What to look for a proper extraction.

Barista Barista!

Oh man, this is going to be interesting. I wonder which former barista champions will be included in this Xbox360 game.

American Express Gold Card.

Nick from portafilter.net spotted this AXP commercial on youtube. Go Doug!

Oh No!

Vivace
Originally uploaded by tonx.

I can't believe this place will be closed soon and that is a shame...

$11K Coffee Maker Brews Controversy

The SBUX’s buyout deal on Clover is so notorious, even CNN
picked it up.

Whether it is good or bad for the specialty coffee industry as a whole, there are no short of the opinions. The discussion is more heated amongst the coffee professionals than the coffee enthusiasts. As for me? A French press works just fine. Although I don’t mind a Clover brew once in awhile.

More podcasts on the Clover. The pros and the coffee enthusiasts.

You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?

If ever a challenger wins over the iron (oooops), the ultimate barista, he or she will gain the people’s ovations, and the fame forever. Every battle, the reputations are on the line in the coffee stadium, where the master baristi pit their artistic creations against each other. What inspirations will the challengers bring, and how will the ultimate baristi fight back? The heat will be on!

Beat the Ultimate Barista this March 9~11.

My favorite coffeehouse/roaster in Chicago.

My favorite coffeehouse/roaster in Chicago.
Originally uploaded by Spinnaker007.

I am sure all of us, from time to time, having the oranges that are just juicer than from other times, the watermelons that much sweeter, or the apples that much crispier. You got the picture.

I had a doppio from my favorite coffee shop on my way home, and I was indulged with a beautifully pulled Black Cat Espresso. It was so good that I had to paused, and enjoyed the moment. Thanks Luc!

1st Annual Geekfest.

CoffeeGeek_Event_041
Originally uploaded by Intelligentsia Coffee.

It all started with this post, and thanks to Intelligentsia's big kahuna, Doug Zell, the 1st Annual Geekfest quickly became a reality.

For the starter at 10:00AM, we had our tour in Intelligentsia’s ginormous roasting facility, where we observed a batch of Colombia Tres Santos being roasted. For about 13 minutes, the roasting process turned those little grassy smelly green beans into the aromatic rich brown wonders. We then ushered to their cupping room where Geoff Watts, the director of coffee and green coffee purchaser, explained to us the coffee grading and the green bean buying process, also more importantly to develop a healthy and mutually respectful relationships with the coffee farmers.

I have never cupped a coffee before, so I was very looking forward to it. There were 6 coffees; Peruvian Organic Cruz del Sur, Colombia Tres Santos, Colombia Tres Santos, Micro-Lot: La Planada, Rwandan Zirikana, Rwanda Golden Cup: Melange, and the crowd favorite from Kenya (I am not sure if this Kangocho auction lot was the one we cupped.) The first step of cupping is to smell the aroma/fragrance from the grounds when they are dry, and after the grounds being steeped for 4 minutes with just off the boil water, crack the crust and smell again, and finally actually tasting the coffee. Kenya was the crowd pleaser, but I liked both Rwanda's, and Cruz del Sur from Peru.

So, how do you like your coffee? The most unexpected event for me was the comparative brewing. This experiment was to use the very same coffee, brewed with 4 different techniques; Chemex vs. French Press vs. Eva Solo vs. Technivorm, and surprisingly there were 4 distinctive coffee drinking experience from the same coffee!

The most fun and yet nerve wracking was the latte art throw down, where everyone got one chance to pour and judged. It was tense to perform under many watchful eyes and especially to compete with Matt, the 2006 USBC champ and Amber, the finalist. I gave my best, and they simply blew me out of the water…

La Marzocco GS/3.

It is sleek, beautiful, and from a great name in the business. I played with it at the Coffee Fest in Chicago last year, and I was impressive with it from the shots (Alterra's Espresso Blend) I pulled myself. At US$7500.00, they sure priced themselves out of the home machine market...

Tamping, Italian Style. Part 2.

I just uploaded a 3-part sequence video clips on how I would pull my shots. I have been doing the light tamp lately, and it works as well as the general 30 pound and 50 pound methods.

The first part of the clip shows that I dose as I grind for a better even distribution. Light and even tamp in part 2, and the demonstration of such method is just as valid as the others.

I do have to apologize for the poor quality of the clips...

We Have A Winner!

hold still
Originally uploaded by tonx.

It all started with James Hoffmann , the 2007 World Barista Champion, who came up with some sort of absurd yet interesting latte art challenge. The goal is to pour the latte art in whatever things you can imagine. About all the pours are technically difficult, but uninspiring, only a few pours caught my eyes. Like James’ and Stephen Morrissey’s rosetta pours in the open hands, Perrys’ art in a tomato, and Head CoffeeGeek Mark’s in the twin martini shaker caps. Nothing, but nothing can top this wild and crazy one by Ryan Wilbur from Intelligentsia in L.A..

Update…The challenge is getting more interesting…There was the mouth, and now the ear. Look at the way it is going, I don’t want to see the latte art in other orifices of a human body!

The New WBC Champ.

James Hoffmann, the barista champion from UK is crowned as the 2007 World barista champ this past weekend. His name has emerged from the coffee-centric forums and blogs onto the front page of the international news (although all of them misspelled his last name). I don’t know James personally, but I follow his blog and Flickr. In the end, I congratulate James and his team for the job well done.

Click here to watch his title winning presentation.

Bonus feature: Milk tasting. Selecting the right milk for James’ cappuccini.

Latte Art in Motion - Rosetta.

Not sure if I like this pour...The beginning was promising, the execution at the end was so-so at best...

Rosetta With A Little Heart on Top

I was shooting for a fat rosetta like Kyle G.'s, by increasing the pour flow speed. I had to throttled back because I was about to lose control of my pour as it started to swirl. So, no fat rosetta for me...

Latte Art in Motion - Heart.

I am pretty satisfied with this pour.

Latte Art in Motion.

Click to see this one being made.

There is a latte art contest, and the winner takes home an espresso machine. I will try my best to pour a couple of hearts and rosettas before I decide which one to enter. You may see a few more in the coming days (if I am lucky enough.)

I am sure there will be some top latte artists gunning for the title but I hope I will win, because I have a plan for the winning. My plan is hidden within my blog somewhere, if you find it, wish me luck...

I hope I can win this contest. I want to donate the machine and auction it off on coffeegeek.com. All the money will go to coffeekids.org.

First Mochaccino!

First Mochaccino!
Originally uploaded by Spinnaker007.

My first mochaccino since my espresso machine went kaput. Thanks for MikeP and another Chicago coffeegeek, Scott, helped me fix my machine. The foam tastes better with cranked up steam pressure. I need to work on the pull and the pour...

Problem Solved!

I dragged my 50 plus pound espresso machine to Mike’s house yesterday with a hope to find the cause of my failed machine.

Scott, a local coffeegeek showed up to help. With two brilliant minds, they figured out the problem of my machine. They tugged and followed the wires, multimeter tested the components and they determined that the solid state relay (SSR), an electrical switch, had gone bad. It was a great feeling when I heard the heating element roared back to live with a temporary connection.

From my understanding of the issue is that the corrosion around the SSR caused it not able to dissipate heat properly and that ultimately fried the SSR. All I need now is to order a replacement and connecting the wires to the corresponding terminals.

I can smell and taste the sweet espresso already...Guys, thanks for your help...

Cautiously Bullish.

Teaser.
Originally uploaded by Spinnaker007.

I am taking my busted machine to Mike’s place tomorrow and have an open troubleshoot session. Hopefully provided with these two pounds of great beans can entice some local talented coffeegeeks to come out and find just what the heck is wrong with my machine.

Nonplus!

No Coffee
Originally uploaded by Spinnaker007.

Met up with Mike at Intelly during lunch. He came armed with a digital multimeter tester, and the thermal fuse turned out to be okay. I will have to test the heating element on my own per Mike's instructions (that should be comical). Pulling home espresso has to wait a bit longer...

I never thought I would get my hands on the innards of an espresso machine, that is for the hardcore coffeegeeks. I am being forced to do it, just because I don't want to pay the tall or venti shipping charges...I dunno...