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
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.
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.
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.
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 !!
spring seems to be on its way, waking me with sun and the sounds of a city where people have started walking the streets again. i'm alone. i have a sunday and no money. in the fridge i have eggs and ham and i'm going to make myself a feast, my favourite brunch - eggs benedict. there's something slightly intimidating about poaching eggs and making hollandaise. nothing i recommend for those sundays when your head is heavy, your feet smelly with noises coming from your belly. even though that might be when you need it.
who was this benedict dude? one version of the story, is that he was a stock broker in new york. one awfully hung over day in 1894, there was absolutely nothing of interest for him at waldorf astoria's extensive menu. so he ordered what his heavy head, smelly feet and rumbling belly desired: toast, bacon, poached eggs and what he called "a hooker of hollandaise". well. the chef was perhaps not a stranger himself to the culinary delights needed to cure a hangover - he was supposedly so impressed about this unusual composition that he put it on the menu with a few, but not unimportant modifications: he switched bacon for ham and toast for english muffin. this last modification brought the sweetness to the course that forever took it away from heavy hang over food to something else. more refined. and one very important offering on many, many brunch menus since then.
my self made brunch was very tasty, accompanied by the new yorker, which seemed like the only appropriate choice. for coffee, i didn't have a single bean in the house, and headed out for coffee at tim wendelboe - his espressoblend is smashing right now, and previous barista champ chris kolbu pulled some excellent shots. my day? perfect!
sunny oslo on a sunday morning. got up late, trying to open my eyes while brewing an aeropress. my love-hate relationship with the aeropress is slightly moving towards more loving, less hatred, but now, well, i just don't know any more.
i have been thinking about writing something about the aeropress for a long time, to show my appreciation to tim wendelboe who gave me the best present i've gotten in a really long time. my own little aeropress kit. tim rocks. i spent the first part of my relationship with the aeropress to figure out what to brew in. found out that the "i am not a papercup" ceramic cup was perfect. i can also bring it on the bus to the roastery every morning. ok. so looks cool. the snaggle is that it tastes so very close to perfect, but there are so many things to think about and refine. ah.
just when i thought i got it right, i hear some rumours about turning the whole thing upside down and of course, i had to try it. after two attempts of down-dosing and water temperature control, but forgetting to keep focus on the assembling of the damn thing, i finally got it right. but there must be something about my grind. oh well. i want the method to be solid and fool-proof, and potentially bring out the best of the coffee. considering all my brave attempts, i still don't have it. the punch. because i just come up with more and more parameters to control. for example, i now have to add some measurement of the water dosage, because it turns out differently depending on how the coffee grounds reacts. more accurate, if it's super fresh and bubbly vs old and flat. i'll tell you when i know more. check out these blogs about aeropress'ing : barismo, wundeltimmers and the always delightful jimseven. enjoy !
awake from the dead : gauperaa and his coffee happiness.
welcome back !
the united barista championship of the states of america has been eventful, great fun and all in all a learning experience. i got to see michael phillips of intelligentsia chicago take first place in the usbc today, congratulations and salutations !! i want to write more about the finals - i tasted all the beverages, i had the best cappuccino i've had in my l-i-f-e (it's true!), i could be referring to so many interesting talks...
but right now, i'm just ready to crawl under the covers and sleep for like, 24 hours. i will write more later, michael phillips rocks and so do all the finalists of the usbc 2009 !
i'm heading out of oslo for a while, or actually almost the entire month of march. it's my month off work, and i've dedicated it to coffee. no surprise. first, i'm quitting my job in managing java and mocca for now, it's been many fantastic years, but i am no longer managing the stores from day-to-day (actually, i haven't been for a while), and it's such a bliss to have two of my favorite baristas taking over the responsibilities from day to day.
to celebrate life and enjoy each other's company, the entire java / mocca / kaffa crew is closing the stores early on saturday and taking into the woods outside of oslo for a sleep over in a cabin we've rented. wildlife, here we come...robert, mr b, rune and myself are going there as soon as we can tomorrow after work to have some male bonding and family time with just the kaffa crew, and then, everyone is arriving at some point during saturday. it's about one hour skiing from the tram, so it'll be fun seeing everyone arrive...i'll post some photos, promise!
back from the woods, i'll be home for one night and early next morning i'm taking off to portland to enjoy the usbc. ten days of non-stop vacation, can't wait to have my morning coffee somewhere not java. the end of the month will be spent in el salvador with my friends at the consejo for the coe prenational jury and hopefully some cerveza and ceviche as well. sonia promised to take me to the beach. yay. we've started to cup ethiopians a while ago and i'm excited about a washed one in particular - thus waiting for someone to explain me the about the availability of coffees through the new system.
she's only 18 and often named on my flickr as "oda almighty" - yesterday she became the new norwegian barista champion! she started first of the six finalists saturday morning at 10am - after a very impressive performance, the next 12 hours was a long wait for the new champ. her espresso was the esmeralda geisha from panama, roasted by bjørnar at KAFFA - all the top four contestants used KAFFA coffee, which we are very excited about. both oda, håkon who placed second and rasmus placed as number four works at kaffemisjonen in bergen. number three was jannicke from MOCCA - congratulations to all! i also have to mention that håkon is 22, jannicke 19 - almost a new generation of baristas finding their way into the norwegian specialty coffee scene.
today, i had five production roasted "las mingas" coffees on the cupping table. like christmas and birthday in one hour of cupping. perhaps because of all the work getting to those exact five coffees (we bought 14 micro lots all together). all of them are from nariño - la union, and i will post cupping notes on kaffa.no later today.
it's also the week of the norwegian barista championship, and i am really looking forward to it - hopefully we will see the future of specialty coffee perform in the bc. kaffa was generously invited to a cupping with wendeltim, but mr b is bound for that spot. fortunately, i think there will be lots of cuppings going on where the competition is held at because most of the roasteries in norway will be present. the bc will be hosted by the norwegian culinary academy, and they will even be represented with one of their sommeliéres as a sensory judge during the competition.
all kinds of people are expected to show up in oslo this week, and i'm of course very excited. in particular, i have high expectations about the crew from "kaffemisjonen" in bergen participating in the bc. my old colleague from java, håkon, placed 2nd in the bc last year and rasmus won the cup tasting competition. last year, everything was about naturals from ethiopia, so i'm curious what the hype of the year is for 2009. i have some geisha plans for the cupping table tomorrow morning, and mocca barista jannicke will be using the esmeralda for all her drinks - i can not describe the exerience in any other way than saying it's like someone is trying to make espresso out of earl grey tea. so, tomorrow morning, we will try to decide what roast she will be using. i wrote rachel peterson of esmeralda because we had some questions about how they decided the lot # at esmeralda, and she answered so thuroughly and quickly, i decided i need to work harder to answer all my emails in the future to follow her excellent example.
i just realized this might be my last proper dinner in a week, so i'm going to make some spaghetti with meat balls. tomorrow, team KAFFA will be out and about with the zoka crew. yay. 
our manager and barista trainer kaveh left java one week ago to pursue a career in politics, so i started training our newest staff memeber a few days ago. along the way, i've forgotten how much fun it is pulling shots and how glorious and fantastic the customers are at java. some of them are even glamorous.
so, right now, i'm very focused on details including exiting subjects like cleaning, napkin policies and coffee logistics. even though this also means working 7 days a week, i spent an hour or so this morning walking around the neighbourhood looking for treasures. even though i didn't have much money to spend, i wanted to treat myself with something nice. my bargains were: thriftstore finds: piano notes: debussy "the cake walk" (or petit negre, which was the original title) and a biography of norwegian crown princess märtha who died in the early 1950s. so early, so sad. glamorous, and that was exactly what i needed. by the way, i'm a biography addict, and was in serious doubt whether antoher book should be purchased instead, about the soccer player ole gunnar solskjær. it's called "æ" ("I"). i browsed through some pages where ole gunnar was talking about the love of his life (his wife...) and soccer business in the early 1990s. kindof hoping it will be there when i'm done with märtha. he obviously knows something about life i don't. then, i headed into the hardware store, they had advertised cheap kitchen scales - i really wanted one for our kitchen at home. so i will be entertained the entire weekend for the ridiculously low cost of only 20$. then, pulling shots at java and sweeping the side walk. it's snowing and snowing, never seen anything like it in oslo.
the baristas at java had already decided to promote a washed ethiopia sidamo from adem bedane, processed at kombo, one of the operation cherry red coffees. it was on one of the grinders, like eating lemon candy. yum.
i'm sick and in bed, not even bored, because i'm so troubled with espresso thoughts. existensialism. i wish i had my flower panties to make me feel better...why are we blending for espresso ? this was the focal point in a presentation i did for one of the whole sale accounts this week. before i got sick. i tried to do some internet research, but nothing. i mean, there's a lot about espresso that's sort of "entry level" knowledge, but i really wanted to see some cupping notes where comparative tastings were done meticulously. some kind of methodology for explaining espresso flavor according to aromas, mouthfeel and balance (acidity / sweetness).
espresso is not a coffee, a blend or a roast. espresso is one interpretation of coffee brewing - and one common interpretation of what coffee should be used is to blend different components to make a fuller palate.
it was interesting to plan cuppings in order to make baristas able to decide what kind of style they preferred for espresso by experiencing how flavors changes with different brewing methods. typically, one of kaffa's blends is a pulped natural from brazil, a semi-washed indonesian coffee, a washed kenya and a natural from ethiopia. which clearly is one of the most successful versions of caffe tenore ever presented, like a berry basket. but then again, somewhat weird with milk. for caffe tenore i recommend a decent espresso con panna, nothing less.
i think it is interesting how roasteries view their blends. typically in oslo these days, "state-of-the-art" coffee shops would have at least two grinders with one so option. it was strange browsing through all those web pages, but no one really explained why they were blending in the first place. how amazing it is that blends would change according to what coffees that are available - since more and more roasteries are open about the components of their blends. and last, but not least, the roasting of blends. how are they roasted and why ? what in particular does a darker roast take out compared to a lighter roast ? i swear, i've had customers that i've known for ten years asking me about coffee from france, when they really wanted to ask about french roast (which is not how we talk about roasting, but it's a big thing in oslo). the biggest chain in oslo's special blend is a 3/4 italian and 1/4 french roast. that's all.
all in all, there's a lot of fuzz about how amazing the components are, but not so much focus on how they change when espresso brewed vs filter brewed or cupped. give it to me.
i spent some time this week trying to figure out accurate measures for french press brewing. i would be straight out lying if i said that sailing season is coming up soon here in norway. nevertheless, KAFFAs roast master mr b just volunteered to crew this summer on the biggest over night regatta in the world with robert and myself. so far in life, that's about the only time a year i actually delve into french press brewing and the best thing i can say, is that it's freshly brewed coffee. we race. our boat is made for racing. there's no pantry so the only hot meals we can make is what we mix with boiling water while tacking down the oslo fjord. and with the entire quality control - and roasting department of KAFFA supervising, i want to make good coffee times on board. the other reason i'm interested in the fine arts of french press brewing is that i'm obsessing with the paper tainted flavour all filter brewing methods are adding. but the sailing story seemed more fun.
trying to figure out french press, i've watched youtube videos and read about different techniques. after my visits on the west coast in the us of a i am tired of the conundrum : filter brewed awful coffee or top quality coffee french press brewed. my norwegian palate being used to the cleanliness of a filter brew, the french press technique most often used is as far as i've seen "old style" - resulting in a particular unclean mouthfeel and sediments sitting forever and ever adding bitterness and all the coffee oils on the walls of your stolen ritual mug while you eat your bread pudding at tartine. james hoffman, tim wendelboe and other nerds had long discussions about different techniques on their blogs - skimming and / or breaking and then pressing on their blogs and coffeed.
i was pleased to discover how the skimming took away bitterness and the not-so-pleasant mouthfeel. i've also had good luck in pouring water, letting it sit for a minute, stirring and then leave with a lid for three more minutes before skimming (not breaking) and pressing. so today, i spent some time in KAFFAbutikk serving french press brewed guatemala el injerto, pacamara and i even sold a few more bags of coffee. the french press is my newest coffee friend.
during my 10th year in oslo, i have felt that oslove several times: watching the city from the fjord on a quiet summer night after a late swim, and yesterday afternoon: skiing in a winter wonderland. bliss!
back to reality, i've sample roasted the cup of excellence samples from brasil, lots of samples from bahía and minas gerais that's on the cupping table all week. it was a pleasant surprise coming into the lab this afternoon when robert had made a blend out of the naturals from bahía and pulled shots of them. super sweet, but of course you can not cup or drink naturals from brasil without thinking about whether you like the concept or not. a clean cup is for me the most important criteria for natural processed coffees and a nice acidity to balance the sweetness. more about the results after some more cupping later this week.
the roastery is constantly working on the espresso blends, and right now it's the caffe forte blend that's under serious supervision. mr b, the roast master, and the rest of us, are constantly cupping and changing the blends, thinking that the forte blend should be even darker and fuller - it's a blend that has historically consisted of the same coffees as crescendo, but roasted through 2nd crack. however, we have serious plans to change the components and make crescendo (dropped at the crescendo of 2nd crack) even lighter putting more florals and citric notes into it by adding new components. right now forte is a blend of two caturras: panama don pepe (from boquete) and colombia buenos aires (from pitalito), a pacamara from guatemala el injerto (huehuetenango) and a washed ethiopia sidamo processed by adem bedane at kombo (referred to as ethipia sidamo adem kombo). so many things to think about when labeling coffees and most of us have a long way to go to get it right.
Nyere innlegg Eldre innlegg Startsiden
