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The Decade in Specialty Coffee part 2

2010-01-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

As promised, part two of a three-part retrospective on the past decade in specialty coffee.

Coffee of the Decade:

Panama Boquete Hacienda La Esmeralda 'Special'

Perhaps the most obvious pick in this lineup, the coffee known by many as just "Esmeralda" needs to be recognized not only for its own notoriety, but its impact on the wider specialty coffee industry.

In an area in Panama known as Jaramillo, a hunch inspired a 2002 exploration of the coffees on the Peterson's farm, leading to the discovery of a particular area with coffees of extraordinary quality. It was introduced to the specialty coffee world a couple years later, and it has been celebrated to the point of being called as the "sex goddess of coffee" by writer Michaele Weissman in her book, "God in a Cup."

Esmeralda Special has broken the highest specialty coffee auction price for green coffee at least three times, and had the coffee world scratching their heads and debating the correlation between price and quality, wondering aloud whether the bidding had gotten out of hand. Raising the price ceiling so high, however, had a definite trickle-down effect to other extraordinary coffees, with these exceptional coffees hitting retail shelves for $20 to $50 a roasted pound or more.

The other major impact of Esmeralda Especial has been awareness of coffee varietals. The renown coffee is of the "geisha" variety. It's apparently from Ethiopia, but still yet to be definitively and directly linked to coffees currently growing in that east African country, recognized as the birthplace of coffee. While many producers rushed to plant geisha seed-stock throughout their farms, farmers in other countries focused their attention on some of the other proven heirloom varietals: bourbon, SL-28, pacamara, among others. Until the latter part of the past decade, you would never have heard roasters or baristas uttering these variety names.

As the legend of Esmeralda Special grows, so does the idea of consumers paying over $100 a pound, or $10 for a brewed cup of extraordinary coffees. As the demand for specialty coffee grows worldwide, and prices inevitably climb, it's no great stretch to predict that we'll be thanking lady Esmeralda for clearing the way for an economically-sustainable market in the coming years.

Runner-up:

Brazil Ipanema

Due to the sheer massiveness of this Brazilian company, but helped by great attention paid to coffee quality, Ipanema could be called the farm that linked the specialty coffee world together. From Starbucks to Counter Culture, in single-origin drip offerings to espresso blends, Ipanema coffees were everywhere this past decade. While not the most romantic of coffee-origin stories, the agrobusiness-level Brazilian producer represents the cutting-edge of large-scale coffee production, and is an undeniable force in the industry.

~~~

Coffee Roasting Device of the Decade:

Loring SmartRoast Kestrel S35

On the most part, there are two types of small-capacity (under 100 kg) roasting machines: drum roasters and air roasters. Perhaps better described as conduction and convection roasters respectively, little has changed to the fundamental design of coffee roasters in the past decade until the quiet introduction of the Kestrel from Loring SmartRoast.

Often called a "hybrid roaster" because the coffee is roasted in a drum but the heat transfer is convective, the Kestrel (and its cousin the Scirocco) is designed around a recirculation feature that essentially serves as its own afterburner, incinerating exhaust particulates and preserving heat that typical roasters radiate or blow out their stacks. This results in a significant reduction in emissions and perhaps unmatched fuel efficiency.

Global distribution has just begun, with Kestrels now installed at renown specialty roasters like Maruyama in Japan and Terroir in Massachusetts. While the specialty coffee industry generally waves the environmental sustainability banner, burning of fossil fuels and the resulting air pollution are problems that don't have many solutions yet. Further development in "green roasting" in the coming decade is both the industry's destiny and its burden.

Runner-up:

Probat L12

The notorious Probat L12. Do a Google image search on coffee roasters, and you'll see photos of newly installed L12 after L12. Designed as a large laboratory roaster (hence the "L") by Probat, whose main business is large commercial roasting machines, perhaps hundreds of L12's are in use as small-batch and/or in-shop roasters. Infamous for being hard to clean and crippled by its inability to roast and cool at the same time (the newest "ProbatOne" L12's are shipping with two fans to change this), L12's have an important place in the hearts of thousands of roasters around the world.

~~~

Coffee Preparation Device of the Decade:

Fuji PXR3 Controller

A what?!?

Before the Slayer, before the GB/5, before the Synesso, before David Schomer's tricked-out Lineas, were the first PID temperature-controlled espresso machines known to be: the lowly Rancilio Silvia with a Fuji Electric PXR3 PID temperature controller.

Two then amateur coffee enthusiasts, Greg Scace in Maryland and Andy Schecter in New York realized that a PID (proportional, integral, derivative) controller might provide better temperature control than the typical bimetallic thermostats found in espresso machines like their Silvias. They announced their experiments on the USENET newsgroup alt.coffee, and the rest is history. The most widely installed aftermarket controller on both home and commercial machines has been the Fuji PXR3.

PID temperature controllers, most simply described as computers that use calculus algorithms to read and respond to temperature changes, are now in widespread use, both on devices that heat water (espresso machines, hot water dispensers), and on coffee roasters. Most recently, manufacturers are using PID controllers to control the pressure in an espresso machine rather than the temperature.

The era of hyper-focusing on temperature stability in espresso machines is arguably coming to a close, but only because flat brew temperature controls were made possible by PID controllers during the past decade. Currently the concerns have shifted to pressure profiling, with temperature profiling (actively controlling the brew water temperature during extraction) on the next horizon.

Until PID controllers, the only computers found in espresso machines were for brewing automation. A typical espresso machine in 2000 demonstrated a temperature fluctuation of up to plus-or-minus 6 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit. Today, the newest machines are stable down to 0.2 degrees or less, and baristas can trust that their machine is of a consistent brew temperature, freeing them up to focus on managing the other variables at hand.

Runner-up:

Reg Barber Tamper

It's a little-known fact that any espresso tamper that you see that has the handle of one material or color and a piston/base of a different material or color is a Reg Barber copy!

Newer tamper designs have emerged over the past few years, but there's no question that the go-to barista tool has been the Reg Barber. The device itself is beloved, with its now-classic shape, balance, and quality, but Reg Barber the man himself, widely known as the nicest and kindest man in the entire specialty coffee world, takes the brand of Reg Barber from atop the espresso machine, straight into our hearts.

As always, comments welcome!

In the final installment, a last look at the decade past, and my pick for Specialty Coffee Person of the Decade.

The Decade's Top Ten in Specialty Coffee

2009-12-31T18:30:00.000-08:00

The internet has been flooded with decade retrospectives, but I haven't seen any involving coffee so I thought it would be fun to try to put one together myself. Here's my list, in no particular order, of the ten most significant things in leading-edge specialty coffee in the decade from 2000 to 2009. I welcome your comments, edits, questions, criticisms, or outrage. The standard disclaimer about "This is mainly to inspire dialogue and discussion and not to make any definitive claims or declarations" applies. Enjoy!

WBC

In 2000, baristas from fourteen countries competed at the very first World Barista Championship competition. Created to be an educational tool as much as it was a showcase of talent, the WBC has emerged as the decade's most significant vehicle in spreading the message of quality specialty coffee throughout the world.

With over 60 participating countries from Argentina to Zambia, the WBC and its standards inspired the barista world to start paying attention to factors like consistent dosing and tamping, taste balance, and station management. As videos of the competitions started to find their way onto the internet a couple years ago, the specialty coffee industry had a showcase like none other.

In more recent years, the barista competitions have been able to promote ideals in coffee roasting, processing and cultivation, in addition to preparation and presentation. The icing on the cake is the development of the global community that has emerged surrounding the WBC and its enthusiasts around the world.

Capsule Coffee

Nespresso, Keurig, Senseo, Tassimo, Flavia, iperEspresso, ESE… though the first capsule coffee machines debuted in the 1980's, the 2000's, revenues from just the top four companies now total over $3 billion USD annually and represent one of the most accessible ways for consumers to engage specialty coffee.

As the leading-edge of the coffee industry began promoting specific origin coffees and a variety of roast profiles, the capsule-coffee makers followed suit, albeit in a pre-ground format of varying quality. The impact of this consumption category is undeniable, and the ease-of-use and consistency of these devices makes it a strong competitor to other brew-at-home equipment for many years to come.

PEARL Project

Birthed in 2000 at the Michigan State University Institute for International Agriculture, Drs. Dan Clay, Emile Rwanasirabo, and Timothy Schilling, aided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) the PEARL Project (Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages) took the fledgling coffee industry of Rwanda and, with the help of specialty coffee buyers and traders, developed the vital infrastructure towards a world-class coffee origin country.

The reverberations have been felt throughout the specialty coffee world, and while Rwanda continues to develop its coffee industry with the SPREAD Project ("Sustaining Partnerships to Enhance Rural Enterprise and Agribusiness Development," which is focused on developing access to international markets), other developing economies with nascent coffee exports have found great inspiration by the successes in Rwanda, who just announced $50 million USD in 2009 coffee exports, more than double the 2000 export total of $22.4 million USD.

Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Counter Culture

There are certainly larger and more famous coffee companies out there, but it's hard to deny the effect that these three specialty roasters have had in the U.S. and throughout the world during the second half of this decade.

Often referred to as Intelli, The Stumptown, and CCC, the rise to prominence of these roasters ran parallel courses. So much so, that they appeared alongside one another as characters in Michaele Weissman's book, "God in a Cup." Commitment to the highest standards coffee quality, tireless promotion of their ideals, and a dedication to development work with producers at origin helped redefine what it means to be a specialty coffee roaster.

Of course, as in the 2008 book, the companies are celebrated for their personalities as much as their coffees. The reputations of Geoff Watts, Duane Sorenson, and Peter Giuliano had new entrants to the industry quickly saying, "When I grow up, I want to be a green coffee buyer!"

The impact of these three companies has only begun, and apart from their continued work in their respective markets, they have inspired a growing number of inspired offspring and emulators. Vancouver's 49th Parallel, San Francisco's Ritual, New York's Cafe Grumpy, and others started out as wholesale customers of the "Third Wave Big Three" before starting their own roasting operations.

Cup of Excellence

Utilizing a one-two punch of quality assessment and market trading, the Cup of Excellence program took the model of Kenya's Nairobi coffee auctions to eight Latin American coffee producing countries, and more recently back to east Africa.

The Cup of Excellence (CoE) awards quality scores to submitted coffees in each participating country, then awarding the top scoring coffees by selling them in an online auction. Hundreds of coffee lots have been auctioned to date, and thousands of coffee producers, traders, and buyers have reassessed their understanding of coffee quality, as well as the monetary value of coffee excellence.

The first CoE was in 2000, and ten years later, the brand is synonymous with the absolute highest ideals of specialty coffee: superb quality, rewarding excellence, and facilitating relationships.

Online Blogs and Forums

The power and influence of the internet continued its exponential growth this decade, and specialty coffee was not spared its impact. So much so, that in certain circles, it would seem that the importance of knowledge and information about coffee is in danger of outshining the importance of coffee quality itself.

The source of so much of the hoopla are the numerous online coffee forums and web-blogs that have popped up this decade. alt.coffee was the grandaddy of online coffee discourse, leading the way for sites like Coffeegeek.com and Australia's Coffee Snobs for consumers and Coffeed and the Roasters' Guild forum for professionals.

Blogs gave enthusiasts and professionals alike a medium to share perspectives and information about coffee. This created an interesting and dubious phenomenon of the coffee-blogger, with the associated coffee-celebrity status bestowed upon the most prolific writers.

Forums and blogs have indeed created or fanned the flames of many of the controversies in the industry this decade, but they have unquestionably helped spread the lasting ideas and ideals vital to the development of specialty coffee.

The Coffee Wars: Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts vs. McDonalds

It was simmering for years, but in 2008 and 2009 the media couldn't get enough of the "Coffee Wars."

Starbucks' growth this decade was hitting full-stride when McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts decided to take on the Green Mermaid head-on. Both McD's and DD were founded around 60 years ago, and while Dunkin Donuts had already established itself as a major player with reportedly about half of its $5.5 billion dollar (in 2008) business coming from coffee sales, McDonald's has in its arsenal the sheer mass of its 31,000 locations (roughly double the number of Starbucks cafes).

Print and television commercial campaigns, bolstered by media stories about taste-tests and store closings and openings, had consumers worldwide choosing sides and declaring their allegiance.

Starbucks has been widely credited as being a significant gateway for consumers to later engage higher-quality specialty coffees. As more companies get involved in mass-market lower-end specialty, the future for the top-end specialty coffee market only looks better.

The SCAA

Perhaps the most misunderstood force in the specialty coffee industry, the 27 year old Specialty Coffee Association of America continued to mold, shape, and lead the global industry through the decade. Scarred by over-dramatized politics, financial scandals, and being the target of misconceptions, the SCAA's positive effects on the industry often go unrecognized.

The Roasters' Guild, Barista Guild of America, the Coffee Quality Institute and its numerous projects, the World and US Barista Championships, annual Symposium and Exposition, regional training events, and various certification programs have provided professional development for tens of thousands of coffee professionals.

Nowhere, however, do you see the fingerprints of the SCAA more than at coffee producing countries, through its various programs and standards, as well as the work of its staff and many volunteers. As the industry and global landscape changes, the specific work of the SCAA will change as well, but its continued importance and relevance is a certainty.

Roast Dates

Perhaps a small blip on the past decade's radar, the next few years will solidify the significance of the imprinting of the roast date on retail whole bean coffee packaging.

The inclusion of roast dates is a clear indication of a roaster's philosophy concerning freshness. Certain roasters measure "freshness" in months, while others measure it in days. While other considerations, such as roast degree, processing method, varietal, etc. do provide some indication of coffee quality, freshness standards influence how consumers and retailers purchase coffee in a unique way.

A huge hurdle for the industry and consuming public to overcome is treating coffee more like fresh produce instead of a shelf-stable product. Roast-dates and the resulting buying and consuming patterns are the most significant way to continue to address this.

Kopi Luwak

Whether you love it or hate it... or rather, whether you hate it or just dislike it, everyone working in specialty coffee has had to answer questions about Kopi Luwak coffee dozens of times.

It certainly wouldn't make anyone's "best coffees of the decade" list, but it certainly got people thinking and talking about coffee quality who might otherwise not. In a decade that popularized "a five-dollar cup of coffee" as a derogatory phrase for something that's unreasonably-expensive but commonplace, Kopi Luwak was a nice target for everyone's disgust… something that we could all comfortably poo-poo. (sorry).

Coming soon: Coffee of the Decade, Coffee Personality of the Decade, Roasting Device of the Decade, and Coffee Preparation Device of the Decade. Your nominations are welcome!

Leaked info

2009-09-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

From unnamed sources (none from within the company or the SCAA):

The new hotness in single-cup brewing is coming soon. The "Bubbler."

Agitation, baby!!!

Ya heard it here first!!!

Interesting podcast/show

2009-08-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

A challenging and complex topic that's relevant to coffee professionals interested in the developmental aspect of specialty coffee: Krista Tippett, host of "Speaking of Faith" from American Public Media, interviews Binyavanga Wainaina, a writer from Kenya. "He is among a rising generation of African voices who bring a cautionary perspective to the morality and efficacy behind many Western initiatives to abolish poverty and speed development in Africa."

Check it out here

Gwilym Davies

2009-08-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

Gwilym offers a great tip for baristas and coffeebar owners. Take a looksie!

Is espresso dead?

2009-08-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

Clearly not dead yet... but I've been noticing what looks suspiciously like a quiet revolt. Specialty coffee professionals seem to be more and more passionate about drip/filter coffees... and slightly less passionate about espresso year after year. Perhaps it started with the introduction of the Clover brewer.

I was told over and over from our friends in the Pacific North West, just a few years ago, that there was little-to-no interest in filter coffees in their markets. They were all about espresso drinks, and didn't care for or want filter coffees. This clearly isn't the case anymore.

The friendly folks at the industry-leading La Marzocco USA debuted some espresso innovations this year at their SCAA Atlanta Expo booth... along-side a french press grinder?

Top baristas all over seem to be spending more and more time on their siphon-brewing than anything else.

Is there something really going on, or is this just a phase?

More on crema, a.k.a. Hoffmann sez, "Crema is rubbish!"

2009-08-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

James clearly has a good portion of the industry a-buzz about this topic. As James' videoblog raised the issue, many have responded with, "Well, MY crema tastes great!" or "Well, it depends on the coffee." I think that everyone's probably right.

So much of this does depend on the multitude of factors at work. I've had yummy crema. I've had salty crema. I've had bitter crema. I've had chalky crema. So to me, the question isn't "is crema rubbish?" It's, "How is YOUR crema?" To be totally frank here, I'm a bit surprised that James took such a decisive stance, rather than a more open-ended query. Granted, things are being taken a bit out-of-context in the telling and re-telling of James' provocative videoblog.

One thing that I (and I know others like my bud and pf.net blogger Mr. Schecter) would love to see people spend some more time thinking about is how crema volume factors into how we're extracting espresso.

Crema serves multiple purposes to a barista, and to the consumer/customer. Aromatic-vehicle, quality indicator, light-and-airy-layer, etc. A function that most of us take for granted is the way that the volume, and therefore the density, of the crema (both intimately related to, AND distinct from the volume & density of the liquor-portion of the beverage) establishes the critically-important perceived volume of the shot (both the final volume and the volume as the shot progresses), therefore the extraction rate, therefore the entire extraction dynamic... with "dynamic" meaning a sort of catch-all to encompass everything that's relevant to the qualities of the beverage.

AndyS and I and a few others have waxed poetic about how mass is the true constant, and that measuring by volume is somewhat a fallacy. As I've been thinking about it some more, it's clear that integrating little scales into the drip-trays of espresso machines isn't the answer either. In fact, in a our own sort of Heisenberg uncertainty principle, as you pay attention to one, you lose focus on the other, and both seem crucial.

I'm clearly not providing many conclusions, so much as I'm raising more questions. Just a few coffee-thoughts on a pleasingly hot Washington DC summer Monday afternoon!

What if...

2009-04-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

What if espresso was made by extracting UP instead of DOWN?

2009 USBC Exposed

2009-04-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

From spitcup.net (bookmark or subscribe to their RSS, y'alls)

Golden Cup Espresso?

2009-03-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

For more, CLICK HERE.

Three things I've learned : Reflections from the 2009 USBC

2009-03-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

1) The signature drinks are getting out of control!

A little math, shall we?

Espresso section: (Sensory: 62 points x 4) + (Technical: 17 x 2) = 282
cappuccino: (38 x 4) + (22 x 2) = 196
signature drink: (42 x 4) + (17 x 2) = 202

Creating a great signature drink taste experience is definitely important, but competition baristas need to spend just as much effort and energy on cappuccinos... and even MORE on the single espresso, as on the sig' drink.

Also, at this year's USBC, we saw signature drinks as elaborate as I've ever seen, but I can't think of one of those that really nailed it on the taste points. Taste of the signature drink is worth four-times the creativity points, but the former seems to be sacrificed in pursuit of the latter.

Competition baristas need to learn the scoresheets and prioritize based on what gets your the points. Of course, that's assuming they want to get as many points as they can.

2) Single-origin espresso is great for competition

A blend is, by definition, a more complex thing than (most) single-origin espressos. Baristas are identifying 4 or 5 taste-notes out of the dozen, sometimes dozens, that are present in a blend.

In a good single-origin espresso however, flavors tend to be a bit more simple--with a few key flavor descriptors being not only prominent, but present in a more consistent way. Being able to accurately communicate the taste and flavor experience is such a significant part of the taste scores that using a good (emphasis on "good") single-origin can present a fairly significant advantage. It can also help in the presentation and explanation of the coffee, having one origin, farm, etc. to focus on.

However, this leads to my last reflection:

3) We don't give the Robur enough credit.*

To my recollection, the Mazzer Robur has been used by every USBC Champion. That said, I believe that the Mazzer Robur is one of the most important elements in the development of the U.S. "competition-level" espresso flavor profile.

More relevant research needs to be done, but for now, it is my understanding that the Robur's burr design creates more fines (the finest particles) than any other grinder on the market, which conversely allows for the bulk of the particulate to be ground more coarsely to achieve the typical extraction time. Now there are more complex factors at hand, but focusing just on this one component, the grind profile of the Robur effectively tilts the extraction more towards under-extraction. The solubles that would be extracted if the particulate were ground finer are less expressed.

I believe that this has resulted in the improved performance of single-origin coffees as espresso in the U.S. This is especially true when it comes to fully washed coffees.

So hats-off to you, Mr. Robur (or is it Miss Robur? I dunno... the damn thing is too heavy to lift up to get a look at its private parts). You don't get enough credit out there. Every shop that aspires to pull competition-style viscous, sweet, flavorful shots should have a Robur. There are other grinders that allow for a similar profile (the Anfim Super Caimano and Compak K10 come to mind), but the Robur is still the King.

Or Queen.

* note- I'm intentionally limiting the scope of my comments on #3 to the U.S. Extraction profiles and what flavors and viscosity baristas are going for definitely varies from culture to culture.

Oh... and #4 in my three-part list:

4) Mike Phillips is my hero.

Good luck in Atlanta to Mike, and all of the National Barista Champions who are coming for the 10th annual World Barista Championship. May your drinks all be "Sixes!" (or at least Fives).

Open letter to espresso machine manufacturers:

2009-02-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

I'm coming off reading the first hands-on critique of a newly developed espresso machine, and my mind is racing with thoughts... mostly frustrations.

Having had the opportunities to talk to many designers and engineers who have developed espresso machines in the past, I've observed a recurring issue where people seemed to be trying to build machines around a few key ideas that they had that they wanted to see realized, rather than really setting out to analyze how the resulting taste experience happens "in the puck," and then working backwards to design a machine to achieve 'perfection.' Frankly, this seems to ring true with every machine I can think of.

Since the temperature-stable P.I.D. controlled machines debuted in 2004, all we've seen are solutions that are looking for problems. Except, perhaps, for the teflon-type application to steam wands and portafilter innards, we're on our 5th year without anything I can think of that's truly helping to improve the taste experience.

What we really need is real work and development in portafilter baskets: geometry, hole patterns, hole sizes, etc. We need more attention paid to the ways that the showerhead delivers water to the puck, as well as overall group-head/shower-head design improvements. We need grinders that work with the baristas, not against them. We need better grind-profile development through burr designs. We need dosing mechanisms that provide (or help provide) a truly lateral-density-level dose. We need ways to help us measure things by mass, not by time or volume. We need group-head designs that keep the brewing-water-contact surfaces clean. Grind delivery mechanisms that leave little to no grinds behind. Grinder burr carriers that are designed to help keep the burrs cool (heat sinks or some other passive or active cooling), rather than keep the heat in (heat soak). The list goes on and on.

A fairly well-known espresso guru once told me many years ago that he believed that the obsession with brew water temperature stability stemmed from the fact that brew water temperature is something that is relatively easily measured and corrected. Much more difficult are things like managing the migration of fines (the finest grind particles) during extraction, which is a more significant variable than a couple of degrees of water temp, he told me. I think he's right.

It's time to start thinking outside the box. It's time to start attacking the difficult problems that have significant outcomes.

All said, the good news is that since 2004, rather than complaining about our brew water temperatures, baristas have been focusing on the coffees, getting to know the coffee itself and how everything relates to taste. Obviously, there's still a ton more to learn, but it's time for the espresso equipment industry (both big and small) to attack the real problems.

Oh yeah... dosers for lefties too. That's one for my favorite left-handed barista, Mr. Barack Obama.

the next big thing...

2009-02-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

Thursday Night Throwdown from SpitCup.net

This is the Fourth-Wave of Coffee

2009-02-11T07:07:00.000-08:00

The magic starts at about 25 seconds in.

Tonx, can I borrow your shoes? I have some practicin' to do!!!

untitled

2009-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

2008-12-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

I was at the Gimme Coffee roastery today, and was shocked to find two of the employees have a disgusting brown tongue disease. Beware of this; apparently it is highly contagious at roasteries and coffee shops.

Many people say the disease is incurable, although the Gimme folks showed me a machine that they claim somehow makes the suffering easier to bear:

Palate cleansing beverage?

2008-11-24T07:25:00.001-08:00

stove top espresso with a portafilter

2008-11-24T06:24:00.001-08:00

I've never seen anything like this before... I mean, a stove-top espresso-maker with a portafilter and a steam wand. Interesting!

Michelle Campbell

2008-10-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is Michelle Campbell.

Today was her last day at the SCAA.

She was the Director of Community & Events.

She was the administrator of the US Barista Championship.

She was the administrator of the World Barista Championship.

She was the staff liaison of the Barista Guild of America.

For six years, she was a supporter, cheerleader, advocate, defender, enthusiast, admirer, and crusader for baristas all around the US and around the world.

She was a friend to all baristas.

The specialty coffee community owes her a debt of gratitude.

Thank you for your work, your dedication but most importantly your love.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

We'll miss you!

We love you Michelle!

Portafilter Podcast July 2005 - March 2008

2008-10-26T23:03:00.001-07:00

It's with greatly mixed feelings that I announce that the Portafilter Podcast is no more.

Over three years, the podcast has been downloaded over 200,000 times (over 2,600 per episode on average), and it's been an unbelievable run.

In the interest of not digging into unnecessary messiness, my co-host and I find ourselves with certain irreconcilable differences, and I am unable to continue the partnership.

I do thank my co-host, Mr. Jay Caragay, for a great series of podcasts, and I wish him well in his continuing endeavors.

A coffee podcast may be reborn in one sense or another sometime in the future, and for now, the podcast RSS feed (via iTunes) will live on, and with 4,000 downloads of old episodes per month right now, I have no intention of pulling them off-line. The blog will continue as well.

Thanks to the throng of devoted listeners. From industry movers-and-shakers to home coffee enthusiasts, my hope from episode one to episode 75 was for the podcast to, in any way, add to your entertainment and coffee experience.

Our email addresses will always remain one way to contact us: nick@murkycoffee.com and jay@jaysshaveice.com.

With that...

...party on.

Roast Magazine Roaster of the Year 2008...

2008-10-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

Congrats to PT's Coffee and the Coffee Klatch for winning Roast Magazine 2008 Roaster of the Year!!!

Got Mojo?

2008-10-15T19:44:00.001-07:00

I've recently beta tested a nifty system that gives direct and immediate feedback on your brewed coffee technique. It's called "ExtractMoJo" from the George Howell Coffee Company, and it has helped me to brew the best non-espresso coffee I’ve ever made.

(OK, since I usually don’t drink a lot of non-espresso coffee, maybe that ain’t sayin’ much. But still, the brewed coffee’s been GOOD lately!)

The ExtractMoJo system consists of two parts. The first part is a computer program that quickly and accurately calculates the doses of coffee and water to prepare any size batch at your preferred proportions. The second part is a compact digital refractometer that, along with the software, allows you to determine the strength of your cup (aka, total dissolved solids) and the solubles yield (ie, what percent of the dry coffee went into the brew).

So why is this helpful?

Taste panels over the years have usually found that the best brewed coffee results when your technique is adjusted so that two criteria are met:
(1) 19-21% of the dry coffee mass is extracted into your cup and
(2) the resulting beverage ends up containing somewhere around 1.3-1.5% coffee solids.

It’s interesting to note that it’s NOT ENOUGH simply to start out with the proper proportions of dry coffee and water. It’s also necessary to tweak your temperature, grind, steeping time, and stirring to achieve that 19-21% extraction rate. This can be done by trial and error, for sure, but that can be a fairly lengthy process without experience. ExtractMoJo allows you to zero in on the right technique after only a few test brews.

OF COURSE you still have to adjust the coffee TO YOUR TASTE; no one and no system can decide for you what your coffee should taste like. In particular, the 1.3-1.5% coffee solids is very flexible depending on the coffee and your preference. But this system gets you in a reasonable range much more quickly, and allows you to reproduce your favorite recipes (for different coffees) at another time. And for a shop where many people prepare the coffee, it makes it relatively easy to create objective quality control standards that are verifiable and repeatable.

A side note: the refractometer may help to explain the mystery of why different clover and vac pot stirring techniques have fiercely loyal adherents: up to a point, more stirring results in a bit more thorough extraction, and more extraction changes the flavor. We shall see as people experiment with these tools.

And, with a bunch more development, ExtractMoJo may become be useful for espresso brewing, too (I hope!) Espresso "standards" are hugely variable right now, and it would be great to be able to accurately make strength and solids yield measurements. Not to try and force people to make an arbitrarily "correct espresso," but simply to begin to understand how people are arriving at the particular flavor profile that they prefer. I believe that someday soon this technology will become de rigueur for quality oriented coffee shops.

Is it iced coffee weather?

2008-10-07T06:55:00.001-07:00

Not here!

Cute!

2008-10-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

untitled

2008-08-22T14:50:00.001-07:00