Origin Week 2014

Gustavo Alfaro at Simon's in 2011

Evaluating for Quality: barismo's Roastery Manager, Tim Borrego shares about the upcoming origin trip where some of our long time accounts will be travelling with us to Guatemala to visit farms and producers whose coffees they serve at their cafes.

At the end of this month barismo is taking a group of our local accounts to visit our producer partners in Guatemala. Everyone involved is excited and we expect that there will be more updates from that trip once everyone returns. To give you a little bit of context of what this Origin trip is all about, it is important to talk about Origin Week that we hosted last year. In April of 2013 we had many of our producer partners in town for a national coffee conference. We took the opportunity to organize a week long series, a mini coffee university course, if you will, focused on sharing knowledge and stories with the local community. So this year Origin Week 2014, we are sending some local cafe owners who work with barismo to Central America to connect with some of our relationship producers at their farms and mills.

The cafe owners who are traveling with us to Guatemala this year choose a local coffee roaster instead of shipping from national roasters because they ask their customers every day to frequent their local business rather than supporting the national cafe chain across the street. However the value added goes beyond authentic local vendors or sustainable bike delivery, these cafe owners are invested in giving their barista staff a leg up in the coffee industry.

Access to knowledge and opportunity gives the service industry barista opportunity to gain skills beyond latte art, which is the equivalent to a high school degree in the coffee industry. We push for more 'higher-ed', taste focused education, in the Greater Boston coffee community. Some of the next few posts will be coming from someone who began his coffee career as a barista at Voltage Coffee and Art, he has worked his way up the ladder at barismo, and is just back from a trip visiting our Producer Partners in Costa Rica.

For the current generation of baristas who want a career in coffee, look for cafes that support authentic product: local roasters, local knowledge, local opportunity in the community you live in. 

Canonical, Coffee Education and Tech Tips: Practical tips and advice to give you the tools to brew better coffee. Brought to you by Pete Cannon, who handles barismo's in house training, education, and technical services.

Jumping back into the water series from last week. We will be focused on the two major water systems in the Metro Boston area as most of our area accounts use one or the other:

• Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA). MWRA provides water for most of the area (service map at http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/02org/html/whatis.htm).  The majority of MWRA water comes from the Quabbin Reservoir, supplemented by two smaller sources. MWRA does an excellent job with quality reports, and posts monthly water quality reports at http://www.mwra.com/monthly/wqupdate/qual3wq.htm .

• Cambridge Water Department (CWD). Cambridge runs on its own water system, pulling water from Fresh Pond Reservoir (which is fed by two other sources). Cambridge has some special considerations due to chlorides. CWD only posts annual water quality reports, at https://www.cambridgema.gov/Water/wateroperationsdivision/watertreatment/waterqualityreport.aspx.

We've tracked both over time, and while water quality fluctuates seasonally, the range we've gotten is similar between both. This is based on line water that has gone through a carbon filter; the MWRA data is based on our East Arlington roastery, and CWD data from dwelltime (mid-Cambridge). Numbers are stereotypical of tests done between Summer 2013 and present.

	MWRA	CWD
pH	8.0	8.0 - 9.0
TDS	94 ppm	90 ppm
Total Hardness	15.6 mg/L	12.3 mg/L
Alkalinity	65 mg/L	60 mg/L

Numbers are overall similar, except that pH swings have happened much more dramatically in Cambridge. While alkalinity is similar, pH tends to fluctuate more in Cambridge. Most concerning is chloride contamination; Route 2 runs just close to Fresh Pond Reservoir, leading to large amounts of road salt ending up in the reservoir. While safe to drink, it can pose significant problems for protecting equipment.

For those further interested in water quality, we highly recommend this talk by Scott G. of La Marzocco. At their worst, chlorides cause significant corrosion to brewing equipment. Stay tuned next week, when we'll follow up with filtration options and our recommendations.

Stay Fresh Updates:Events, classes and education, new coffees, and much more. Sign up for updates here!

Saturday, March 15, 2014 from 9:30am-2pm 
barismo at the Somerville Winter Farmers Market 
Grab a freshly roasted retail bag of barismo coffee from the well stocked selection, as well as a fresh, made-to-order pourover or a delicious cup of cold brew iced coffee. Catch us early cause it gets busy fast! We are there every week through the entire market. More info about the market from their facebook page or on twitter @SomWinterMarket

Sunday, March 16, 2014 from 5pm-7pm 
Espresso 101 class hosted at barsimo 
"A barista will explain grinding, tamping, and more, then watch as you pull shot after shot. Like an espresso coach, he’ll give you pointers on everything from your mouse tails to your brew’s hue. Small classes are taught monthly on Sunday nights" - from a recent Boston Globe article featuring barismo's Espresso 101 class. Sign up Here!

Buena Esperanza Alfaro

Gustavo at barismo

Technically speaking, Buena Esperanza Alfaro is a lot from Hacienda Santa Rosa in Huehuetenango, Guatemala owned by Gustavo Alfaro. It's a separate plot at about 1800m that we picked up because of a unique varietal. Well, it's not exactly unique, it's a varietal that rightfully doesn't get a lot of respect because where it's commonly grown is fairly low elevation (mostly in Brazil) with poorer results. We're talking about Mundo Nuevo, which would cause many a seasoned coffee pro to do a double take and question whether it could be good and why someone would plant it this high.  It's actually exceptional at this high elevation on his farm and has gotten rave reviews out of the gate from top barista locally. It was a bit of a competition to get this coffee from him after word got out about how it was cupping.  When we tasted it blind, it stood out in a big way and still holds up in production. It has been uniquely honey crisp apple (a note that shows up in many of  the Santa Rosa coffees) while floral pear blossom on the nose followed macadamia nut and nougat in the cup.  Next to the lot of Mundo Nuevo, there is some Tekisik that should have a good yield next crop for a more traditional bourbon style Huehuetenango offering. There are plans to plant some experimental lots as well, including some African varietals, so the hopes are high at the aptly named 'good hope'.

Gustavo with Simon at Simon's

The owner of Hacienda Santa Rosa is the charismatic and creative Gustavo Alfaro, a fourth generation owner of Santa Rosa. Gustavo recently came out to visit us and we chose to do a quick cafe crawl. It was a great experience where many ideas were exchanged over a lot of coffee and good food with friends. Gustavo made instant relationships among the community as we visited shops and did our best to be good hosts.

In it's essence, we were explaining both his story and the personalities of those that would be representing his coffees. Both Gustavo and those he met gained from the experience in a lot of ways.  We feel like he came away with a clear understanding for the strong community that exists here, not just the excitement, but truly the sincerity behind it.

Calen and Gustavo at Voltage

Gustavo had one strong commentary after tasting our Zone10 espresso, an all Guatemala espresso named after the Zona Viva in Guatemala City.  He wanted us to change it to Zona10 and to have just his coffees in it!  We'll take it under advisement have a special Alfaro edition in the spring with artwork based on his ideas just in time for the NERBC.  Rumor has it that a local barista is going to compete with this after meeting Gustavo!

For us, the experience was a reaffirmation to keep working hard and moving forward with big ideas.  We've been blessed by good fortune to find people along the way who understand us and get excited about coffee the way we do.  After years of hearing the critics, many people are coming around to the same seriousness we feel about coffee.  We feel like Gustavo is one of those people and are looking forward to working with him in the years to come.

Event at Simon's August 27th, 8pm

Looking for awesome coffee to push through until the late hours on a Friday night? Simon's on 1736 Mass Ave is having an after hours event put together by some of the barista there to drink coffee, socialize, and get down with some mad brews.

See the poster here, put it on your calendar as there will be some unique offerings on the table.

Single origin espresso tasting Dec 4th @ Simon's

Our trainer will be over at Simon's (1736 Mass Ave Cambridge, MA) the 4th for a single origin espresso lineup of four coffees:

Kenya Guama Peaberry roasted by Madcap

Costa Rica Los Lobos roasted by Madcap

Kenya Guama roasted by barismo

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Michelle roasted by barismo

All four coffees will be offered throughout the morning and into the afternoon.

Check it out!

Metro Boston's First Jam @ Taste this Friday

We have quite a few cafes confirmed and a full list of barista showing up for this event. It's impressive to see the community coming together. I am sure I am forgetting something but here is the general idea of what's happening Friday Night. Schedule subject to change as we are just going to go for it.
5:00pm
Kranky's introduction: barista sign in and welcome. Name tags and id's please!
Coffee: Per Cup Bar - barismo
Espresso: Shots and Machiatto - Taste
Limited Edition Coffee Ice Cream - Toscanini's
Live music till late!!!
5:30pm
The Boston Metro '09 Latte Art Throw Down:
Entry is $5 each, all comers welcome: One shot, one pour. Prizes for best pour, most creative, and most difficult pour. Prizes include tampers by Fazenda (equipment division).
6:00pm
Kranky's Latte Chug Contest:
The challenge is to make a latte and then chug it in the fastest time. Entry is free and the prize will be decided day of the event, sponsored by Taste.
6:05pm
Beer and chips barista social sponsored by barismo.
7:00pm
Winner's announcement and prizes handout.
8:00pm
Last call.

We need volunteers, judges, and general help getting the word out so don't be shy. I will update this post as I have time.

Event: Sunday Mar 1st 2-4pm 1736 Mass Ave Cambridge MA

This Sunday there will be a second showing in case you miss the first (or want to attend both) of Square Mile Espresso from the UK at Simon's on 1736 Mass Ave in Cambridge. This event will offer another of our west coast favorites on tap, Ritual Coffee Roasters. The espresso will be one of their 'Sweet Tooth' lineup and should be a nice contrast to the former WBC champ's blend.

On Saturday, you get to sample Andrew Barnett's Ecco Caffe espresso alongside the Squaremile Coffees (a very limited per cup drip offering of Finca Kilimanjaro from El Salvador will be offered but won't be cheap). Then on Sunday you get to sample the Square Mile Espresso up against Ritual Coffee's espresso. There is not much coffee to go around and it will go quickly so show up early!

My best suggestion is to come out and support both events which are both donating the proceeds to the NE Primate Sanctuary in what we are calling the 'James Hoffman likes Monkeys and so should you event!' I remember some time ago that Mr. Hoffman sponsored Chimpanzees at the London Zoo and since we were donating coffees at an auction for this cause, we thought this would be a good fit.

Everything in it's place

I spent a lot of time today with a mix of good personalities in shop. Saturdays in the lab are often like this and that was a big part of why we wanted to be open to the public. A&E is confirmed(and registered) as sending Ethan down to compete in the NERBC and the other more barismo specific news is that we will have some representation in Harvard Sq. soon. That last bit is for another day though and represents a lot more hard work to do before we can pat ourselves on the back just yet.

Later in the day I was pulling our L. St. blend at competition specs trying to get my head wrapped around exactly how robust that espresso is. A lot of home users have been consistently getting shots of this shorter and at hotter temps than we have been pulling it in shop and I decided to put this to the test. I ran the gamut of temps and then I found myself actually enjoying the punch of a shorter but hotter shot. Interesting, though I will keep tuning it at our stock temps. Simon's has this as a guest but ask for Simon if you are having a shot(and ask for it ristretto!).

Current incarnations of this blend have been more friendly to milk and for what it's worth, I have been happy that it was coming out well in a cappuccino. By no means should that be the measure of a good espresso though. Poker Face comes out particularly robustly in milk but that is a different animal entirely and yet it's prowess is still in it's complexity as a straight shot. In my biased opinion, it's consistently the best shot in town regardless of the milk. I think that's how it should be, a focus on the coffees and not the dairy.

For chuckles today, I was playing around with pouring latte art in the 5.5oz cups to see if I could keep the portions right and still get the ring of crema judges tend to look for. Moderate success at best with some old Garelick milk. It's not quite as easy as you would think to pull off without any milk waste AND pull off two cups in a row. It's something that I am thinking about as we head off to competitions.

I am not personally very found of the dark ring around a cappuccino any more than I am one of those who decries the existence of the decorated cappa. My personal opinion is that the more layered the surface is, the smoother the experience is. Folding the milk into the cup in such a way that the crema is textured into the surface in expanding layers always seemed more pleasant than the intense burst of reddened foam at the ring of the cup. Maybe I am contradicting the larger coffee community who may desire a bit more contrast in the cappa but that's how I feel.

After the competition gigs are over, we will resume hosting popular events. From this point on though, we will have more formal sessions and avoid the general open house situations. We are open to the public 5 days a week so we think it's time to have more brewing focused classes. If good coffee ended with perfect green or a fabulous roast, we could all enjoy coffee easily but it doesn't come bottled like wine so we have to put in a little more effort when we get the coffee home. That's where the classes will be focused. New sessions begin after February 9th so stay tuned.

NERBC

Nik is getting ready, another practice session today, for competition. We are putting together the support to get him in a good position to deal with his first venture into competition. We are doing our best to give him the worst so when he gets on stage, it will be a bit easier.

Our friends at A&E Roasters may be sending representatives and I think there are more entries we aren't aware of going this year but we will have to wait until the day of competition. barismo may be supporting one more local barista but more on that when it's firm as we have to keep it under wraps because it involves a new account. Simon's is confirmed to not have any competitors and it remains to be seen if other cafes like bloc 11 are going to respond to the influx of area barista this year(yes, I know they read and that's why I asked the question). Even 1369 will be fielding a few competitors so I wonder what the reasons not to show up are?

Competitions are something strange to behold. A stage show you only can experience by competing. On the outside, it looks much more mundane than the boiler it feels like during your fifteen minutes. It may not be for the purists who want to sit around and cup coffee all day, but I will tell you it takes mettle to get up there and I respect those who do. This year, it's good to be new as all the old faces seem to be out f the competition mix this time around. I think that's a good thing because what the competitions need is fresh new faces.

Having been in both the latte art contest and a last minute invite to the USBC a few years ago, I don't revel in competing. The pressure you can put on yourself is intense but worth every bit of stress. Of course, I wasn't saying this after the first round of the USBC, I was cursing the very existence of the thing praying not to make it to the next round. It was afterward, the lessons I learned, and the simple experience of putting myself out there to be judged that I saw a different angle of what it was to compete. You grow up a bit as a professional and that's a good thing. So many of the cafes in our area suffer one simple problem, insulation. They have no larger view than their shop vs another shop down the street set up as some kind of straw man to beat down. A simple illustration of this fact is that some longtime successful cafe owners have finally discovered that single origin and estate coffees do exist.

We all talk about how serious we are about coffee, but the good cafes will find a way of proving it. It might be the mix of coffees served or the flare in serving them, it might be on the competition stage, and it could be by pressing the issue and creating a new coffee bar concept in your region. More on that last teaser soon...

Round 10

I had a solid shot of PF at Taste in the AM, headed back to the shop after a brief stop at Simon's to drop off some Nimac Kapeh.

It was one of those days where I decided, again, I needed a hammock at the shop.

Then the snow came.

I ended up calling it a day and wanted to try to get some rest because it's been a long week. A lot of long hours to get roasts out ahead of Christmas. That means a few long days but in the end, so be it. We didn't get into coffee to be romantics, we knew it was work.

Retail sales have been solid but we do have a little extra espresso at the shop this week. If nobody braves the snow to get them, we'll just drink it ourselves. That reminds me, we are working on two new espresso projects.

One project is to rebuild Rudiments. Our initial vision is a roast of 70% Brasil and 30% Guatemala Atitlan, Nimac Kapeh. We finally found the espresso profile for Nimac and it's a hell of a straight shot. I wish some shop would just pick thtat coffee up and serve it as both house espresso and drip. But then... The idea for Rudiments is to be almost a classic North Italian profile done to our tastes. The Brasil is the base and the Nimac is the 'Yirg' profile that sweetens and adds aroma. In barismo fashion, it's clean, but this would be very mellow fruit compared to some of our other versions of Rudiments.

The final espresso is a work in progress called Soma. I am still trying to finesse a third component so it probably won't be finished until post Christmas. More on that later.