gauperaa

I keep thinking that Oslo is a great city if you’re a coffee geek. We have some superb coffee bars, great microroasters and a very friendly and active coffee community.

Here’s another example of that:

Free short seminars/tastings offered each saturday at 2pm in the Kaffa store at Briskeby. They are part of a series called “Bli en kaffeekspert før jul” (”Become a coffee expert by christmas”) and covers topics like cupping, roasting and equipment use. It’s all happening in a nice, informal setting.

Here’s the program:

31.10: Bryggemetoder, alt fra Presskanne til Chemex
De forskjellige metodene fremhever ulike karakterer ved smaken på kaffen. Vi smaker og setter ord på hvordan bryggemetoden setter sitt preg på smaken.

28.11: Fra spire til kopp- hvordan dyrkes kaffe?
Vil du vite mer om hvordan kaffe dyrkes og hva som er forskjell på god og dårlig kvalitet? Vi smaker på forskjellig kaffe og ser på eksempler og bilder.

I’ve been to two of them so far. One about Aeropress and one about the effects of roasting levels. The latter was especially interesting for me personally as I’ve never had the time and opportunity to set up an experiment like that myself. What a luxury to be able to just walk in and start tasting!. We got to sample the same coffee, a costa rican i believe, at 6 different roast levels, ranging from barely developed (#1) to oily dark roast (#6). I was told the production roast they’re aiming for is #3. Personally I liked #4 best, and maybe even the #5, so I guess I am one who prefers a darker roast than what is being produced here in Norway at the moment. Its all getting a bit out of hand I think. It’s like the opposite extreme compared to the too dark roasts in the US. Most espresso for instance is very bright and fruity with low bitterness, and I seldom get a shot I really enjoy to be honest. I hope the roasters here in the Oslo area eventually will roast a little bit darker.

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I was attending the Webdagene 2009 conference last week, and while there I was pleasantly suprised to meet Eirik Sand Johnsen who was making spro at the Espresso Mobile bar. It was definitely the most popular spot and the lines were endless. Great coffee to be had. They made 600+ cups the first day.

Eirik is a former national barista champ and bronze winner in the WBC. I did an interview with him way back in 2003 that was posted at coffegeek.

Filed under: Coffee bars, Events by gauperaa
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5+ years ago, lots of baristas in Norway were entering competitions using the “half & half” blend from Solberg & Hansen. It was a kind of default blend. Nowadays it’s common to compete with a custom blend, sometimes even roasted by the barista himself/herself. The barista typically knows a lot about the beans, the farm and the roast style, and is sure to communicate this in the presentation.

Not only is the competitions changing, but also the roast style. We have a definite trend here in Norway towards really light roasts for espresso, and the good ol “half & half” is affected too, and in a good way! I must say I really enjoy it a lot. It’s fruity and nice.

In the old days Half & half was something like 50% “french roast” (just into second crack, some oil showing) and 50% “italian roast” (as dark as starbucks, lots of oil, all traces of bean character burnt to hell and back). Nowadays the “french roast” doesn’t even go into second crack, while the “italian roast” barely enters it. It’s all about roast color matching, according to my good friend Audun who roasts it. They also seem to use better coffees.

Be sure to give it a go if you live in Oslo, and can find it relatively fresh. I’ve sometimes found tolerable roast dates at Stockfleths Oslo City (check the date at the bottom of the bag, note: this is the date they packaged it in the shop, not the actual roast date, so add a couple of days at least).

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Tim Wendelboe just posted a report about the 2009 World Aeropress Championships. I thought this was going to be a totally informal competition, but seems like it has become a bit more serious with several judges, presentation and sig drink and all, but doesn’t seem that it made it less fun ! . Sadly, I missed it all. Oh well, next year.

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Check out this video that I found over at homebarista.com. It’s a training video where Scott Rao demonstrates steaming and latte art technique, but he’s not using milk. Instead he uses water with a single drop of dishwashing detergent. The end result looks identical to microfoam made from milk. Pretty cool.

I have to try that sometime. Don’t know if it will work as well with the types of detergent we use here in Norway. Up until now I’ve used plain water when I’ve taught friends how to steam. I find that people relax more when they don’t have to worry about the end result being bad and having to throw away the milk. After all, the most important thing to learn is tip placement/sound when stretching the milk, and the overall stages of the process. After 2-5 tries we normally start using milk.

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Congrats to Gwilym Davies from the UK who won the 10th World barista championship yesterday! Three in a row for the UK. Wow!

Gwilym Davies in Atlanta during the 2009 WBC. (photo by Barista Magazine)

I didn’t get to see the finals (via live video feed), but I did see some of the finalists, including our very own Oda Misje Haug, and that was lots of fun, especially chatting to the 100+ (!) logged on to ustream.tv. Oda seemed to do a great job, but sadly she didn’t reach the finals this year. Her cappuccinos seemed a little thin, but according to comments from the chat (people who had spoken to her boss), the drinks had all been as planned. I don’t know which blend she used (someone mentioned Las Mingas? and something about being roasted at Kaffa?), but I did hear that it was light roasted, “scandinavian style”. I really liked her swift recovery when one of her shots was a bit off. Good job staying focused!

On the homefront I’m struggling with my espresso. I am not happy about the way it flows and tastes, and especially after visiting a friend who I recently helped buy a machine (La Valentina E-61) and grinder (Rancilio Rocky), as well as teach (even though he knew a lot already). His espresso was delicious and it flowed smoothly, not bearing any sign of channeling and quickening of the flow rate. Going to get a naked portafilter and measure my brewing temp in the following days to see if I can find what is wrong. Maybe check the pump pressure too.

Have a great week!

Oh, btw, currently reading “The professional barista’s handbook” by Scott Rao. Very interesting so far. Will write a review later.

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Lovely article about the Oslo based roaster Supreme Roastworks in dn.no a couple of days ago. A video can be found there as well. I really like the pictures in the article.

Haven’t been able to visit them yet myself, but I hear their coffees are really nice. The espresso from their “Earth” espresso blend I had at Kaffefuglen some time ago was yummy.

I have had the chance to talk to them both before as they’ve been baristas and roast masters at Java/Mocca. Nice guys who know a lot about coffee, and who has the confidence to make some clear choices of where they want to go with their business.

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It only took me two years . The previous post is from december 2006 and is about an espresso trek I did with Audun Sørbotten. Mental note: need to repeat that soon.

I’ve been working a lot (as an interaction designer/information architect) and not been thinking  that much about coffee. New hobbies have also appeared like hiking and boardgaming.

For sure I’ve had some really nice experiences drinking coffee in the espresso bars here in Oslo (Java, Tim W., Stockfleths etc)  but at home my espresso machine has at times been switched for months at end. Lately my interest has been fueled a bit by talking to coffee people I know and going to the national championships as a spectator. I’ll write more about that soon, and also about a cupping session at Tim Wendelboe.

Now I need to catch some sleep. Take care.

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