Post Aroma
Sunday came and went in a blur … a great day, Sydney in full winter sunshine.
Two tents housed the two mistrals, a Clover and a cupping area, showcasing the Cup of Excellence winners from this year’s CoE selections and our siphon bar.
We were joined by our comrades from White Horse in Sutherland – Dom, Matt and Brian (thanks guys!), who worked with the Mecca crew serving up Beloya Selection 16 through the Clover and many a Dark Horse espresso. See you again next year!
Aroma Festival
Aroma Festival is an annual event held in The Rocks showcasing the best of coffee, chocolate, tea and spice. George St is blocked off and the area is taken over by merchants showing their wares. The Mecca crew will be participating in the Aroma Festival for the first time in 2009.
The Mecca stand will be located in First Fleet Park near the corner of George and Alfred St, Circular Quay. Like other stall holders we will be doing $2 coffees through our Espresso Machines and we will also be offering some wonderful coffees through our newly arrived Clover. Throughout the day we will also be holding cuppings, siphon demonstrations and other educational sessions.
Hope to see you there.
Clover
Our Clover has finally arrived. We are very excited to have yet another way of brewing and experiencing coffee.
Those familiar with the very limited edition Clover will know that it produces a fantastically clean extraction which really showcases the unique characteristics of a coffee.
We will be offering the Ethiopian Beloya, Kenya Gethumbwini Estate and the Rwanda Musasa this week and the new Honduras CoE at King Street soon.
Honduras Cup of Excellence
Last week we picked up 2 lots of Honduras CoE and we are very excited about receiving them with the help from our friends at Don Adan. Gerard is concerned about the coup d’etat that is underway in Honduras, but hopeful it wont affect the export of coffee.
In essence the Cup of Excellence is a program that connects roasters with coffee farmers and gets real money into their pockets as a reward for great coffees. We feel strongly about this movement and will continue to show our support with CoE and other means to ensure that exceptional coffees are sought out and duly rewarded.
Very soon we will be showcasing the work of farmers Otilio Hernández Cáceres from ‘San Jorge’ and Francisco Moran of ‘La Pedrera’ with our customers and look forward to sharing their hard work.
Beloved Beloya
We finally received our shipment of Beloya after a couple of months of fear and trepidation. It arrived air delivered direct from sunny Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, you know the birthplace of coffee. Quarrantine did quite a number on this probing and poking away, but we’ll just let by gones be by gones. We had cupped this back in March at the exporters labs and this particular lot jumped off the table. So we are proud to be serving this up on the siphon bar and soon to be in our espresso blend. It will be a coffee to be reckoned with…
Barista & Sons
Meet Ivan Andrade of Barista & Sons, the Greg Evans of the coffee world who’s matchmaking cafe owners and baristas all over Australia. Before placing candidates, they are put through a rigorous assessment that’s more of a real world test than showing off free pour latte art skills. They are groomed in the fine arts of customer service, presentation, workflow and of course espresso preparation. So if you are a coffee professional looking out for some extra work or a coffee nerd wanting to improve the skillz drop Ivan a line. Don’t be a wimp
La Marzocco’s ‘Single Origin’
La Marzocco, our favourite machine manufacturer, launched a new concept at the SCAA in Atlanta with the working title ‘Single Origin’. It is built around the idea of controlling brew pressure throughout the shot by moving the paddle or by preprogramed profiles. It also allows each group to be programed independently with different temperature settings on each group for those who like offering a number of origins.
We spent some time pulling countless shots through the machine. Was this the real thing or just another concept that just wouldn’t live up to the hype? We ventured into uncharted waters, exploring the possibilities of brewing coffee flat out at 4 bars, or trying to replicate the bell curve of a lever group. The results were eye opening and this will certainly open up a world of possibilities to the barista. I would say that it turns the 50 year old idea of brewing espresso at 9 bar on it’s head and for good reasons…perhaps it’s time to let go of some traditions.
Culturally espresso has taken on a new form as it has entered different market places, roasting styles and green bean quality. You only need to head slightly north of Italy to Scandinavia to see the polar opposite of the espresso world where espresso has been elevated to lofty heights.
Now all we need is to profile brew temperature and we’ve squared the circle. Are you listening LM?….here we go again
Reflections on Ethiopia
Trips to origin are always exciting, and Ethiopia as the birthplace of coffee, even more so.
Coffee is the country’s largest export and we visited some coffee areas in the south that are dedicated to growing and milling.
Yirga Cheffe acts as the hub to the villages of Beloya and Aricha, where I visited the farms that we purchase coffee from, and the mills that process it.
Having just arrived back, some of the highlights shared with Joseph from Ninety Plus Coffee and Tim Wendelboe were meeting the people behind these coffees and having an Ethiopian coffee ceremony made with the much loved Beloya. More to come…
Paul