90+ Coffees

One post a month is not enough, i know.
But maybe that coffee book i'm writing is a good excuse....

A little word on coffee cupping now.
Coffee cupping is not only a funny thing to do, it is the corner stone of our business and it should be so for every coffee roaster and even every barista. Here's where you learn a lot about your bean and the best way to sharpen your taste buds.

The scoring we give is a big controversial item though.
What cupping sheet are you using?
And are you trained to really understand this sheet and do you have enough reference coffees in mind to give it a proper score?

We, as a company, do not want to give cupping scores on paper. Every roast, brew is different and the coffee is changing over time as well. What is worth a cupping score for a coffee that came in 4 months ago? For example; maybe there's a hot summer in between which influenced the green coffee quality drastically....

We do give cupping scores in our head all the time though and the magical figure we all want to score is 90+.
A 90+ coffee is not just a coffee anymore, it's a gem. A truly clean cup that makes a lot of bells ringing in our head.
I cup 600+ coffees every year, and buy around 35 of them. Another 5 i buy blind; sometimes you have to act fast and take risks to get your hands on some small lots and highly wanted coffees - of course there's always someone who cupped these for us and recommended them, like a coffee trader you're familiar with.
For these 40 coffees we buy every year, almost all of them can be called Specialty Coffee, but only a couple are scoring 90+.
Some people who are start roasting think it's easy to buy these high scoring coffees, but there are a lot of 'buts' in this story.

First of all are some of these coffees very expensive. And are they worth the price? We are not the type of company to pay double the price for one point more on a cupping scale, no thanks.

Then the high scoring coffees are very wanted. The bigger roastery's have more money and are able to buy the full lot. They are often longer in business and have better contacts, up to origin.

Imagine you finally are able to buy them, then you need to be able to roast them and help people to brew them so you can get all the flavors out of it. A little over or under roasting and a bit sloppy on the executing at the bar, bad water or unclean tools and your coffee drops 5 points in a flash...

The end this story i have to warn people that cupping is the best tool to evaluate coffee samples and it is the best tool to test your roasts, but it's always light roast coffees we cup. When roasting the same coffee darker, for espresso, and later pull shots we have at once a different coffee.
Think very clean, subtle and bright tasting beans; they do not translate very well on espresso. Like those zesty Kenyan coffees that give so much acidity in your espresso that you think someone added lemon juice to you cup.
Saying this we notice in 2015 more and more of this type of beans that, once roasting carefully and brewed with the right equipement and skills are bringing gold in our cups. Very interesting times if you ask me.

Coffee Cupping in 2013

I have the ambition of cupping 500 coffees this year.

And at least 365 different ones. A coffee a day keeps the doctor away.

Hopper Rotterdam Cupping - SpecialtyCoffeeNL

Deze keer spijtig genoeg zonder mij, want het is toch altijd weer leuk en leerzaam hoe Kees K zulke cuppping sessions in mekaar draait.
Doe zo voort Karel en Kees en Maarten e.a.

Espresso Cupping and Brew Temp Check

We've been (blind) espresso cupping Monday with Friso and today with the Roasting team, Toon and me.

Heavy but unevitable if you want to learn more about your beans and espresso roasting profiles.

Also we wanted to see how Kees (our trainer) his profiles from the roasting last Wednesday were holding up against ours. Or the other way around of course.

Monday we were enchanted by Bert and Jeff their profiles. More taste (fruitiness, acidity, aftertaste) and less bitter.
Today at Broer Bretel we had a way more difficult task in finding our prefered roasting profiles. It was very tough cupping overall with even difficulties recognizing the origins.

I was on a hurry to my meeting with Brian 'legend' Birdy in Brussels for finding the right spot for a Caffenation bar in Brussels. Opportunities yes, but still a whole lot of work. Hopefully more news soon.
But driving my station car packed with coffee towards Crusio I realised what a big influence temperature and pressure have on your espresso.
Theoretically we know this since ages, but the results today were a remarkable.

At Broer Bretel we have the same coffee, grinder, tamper, cups, machine, you name it. The only difference is the temperature of the water and the pressure. The machine still needs to be adjusted a little bit by Jens.
After today I think it's an urgent matter, cause these 3-4 degrees extra and a little extra pressure gave us a lot of difficulties finding the right flow. All coffee came out stronger and more bitter.

Fanny was telling me last week that the Crema on our LGB espresso was rather thin.
Today it was crema up to rim, as a matter of speaking. And it didn't do the coffee any good if you ask me.

So, dear Caffenation clients, control this temp - we say between 90 and 92°c. And tame that pressure. And with these profiles; push the extraction towards 30". Your clients will love it.

Cupping at 2

Every Saturday we have a free cupping session at Take Out Nation.

A 2 o'clock Roeland and me are presenting a couple of nice (new) coffee's at the Take Out Nation Bar, Hopland 46.

Hope to see you one of the upcoming Saturdays.

Planned for tomorrow : new crop coffee's from Tanzania, Zambia and Rwanda. C u.

New Coffee's from East & South Africa

Nice stuff coming in.
This weeks espresso of the week : Rwanda Rwabisindu : Big nutmeg aroma's, upfront some nice lemon, then very nutty, medium body and long and creamy aftertaste. The coffee is complex and becomes very sweet cooling down. I think we have a winner here. 91

This weeks filter of the week : Zambia Munali : Nice full aroma, nice acidity, bit of chocolate, 'Dutch drop' and wood tones. Full and clean aftertaste. 89

Coming up next week : Zimbabwe Salimba : Earthy, lemon, tobacco, wicked balance - changing all the time, nice cooling! 86

And a Tanzania AA Utengule : A bit stronger then the others, veggie stock, walnut, bitter but clean aftertaste. 85,50

We had at the public cupping yesterday eve also a Burundi and Kenya on the table. At the warehouse since December, but the same region.
Nice fruitiness in the Kenya AA. Always lovely.
The Burundi was better then ever. Sooo Sweet!!! Best cup and a blazing 93 points.

Soon more....

Bert in London

I picked this photo cause it's symbolic for Bert's performance at the Cuptasting Championships.

We go back in time. The Belgian Barista CC in 2007 with Bert on stage. He was all stressed for this event and started choking for the first minute on. He didn't even finish his performance which is very very exceptional.
Exceptional is the best way to describe Bert, on and off stage. Exceptional in positive and negative sense.

At the Belgian Cuptasting Championship he was really relaxed and still enjoying a beer and a sig minutes before the cupping started.

In London he was at the starting line at 8 o'clock, but only performing at 1 in the afternoon. Tension building up all the way and that was noticable.
First set of 3 cups and Bert looks totally confused, shaking and not finding the 'different' cup.
Second set of 3 cups we see disbelief in his eyes. He can't taste any difference in between them.
Normally he's a man that picks 6, 7 or 8 out of 8 in a minute and a half.
In London he picks 1 out of 8 in 3 minutes, beating statistics! Unbelievable.

It's all or nothing with this man. This time it was nothing. I feel so sorry, but there's nothing we can do. Or shall we go back to the relaxed style? Sometimes being less serious may help - for him.

Cupping Event April 2010

6 Yirgacheffe's, 1 Kenia, 2 Brazil, 1 Malawi were cupped. Most from Espresso lab Cape Town.
No fancy or professional cupping sheets at hand. But this doesn't mean you guys have to stain them. ;-)

African Coffee Cupping

Heavy Metal Cuppers : Isa, Jeff, Roel zoekt Boel, Bird, Me.
African Coffee's : 3 Rwandas and 4 Ethiopians.

Rwanda Murambi (Hasbean) : Nice Body, Sweet, Woody/Smoky, Peas, Clean. Me likey.

Rwanda Gikongabo & Butare (George Howell) : Tons of Citrus, Apricot, Cherry, Very clean. Top.

Rwanda Buremema COE (Hasbean) : Perfect Balance, Chicory, Apple!, Clean. Me likey.

Ethiopia Zege Lake Tana (Hasbean) : Wild Fruits, Djimma family, Body, Funky yes. Better on Aeropress.

Ethiopia Wild Bonga Forest (Hasbean) : Raw African Power, Inconsistent says Steven. Probably. Expected a bit more. Last crop seemed more pleasant and subtle.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelba Union (Square Mile) : Natural Processed wonder, Barnyard, Spices, Tropical Fruit, Super Finish, Sweeter when cooling down.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Conventional (Caffenation) : Easy going, Sweet, Very Clean.

7 big coffee's! Rwanda's were generally more appreciated. GH and SM on a lighter roast. The Chelba Union and Buremema our favourites.
Thanks Jazzy Jeff for the samples.

Cupping Notes by Roel & Jazzy J

A lot of coffee’s coming in from Knopes and a little delivery from George Howell’s terroir, Roeland and I had a little time Wednesday to cup them all. Here’s the lot:

1^st up was the Gichathaini, Nyeri, Kenya, north Italian roast. It is amazing what a different roasting profile can do to a bean. First of all, the color of the beans looked the same as any medium roast so it was expected that it would cup like a usual Kenya. But this was not the case, very low in this cup. (Over) ripe blackberries, some caramel also some dirt.

2^nd was La Montaña, Chalatenango, El Salvador, full flavor roast. Roeland noticed very malty notes on this one, I thought it had more nuttiness with nut peel. Good balance between honeyed sweetness and lemony acidity crisp and clean.

3rd was a little bit more exclusive Marco Aurelio's Villa Flor, Nariño, Colombia, full flavor roast. Columbia was the star in last year’s WBC, always exiting to taste, a lot of surprises, so expectations were high on this one. Very complex and hard to describe, mango and tropical fruit notes, very sweet and clean. Low acidity. One very big feature is that this is a 2007 crop, I didn’t notice it until I read it in my mailbox just now! George Howell used frozen vacuum sealed bags to keep this one fresh, it clearly works.

4th was Kirigu Estate Kenya from Knopes coffee roasters. A lot of Knopes’ coffee came in last week, this one may be the best, at least for cupping. Extremely crisp raspberry acidity with sugar cane sweetness. Blueberry all around. Red wine, but creamy after all. We will expect more excellence from this roaster in the future.

(for this Kenya : also watch In My Mug by Steve L.)

Jazzy Jeff & Roel Zoekt Boel.

Our Bird is Cuptasting Champ!!!!

Huray! We have our title!
Bird is a 5 year Caffenation Barista on October 2nd. And the new Belgian Cuptasting champ.

I participated two years ago and Bird and I did a lot of training those days.

Last year we both were challenging the Efico boys. It showed that Bird was the better championship cupper from the two of us, but Bart was too good, which displayed at the World Championships where he became 2nd.

This year we did not practice on triangle cupping.
Bird originally was selected to defend our colors at the Latte Art competition, but after Roeland's bad results at the selections 4 weeks ago I resigned as a trainer and Bird cancelled his latte art participation.
Last week he called up Jeanne he wanted to come over for the cuptasting again.

Every day we taste a lot of coffee and with the experience from the past and his talents this seemed to be enough to become cuptasting champion.
London here we come.

Fun thing is that my resignation has fantastic results.
In the first place there's Bird his title.
Secondly I was willing to help Jeroen with the coffee in good spirits. I didn't, and ..... he became champion today. Congrats Jeroen and good luck in London.

Then I delivered coffee to Isabelle, who was on stage for the Belgian Barista Championships. We decided to go with the Guatemala El Bosque Red Bourbon. A complex, spicy and unique bean that Hasbean Steve shipped over. Thanks for that Steve.
The reactions were very very positive, but unfortunately she just didn't make it to the last 3.

Those who want to drink her championship coffee can come to Hopland this week and enjoy a cup of the fantastic El Bosque.

Last 3, that means finals.
Francois Knopes finished third after receiving the cup for best Latte Art expert. Very well done Francois. I'm so happy you finally won a title and good luck in London.

2nd was last year's champion Melanie. She also won the price for best sig drink.

And the new Belgian Barista Champ is Kenny Burssens. He is actually a sommelier, but gave it a try and did it very well.
Great show Kenny. Good luck at the WBC.

I remember I was backstage at the selection in Mechelen with Kenny and we had a great talk. I saw this guy had a cool style and good tastebuds, but becoming the new champ is a phenomenal performance for a non-Barista. Congrats also to you and Rombouts with the 'best espresso' price!

(Birds cupping picture is from Jeanne's son and was the Belgian photo for the coffee photo of the year championship. Nice, isn't it?)

Monday Evening Cupping

During my usual trek to the north in the summer, I of course brought along a good selection of coffees. Denmark, housing some of the best roasteries in Europe, namely Kontra, Coffee Collective and Risteriet. Nuff said, more on this trip later. The cherry on top for this evening being a few bags of George Howell’s terroir I received earlier. Rather than let those coffee’s go stale, Rob invited a few coffee freaks for a cupping session.

To sum up, on the cupping table:

Kontra: La Piñona, 2008 Honduras Cup of Excellence.
Kontra: Sagrado Coraçao, 2008 Brazil Cup of Excellence.
Kontra: Tanzania AA, Blackburn Estate.
Coffee Collective: Aricha lot 2 Yirga Cheffe, Ethiopia.
Coffee Collective: Hacienda La Esmeralda Special Boquete, Panama!!!!
George Howell’s Terroir: Mamuto, Kirinyaga, Kenya
George Howell’s Terroir: La Lainez Cup of Excellence 2008, El Salvador

Nice little line up, no? All of them were pretty lightly roasted, ideal for cupping, now to the highlights.
Kontra was first in the cupping, the Brazil (?) and the Honduras La Piñona were rather disappointing flat but balanced, a turning woody when cooling a little bit, they tasted like they were last year’s crop, not a good start. I’d say they would be better suited for a tad darker roast so that they could be used for espresso. The Tanzania on the other hand was a dark fruit bomb, mainly with blackcurrants and pleasant acidity, although a bit one dimensional.

Next on the table was George Howell’s Terroir coffee. Unfortunately the El Salvador la Lainez was a roasted 3 weeks or a month ago, the aroma had faded. The cup was a bit flat, but still I found soft citrus, raspberry and maybe some apple.
The Kenya Mamuto, an old favorite back on the table was excellent as always, packed with blackberry, blueberry, black current with an underlying sugar cane sweetness and an incredible juicy long pleasant finish. This must be the 5th time I ordered it, that must be a good sign!

Lastly we cupped the Coffee collective, Ethiopian Aricha. WOW this is the most interesting cup I may have had in my life! An explosion of creamy strawberry, clean thick juicy body and this typical natural processed wild earthy undertone.
We reserved the (reported) best for the last, Panama, La Esmeralda special. First you notice the very thick body of this coffee, laced with jasmine, black tea, underlined with a honeyed sweetness. A long resonating finish, very pleasant, very balanced, very clean. I can understand that this was picked as the best coffee of the world. It is as interesting as it is balanced.
Question mark : we thought it had more punch and fruiteness when we just opened the bag on Friday. Can there be lost so much in the 3 days since we popped the bag? It was nicely closed over this period.

Your Antwerp Barista, Jazzy Jeff.

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. (on this photo you can see bart, me and in the back Peter Hernou - memorable picture actually).

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!

Belgian Cuptasting Championship 2009

I picked the right training partners last week.
Bert was 7th, Jean 5th, Laurent 3rd and Bart 1st.

Louis from Donko finished 2nd, Tom - Or 4th and Peter Deprez 6th.

It was a lot of fun, good coffee's and a perfect organisation.
Later a review and photo's.

Oh yes, unfortunately I didn't learn from my friends at the cupping table last week. I finished 13th and the 4th out of 5 Barista's competing. Snif.

I'm thinking about my retirement right now. :-)

Practice Session for the BCC 2009

Belgian Cupping Championship is next week.
We went to the Efico lab to do a small test.
The Caffènation crew only picked 2 out of 5 correctly.
Laurent and Jean 4 out of 5.
Bart (defending champ) 5 out of 5.

Note there was a discussion about the last triangle we all thought it was the fifth, which was a mysterious (defective) brew. Whatever. Not our best day. Hoping for better buds and concentration next week Friday at the Championships in Bonheiden.
Stay tuned for a full report after the battle.