mie

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!