz. Really thick walls, rough outside feels nice in the hand, and the smooth insides perfect for espresso. So here are a couple of pictures.... Cup comparison: Mid-pour: A little shot:

Espresso and intellectual altruism

2006-03-18T22:39:00.000Z

I was reading an article in Time magazine on the flight back from Zurich this evening and it kind of crystalised some thoughts I've been having of late. The article was about how innovation has moved towards being performed by the consumer themselves. They listed open source sites such as Sourceforge and, of course, wikipedia as two classic examples of intellectual altruism, where people are giving up their ideas for the greater good. This got me thinking about my spiral down into coffee. There is no way I could be where I am without the internet. Sites like TooMuchCoffee, Coffeegeek, Home-Barista and others kept me interested and informed, and many others gave me information for free I'd otherwise have to pay for. Then there were the blogs like godshot, espressolab, gauperaa and the like. There have been huge leaps forward in espresso theory recently and this has been largely in part to the internet. The example of La Marzocco having people openly trial the GS3 on blogs, alt.coffee and other forums is fairly indicative of this. All the forums I visit are heavily populated with people who spent a lot of time and effort simply working to make better coffee - both for themselves as well as giving a huge amount of help to other users. Sometimes I am staggered by it. I try and give what I can, and it sometimes seems at odds with what I do for a living - I impart knowledge in return for money. Yet here I am doing it for free, along with several other people who do this for a living. I cannot imagine how difficult it would have been to get into espresso like I have without the resources that have been available to me for free. I would have had to take the path of trial and error (which many have taken before me) or I would have to buy my way there with a lot of training and books (two things I've inevitably spent on regardless as I believe they both will retain their value whatever the net offers). I guess conferences and symposiums, jams and competitions would have been even more important. I'm fairly sure I've upset a few people of late, this young upstart, know-it-all, geeky kid who has suddenly risen up the ranks of coffee in the UK and I guess they are entitled to feel this way. Most of them have worked at this for many years, laboured to get where they are and get the knowledge they have. I've been making coffee seriously for a couple of years. That isn't very long. Granted, I love it, I think about it far too much and I feel like my life has become steeped in it. (I am yet to decide if this is a good or bad thing!) I'd love to know what it was like before. Comments welcome.

Don't say I'm not good to you...

2006-03-18T13:34:00.000Z

Found this little gem on google video. One for all aspiring competitors... Troels Poulsen 2005 WBC Finals Flying back to the UK tonight - soon I get to make coffee again!

Irish Barista Champion

2006-03-17T10:42:00.000Z

Well done to Karl of Coffee Angel for beating the other 11 entrants in yesterdays finals in Dublin. I think Karl was expected to do well, and good on him for edging out the rest of the competition and making it to Bern. Great to see someone from a very independent establishment do so well, and hopefully it'll be great for his business.

St. Moritz, Switzerland

2006-03-17T10:38:00.000Z

Well, I am currently relaxing and taking a break in a rather beautiful part of Switzerland amongst the Alps, covered in a fair amount of snow. I am staying at a hotel called Suvretta House, which is something of an incredible place. All things to do outside of skiing (which doesn't really appeal to me, mostly because I don't want to be doing WBC in a plaster cast!) Everything here is stunning, and I'll just post a few pics for now as a write up would be a little dull. St. Moritz Pretty mountains! Horse drawn transport through the valley at night Coffee is rubbish though, and the urge to work a machine is slightly unsettling!

Got a new camera!

2006-03-10T23:14:00.000Z

New camera arrived today and I am mighty excited by it (mostly because I am a bit of a geek - that and the superb macro mode it has!) Had a quick play tonight, but I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it a little more...

My bag of Canario

2006-03-09T23:33:00.000Z

As an incredible treat, and something of a surprise, Mercanta had a bag of the Canario shipped with my name on it. Which is amazing! I don't know what I will do with the bag once the coffee is all used up - suggestions welcome! This makes me smile like an idiot!

The blend debate

2006-03-05T16:19:00.000Z

Been watching wilth mild interest (having waded in early on) the debate going on at coffeegeek about single origin. I suspect that it is going to be one of those debates that go round and round with everyone having made up their minds a long time ago. My only thought on this subject is if you really are after a special espresso is there any place in your blend for a coffee that isn't good enough to enjoy on its own? For me - no. Blending's traditions lie in cost, repeatability - some sort of constancy I suppose. I don't want my coffee to always taste the same. There is too much I'd be missing out on. With this in mind I really can't wait to get stuck into my WBC blend. I am just waiting for one more coffee to arrive (whilst sea transport has a certain romanticism to it, it really doesn't cater to the greedy and impatient barista). Then it is into the lab.... I will post my ramblings about it in due course.

Lunch with John Sanders and Alistair Durie

2006-03-03T19:05:00.000Z

Alistair and John were passing through London on their way back from Zambia and I managed to catch up with them over lunch. They had been out there for a little while working to encourage consumption of coffee in producing countries. Zambians apparently drink an average of 80g of real coffee per year (correct me if I misheard that), and they were working with a view to increasing consumption as part of a solution to the coffee crisis. They were doing training on barista skills, putting some machines in, doing some roasting training and seemed to be really enjoying the response they were getting. It sounded incredible and they were both really excited and enthusiastic about the experience. It's always lovely to sit the other side of a table with people like this. Great guy to meet, and I look forward to seeing John again in Bern (I need to pay for the Scace device they very kindly put my way - most excited about that!) and perhaps I ought to pop over to Vancouver to see the Elysian Room when Stephen Morrissey is over there working for Wicked Cafe.

Writing a book

2006-03-03T01:24:00.000Z

I've been thinking about writing a coffee based book for some time now. The problem is that I don't really feel in a position to write something prescriptive, as I feel that would be a little arrogant given the short time I have spent in coffee. That said, it doesn't seem to stop most writers. I have a worrying amount of the identikit coffee books. You know the ones, you probably own them. They start with some vague ramblings about Ethiopia, being careful not to be too specific as that would require proper research. This is usually as good a time as any to start feeding the dull and repetitive coffee myth mill. Usually they go for Kaldi. How enlightening. Next a little bit about London coffee houses (and Lloyds, Stock exchange etc) and then a little more myth mongering with Kolschitsky. Here we credit him with anything from inventing the cappuccino to having wonderful imagined conversations about trying to find some grapes and instead being given coffee - the spark of a true revolution. If you've spent a bit more on your coffee book the next section is often an enlightening guide to origin. The best way to describe a coffee from a certain origin is to pick three categories (sweetness, body and one other that seems entirely based on whimsy) and then rate them each 1 to 5. Now you know all about your coffee it is time to learn to brew it. Here the books designers really go to town on the photography, greedily hunting out as many tired and pale espressos with a vague whisp of crema and then, not satisfied with encouraging low consumer expecation, we must have several pictures of (or perhaps a pictorial guide to) the ultimate marshmallow cappuccino. Then some torte recipes, and maybe a crazy one involving a coffee crust for some barbeque. Money well spent every time. Anyway - I've worked out what I want to do. It will require a tonne of research but I think I can produce something that every coffee lover will want to own. It is a secret for now, and I've probably just dreamt it up as some sort of diversion to the immense amount of work due for Bern) Someone is going to put me in touch with a publishers and we shall go from there. Huzzah.

I'm off to Dublin in April

2006-03-02T23:36:00.000Z

I will be giving a guest lecture in a series of talks hosted by Marco in Dublin. My topic will be espresso. The challenge will be to find something people haven't heard or don't know. The talks are for SCAE members only and mine is on April 11th. Leave a comment if I will be seeing you there.... And why is it people can't spell my name right? (Hoffmann)

Had a good chat with Simon Robertson today

2006-03-01T21:16:00.000Z

Was really good to talk through my performance with a judge today, especially one that has no problem telling me my faults in a good blunt, yorkshire manner. With hindsight I am pretty pleased about my performance, and the competition in general. It was also interesting to hear how the judges reacted to my coffee. I'm really proud of the blend, and it was a relief to find that I didn't screw up the serving of it too much. I've got some great ideas for my signature drink, that should make it more of a visual treat, and of course I need to work harder on the flavours. Looking forward to a little break, ironically in Switzerland, before coming back refreshed, invigorated and ready to go back to the 100+ hr/week schedule. Its only for 10 weeks (I keep telling myself.) Booked the flights for Bern today too. Feels a bit more concrete. In other news I am monstrously jealous of Anette who is enjoying the finest coffee Colombia has to offer.

Changes to subscriptions

2006-02-27T17:04:00.000Z

I have changed the subscription e-mail service from Feedblitz (which I thought was rubbish) to Bloglet, which has trialled better. If any of you are unhappy with it then please let me know.

Thanks to everyone

2006-02-27T16:31:00.000Z

There have been lots of really nice things said by people on here (in the comments) on other blogs and in e-mails. Thank you kindly one and all. I hope I do you all justice in Berne.

UK Barista Championship Finals

2006-02-26T15:49:00.000Z

I will probably keep updating this when people start sending in their pictures. I know Charles Prager from Cafe Europa was taking A LOT, and he has promised to send them on so it may be worth checking back. I'll stick a permanent link to it on the right hand side. Anyway... What a day. I knew I was going to be late in the day, but I still got there early in order to wind myself up and pace nervously. I have to confess that I saw barely anyone else perform all day. This was nothing personal, but I wasn't out to beat them just to do what I wanted to do (which is realistically all you can do in these comps) Thanks to Anette and Luca for these photos: A selection of the judges (Troels Poulsen, Debbie Knight, Simon Robertson): Troels had flown in the day before, and had been at the show. He's a really nice guy, very easy to chat to. As guest judge, and WBC Champ all eyes were on him most of the day: The same camera crew were there this year as last year. However this year they managed not to hit my in the head with a mic repeatedly whilst I was trying to foam milk.... Debbie, Marc-Pierre Dietrich and Troels: In your head you always have a big rival and this year for me it was Se Gorman of Cafe Krem in Northern Ireland. Se is not only a lovely bloke, but a great barista. Things just didn't go his way this year though, or I doubt my winning margin would have been quite so high.... Se prepping: Se mid flow (Jeremy Reagen - tech judge - in the background) The TV screen worked really well this year. Here you can see Emilie (who works for Se) pouring some drinks: It was nice for the spectators to see some of the actual drinks. Here are Ed Buston's espressos: And now I suppose I ought to get onto my performance. For some reason I am going to willingly post pictures of mysefl were I look quite stupid. Ah well. Most of these were taken by Luca, who got in a bit of trouble for being so close on stage (though I barely noticed, having bigger fish to fry...) This year, in terms of wardrobe, I went for pink. Everyone tends to wear all black so I thought a little colour might be nice. (excuses over) Machine top prepped and ready to go: Knowing full well how messy I am I decided to prep in a full length apron: The tech judges (Ken Cooper and Jeremy) get stuck in... Charles Prager shoots pics, whilst Jon Sherwood gives me my time check. I look comically pensive... Hugh Gilmartin was comparing my set, and I have to say he was very, very complimentary to me in the introduction and throughout. Thank you Hugh! And so we begin. I decided to wrap the napkin in a coffee-leaf napkin ring... And the capps are away. I am watching you.... I gave the judges menus with a little more info about the coffee inside. Watching me foam milk clearly elicits an emotion of either fear or boredom from the crowd: Marc investigates a cappuccino. If you look carefully you can see the top of a wonky rosetta as he destroys it. The signature drink was something a lot of people wanted to talk about. I can't pretend I am entirely happy with how it went, but the judges responded to it as I hoped they would. I may as well tell you what is in it. One side of the glass is a liquid mulled wine spice from the fine continent of Scandanavia. I can say it properly but can't remember how it is spelt. Anyway, it is traditionally served with almonds so I layered it with an almond cream side. The trick is making the layer vertical instead of horizontal... I'm not going to give it all away, so here is just the one picture: (My shaky hand made the link wonkier than I wanted, or can do in practise. Something I need to sort before Berne!) This one slipped a little from perfectly upright. I'll stop making excuses now! Thankfully being 9th out of 10 the wait wasn't overly long so I didn't have too much time to beat myself up (so many little things I am unhappy with!) So here it is, the changing of the guard I suppose. I will update and edit when I get the chance. I am still knackered, having to get up yesterday to drop Anette at the airport at 5am so she could go to Colombia to judge in the Cup of Excellence wasn't much fun, but my first real weekend this year feels great! Thank you to many people, notably: Stephen Hurst and Florin Marin of Mercanta for the coffee Steve Leighton at HasBean\ for the roasting. He's also now in Colombia. Chris Young at The Fat Duck for e-mail and telephone help and the supply of suspicious bags of white powder. Steve and Chris (my bosses) for the training and endless support. Anette (most of all) for immense patience with me in the last couple of months, knowing now that you will have to endure a couple more. That and your incredible knowledge and skills.... Many others helped, and I hope will continue to help as I head on to the WBC....

Hotelympia 2006, 19th - 23rd May

2006-02-26T15:12:00.000Z

Aside from their being a competition there was also one of the biggest trade shows of the year going on. Several long days of dealing with the trade may or may not be the best way to get tuned up for a comp but we did a lot fo espresso and a lot of milk, so I guess it can't be all bad. One of the Italian baristas was over, called Luca Dore. He has a seemingly enviable job of supporting the worldwide distributors so is constantly flying all over the place, working in loads of different countries and cities. I think he needs a holiday. He's a rock solid bloke and it was nice to have someone to have a little latte art one-upmanship with. Luca: A little latte art (this one is mine): The stand we had this year was pretty huge (about 60 square metres). Most of the time it was rammed. We had a cool tower in one corner: Inside the tower there was a revolving machine, with pretty flashy lights. I am so easily pleased! Was a great show, nice to catch up with a load of people and to meet so many more. However, when I find out who told all the trainee chefs about us doing latte art so about 50 decended demanding drinks there will be trouble....

I won!

2006-02-24T12:00:00.000Z

Most pleased (and so relieved) that the UK Barista Comp is over. Even better is that I've won! I will post a full report soon, once I have collected all the pictures and stuff. My score (for those really into these things was 822.5, and second place was around 670. So I am pretty pleased. Looking through my scoresheets I still have a lot of work to do, but first I will be catching up on some sleep. So many people to thank (Stephen and Flori at Mercanta, Steve at HasBean, Chris at the Fat Duck, Steve (my boss) at La Spaziale and many more. Was cool to meet Troels, he seemed to like what I did over all and picking up just one 6 on a score sheet from a world champ is good enough for me!

Tomorrow is the big day...

2006-02-22T21:10:00.000Z

Well - the draw is done, I'm on 9th out of 10 - so at least I don't have to get up tooooo early! Looking forward to tomorrow, was cool to hang out with everyone before the and during the draw this evening, there is a very positive spirit and feeling of community. I probably won't post anything tomorrow because whatever happens I'll probably be a wreck in a corner somewhere but no doubt there will be a lengthy post with photos at some point before the weekend. Anette goes to the Colombia CofE on Saturday so I will have all weekend to concoct something! Wish me luck.....

Interesting dinner

2006-02-20T21:38:00.000Z

Aftetr the trade show today I came back to Mercanta, and then Anette and I went out for dinner with Andrew Ford (Mountain Top Coffee in Australia), Jon Wilassen, Bjorn from Gourmet Coffee in Denmark and Philip from the Swedish chapter of the SCAE (I am sure he has a proper job too, I just forgot to ask). I find it very funny how hard it is for people like us not to talk about coffee (though we try). Will try and get some photos of the exhibition tomorrow, Luca (from La Spaziale in Italy) got some great shots, which I shall try and thieve as well... Write up will surely follow.

My competition blend

2006-02-18T10:12:00.000Z

I'm writing this whilst in the Mercanta lab (there is a big SCAE training thing upstairs at the moment so I can't be too messy). Cupping the latest batch of competition coffee, and though it was only roasted yesterday - my god it is good. Steve at HasBean does such a good job, and the roast is exactly what I wanted. Though if this is a dark roast to him, I shudder to think what he would make of the charcoal at H.R.Higgins in London. Really pleased with this, especially as it can only improve with rest. Works great in milk to boot. I am going to feel sick and over-caffeinated later!

Signature drinks

2006-02-18T10:00:00.000Z

I've really enjoyed putting my drink together for competition this year. I've found a way to present drinks that opens completely new doors, and offers fascinating possibilities. I promise I'll put video up next week, once this thing is over. For now I am almost slightly overwhelmed by what I can do, and need to narrow things down a little. I know this is a very wishy washy talky post, but it is nice to get it off your chest, and occaisonally to use a blog to chart progress as well as to voice my opinions.

Barista - chef or sommelier?

2006-02-14T11:25:00.000Z

Where or what are we? Do we take a side with the above or do we sit in the middle? Let me explain... When I first became really serious about being a barista and started to get responses from people I was greedy and egotistical. People would say "this is great, what coffee do you use?" which would drive me insane because the coffee wasn't great (it really wasn't) and the only reason they were having a good cup is that I had done a halfway decent job of making it. Now I've kind of swung the other way. I don't want to be seen as part of the process - I am trying to present a cup of coffee, not trying to present a cup of coffee made by my good self. I find it a little frustrating when people say I make a great cup of coffee because more often than not they are inclined to miss the fact that it is the coffee I am using that tastes so great. So - does this mean the barista's goal is to become invisible? To remove the barrier between coffee and customer that has existed for so long in this, and other, countries? The problem with all that is that we buy our coffee from people. I was talking to a barista in Wales (who is actually from London) all about customer service and interaction, and how he feels so let down when he buys coffee in London because baristas are disinterested and almost anti-social. Either side of the barista I see the sommelier and the chef. The sommelier is fortunate, playing no part in the process of wine to customer, in terms of taste. It is all customer service, interaction, education. The chef is different - hidden I guess. The problem is that the cult of the chef sucks us so deeply into the process that more often than not we are more consumed by that than the ingredients we use (British supermarkets, celebrity chef endorsed or not, bear testament to this). However, I don't know enough about cheffing. Is there satisfaction in hearing someone in raptures of pleasure over the quality of meat rather than the way it is cooked? I suppose this all links in with the "rockstar" barista term which I so deeply despise. The ego involved in that term is frightening and I doubt very much I'd enjoy being served by one, regardless of the quality of the drink. This however, is for another post....

UKBC Finalists announced

2006-02-13T14:56:00.000Z

So here is the list of the 10 brave souls competing on 23rb Feb at Hotelympia: James Hoffmann (me!) - London Maxine Beadsmore (point qualifier) - London Lou Henry - North James Shepherd - Glasgow Se Gorman - Belfast Anna Tikey - Wales Ben Townsed (points qualifier) - Wales Ed Buston - South West Danielle (points qualifier) - South West Hugo (points qualifier) - South West I will fill in the missing surnames when I get the chance - apologies to them if they read this! Should be a really good final, 8 of the 10 had heat scored within 70 points of each other so should be close!

UK Barista Championship Heats - A summary

2006-02-11T15:06:00.001Z

The regionals are finally done and I couldn't be happier. I am shattered, run down and grumpy. The six regionals led us to cover more than 3000 miles, endless hotels (like airports - only interesting if visited rarely) and greasy hotel breakfasts, thousands of pounds spent and hundreds of passionate and interesting individuals working in speciality coffee. The one great thing to come out of all this was the chance to meet so many professional and dedicated baristas. I was backstage got to meet every competitor. They all knew that I was a competitor, that I was through to the finals, but there was no ill feeling or suspicion, and I got nervous for people and just wanted everyone to do well. Watching them perform is not good for my stress, especially those who run it right up to the wire (or just over!). Backstage was a great place to be - people were always interested, willing to learn what they could, and I tried to do my best to demystify the competition, to correct anything obvious that people were doing and most of all encourage them to come back next year! No doubt there were people there because the boss told them to be there. There were also people there who came skeptical and left converted and excited - which is great to see. There were also people I met who were really hungry to learn more, people who enjoy what they do and would like it to be seen as something worthwhile. What I hope comes out of this is a chance for a fledgeling community to establish itself. There are now a lot of people (not just competitors, but their friends and colleagues) who want to know more about espresso, more about coffee, to know more about everything really. I think if we can organise a few barista jams, the odd little fun competition, opportunities for seminars or something then w can start something snowballing. The final is now only a couple of weeks away and it should be really good. I hope people who competed get the chance to come along and watch, because there are going to be several different interpretations of what a barista can be. Time to get stuck into some practise - a new coffee and a new signature drink. Easy....

UK Barista Championship - South West Heat

2006-02-11T15:06:00.000Z

The final regional heat of 2006. Something of a relief. The setting was great, a nice big room at the National Maritime Museum - though in future I hope people learn that 2 storeys up is no fun for the people who have to set up! The standard of the baristas here was a higher average than anywhere else, with the top 4 all achieving over 600 points, which is great. This heat was again heavily populated with first timers, with a couple of veterans. No spills or horrific accidents here, and things generally ran like clockwork, bar one technical mishap which didn't remotely phase the contestant - I think the fact she was 8 months pregnant rather prioritised things! The winner was Ed Buston, who won this heat last year. It was, however, extremely close. He was just 8 points ahead of Danielle who works for Rick Stein's Cafe in Padstow (I popped in there for a coffee, and found a very passionate bunch of people, I thank them for the free coffee). She had a stunning sig drink, superbly presented. Lots of spices, nicely infused, chocolate, condensed milk and lime juice. I've gone on the record many times saying lime juice is a no no when it comes to coffee, but I stand thoroughly corrected - she really made it work. Stunning. She has only been a barista for a few months to boot. Again, I hope her score takes here through to the final. Photo time! (full set of course at flickr) The venue: Yet another tv crew (ITV for a change): Spectators: Latte art: Sig drinks with sweet red pepper and chilli: Danielle's spice rack: Her cappuccino's (a bit large really): Her stunning sig drink: Ed sweeping excess: Contestants (part 1): Contestants (part 2):

UK Barista Championship - Welsh Heat

2006-02-11T14:54:00.000Z

This was a new heat for this year, and next year I just hope it is a bit closer! The drive there isn't the easiest, to say the least. In terms of entrants it was an interesting mix. As one of the last heats to fill up there were a few "out of towners" as well as plenty of locals. The standards were pretty good, and though there was another unfortunate mishap, I think a lot of entrants surprised themselves, as initially I don't think they really wanted to do it. The winner was Anna Tikey, an out of towner who works for Muffin Break (home of the NZ champ Carl Sara), and trained by Jeremy Reagan, who is one of the judges this year (though obviously not at the heat!) Second was Ben Townsend, former barista at Melbourne cafe Maltitude (home of some rather good latte art as seen on CG). I think Ben was a little unhappy with his performance but we shall see if his score is enough to get him through. Third, much to the delight of the rampantly Welsh news crew was a local called Lynne who I had done a little training with, and she looked utterly delighted with it. Some photos from the day: (full set at flickr) Judge's Calibration in the morning (Andy Fawkes of Masteroast/WBC board): Jeremy and Anna prepping backstage: Judges at their table: Anna and the judges: Serving her espressos: Ben's espressos: Ben's Cappuccino (nice apple!) Jeremy and Anna (awaiting results) TV crew:

Absolutely shattered

2006-02-04T17:10:00.000Z

Currently in Mercanta trying the new competition blend, barely managing to stay awake. It has been a very long week - I have now the pictures so they will be duly added to the heat reports below. I shudder to think how many miles have been travelled, but getting home at 5am this morning, having left Belfast on the ferry nearly 12 hours before it sometimes feels like almost too many. That and the fact that I had a minor disagreement with a police car this morning on the M1 about how fast I should be allowed to travel. They won. Not best pleased. Looking forward to the last two regionals - if only because they are the LAST two! Some strong competitors in these heats as well. Camera is charged up and ready to go! It has been really good to meet some lovely professional baristas from all over the UK, to meet others of a like mind and a desperate desire to learn more and develop. I have a feeling that the final is going to be great for a number of reasons, not just because I like and respect several of the other finalists. Whoever wins I think should take up a certain responsability with regards to developing the craft of the barista, in a champion we should have an ambassador and perhaps, to some extent, a leader. I hope we don't get someone who doesn't care about coffee that much, or is only in it for the money and the title. Anyway - in 19 days or so we shall know! Onwards to Nefyn (wherever the hell it is!)

UK Barista Championship - Northern Irish Heat

2006-02-03T01:20:00.000Z

Forgive me if this one is a little rambley. Writing this after being generously treated to a rather good meal at Roscoff, and a couple of drinks with those hanging around afterwards - I won't name names. (Hello Hugh.) So - the heat. A good one I think. There will be pictures (I promise) and sadly I had to pop out for 3 hours in the afternoon so I only saw half the contestants. To cut to the chase Se Gorman won it. I am glad because I know Se, I worked with him in the UK Vs Ireland team comp and he is an all round nice guy. He was top six last year and has again raised his game putting in the second highest score so far in this competition. Second was a ladyfrom one of Se's stores called Emilie (who brought her own music and was great to watch, very chatty and fun) and third was Jon from Clements who has been to the finals before but I dont know if his score was enough to get him there this year, We shall see. So - pictures to come when i get the camera charged back up and some peopl ein Glasgow mail me some pieces (Gary McGann of Espresso Warehouse has already sent me through the added press clipping below. Sleep for me now, early start tomorrow and a long day following.... EDIT - Some pictures from the event: (Full set at flickr) Emilie (2nd) pouring some caps: Se's shots (nice little glass plate things): About to stop the pour: Foaming a little milk (nice apron embroidery!): Foam under scrutiny: Jon's set-up: Going for the tv chef/Wendleboe style: Fondue set up:

UK Barista Championships - Scottish Heat

2006-02-01T18:42:00.000Z

No pictures for this one I am afraid - though I may be sent some and will update as and when. Right - this heat was held at the Langs Hotel and was full up. All but one of the entrants were using one of Matthew Algie's coffees, as Algie's were hosting the event. One entrant had come over from Belfast as he was unable to get into the full Belfast heat (which takes place tomorrow - watch this space). The standard of the baristas was similar to the Northern Heat. Notable, sadly for the wrong reasons, were two entrants - one forgot to make his cappuccinos and one had a rather unfortunate sig drink spill/smash having only got one drink down on the table. So - the results? Second place was something of a surprise - no doubt pleasing people like Coffee House magazine who like to see underdogs do well. Justin worked for a motorway service station at Tebay in Cumbria. The winner was Algie's trainer James Sheperd, who was the favourite. He talked at the right times, said the right things, and his signature drink was a pine nut oil infused macchiato which I didn't get to taste. He was a comfortable winner and made top 6 in the finals last year. What was good was the reaction of most entrants. All will come back, all enjoyed it and I am pretty sure that all will be making better coffee. The hosting hotel even entered 2 people and had noted that in the run up to the comp the quality of the coffee and the interest in it was greatly improved. Finished building the Belfast set tonight, and I am shattered. Some good food, plenty of sleep and then I am right back into it tomorrow. Will try and post a report tomorrow night. EDIT - Anette made it into the press - I had nothing to do with this latte art!

UK Barista Championship - Northern Heat

2006-01-27T17:02:00.000Z

Thursday was the Northern Heat for the UKBC, held up at Healds Hall Hotel. Most of the competitors came from just three different stores. Opposite Cafe in Leeds, F.O.B. in Sheffield and Coffee Revolution in Sheffield, plus a couple of other people. I don't think I would be out of line in saying that the standard wasn't quite as high as London. Still it was a good day, and also pleasing to see lots of first timers up to the challenge as well as a few people trying again and aiming at raising their game. The heat was won by Lou from Opposite Cafe, using a Fairtrade Coffee. She was very nervous but had the most personality on stage, as well as the best drinks of the day. Some quick photos: Jon Skinner and Anette Moldvaer tasting: Jamie Carson's (FOB in Sheffield) elaborate trays: Checking the foam: A proper Yorkshire contestant: Lou (eventual winner) working away: She was a very shy winner: Next heat is the Scottish Heat in Glasgow on Tuesday, expect photos and report not long after....

UK Barista Championships - London Regional Heat

2006-01-24T22:30:00.000Z

Well, the good news is that I won! It was in the Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum, an odd place with some cool old machines and a lot of vintage china. The heat was quite a quiet one, with a couple of no-shows to boot (the Costa Coffee Barista champ amongst them). My name was pulled out of the hat second, so there was no long waiting around for me. Dived in and I did ok. I think I scored about 725 points, not too far ahead of second place (a lovely lady who entered last year and then came to us for more competition training, so it was really good to see her do well.) My coffee was my weak point, but my screw-ups are nobody's fault but mine. My signature is a cool concept (sorry - not giving much away) but it needs work from a flavour balance point of view. Couple of quick photos: Richard (who I worked with at Gaggia) and some judges: Judges (including Simon three times UK Champ Robertson on the left): I talk (I have much to say....) I will be attending all regional heats (as well as the finals now!) so will try and take more and better pictures when I ain't in the runnin'

So what is the truth about coffee?

2006-01-19T16:38:00.000Z

So what is the truth about coffee? - the Daily Mail ah - the Daily Mail. Lets get some truth from them...

Sample packs

2006-01-18T15:47:00.000Z

Can I offer you a cup of God's Cemetary?

Keeping on top of your technique

2006-01-18T11:53:00.000Z

Well, I have to admit I've gotten a little lazy of late. A couple of hours with a crotchless soon fixed it. Couldn't work out why I was always getting channelling in the same place, but slow deconstruction and then rebuilding found the problem. My version of the stockfleths type move wasn't doing the job properly and I was compressing parts too hard and then I was sweeping the excess off too aggressively. I've also just started working with the new Mahlkonig K30 Vario. It is different to the previous K30 as it has no controlled dosing, it just free grinds when the button is depressed. The other change is that it is stepless. I am just getting used to the kind of adjustments I need to make to get what I want, and I need to work on cleaner dosing. Talking of clean dosing I finally saw the Bellissimo Extreme Pours DVD. Far too short, not worth the money and if people were that messy in dosing around my coffee shop I'd kick their arse. What really concerned me about it was how they kind of glossed over the whole extraction process (not very advanced to me) and then showed some milk steaming but gave no real explanation on achieving textures.

stupid latte tricks

2006-01-18T09:23:00.000Z

From the seemingly very bored (though doubtless very busy) guys at Victrola

So who wants to write the angry letter

2006-01-18T09:18:00.000Z

This should make baristas cross

UK Coffee Tour

2006-01-15T18:22:00.000Z

I need your help! My girlfriend and I have been talking about this for a while, and we have decided we ought to do a little coffee tour of the UK. Realistically we shall have to divide it up into mini tours, but we will probably try and take lots of pictures and write it all up and maybe get it published somewhere other than my blog! So - we need your help: Can you please recommend me some places close to you, etc. As much info as possible would be nice. I am trying out platial: UK Coffee Tour I think you have to sign in to add a place but it wasn't that much hassle. If that isn't the right link let me know. I've stuck a couple of places in, with a little detail (website/address/what they do) Not just cafes, but roasteries, retailers, anything! Thanks, James

Today coffee is killing us...

2006-01-15T14:59:00.000Z

tomorrow it will be our saviour again. Couple of "bad things" coffee does reaching the press today: Coffee limits blood flow to the heart Cancer chemical found in coffee Tell that to the family of farmers over at Fazenda Cachoeira who all live into their 90s. I'm not really sure we need to have all these scares all the time and who actually benefits out of them. I am never going to drink more coffee because it has anti-oxidants, I am going to drink it if it tastes nice. Same reason I am not going to stop drinking coffee because it may, somehow, potentially, perhaps kill me. That and I am probably caffeine dependent by now. update right on cue This appears...

Coffee Oils [Part 1]

2006-01-13T17:57:00.000Z

Many of us use the term "coffee oils" or refer to them every day. Occaisonally visible after roasting, the shining glaze of a dark roast is something that sticks in the general public's mind. In this series of articles I am going to delve into these oils and hopefully explain them a little more, as well as look at them through coffee history. I will amend and update them as I find new information... Research and Discovery of Coffee Oils The chemical research going on in coffee doesn't really apply to the oils until 1880, when a gentleman named Bernheimer publishes a paper entitled "Zur Kenntnis der Rostproducte des Caffees". As part of a series of distillation experiments he found, at 300C, a fatty mass start to distil, with the consistency of butter, and the odour of rancid fat. He called it "caffeol". He did not by any means discover the oils in coffee, fats being estimated as constituting 10-13% in a papers published by Payen in the late 1840s. Also in 1880 Cech published a paper on the preparation of coffee oils, though it was short and unsubstantial. For the next 20 years the entire complex mixture of organic compounds produced by decomposition of larger molecules was considered to be this "caffeol". In 1902 Erdmann publishes a paper that not only picks apart previous theories, changes the name caffeol to kaffeol, but also contains empirical discoveries concerning browning reactions between sugars and amino acids that would be the subject of a paper by Maillard ten years later, and would come to bear his name. By 1912 confusing nomenclature means that "Kaffeol". "Kaffeon", "Caféone" and "Kaffeeöl" have all come to mean the group of aromatic substances obtained by water and ether distillations and research in coffee oil becomes the extension of research and discovery of new and important volatile aromatics. Through the following part of the early 20th century fats in coffee are blamed and then exonerated for staling compounds due to fat rancidity. In the 50's it is announced that fats don't degrade in roasting, but still play a role adsorbing and protecting volatile aromas. After 1956 and the advent of Gas Chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS) the world of coffee researched changed completely and we leap forward to discuss what is actually in coffee oil....

Coffee as Disinfectant (1873)

2006-01-10T11:37:00.000Z

"Numerous experiments with roasted coffee prove that it is the most powerful means, not only of rendering animal and vegetable effluvia innocuous, but of actually destroying them. A room in which meat in an advanced degree of decomposition had been kept for some time, was instantly deprived of all smell on an open coffee roaster being carried through it, containing a pound of coffee newly roasted. In another room, exposed to the effluvium occaisoned by the clearing out of a dung pit, so that sulpherreted hydrogen and ammonia in great quantities could be chemically detected, the stench was completely removed in half a minute, on the employment of three ounces of fresh-roasted coffee, whilst other parts of the house were permantently cleared of the same smell by simply being traveresed with the coffee roaster, although the cleansing of the dung-pit continued for several hours after. The best mode of using coffee as a disinfectant is to dry the raw bean, pound it in a mortar and the roast the powder on a moderately heated iron plate, until it assumes a dark brown tint, when it is fit for use. Then sprinkle it in sinks and cesspools, or lay it on aplate in the room which you wish to have purified. Coffee acid or coffee oil acts more readily in minute quantities." Entry 1668, Enquire Within Upon Everything, printed by J & W Rider, 1873

Another typical Saturday night...

2006-01-07T22:12:00.000Z

So here I am roasting away, screening greens (though I still don't seem to be getting the colour consistency I want!) and cupping a few things through the espresso machines. Ah - the things we do for competition. Enjoying very much a blend that Steve at HasBean has done for me. Unusual, and in a good way. A completely different style of blending to my own, and that is important because I think we all get stuck in certain blending habits. Look at the italians and robusta......

My blend works!

2006-01-06T23:30:00.000Z

I was most relieved by a cupping today that produced a most pleasant shot, tonnes of chocolate and cherries, and really good in milk. A good day! Next I am gonna try a couple more roast profiles to see if I can get a little more out of it, the most frustrating thing about it all is the wait between roast and brew. Almost tempts me into quenching. But not quite... Slightly disturbing articles popping up online generated by a US Milk Press release talking about how good big lattes are because they give you calcium. Lets ignore all the other implications because I guess you need strong bones to carry all that weight around...

Pulling some shots

2006-01-05T21:25:00.000Z

Popped in to Mercanta tonight because I am an impatient child, and I wanted to taste a couple of blends. They show great promise! If only I could bring myself to let them rest a little longer, I am sure they will only improve (I roasted them yesterday and air cooled). Took a few photos too: One blend is definately better than the other at this stage (surprisingly so considering how similar their recipes are). I look forward to trying them later this week. In other competition based news - whilst the London and Midlands heats have been made one, it seems they are pushing the London date back to the 24th. Gives me a little more leeway for practise and experimentation!

Ochratoxin A

2006-01-04T22:59:00.000Z

An unlikely title for a post I know. I became curious about this after seeing all the adverts for testing equipment in the trade magazines. It concerned me there were such stringent guidelines on something that I knew next to nothing about. So here is a little information about ochratoxin: Ochratoxin is a mycotoxin- a toxin produced by certain fungi. It is not unique to coffee, and can contiminate foods such as cereals, dried fruit, beans, cocoa and drink such as beer, wine and milk. There is a long list of worrying words describing ochratoxin including nephrotoxic (a toxin specific to kidney cells), carcinogenic and immunosuppressive. Not very pleasant, especially given that the half life of its breakdown is the longest of any species studied. There are two known actions on the body: Inhibition of protein synthesis and an increase in oxygen reactive radicals. Ironically the second can be counteracted by a diet containing plenty of antioxidants, which coffee is well known to contain. Debate surrounds the claim that it is destroyed in the roasting process, and it extremely soluble in water, so most of it makes its way into the cup. But - there is some good news! Doing everything better, from picking to drying to shipping and storage, the lower the risk of contamination. Equally good news is that the content of ochratoxin is higher in the husks, so it is more likely found in soluble coffee where the chance of adulteration with husks and parchment is higher. Europe has the more stringent legislation (no surprise there!) and coffee falls well within the safety limits. You'd have to drink a lot of bad coffee before you really got into trouble. One study showed that you drinking 4 cups with 0.8ppb of ochratoxin a day would be the equivalent of 2% of the allowed intake.

Blending for milk drinks

2006-01-04T13:42:00.000Z

Trying to work on coffees that will sit well in milk, playing with both origin and roast profile.

I seem to have made a little breakthrough, but I really just want one coffee for competition to do all the drinks with, not have one for milk, one for espresso.

We shall see....

Problems with harvesting in Puerto Rico

2006-01-03T22:54:00.000Z

An interesting articlle here, about the lengths Puerto Rico is having to go to in order to harvest the coffee. It is an interesting twist to the whole ethical side of picking and farming coffee. In a developed country such as this coffee doesn't generate enough income to interest any local workers and very quickly you have a problem... Puerto Rico coffee growers not picky

The Women's Petition Against Coffee (1674)

2006-01-03T12:25:00.000Z

This oft quoted pamphlet is probably the most famous of the many declarations issued for and against coffee in the last four hundred years. However misconceptions still hang over it. Starting with Pasqua Rosee's pamphlet extolling the virtue of his new brew, freshly arrived on the streets of London in 1652, the printing presses turned out a great deal of literature on coffee during its golden age in London (1652-1730). Whilst most of this talked of what coffee could cure - essential advertising for a new product - coffee again encountered great resistance. In London it was not the rulers who complained, but the breweries. Beer was the Englishman's drink up until this point, beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner and coffee was an afront to them. Coffee houses however were something else. They were a new space, with new rules that governed behaviour within them. Much is made of the sober and intellectual discussion that went on in these "Penny Universities", the one place in society where status held less control over actions and interactions. Their growth within London was unprecedented. The first satirical review of them appeared in 1661, less than a decade after Rosee first opened his little shack. A Character of Coffee and Coffee Houses was published, and perhaps written, by a book seller named John Starkey. The opening of it is concerned with those missing social boundaries: "Here is no respect of persons... That great privilege of equality is only peculiar to the Golden Age, and to a Coffee-house." The literature was not just an effort to entertain and understand, but also to provide a balancing opinion to the huge wealth of publishing praising coffee. Scientific curiousity around coffee itself was the subject of publications such as The Vertues of Coffee, a collection of the writings of Bacon, Sandys, Parkinson, Howell and Blount on the subject, published in 1663. In reply you may find A Maiden's Compaint against Coffee published in the same year. The claims for coffee would inevitably become more and more extravagent, leading to a more extravagent satire. Thus the Women's Petition Against Coffee was published in 1674. The author remains anonymous, writing as "A well-wisher". I suspect the reason that this document has lasted as long as it has is simply down to how filthy it is. I've read a great deal of author's descriptions and a number seem revel in the cheap and bawdy humour like small children who have just learnt to swear. Sadly most of them miss completely that it is a piece of satire, and not a genuine petition. Though it is written to resemble one there are a number of "small" clues, but I think many writers prefered to imagine a London in the 1670's full of double-entendre's and cheap puns. Aside from the cruder sections there are complaints that the men will "usurp on our Prerogative of Tatling" and "half a doozen of them will out-babble and equal number of us at Gossipping". The pamphlet claims that though men talk of politics, and essential put the world to right, they never actually do anything about it. However, these genuine satirical points are seemingly lost under the barrage of complaints: "we can Attribute to nothing more than the Excessive use of that Newfangled, Abominable, Heathenish Liquor called COFFEE, which Riffling Nature of her Choicest Treasures, and Drying up the Radical Moisture, has so Eunucht our Husbands, and Crippled our more kind Gallants, that they are become as Impotent, as Age, and as unfruitful as those Desarts whence that unhappy Berry is said to be brought." The pamphlet is a lot of fun. Prayers that "That they no more run the hazard of being Cuckol'd by Dildo's" are entertaining, but it is time people stopped wheeling out a little comedy smut and pretending that it is something of historical importance.

Some small essays

2006-01-03T12:24:00.000Z

As some of you might have noticed I have something of a growing coffee library. I decided I should try and share a few things I've learnt from it through the form of short rambling essays on various subjects. I will probably compile them into a dropdown at some point, and hopefully revise them from time to time. The range will be from history, to science, to origin to pure whimsy. I hope there will be something vaguely enjoyable amongst them.

Single Origin Espresso

2006-01-03T09:29:00.000Z

I've been thinking quite a bit about single origin espresso, particularly with reference to competition. I think single origin is something of a misleading title these days, as more and more we are talking about a single estate, or farm or mill. I like this for a lot of reasons. I like that it flies in the face of the conventions I was initially taught - that espresso must always be a blend of origins, that a single origin cannot have the necessary balance. Secondly I like how open it is, how exposed and bare your coffee is. No tricks, no secrets. Troels' choice of espresso was very interesting. I think some people were surprised he chose a US espresso, and some very pleased he did. It took away any excuses US baristas may have had for not doing better. More interesting to me was that it came from just one farm. Well, with Daterra that isn't really fair. It is more than just a farm, it is a research centre, it is the highest quality coffee done on a frighteningly large scale. The coffee he used was a blend of varietals (I am sure someone told me what went into it, but I can't remember now) from that one place. As it is time for me to blend I can't help but be curious about using a single farm's coffee, especially since a couple of the crops I want won't be here in time for the regional heats. There are a few I have in mind. I suppose I will have to try and see what I get.

Article on opening a coffee shop

2006-01-02T20:49:00.000Z

Amidst all the whining and complaining about how terrible it is there is one shining point: They knew very little about the product they chose to base their business around. This is not unusual with coffee shops. People kind of assume that because they make coffee for themselves at home, and buy their favourite "Brazilian Santos" (one of my favourite labels in knowledgeable coffee suppliers) to grind freshly, they believe they have the skills to produce a quality based retail product. It amazes me how few people in the industry understand what kind of knowledge is required. Bitter Brew by Michael Idov

The UK Barista Championships

2006-01-02T01:58:00.000Z

Well, it will all be underway in less than a month. Response so far seems to have been pretty good, with several heats pretty much full. I don't think there will be the full 84 potential spots filled, and I have no doubt the London heat is going to be cancelled. A lot of people seem very surprised that in London, a city of 8 million people, we can't find 12 willing baristas. There are several problems as I see them: People simply don't know about it. This is down to the UKBC committee, but also down to coffee suppliers, magazines, newspapers and the rest of them. I only knew because I got training from a guy who had won it a few times. All the other heats that are full are down to active coffee companies encouraging people to enter. In London there just doesn't seem to be that kind of interest from local suppliers. Some claim the London coffee market is solely about price and that it is hard to sell quality coffee (and the ideals that go with it). I think that is a load of rubbish. If illy can sell tonnes of coffee there then it is clearly not about price. Fear of exposure. I am sure this is why chains stay away. In competitions your coffee is laid bare, as well as the skills of your baristas. I think this is why most major chains have stayed away from competitions across the globe - with the exception of places like Muffin Break. What is in it for the barista? This is a tricky one. Most baristas that find out about competition have no desire to compete. What would be nice is if we could get some owners of chains, or groups or whatever along to chat to the losing baristas after the competition. Sure, some won't ever want to compete again but every single one will be reinvigorated about coffee, excited and looking forward to going back to their jobs and making better coffee. A little help from managers - the offer of getting someone in to do competition training - would get most baristas over their nerves. I think there is a huge potential for competitions that perhaps should be explored by barista jams and the like. So London will be empty and I will have to find another heat... Same as last year I suppose. I am not sure if that is a good or bad omen.

Roasting for the new blend

2005-12-30T18:39:00.000Z

More roasting practise for me this evening, stood over a particularly smoky little probat (Anette is cross no one cleaned it!). Trying to slow down the roasts a little more, and I am still getting to grips with roasting charts but all these things are essential if I am to create a coffee I am will be truly happy with. Stephen Hurst came back from Seattle with a little of the Artigiano blend, which I will be curious to try - if anyone has the brew recipe handy (temp. dose etc) then leave a comment or drop me an e-mail. Stephen's comments about the espresso he drank in Seattle (too sharp for his palatte) and the style of blending a lot of people were using was interesting. Mostly because it is clear I want a very different end product to them. I know what I want to taste, and I hope I can put together a coffee good enough. Sadly the Canario from Cachoeira won't be arriving til the end of January, so I hope I make it through to the finals so I can get it into a blend for the showdown.... We shall see.

That latte art link

2005-12-29T11:47:00.000Z

I am amused to find that the latte art link I left a little while back has now had over 300 hundred views. Oddly no comments were left. I know that Jeroen Veldkamp left a link at Dutch Barista but apart from that I have no idea where the traffic came from. Hope people enjoyed it!

Chilly tonight

2005-12-29T00:41:00.000Z

Well, it has dropped to -13C outside, which is pretty cold for the UK, and I'm not much looking forward to my 350 mile drive tomorrow, but needs must. Have to go back and sort my blend, start run through rehearsals for the comp (going to try and get throught he cringe factor of videoing myself - painful as it will be to watch back). The sig drink works in the theory and practise to some extent but is going to need a lot of tweaking to make it taste right. I will post a pic of it up here after my regional (whenever that is - seeing as the London one looks set to be cancelled!) I've sorted out a temporary logo - as you can see at the top - and I have enough images to change it every week or so. It is good to keep things interesting I reckon....

A new logo....

2005-12-27T03:07:00.000Z

Having added a few new bits and pieces - you can now subcribe for e-mail updates if you really, really want to, as well as search within the blog - I feel I really should sort out a little logo. If anyone has any ideas drop me a line or a comment. I'd turn it into a little competition but I don't think enough people read this thing! Hope you all had a good Christmas.