mie

For those who is still following my blogging, there haven't been many adventures in coffee recently, but a report from the San Francisco coffee scene should be on its way along with a discussion about climate changes and its affect on coffee production thanks to my new friend Juan Ramon, agronomist from Costa Rica and the Brumas del Zurquí micro mill. He has taught me lots of interesting things about tsunamis and axes.

For now, please join Rasmus from Kaffemisjonen in Bergen and a few responders (including yours sincerely) on how Cup of Excellence award winning farmers should spend their dineros here. Enjoy!

ps the picture is from the last time I visited Honduras, May 2009, and we are discussing sample roasting. From the Cup of Excellence auction in 2008 we were able to establish a very successful relationship there. see the CoE winner to the far right? we still get along great! <3

Lagt inn av mie kl. 22:54 | 0 kommentarer Koblinger til dette innlegget    

for those who occasionally looks through my flickr, you've probably seen that the entire roastery is moving. today i was the last one to put everything on my desk in a box - after they removed even the piping for the roaster. leaving was sad, but i am prepared for new adventures!

summer has been good, nice people visiting from panama, australia and the us (should i include sweden or not?) and lots of good talks about coffee. even fun times in parks and by the sea - we took us cup tasting champion ben kaminsky to swim in the oslo fjord after some serious nerding around for a few days.

our new roastery / wonderland is spacious, 35m from wall-to-wall, around 700m2 all in all. i am currently busy trying to have some control over all the coffees we've been holding back for a while in wait for the new space - all arriving over the next couple of weeks - these are of course the latino lovers and africans. around 8 lots from various micro mills in costa rica is arriving first together with the best of panama, various micro lots from boquete and esmeralda auction lots, so that we can be well prepared for francisco menna and exclusive coffee's visit in september.

Lagt inn av mie kl. 19:03 | 0 kommentarer Koblinger til dette innlegget    

first of all : i am competing in this competition, for whatever reason i am not sure of. i hate competing in something i can't possibly win, but then again, it might be fun and i am right now experiencing my head telling me that, and my heart struggling to accept it. "might be fun". ok. so i'm reading the rules and heading over to wendelbottom later today to pick up some divine love (amor de dios is the actual coffee we're going to use). at least i can cup it tomorrow to see what's in it. i hope everyone at the roastery can take their pride in finding my grind.

oh, and i'm also substituting for ben kaminsky. oops. if you are out there, make sure to send me some instructions, or you'll loose !! i plan on wearing a hat for that one.

Lagt inn av mie kl. 11:11 | 0 kommentarer Koblinger til dette innlegget    

I’m about to head out of Panama City for the third time in a week – this time for returning to Oslo. Robert came to Boquete to ”pick me up” last Saturday and cup some lots there before we headed to Honduras together for a few days. Yesterday was my birthday, and except from a few beloved ones that were not present, my day was amazing !

Spent the day cupping and visiting the Santa Marta farm (CoE winner with a Pacamara in 2007) where the coffee trees were blooming. So beautiful. Saw the farm, and even went bathing in their water source (true, i was allowed to since it was my bday!). Some cerveza on the way back to San Pedro Sula, some ceviche and then a very very nice present from Robert – a full mariachi band playing ”felicidaaaaades a miiiia” (that’s supposed to be me) and the biggest whitest cake I’ve ever seen. I have to head to the airport now. Friday back home Mr B has been roasting some more Ethiopia samples. Can't wait to taste them, I'll post cupping notes at kaffa.no immediately after.

Lagt inn av mie kl. 00:01 | 0 kommentarer Koblinger til dette innlegget    

i'm writing post the awards ceremony from the best of panama (BOP) 2009. i came to panama city late tuesday night and boquete the day after - first flight wednesday morning from panama city to davíd and spent the day cupping samples with josé david garrido. we've been cupping the mama cata farm samples quite rigorously this season and have already committed to a very nice "fully washed" lot - a blend of caturra, villa sarchi, bourbon and typica picked in the beginning of march. i need to note that what they call "fully washed" locally is what i feel is better explained as a mechanical wet process. we have previously bought his honey processed geisha - there's a lot to say about the various processing methods that are experimented with here in panama right now and there were many discussions about the subject. all the judges were asked to cup one table with only naturals when the BOP cuppings were over and asked to give feedback to the farmers.

the official BOP cuppings lasted for three days - and we had some very interesting methodological and existential questions brought up, like mentioned about the naturals. top two coffees were geishas, and we also cupped a very nice third place winning pacamara. winner of the competition this year was the esmeralda farm here in boquete, who has their own geisha auction scheduled for may 19th.

i did a small collage of my essential needs on coffee trips : shoulder bag big enough to fit all the important things you want to bring - samples, green converses and gowns (for awards ceremonies). and of course my aeropress ! i just love it !! upcoming world aeropress championship is announced at the wendelblog. i'm heading to honduras tomorrow to cup some coffees there as well, but i'm hoping for a chic lunch in panama city on my way from one airport to the other.

Lagt inn av mie kl. 05:54 | 1 kommentarer Koblinger til dette innlegget    

i am pondering over espresso these days, and in particular a new espresso blend together with the brainy roasters @ KAFFA. we decided yesterday that friday should be our espresso day (as much as thursday is our sample roasting day) - and that rune, one of the roasters, is our best barista. so as from tomorrow, he'll be pulling all kind of deliciousness for brewing instructions and help for customers. and firstly, working on a new blend for the month of may, my bday and the norwegian constitution day. all at once.

i got a quick note from ecco saying that the coffee we were cupping, and that i wrote about here, should be pulled, not cupped. there is much to say about this issue, and frankly, i'm more in need for ice cream delights than espresso discussions right now. but as i've mentioned before, i choose to think about espresso as just one of many optional brew methods.

i hope to taste some espresso tomorrow, maybe even the wbc winning coffee pulled as espresso. we cupped it yesterday, but perhaps this coffee too needs to be tested with the espresso brewing method. i'll keep you posted.

Lagt inn av mie kl. 16:08 | 0 kommentarer Koblinger til dette innlegget    

a very short trip to atlanta is about to end, as i am in schipol airport amsterdam on my way back to oslo. kaffa's roast master and two of the managers of java and mocca were sent to atlanta by their respective employers, and for the first time i went there a bit on my own to teach cupping and hang out. turns out a lot of people did that, so i was in good company of other coffee friends sleeping on hotel room floors, housing with local friends ("civilians", as the wonderful liz clayton of twitchy said about hers) or in very cheap business hotels. so many faces to see and hands to shake, ref pic of me and sarah kluth of intelligentsia shaking hands after important meeting at their booth where we decided to only drink nice coffee forever and ever.

i had a hard time figuring out the city geographically, but i had some very delicious meals with various amazing people. i was excited to teach cupping to people and share my ideas about how to become a better cupper in the "advanced" class. walking around the fair is most often more like walking two steps, talking to someone, walking again, talking - i visited a few booths, like the slayer espresso machine that's been notoriously blogged about lately, intelligentsia, la marzocco and cup of excellence.

the world barista championship was won by gwilym davies from the uk - he did such an amazing performance! humble and all about coffee. the partying after was a lot of fun. in particular, i liked showing up wearing a button with his face on. in general, more people should button their faces. oda almighty, the best barista in norway right now placed 17th with our coffee in the grinder. we were hoping to do better, but the competition was tough. SCAA's "coffee of the year" was won by our exporter in colombia, virmax, that helped us with the competition lot, so all in all, it was good coffee and good times.

the first us cup tasting championship was also arranged. i received a text from ben kaminsky after the finals sunday afternoon: "won". congratulations, cupper ! but i still don't get it - why the americans are so crazy about dragging things out. i thought the three rounds of the usbc was a bit too much, but hey, also the cup tasting, with 6 competitors in the semi finals and 3 in the finals happened over three days. perhaps it was all about cupping with a fresh palate for every flight or some other reason. but it would have been more fun watching if it was a longer show. none of my bizniz, i know, but i kind of like being opinionated about these things.

back in oslo work is piling up. it's weird how much fun it is to travel in coffee, and so labour intensive it is to prepare for and then get back from it. even if it's just for a few days. well worth it, though. see you all next year in londres !!

Lagt inn av mie kl. 08:27 | 0 kommentarer Koblinger til dette innlegget