LGB 1.2 : Papua New Guinea Kimel/ Burundi Mahonda

On the grinder since a week or 2, but too busy with other things, instead of writing the necessary blog post about it. Finally the newest version of our seasonal blend, the LGB 1.2.

We know our Rwanda's and Burundi's have been given us some potato head aches now and then, but believe me when i'm tellin' ya these beans are all Cup Of Excellence level, dead clean and very stable over time.

The Mahonda Washing Station has already successfully participated in plenty of competitions, and is renowned for its specialty coffee. The cherries are a collection from the Mahonda, Bugega, Maza Mugano, Gitaramuka, Buraza, Bibate, Musebeyi, Gicumbi, Nyamisure and Gisura Mountains. Mahonda participated in the Cup of Excellence 2012 with several lots, ending up at ninth (87,33) and third (90,53) place in the ranking. This Washing Station was one of the eye-catchers of the tournament, and is building up a nice Fully Washed coffee that will be able to compete on an international level.

The newest Burundi bean is from the highest slopes of the Gitega province, and a combination of Jackson, Bourbon, Iron19 varieties. 

In the cup we taste medium acidity, lots of fruit and present Vanilla.

This coffee combines very well with the Papua New Guinea Kimel Peaberry (link - Dutch). This coffee is actually complex and full enough to take all the work on the shoulders all by itself, but in combo with the Mahonda we have more stable results. 

We maybe lack some body in the 1.2 LGB, but well dosed it cuts nicely through the milk and is a perfect opposite of the new upcoming Red Roast. 
My idea is presenting a LGB as most seasonal blend, with clean fully washed AA coffees, focused on 'fraicheur', fruit to become the cappuccino king. 
The (new) Red Roast is the improved House Blend with some unwashed coffees in it. A tad darker in roast and more versatile and forgiving. We dare to say "Harder, Stronger, Faster, Caffenation". :-)

BAC 2013 : Results&Techniques

Another year, another champ. Jazzy Jeff Verellen was 2 against 1 at Unibet and kept high to his reputation with another victorious performance.

The 3rd (already) Belgian Aeropress Championships were a big hit. More participants, more fans, better coffee! Couldn't believe my eyes. This thing is really getting huge!

18 Belgian Aeropress experts were pressing the best possible coffee out of their Aeropress.
A trio of judges for The Netherlands flew to Antwerp to taste (blind) the best coffee from our funky Papua New Guinea Kimel peaberry bean.

These 3 persons made it to the finals :
(from left to right) :
Sofie Nys : part time Barista at Viggo's
Simon Boone : a man with two nationalities and current Dutch Aeropress Champ, he's Barista, Barista trainer & Roaster for Caffenation.
Jeff Verellen : head roaster at Caffenation and former Vice and World Champion.

Simon used very unusual elements and a technique hard to explain. In the finals he slipped on his grinding though and had to content with a 3rd spot.

Sofie was 3 rounds in a row very precise. A clean, bright cup with great acidity and sweetness!
her recipe :
15,60 grams of medium to coarsely grind coffee, with fines filtered out
And with the inverted techique (yes, it still exists!) 210 grams of water 78 degrees.
Stir for 10 seconds.
Steep for 40 seconds.
Flip;
Plunge for 30 seconds.
Simple and fast. Very well done. And an easy technique for you at home.

Jeff his technique was similar to the one used in Milan at the WAC 2011. This original recipe didn't do the trick though, so he added ' small details that give the cup a cleaner and more balanced taste.
1) bean picking : out the lightest beans and inn the smallest and heaviest.
2) relative coarse grind. 6,75 on the Mahlkonig Tanzania Uber Grinder.
3) most important extra : blooming on 83 degrees. 45". Then pour on at 76 degrees, very slowly. and also a very slow press. Total brewing and pressing 2'10"
4) making the coffee fast and not too many, so it's served a the right (low) temperature.

Good luck everybody with the recipes and see you next year at the 4th BAC on Easter Monday!!
Rob

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.

Joke vraagt het aan .... Alex Bos

Joke vraagt het aan … Alex Bos.
Na bergen ervaring vorige week, nu een ‘rookie’ Barista, vanaf 1 juni te Caffenation achter ipv voor de bar te bewonderen.

1. Hoe werd je gebeten door de koffie-bug?
Nog niet zo heel lang geleden door Rob; hij kwam langs
Farine(waar ik werk) om wat meer uit te leggen over koffie.

2. Wat maakt barista zijn zo’n topjob?
De mogelijkheid mensen gelukkig te maken door je passie, EN er is altijd
ruimte voor ‘improvement’, elke koffie blijft een uitdaging.

3. Voor wie zou jij wel eens een koffie willen maken?
Ryan Gosling…

4. Wat was de beste koffiebar die je reeds bezocht? (worldwide)
Ik ben nog maar net begonnen met goeie koffie te ontdekken, dus ik heb nog
heel wat koffiebars te bezoeken voordat ik hierop kan antwoorden!

5. Heb je een favoriete koffie-zetwijze?
Simpele espresso’s of pour over drip met mijn Grindripper handmolen.

6. Wat was de beste kop koffie die je OOIT hebt gedronken?
Tot hiertoe; de flat white bij Caffenation en de dubbele ristretto van Jens bij
Normo.

7. Wat is voor jou de ultieme latte-art-uitdaging?
Een zwaantje.

8. Bestaat er een ideale koffie-soundtrack?
Dat wordt bij mij eerder bepaald door de sfeer en het gezelschap.

9. Welke ‘koffie-creatie’ weiger je te maken?
Latte of cappuccino op basis van een soort van lungo ipv een espresso. (foute
verhoudingen dus)

10. Wat is je tweede passie na koffie?
Koken.

11. Heb je een koffie-ambitie?
Op een constante manier lekkere (en mooie) cappuccino’s kunnen maken.
En ik wil ook graag koffie leren branden.

12. Wat mist Antwerpen nog op vlak van koffie?
Antwerpen staat duidelijk nog achter t.o.v. andere wereldsteden op vlak van
koffie. Hier moeten nog veel mensen leren wat goede koffie is!

Coffee for the Office

More and more offices start to see the light.
Giving the employees better coffee should create a better working environment.

But what's 'better coffee'?

The 'older generation' thinks Filter Coffee is old skool and start to invest in full automatic espresso machinery.
And when Caffenation thinks Filter Coffee is the new black ; we start to have a complicated situation; a lot of people want to have Caffenation in their company and start buying our espresso beans.

Listen; we don't have anything against espresso, but maybe we better start first with explaining what espresso is all about.

Wikipedia :
"Espresso is a concentraded beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans"
"The size can be a single, double or more, which corresponds roughly to a 1, 2 or more US fluid ounce (approximately 3, 6 or more cl) standard shot'

And Caffenation style : 
"Third Wave Coffee aspires to the highest form of culinary appreciation of coffee, so that one may appreciate subtleties of flavor, bean variental, and growing region - similar to other complex culinary products such as wine, tea and chocolate. 
Distinctive features of Third Wave Coffee include direct trade coffee, high-quality beans (see specialty coffee for scale), single-origin coffee (as opposed to blends), lighter roasts of the beans, and latte art. 
It also sometime includes naked portafilters, and revivals of alternative methods of coffee preparation such a French Press and individual drip/filter brew. 

I notice the coffee people in Belgian offices want to drink are not espresso's, but longer drinks, say lungo's - approx. 5 fluid ounces (15cl). 
And that's understandable cause they are used to it and when working you can keep on drinking a lungo for 10 minutes in stead of a quick espresso shot. 

And it's also understandable a lot of people go for full automatic machines, style Saeco or Jura, for the ease. It's basically a one-push-button machine that every person individually may use. 

But what about quality?

The coffee bean is an incredible fruit with lots of flavors trapped inside. 
Coffee Farmers all over the world are working very hard to get this product the way we desire it. 
And when we start cupping/testing this 1% that's called specialty coffee, all the rest is conventional coffee for the big industrial roasteries, we want to bring these initial flavors in the cup. 
Therefor we need to roast very carefully, but most of all we need to brew the coffee the best way possible. If not we lose what we need and that's the nice fruit, refreshing acidity, subtle flavors and creamy mouthfeel.

And, sorry guys, but non of these are present in the average lungo.
Espresso is espresso (see explanation above) and a lungo is a lungo. Using an espresso machine to make lungo's is like using a motorcycle to bike or a chef's knife to spread sandwiches. 
Stretching the volume of the coffee coming out of the espresso machine creates lots of bitter, metallic tastes and way too less of the good stuff.
And pulling espresso's on office or home equipment doesn't seem to be the solution, cause they run 10 or 15 seconds max and that makes no sense either. 

An average full automatic office machine costs easily €1500 and needs big maintenance and changed every 5 years on average.

When we focus on filter coffee, say a Techivorm Mocca Master coupled with a Baratza filter grinder costs €300, doesn't ask for a lot of maintenance and lasts probably much longer. 
And this system delivers the right flavors and gives you big cups for 15+ minutes satisfaction. 

Of course no good coffee without the right bean. 
Never buy old coffee. (look for a roasting date on the bag - the fresher the better)
Never buy factory coffee when you have the possibility to get the fresh stuff. 
Try to buy fresh crop coffee (ask for it and when they don't know; buy somewhere else)
Try to stick to beans without oil. Oily beans don't give coffee but roast flavors. 
Search for a traceable coffee. Often they are fair trade and quality beans. 
Don't pay more than €10 for a bag of 250 grams, unless you want to show off. 

I truly think fresh filter coffee is tastier, healthier and cheaper than coffee out of a full automatic espresso office machine. Why settle for less? 

And the work load?
You want to eat every day a factory Inox microwave dish? 
You want to drink a whiskey cola from a can?
You want to eat Aldi Sandwiches?
You prefer pre canned Spaghetti?
No?
Me neither. 

Joke vraag het aan ..... Rob Berghmans (Dutch)

Een nieuwe serie die 'onze' Antwerp Barista's op de kaart moet zetten.
Het zal dan Vlaanderen en Nederland worden en niet de wereldkaart want de vragen en antwoorden zijn meestal in het Nederlands.

Iedere Barista krijgt 12 vragen voorgeschoteld en mag (indien gewenst) 2 x passen.

Joke voelt 52 weken lang Antwerpse Barista's aan de tand en ik bijt, om het goede voorbeeld te tonen, de spits af. :-)

1. Hoe werd je gebeten door de koffie-bug?
Heel lang geleden, in a past century, in a galaxy far away from home.

2. Wat maakt barista zijn zo’n topjob?
De sociale kant van de job, en het feit dat je zoveel mensen elke dag kan plezieren met je vakmanschap

4. Wat was de beste koffiebar die je reeds bezocht? (worldwide)
Courier Coffee, Portland Oregon

5. Heb je een favoriete koffie-zetwijze?
Naked Portafilter double ristretto op een KVDW Spirit machine

6. Wat was de beste kop koffie die je OOIT hebt gedronken?
Een French Press vd Ethiopia Idido Mistey Valley te Octane, Atlanta

7. Wat is voor jou de ultieme latte-art-uitdaging?
Linkshandig winnen van Esther Maasdam

8. Bestaat er een ideale koffie-soundtrack?
Jacques Dutronc (uit 1966)

9. Welke ‘koffie-creatie’ weiger je te maken?
Lungo on the rocks

10. Wat is je tweede passie na koffie?
Familie

11. Heb je een koffie-ambitie?
De lungo ('lange' koffie uit een espressomachine) uitroeien

12. Wat mist Antwerpen nog op vlak van koffie?
Een Slow Coffee bar op een toplocatie

New Caffenation Filter Coffee Blog

Check out
caffenationfiltercoffees
for the latest info on the coffees we send to our online members.