I finally got the chance to catch up on some blog reading. Perth has some great food and coffee bloggers and I love learning from them.
One I have pretty much missed lately is Bowl of Honey . Blogger Devan gets around the inner suburb with great regularity and seems to manage to find the better side of Perth eating.
Bowl of Honey is definitely a good blog to add you your foodie reading list.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
The CSR Golden Bean
The 2009/10 CSR Golden Bean awards for coffee roasters was recently held with DiBella coffee roasters of Queensland taking out the overall award.
Western Australia had a very strong representation in the competition and the results below comprise the roster of roasters that I know have a presence in WA - if you know of another WA roaster than won in this year's comp please let me know so that I can add them into the list.
The big news for WA is that Fiori Coffee took the gold medal for Category 4 - Filter Coffee, a terrific feat.
There are a lot of medals heading West this year including:
Category 1 - Espresso
Bronze medals for:
Category 2 - Milk Based Coffee
Bronze medals for:
Category 3 - Australian Coffee (milk based)
Silver medals for:
Bronze medals for:
Category 4 - Filter Coffee
Gold Medal:
Category 5 - Organic
Bronze medals for:
Category 6 - Retail Filter
Silver medals for:
Bronze medals for:
Category 7 - Cafe/Chain Franchise Coffee
Bronze medals for:
Congratulations to all those who took part and represented WA in the National Competition.
Western Australia had a very strong representation in the competition and the results below comprise the roster of roasters that I know have a presence in WA - if you know of another WA roaster than won in this year's comp please let me know so that I can add them into the list.
The big news for WA is that Fiori Coffee took the gold medal for Category 4 - Filter Coffee, a terrific feat.
There are a lot of medals heading West this year including:
Category 1 - Espresso
Bronze medals for:
Dimattina Coffee
Yahava Coffee Works
Ristretto Espresso Specialists
Category 2 - Milk Based Coffee
Bronze medals for:
Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters
Fiori Coffee
Category 3 - Australian Coffee (milk based)
Silver medals for:
Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters (Kim Gordon)
Yahava Coffee Works
Bronze medals for:
Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters (Jenny Gordon)
Black Starr Coffee Roasters
Bonissimo
Category 4 - Filter Coffee
Gold Medal:
Fiori Coffee
Category 5 - Organic
Bronze medals for:
Fiori Coffe
Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters (Kim Gordon)
Five Senses Coffee
Category 6 - Retail Filter
Silver medals for:
Fiori Coffe
Bronze medals for:
Five Senses Coffee
Yahava Coffee Works
Category 7 - Cafe/Chain Franchise Coffee
Bronze medals for:
Five Senses Coffee
Bonissimo
Congratulations to all those who took part and represented WA in the National Competition.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Santa Cruz de León Cortés
Central America is often portrayed as a region of humid chaos – the home of the stereotypical ‘Banana Republic’, and while this is a mis-informed generalisation, the region has seen its share of unrest, revolution and counter-revolution that has caused economic and social instability for many people living there.
Costa Rica had a bloody revolt and civil war in 1948 that so appalled its citizens that in preparing a new constitution they abolished the army. Since the 1953 establishment of the new constitution they have had regular, peaceful transitions of power through the electoral process and the country has made substantial progress against economic, educational and social indicators, regularly scoring at number one for many of these.
It is no surprise then that Costa Rican coffee can be an amazing experience and this is recognised by roasters and baristas (a number of recent competitors in barista championships have used Costa Rican coffee to great effect).
The Terrazu canton in San Jose province is home to some of Costa Rica’s best coffee, and the coffee growing region itself ranges between 1200-2000 metres in altitude. An amazing network of well maintained roads exists to move the coffee rapidly from the hills down to the processing mills.
In recent years a number of ‘micro-mills’ have proliferated that allow growers and mills to collaborate on processing that provides a better return to the grower and a more controlled result to the broker and ultimately the roaster and consumer.
The coffee I am sampling at present is from the Santa Cruz de León Cortés Micro-region and is processed at the Puente Tarrazu Micro mill. Santa Cruz de León Cortés is at 1750 meters above sea level and the coffee, produced by Rodolfo Rivera is processed as semi washed using Caturra, Villalobos, Catuai and Typica varietals. I have some of the Yellow Catuai processed using the 'Honey' process to try and I am finding it a very well balanced coffee.
Production from this micro region is only 400 bags and the coffee itself is clean and well graded. Roasting over a 19 minute period and running a good 30 seconds into second crack, it is even in colour a giving off a heavenly floral aroma as it de-gasses. I roasted on Sunday and opened the first bag today – pretty early but I have a second in reserve to age a little more. It is exceptional in the pour-over and I’ll have to go visit someone with an espresso machine to try it that way as I think it might do well as an SO espresso.
I’m not sure whether the ‘honey’ refers to the lovely warm colour of the parchment coffee after processing, or the result in the cup, but I certainly found that it had a distinct honey quality – not it terms of sweetness but in the honey-musk floral quality of the coffee.
Given the small annual production of this coffee I am not sure how much of this coffee is available – I suspect not much, but I originally bought 5kg of green beans and will likely have to return for more as this is very popular today in my office.
It is available from Kamran and Louise at Fiori Coffee as green beans and roasted beans, although you may want to call them to make sure they have the roasted in stock. I've had some great Terrazu coffee lately and the 2009 crop seems to be one of the best in recent years.
Costa Rica had a bloody revolt and civil war in 1948 that so appalled its citizens that in preparing a new constitution they abolished the army. Since the 1953 establishment of the new constitution they have had regular, peaceful transitions of power through the electoral process and the country has made substantial progress against economic, educational and social indicators, regularly scoring at number one for many of these.
It is no surprise then that Costa Rican coffee can be an amazing experience and this is recognised by roasters and baristas (a number of recent competitors in barista championships have used Costa Rican coffee to great effect).
The Terrazu canton in San Jose province is home to some of Costa Rica’s best coffee, and the coffee growing region itself ranges between 1200-2000 metres in altitude. An amazing network of well maintained roads exists to move the coffee rapidly from the hills down to the processing mills.In recent years a number of ‘micro-mills’ have proliferated that allow growers and mills to collaborate on processing that provides a better return to the grower and a more controlled result to the broker and ultimately the roaster and consumer.
The coffee I am sampling at present is from the Santa Cruz de León Cortés Micro-region and is processed at the Puente Tarrazu Micro mill. Santa Cruz de León Cortés is at 1750 meters above sea level and the coffee, produced by Rodolfo Rivera is processed as semi washed using Caturra, Villalobos, Catuai and Typica varietals. I have some of the Yellow Catuai processed using the 'Honey' process to try and I am finding it a very well balanced coffee.
Production from this micro region is only 400 bags and the coffee itself is clean and well graded. Roasting over a 19 minute period and running a good 30 seconds into second crack, it is even in colour a giving off a heavenly floral aroma as it de-gasses. I roasted on Sunday and opened the first bag today – pretty early but I have a second in reserve to age a little more. It is exceptional in the pour-over and I’ll have to go visit someone with an espresso machine to try it that way as I think it might do well as an SO espresso.
I’m not sure whether the ‘honey’ refers to the lovely warm colour of the parchment coffee after processing, or the result in the cup, but I certainly found that it had a distinct honey quality – not it terms of sweetness but in the honey-musk floral quality of the coffee.
Given the small annual production of this coffee I am not sure how much of this coffee is available – I suspect not much, but I originally bought 5kg of green beans and will likely have to return for more as this is very popular today in my office.
It is available from Kamran and Louise at Fiori Coffee as green beans and roasted beans, although you may want to call them to make sure they have the roasted in stock. I've had some great Terrazu coffee lately and the 2009 crop seems to be one of the best in recent years.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Lesspresso
With the Faema still in pieces and the Sunbeam now offline due to pump problems there is not a lot of espresso in Cafe Grendel lately. Still, it has been the perfect time to play with some of the other coffee making tools around the house. The Presso has come in for some use when I need something like an espresso and I've been using my toddy to make some great Cold Process but I recently acquired a new toy from 5 Senses - the Clever Coffee Dripper. I have this at work rather than home but it is a great companion to my pour-over bodum and I am slowly getting a feel for the dosing and brewing times for it.
Still, at some point I am going to need to fix (or have fixed) the Sunbeam as most of the coffee I have been drinking lately was roasted for espresso.
I am still not getting out much to cafes - but there are a few about I would dearly love to try and I've been following some of the reviews on CoffeeSnobs that show that innovation is still happening - a good thing all round.
Still, at some point I am going to need to fix (or have fixed) the Sunbeam as most of the coffee I have been drinking lately was roasted for espresso.
I am still not getting out much to cafes - but there are a few about I would dearly love to try and I've been following some of the reviews on CoffeeSnobs that show that innovation is still happening - a good thing all round.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Galeras
Like many Columbian towns, Pasto in the Narino Department (province) has a number of coffee growing areas that produce some great Central American beans. Farming coffee in Columbia is no picnic, and from time to time those who farm in the area are rudely interrupted. In Pasto the name of the interruption is Galeras. Of course it is more of an eruption than an interruption because Galeras is a stratovolcano - and currently active again. In 1993 six scientists died during an eruption as they attempted to collect gas samples for analysis.
If you are enjoying a nice cup of Central American coffee today - and Columbian coffee in particular, spare a thought for the farmers who grow it in the shadow of a mountain that is very much alive and kicking.
Photo Credit: Josecamilom
If you are enjoying a nice cup of Central American coffee today - and Columbian coffee in particular, spare a thought for the farmers who grow it in the shadow of a mountain that is very much alive and kicking.
Photo Credit: Josecamilom
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