The comp in London was interesting, but mostly I went for fun and info.
From all the stand holders, my three favourites ones were :
Kees Van Der Westen and his new Spirit machine. So beautifull and easy.
La Marzocco and their new Strada. Actually is was already in Atlanta and Milan, but finished now and ready for production. Maybe interesting for us as well.
Bunn with the Trifecta. A revolutionarry coffee maker. Also called the new Clover. Best coffee on the fair.
The best cuppings I had were at Trabocca and the El Salvador HiQ coffee's from Willem.
And a great Peru Tunki from WE.
The fun mostly came from the people.
So much fun with Melissa, Thomas, Valentine, Lennart, Angelo, Addie, Jochem, Simon, my Barista's of course, Patrick, Henk, Yakup, Koen, Karel, Friso, Joost, Steve, Gwilym, James, Cameron, Francois, Esther, Hamma and all the other I forgot or don't have their names. Lots of kisses.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
WBC Fun & News
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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.
Roeland in London
Actually he stepped into the Ibrik story because there was no real Ibrik candidate at hand.
I was amazed by his finesse on stage.
21 points is not massive, but good enough to finish 10th.
He was willing to give the Ibrik a more modern touch. Most Ibrik coffee's are kinda flat and Roeland wanted to bring in some higher notes. The Malawi Viphya Gheisa Microlot had nice creamy body couple with lemon and apricot. Yummy.
The whole approach was not really the thing the judges were looking for I think, although they really liked the coffee's.
Well done brother, we're proud!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Michael Phillips
Finally.
Finally Mike.
And finally Intelligentsia.
Everybody's happy now? I hope so.
I am.
And how could Peter Deprez know Guatemala was that good?
I scored 3 out of 6. That's very average. You can notice I'm not so fanatic anymore as I was before. Most of the competition go up in level, but decrease in interest of the spectators. I suppose it's all a bit too complicated and since the points for taste went up it's harder to judge the presentations of the Barista's.
Probably we have to look into the rules again with special attention towards the public. When Phillips started his presentation the music was pumping through the speakers and people were shaking. Yeah! Can't we bring the music and words louder so everyone can enjoy what they are doing and not only the judges? Now 7 people enjoy the words and coffee and the other 70 or 700 are nothing more but wallpaper.
Final Results:
Michael Phillips (USA) 706 points
Raul Rodas (Guatemala) 691 points
Scottie Callaghan (Australia) 672.5 points
Colin Harmon (Ireland) 659.5 points
Soren Stiller Markussen (Denmark) 644.5 points
Stefanos Domatiotis (Greece) 632 points
Semi-Finalists:
Soren Stiller Markussen, DENMARK
Raul Rodas, GUATEMALA
Fabrizio Sencion, MEXICO
Kyle Straw, CANADA
Ana Lucia Hawit, HONDURAS
Michael Phillips, USA
Scottie Callaghan, AUSTRALIA
Yara Castanho, BRAZIL
Thomas Schweiger, GERMANY
Colin Harmon, IRELAND
Alejandro Mendez, EL SALVADOR
Stefanos Domatiotis, GREECE
WAC 2010
World
Aeropress
Championship.
This is kinda new, but very exciting.
24 of worlds' best 'Aeropress Baristas' all came together at the Brew bar at Olympia London for fight for the world crown.
Caffenation has Jeff in competition and he performed outstanding with a 3rd spot. Wow! Very happy with our 'recipe' and his consistent brewing.
Jeff in Action in his semi's.
The judges in action. On the right two former world cuptasting champs Anette & Tim W. So serious tastebuds.
See the blog for the winner and more info and photo's.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
WBC 2010
This one is my last post before heading to the Capital of Coffee.
Besides the all important World Barista Championships, we still have a lot of other things going on in London City.
Starting with their blog. Very funny and informative. A must read.
The competitions :
World Cuptasting Championship : Representing Belgium (and Caffenation) : Bert 'Bird' Van Wassenhoven. Fast as lightening and pin point accurate at the Belgian Heat, this 5 year Barista is trying to keep Belgium on the coffee map of the world. Good luck Friday Bert.
Coffee in Good Spirits : Jeroen De Corte (who comes from the same village/town as your blog host) is the perfect man for the job this year. Good luck Jeroen.
At the Latte Art Championships : Francois Knopes has the (almost) impossible task to do as good as Peter Hernou last year ; winning. Be we have all trust in this young gifted Barista.
The Ibrik Championship : Here we spot other Caffenation Barista, Roeland Lenaerts. I've been tasting some of Roeland's creations and never expected Turkish coffee to taste so good. Good luck.
And not on the official program : The WAC, World Aeropress Championship.
It's funny to see on the internet how this comp gaining more interest than the 'real' stuff.
(Jazzy) Jeff Verellen is Caffenation Barista/Roaster and ready to take up the job for Belgium. To know more about this competition you can read this earlier post.
This competition will run over 2 days - wednesday and thursday - at the Brew Bar. Finals forseen at Thursday 4 PM. Hopefully with Jeff at the press. Good luck boy.
For those not in England and curious about the event : go here, for live streaming.
