Belgian Barista Championship 2009

Watch out for these guys. ;-)
2 Caffenation girls last year. 2 boys this year.

Sawn-off Shotgun

You see it in violent action movies ; a sawed-off shotgun.
Inspired by this we sawed off the top of a whipped cream bottle.
The result is something freaky.
It looks like fries or package filling or that stuff to fill up window sides. I don't know, but it definitely doesn't look very tasty.

Barismo Nimac Kapeh

Nice name for a coffee isn't it?
Tenzing Norgay, first ever Everest climber sherpa, has always been one of my favourite names. This Nimac Kapeh gives me a bit the same feel. They have great coffee names at Barismo. Maybe time to invent some new blend names myself.

It took a while, but finally I'm drinking Barismo Coffee.
Since the great success of the Guatemala Finca Tecuamburro San Francisco - last years number one at Caffenation - we were looking forward to other great coffee's from this country.

Well Jaime, this on is a true cup of feel-good.
Tons of wood & nuts (black tea like) with light caramel mixed through. Half wild, but controlled red fruit flavors and a sublime raw sugar finish.


This coffee and many others will be cupped at Caffenation March 1 at our NYC Cupping Night. It's all thanks to Jazzy Jeff V who brought over a dozen of top class coffee's from world's #1 city. Stumptown, Grumpy, Barismo, Gimme Coffee, .... Wow! Check the blog in March for the impressions.

3rd Wave for All Ages

Dina, Willem and friend. Hanging around. Drinking Santos. Smoking Cigs. Having Fun. Yeah!

Non Fat Skinny Sweatener

Note : This is not filmed at Caffenation.

First Ones

Splendid.

Last Ones

The last 2 espresso's.
Thank you Faema Diplomat, you were a great friend.



Found 2 persons interested, but no buyer yet.
€ 2500 for this great Faema E91 3-group! Call me +32(0)
486323015.

Espresso Bar Verhaal (Dutch)

Happy people smiling
Originally uploaded by Miodrag Bogdanovic

Ik zal deze foto per toeval en dacht toen aan een grappige toevalligheid die ons in de bar onlangs te beurt viel.

Op een bepaalde dag komt er een klant afrekenen en wandelt vervolgens buiten om daar bij zijn fiets aangekomen te zien dat hij zijn sleuteltje kwijt is.
Vervolgens komt ie terug binnen, op zoek naar zijn verloren sleutel.
Zoeken, zoeken, zoeken, maar niks te vinden.
Neen, ook wij wisten nergens van, maar gaven hem, met al onze ervaring in dit soort voorvallen, de raad om al zijn zakken maar eens grondig te doorzoeken.
De man doet dat één, en ook een tweede maal, maar geen sleutel te vinden.
Dan maar naar huis voor de reservesleutel.

Een week later komt hij terug de zaak binnen en vraagt Bert hem : "En heb je ondertussen al je sleutel terug gevonden?"
De man reposteerd : "Oh ja, direct bij mijn thuiskomst." Waarna hij met een brede glimlach verder gaat : "Ik zette mijn pet af toen ik mijn huis binnen ging en 'rinkel' daar viel de sleutel op de grond. Ik had de sleutel in mijn verstrooidheid in mijn pet gegooid en die vervolgens opgezet, en ja, wie gaat daar nu een sleutel zoeken?"

Wij intussen plat van het lachen en meteen een mooie espressobar story rijker.

Espresso Bar Verhaal

Will It Blend? - Coffee Beans

I can't believe my eyes. Is this a trick? Must be.

Grand Ma's Filter Brewer

In bought some very old filters a while ago.
The ones that my grand mother used between WW I and II. (joking).
No, it's very old silver ware from Durobor. This company is still producing all kind of glasses, but no coffee filters sets anymore.
The one that comes closest is the 'Filtre Belgique' from Bodum. And that's the one I want to start selling at our online shop.

In general I'm not so found of filter coffee. It's lacking detail and complexity, but these flat filters do better.
It does not need more than 5 grams of coffee, so very economic. The grind is medium.
Then you pour over a bit hot water (plus minus 90 degrees) to let the coffee bloom for half a minute. Then you fill up the filter. The trick is to get a very slow drip. I try to stretch it all up to 3 minutes and then you get this full strong detailed taste.

The advantages compared to conical filters : It drips slower, what gives more taste. You don't need a filter, which is not only cheaper in product ; you don't need to rinse the paper filter before brewing either. The pouring technique is easier. You need less coffee.

The advantages compared to the French Press : It's cheaper. It's easier. With the press you have the big disadvantage you press through all bad elements of your ground, with the filter .... you filter it.

Roast of the Week : Papua New Guinea Sigri

The new 08/09 crop Sigri is in the House.
And what a success. People adore this clean and wild (what a combination) bean with it's remarkable spicy finish. I think it never happened before we did sell so much coffee of a new crop in it's first week of roast.
What's the story behind this bean?

>>Sigri Coffee Estate in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea was established in the 1950's. The altitude of the Waghi Valley where this coffee plantation is located is 1800 meter above sea level, and the size of the estate, and their sister estate, Bunum Wo, which have both gained the reputation of producing the finest quality coffee in the country, is about 1123 hectares.

Sigri plantation enjoys a cool climate because of its high altitude and bountiful rainfall, an ideal environment for growing this typica and arusha varieties of arabica coffees.

The plantation employs about 6000 people in the peak harvesting season, and about half that number live permanently in company owned housing on the plantation. It is estimated that for every employee, there are approximately six dependents that rely on the plantation for their livelihood.

Sigri plantation's main crop harvest runs from April through to September. Quality begins in the field, and ripe cherry is handpicked and carefully checked for uniformity, and it must be red and fully ripe before pulping on the same day that it is picked.
The coffee mill at Sigri is one of the most up-to-date in PNG, employing German made machinery of the Paul Kaack brand. It is designed around a central conditioning section where all dried coffee at the parchment stage is brought.

The coffee is fermented for a total of three days, broken by washing every 24 hours.

The Sigri processing follows this fermentation by a total immersion in water for another day, which creates a superior quality. Gentle sun drying further enhances the quality of the coffee.

Careful conditioning, hulling, grading and hand sorting follows. This combined with a rigorous quality control and a final hand sort before packing and shipping provides the roaster with only the finest coffees from Sigri.
The strict quality control includes daily and careful cup testing by Sigri plantations senior management, to ensure that the quality of Sigri's coffees remains consistently excellent.<<


I know this all sounds a bit too technical for some people. Don't panic, just drop by and have a cup.....
Your Antwerp Barista.

News Feb 4

2009 has been a busy year so far. It took off with a flying start. And with all plans I have for the next months, it will even go faster, so remain seated.

Working very hard at the new menu. Normally this comes out in the month of May, but I'm planning to launch it a lot earlier this year.
With the first warm weather expected for March, it would be nice to have our new, flashy menu printed and ready to hand out.
Just finished a long phone call with Luc from Routin syrup's. Have some freaky idea's with his chili and cherry syrup. Hot & Sweet & Iced newcomers to be expected!
One other reason to print new menu's is the new milk we buy in since 2 weeks. A whole 3.6 fat% milk with better texturing possibility's and a sweeter taste.

Today my new 30 kilo(!!) kitchen blade arrived. Now it's just a matter of days before the ESW guys come over to install the La Marzocco. It's about time.

Espresso of the week is a sweet Sul de Minas do Brasil. Normally I'll always write, when it comes to coffee, Brazil with a 'z', but to pleasure Stijn I'll write it with an 's' this time.

And last but not least, working hard to launch the online shop. Soon more.....

Biggest Pitcher Ever. Old School Latte.

I won't say this man is a bad Barista, but I would never hire him for the peak hours. :-)
This type of latte is a typical Antwerp South one, but with a 'real' espresso ; in Antwerp most espresso's run 7 seconds.
Latte Art is not yet visible in my part of the city. Yes, I still have a lot of work to do.

Single Origin Coffee

With regards to coffee, the term Single Origins means pure unblended coffee, originated from a single growing region.
Similar to wine, single origin coffees are shaped by plant variety, soil type and altitude and vary greatly in taste from region to region.

Now at Caffenation we sell two Brazilian Single Origins, two Ethiopians, one Papua New Guinea, one Guatemala and varying from week to week a Single Origin Roast of the Week.
This range of Single Origins is probably the one to start with when the Caffenation online shop opens next month.