And the World Barista Champion of 2009 is…

Congratulations to the Barista Champion of the United Kingdom GWILYM DAVIES!!!!!!!

I’m so excited that I didn’t even hear how many points he had.

2nd place: 619.5 points, Canada, Sammy Piccolo

3rd place: 618.5 points, United States of America, Michael Phillips

4th place: 572 points, Ireland, Colin Harmon

5th place: 542 points, Korea, Lee Jong Hoon

6th place: 535.5 points, Hungary, Attila Molnar

Here is Gwilym upon hearing it announced that he won.

Bravo to all our WBC Finalists. You’ve made us proud all over the globe. CHEERS!

WBC Finalist #6: IRELAND

World Barista Championship FINALIST #6

COLIN HARMON OF IRELAND

One year and one day ago, Colin started his first barista job. That is to say, ne year ago, he didn’t know how to turn an espresso machine on. He as a trustee officer for a financial institution, and he realized that cffee had somehow become more of a passion than the hobby it had previously been, so he traded in his suit and tie for an apron, and began pulling shots at Coffee Angel.

One year later, he’s on stage in the World Barista Championship finals, an unbelievable accomplishment for veteran baristas, but an unheard of success for a one-year-old barista. He tells the judges that he is using a Bolivian washed and sundried coffee that is 80 percent typica and 20 percent catura. At the judges table, Colin begins a bit of his signature drink prep, simply adding some water to each of two small brass saucepans.

As he serves his judges their espressos, he says that on the nose they will note sweet dark sugars, toffee and even malt. And in the mouth they will enjoy a tart acidity at the end. On the second set of espressos, he’s unhappy with his shots, so he makes them again. At the judges table, he says, “Sorry about the delay, but there’s no point in coming all this way and serving bad coffee.” Well done, Colin.

As he serves his cappuccinos, he tells the judges that they will experience the same favors as the espresso but that the favors are somewhat “masked by the milk.” He suggests to them that, in the cup, they look for the toffee and malt notes. He then tells them that he really loves the fact that the WBC changed the rule about serving all drinks at nce to allow competitors to serve 2 at a time. He says this allows him to really represent the coffee in its best way, as the producers themselves would want it served.

Colin then launches into his signature drink section. He tells the judges that “I think adding anything to espresso is dangerous.” He says that his objective is to simply raise the flavors that already exist in his espresso, by adding simple complementary ingredients. He prepares a cream with eggs and Ugandan vanilla nd serves it to the judges in a small glass, but asks that they hold off on drinking it for the moment. He then combines the two reductions he has made in the saucepans—a sour cherry, and an extraction of sugar from a particular berry (we’ll have cmplete details on all ingredients in the June/July issue of Barista Magazine, don’t worry!) as well as, get this, seaweed. He assures the judges that they won’t taste the seaweed, that it is merely there to add depth and richness to the drink.

He then serves the espresso portion of the drink to the judges in another glass. He “nudges” the espresso just a bit by adding the reductions from the side to the glass. He instructs the judges to drink the coffee this way: stir the espresso, then slurp a bit of it, as you would in cupping, and then take a sip of the cream. Then sip the espresso again.

From here all I can think is, I want some! Colin has done a truly brilliant job. It’s so wonderful o see. Ken and I ran into Colin’s parents at the breakfast room in our hotel this morning, and they were wearing Team Ireland tshirts. It’s so nice to see so much pride and accomplishment from such a terrific guy. All the best, Colin.

WBC Finalist #5: UNITED KINGDOM

World Barista Championship FINALIST #5

GWILYM DAVIES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Gwilym is a chilled out British dude who lives on a boat in London with his dog. He has two coffee carts, and he’s made friends with the good people at Square Mile Coffee—that would be James and Anette if you didn’t know it. This is not really his thing, this convention center/hi-how-are-ya/badge wearing/smack talking/trade show thing. You can tell. He is here for one reason, it seems, and that’s to have a good old time with his pals and maybe talk some coffee talk with like-minded people.

He loves this coffee, so that’s what he focuses on when he takes the stage here today. It’s from one community in Colombia, and Gwilym seems to think it has an extraordinary depth and complexity, which is why, we learn later, he has left so much of his signature drink up to chance. He begins as he did yesterday, by telling us how disappointing espresso can be. It’s a theme he continues through his entire performance, and the conclusion we eventually reach is that his vision is for espresso consumers to understand the importance of widening our expectation of what espresso can be.

Onward: he tells the judges that n the espresso, they will taste hot buttered toast smothered in blackberry jam, along with black current and some toffee at the end. In his cappuccinos, he says the lovely fruit juice of the espresso will give way t a softer jammy fruitiness. The cappuccino, he says, “is just a lovely representation of this coffee’s flavors.”

Gwilym has one of the most impessive and also dangerous (it would seem) signature drinks ever to show up at the World Barista Championship. He has assembled a collection of 16 ingredients—four that represent sweetness he finds in the coffee, four that represent the texture he finds in the coffee, four that represent the fruitiness he finds in the coffee, and four that represent the flavors he finds in the coffee.

He says these are the “best bits of his coffee and they really show the possibility of this espresso. And, he says, “I just want to have fun.” He takes these ingredients and combines them—nuts, butter, notes of orange—and combines it with the espresso.

Gwilym goes over time by 13 seconds (I’m pretty sure) but he says later, “I’d rather give (the judges) the drink I want to give them and come in a little late.” Bravo, Gwilym. You are a fantastic example of the purest part of the best baristas. Can’t wait to visit your carts in London in 2010 at the 11th World Barista Championship!

WBC Finalist #4—REPUBLIC OF KOREA

World Barista Championship FINALIST #4

LEE JONG HOON OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Lee Jong Hoon says his least favorite part about being a barista is washing dishes. But it takes him a while to think of even that, so much does he love the barista craft. Lee Jong has been a barista for seven years, and has actually represented Korea at the World Barista Championship once before: in 2004 in Trieste, Italy. But he didn’t make the finals that year, nor has a barista champion of Korea ever made the finals. So the 2009 WBC goes down in history for that reason alone.

Lee Jong today is using a washed and sundried bourbon from the El Salvador Cup of Excellence competition for his espresso. And for his cappuccinos and signature drinks, he will use a Costa Rican coffee which was a finalist at the Cup of Excellence which will bring a caramely note as well as citrus spice to the cup. He is endlessly charming, bowing before the judges and treating them respectfully and endearingly.

This is the guy who has the really cool trick of holding two portafilters in one hand to dose and level, tamp, and then he switches to insert. It’s way cool to watch. Obviously he is a practices professional. He tells the judges he is using an organic while milk. “I think the right choice of milk has to be in harmony with the espresso,” he says. “There are two distinct things about my cappuccinos. They are sweet and creamy and they are the perfect temperature.”

He moves into his signature drink portion, and tells the judges he will be making for them a drink he calls Repiblic of Coffee Jong (his cafe is named Republic of Coffee, and Jong is his last name). He first pours some cream into a saucepan and adds some cacao from Venezuela, sme Colombian cane sugar, ans some whole Ethiopian coffee beans. He lets this simmer, then offers it out to the judges to have a whiff. He then strains the mixture off into some cold cream waiting in a big metal bowl. He stirs it and announces to the judges that this is his “special cream.”

He pours this cream into a pitcher and passes it around the judges so they can smell it. He then makes his espressos and adds Colombian organic cane sugar to the espresso, and pours the espresso into cups. He then adds the cream on top of the drinks.

Lee Jong tells the judges that his drink is special, the cream is special, the espresso is special, and he, the barista, is special. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for a tremendous perfrmance, Lee Jong!

WBC Finalist #3—UNITED STATES

World Barista Championship FINALIST #3

MICHAEL PHILLIPS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Michael Phillips is a good guy—just a solid, honest, fun-loving, smart good guy. He’s the kind of guy you call at the last minute if you need someone to help move a couch. He’ll take a beer as payment for the chore, and insist that you have one with him. He’s that kind of guy.

He is using one coffee and serving it five ways today. Mike has never been one to shy away from complexity and difficulty of the task at hand —he pulls out all the stops. On stage he’s like a professor as he explains his coffee and his objective. He launches right into his coffee by introducing the judges to this coffee, which is from a small coop in Rwanda called Maraba. He serve the judges coffee from an Eva Solo as he pours their waters—this is the first of five ways he will serve the Rwandan.

He tells the judges that, during his 15 minutes he intends to change up a ton of variables that will highlight different nuances in his coffees. He will play with dose, extraction time, temperature, and even grind setting. He tells the judges that there is a point and purpose to each of these changes, but they will all be fun, and they will all effect the coffees.

He moves into his espresso preparation, and tells the judges that he will have a 17-gram dose and a slightly longer flush time. On the table in front of the judges are some of the ingredients Mike will incorporate in the final two flights of his service: dark brown muscavado sugar, a 62% bittersweet dark chocolate from Vahlrona, diced almonds, sea salt, and heavy cream. As he serves the espressos, he asks that the judges look for the red fruit taste, sour tamarind and baking spice in the finish. He says his coffee has a complexity and is “articulate”—a great cffee descriptor.

As he moves into cappuccino service, his hands are shaking hard, and yet it doesn’t disturb any of his drinks. He tells the judges that a hallmark of a good cappuccino is balance. To achieve this, he updoses to 18 grams to achieve a nuttiness and a buttery sweetness at the end.

So for his Michael’s signature drink, we get really academic, as Mike launches into an exercise he des with his staff at his cafe in Chicago. He gets the judges excited about it, telling them he will be splitting the shot into 2 parts to highlight the different complexities in the first part of the shot and then the second part of the shot. To the aforementioned ingredients, he adds the first half of the espresso shots he has pulled into little ceramic boats (like the serving dish you would use for a banana split, only smaller). To do this, he actually just pulled the boats right out from under the spiouts halfway through the shots.

Then he tells the judges that as the shot progresses, it changes to have a tart bitterness and a very juicy body, For this part of the performance, by the way, he has updosed to 19 grams. He serves one part cold, and one part hot, with pressed blackberries to enhance that tart bitterness.

I think this was Mike’s best performance to date. He’s bold and unafraid, yet humble and just happily passionate about all things coffee. It’s been a true pleasure to watch you succeed here this weekend, Mike. Bravo.

WBC Finalist #2—HUNGARY

World Barista Championship FINALIST #2

ATTILA MOLNAR OF HUNGARY

As the barista champion of Hungary in 2008, Attila Molnar placed 12th in Copenhagen at the World Barista Championship. Now, he is back, having brought his country to the finals for the very first time. It’s an enormous accomplishment in and of itself. Attila is 100 percent entirely in love with his coffee—he is using a single origin for all three coffees, something we haven’t seen very much of in the WBC (though it’s popular in the U.S.). He has brought a Yirgacheffe Beloya from Ethiopia which he says is colorful and diverse.

He begins by doing some prep work on his signature drink, which is based on pumpkins. He has four slices of pumpkin which he is toasting in a frying pan. He also has grated pumpkin which he is cooking in a sauce pan. To the grated pumpkin, he adds sugar, water and a bit of organic maple syrup. He tells the judges that “the first time I tasted Beloya… I don’t have words.” He says it has a nice balance but tastes very fresh with lots of sugars. But, he says, there is something more. With this, he leaves us in wait and says he will continue with the description in a moment.

As he serves his espressos, he tells the judges they will have a distinct berry tone. He has impressively steady hands—and later, he tells the audience that he is less nervous today than he was in the preliminary round. He just seems happy up there—that’s the best word to describe the feeling he has brought to the stage.

Attila’s cappuccinos are made using organic milk that is full fat. “For me, the most important thing of this cappuccino is the taste of the Beloya. I hope you like it,” he tells the judges as he serves them off of adorable trays that each hold two drinks and are carried by a handle.

Now he moves on to his signature drink: he brings out a pitcher of blueberry juice he has squeezed himself, and filters the pulp, pressing the juice out. Now, to a whipped cream dispenser, he pours from a small pitcher that is filled with half milk, half cream, into the base of a whipped cream dispenser. He takes the grated pumpkin and filters the juice into the dispenser as well. He takes the dispenser to the judges’ table and leaves it there, telling them he’s going to go prepare the most important part of the drink: the espresso.

As the espressos begin to drip down the spouts, Attila looks at them and smiles broadly. It’s such a great thing to see a barista who is made so happy by his coffee. He adds the espresso shots to the glasses with blueberry juice, and tops each off with the pumpkin fam from the dispenser. It’s a beautiful performance to watch. Attila, bravo—you’ve once again done your country proud, and brought something new and memorable to the World Barista Championship.

WBC FINALIST #1—CANADA

World Barista Championship FINALIST #1

SAMMY PICCOLO OF CANADA

This is what they call a veteran: Sammy’s appearance here today represents his fourth time in the World Barista Championship finals. He hails from the celebrated Caffe Artigiano in Vancouver, B.C., and has earned even more distinctions than barista champion, including World Latta Art Champion a few years back. Sammy looks sharp in a plain black dress shirt and dark striped tie, and he appears calm and collected as he begins his performance.

He starts by telling te judges that perhaps his favorite part f being a barista is the opportunity to source amazing coffees. For today, he has selected two coffees for an espresso blend: a Costa Rican, which comprises 85 percent of the blend. He says the Costa Rican makes the espresso taste clean because it’s a washed coffee. It has been roasted until the second crack which makes the dominant flavors of caramel and grapefruit come through. The remaining 15 percent of the blend is an Ethiopian (for details, see Emily’s post, Coffee of the Champions). It will mellow the acidity of the Costa Rican, he says, and also add sweetness. He says these beans are super sweet because at the farm, so much care has been put into the harvest, including the producers going so far as to perform a sugar analysis before the cherries are even picked.

Sammy begins some signature prep now, squeezing a grapefruit at the judges table and then taking that juice over to his awesome blender—a thermal blender, which means he can control both the temperature inside and the speed of the blades. He then adds organic cane sugar to the blender and proceeds to begin his cappuccinos.

For Sammy’s cappuccinos, he tells us he is using a whole milk that is organic and contains 3 percent (he might have said 3.5—sorry, I’m not 100 percent sure) milkfat and was sourced from a dairy here in Georgia. He says, “I’m using whole milk because it enhances the sweet taste of the cappuccino and you also get a nice butter” flavor from it. He tells the judges that the caramel flavor will carry through in the cappuccino. When serving his espresso course, he mentions that since both coffees are from high elevations, so the taste will be especially fruity and caramely in the finish.
Now Sammy moves on to his signature drink. He prepares four shots of espresso and then adds it directly to the thermal blender. He explains that he has turned the blender off and it has had a chance to cool, and is at about 8 degrees, and therefore will not shock the espresso. Lastly, he adds a homemade creme fraiche to the mixture. The creme fraiche he says he infused with grapefruit juice earlier this morning.

As he serves the drink to the judges, a creamy mixture poured in low round glasses, he tells them that they will notice candy in the nose, which complements to creamy body of the creme fraiche. He ends by telling the judges that all these ingredients are just to enhance the espresso. It’s a beautiful job—the best I have ever seen from Sammy, and I’ve seen him in all of his WBC finals. So very impressive and warm. Bravo, Sammy.

Coffees of the champions

 

 

So bright and early this morning I took it upon myself to assist each finalist for the 2009 in tasting and understanding better the coffees they have chosen for today. 

As difficult a task as it was I asked each champion to make me a cappuccino, and share with me the secret of the bean(s).

 

IRELAND 

Colin Harmon, former financial executive turned barista has chosen a Bolivian direct trade coffee roasted by @hasbean in the UK. He chose it blind out of 13 samples sent to him. The farm is a former Cup of Excellence winner and hails from Machacamarca BV.

Colin

On the bag the coffee is described as Sweet, dark chocolate, rich smooth and amazing. The bonus is the producer will be in the audience to see his coffee and Colin onstage. 

 

Bolivian Beanies

 

UNITED KINGDOM 

Tweed & flat cap wearing Gwilym Davies brings to the stage for the third year in a row a pair of coffees roasted by Square Mile Coffee Roasters in London. He has chosen to use two single origins and two grinders (he told me he swore that would never happen). For his espresso & cappuccino he has selected the Del a Bispo huila from Colombia and for his signature drink, which is constructed with the assistance of the judges and some envelopes (you’ll have to watch online) he is offering a Colonia San Juan Bolivian. 

 

Colin & Gwil

Back home in England there is a lot of bitter love for Gwilym as the sun shines fondly in London on their home town hero. 

 

bitter love

 

double trouble

KOREA 

Beyond excited, and very proud Korean competitor Lee Jong Hoon who sites Tim Wendleboe as one of his greatest influences is also using two coffees onstage today. For his espresso he has, an El Salvador Cup of Excellence selection washed sundried bourbon and for his cappuccino a Costa Rica La Planada mechanically washed coffee. 

 

Lee Jong Hoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

For an extra bonus watch for his two portafilter in one hand double grinding trick. Super cool. 

 

CANADA 

Four time national winner, and now four time WBC finalist Sammy Piccolo has taken an unusual path for this competition in going for a blend of two coffees. All the other competitors have chosen to use only a single origin for each coffee while Sammy has a blend of 85% Costa Rican Herbazu (two varietals) and 15% Aricha Yirgacheffe. 

 

Sammy Piccolo WBC Blend

When i asked Sammy about the flavour two words were used – Grapefruit and Caramel. Both being sweet and juicy. Should make for an interesting cup of coffee. 

 

HUNGARY 

Attila Molnar is also using an ethiopian coffee – Yirgacheffe Beloya SO for each of his coffee courses. When I asked him how he was feeling, he said “OK I guess” as he busily worked through his practice time that I did not want to disturb. His shots were looking golden and hopefully will deliver onstage. 

 

Hugarian Beloya?

 

Atilla

He’s on second – make sure to cheer him on. 

UNITED STATES 

One of the loveliest new people I’ve met this week Mikey Phillips from Chicago is here with extra pressure – home crowd representation. On stage yesterday in the heats he revealed he only chose his coffee 3 weeks ago and has spent the time since getting to know it well. 

 

MP & Rawandan

 

 

The Rwandan washed boubon from Maraba Co-op is sweet, fruity, cherry and bright, delightful even. Rwandicious. 

His mum and dad are in the audience to cheer him on also. 

 

Mikey with his Mum & Dad

 

 

about 30 minutes until kick off – let the coffee begin!

And the finalists are…

You’ve been waiting for this for three long, barista-talent filled days, and it’s finally come: the announcement of the six finalists in the 1th World Barista Championship, being held here in Atlanta, Georgia. Finals take place tomorrow, Sunday, April 19, at noon EST.

1. HUNGARY—ATTILA MOLNAR
2. UNITED KINGDOM—GWILYM DAVIES
3. CANADA—SAMMY PICCOLO

4. UNITED STATES—MICHAEL PHILLIPS

5. IRELAND—COLIN HARMON

6. REPUBLIC OF KOREA—LEE JONG HOON

From left to right, Canada, U.S., U.K., Hungary, Ireland, Korea
Wow… some thoughts…

• Neither Hungary nor Korea have ever made the finals

• The highest the U.S. has ever placed is 2nd (Heather Perry in 2007)

• Both Ireland and the UK have won before (James for the UK in 2007, Stephen for Ireland in 2008).
• Canada has made the finals 5 times

• Sammy of Canada is the only one of these six to be a repeat finalist

Wow.

Pandemonium.

Wow… of the six finalists,

Colin of Ireland (above)

Mike of the U.S. (above)

Sammy of Canada (above)

Gwilym of the U.K. (above)

Attila of Hungary

Truly exciting. Tune in tomorrow for the live feed and more blog coverage. We’ll all wait excitedly to see who will become the 10th World Barista Champion!

Norway, Poland

#50: BARISTA CHAMPION OF NORWAY—ODA MISJE HAUG

Oda is only 18 years old! You wouldnt know it by the level of professionalism of her performance, however—she’s incredibly knowledgable about her coffee, a washed Colombian she thoroughly understands. Her service is sweet and charming as she tells the judges that she will introduce them to this coffee first by serving them some of its “juice”—which is an extraction of the dried fruit from the actual coffee. She serves this to them in small juice glasses and invites the judges to taste it as a hint toward her signature drink. After serving the first set of espressos, she returns to the Aurelia and begins to make her second set, but she is dissatisfied with them, and she throws them out and tries again. It’s always so nice to see such dedication and this striving for perfection. Her signature drink is what she calls an inverted cappuccino: at the bottom of each of four small glasses, she pours a small amount of cold milk. On top of this, she dispenses a foam from a whipped cream dispenser, which is made from a coffee cherry reduction and maple syrup. She tells the judges to take the first sip of the foam and hold it in their mouth for a few second, then follow with a swig of the cold milk “to soften the edges.” It’s a terrific performance for Norway.

#51: BARISTA CHAMPION OF POLAND—IZABELA POPIOLEK

Izabela is delightful to watch, and its because she’s charming but moreso because she has such a firm grasp on her coffees. She is using five different coffees which include (I’m sorry—I couldn’t catch all of them due to her accent) a Costa Rican for balance and body, a Brazilian for its strong sweetness, a Kenya AA for its strong aroma, and a Nicaraguan for its floral notes and slight bitterness. Izabela was a hit for a lot of reasons but her signature drink creativity was a big one: she combines crushed violets with espresso, and even followed the theme through in the creation of her glassware: she had actually created edible goblets made of sugar and violet. Wonderful performance, Izabela!

Guatemala, Austria, Sweden

#47: BARISTA CHAMPION OF GUATEMALA—RAUL RODAS

Raul is back this year after a tremendous showing in Copenhagen at the World Barista Championship in 2008. He has practiced hard for this second chance, and it shows. He is using a coffee from the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala, and he is intimately familiar with this coffee. He doesn’t merely tell the judges that  his coffee will be sweet, rather, he explains how the altitude at which the coffee was grown, coupled with the sun and shade patterns of specific times of the day allow the juices from the cherry fruit to seep into the bean in dramatic proportions. It’s a delight to listen to Raul talk about this coffee. He tells the judges that they will taste brown sugar and butterscotch, and to emphasize the point, he has them sniff from cups of the roasted coffee ground. His signature drink brings tgether almonds and cranberries to bring out the flavors of meyer lemon, cherry sweetness and a lingering cocoa, just as he explains to the judges. Bravo, Raul!

#48: BARISTA CHAMPION OF AUSTRIA—GEORG BRANNY

After a memorable performance in the 2008 World Barista Championship, Georg is back and more polished than ever. He has brought one coffee but is using tw grinders, since the coffee he will use for the espresso is roasted a bit lighter than that which he uses for the cappuccinos and signature drinks. He has brought two primary ingredients, a brown sugar and a honey, in individual jars, and he offers them to the judges to sniff. He will also use a Tonka bean from Brazil to round out his signature drink. He tells the judges a lot of specifics about his milk, as well, including the fact that the milk has been flown in sdirectly from the Austrian Alps, and has a fat content of 3.6%. He says the milk plays well with the aromas of the blend. And get this—he is using a Puerto Rican coffee, which is a bold choice considering few competitors usually use this region’s coffee. But Georg says he was inspired by a recent trip to uerto Rico. Wonderful showing, Georg!

#49: BARISTA CHAMPION OF SWEDEN—CLAES MATTIAS BJORKLUND

Known in Gothenburg, Sweden, as Handsome Mattias, this barista champ doubles as a model. He’s a crowd favorite for sure, and there are a lot of Swedish fans here cheering him on. I love that he describes his espresso as “cheeky” as well as elegant. He carries this theme throughout his performance, this idea of his coffee being rough and at the same time, classic. His signature drink ingredients are quite interesting: he chops lemongrass root, sundried apricots and a sunchoke. He makes a juice of the meongrass root in a blender, and the drink, once espresso is added, is served cold. As a final, delightful touch, Mattias adds a stalk of lemongrass to each cup as a stir stick. He has done his cafe/roastery, da Matteo, proud with this performance. Great job, Mattias.

United States, Argentina, Estonia

#44: BARISTA CHAMPION OF THE UNITED STATES—MICHAEL PHILLIPS

Oh, Mike Phillips—he’s just one of the nicest, most genuine guys I know. By his own admission, he was an unlikely winner of the United States Barista Championship—he’s a workhorse, running a busy cafe in Chicago, competing when he can, and always playing with coffee from his company, Intelligentsia. But the way I see it, he’s a pretty phenomenal competitor. He’s changed up his coffee since the USBC—now he’s using a Rwandan he knows intimately. But he’s still serving it five different ways, breaking coffee down and examining it in a way I haven’t ever seen before on stage. He keeps describing his coffee as “articulate”—that terrific. Great descriptor for a washed coffee like this. He increases and decreases his grind and dose with each flight in order to highlight specifics of the espresso and cappuccino. He tells the judges that his signature drink is actually an exercise he uses in his shop to train baristas—this way of deconstructing a shot of espresso and using ingredients—he uses muscavado sugar, sweet dark chocolate, roasted almonds, sea salt, and cream—to highlight the elements at work in the segments of espresso. Wonderful job, Mike—you’re a pro!
#45: BARISTA CHAMPION OF ARGENTINA—JORGE AGUSTIN QUIROGA

Before I begin, please forgive any oversights. Jorge spoke Spanish on stage, and though Jose Arreola translated some of it, some was lost. Onward: Jorge is completey at ease behind the Aurelia—he’s obviously practiced hard for this. He tells the judges that his coffee is a blend of Brazilian, Colombian and African coffees. He says the Brazilian brings a nice almond taste, with citrics coming from the Colombian, working together to create a nice, thick body. He heats chocolate in a bowl on a burner to melt it and begins signature drink work. To highlight the citrics in the Colombian, Jorge has created an orange reduction, and he layers this with the chocolate at the bottom of each of four martini glasses. He brings these glasses to the table, and then makes his espressos. He brings the espressos right to the table to finish his drinks, pouring the espressos into each glass, and then topping them with cream. It’s a beautiful drink. Great job, Jorge!

#46: BARISTA CHAMPION OF ESTONIA—URMET LAHT

Estonia has come a long way in barista excellence, and they’re right up there now with the best of the world. I’m sure the success of the European Team Barista Challenge hasn’t hurt anything—and Estonia’s a big part of that competition. Urmet is so proud of his country, and his performance is a love letter back home. In his cappuccinos, he tells the judges they will experience a creamy marzipan taste and the essence of tender peaches. I’ll focus on his signature drink because that’s how it came across best: a traditional food from Estonia inspired this interesting drink. The food is a blend of rye, wheat, barley, and peas, so Urmet has brought these ingredients together, cooked them in salty water, dried them, and ground them up for the drink. To this, he brings cherry yogurt and cream, to emphasize the cherry notes of his coffee. It’s incredibly creative. Great showing, Urmet.

Rep. of Korea, Rep. of Serbia, Czech Republic

#41: BARISTA CHAMPION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA: LEE JONG HOON

The barista champion from the Republic of Korea is a polished performer from the moment he takes the stage. He is using a Cup of Excellence Costa Rican coffee, and he’s deft at explaining its beauties to the judges. One of the best tricks we’ve seen all week: he holds two portafilters in one hand while dosing and grinding. Nice show, Lee Jong! In his signature drink, he combines cream, cacao, sugar and coffee beans. It’s an interesting performance that is a delight to watch. Very nicely done, Lee Jong.

#42: BARISTA CHAMPION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA—BERONJA BRANISLAV

I like Beronja immediately because he talks about how his performance will be, “like all good things, simple.” He pours his caps dry, which he tells the judges, to the sound of “Al Along the Watchtower.” For Beronja’s signature drink, he is going to create a tiramisu, but with a twist: he replaces the eggs in the recipe with strawberry jam. But first, he combines honey and cream in a shaker and shakes for 10 seconds. His signature drink presentation is really terrific—he puts the ingredients together in individual beakers, and then creates a layered drink with espresso, cacao, the strawberry jam, honey and cream mixture, and then serves. Beautifully done, Beronja.

#43: BARISTA CHAMPION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC—MICHEL KOCMAN

Michel commands the stage from the start with an in depth explanation of his coffee for the judges. He tells them he is using a single origin Brazilian bourbon that has been medium roasted, He says in the espresso the judges will taste red fruits and they will enjoy a dark chocolate aftertaste. When serving his cappuccinos, he tells the judges that he wants fresh cappuccinos so he is using 2 percent milk. For his signature drink, Michel combines coconut milk, nuts and honey, clove, ginger, cardamom, and green tea. When he serves the judges, he has them stir the drink with a sprig of rosemary. It’s a delightful touch. Nicely done, Michel!

Ireland, Denmark, United Kingdom

#38: BARISTA CHAMPION OF IRELAND—COLIN HARMON

Today is the one-year anniversary of Colin becoming a barista. Prior to coffee, Colin was a successful financier—he had no reason to look for another career path. But he simply realized he loved coffee so much that he would like to pursue the barista life. And so he hung up his suit and tie and got a job. Now he is the Barista Champion of Ireland, the country from which Stephen Morrissey, 2008 WBC Champion, hails. Bravo, Colin. If not for the slight shaking of his hands, we’d never know that Colin was a bit nervous up there. He takes his work and passion for coffee incredibly seriously—anyone can see that.In fact, we find out during his post performance interview that he actually bought a Nuova Simonelli Aurelia for practice and has it set up in his spare bedroom in his apartment! As he serves his cappuccinos he tells the judges “adding anything to espresso is dangerous.” I like that he takes that seriously. For his signature drink he combines flavors he has found in his coffee—salt, cherry… he actually creates a creme anglais on stage, and combines it with a bit of seaweed, which he tells the judges they won’t tsate — its just for depth of textue in the drink. Overall, a great performance from Colin! (Doesn’t hurt that he playd Belle & Sebastian either! And a shout out to my dad—Colin used an Aeropress, Dad’s favorite coffee toy).
#39: BARISTA CHAMPION OF DENMARK—MORTEN WINTHER VESTENAA

Morten’s head is so narrow that the microphone keeps slipping off! Luckily, it’s fixed before he begins his performance. Talk about pressure—this guy hails from the country from which more WBC champions have hailed than anywhere else. And yet he doesn’t seem fazed a bit. He is using coffee from the Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, trained by some of the best coffee guys (and guys period) we know: Klaus, 2006 WBC champion, and Casper, 2008 World Cup Tasting champion. But this competition is all Morten’s—he knows this coffee inside and out, as he tlls the judges when he explains his coffee, noticng subtle characteristcs such as jasmine and strawberry. Very well done, Morten.

#40: BARISTA CHAMPION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Gwilym comes from London, and he’s an Englishman through and through—he actually lives on a boat with his dog, and runs two very successful coffee carts in the city. With him here in Atlanta are James and Anette, owners of Square Mile Coffee Roasters, a certain darling of the specialty coffee industry. James and Anette are terrific about not putting pressure out, but Gwilyms well aware that the past two WBCs were won by baristas using Square Mile—Stephen Morrissey in 2008, and James himself in 2007. But Gwilym’s been using this coffee for long enough that hes got a firm handle on things all on his own. He tells the judges that in the espresso they will taste buttered toast, black currant jelly, juicy fruit and a caramel finish. In his cappuccinos, he says there will be a jammy sweetness and a caramel toffee finish. For Gwilym’s signature drink, he has the judges pick the ingredients from an envelope of choices—he says there will be a possibility of 256 different drinks, depending on what they choose. And the choices are: honey, hazelnuts, butter and cherry. Very well done, Gwilym.

Touching the Slayer

It has arguably been the most popular booth at the SCAA, so yesterday between blogging, snapping photos and tasting coffee I wandered next door to see what all the hype is about.

I’m writing this post for one reason – the four photos I put on my Flickr last night have over 250 hits each in the 9 hours since I posted them. 

The Slayer team have a 2 group and a 3 group here at the show, adjacent to Intelligentsia booth. There have been 40 or 50 people hovering around all day, some making coffee, snapping pix and asking questions about theories and performances of the machine.

 

 

slayer

I only had a short play with coffee i was not familiar with on set grinders, dosing (lower) than I usually would but still extracting interesting coffee. The most noticeable effect for me was the texture of the coffee. Off naked portafilters, with a very slow 3 bar pre-infusion for about 15-17 seconds before engaging the full extraction pump @9bar for about another 8 – 10 seconds. Back to the 3 bar for a few more seconds and then off.

 

slayer extraction

 The guys invited me back today with my own coffee to play again with more familiar flavours and textures. I’ll let you know how it goes, but it has certainly created a nice buzz and continues to push people to open their minds about how far we can take espresso coffee.