'Roasters' - A video by Stephen Morrissey

Informative and funny video from the Biggest 3rd Wave Roaster. Give us more of that Stephen.

Housestories goes Nespresso

After ongoing negotiations Housestories finally selected Nespresso to be their coffee supplier. Just now Nespresso has their best Pure Origine ever on the market ; the Colombian Rosabaya.

In the Housestories set up a logical choice. It's small, easy, looks great in the room and fits well in the market position of this project.

For those who want to know more about this prestigious project : follow the blog.

For those who want to book an apartment at Housestories Brussels : click the site.

drinking coffee vs. tasting coffee

Saw this vid first on Has Bean. And the longer I think about it the more it starts to intrigue me.
This is Tom from Sweet Marias. Very basic vid, very well explained and what a voice.

(Tra)Bocca Coffee (Dutch)

Ik ontmoette Menno van Trabocca opnieuw in Keulen.
Ongelooflijk hoe deze koffiekenner de hele aardbol afstruint op zoek naar de meest exotische en verrassende koffiebonen.
Eerder had we al een tonnetje zeer goede Yirgacheffe bij hun gekocht, en mijn appreciatie voor het bedrijf groeide alleen maar na mijn bezoek aan hun offices in Addis Abeba Ethiopië.

In Keulen kregen we enkele stalen mee gebrand door Bocca Coffee. Een aanverwant bedrijf te Amsterdam dat koffie brandt.

Hun Costa Rica-Papua New Guinea melange heb ik nog niet kunnen proeven. Wel de 'Gusto Blend', waarmee Schat Nederlands kampioen werd. Zeer stevige mengeling met een volle en goed uitgebalanceerde smaak. Prima. Wel een klein vraagteken bij de Cappuccino capaciteiten van deze blend. Sander?

Het meest tot mijn verbeelding was opnieuw de specialiteit van Trabocca : Ethiopië. Een Natural Sidamo (3) die het fantastisch doet op alle verschillende brouwwijzes. Via de Aero Press kreeg ik een krachtige fruitbom, rins, met veel diepte en een super cleane nasmaak waar ik geen genoeg van kan krijgen.

Opvallend ook dat de brandgraad mooi in de lijn ligt van hoe wij bij Caffenation werken.

Nog veel succes in de toekomst Menno en Tewis en hopelijk tot snel.

Freddie Hubbard

I'm talking a lot about atmosphere in the espresso bar.
Maybe it's time for people to rethink their music - probably the most important piece of the puzzle.

Freddie Hubbard is my favourite trumpeteer - oh man he can blow the horn.
See him live with the Art Blakey Jazz Messengers.

Later on he took over Miles Davis his band in the 60's recordings massive tracks for Blue Note.
Most of this stuff is probably the best for your bar.
Check 'Open Sesame'. Epic!*

Then he moved on to the CTI house build by Creed Taylor.
This first part of the 70's is my favourite Freddie period.
First Light and Red Clay. Oh my.

Later on the 70's he did some weird shit, but kept on playing well. Early 80's his technique was still there, but due to depressions and age he then quickly lost it.
Last year he died, but at Caffenation he's still alive, almost every day.

Cuptasting Bart and Ben. Belgium 3rd Nation!

In preparation for my second cuptasting competition a couple of months ago I went to Efico for some training.
On that occasion Bart VanSanden was showing his skills. He was champion the year before and looking stronger then ever.
On the championships I had the honour to compete with him at the same table for the first round. Unfortunately he over classed me and took his second ring later on.

This Sunday he was in the arena for the world title.
I have to admit that there was only one other competitor I knew and that was Ben Kaminsky. Repeatedly reading his articles on the Barismo blog he came into the press as the first US cuptasting champion in Atlanta and a couple of weeks ago he became second in the Oslo at the Aero Press championships.

I was happy to meet him Saturday eve after my award winning when Stephen Morrisey presented me to him.
A good looking gifted youngster with coffee knowledge and buds to be jealous after.

At the finals Bart ended 2nd and Ben 4th. A big congrats to both of them.
Next links gives you photo's and the name of the winner :
http://www.scae.com/news/466/thrilling-contest-sees-russias-valentina-kazachkova-take-world-cup-tasters-championship/

Meanwhile we(Belgium) became 3rd in the overall Nation ranking. Unbelievable how such a small country can become big in such a short notice.

When I was on stage speeching after winning the award, I told the audience my believe was we all have to keep on fighting for better coffee and a better atmosphere in espresso bars.
And I think this should be the message after all these prices and top results at championships and SCAE shows. We do participate at championchips not for the prices, but for bringing specialty coffee at the surface and under the nose of everyone in our country. The photo coupled in the press articles (seen at one of the comments of the past post) this week in Flemish news papers of a stupid cup of coffee with whipped cream next to title of Peter winning the Latte Art championship tells enough - ridiculous. There's still a lot of work to be done, with or without new titles or top results at championships.

That's it for this years championships. En avant marche pour Londres 2010! Santé!

I Won an Award

A couple of months ago I couldn't believe my head was on the SCAE website because I was nominated for one of the SCAE awards for Coffee Excellence, as a Hidden Treasure.
Most generally I'm not so fond of being in meetings and organisations and having myself on the front page, but apparently that was a little bit the reason I was nominated as 'Hidden'.

So after a Friday with 13 hours of work and starting very early at the bar Saturday Bert and I raced toward Köln on Saturday afternoon.
Even without excessive speed it only took us 2 hours and 15 minutes. Easy.

Once arrived at the fare it was nice meeting so many coffee friends and business partners and greeting the large Belgian representation.

In the evening we were at the Gala Diner sitting at what later became a prestigious table. Peter, the newly crowned Latte Art Champ is an Antwerp Barista as well, so it was no surprise we joined up. Across of me Jeanne Gennar. For a couple years we only met at Championships, which she organises, but since she's also organising Coffee Consulate workshops and distributing Weber and CC we starting knowing one another better and even noticed we were born in neighbour villages. First price of the evening was for Jeanne who became the National Coordinator of the year. Congrats Jeanne and well deserved.

Then time for the other awards.

Lifetime Achievement Award : Neal Robinson (Bunn)

Young Entrepeneur Award : Filip Akerblom. Bart and Peter Deprez were also nominated for this award!

Passionate Communicator Award : Franz Grunwald

Outstanding Producer Award : Ipanema Coffee's Brazil

Coffee Photography winner : Johanna Wechselberger

Hidden Treasure Award : Rob Berghmans.

Although experienced with speeches in a past profession it felt weird to be there on stage in front of all these coffee experts and enthusiasts.

Very proud but still not understanding all of it, I continued the eve. It all sank in better after a couple of beers with the Barista's Gwilym, Colin, Ben, Stephen, Bert, Kim, Peter and others. That's more my habitat I guess.

Ok, enough self confidence and energy to keep on working like I did last couple of years. Very hard and with a coffee bean in the heart. Greetz. Rob