Andy Easthope was the 2^nd Competitor in on the brewers cup this morning. We don’t yet know his score but reckon he was 4^th!  He was great at connecting with the judges and seemed to have even more confidence on the main stage. After tasting the coffee afterwards we noticed it was considerably lighter bodied than the day before. It still tasted beautiful and had a slightly brighter taste to it. Matt Perger from St Ali took first place and congratulations to him. It was really interesting to see how each of the brew presentations varied. Matt for example focused on particle size and used a specific sieve to take out the particles in the brew which he thought added unwanted flavors and also left it dry.  This was actually my favourite category of competition to watch this year as it was new , had a very defined theme for each competitor  and  plenty of fresh content on brewed coffee.

Dan Freer from 9 Bar (SA) and David Smith from the Blessed Bean (NSW) both did really well.  When the host announced David was from Wagga Wagga the crowd seemed to go quiet!  I was itching to scream out for out ‘WAAGAA!!!’ and let the crowd know our client David was there for the kill. Dan on the other hand made me laugh as he strolled out onto stage with just a little old shopping bag. All the previous competitors had been entering with the latest trolleys and gadgets, then in comes travelling Dan with just a bag and his coffee. Loved it! It was like he was on a pilgrimage and just dropped by to lay down some mean latte art and then keep moving on. On the contrary his performance was very polished and he had some great support from SA.  Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to take down Scott Luengen from QLD who had some amazing contrast and definition in his work and claimed the title.

In the cupping it was showdown time! We had two former Australian champions (Ben Bicknell, Jonny Pisanelli) and a host of new talent. Rather than three rounds of cupping then a final , they all went at it in one huge round! This was a great decision as it made up for some lost time and also created a spectacular vibe in the room. Ben was ready: cool, calm and focused. After the slurping was done, the cups were revealed  and Ben was off to a great start. He lead with three others, but then he hit a ‘NO’ as the 2^nd cup was raised putting him behind. Fred Lullfitz, the cupper from Queensland’s Di Bella coffee continued straight through with the perfect 8 score. Credit to him and the DI Bella team for an amazing win.

Whist we did not have a finalist in the Barista category it was an exciting round to watch. Old rivals Will Priestly and Craig Simon were head to head in the results and Craig finally got his win! Will is one of the most amazing baristas I have met and whilst it was a disappointing moment for him when the winner was announced, it was a well-deserved and magical moment for Craig, having been runner up over several years. He is a real gentleman and congratulations to him and Veneziano.

That’s it folks. Tomorrow we start preparing for 2013! Lets take a moment to thank all our Five Senses competitors and judges below!

The competitions held today were the open heats for the brewers’ cup and the semi finals for Barista. Five Senses was represented in both categories.

Andy Easthope was first up competing today at 9am with a smooth, clear and controlled performance. He used three clever drippers to serve up a stand out Kenyan coffee that he had fallen in love with.  The grind he used was much finer than what people would normaly use  in brewed coffee, with a dose of 22 grams in each clever dripper. The resulting coffee had an amazing creamy body and a very nice rounded sweetness to provide balance. It wasn’t the typical high-acid Kenyan that you would expect and Andy explained the reasons for this very well to the judges.  What impressed me most was how Andy ensured each judge received the same taste by countering temperature differences across the table with agitation inside the clever dripper! In the early afternoon, just as Juliana was about to start her performance in the barista semi finals, Andy got the news he had made the finals!!! We are so excited to have him there.

Juliana was up at 1pm with all the Five Senses crew there to support her. She was nervous all morning, however when she was on stage the nerves disappeared and she immediately captivated the judges with her warmness and professionalism. The presentation seemed flawless, the shots were looking great , the milk texturing and splitting went beautifully and there were no uncomfortable moments. Across the work area Juliana moved swiftly and seemed in control of her presentation. She was so captivating that is was only in the last minute that eyes of the audience went to the clock. There was only a minute left and the signature drinks were still being laid out. We all became a little nervous as the clock ticked down to mere seconds.  Unfortunately for Jules the minute over time meant she was ineligible to win. Our hearts went out to her, this  is not the how you want your journey to end after hundreds of training hours. The rules of competition can seem so ruthless at times , but without them you don’t have a fair competition either. Juliana, we are lucky to have you there and proud of your performance.  Thanks again from the Five Senses team.

Tomorrow is finals day and we hav four left in the competition. Ben Bicknell (Five Senses) will hopefully slurp his way to victory (and Vienna) in the cup tasting , Andy (Five Senses) will brew like he has never brewed before to take out the Brewers Cup title and Dan Freer (9 bar – SA) will join David Smith from the Blessed Bean (NSW) in the Latte Art finals. Bring it guys!

For Five Senses competitors there was some heartbreak and some incredible news! The highlight of the day was an amazing win from our one and only ranger.. Ben Bicknell!  Ben took 1st place in the open cupping today, giving him a place in the finals and a chance to reclaim his former title as Australia’s best coffee cupper. We had four competitors in the cupping and the stakes were high. In the second of three rounds we saw the three heat winners score a perfect 8 out of 8 cups, all under 3 minutes. That is already a world standard result. Ben was in the final round and his only option was to get 8 out of 8 in less than 2 minutes 11 seconds. He flew through the cups at a blistering pace of 1 minute 43 seconds and, in front of a stunned crowd, the perfect 8!! What a performance! Surely it’s time we launched the Bicknell website along the lines of those Chuck Norris quotes.  He really did roundhouse kick the table today.

For our four awesome Five Senses barista competitors there was less good news here with Jean Paul Sutton from Queensland taking first place and one of five spots in the finals.  We had Gab from Epic Espresso (Perth), Michael from Standing Room Only (Perth), Toby from The Wedge (NSW) and our very own Ron Ngo who all showed grace, impeccable coffee skills and knowledge. We are all so proud of you guys and thank you for from all the team at Five Senses.

It’s overwhelming to think there is two more days to go and everyone is exhausted from today. Let’s not forget Ben, Megan and Brydon have all been judging, organizing and running around from dawn to dusk, Jenny Murray who has been judging the flavors of India competition and we must give Caleb Heinsleman, our star technician a special thanks for all his amazing efforts supporting the needs of Synesso and Marco equipment today at the show. He really is a super star that guy.

Tomorrow we have Andy Easthope, who runs the Australian Barista Academy for Five Senses compete in the ‘brewers cup’ open finals. This competition is run with any brew method and scoring is weighted 70% on taste, 30% on presentation. Go Andy! We also have our very own Juliana Nobre, the WA barista champ competing in the semi finals! We are fired up, they are fired up, so come down to the main stage and join the Five Senses crew for a cheer!!! Come On!

1. Who could forget the infamous takedown incident when a certain WA comp veteran decided it was time to bust out some MMA moves during the after party. A textbook double legged takedown was executed followed by a not so textbook ‘booty rub’ in the downed opponents face. Details and names have been withheld to protect the innocent, but you know who you are!!

2. Speaking of unforgettable what about the glorious team accommodation during the comp held in Adelaide. The said hotel was the evocatively titled ‘Hotel Adjacent Casino’, I’m serious, that was the name! Located in an alley that conveniently doubled as a boxing ring and public toilet for the punters from the nearby red light district. Ahhh, the memories!

3. Whilst we’ve enjoyed a bit of success along the way the pinnacle had to be the stirring cup tasting victory of the espresso ranger ‘Ben Bicknell’. Going right down to the wire, everyone’s favourite Ginger snatched the victory on the very last cup. This event is still spoken about in hushed tones in the hallways of Five Senses Coffee, an event right up there with Makybe Diva’s three Melbourne cups, Cathy Freemans Olympic victory in the 400 meters and the mighty Dockers first derby victory over the Eagles!

4. And while we are talking about the espresso ranger, no reminisce about the comp history would be complete without mention of his insane dance moves at each years after party. Think of a drug affected pray mantis doing the robot and you’ll get some idea. Word is Andy ‘white boy, black soul’ Easthope will be giving Ben a run for his money on the DF this year. Did somebody say dance-off??!!

Keep an eye on the FSC blog for all the breaking news from Melbourne.

That veteran competitor

This time, my coffee journey started off at the Melbourne International Airport! I know, crazy right? But finally, with the opening of the two Vue De Monde kiosks, we can start our overseas searches with the taste of some delicious Australian coffee on our pallets. First stop, Los Angeles! LA has slowly but surely seen a solid specialty coffee scene begin to grow — with some early landmarks like Groundworks Coffee setting the scene, the establishment of Intelligentsia’s LA roastworks has brought their retail experience and progressive coffee sourcing systems to bear on this emerging market. With an early morning arrival and a late night departure, I had a few hours to scour the city for a restorative coffee. A solid trek into the city landed me at the shiny new store of the posterkids of the specialty coffee industry, Handsome Roasters. While the design of the store was slick, the coffee delicious and the tricked out roasters eye-catching, the real point of difference is the service model owners Tyler, Chris and Michael have decided to adopt. In a land beset with condiment options and the ability to customise your every meal down to individual ingredients, these guys have decided that they’re going to serve their coffee the way they think it should be served — maximising on the flavor, texture and intensity without comprise. This means no syrups, no skim milk and no massive cups — a challenging, yet refreshing approach to coffee service. A seasonal house blend along with a featured single origin are on offer for espresso and interestingly, these guys are only offering small batch brewed coffees — while the drive and industry buzz in the US has been about individually prepared V60s, Clever Coffee Drippers and Chemex, the crew at Handsome are showing that with the right equipment you can make some delicious larger batches of brewed coffee.

After pumping my system full of a couple of delicious coffees, Chris and I headed across town to Intelligensia’s Silverlake store. Nestled amongst the Hollywood hills, the Silverlake store takes a distinctly different approach to workflow than many Australia cafes. Upon entering Silverlake, we place our order with the barista preparing the shots — they talk us through the options and provide some recommendations. We shuffle sideways as the shot for our coffee is prepared and passed along to the barista texturing the milk. We finally end up at the register where we pay and collect our finished drink and head over to a perch at the bar. This order, pay, collect model is becoming more and more frequent in the States — there’s definitely some benefits with the barista being able to interact closely with each and every customer but it also seems to restrict the flow of people coming into the store.

With six coffees under the belt in a few hours, it was time to board a flight again, this time, to the Mecca of the specialty coffee movement: Seattle! Arriving late into a chilly, misty night, my only thought was for a bed and a shower after hours of continuous travel. The coffee scene of Seattle is an interesting one — firmly defined as the birthplace of Starbucks, the consumer and café culture alike have been drived by this past and it’s only now that a new wave of expirementation is starting to be explored. Milstead & Co was a standout with the owners crafting a wide range of drinks in various brew formats — excitedly talking about their brew ratios and the favourite flavor profiles. The likes of Stumptown, Victrola and Vivace helped to fill the rest of my weekend with caffeine and the fine folks at Caffe Vita showed me through their beautiful roastery space, sun shining through the skylights onto their vintage roasters. Generally, the roast profile around Seattle is darker than that found around Australia and the cup sizes much larger — I got a few funny looks from the baristas when I was asking for my Americanos in the smallest cup they had on the top of their machine!

The next leg of my journey involved a quick trip up to Vancouver — a three hour hop skip and a jump north of Seattle, Vancouver is a city that feels on the verge of tipping into a serious specialty coffee frenzy! Relatively new, beautifully designed espresso bars, Matchstick Coffee and Revolver were both upping the dialogue with customers, offering delicious Chemex and single origin espressos. So close to the SCAA event, both locations were buzzing with out of town coffee folks looking for their fix. I also organised a quick trip out to 49th Parallel’s roasting works to say hi to friends Barret Jones and Vince Piccolo who’ve been involved in the Canadian and world coffee scenes for many a year. Their roastery was a beautiful space, the looming walls carefully painted in their distinctive blue and brow colours. An interesting difference that I saw both across Canada and the US was that most roasters only had one or maybe two blends and that the components of those blends were very fluid, purely dependant on the seasonal green coffee purchases — while this system changes the profiles of the blend of the course of the year, it allows for the freshest coffees to be served out to consumers. Vancouver is also home to the highly regarded Swiss Water Decaf plant — myself and Rich Muhl got a sweet tour of the facilities from fellow WBC judges, Andrea Piccolo and Mike Strumpf. While many in the coffee industry have an automatic aversion to anything decaf, the visit to the plant certainly illuminated the depth of science and control ensured during the decaffeination process. A cupping table set up with coffees prior and post decaf was really interesting too — with more recent changes in the processing of the coffee at Swiss Water, there was very little difference between the samples … definitely something I wasn’t expecting!

Cruising back on south towards the US, it was time to wrap up my café crawling for now and prepare myself for the 2012 SCAA Symposium and Trade Show in Portland, Oregon. With all my discussions so far with coffee professionals across the west coast of the US and Canada, whenever the fact that I was from Australia came up (eg. I slipped and ordered a Long Black), there was more excitement and recognition of our scene that at any point previously in my travels — it seems that we’re not the only ones now looking abroad for inspiration and a sense of the greater coffee community. The Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) show would prove to be the perfect fermenting ground for the exchange of viewpoints, exciting ideas and brainstorming of where to go from here. As I sift through the myriad of caffeine fueled discussions, I’ll continue to post some of my thoughts and pose some further concepts for what could happen next — stay tuned!”

Wall of Coffee at Handsome Coffee Roasters

Ohhh ... shiny!

With this year’s SCAA being held in Portland, only three hours drive from the Synesso factory in Seattle it seemed to make sense to put on a special effort and make it one to remember. The thinking was that the booth would be handed over to Baristas from top tier roasters and cafes to showcase their coffees and their skills on the world’s premier espresso machine. Obviously a double sized booth would be required to fit the three, three group Synesso Hydra’s and six Anfim grinders that would be involved. Machines need to sit on benches of course and Synesso owner and designer Mark Barnett though it would be a good idea to design and custom build some that would complement the beautiful machines sitting on them. As it turns out Mark achieved his goal to the point where the Synesso styled, stainless steel and wood benches nearly stole the show, receiving numerous positive comments and accolades.

As is always the case the Synesso booth was consistently crowded from the very start of the show till 4pm on Sunday when the officials herded everyone out the door for the last time. High profile personalities such as David Schomer and James Hoffman were popular and caused a bit of a traffic jam for anyone trying to pass by on our isle. Our own Jen Murray and Ben Bicknell worked a full shift on Sunday serving our Dark Horse blend to a very appreciative crowd, many of whom were particularly enthusiastic in their praise. Having the guest Baristas doing all the hard work I had more opportunity than usual to “do the show floor”. While I always make time to meet with our Equipment and Parts Suppliers at the SCAA, its more often than not only in the last couple of hours of the event that Mark and I force ourselves to check out the rest of the show.

Congratulations to Mark and the full team from Synesso for a very successful show. The amount of time and effort that went into making it all come together is quite staggering but the many hundreds of visitors to the booth who experienced the results will no doubt remember it for some time.

Hydra's in a Row

From my perspective, the best part of the show is how it provides a neutral platform where interacting and sharing ideas flows easily. This is the time and space to ask questions, interact with members from all parts of the supply chain, have a coffee with your competitors and seek advice from your mentors.

Economics, supply and demand, market volatility, foreign exchange, hedging … how do we communicate to the end user, barista, cafe owners some of this information so they can better align their expectations and also maximise their strategies into the future. I found the topic of increasing consumption in producing countries and it’s expected impact on supply and demand a particularly interesting one. With the demand for specialty coffees on the rise not only in consuming countries but also in producing, it means increased competition to buy great coffees and also no doubt higher price tags. There can exist a large gap between what the highest end specialty buyers are asking for … trusted varieties that are often more fragile and lower producing, selective hand-picking, micro mills and small lot separations vs the extreme end of the market (and also the biggest users) developing higher yielding more robust varieties as well as increasingly mechanised picking and sorting. Although these two philosophies are worlds apart and moving in different directions at this point, it’s hard to deny that the success of the large scale commodity coffees to meet demand will have a big impact on the viability of speciality coffee production into the future. OR .. maybe this just means the increased demand for specialty coffees will see them moved completely away from the volatility of the market and into a completely different price bracket of their own. Either way, I find economics a really interesting topic and my prediction (I’m by no means an economist and this is a complete oversimplification) is that specialty coffees will continue to rise in price and the long term effects will be a larger price adjustment at the cafe level. Maybe a good thing? Finally really making a value statement to the end consumer, who knows.

I loved James’ speech on how we deliver coffee in retail. It made me think of the “exclusive” wave that focuses on exclusivity of a coffee to differentiate rather than focusing on how its delivered to create a valuable and marketable customer experience. I would never dispute the fact that a large percentage of customers are definitely looking for a great coffee, but I’d say many of them are looking for something experience based without being overcomplicated. We are the experts, we don’t necessarily need to bombard people wish literal information to prove it, especially on a retail level. The moral … a less complicated memorable and creative experience that better communicates the true value of what they are drinking … plus lots of info for that small percentage that are interested … clever ways to profile your customers without asking, how do we deliver the product?

You know, I had a great time, I was run off my feet and I drank a lot of COFFEE! I could write way more about every little detail, but maybe you should message me and take me out for a coffee and I can share some more fun stuff with people directly.

Caleb (Head Roaster)
Attire: Sailor
Special shot: Full power ‘trick flick’ forehand

Damo (Roaster)
Attire: Denim vest/ tight shorts
Special shot: the ‘muscle spin’

Tommy T (Roaster)
Attire: ‘Pretty in Pink’
Special shot: The skip and spin back hand grin

Jacob (Client Support/ Quality Control)
Attire: 80′s gymwear
Special shot: The Novak Djokovic power forehand

Tom Beaumont (Manager)
Attire: harry high pant blue shorts, stripy top
Special shot: The ‘Who’s your Daddy’ forehand top spin

The warm up started well with Nolan sending out his ‘kiss of death’ forehand, which had Tom B running for the ball outside. The dash ended with a face-first smash into the Proud Mary garage door! Said Nolan: ‘Well that’s one down’. But he underestimated our chops. The team pulled together to discuss some strategy.

Then the real games began. We rotated players every 10 points, so everyone got involved. Five Senses started off strong, winning the first round 21/11. Proud Mary came back to even it at one set each! There were some big shots coming from both sides and plenty of style. Five Senses ended up leading 4 sets to 1, however in the last set Proud Mary were finding their pace leading the whole way. The final set score went into an exciting tie breaker with Five Senses winning 26/24 … Tommy T and Caleb taking us to our first victory!

Next the singles round started with the winner staying on. Perhaps it was the knock to the head? Tom B went undefeated.

Really the best part of the day for us was meeting some super cool people, who share our passion for the speciality industry. Over post tournament drinks, we caught up on each other’s news, got acquainted and talked about the next time we would get together. Thanks Nolan and the team at Proud Mary for showing us some of Foostcray, laying on the killer donuts and for being so hospitable.

Game on!

Post game brewskies

Naandi Foundation is an non-government organisation (NGO) involved in a number of livelihood programs across India. Coffee in the tribal region of the Araku Valley is only a small piece of a much larger picture. The coffee combined with other commodities in the Araku are about helping create a small sustainable source of income and at the same time creating opportunities for education in the villages, medical care, better food sources, nutrition, fresh water, etc. The valley has naturally been using organic practices and so Naandi’s very own David Hogg spends his time experimenting and teaching the farmers how to maximise organic and biodynamic practices in the region.

The overall vibe is that the people working with Naandi are passionate, dynamic and commited to this very long term project. Each year there is news of something new that they have implemented to continue moving forward and making sure they are doing the best possible job they can. This is certainly reflected in the coffees … while I thought last years coffees were great, I can see more improvement again from this year.

We spent the last two days post cupping, making our way out to the valley and back where we had the chance to see some farms, the nursery, the CRU, visit some villages and schools and dance at the celebration dinner. The awards ceremony didn’t dissapoint with a massive turnout of 1000′s of tribals from the region.

It’s an absolute pleasure to be here and play a small part in this project. Keep your eyes on our website for some of these coffees in the next couple of months.

A Gems of Araku winner

Post Gems of Araku celebration

Friday and Saturday saw all 30 throw down their best performances for panels of qualified palates to scrutinise, score and select a final 12 to battle it out in the finals. The standard this year set a new benchmark across the board, with NZ’s coffee professionals really addressing the expectations of the Barista Championships. Many delicious espressos were served, creative signature beverages enjoyed and coffee stories told. We saw singles from Sidamo (Ethiopia) to Guatemala and even Australia, plus creative ingredients from frozen grapes and an extract of shortbread to sweet pimento. A top 12 made it through to the semi-final, which was followed by a showdown between the final six. Sunday was the big day for the best of the best. Both rounds saw representatives from a variety of regions, proving that holding one central competition was no obstacle to success. Baristas from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Nelson all faced off in the final round.

One of my highlights as a sensory judge in the final round came from Wellington’s Nick Clark (3rd) who presented a routine framed around the wine concept of ‘terroir’ with an intricately staged signature drink breaking down the sweet, acidic and bitter components of his coffee before bringing it back together as a ‘master beverage.’ It was pretty cool. Chloe Zhou (2nd) kept us guessing as to the origin of her coffee, highlighting many things her coffee wasn’t, before using her frozen grape signature to highlight the unusual growing conditions of her Bin 35 Mountain Top coffee and its double-dried raisin processing. NZBC 2012 Champion Aymon McQuade presented a winning performance built around coffees he had found himself in El Salvador and Colombia on an origin trip taken around last year’s WBC. His staged signature drink utilised a mechanical pump contraption which filtered shortbread into an extract which was later mixed into the final drink.

A big thank you and congratulations to all who were involved in this year’s New Zealand Barista Championships — brave competitors, fellow judges, volunteer organisers and supporters alike. It was a great event. Bring on Vienna, 2012!

NZBC 2012 Top 6
1st Aymon McQuade, Bell Tea & Coffee, Wellington
2nd Chloe Zhou, Crafted Coffee Company, Christchurch
3rd Nick Clark, Flight Coffee, Wellington
4th Brendon Neilson, Espresso Workshop, Auckland
5th Hideyuki Kono, Crafted Coffee Company, Christchurch
6th Claris Jones White, Pomeroys Coffee, Nelson

The top 6 at the recent 2012 NZ Barista Champs

Nick Clark (3rd) preparing his signature drink