by Emily Oak, Director, WBC and AIR Training & Development Manager

From June 23-25th at Olympia, in Kensington London, the world’s best baristas and coffee professionals gathered together under one roof to celebrate all facets of the specialty industry. Baristas from more than 50 countries represented their individual nations competing against each other in a bid to win the global title.
This year was fresh and even more interesting for two main reasons. Firstly, it was the first time a semi final round was introduced into the competition. This added a layer of complexity and difficulty for competitors and judges. Secondly, there were more than 15 second or third time champions competing. This mean the standard of performance was higher than it has ever been before. Australia’s reining Barista Champion Scottie Callaghan, (who was also World Latte Art Champion 2006 and Australian Barista Champion 2007) put in a solid performance, making it through both the preliminary and semi final rounds to the final of the championship, no easy task at all. Scott came away with the third place trophy, making him the third best barista in the world. Combined with the efforts of the rest of ‘Team Australia’ competing in a whole range of competitions (Latte Art, Good Spirits and Cup Tasting) Scott’s placing helped secure the overall team trophy for Australia…. Well Done!

By Christopher Short

Coffee aficionados love to discuss the elements that make for their perfect cup. Factors often mentioned are their favorite brand of coffee beans, the proportion of arabica to robusta beans, the type of roast and single versus double boiler espresso machines, just to name a few. Interestingly, one issue only occasionally considered is that of water quality. This is odd given that water constitutes 95% of an espresso.

The reason it is not top of the list is probably because few really know what attributes they should be looking for in water and they generally have little choice in the matter. For most of us, it just arrives, normally out of the tap. The reason we should be concerned about water quality is that it does affect the taste of your coffee and it has a significant effect on brewing equipment performance and reliability in many regions.

Water could be referred to as ‘the universal solvent’. It will dissolve almost anything to some degree. As rain falls to earth it takes up airborne gases like car and truck exhaust fumes and industry air pollution. This is why the air smells so fresh after a good rain. Once on the ground the water soaks in, dissolving naturally occurring calcium, magnesium, iron and other elements as well as ground pollution. In addition, water collects particulate matter (commonly called dirt!) that will not dissolve but is carried in suspension.

To improve water quality, public water authorities treat the water to remove most of the dirt particles and to disinfect it. The most common way to disinfect water is through the addition of chlorine, which will inevitably alter the taste of the coffee. Installation of appropriate water filters will remove the chlorine from the water and will ensure that any dirt particles are removed. Some people prefer to use rainwater in their home espresso machines. It is imperative to use a water filter before filling the water tank to remove the dirt particles and, if the correct filter is used, the dissolved air pollution.

Another issue involving water is that of water ‘hardness’ – that is, the content of calcium and magnesium in the water. Higher levels constitute harder water. The reason water gets hard is by the percolation of ground water through calcium and magnesium-laden soils. Water hardness is not removed by filtration and has no health effects. In fact, many bottled mineral waters are exceptionally hard. It is interesting that espresso made from hard water tastes better. The reason is that flavour extraction from ground beans increases with harder water. However, there is a limit – beyond 90 parts per million (ppm) of calcium carbonate, flavour extraction does not increase. This would be fine except that hard water (150ppm and above) causes significant build up of calcium scale in coffee brewing equipment. A way of avoiding this is to use a water softener, which replaces the calcium content with sodium. This is why water softeners must occasionally be regenerated with sodium chloride (common salt), which is the source of the sodium.

Softening water will reduce the problem of hard water scale build up in the machine but it will, to a degree, alter the taste of the coffee. Alternatively, the use of unsoftened (but still filtered) water will enhance the taste but necessitate occasional descaling of the machine. Non-carbonated spring or mineral water can be used effectively in home espresso machines with water tanks. These waters are generally of moderate hardness and are filtered, providing good quality water for espresso.

In summary, for better tasting coffee, moderately hard water is fine but ensure it is filtered and that you descale your machine occasionally.

Christopher Short is Managing Director of Adelaide-based cleaning products company, Cafetto.

Tasting and blending coffee is a very complex, creative and scientific process which is unfortunately underestimated by a great number of people who actually work in the industry. Coffee cupping is one of those wonderful and very necessary rituals which sadly only a small percentage of coffee roasters, green buyers and retailers undertake. Unfortunately for the consuming public, this can lead to a lack of quality in coffee from those who do not regularly audit their suppliers, coffee production and the end product sold to consumers. Often these same people do not venture out trying new products and styles to improve the quality of the end cup. So why is coffee cupping so important, and what does cupping a coffee to produce an end product entail?

Coffee is a fresh product, is living and changing every second, which must be constantly checked throughout the production line. From one roast to another, from one bag to another, in order to put together a good coffee, the cupper (or taster) must also have an intricate knowledge of roasting, coffee origins, profiling, brewing and storage. Missing even one of these elements is like missing a link in a chain – the end product does not hold up. A good cupper, like a good chef, must have the skill to combine tradition and training with ability and creativity. They also need to explore new territory in order to continue to improve the coffee experience while still respecting established qualities and characteristics.

From crop to cup there are a number of important factors that affect the taste of coffee. Coffee, like wine, develops distinct flavour characteristics based on its country or region of origin. These flavours can develop and vary with season, growing conditions and harvest. Coffee processing is the next crucial element. From the two traditional methods of wet or dry processing, to the more cutting edge pulp natural, semi washed and double pass. Each processing method produces a different taste in the coffee caused by the different ways the layers are stripped from the cherries revealing the coffee bean within. If a cupper does not have the knowledge of the taste each method produces, they cannot understand how it will taste in the end. Fermentation within the beans can also happen at this time and spoil the cup, in similar fashion to corked wine. This major fault must also be tasted for in every bag of raw product to avoid destroying an entire roast.

A more commonly discussed contributor to the taste of coffee is roasting. The ‘Roast Master’ has the power to greatly affect the taste and flavour of the coffee with the processes used.  As well as different roasting methods and different types of coffee roasters, we must add to this, the different roast colours. Coffee can be roasted from medium or light brown, through to a high, dark brown, or caramel roast. Each colour will affect the taste – the lighter roasts have a higher acidity and milder taste, while darker roasts have a lower acidity and more intense taste. Time, temperature control, air flow and volume of raw coffee roasted will also impact the coffee flavour. To complicate things further coffee origins can be roasted separately then blended, or pre blended as green coffee and roasted together. Each taste profile is significantly different.

Equally as important is the production or brewing method of the coffee. The coffee should be blended and roasted to suit the brewing method, be it for a plunger, stovetop espresso, filter or espresso. The brewing process, which includes water temperature and water quality, coffee freshness, grind size and brewing time (the time the water and coffee are actually in contact), is fundamental to the end cup. You can have the best coffee in the world, but if it is not brewed correctly it will not perform.

Cupping is essential in producing a quality end product. The cupper must be aware of their impact on the final taste when selecting the original product. People in the coffee industry who do not cup their coffee or who shop for their raw product from a standard list have no control on how their coffee will taste.

Emily Oak is on the Board of Directors for the World Barista Championships and is the Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator for the WBC. She is also Training and Development Manager for Australian Independent Roasters in Sydney and a regular contributor for Crema Magazine.

Jamaica exported some 16,200 tons (15,000 metric tons) of Blue Mountain coffee last year. Its output is largely bought by eight large companies, including Coffee Traders and Government-owned Wallenford. Jamaica exports US$30 million of Blue Mountain annually, of which 85 percent is shipped to Japan, while Britain and the U.S. are the next biggest markets for the iconic bean.

There have been issues in the past with Blue Mountain, which achieved so much acclaim that some less-than-reputable coffee companies mixed inferior beans with the genuine article, and marketed the resulting blend as pure Blue Mountain.

However, the current concerns appear much more closely linked to the current world market conditions.

As you may know, this magazine is a supporter of the concept of fairly-traded coffee, but it’s interesting to see how the Fairtrade organization (run under the auspices of Oxfam aid organization) has become proprietary about the use of the ‘fair trade’ terminology.

Several newspapers have reported a recent spat between McDonalds, which uses Rainbow Alliance coffee [www.rainforest-alliance.org], and the Fairtrade Organization. It centres around the use of the word ‘fair’. The problem is that McDonalds have recently been running TV commercials showing South American coffee farmers, and using the words ‘a fair deal for workers’ in their script.

Click here to go directly to this topic on the Crema Forum to share your opinion and read what others have had to say, or/

The Fairtrade Organisation took exception to this, and McDonalds agreed to change their wording to ‘a great deal for workers’, however it does raise the question – what’s in a brand name, and whether Fairtrade’s branding includes exclusivity over common English usage, such as a ‘fair deal’.

Apparently Fairtrade’s representatives accused McDonald’s and the Alliance of straying away from its core aim – which is to improve the environment – and of moving on to Fairtrade’s turf. But the Alliance’s spokeswoman in London, Anita Neville, hit back at Fairtrade, saying its rivals were ‘denying them the chance to market two out of the three pillars of its program’ (these are ethics, environment and economics).

We have had numerous complaints from coffee roasters in Australia about the attempts to turn Fairtrade into just another (commercial) brand [see: the Forum >> Trade page,]. This latest spat certainly seems to corroborate these complaints.

Click here to go directly to this topic on the Crema Forum to share your opinion and read what others have had to say.

Well, it had to happen. Not wanting to say ‘I told you so’, but we’ve been forcasting the demise, or at least the diminishing, of the Starbucks’ empire in Australia for a number of years. 

A recent article in The Australian newspaper refers to recent sour news out of the company’s US [Seattle] headquarters as a possible reason for Starbucks’ abrupt decision to close 61 of its 84 Australian stores, but we have felt for a long time that there was a much stronger reason – the inherent strength of Australia’s domestic espresso industry.

On observing Starbucks’ worldwide rise over a number of years, they have clearly been a phenomenal success story in most countries where their tentacles have reached, but for a few countries – most notably Italy, and now Australia. And the reason is clear – its the strength our own domestic espresso culture.

A recent second place in the World Barista Championships in Copenhagen, along with three consecutive winners of the World Latte Art Championships are testament to this. It’s actually a huge compliment to the increasing strength and depth of our own unique espresso culture!

Ashley Felderhof, Founding Director of Crema Magazine, was interviewed by ABC News Radio to give his opinion on the demise of Starbucks in Australia. Click here to listen to the interview.

Every year between April and June, the World Barista Championships are held somewhere on the globe, in search of the world’s best barista. And every year across the world, and particularly in Australia, the question is often raised and fiercely debated as to the value of such ‘staged’ competitions – primarily that the baristas who participate in such competitions are more performers than professional baristas.

The main argument against competitions that I have encountered over my ten years in the specialty coffee industry is that the condition of competition and the tasks that the baristas have to perform are not valuable in ‘the real life situation or a café’. Many baristas who work day in and day out behind an espresso machine producing hundreds of coffees for their loyal following, are not willing to have their skills judged by their peers because the format of competition does not mimic reality…. Or does it?

In a limited time (15 minutes for 12 coffees in most situations) baristas must compete to consistently produce the best coffee they can, whilst conducting a conversation with their assessors, keeping their workspace neat and tidy, and working with integrity, flare and passion. They are judged on four main areas. The taste of the beverage, the look of the beverage, their technical skill, and their personal presentation and interpersonal skills.

In my experience, this not far off how any retail situation or coffee experience may be judged. Primarily, you would look for a product that tastes good, that is delivered in a reasonable period of time; you would look to enjoying interaction with the barista or sales assistant and questioning them on subjects both coffee related and non coffee related. The technical ability of a barista in producing consistently sound coffee reflects back on the taste and presentation of the beverage. Can anyone argue that these are not real attributes?

In any situation where an individual plans to compete against his or her peers, training, self discipline and education are required to win. This can be applied to any situation of competition in any field, be it sport, academia, or being a barista. Training, in any situation, improves the ability of an individual at any task.

As a competitive barista, training occurs on two levels – at a day-to-day level and at an elite level (outside of a customer situation) practicing individual elements of making coffee – extraction, grinding, dosing, tamping, milk texturing, pouring, coffee art, cleaning and working.

By practicing at an elite level, and applying this at a retail level, the benefits are many for the barista, retailer, coffee roaster and grower. By improving each individual cup quality, for each individual customer, a barista is giving a customer a better coffee experience, an education in taste and a better understanding of coffee itself. This, on a basic sales level, improves business. Repeat business and new business is the key to a successful coffee industry.

So the benefits of competition are twofold. Firstly it improves the attitude and ability of a barista to make any cup of coffee. Secondly it holds valuable marketing for a barista, coffee brand, coffee shop and roaster. There is no shame in being recognised as the best when you have been judged by a grouping of your industry colleagues. By opening up to judgement by peers, a barista is making the ultimate commitment to improving his or her individual ability to pull a shot of espresso, and a general commitment to improving the quality of the coffee industry as a whole.

I am very lucky that in my work as an educator I often get the opportunity to associate with people already active in the coffee industry, as well as people who are so enthusiastic about coffee that they are setting up a mini espresso bar at home. Unfortunately for both of these groups they often overlook or misunderstand the importance of the grinder in the whole equation of making a cup of coffee.

The grinder is arguably the most fundamental piece of equipment in any coffee brewing situation. Why? Grinders allow for the freshest coffee possible in brewing, as well as controlling the extraction of flavour and soluble materials from the beans.

True freshness in coffee can only be achieved by ‘grinding on demand’ – grind what you need immediately before you use it. The grinder intricately controls the rate at which coffee and water come together to create the magic elixir in any brewing method – plunger, filter, stovetop or espresso. The milling of coffee beans between two blades allows for the breakdown of cell walls and for hot water to mix with the soluble materials in coffee. The reason that the grinder is so important in this mix is it controls the individual size of each coffee particle, and thus, how much time and surface area are exposed to the hot water. The scale of grind [commonly referred to as coarse to fine] is usually reflective of the amount of time coffee and water are meant to be in contact.

For a plunger, where coffee and water are in contact for 3-4 minutes, the grind should be coarse. For a filter or stovetop espresso, the water and coffee are in contact for 1-2 minutes, the grind is usually medium. For espresso, where the coffee and water are in contact only for 20-30 seconds, the grind is even finer, but you also need to take into consideration the other variables of dose, tamp and environment. Ground coffee is very sensitive to weather – particularly to heat and humidity and may swell, expand or shrink in as little as 10 minutes from when it is ground to when it is used. This means that a barista – either at home or in a commercial environment – needs to constantly and vigilantly observe and adjust a grinder up to 10 times a day. It also means that the barista needs to understand how all these variables interact for every coffee that is extracted.

It is not necessarily easy to learn about grinders and grinding coffee in relation to espresso, which is why I believe in many commercial environments some coffee companies choose not to educate their customers on how to use a grinder. It takes many sessions, practical demonstrations and then practice on the part of the student to really understand.

Instead, café operators are taught not to touch the grinder, and that someone will come and visit every so often to ‘fix it’ for them. The result of this in terms of espresso brewing is a less than satisfactory cup and missed potential for a business, unless a sales rep is prepared to show up 10 times a day to observe and adjust the grinder!

In the home espresso and more generally, the home coffee brewing environment, a lack of education and understanding about the importance of grind and freshness has led to the trend of people buying pre-ground coffee in large quantities and putting it in the fridge or freezer. For home espresso users this usually leads to frustration that they cannot achieve what they usually get from a good café, or that their plunger or filter coffee isn’t quite right.

I often get asked by people when buying espresso equipment for home, what kind of machine is best in any give price range. The first thing I suggest is that no matter how they brew their coffee, if they’re serious enough to invest in machinery for home, then a good grinder is also a must. Otherwise too much is left to chance, and you’ll end up resenting your equipment – or even worse – leave it sitting at the top of the cupboard!

In the case of commercial coffee supply – unless a coffee supplier is willing to invest time and effort in showing a café operator how important a grinder is and furthermore how to use, adjust and understand it, then you’re better off looking elsewhere if you want a good cup of coffee.

Emily Oak is Senior Coffee Trainer at the Sydney Coffee Academy at Ryde TAFE and an industry consultant. Since 2004 she has held the positionof Hemisphere Coordinator for the Asia Pacific region for the WBC. Visit www.freshground.com.au