All of us at Slayer would like to congratulate Stephen Morrissey on being crowned the 2008 WBC Champion !!

I somehow pulled myself out of bed on two mornings to watch on line, and was amazed at the quality & creativity of the barista’s competing at this years WBC…I would have loved to have tasted a number of the espresso’s as they sounded amazing.

The final order:

#1 - Stephen Morrissey, Ireland

#2 - David Makin, Australia

#3 - Liesbeth Sleijster, The Netherlands

#4 - Daniel Remheden, Sweden

#5 - Michael Yung, Canada

#6 - Soren Stiller Markussen, Denmark

Thanks to everyone who dedicated so much time practicing for the regionals, nationals and especially the worlds. We salute everyone everyone who dedicates themselves to furthering the craft of coffee !

Cheers

I am posting one more item around our recent WBC-protocol temperature stability tests of the Slayer prototype espresso machine.  The graph above shows how the two different probe devices we used read and registered temperature and temperature change. The main difference between the Scace meter and the custom K probe device we put together in shop is response time.  I think we may have also gotten a small advantage in terms of precision with the K as well, but no one has really sorted through the data to determine this, yet. 

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Earlier this month, we switched on the third or fourth refinement (depends on your perspective) of our series of working prototypes.  This machine is meant to demonstrate a lot about how our final machine –  the Slayer — will work as an espresso brewing device when it becomes available to anyone who wants one later this year.  

Up to this point our machine platforms were meant to demonstrate particular concepts, like dry steam production, or shot quality .  .  . or whatever. With iteration number 4, we decided to run the WBC brew temperature stability test to see how the machine would fare if we ever take it there (or maybe when we take it there).  I have posted some of our results in the table below.

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Bottled Water redux

Last year I posted on this blog about bottled water.  You can read this by clicking here.  I described a particular phenomena that I find absolutely horrifying.  The so-called Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.  The Patch is a huge mass of plastic crap that is circulating permanently in a natural current called the Pacific Gyre.  It is visible from space and twice the size of Texas, maybe larger.

The gyre captures garbage that finds its way to the ocean. Once in the gyre, garbage can remain “in circulation” for decades.  After awhile the sun breaks down some of this plastic and after many, many years these particles disappear from view.  However, additional garbage is introduced into this system at a higher rate than it disintegrates, so the situation is growing even worse with time.    

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Most people who are familiar with competitive cooking shows like Iron Chef have a good idea what WBC-sanctioned barista competitions are all about.  They are highly charged extravaganzas where aspiring barista superstars can take on their peers and emerge as the toast of the entire specialty coffee world.  What’s more, the recognition is there, not just for the top placers of the WBC, but for winners of the National and Regional championships as well. The winners from these competitions have been known to go on to sponsor products including equipment for making coffee. Klaus Thomsen, the 2006 WBC winner, co-produced and promoted a home machine on the basis of his uber-barista notoriety.  Winning a major barista championship is often seen as a ringing endorsement for a particular coffee or a local Third Wave cafe.  Think Billy Wilson, Think Stumptown Coffee. Think the Albina Press Cafe in Portland Oregon.  When you are that good at preparing coffee, the coffee you use, or the cafe where you work is of extreme interest to your fellow coffee geeks. The details of your coffee universe may also be of interest to those considering opening a new cafe or re-railing an existing cafe to a higher level. Your talents are admired and desired!

But the road to coffee fame and fortune is not short.  By the time a barista champion has reached the top tiers of competition, they are the veterans of countless smaller competitions and have put in hundreds of hours of practice & preparation.  Their coffee making skill is honed so is their dessert-making ability.  Why desserts?  Because creating a winning high-scoring signature drink these days requires knowledge that goes well beyond coffee basics.

So what do you have to do to get there? 

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Are you from the Pacific Northwest or do you live here (I mean in the vicinity stretching from Seattle to Portland and surrounding areas. . .  this region is sometimes referred to as Cascadia by sociologists, marketers, and even liberal separatists)?  If your answer is yes,  then this is not for you. This is for everyone else, the people that live in the rest of the world.

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I have attached a picture of the BOSCO espresso machine now in place at the Caffe Vita in Fremont.  

This machine is a classic lever machine.  The use of a spring instead of a pump to provide brew pressure is the main difference between lever machines and conventional, traditional-style espresso machines.  The BOSCO lever has no pump and motor–so brewing is quiet.  

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Are you opening a cafe or planning to in the near future?  if you are, then I may have the perfect location for you:  right next door to Starbucks! 

Pictured here is a location that is actually available right now.  It offers the opportunity to go head-to-head with the industry’s Goliath–and your new store is smack in the heart of Seattle.  The Dragon’s lair, if you will!

At first this may seem utterly counter-intuitive.  Who in their right mind would open a competing cafe next to the biggest, most successful specialty coffee retailer in the world? A company identified as one of the most powerful brands on the planet by Brandz.  

The answer of course is You!  And especially if you plan to open a Third Wave Cafe–with a focus on quality products and training, and a hands-on approach to preparing coffee and serving customers.

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The announcement at Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting that the company is taking over the Ballard-based Coffee Equipment Company, popularly known as Clover, is a big deal for our our industry.  From Starbucks perspective it is a brilliant, but logical move.  But does it undermine the efforts of the independent coffee roaster/retailer?   

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For me the question of affordable luxury leads down a winding, scrambling, path of discussion around the word “luxury” itself. Like any conversation about coffee this discussion is also hopelessly mired in considerations of culture and society.  The United Nations defines the “forced isolation” of human beings as a form of torture, in certain cases.  Extended periods of isolation can lead to neurosis, resulting in severe mental illness or even death.  In contrast, traditional coffee rituals are social acts.  They bring people from a community or family together in often elaborate, though usually informal, ceremonies in which the beverage is prepared and shared according to prescribed methods, sometimes handed down through generations. This does not make coffee rituals an antidote to anything.  But it does make them a key part of healthy human behavior. In this context, the word luxury doesn’t seem to fit. The type of social ritual surrounding the preparation and enjoyment of coffee — and I would argue even when coffee is prepared and served in a commercial setting – is not really optional human behavior.  It is a fundamental requirement for living well. 

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