Executive Finish

In the past we had menu's where we offered several topping possibility's for some drinks.
Sometimes clients asked us what executive finish means.
Here you are :

Hungry For Competition

All people who follow the Barista Championships in Belgium know that Caffenation is a big fan of most of the Coffee competitions.
After participating by myself three years ago, we had Bird two years ago and last year Jessie and Katrien.
This year rookie Roeland is our man for the Barista Championships. Bird is going to show his skills at the Latte Art contest.

Very often I think by myself these competitions are consuming too much energy and time. And sometimes I'm even thinking of retiring.
But then, when a couple of months without any competition are passing by, the hunger comes back.

And so I was very anxious to move over to Hopland last Sunday for a session with Roeland.

The man is used to train by himself, and does all the hard work (prep, dishwashing, ...), but I am his trainer and when you train somebody new there's a lot of work to be done.

Before - two months ago - we went over the tactics. Simul Spro of not? One or two grinders? Music? Cappuccino's 2 by 2 or all 4 together? Theme? Sig drink tactics and so on and so on.
Then I did a 15 minute to give an example of how it works and then it's up to the Barista to exercise.

Last month Roeland did a couple of trainings by himself and one with me.

Now, we're 4 weeks away from semi finals and a lot of issues have been tackled.
Now it's time to train it dry. The theme is fixed. We have a blend. We have the lines. We have the milk. We have most of the music. We have Roeland working his way through the hundreds of rules. It's a lot of sweat with a drill instructor like me on the side line.

Biggest challenge and training labour for Roeland is to bring the lines like a veteran. Then a good quarter hour at the semis and working towards perfection for the finals October 1st.

This week Pauli from Germany is joining the team as a runner.
And Isabelle (Or) hopefully next Sunday for her first training at Hopland. Exciting.

After a couple of run throughs it's time for a Horse Ale at Kassa 4. Well deserved.

Starbucks is Coming to Town?

Today online :

Starbucks komt naar Centraal Station Antwerpen

De Amerikaanse koffieketen Starbucks gaat later dit jaar een winkel openen in het Centraal Station van Antwerpen. Het gaat om de eerste winkel buiten de luchthaven van Zaventem.

"Starbucks streeft ernaar op vooraanstaande internationale reizigerskruispunten aanwezig te zijn en het Centraal Station van Antwerpen beantwoordt aan die criteria", luidt het. Ook de NMBS is al geruime tijd bezig stations om te vormen in winkel- en ontmoetingsplaatsen. Momenteel zijn er meer dan 320 winkels in de stations en dat aantal blijft stijgen. (belga/bdr)

Barista Magazine Aug/Sept Issue

Click on Heather.

Cafelat Pitcher & Tamper

Finally some Cafelat stuff on the counter.
Espresso West is doing the online distribution.
We do like the pitchers. Metal is thin, design is fantastic and prices ok. But also dis advantages. Pouring asks a special grip, because the handle is too far away from the pouring mouth, you have to put your fingers on the top of the pitcher. For those who're looking for more and finer leaves in the rosetta, this pitcher could give you some extra help.

A question to pitcher manufacturers : why do we so often find 0,4 l and 0,7 liter pitchers and not so many 0,5 and 0,6 liter pitchers? Steaming with a 0,4 is dangerous. With a 0,7 you quickly texture too much milk for 2 cappuccino's.

The new Cafelat tamper line looks fantastic. Pillar, Nikka, Drop and Royal are the names.
They seemed to be a bit heavy to me. Lately I'm very concerned for my Barista's to crack the coffee puck while tapping the sides of the filter baskets. Most of them are still used to tap the baskets. With the Coffee Consulate tampers there's no risk and with this rubber Cafelat Pillar Tamper we want to keep it like that.
Problem is the very flat top of the base. We're not used to it. I like to have Barista's personalise their techniques. They have to since every person is different. Dieter his hands for example are double the size of Katriens. Dieter sticks with a rock solid Reg Barber, lots of pressure and a tick and double twist technique. Katrien prefers the smallest CC, high dose, 15K with a tick and small twist.
Result of the test : nobody took the Cafelat as a personal tamper. This doesn't mean it's a bad tamper though.
Coffee Consulate Profi tampers still recommended. Very well priced and a fantastic result in the cup. For sale at KOFCA or CC.

Caffenation Staff Social Barbeque

Latte Art by a Champ

One of my favourite vids ever.
The more 'pressure' the better.
Morrisey is doing just fine.