Barista magazine meet Simon Hsieh

Current issue (April/May 2008)of B-Mag has a brief piece (pg 18) I wrote on Mr. Clean Green's visit to the US.

Some people still wonder about the towel method. As Simon would say when you ask him any substantiative what if, 'try it.' Like everything we do, it isn't for show, it serves a purpose. I remember one full time internet coffee pundit questioned the method as just for show. I thought, this guy never tried the method nor does he bother to measure temp or time when brewing vac pot, am I supposed to take him seriously?

All that said, having a spiffy new GB5 will really limit brew time on the vac pot so... remember this:

Test everything, try everything, but sometimes it just comes down to being in the same room with the same coffee in a specific roast style. If you are lucky enough to have a TCA 2 from Hario, Simon does do overseas orders.

A Wee Bit Of Coffee

A Wee Bit Of Coffee, originally uploaded by jaminsky.

I just received an email entitled 'Update on your Guatemalan vac sealed coffees' and it made me smile. An update on that sometime later.

You'd be surprised how 'not like we think it is' the whole coffee exporting system is. There are fantastic coffees that just never make it to the tiny percentile of specialty roasters looking for it. Part of it is the simple fact they are unaware of us and our market. If they were somehow more aware of our tiny segment's demands, it would open a lot more doors for great coffees to reach our market.

Somewhere in a stack like this is an amazing coffee or two.... or three...

To the next 'golden' brew

87980001, originally uploaded by SIWA COFFEE.

Right now, there is a lot of navel gazing going on in the blogs about what brew methods are best, what to do now that the clamour for Clover turned into the planet buster on the death star....

A lot of people are talking about moving to the manual methods or anything new that's less automated. Siphon, pourover bars, and getting back to basics are becoming the buzz words. I think it's just a movement in trying to find a new niche, the new amazing brewer that will give them the angle. Specializing and definite product differentiation from the big boys. I am proud there are some serious cats out there brewing vac with all the tedium and technical precision of a guitarist mid solo but they are the few among a mob of new found fans of the manual method.

The times are changing and nothing is settled right now. There are no firm standards and we have no clear direction where things will be in the next year. It was not too long ago that I believe we were in the dark ages of coffee on the verge of change. Sure the forums were buzzing and 3wavers were aplenty working for 'the goal', but it was a time with a lot of passion and very little substance. Vac sealing was something only eccentrics did and few would publicly admit how much coffees deteriorate much less think about freezing a coffee.

The focus was on the equipment mods, ritual movements in preparation, and all about these name brand 'black box' blends. The forums were left to the machinations of latte artists proclaiming the value of triple rosettas and pacman blowing flames in your cup AND gratuitous photo series of 'naked' portafilter triple thick one ounce muddy baked 'chocolate' shots. Sure, there was an interesting segment focused on how to hack some cheapy piece of equipment into some better cheapy piece of equipment.... but eventually, you PID your PID and it becomes redundant so you end up buying the best equipment after spending lots of cash on a series of small modded upgrades.

Somewhere along the way, a lot of focus on the actual coffees was lost. Sure, I realize everyone is 'about letting the coffee speak for itself' and other catchy phrases but a little less time on forums talking about the concept and more time living it would help us all.

It's all the more complicated these days by marketing that is geared at direct trade and relationships where the farmer as a brand is glorified on one hand and on the other often then repackaged in mill marks where the farmer disappears again. Transparency is a funny thing we all talk about but don't really ever see or have the access to understand.

Then there are coffees where the placement in contests or prices paid set notoriety and it can simply be a contest to pay the highest price for the right to pay the highest price AND then you have press and buzz based on expensive brewing equipment and 20K utterly superfluous heating elements clouding the picture of what is really good coffee and what is just an expensive lamp making cheap coffee at a high price.

So, if you can clear through the fair trade, organic trade, direct trade, bidding wars, ego trips, pricey brewers, complicated techniques, barista flair, and well, everything but cup taste to well... simply cup taste, that's an amazing moment of clarity.

Things haven't really changed that much but I am thoroughly excited by splintering segments of the industry headed in new directions. The point is, there are great things going on in coffee BUT you have to dig deep and often the people doing the most amazing bits don't spend time cruising coffeed or CG, they are out there doing it. Marketing rarely cuts through to the tiny elements that can help make or break a good coffee.

IMG_3245, originally uploaded by edwinfvh.

Taste in Newton, MA

Today, I dropped by my friend Nik's new digs in Newton called Taste. He is taking over a space on Walnut street where it was an existing crepe bar with limited coffee service. Nik is hoping to change the coffee service and is working on upgrades and renovations with an idea of expanding the coffee program to be more progressive. Particularly, an interest in espresso that peaks my curiosity. Of the new additions, Nik scored a nice three group Synesso and is in the beginning stages of building a nice little coffee scene. With a small dedicated staff and continued investment, it looks like it will progress in a good direction.

Having followed Nik for some time (and having an affinity for his grandfather Larry), it's good to see him land in a space where he can start to work out his direction in coffee. I am curious to see how things progress and where he takes his interest. It should be noted, his espresso cup collection is well ahead of expectations.

Something I noticed today while at Taste. We spend so much energy in producing coffee but many of us don't get to see the end product realized. This was part of the realization I had in Guatemala, they had very little perspective of how the product often arrived 'finished' in the cafe. We typically only get to see the customer reaction as a barista and that reaction rarely makes it back through the multitude of people who had a hand in production. I recently have not been behind a counter in a while and I was beginning to lose touch with that relationship and the joy of that exchange. The barista to customer connection made over a product. Sometimes we forget that without that, there is nothing more than a product. Nik has that, a fluid conversationalist, he has an ease in making that connection.

For a good conversation and to see the varying stages of his progression, I recommend a visit or two.

Baca!: Tops... (Drew: Also tops, but slightly less so)

tops, originally uploaded by baca!.

We rarely show love on this blog, we just never get around to it. We like to talk about new, different or exceptional things going on in some other part of the world that we feel should be brought to the attention of the community stateside. Additionally, we basically never talk about SCAA sanctioned events, news or otherwise... Hell must have frozen over though, because I will do both in this brief post (it's like therapy).

Anyway, I just want to congratulate Chris Baca of Ritual Coffee Roasters on becoming the new Western Regional Barista Champion. He's a goofy dude and takes a lot of photos of himself (see above), but he's a true barista and has really put the hours in to get where he is.

I also just wanted to give Drew Caitlin (also Ritual) a shout out for making it to the finals and giving what I'm told was a really solid performance in his first appearance at competition. No small achievement in a region a strong as the WRBC.