Antwerp Barista

New Website

2012-01-24T16:46:00.002+01:00

www.caffenation.be

News for 2012, first quarter

2012-01-20T14:24:00.005+01:00

Our Website is almost ready. Take already a peep now.

We're running the last mile of our coffee envelope membership. This project was a full marathon, so the leggs do hurt a little bit right now. Soon more.

Aeropresses are back in stock. As well as the filters, €4.

Still planning to organise the next Aeropress Championships on Easter Monday.

And at the same time an open Roastery door for all interested...

6th of Feb we have the Belgian Barista Championships with both Roeland and Emiel in the finals.

7th of Feb there's some cuptasting to be done. Roast Master and AP champ Jeff is going to defend our colors at the Belgian heats.

These CC's are being held at the Venuez Fair, Waagnatie. On this fair our National La Marzocco dealer Limarc will have a big LM (I suppose a Strada) fired up, teamed by Anfim grinders and tamed by Grandmaster Bert, the Birdyman. Come on over and taste some delicious Caffenation spro's.

Besides Kolonel Koffie, King Kong Coffee and Kornel, we also have Korsakov opening up, tonight at the former Bato Batu café. Caffenation House Blend coffees from tomorrow on (i believe).

Why is the K-K combo so popular these days?

We sell also sell Baratza Grinders now. The Maestro plus, Virtuoso and Virtuoso Precisio. Great gear for grand prices ; this means 'cheap'.

After reigning as number 1 Caffenation client (volume wise), Inspire came in 2nd last year, after rookie sensation The Village music & coffee. Lennaert & Angelo started off like rockets. This deserves a price; more coffee.

Much more classes soon at Caffenation Hopland, beginning with blitzing Home Brewing Classes. Jeff and Bird welcome you Sunday Feb 5th at 19h. €10 a person, still people needed to complete the class. Let's brew!

One Year Trifecta

2012-01-12T13:02:00.005+01:00

Yes, it's already one year we bought this remarkable Bunn brewer.

First tests with this machine were very convincing. 1) The taste was good. 2) We were able to offer plenty of beans on the Slow Menu. And 3) I saw a good business opportunity to install such a device in first class restaurants.

We start back wise with 3)
It's still a good idea to offer a real coffee menu in Michelin Star Restaurants. And the Trifecta would be an ideal help. A monkey can use it, it's fast, brews very stable and doesn't take a lot of space. The disadavantages could be taste wise (later more) and price wise - Count quickly €6000 for the brewer+grinder - but mostly they couldn't see any business in it. Why? Simply because these type of restaurants do not believe in filter coffee. It's very sad, but that's the truth.

I'm a hundred procent sure that they are wrong, but probably it will need some more time before they start realise this by themselves.

2) From day 1 we offer people 4 different coffee's. 2 of them are (light) filter roasts ; a weekly one and the Afro Man in which we have 1 or more premium African coffees.
Then we offer 2 coffees roasted for espresso, but on the light side. One is the LGB blend. This Trifecta brew is called the House Coffee and our most popular one. The second is the Mokka Man, mostly a medium roasted Mokka Harrar from Ethiopia.
Most coffee professionals prefer lighter roasts for filter brewing, but half of our clients think these coffees taste a bit too thin or tea-like and go for something stronger. I understand this and do not mind to keep on playing that ball.

1) The taste. Yes it was good, but even the best Trifecta brew of the year wasn't more than a 7/10. And while playing with the idea of filtering the Trifecta's or maybe even swith the machine with a Bunn ICB brewer, I had a mind blowing Aeropress at Broer Bretel last Sunday that gave me the last push.
During the night I couldn't sleep and by the morning I found the solution.

Isabelle and I were already filtering some brews with V60 material, but that was way too slow and the Kalita Flat Bed filter way too brown, but that early Monday morning I remembered having some more Belgian filters somewhere hidden in our kitchen.
Read this article from 3 years ago and you know what I'm saying.

First brews didn't go well at all.
The problem we discover in our Trifecta brews is the sediment that comes with this type of brews. When using Medium Roasted coffees it's less irritant, but on lighter roasts it costs you guaranteed 3 points on that scale of 10.
But these metal filters didn't stop the residue.
Then I noticed the form of the filters were exactly the size of our small Aeropress filters.

From the first Aeropress/Belgian Filter filtered brew we saw a great improvement in cleanliness and it didn't need a lot of extra experimenting and fine tuning to implement this in our way of working.
+ 2 points for every brew is significant isn't it?

Swing by one of the days and ask for a filtered Trifecta. I hope you enjoy it.

This photo shows the residue 'catched' by our filter.

Melbourne Coffee Vid

2012-01-12T13:00:00.001+01:00

10 Best Coffee's of 2011

2012-01-01T18:52:00.004+01:00

Different year, different theme.
We had a lot of coffee's from Roastery's all over the world. Never tasted so many brilliant coffee's as in 2011.
Although we didn't mind the other years, I think it's very difficult to really judge a coffee well by only bag, even if it's a 1k bag.
So only Caffenation coffee's this year.

We had some ups and down. Not only in our coffees, also in our roastings. It was only by easter our espresso roasts were really hitting the spot on a consistent basis.
For the filters it even took a couple months longer, but then my boys Jazzy Jeff, Mc Roeland, Birdy Bert and Sickboy Jurgen seemed to be unstoppable.

The Five most memorable Espresso coffee's of 2011 were :

1) El Salvador Miralvalle COE lot #8. A coffee with a lot of faces, but always clean, complex, aging very well and easy to pull. Most remarkable flavor : Candied Fruits.
2) Burundi Burimba. Not the most stable one, but on its best, the best. Very deep, full flavored coffee that was really triggering peoples buds. Flavor # 1 : Fruity Spices. (does this exists?)
3) Rwanda Rwabisindu. A very versatile coffee and therefor the perfect fit for our Aeropress Championships, but even more outstanding on espresso and also part of the LGB around easter. Most dominating flavor : Lemon!
4) Malawi Mzuzu. It made its first appearance around May, to come back - half force - in November. A Geisha that was liked immediately by almost everybody.
Most remarkable flavor : Vanilla.
5) Zimbabwe Pezuru : Probably surprising for most of people, cause we only had it in very briefly. It also came in a bit on accident, since I thought i ordered a new bag of Zimbabwe Salimba, and I first used the Pezuru for our Mokka Man Blend, but that one batch as SOE was a big surprise. Clean and powerful and very typical Eastern Africa acidity. (Blood) Orange upfront.
And fresh AA crop will arrive at our warehouse next week!! Something to look forward to.

Then the filters. It was a Kenya walk over in 2011. Lots of nice Ethiopians, Tanzania's, Centrals and a super popular Zambia (Munali), but the Kenya coffee's were only (briefly) stoppable by this famous Panama.

1) Kenya Thunguri. It wasn't number 1 at the cupping table, but that one Sunday in Milan at the WAC it gave everything we (and the judges) ever wanted. Most special about this coffee was the combination of sweet fruit en green vegs - very, very special!
2) Panama Esmeralda. Not their best lot, and yes, it is over priced, but how full flavored was this coffee!? No, not the first week, but then it slammed us all. Most special flavor : Pomegranate.
3) Kenya Mwiria. This coffee was number one in our clients popularity charts. It felt like every single person that bought a bag of this bean came back for more. Hopefully back in the program for this year and hopefully the ripe Red Cherry flavors are back in it.
4) Kenya Karimikui PB. We just missed the AA version and didn't really like the AB, but the Peaberry had it all. A stunning coffee at a 'normal' price. "We Want More. We Want More"!! Caramel in the house.
5) Kenya Kiria. Our current Kenya and as spectacular as the others. It's like a liquid tropical fruit basket juice. But even more : Strawberry (full) Yoghurt. Yes.

I want to end up with mentioning the Costa Rica Zarcero fell short in both lists. It desserved a Top 5 I think, but it's still a bit young at our menu. Call it a top tip for the beginning of 2012 and, together with the Kiria, still available thoughout Jan and Feb.

HAVE A VERY NICE NEW YEAR AND STAY TUNED FOR MORE COFFEE NEWS IN 2012.
CIAO
ROB

Top 10 CD's 2011

2011-12-29T19:00:00.005+01:00

Here we are again with the sound of the Nation : this is a Flash Back.

Flashing back on this year's best CD's. (not published, but bought by your royal highness, huk hum)

1) I remember myself, long ago, collecting rare Jazz. And one of the wickiest labels was 'Cadet Mainstream'. This year I was really impressed by a best of Mainstream CD, called THE MESSAGE.
Wicked Jazz Funky fat bass groovy horns kinky keys. I totally dig this one.
Listen why by clicking this link.

2) TRUE BLOOD Compilation. Never saw a minute of the TV show-series, but the Grammy Nominated CD's are really rockin. Volume 1 as hard as Volume 2. And the 3rd one is coming. A must have for every espresso bar!!!
Check out the first compilation.

3) BATTLES : GLOSS DROP (on Warp Records Japan).
New Wicked shit and good to theme with a double ristretto.
See their funky Clip.
Want more? Click this.

and rest of the best
4) Soul & Funk : Bill Withers, Still Bill (from 72 on Sbme Special Mkts)
5) French : Wizz, Volume 2 (on Born Bad Records)
6) Jazz : Freddie Hubbard, Groovy
7) Guitar : Gypsy Hotel, Volume 1 (on Gypsyhotelrecords)
8) Reggae : Tighten Up : Trojan Reggae Classics 1968-74
9) Film : Movie Themes go Disco (on Jazzclub/moods)
10) French bis : Camille, Ilo Veyou (on EMI/Virgin)

Hope you all are going to be inspired and pump up da espresso bar vibe will you?!

Raking coffee, Zarcero Costa Rica

2011-12-26T19:17:00.001+01:00

Finca Zarcero kicks in (LGB 4.3)

2011-12-23T20:07:00.007+01:00

The LGB 4.2 with the geisha from Mzuzu is dead. Our supply of Malawi Mzuzu was only 10 bags. We didn't buy in a lot because the coffee was not the freshiest of crops.
Sometimes it's very difficult to find a sparkling coffee this time of the year. This season is good for crops from Peru or Brazil, but it's more an in between season actually.

Nevertheless we found a nice Costa Rica one from last seasons crop that still taste very fresh and vibrant and clean. Also thanks to the good Grain Pro packaging.
It's a microlot from Finca Zarcero.

In West Valley, the farm is located 1680 meters above sea level, and has volcanic soils
The farmer has been working this land for 45 years. The varieties in the farm are caturra, catuai and Villalobos, and he renovates them every 15 years. The coffee is characterized by its acidity with chocolate and floral taste. Ecological milling, mechanical wash and sun dried.

In the West Valley, the ideal conditions for the cultivation of the best coffee bean are: very fertile volcanic soil, 81% percent humidity, a stable temperature of 21.5*C (70.7*F) and adequate sunlight year round (from 48 to 52%) with an average of 2,250 hours annually.

These new microlot initiative is coming from Micro-Mills, tiny low-volume farm-specific coffee producers who now keep their lots separate, mill it themselves, gaining total control of the process, and tuning it to yield the best possible flavors (and the best price!) This revolution in processing is possible due to new environmentally friendly small milling equipment, and the disatisfaction of small producers who sell coffee at market prices, only to see it blended with average, carelessly harvested lots. With an independent Micro-Mill, a farmer can become a true "coffee craftsperson," maximize the cup quality of their coffee, dividing lots by elevation or cultivar, and receiving the highest prices for their Micro-Lot coffees.

The body of this coffee is light, but suits this high-toned and mouth-refreshing flavor profile. As it cools, the cup sweetens, and pear juice fruit character comes up.
Oh yes, did I already mention that the brightest coffees in the world come from Costa Rica.
Of course not always, but this one is for sure the brightest coffee we had this year.

In the Little Green Bag blend it pairs up with the (good old) peaberry Brazil from the Pereira Estate. This coffee is in the line up since the beginning of October and seems to be better then ever.
In the cup we have a very well balanced cup. Not the biggest body, but very nice mouthfeel, floral notes, fruits, bright acidity and a clean and long finish.
The cappuccino's are heavenly. Cream, caramel and milk chocololate combined ; just the way I like it.

(thanks Sweet Maria's, SCACR and Coava for all the info about this country, region and farm)

X-Mas Espresso 2011 : Brazil Fortaleza

2011-12-15T17:24:00.004+01:00

It is a Mundo Novo from a tiny plantation by the waterfront of a lake delta in the cold climate and mountainous area of Caconde in Alta Mogiana, São Paulo state. The plantation is called Nossa Senhora de Aperecida and is run by the Menussi brothers. Quite young and very hard working guys, who really cares for their land and their coffee. They hand harvest everything themselves with help from only a few friends. They meticulously dry them and sort them the entire day during harvest. They are hard workers. They are privileged by having a uniquely located plantation with a huge potential that they are really starting to realize. There processing facilities are simple. No floaters or de-pulpers. So they only do naturals and that they do well. They have the perfect climate for it. Everything is done by hand. First drying on patio the first few days and then up to 2 weeks drying on raised beds, where the coffee is sorted and turned every day. They really deserve the premium payment they received for this coffee.

The Mundo Novo sits on the highest ridge of the plantation. This part has quite a bit of shade trees and in the end of the afternoon this part of the plantation is in complete shadow, ensured by the angle towards the sun and the surrounding hill tops. This enables the plants to rest. Together with the cold climate and the water near location this ensures the freshness and clarity that comes with the fruity acidity developed through the night time. In the morning this piece of land is hit by sun early to kickstart the photosynthesis and sugar production. This coffee has a high sugar concentration and a high level of glucose in particular, which contributes to the rich, thick, coating, fluffy (marshmellow) mouthfeel that builds a layer on top of the smooth, oily/buttery mouthfeel. High glucose levels give more even roasting around the crack, but also potential a faster roast development at times, so be aware. Don´t go to easy on this though as it does have a higher than usual density due to the fairly high elevation, but particularly due the cold climate, which adds a few hundred meters to the actual altitude.

ID: FAF_10_1076

Categori: Dried Fresh Raw Clean Green Coffee Seeds

Land: Brasilien

State of origin: Sao Paulo

Region: Alta Mogiana

Subregion: Caconde

Exporter: Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza

Plantation: Sitío Nossa Senhora de Aparecida, ca. 1180-1230 moh.

Producer: Selvio and Celsio Menussi

Method: Organic

Botanical varietal: Mundo Novo

Process: Natural, Selective Harvest (Cereja Cocô, Colheita Selectivo)

Drying: Concrete Patio + Raised Beds

Quality: Clean; Specialty Grade

Screen: 14+

From today on at Caffenation Hopland for €6,50/250 grams.

I Need Coffee

2011-12-10T19:50:00.003+01:00

HARIO:Water Dripper "Clear"

2011-12-05T16:52:00.000+01:00

Working on it right now. (Yeah, I know it's winter time)

Jonasty part 1 (Dutch)

2011-12-04T11:32:00.001+01:00

Met een gezonde nieuwsgierigheid en een kleine portie zenuwen meldde ik me
op maandag 7 november aan bij Caffènation, mijn nieuwe werkgever. Niet dat
de zaak een nobele onbekende voor mij was, integendeel, reeds verschillende
jaren kwam ik er over de vloer voor mijn dagelijkse dosis cafeïne. Deze maandag
zou ik echter niet plaatsnemen in de comfortabele zetels, maar zou ik de
manschappen achter de bar vervoegen, en mijn eerste voorzichtige stappen
zetten in de koffiewereld. Mijn collega’s kende ik gelukkig al bij naam wat de
eerste kennismaking uiteraard vereenvoudigde. De werknemers van Caffenation
zijn niet op hun mondje gevallen, zo heb ik het graag, en mijn onwennigheid
verdween daardoor als sneeuw voor de zon. De eerste dagen werkte ik aan
de ‘koude kant’, ice-tea’s maken, filterkoffies zetten, de afwas doen, ... Ik had het
vrij snel onder de knie. Bert duwde me als eerste de portafilter in de hand, en
spoedig bemerkte ik dat er meer komt kijken bij een goed kopje koffie dan ik op
eerste zicht ooit had vermoed. Het niveau ligt hier hoog.
Na enkele weken had ik de eer om privéles te krijgen van Roeland, waarbij me
in een ijl tempo de basics bijbracht van wat er allemaal reilt en zeilt rond de
koffiemachine. Wederom stond ik ervan te kijken hoeveel kennis er te vergaren
valt omtrent dit zwarte goud. Zelfs over de exacte temperatuur om de gestoomde
melk te serveren bestaan er hele theorieën, doch Caffènation heeft overal een
eigen filosofie over en vaart zijn eigen koers. Binnenkort krijg ik zeker de kans
om eens een kijkje te gaan nemen in de branderij.
Wat me nu de komende weken vooral te doen staat is mijn plaatsje achter “den
bak” proberen op te eisen tijdens rustige momenten zodat ik mijn koffieskills kan
verbeteren en mezelf binnen aanzienbare tijd op te werken tot volleerd barista,
en een volwaardig lid van het Caffènationteam.

Jonas, nieuwbakken Caffenation Barista.