good baristas are mad

I order babycinos and I am proud of it!

2011-08-09T12:29:00.004+10:00

No coffee, just the thick frothy foamy milk my daughter loves! With chocolate and marshmallows please!

I had a strange experience the other day, I was hanging out with my daughter Peach one of my absolute favourite things to do. I will often visit a cafe with her, I obviously like coffee and she loves to order a babycino (fluffy in some parts of the world). When the barista took my order they were clearly unimpressed that I had ordered a babycino, a range of emotions stirred inside me, never before have I had the urge to say "do you know who I am?" "I am a barista too! I am Scottie Callaghan! And I love making babycinos and I love watching my daughter knock one back!". I held back the urge, blurting out emotional thoughts based on ones own arrogance never helps anyone.

But the interaction did make me want to post this blog, I mean who could have any feelings other than delight at preparing a babycino and watching this!

I order babycinos all the time at places where I know the owners and baristas and they always make Peach a great drink and she loves it.

And I make them for her at home all the time.

News flash to arrogant sod coffee makers, "So long as you think customers should think the way you do, and drink the drinks you like you are not a barista you are just a coffee maker, get over yourself and realize it's not about you it's about the customer and put passion into every drink you make or step away from the espresso machine!"

Ahhhh the things being a father makes you say!

Seed To Cup - La Encañada Rioja Perú

2010-12-03T15:01:00.000+11:00

Photos from my second week in Italy

2010-11-24T14:18:00.004+11:00

Castell Dell'Ovo, Naples

Since 1860

Francesco Sanapo Italian Barista Champion

The new Unic Stella di Caffe

The Elektra factory Treviso

The Eiffel Tower

Espresso machines of the past in Italy

2010-11-16T05:59:00.008+11:00

Italy week 1 with the WBC crew a photo essay

2010-11-14T03:40:00.007+11:00

Genova

Italy

2010-11-10T05:27:00.003+11:00

I will certainly always remember the year 2010 and an amazing year with Belaroma, we competed in the World Barista Championship, travelled to many countries to continue learning about coffee, began a hopefully long relationship with our new Korean friends and now here I am yet again traveling. I am in Albisola in Italy on a trip with the top 6 baristas in the world for 5 days with Nuova Simonelli Espresso Machines and ACF CUPS and then I will stay for another 5 days to visit some great espresso bars and espresso machine companies. It is certainly a great privilege to do what I do and it is an honor to do it with Belaroma and their willingness to allow me to travel so much to continue our learning and development and it is a testament to our passion to continue growing and where we are heading as a company.

here we are Mike Philips, Raul Rodas, Sorn Stiller Markussen, Collin Harmon, Stefanos Domatiotis and Cindy Chang who runs the World Barista Championship

Our trip begins here in Nice France, we flew in here spent the day wondering around and then drove to Albisola the Ceramic capital of Italy where ACF is based.

On our second day we were taken on a tour of the ACF factory

Tomorrow we head to Ancona to spend 3 days with the team at Nuova Simonelli the Espresso machine sponsor of the World Barista Championship.

Looking back Finca La Encanada

2010-11-02T20:54:00.005+11:00

It feels like so long ago that I was at La Encanada, the people and the place are now so distant in km and in memory, but the strong feelings remain, I haven't really tried to explain to people here the experience we had because I don't think I can. Looking over Clay's photos on Facebook (check em out they're awesome) is the best way you might get a glimpse of the experience we had, the farm Dionicio and Fedimin the farm owner and manager and more importantly my good friends just seem so far away.

But photos like the one above remind me of the close friends I now have and how these two baristas, Soren the Danish Barista Champion and Raul the Guatemalan Barista Champion are no longer competitors at the WBC they are now friends who I look forward to seeing again

We worked and sweated together, we slept in the same house, we swam and bathed together, we laughed together, we drank, we danced, we argued and we learnt about each other and about coffee farming and grew as a group and as individuals.

And when I look at the face of the people I can't help but feel a strong sense of determination to make sure that the week we had at La Encanada was only the introduction to a long lasting and fruitful relationship.

And I want to go back, and so I will one day soon!

To see this man!

And this this man!

And all these people!

Maybe we can change their lives because they have changed ours.

Seed to Cup Barista Challenge day 2

2010-10-23T10:15:00.005+11:00

On day 2 we had the kind of alarm clock that might shock some people and was definitely a first for most if not all of us. We were woken by the sound of a very loud screaming pig, very loud, we wondered why the pig might be making such a noise and I jokingly said "that's our dinner". Little did we realize that my joke wasn't a joke, we realized this when we walked past these men working on the pig, notice one of the men's daughters standing close by watching, this young girl standing so close was clearly a perfectly normal thing to do.

After breakfast we were given that day's challenge which was to build one of these coffee drying beds, we were given the wood, a saw, hammer and nails and simply told to copy these ones. It was a lot of hard work but very fun, our team really worked together as a team on this challenge and it was great to be given a task that is very real to the work the people here have to do.

Later on that day before dinner Dionesio (the farm owner and my now close friend) picked up the dead pigs head and showed me how to pick it up and then motioned for me to have a go, I am not one to shy from a challenge. Notice the young man in the bottom right hand corner of the photo, he is clearly not phased that a strange man is holding a dead pigs head above him.

As you can see the children on the farm were absolutely gorgeous, one thing I realized after a few days on the farm was that despite the fact that there were constantly about 10 very young children around we did not hear a baby/child crying once.

Seed to Cup barista Challenge day 1

2010-10-20T10:16:00.010+11:00

Youv'e got to be impressed with a guy who can talk 10 of the best baristas in the world to fly from their relative comfort in the cafe, espresso bar, roastery world to a place called Tarapoto in Peru. And get picked up by some strangers in 4wd's and be taken a 3- 4 hour drive up into the Peruvian jungle to live in a semi inclosed barn type structure on a farm called "Finca La Encanada" and be given coffee farming tasks to experience what it is like for coffee producers!

One of the locals (guess which one?)

Two such baristas Harrison (a great barista who works in Lima) and FabriZio (Mexican Barista Champion and a World Barista Championship finalist) waiting in Tarapoto to be whisked off to the jungle.

And so we take our hats off to David Griswold and the team at Sustainable Harvest because they did just that. And I was humbled and fortunate to be invited, and now as I sit at Santiago Airport in Chile on a layover waiting for my last long flight home to Sydney reflecting on 2 weeks that has changed our lives forever and a bunch of baristas that once new each other's name and profile and all the crew who came along to make it happen are now all friends for life. And the strangers who picked us up are now as close as family.

At occasional road blocs while the car was stopped locals camped where they new cars had to stop with the hope of selling something.

On day one our task was to pick coffee, after picking for 2 hours the 10 of us amassed enough coffee to end up with probably about 1 - 2 kg of roasted coffee.

Soren Stiller Markussen Danish Barista Champion and World Barista Championship finalist picking on day 1.

Here is a short clip of the drive to Fina La Encanada.

KEES VAN DER WESTEN ESPRESSONISTIC WORKS B.V.

2010-09-29T12:03:00.007+10:00

Actually this blog is not about Kees's business but about our new Mirage made by Kees I just wanted an excuse to use his full title.

At the BCC we have put in a new Mirage with Bastone levers and Veloce body work and more importantly the internal workings of the machine is what has always impressed me about these machines. We have had the machine for a few days now and I thought I would post on some of my observations over these days.

Improved taste: the flavour we are getting out of our Octavia blend has improved out of sight.

Happier baristas: Our baristas have a lot more pride about who they are and what they are doing, this has a few carry on effects 1. customers are looked after better because our baristas are in a better mood and 2. the baristas make a consistently better coffee because we have given them a Maserati to work on rather than a Ford.

Customers love the look of the new machine: I guess this will die down after a week or so.

Technical hiccups: We had a faulty pressure switch which was easily fixed and the staem arm seams to be getting a little stiff very quickly.

The adjustable restrictors: Kees has come up with this great idea of putting adjustable restrictors at the exit point of the heat exchangers at the top of the boiler giving the barista the ability to adjust the brewing temperature and also control over the steam pressure. To use this correctly you need a SCACE or a thermometer in the puck but it works a treat and I love the extra control it gives you.

Jung hanging trays: With the Mirage you can get a lot of extras or not and we have put the milk jug hanging trays on, they are very fiddly to adjust but when you set it right they are fantastic.

How high can you go?

2010-08-19T16:10:00.009+10:00

How much are owners and managers of premium espresso bars and cafes willing to invest in their coffee offering? What is the highest standard of machine they will buy? How much are they willing to spend on their grinders and how much are they prepared to pay for the coffee?

These questions have been on my my mind a lot lately as I work on a new wholesale coffee concept. I want to develop a wholesale coffee concept that has a new point of difference. I have always wanted to develop a blend that is represented in the market place in a totally uncompromising way and in a way that has never been done before and I am now fortunate to be in a position to do just that. But the question is how much do I have to compromise? Or can I develop a coffee offering that is 100% 'No Compromise’ and are cafe owners and espresso bar owners willing to pay for it?

I am tempted to believe they are out there so I have decided to bite the bullet and find out if I am right or wrong.

The first step was to jump on the plane last Friday to cup some coffees with Fleur and Jason at Melbourne Coffee Merchants the Australian importer of Mercanta coffee beans.

What I love most about rocking up to these cupping’s is the simple fact that you have no idea what is going to be on the table and when you turn up there is simply coffees labeled with numbers and you don’t find out what the coffees are until after you have finished cupping, this for me is very exciting. And one of the best parts of my job, cupping new coffees that is and discovering coffees from origins I have not tried.

As equally as exciting was placing our first order of green beans for the blend, can’t wait till they arrive.

The end of a life changing trip and the beginning of a dream realized.

2010-04-29T20:32:00.005+10:00

I am sitting at Singapore airport after a 5 1/2 week life changing world trip on top of all the amazing places I visited I have just come form 4 amazing days in Sumatra industry colleagues including Saxon from AIR roasters, Chris White and Carl Sara.

It has always been my dream to do something with a producing country and this visit is for me a turning point in my career. Because I have forged friendships that are going to make this dream a reality.

And what better origin than where I was born, Indonesia.

The image below is Saxon from AIR roasters and myself having a bismal go at sorting/picking with the 70 or so women who do this all day every day. it's a little enbarrassing that we had a short stint for 10 minutes and then got up and left.

Ed from Single Origin Roasters having a go at picking on a farm in Sidikalang.

Life will never be the same again, home and family here we come.

Gwilym's world

2010-04-22T19:45:00.012+10:00

An Aussie barista travelling the world to learn, experience and grow in my understanding of coffee and the way the world sees coffee. From 22nd March to the end of April I am visiting Copenhagen, Helsingborg, Oslo, Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Kees van der Westen, London, Chicago, Toronto, Los Angeles, Anaheim and SCAA, Singapore and the Asia Barista Championship and Sumatran coffee farms.

In London Gwilym Davies the current world barista champion was kind enough to do some training with me and needless to say I learnt bucket loads. I am humbled and in awe of Gwilym's world, I thoroughly enjoyed 5 of the best days I have ever had. Gwilym you are 'THE' gentlemen of the coffee industry and I consider it an honour to know you, thank you for an amazing time.

The photos say everything

A quick note, James, Annette, Tim Styles and John Gordon at Square Mile are an awesome team and I thank you for your hospitality during a very busy time. The comradery you have with other roasters in inspiring.

Kees Van Der Westen

2010-04-19T11:28:00.009+10:00

I have always liked Kees Van Der Westen Espresso machines, ever since I worked on the Kees Mistral at Mecca Espresso Bar in Sydney I have loved the design and how they perform. And since then I have had some amazing espresso off the Mirage and in particularly the Mirage Idrocompresso, and more recently playing on the Speedster, could this be the best espresso machine on the market?

And so when I had the chance to jump on a train from Amsterdam and travel south to Eindhoven where Kees lives and works I was quite excited (even though I didn't have my bags).

It didn't surprise me when Kees picked me up in this style, a man who makes espresso machines with such awesome design would obviously drive a cool car like this.

In the early days Kees would use this machine at trade shows to attract attention, it is basically a Speedster with some creative lights and all the internals exposed a great way to get attention and then explain to people what's on the inside. And typical Kees style.

I have always thought the Kees Van Der Westen Espressonistic Works Mirage pulls a beautiful shot, and this means that the machine is doing the job that espresso machines should do, control of temp, flow rate etc. But I have never really known exactly why, so I was very grateful that Kees took the time to explain to me what he has done with the Mirage to achieve a machine that performs as well as the Mirage performs.

He has put smaller restrictors on the top of the boiler in the thermo syphon system to slow the flow rate of the water down which means you can have a cooler brewing temp in relation to the steam pressure, so you can have a higher steam pressure and still have accurate brewing temp. Yes this is nothing new but one cool thing you can have on your Mirage if you choose is a small tap on the top of the thermo syphon system so that you can adjust the size of the restriction giving you temperature control up or down when on any given boiler pressure setting.

Kees has also made the mushroom cup inside the E61 head bigger allowing for a larger amount of water a little like another small boiler. And he has moved things around in the head so that the water enters the mushroom cup from the bottom side of the thermo siphon system where it is cooler and more importantly more stable and not from the top. He has done this because the water circling through/around the thermo siphon system travels up through the heat exchanger around down and up again continuously but when you hit the brewing cycle this is kind of reversed and the group head takes 80% of the water from the bottom/cooler part of the thermo siphon system and 20% from the top, so why not work with this.

He has added to this lengthening the needle on the inside of the heat exchanger in the boiler where the cool water enters, so that the colder water circling through this needle travels further up inside the boiler which gives this water more time to achieve stability rather than the standard small needle where the water travels in and very quickly enters the hotter water creating temperature fluctuation. Especially when the brewing cycle is activated and sucking water from here (the bottom of the boiler/heat exchanger where the cold water is entering) which has not had time to heat up because of the small needle. But rather have a longer needle traveling right up the length of the inside of the boiler, this way the cold water will heat up and when the brewing cycle is activated sucking water from the bottom this water if still not up to temp has to then travel all the way back down by which time the group head has probably taken all it needs and this water will be much more likely to be up to temp.

Another cool thing Kees has done with the Idrocompresso leaver machine is the option you can have of a internal purge before brewing. We all know that we need to purge the group head, how much we need to purge will depend on the different makes and models. The problem with purging on a lever machine is you need to pull the bloody heavy handle down each time just a touch, not too much or water will go everywhere (very messy). If you like on the Idrocompresso you can have a small button that will cause an internal purge before brewing each time saving you the hassle of purging with the lever which you will know is quite a task if you have ever had a go. And i might add here that the lever in this case the Mirage Idrocompresso is the original pressure and temperature profiling.

I would not be surprised if I got a lot of this information wrong and left a lot out so if anyone (Kees?) feels like sending me some additions to this or corrections please do, Kees only spent an hour or so explaining so I do not expect to take everything in on such a short time. But I was very impressed none the less.

A Mirage on the way

An Idrocompresso on the way

We then went out for dinner, its a hard life!

All coffee should be, must be there is no other way but my way?

2010-04-12T04:23:00.012+10:00

"Sumatran coffees have no place in espresso blends!" my friend Mike swears, "they are just dirty" he said. Mike is a very respected and loved industry professional who has worked for some great specialty roasters. Two days later I met another industry professional, a respected roaster who roasted coffee for one national barista champion, who was explaining to me that this recent national barista champion from a particular country used a Sumatran coffee in his competition blend.

Another industry friend of mine recently posted a quote on the Tweetersphere that read "washed coffees have no place in espresso blends". Funny that; because a highly recognized company that I know of use only washed coffees in their blends and at the same time one of this same companies leading baristas is using pulp naturals and naturals in his competition blend in the upcoming USBC!

Yesterday I visited a recently opened coffee bar in Toronto where the barista who has won some barista competitions and has also worked for a few of the other highly recognized bars in town. This barista has connections with Intelligentsia and 49th Parallel, I had a siphon and an espresso here and the coffee was great and the coffee he serves is roasted well into the second crack, probably about 20-45 seconds in. Curious about this I said to him "I notice that your coffee is roasted a tad darker than the current trend towards lighter roasts, why is this?" The clearly educated barista who was grinding on demand with his Mazzer Robur and using a La Marzocco Linea said "I don't like it, it is too sour!" and incidentally he took about 7 shots to get my espresso right, more for his own pride rather than to please the stranger who had bombarded his little nook in the world of espresso bars. But clearly this man is passionate about quality and flavour and stands behind his blend with pride. He is educating his clients with siphon, specialty coffees and great customer service. Two weeks before this I was spending some time with a separate highly respected roaster who do not roast coffee even into the second crack.

About 2 years ago another industry friend, a highly respected roaster in Australia who travels to many countries to buy green beans direct said to me "Robusta coffees will never been seen on our roastery floor". In that same country in a different city another guy who has one of the countries leading espresso bars and roasts his own coffee and also buys green beans direct from source has a blend with sometimes 20% Robusta. Both these guys stand behind who they are and what they are doing with a high level of knowledge, international industry respect, integrity, pride, a successful business, and many loyal staff.

Many people in the industry swear by multi boiler PID machines but for me the best espresso I have ever had (so far) was off a Kees Van Der westen Mirrage a heat exchanger machine.

About 2 years ago I interviewed numerous Tea, coffee and chocolate providores. I asked one roaster "where do you store your coffee?" answer "in the fridge or freezer. And I asked another roaster "where do you store your coffee?" answer "definitely not in the fridge or freezer".

I asked another coffee and tea providore "what do you love about this industry?" answer "I love tea for its complexity and coffee for its relative simplicity" I asked another coffee roaster "what do you love about this industry?" answer "I love coffee because it is a wicked little seed that is unpredictable and impossible to understand".

This cafe is called 'Cafe de L'ambre' in Ginza Tokya serves hand drip/pour over filter and dutch cold drip only, this man Sekiguchisan has owned and run this shop for 0ver 55 years. He does not like espresso machines.

My friends at The Coffee Collective in Copenhagen are a highly recognized specialty roaster who only use coffees that they buy directly from source.

My friend Dritan owns this shop Bazzar Caffe in Dusseldorf, he was dosing very low, probably less than 14 grams in 18 gram double baskets, I tried to show him the benefits of putting more coffee in and he didn't like it.

This shop in Kyoto Japan serve siphon only.

Nolan at Proud Mary's in Melbourne has a 6 group Synesso Hydra with something like 5 Mazzer Robur grinders and swapped the Mazzer dosing chambers for the Anfim dosing chambers.

And he serves Siphon in stemless wine glasses

'Cafe Nation' in Antwerpen are all about great coffee on their La marzocco Linea and rebellious art.

These guys in Singapore roast there coffee until is is as dark as charcoal.

And then coat it in butter and sugar.

This guy, currently the best barista in the world (the good looking one on the right not the ugly one in the middle) uses a lever heat exchanger machine at his bar in London.

So of all these professional, recognized, respected, educated people who is right?

Me off course!!

For the sake of sensitivity I have not mentioned actual names in this blog.

No undies, weed, awesome beer oh and coffee, in Amsterdam

2010-04-09T00:14:00.010+10:00

I have always been fortunate with my baggage when traveling until recently in Amsterdam, a very short connection between Helsinki and Amsterdam and my bags disappeared behind the walls at the airport and suddenly I was one of those people you see standing at the empty bag belt hopelessly hoping that for some unknown reason my bags might come out 30 minutes after the last person took their bag. Reluctantly after sufficient time had lapsed I went about finding the counter where a person behind a desk can help me find my bags. 2 days later after wearing the same pair of undies (for 2 days!?) and still no bags I relented to buying myself a new pair of undies, socks a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Did Anne Frank have to wear the same pair of undies for 2 days?

I thought it was easy to get weed in Nimbin! all the people in Nimbin should just move here!

The reason I was actually in Amsterdam was for a different drug, coffee, Menno Simons from Trabocca and Bocca coffee put on a cupping for us, he has been helping me find coffees to use in the upcoming World Barista Championship. At Belaroma we are also working on a new Scottie blend that will be available for wholesale and these cupping sessions have been helpful for that too. The blue shelf in the background is hundreds of samples of green beans.

Screaming Beans, a great little coffee shop in Amsterdam with a 3 group Mirage Lever (jealous).

If you are into your beer this crate will get you very excited, yes the caps are off and not I did not drink one, but the bar behind me sells Westy 6, 8 and 12 but they only had the 8 the night I went. I am standing in front of a shop called The Cracked Kettle This website http://www.sintsixtus.be/ will fill you in on what this beer is.

COLUMBIA ROAD

2010-04-08T05:18:00.017+10:00

Walking from the flower markets to Columbia Road Its a quiet cold easter weekend morning but its only early and the usual long line turns up a bit later on after they wake up.

Oslo and the Tim's

2010-04-01T17:49:00.012+11:00

I am very grateful that this trip has been made possible by the team at Belaroma Coffee where I work and my friends at Pure Via

Tim Wendelboe, Tim Varney, Tim Styles and Scottim in Oslo (it just didn't make sense having 3 Tim's and a Scott so I had to become a Tim) and I must say if you want to see some considerably better photos than mine click on the Tim Varney link above.

This is Tim Wendelboe's (2004 World Barista Champion and 2005 World Cup Tasting Champion) shop where he has 2 roasters a bar and lots of coffee for retail, I've gotta say this shop is an absolutely gorgeous fit out.

When I arrived on Saturday Tim W lined up a cupping for us with some of his coffee and some coffee from Square Mile

This is one of the best ways to display a menu that I have seen, a large roll of brown paper hung on the wall and roll it down with some weights, whenever you want to change it just cut off and start again.

Tim W's great QA/training room with a Gs3 single group FB 70, small sample roaster, cupping bench all in such a small room, it is a great use of space.

The amazing Oslo Opera House

Sweden

2010-03-30T19:17:00.012+11:00

2nd stop Sweden and Koppi

Catching the ferry from Helsingor in Denmark to Helsingborg in Sweden

While I was in Copenhagen with Klaus he suggested that I hop on a train to go see his friends at Koppi roasters and espresso bar in Helsingborg, Koppi is owned by partners Anne and Charles and this is the shop below.

I have briefly met Anne and Charles once before in Berne Switzerland where Anne came 4th in the WBC so it was great to have a chance to get to know them better and taste some espresso with them. In this photo Charles refusing to smile:)

Charles is the Swedish Barista Champion of 2005 and Anne is the 2004 Swedish Barista Champion 4th in the World Barista Championship and Swedish Cup tasting Champion 2006.

While in Sweden I was only a few days into my life changing world trip and already I see coffee differently, I can't wait to see what other amazing and challenging sensory experiences are in front of me.

As you can see from these photos the Swedes really know how to make a shop look amazing.

Something Anna, Charles and myself found we had in common was a love of good beer, I have learnt over the last few years that in some places in the world beer is appreciated at the same level of wine. This bar we went to had a barman who is the most knowledgeable beer person I think I have ever met. he has tasted 5500 different beers and written notes on each one, he hand selects his beers for this bar. As you can see in the photo below the beer is even served in a way that you can appreciate it properly, this is a tasting flight of 3 different beers from an American brewery called Brew Dog.

Copenhagen

2010-03-27T03:44:00.008+11:00

First stop Copenhagen and The Coffee Collective

The coffee menu creatively placed on the walls with a light to highlight what's on offer

As I write this I am sitting in my hotel room staring at the harbor in Oslo feeling a little surreal, I am 26 hours on a plane from home in a city surrounded by snow, I have just spent 2 days in Copenhagen with a short stint in Sweden which I will write about in my next blog. I am about to spend 2 days in Oslo with Tim Wendelboe, Tim Styles and Tim Varney before many more exciting coffee destinations. I am excited about seeing old friends, meeting new friends and forging long lasting relationships and I confident that when I return home to Australia I will never see coffee the same again.

Cupping Coffee with Klaus, Peter and Casper

A great way to display coffees on offer

The Coffee Collective is a coffee roastery and espresso bar owned by four guys, Klaus Thomsen, Peter Dupont, Casper Engel Rasmussen and Linus Torsater you can read more about them here http://www.coffeecollective.dk/about.htm but I consider it a great privelidge to have spent some time cupping and learning with them.

And as you can see from theses photos they have a very creative and dynamic business.

Estate Coffee is the other great coffee place in Copenhagen where Klaus worked before he started The Coffee Collective with his esteemed colleagues.

Per at Estate Coffee preparing his coffee

An old friend of mine 'Dom' once said to me when I was making espresso "if you put 10 baristas in a room you will get 100 opinions", when you travel the world and see how differently baristas make coffee from one great coffee house to the next you realize how true this statement is. Dom you really did have some great insights, Dom also gave me the phrase 'Good Baristas Are Mad' the title of my blog, one day when he was watching me make espresso he looked at me and said "good baristas are mad!", I considered it to be a great compliment and I never forgot it.

In times of change!!

2010-03-07T19:07:00.014+11:00

“In times of change the learner shall inherit the earth while the learned find them selves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists” (Mary Coffer)

Does Mary Coffers statement accurately describe the current evolution in the coffee industry?

What evolution, I hear you ask?

The evolution towards café owners putting more expensive espresso machines on their bars such as La Marzocco, Synesso, Kees Van Der Westen and the Slayer.

The evolution of a growing number of young people who are interested in the Barista profession.

The evolution of cafes and café owners that are using a freshly roasted blend of specialty coffees that is sold at a higher wholesale price as apposed to a cheaper blend or an imported blend.

And the evolution of discerning consumers/customers who are willing to walk the distance, (past numerous other cafes) pay the difference and wait a little longer.

A few years ago I would have said specialty coffee will always be a niche market and cafes and consumers that fit into these 4 points of difference will always be a minority and commercial coffee as it is today (2010) will always have market dominance.

But the more I travel and as time goes by it seems the role of the barista, the understanding of what a barista is and does and the café owners/managers understanding of the barista continues to evolve.

And the more I travel and as time goes by I see the type of equipment and techniques that were once reserved for the elite and trendy inner city espresso bars are spreading all over Australia to outer suburbs of larger cities and to large and small country towns.

Recently I spent four days in Melbourne visiting some respected industry professionals and tasting lots of espresso as a part of my preparation for the upcoming World Barista Championship. I want to increase my ‘reference point’ by tasting espresso with as many respected professionals as possible. To achieve this in Melbourne I wanted to visit numerous establishments that have sprung up over the last couple of years that are getting rave reviews and I wasn’t disappointed. These establishments and the vibrant barista culture surrounding them is exciting to experience and it is happening all over the world.

When you hang out with this rustic and arty crowd of artists, musos and baristas, the discussions about coffee is not about coffee, as many once understood coffee a black bitter drink. But when this energetic crowd think and talk about coffee they think of coffee farms and green coffee processing methods, expensive flash espresso machines, exotic brewing devices, and a type of coffee that tastes more like fresh juice (after all coffee is a fruit) than the bitter black stuff that I now believe will one day be a thing of the past.

Unfortunately I did not get photos of all the establishments I visited such as the beautifully laid out Market Lane, Monk Bodhi Dharma, Crue, Padre or the now famous St Ali pioneered by Mark Dundon.

When Simon James and I arrived on Berkeley St Carlton I wasn’t surprised that the street looked like the most unlikely street anyone would put a café on.

But I guess that’s Mark Dundon for you, find a street that is the least obvious street to put a café on, make it look shit hot, employ great staff, serve up great food and coffee and the crowds will come.

So I wasn’t surprised that when we walked in the place was packed.

Seven Seeds is Mark’s latest development and it is a prime example of the gutsy pioneering establishments I am talking about and a real testament to Marks vision and creativity. He sources his green coffees from origin direct rather than through a green bean importer and distributer (the latter is how most coffee roasters source their green beans) they have a Synesso Hydra espresso machine on the bar as well as Clover (yes this is a starbucks link but unfortunately for those who don't like the fact that I put this link here the clover is an awesome brewing device) brewed coffees on offer. There is s small coffee plantation in the middle of the shop in a large square fish bowl and the room next door is where they roast their coffee.

While I was at Seven Seeds I tried the Ethiopian Yergacheffe (but I can’t remember the name of the farm) as an espresso and an amazing cup of El Salvador Geisha through the clover. And a week later I came back to cup a range of amazing coffees such as the Baloya and recent Costa crop coffees and an amazing Columbian that Mark generously put on the table for us to cup.

Proud Mary's - I love this place, on Oxford st Collingwood, I have to say is one of my all time favourite cafes. Nolan has quite simply created a space that is true to Nolan. Nolan is a super cool, down to earth friendly guy and this is what Proud Mary’s looks and feels like.

I am not sure what I love most about his shop, maybe it’s the juicy sweet siphon coffee served up in wine glasses, maybe it’s the awesome espresso, maybe its Noland’s DJ stand set up right near the espresso bar, or maybe its just Nolan himself.

One thing I realised when I was hanging out (because that’s how he makes you feel) with Nolan in Proud Mary’s was that Nolan does thing’s Nolan’s way. And the killer six group Synesso Hydra is a prime example of this.

I often hear old schooled professionals remark in a scowling kind of fashion about establishments like ‘Proud Mary’s’, they think equipment like the six group Synesso is over kill, they do not understand why someone like Nolan would go to such lengths and expense that they feel is not justified. But Nolan doesn’t care and Nolan is making it work.

Six (6) pumps, one for each group head, FYI, most that is 99% of espresso machines have just one pump for all group heads this machine has one designated pump for each group head.

Sensory Lab on Little Collins St at the entrance to David Jones is definitely one of the coolest coffee houses to open in Australia. Here you can try many different exotic single origin coffees brewed in many different ways. They have 2 espresso machines a La Marzocco Linea and a Slayer, A siphon Bar sits in the middle of the café, you can also try a pour over drip coffee or a cold Dutch style drip coffee. Here you can truly experience a cornucopia of coffee flavours.

5 years ago I would have only been able to mention 2 or 3 coffee houses in Australia doing anything like what these places are doing, today I do not think I can keep track of them all as more and more amazing specialty coffee shops are opening all the time. It makes me wonder where the coffee industry will be in another 5 years.

2010 Australian Barista Championship

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These "AWESOME" photos are by Samuel Ho and compliments of AASCA

At the end of October 2009 I decided to compete again in the AASCA Australian Barista Championship I was helping out with the NSW Barista championship and I guess I got the bug again. I ran it by Jemima and The team at Belaroma and that was it no turning back. The biggest thing for me the whole time leading up to competing again was "what if I make a fool of myself and everyone says"; "he should have quit while he was ahead". I guess this fear drove me to work harder than I ever have before.

If I have any regrets from the AASCA Australian Barista Championship it is that after I won I did not think to thank this young man, Christian Genovese you are a legend, to think that you could have been out doing all manner of things that kids your age do but instead you worked your ass off as a volunteer for the Australian Coffee Championships.

Japan, great coffee, mysterious culture

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In July 2007 I was fortunate to represent Australia in the World Barista Championship (this would not have been possible without AASCA and my sponsors Cafetto and ECA) which was an awesome experience, I forged lifelong friendships with people from numerous cultures, learnt a great deal about specialty coffee, I had the opportunity to get an insight into the Japanese coffee culture and the Japanese 'Specialty Coffee' Culture which is drastically under appreciated and my wife Jemima and I spent some time traveling including a climb of Mount Fuji.

Pacing up and down in nervous prep for my WBC presentation, as you can see the amount of equipment us baristas bring to comp is a little MAD

The reason I am here - having a crack (ask an Aussie)

The barista after party, me James Hoffmann and Dean Morgan

Sekiguchisan the owner of Cafe De Lambre in Ginza Tokyo, he is 95 and he has owned and run this cafe where he roasts his own coffee and serves pour over only, this cafe is definitely one of my top 5 cafes in the world, a reasonable coffee and an awesome cultural experience.

Climbing Mount Fuji you can stop at these huts and have a hot chocolate or soup and a rest next to the fire, don't be deceived by the seaming modesty the hot choc and soup are exy and it even costs $5 AUD to sit next to the fire.

From the top of Mount Fuji with the sun behind the mountain

The movie Memoirs of a Geisha made the Japanese Geisha world famous, here in Kyoto some traditional Geisha still exist.

Dancing Elvis Troupe this has got to be one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen, here on the corner of a park near Harajuku station on a steaming hot and humid Japanese summer day these men, on this day there were 3 (who obviously take what they do very seriously) set up for the day with very load speakers and blaring rock music dress like Elvis with leather jackets and long jeans, play all sorts of heavy rock and dance nothing like Elvis and give themselves a workout that would rival any Olympian. I guess I do not blame them since they attract quite a crowd - definitely worth seeing for yourself.

The famous Harajuku girls

If you ever want to learn how to package or present something ask the Japanese! Need I say more!