Beanscene April 2019

A World-Class Coffee Magazine

APRIL 2019

What lies beneath Quiet achievers have their say

Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani’s leading lessons

Separating roasting fact from fiction How water composition impacts flavour extraction

MICE2019 wrap No.62 ISSN 1449-2547

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APRIL 2019

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contents UPFRONT

12 NEWS 16 STUFF ON THE SCENE

The latest must-have products

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KNOWLEDGE LEADER

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CELEBRITY CHEF

INDUSTRY PROFILES

Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani’s sustainable focus Silvia Colloca on home coffee roasting and Italy’s traditional café culture

35

GOOD NATURE

Brazilian producer Pedro Gabarra Teixeira talks habitat preservation

42

SMART BANKING

CommBank offers industry and consumer insights

44

SPECIAL PERMISSION

Why Lavazza Australia has a leave pass to make history

48

CAFETTO BARISTA PROFILE

Veneziano's Jade Jennings on training the next generation of champions

50

THE FLAVOUR MASTER

How Australia's café culture compares to Japan's

52

IN GOOD TASTE

Alternative Dairy Co partners with a former Latte Art Champion

FEATURE NEWS

39 SOMETHING IN THE WATER

Seven Miles Coffee Roasters identifies the ideal water composition

84 82 TECH TALK

Service Sphere's top signs you need new equipment

SKILL BASE

ESPRESSO YOURSELF 46 COMPLETING THE PAPER CHAIN 84 Latte Art Champion Jibbi Little Detpak's RecycleMe system provides recyclable cups and recycling logistics

58 LEADING LADIES

Celebrating Gina Di Brita and Tilly Sproule's industry commitment

presents her butterfly design

86 TRAINING TACTICS

Suntory Coffee on the basics of grinder calibration

88 R&D LAB

60 WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

Dr Monika Fekete investigates the role of minerals in brew water

64 MICE2019 WRAP

CAFÉ SCENE

Introducing the 2019 ASCA Australian Coffee Champions Relive the best bits of the Melbourne International Coffee Expo

78 ORIGIN

Cofi-Com's John Russell Storey treks Tanzania

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

27

THE NIGHTHAWK HAS LANDED

31

PRECISION ROASTING

Loring's entry-level roaster makes its Australian debut

Aillio takes the guesswork out of roasting with its infrared temperature probe

71 FIRST CRACK

Energy Bar offers a power solution to mobile operators

54 DAIRY AND DAIRY ALTERNATIVES A one-stop-shop for café owners

72 CAFÉ SCENE

81 FLAVOUR FASCINATION

Zest Specialty Coffee explains the intricacies of specialty coffee to an untrained palate

91 ASTCA

Keeping Australia’s coffee growing industry pest and disease free

92 ASCA

Supporting association sponsors

93 NZSCA

Dove Chen makes a repeat performance

94 E-SCENE

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Around Australia

Fans of the magazine

Unpretentious coffee that delivers consistency in every cup.

Quality roasted coffee – SINCE 1954. www.mocopan.com.au 1800 423 267

vershoot o c e n e c S n Bea

PUBLISHER Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au MANAGING EDITOR Sarah Baker sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au JOURNALIST Ethan Miller ethan.miller@primecreative.com.au ART DIRECTOR Blake Storey DESIGN Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty

Seven Miles Coffee Roasters 75 Kenneth Rd, Manly Vale, New South Wales, 2093 1300 132 507 www.sevenmiles.com.au Autumn has approach quicker than expected. Before long the summer preference for cold brew and nitro coffee will turn to warm comfort beverages such as a tasty espresso or filter coffee, the star of this month's edition of BeanScene. But more than just a delicious coffee captured on the April cover, the covershoot at Seven Miles Coffee Roasters in Sydney was symbolic of one of the core ingredients used to make coffee each time, water.

Seven Miles' Coffee Science Education Centre (CSEC) has recently released details of a study into what water composition maximises flavour in the cup. Led by Dr Adam Carr, the coffee roaster looked at how water hardness, pH levels and total dissolved solids impact flavour in coffee extraction. The centre tested the impact of tap, artificially modified, and purified water on espresso.

With this information, Seven Miles aims to assist its café clients to achieve consistent water quality anywhere in Australila by using the right filtration system (see page 39 for results).

“Thanks to our findings, people can drink coffee the way it was intended at the roastery," Adam says.

To help reinforce the importance of water in coffee extraction, photographer Jeff Mackay went to Seven Miles Coffee Roasters' HQ where a number of pour overs were captured using a Kenya Mweiga PB coffee, Hario V60, filter papers, Stagg EKG Kettle, Acaia scale and good old Sydney tap water. The result, was a taste profile of dried currants, blueberry and chocolate.

“You'll just have to imagine how delicious it was by looking at the cover shot a lot, or contacting Seven Miles to get a sample,” says BeanScene Editor Sarah Baker.

“We had so many wonderful images to choose from. The creation of a pour over coffee is so visual to watch. Each stage captures something What lies bene ath different behind the lens, from the initial dry ground coffee, to the bubbling bloom and agitation.

“We always want to capture the beauty of coffee in a cover image, but in this case it's also about the presence of water – the unsung hero – that helps bring the coffee to life.”

APRIL 2019

Quiet achievers have

A World- Class Coffee Magazi ne

their say

Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani’s leading lessons

Separating roastin g fact

from fiction

How water compo sition impacts flavour extraction

MICE2019 wrap No.62 ISSN 1449-2547

03

9 771449 254002

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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Camilo Molina camilo.molina@primecreative.com.au CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Brad Buchanan brad.buchanan@primecreative.com.au DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au CLIENT SUCCESS TEAM LEADER Janine Clements janine.clements@primecreative.com.au PHOTOGRAPHY Blake Storey, Jeff Mackay, ATPhoto, Rob Palmer, Adelle Lacey CONTRIBUTORS Jibbi Little, John Russell Storey, Maurizio Marcocci, Emma McDougall, Kieran Westlake, Rebecca Zentveld, Mandy DelVecchio, Jared Chapman, Dr. Monika Fekete HEAD OFFICE Prime Creative Pty Ltd 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 p: 03 9690 8766 f: 03 9682 0044 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.beanscenemagazine.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS Gordon Watson 03 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au BeanScene magazine is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher.

ARTICLES All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

COPYRIGHT

BeanScene magazine is owned by Prime Creative Media and published by Christine Clancy. All material in BeanScene magazine is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in BeanScene magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by, the publisher unless otherwise stated.

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CONTRIBUTORS In each issue of BeanScene we profile a few of our talented contributors.

Dr. Monika Fekete is a chemical scientist with a passion for coffee. She is the founder of Coffee Science Lab, Australia’s first independent scientific coffee consultancy. She has collaborated with innovative coffee companies, roasters, and competition baristas, helping them underpin coffee research and development projects with solid scientific principles. Monika regularly hosts workshops around putting coffee science to practice. She also works for the Department of Food and Agriculture Innovation at Monash University.

Rebecca Zentveld is the Creative Director of Zentveld’s Coffee. Rebecca established her own coffee roastery at age 24 when, with her partner John, she moved from Melbourne back to the Zentveld family coffee plantation in the hills behind Byron Bay. After 24 years, Rebecca likes to consider Zentveld’s as an Australian coffee specialist.

It grows, buys, and roasts sustainable, practically organic, Australian estate coffee.

Maurizio Marcocci lived in Milan and attended the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, where he completed a Masters of Economics and International Relations. He has distinct qualifications from Italy as a Certified Coffee Taster with an Espresso Specialist Certificate.

Now as the Managing Director of Service Sphere, Maurizio has grown the business to become an industry leader in the sales and service of coffee equipment in just 10 years.

Mandy DelVecchio is part of the marketing and communications team for Zest Specialty Coffee.

She is a consumer-centric flavour-seeker who dreams of a more environmentally sustainable coffee industry. A professional writer with strong foundations in food and hospitality, Mandy is also driven by flavour development along with exploring and celebrating local makers and small producers.

Mandy believes translating the message of artisanal appreciation to consumers is key in any industry.

Rawirat Techasitthanet, also known as Jibbi Little, is a Thai barista who lives in Sydney, Australia. She is a barista, a latte artist, and roaster at Jibbi Little Roasting Co. She is also the designer and creator of the Jibbijug milk pitcher.

Jibbi has worked in the coffee industry for the past 10 years. She is a five-time ASCA NSW Latte Art Champion, and is the 2019 Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) Pauls Professional Australian Latte Art Champion.

Jibbi is also a Q-grader, competition judge, and founder of the Jibbi Academy.

A word from the Editor

IT’S COMING BACK

B

ack in 2013 I was a young, fresh-out-of-uni journalist intrigued by this industry called coffee. Before long I was introduced to the concept of barista competitions, an experience best described to me as ‘the Olympics of coffee’.

I remember my first World Barista Championship (WBC) in Melbourne with the fondest of memories: grandstands filled to the brim with spectators, emcee Stephen Leighton in a red bowler hat and matching suit, and the national flags of competing baristas hanging high from the ceiling of the Melbourne Showgrounds. It was electric. I would arrive at the host venue early just to support the first scheduled baristas who wouldn’t get the benefit of a full crowd. For this reason, baristas like former Italian Barista Champion Francesco Sanapo and I became friends.

You can only imagine my reaction to the confirmed news that Melbourne would once again host the WBC in 2020. A proud feeling of accomplishment and excitement for our industry and coffee-obsessed city.

As the news circulated at the 2019 Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE), whispers turned into excited discussion with exhibitors already pondering what next-level activations and parties we could host.

MICE2019 was a giant coffee party in its own right, with a record number of guests, plenty of entertainment and ever-flowing beverages of the caffeinated kind. This year’s expo represented every segment of the supply chain. We witnessed new faces, brands, coffee equipment, technology, and fresh barista talent on the competition stage. Those talented few will now become ambassadors for Australia’s coffee industry on the world stage (see page 64).

I was also fortunate to meet some incredible leaders, like Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani. In our discussion, Fabio expressed the need for more machine manufacturers to reduce the energy consumption of their machines. Helping lead the pack, Simonelli Group has just joined the Ongreening network to make a global statement about its commitment to waste reduction (see page 18).

In its eighth edition, MICE2019 made its own statement. Its continued presence and attendance was a clear sign that the event remains committed to supporting individuals, industries and organisations grow, and in 2020, it will do it all over again, with the world watching on.

SARAH BAKER Follow us on Twitter @BeanSceneEd ‘Like’ us on Facebook @BeanSceneCoffeeMag Follow us on Instagram @beanscenemag

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Megan Moss Jewellery Designer. Oceans Advocate

Since 1962, Grinders Coffee has been committed to reaching new heights in crafting the perfect blend. We’ve fueled the passions, deadlines and sleepless nights of Australia’s creative souls.

Now in 2019, The Grinders Grant supports three of the finest emerging creative talents From The Street of Melbourne.

Follow their incredible stories at grinderscoffee.com.au or @grinderscoffee

NEWS

CELESTE NORRIS NAMED BARISTA OF CHOICE ON FIRST NATIONAL BARISTA DAY Celeste Norris of Good 2 Go café on Melbourne’s Hosier Lane has been named Australia’s Barista of Choice on the inaugural National Barista Day. Taking place 1 March, National Barista Day was created by www.BaristasforBaristas.com and Almond Breeze Barista Blend to recognise the people who are keeping Australia’s coffee scene thriving.

“To be crowned Australia’s first Barista of Choice is just incredible. Being a barista is more than a job for me as it enables me to use my passion to teach people valuable skills to improve their lives,” Celeste says.

National Barista Day received more than 2000 nominations recognising outstanding baristas from all over the country.

Celeste works with the vulnerable population of Melbourne and manages Good 2 Go café down Hosier Lane.

She mentors young people through a 12-week program, teaching them the tricks of the trade within a café including barista skills, customer service, and social

integration along with constant one-onone attention and respect throughout the entire process As Australia’s Barista of Choice, Celeste won $5000 to help push her career forward, and a one-on-one masterclass with current World Barista Champion Agnieszka Rojewska of Poland. Nine runners-up received special commendations and will be awarded $1000 to supercharge their careers.

“Celebrating the people in Australia’s 10th fastest growing job was a natural fit for us and we’re so proud to be bringing together the coffee community like this,” says Michael McNulty, Almond Breeze Barista Blend Australia and New Zealand Country Manager.

“This process has really highlighted how pivotal the barista is to the community and people’s lives. Barista schools are important, but some of the stories about the amazing customer service and friendship our baristas provide can’t be taught. This demonstrates what an incredible coffee scene we have in Australia.”

Celeste Norris was named Australia’s Barista of Choice for her dedication to Australia’s thriving coffee scene.

FORMER WORLD BARISTA CHAMPION PETE LICATA JOINS NOMAD COFFEE GROUP Nomad Coffee Group has announced that 2013 World Barista Champion Pete Licata will join its team as Research and Development Coffee Consultant.

United-States-born Pete will make the permanent move to Australia with a clear goal of championing and deepening the coffee culture, knowledge, and passion across Nomad Coffee Group’s three brands: Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Coffee Hit, and Black Bag Roasters.

“I’m excited to formally become part of the Nomad Coffee Group team, having been unofficially part of the Veneziano team for many years.

We share mutual values of knowledge sharing and continued curiosity, and I’m excited at what we can achieve and discover by joining forces,” Pete says.

Pete will act as the group’s internal coffee consultant and lead its research

and development team. He will be responsible for mentoring and motivating coffee talent as well as driving

the competition program and facilitating regular internal and external knowledge education sessions.

2013 World Barista Champion Pete Licata of the United States will join the Nomad Coffee Group in Australia.

CAFESMART ANNOUNCES 2019 DATE The coffee community is set to reunite once again with StreetSmart Australia’s annual CafeSmart campaign to help combat homelessness taking place on 9 August 2019.

Participating cafés will donate $1 from every coffee sold, directly supporting smaller grassroots homeless charities. This

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year the company is launching a new initiative, CafeSmart in the workplace, enabling workplaces to get involved during the CafeSmart week. Workplaces can donate personally to the cause every time an employee purchases a coffee.

CafeSmart aims to help break the mould of prejudice surrounding

homelessness and works to support those at risk or who are homeless.

Excluding donations, StreetSmart has raised $5 million since commencing in 2003, and personally funded 1823 projects for 605 organisations.

For more information, visit www.streetsmartaustralia.org/cafesmart

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“Riverina Fresh Gold was perfect for my competition coffee, as it balanced the darker style chocolate f lavours.

It complements a range of coffee f lavours and is why we use it in all of our ONA cafes.”

MATT LEWIN Australian Barista Champion, 2019

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NEWS

JIBBI LITTLE WINS MILKLAB BARISTA BATTLE SERIES FINAL Jibbi Little of Jibbijug in New South Wales has won an all-expenses paid trip to Vietnam in the final of the Milklab Barista Battle Series at the 2019 Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) on 8 February.

Andy Tseng of Darkstar Coffee in Western Australia placed second, Roberth Villanueva of Art Roberth Studios placed third, and Corey Williams of West End Coffee Society placed fourth in the competition final.

Jibbi attributes her win to her adaptability and experience using alternative milk.

“You need to know how to pour with dairy-free milk. [For instance,] you cannot start drawing your patterns too early. You also need to pour in a thin line. If you [don’t], the milk will break the crema,” Jibbi says. “I’ve found Milklab is good for latte art. You don’t need to froth it too much and it is easy to pour and draw.”

Milklab allowed baristas Australiawide to enter the competition via Instagram, showcasing their most creative latte art designs and ability to handle dairy-free milk.

“The four winners were chosen based on their latte art creativity and how well

Jibbi Little has won a trip to origin following her win in this year’s Milklab Barista Battle Series.

the design was presented in the cup.

[Milklab] is designed to texture and stretch to the high standards of baristas,” Freedom Foods Senior Brand Manager Sarah Herbert says.

During the three final stages of the competition, a panel of industry professionals judged the designs based on criteria of creativity and a harmonious

balance of rich, sweet milk and espresso, and critique the latte art based on visual foam quality, contrast, harmony, size, position, and creativity. The competitor with the fewest points was knocked out at the end of each round.

Jibbi Little also won the 2019 Australian Latte Art Championship at MICE from 7 to 9 February.

LA MARZOCCO AUSTRALIA APPOINTS NEW GENERAL MANAGER La Marzocco Australia has appointed Barry Moore as its new General Manager.

“My passion for coffee was ignited 20 years ago when I first tasted an espresso extracted through a Linea Classic,” Barry says. “From that point onwards, I became loyal to La Marzocco and have always used them as the machine of choice in the different businesses in which I have operated.”

Barry has recently moved with his family to Australia from London, where he spent the past seven years as Performance Director of workplace catering company Gather & Gather.

“Having previously lived in Sydney for nine years, and with family in Melbourne, Australia feels as much like home as the United Kingdom does,” Barry says.

“I [am] a massive fan of the Australian coffee/casual dining scene, and in my last role [in London], we would use the Australian café experience as our aspiration – using a network of regional specialty roasters with coffee becoming our hero unique selling point – with La Marzocco always being on the bench.”

Gather & Gather’s business is spread throughout the United Kingdom and

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Barry Moore has moved from London to Melbourne to take up his new appointment as La Marzocco Australia General Manager.

Ireland, with 300 locations and a team of 2500 serving approximately 40 million meals and 10 million espresso-based drinks per annum. Clients include LinkedIn, Sky, Vodafone, and Warner Music.

“When I learnt about the GM role [at La Marzocco], I was obviously very intrigued. I visited the factory in Florence and met the senior leadership team.

What I found was a business that had an exceptional culture in terms of how it cares for its people and customers,” Barry says. “Although 92 years old, there is a youthful vibrancy and a relentless hunger to improve the coffee making process with significant effort and investment in product improvement and research and development.”

STUFF ON THE SCENE

Stuff on the scene BOND ST Veneziano Coffee Roasters is excited to share the first release of Bond St for 2019. It’s all about the Fazenda California Cold Soul here, which is a great showcase of what Brazil has to offer when radical and modern processing techniques are applied.

This blend contains 50 per cent Fazenda California, 25 per cent Colombia De Los Andes and 25 per cent Peru Monte Verde.

With tasting notes of apple syrup, brown butter, macadamia, orange cream shortbread, and rum with a raisin finish, this revised release of Bond St is creamy, syrupy, and a little boozy.

For more information, visit www.venezianocoffee.com.au

VA358 WHITE EAGLE T3 MULTI BOILER The Victoria Arduino White Eagle offers the same precision and stability known from T3 Technology. The two-group model only requires 25 amps and the three-group only requires 32-amp power. This machine is dedicated to mainstream specialty coffee. It’s consistent, reliable, and efficient. The VA358 allows the barista to set precise group boiler and group head temperatures. The hot water is also temperature adjustable via a mixing valve. It has cool touch steam wands and nano technology group handles for ease of cleaning to keep the coffee tasting great.

Baristas have full control of the White Eagle and can set and monitor shot times, brewing temperature, group temperature, and boiler pressure via the display screen menu.

For more information, visit www.espressomechanics.com.au, email sales@espressomechanics.com.au, or call 1800 000 162

NICHE ZERO

A smooth and accurate step-less grind adjustment allows users to easily move throughout the different grind size choices from an espresso to filter and back again very easily without any timely recalibration or unnecessary coffee wastage.

Using a straight-through grind path design, weighed coffee beans can be ground into the provided Niche stainless steel cup with +/- 0.02 grams weigh out consistency. This greatly reduces the build-up of stale and rancid coffee, allowing users to enjoy the true flavour of coffee beans.

Due to the optimum burr speeds of the Niche Zero retention grinder, this device is exceptionally quiet and has an extremely small compact footprint for such a powerful grinder.

For more information, visit www.espressocompany.com.au

LOCALE NO.141 SEASONAL BLEND The No.141 Seasonal Blend from Locale Coffee Roasters is a pleasant burst of flavour on the palate. With Locale’s new autumnal release, it’s sourced three exceptional coffees direct from origin. The first is Agua Limpa from Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza in Brazil, meaning ‘environmental fortress farm’. Owned by the Barretto family since 1850, the farm has a strong focus on sustainable and organic practices. The second is Meseta Popayan, a selection of highaltitude Castillo coffees sourced from La Meseta in the famous Cauca region of southwestern Colombia.

Last but not least is Xinacla from Locale’s newest direct trade relationship with Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera in Honduras, the husband and wife team behind El Puente estate.

Together, these origins produce a clean, well-balanced coffee with a vibrant acidity, lingering sweetness, and creamy mouthfeel. It has tasting notes of chocolate, raisin, almond, and citrus.

For more information, visit www.localeespresso.com.au

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MAZZER S The new Mazzer S espresso grinder models meets the needs of professional baristas. Including the Robur S and the Kold S, these grinders are available in doser and electronic on-demand.

Most cafés know how much coffee they go through, however countless kilograms are lost due to retention, purging the grinder in between grind adjustments, burr changes, and maintenance checks without any sort of tracking system. This can lead to future technical issues and inconsistent coffee.

In response, Mazzer’s new models reduce coffee retention in the grinding chamber by 52 per cent.

A new electronic built in memory board keeps track of coffee statistics and data, and lets the user program different time settings.

A new easy system for burrs change and quick cleaning of the grinding chamber is included without losing a grind setting. The electronic models are also cloud compatible.

The units arrive in April. Coffee Works Express is taking pre-orders now.

For more information, visit www.cwe.com.au

COFFEE FRUIT BAR Coffee Fruit Bar is Australia’s first environmentally conscious health bar made from upcycled coffee fruit pulp. A product of I am Grounded, a social enterprise based in Brisbane, each bar contains 10 grams of upcycled coffee fruit pulp concentrate. Sourced from micro-lot farms in Colombia, the concentrate is combined with natural ingredients to form a healthy vegan energy bar with an environmental mission. Coffee Fruit Bar adopts an innovative approach to the usage of the fruit to highlight waste in coffee production and empower coffee farmers by providing an additional revenue stream along with a waste removal alternative. The bar helps to create impact in a daily routine and is the perfect mindful bite to accompany a delicious coffee. Coffee Fruit Bars are distributed in Australia and are available online in boxes of six or 10.

For more information, visit www.coffeefruitbar.co, email hello@iamgrounded.co, or call at +61 425 455 852

reduced retention INTRODUCING THE NEW MAZZER S SERIES ROBUR S & KOLD S GRINDERS AVAILABLE FROM APRIL 2019 CLOUD COMPATIBLE NEW ELECTRONIC CONTROL PANEL INFORMATION AND STATICS DATA CAPTURE REDUCED RETENTION EASY SYSTEM BURR CHANGE AND CLEANING PROGRAMMABLE GRINDER INNOVATION WITH APP SUPPORT ON DEMAND

SALES@CWE.COM.AU CWE.COM.AU (02) 9533 2693

INFO@CMS.COM.AU CMS.COM.AU (03) 9462 5055

A SUSTAINABLE COMMITMENT Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani has announced that the Italian espresso machine manufacturing company is the first in the coffee industry to be part of the On greening network and commit to a sustainable office and manufacturing building.

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KNOWLEDGE LEADER

Leading lessons Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani on adding market value and why it’s time for the manufacturing industry to invest in more sustainable practices.

F

abio Ceccarani is well aware that Italian espresso machine manufacturer Simonelli Group has a privileged position. It’s an industry leader in its field, yet is responsible for one of the most important parts of the value chain – the end result in the cup.

“It is an incredible honour to know that our machinery contributes to the customer’s coffee experience. But because of this privileged position, we also have a big responsibility to make coffee in the fairest and most sustainable and respectful way possible,” Fabio tells BeanScene.

A mechanical engineer by trade, Fabio started his journey with Italian coffee machine manufacturer Simonelli Group in May 2008. Soon enough, he found himself on the Board of Directors where he stayed for 10 years, overviewing and implementing company strategies before taking the CEO title in 2018.

His leadership is the result of many years of commercial and technical work in the tobacco and high-end furniture sectors, two industries Fabio says in many ways couldn’t be more different, yet are so similar, to coffee.

“Looking back, it’s funny to think how both tobacco and coffee are both products that create an experience and remain something people want and crave,” he says.

Despite the differences, Fabio says his commercial training taught him important skills he still values today, including marketing techniques, strategic partnership development, and how to bring value to the market and respect clients.

Over the past 10 years, Fabio has witnessed the evolution of the Nuova Simonelli brand, including the decision to form the multi-brand company Simonelli Group in 2017, which encompasses Nuova Simonelli and Victoria Arduino operations.

“The board decided it was time to do business in a way that was more functional and provided more opportunities for growth in the long term,” Fabio says. “We are evolving and at this level, we foresee lots of new opportunities, new business and potential for our brands.”

One of those opportunities involves a drive towards innovation, which Fabio also sees as one the company’s greatest challenges.

“Simonelli Group has to be even more innovative to anticipate the needs of the market through new technologies, which have meaning only if they bring more value to our customers. The coffee and noncoffee oriented chains are paying particular

and the impact our machines have on the environment. That will be the biggest issue we need to address within the next year,” Fabio says.

To start the transition, last year Simonelli Group started a collaboration with Ongreening, an independent reference for sustainable architecture, green building rating systems, and environmental friendly building materials.

“BECAUSE OF THIS PRIVILEGED POSITION, WE ALSO HAVE A BIG RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE COFFEE IN THE FAIREST AND MOST SUSTAINABLE AND RESPECTFUL WAY POSSIBLE.” attention to coffee business. As a result, our approach needs to be even closer to them sharing our values and stories,” Fabio says.

“This is a personal goal for me. The market is changing rapidly and there’s lots of innovation coming, such as the development of digital platforms. It’s my role to feed that innovation with a strategy for the company, always keeping in mind how to improve the customer experience of our clients.”

That value is already being felt in cities that have established Simonelli Group branches and showrooms, including Jakarta, Shanghai, London, Barcelona, Milan, and New York.

While company expansion and brand development are always front of mind, Fabio says more than ever, the Simonelli Group is focused on its sustainable commitment, and encouraging the wider industry to join its plight to do more.

“Sustainability is about much more than an environmental problem. It’s about economic and social values. We put a lot of effort into embracing this approach for our stakeholders. We have an obligation and a clear goal to dramatically reduce our machines’ consumption of energy

“We are the first company in the coffee industry to do this. We are very excited to share the news that shows we are part of a sustainable network, and not just an espresso machine manufacturer,” Fabio says. “Our contribution is not only about how our products are built, but knowing the factory and its daily operations contribute to reduced energy consumption.

All of our products and operations have been put under scrutiny – the more projects you have that are sustainable, the higher the sustainable rating of our building.”

Through the Ongreening website, Simonelli Group presents a comprehensive overview of Nuova Simonelli and Victoria Arduino coffee machines from the perspective of sustainability.

There, architects, engineers, designers, managers, and chains can see how its coffee machines potentially contribute to major green building certification systems, such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

In 2018, the Simonelli Group entered its new 3000-square-metre headquarters with a strong consideration of waste reduction.

Energy for the building is taken from solar panels, and all water is now recycled.

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KNOWLEDGE LEADER Five years ago, in collaboration with universities, Simonell Group started a study in order to better understand carbon dioxide emissions during the entire lifecycle of its coffee machines. The Life Cycle Assessment study demonstrated that 2 per cent of CO2 emissions are caused by manufacturing and the 98 per cent by the working phase of the coffee machine.

As such, Simonelli Group continues to work on solutions and technology that can reduce energy consumption and waste.

The launch of the Aurelia Wave in 2017 is what Fabio considers to be the most advanced and sustainable machine in the Simonelli suite of machines. “The Aurelia Wave was a clear statement that we can invest in the materials we’re using and the processes we undertake to manufacture sustainable machines,” Fabio says.

Ongoing, the Simonelli Group, together with other European coffee machine manufacturers, is committed to collaborating with the European Commission in order to define an energy rating system to measure the sustainability of coffee machines and provide a “seal of approval” to inform prospective purchasers that the product is highly energy efficient.

“This is a brand new system we’ve just launched. We have been working for three years now with the European Commission

committee and manufacturers in Germany and Switzerland on how to define new protocols so we can measure what is sustainable and energy saving,” Fabio says.

Other appliances already have energy star ratings, such as televisions and dishwashers, and soon coffee machines will have this rating too. Once the protocol and criteria are defined, Fabio says Simonelli Group will put energy star logos on the machines that have reached a certain energy requirement.

“It’s a clear environmental commitment that will come from the entire industry, not just our machines,” Fabio says. “It’s part of our commitment to innovation, but we can’t stand alone.”

Innovation takes different directions, such as grinder consistency, coffee extraction, and automation, which Fabio says is beneficial but doesn’t always address the bigger picture.

“We need to drive technology to reduce energy consumption and impact of machines. This is one option,” he says.

“The second involves data gathering and sharing. If more machine data could be collected on how we use our machines, baristas and café owners, coffee chains, and manufacturers would be able to use specific information to address different needs to help operations run smoother and reduce

their waste consumption.”

Fabio says the Simonelli Group is already investing in data collection and a digital platform to better connect with its clients and learn from them. Simonelli Group will also look at the design of its machines to see how it can continuously improve the user experience. Fabio looks to Australia, then the United States, United Kingdom, and China for inspiration.

“These same countries are trendsetters in design as much as they are for coffee,” Fabio says. “The pressure to engage in sustainability is stronger [in Melbourne] than in other countries. There’s a strong perception of this topic, which you can only respect.”

Fabio says it’s a privilege to see the Simonelli group in a leadership position in Australia and around the world. Every positive step forward is not just a company achievement, but a personal one for him.

“The partnership with Suntory in Australia is very important for us because we found a great partner with whom we can share ideas and strategies,” Fabio says. “I am confident I can help lead the company with the power to make change and influence it across the board. I’m excited for the growth opportunities in the next three to five years and the positive impact we can make.”

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LOVE LAUGH BAKE

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Images: Rob Palmer Photography courtesy of Plum

Growing up in Milan, Italy, Silvia Colloca used to spend her Sunday mornings in the kitchen watching her mother cooking meals for the family to share. Now she does the same for her family of three children and a husband who’s devoted to his own coffee roasting on the weekends.

CELEBRITY CHEF

Silvia shines

Silvia Colloca is a home cook with an unconditional love for baking.

She speaks to BeanScene about keeping traditions alive, unforgettable food memories, and roasting coffee in the kitchen.

Image: Rob Palmer

T

here are two distinct aromas that make Silvia Colloca’s household the envy of most on a Sunday morning – freshly baked bread and freshly roasted coffee on the kitchen bench.

“Those are the days you really want to be at our house. The smell is just incredible. It permeates every single room,” Silvia says.

Freshly brewing coffee on a little moka pot has been a beautiful morning ritual ever since Silvia recalls growing up in Milan, Italy.

“Italians wake up to that particular sound which I love: coffee almost chirping and spitting out of the coffee machine,” she says.

That exact ritual has followed Silvia to her home in Sydney where she now lives with her husband and three children.

More than just a ritual, however, drinking quality coffee has become somewhat of an obsession for Silvia’s husband who roasts his own green beans from Vanuatu.

“By admission, he is a coffee enthusiast. He wasn’t quite happy with the standard of coffee he was getting.

He started complaining about the coffee beans he was buying so he said, ‘you know what, I’m going to roast it myself’,” Silvia says.

Thanks to YouTube, Silvia says her self-taught husband has learnt the basics of roasting and enjoys nothing more than a freshly made, full strength morning espresso or piccolo and a “tiny, silky, milky addition”.

“I’m super spoilt with delicious coffee at home. It’s amazing but terrible at the same time because it means we can never really go out for coffee. We’re so used to our own coffee that nothing else comes close,” Silvia says.

Silvia knows exactly what she wants out of a good coffee: “a smooth, toasty, almost caramel flavour with none of the burnt aftertaste,” she says. “But flavour profile really depends on personal taste.”

When Silvia does venture out to explore Sydney’s café culture, she’s always amazed

By Sarah Baker

Silvia Colloca’s ideal coffee accompaniment: almond and hazelnut amaretti jam drops.

at the extensive array of coffees available on the menu compared to Italy’s one word for coffee: caffè.

“In Italy, you walk into a bar, ask for a caffè, and you just get an espresso. Or, if you want something more specific you might ask for a macchiato or cappuccino but there’s no extravagant list,” Silvia says.

“Then I came here [to Australia in 2009]. I wasn’t prepared for such an intense coffee culture. You can’t just say ‘I want a caffè’, you have to say ‘I want an espresso, or a flat white, a cappuccino, or frappuccino with light, almond, or soy milk’. It’s so complicated. I had to give my Italian relatives a proper training session when they came out to visit me.”

Even the social idea of coffee drinking is worlds apart.

“In Italy, when you say ‘let’s meet for a coffee’, it’s a super quick five to 10-minute chat. That’s it. Whereas here, if you say ‘let’s have a quick coffee’, you have to set aside 90 minutes,” Silvia says.

Unlike Australia’s much talkedabout coffee rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, which reminds Silvia of the historic feud between Milan and Rome, she says Italy’s coffee scene is not very prominent.

“There is no coffee scene in Italy. Coffee is something we take for granted. We use it as fuel. We can go to a bar, stand at the

counter, gulp down a coffee, and away we go,” she says. “There’s definitely places in Italy where you’re guaranteed to get amazing coffee, for example, Naples prides itself as the best coffee in Italy, but talking about your favourite flavour profile isn’t really a topic of conversation.”

Silvia says Naples can also be credited for starting the pay-it-forward concept of caffè pagato, when one buys themselves a coffee and one for a person in need.

“Everyone has a right to good coffee,” Silvia says.

Everyone also has a right to simple, delicious food, and it’s something that Silvia says most Italians pride themselves in.

“In Italy, everything, one way or another, revolves around food and its preparation. But the one thing you’ll find, more often than not, is that the food and its prep are super simple,” Silvia says. “It’s more to do with the ritual: The nonna wakes up before everyone else is and puts the sauce on the stove.

Maybe she’ll have a pepperonata slowly simmering away so by lunch time it all comes together and have left overs for dinner. In a way we’re spoilt with that.”

Silvia says food can be as simple as a bruschetta topped with cherry tomatoes, but as long as it’s shared with someone, it will become a food memory.

“Watching my nonna rolling pasta is my

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CELEBRITY CHEF

unforgettable food memory. I remember walking into the kitchen and smelling the sugo that had been bubbling for hours and hours. Then she would let me dunk the bread in to have a taste. That was was unparalleled pleasure,” she recalls.

Silvia was a child of the 80s. She had experienced years of home cooking, then when she was nine or 10, her mother started full time work and she was suddenly faced with frozen and pre-prepared foods. It wasn’t until Silvia moved out and away from Italy that she realised the importance of reconnecting with traditional Italian recipes.

“I think a lot of people from my generation, children of the 70s and 80s, are suffering from this social change, because in a way, a lot of women were acting rebellious. They wanted to be liberated, they didn’t want to cook. Many were not interested, so not a lot of skills were not passed on,” Silvia says.

“Once all the grandmas are gone I’m not sure my generation, Gen Y or the one after, with the pace of life and less people staying at home to be homemakers, will retain this tradition.”

This tradition is something Silvia is passionate about preserving, but for now she believes there’s a return to home

MILES.C

cooking with more people inspired by social media to produce something pretty on the plate.

“With all the downsides to social media, it does make people want and crave all those traditions which would otherwise get lost,” she says. “When I post recipes on my social media channel, the ones that get the most traction are the most traditional ones. I get such an active community of people engaging with it and the memories it brings. Obviously there’s a craving for it.”

As a home cook and baker, Silvia is proud of the fact she doesn’t work with fancy equipment or techniques. She knows her audience engages with her because if she can produce something amazing for family and friends, they can too.

“What I’ve learnt is that people want the gratification of trying a recipe that they see and like the look of, and succeed in making. I think my contribution is valuable if I can provide that,” Silvia says.

“People invest time and money, and have expectations, so I do think I have a responsibility. To be honest, there’s nothing as gratifying as getting a message or bumping into someone on the street who tells you so generously how much they loved your recipe, how much their family loved it, and that it has become a family

favourite. If it sparks joy, it’s a keeper.”

Also a keeper is Silvia’s latest cookbook, Love, Laugh, Bake! where she shares more than 120 must-have recipes from breads to pizzas, focaccias to tarts, cakes to cookies.

There’s a delectable cocoa loaf cake and amaretti espresso biscuits for her coffee fans, and 50 gluten-free and vegan recipes.

“This book is dedicated to anything that comes out of an oven and that has dough or a batter. It has an extensive first chapter that’s just dedicated to breadmaking from scratch,” Silvia says.

“I hope that if you are scared of baking, then I hope they enjoy all the recipes that are completely fail proof – that are impossible to muck up. And then my hope is that once they master those, they can go up a category and attempt the intermediate recipes.”

Silvia is an accomplished opera singer, actress, TV host and producer, author of four books, and mum to sons Raffi, Miro and Luna. At this point in her career, Silvia says she is itching to do more, including writing a new book and developing a new TV show, but she’s also excited to roll up her sleeves and spend more time in the kitchen.

“There’s still plenty on the table, pardon the pun, but it’s true,” Silvia says.

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and grape to start, caramel highlights and lime on the finish. A perfect sunny sipper.

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TECHNOLOGY PROFILE

The Nighthawk has landed Loring’s new S7 Nighthawk has made its Australian debut, providing an opportunity for newcomers to enter the roasting industry, and pre-existing customers to roast with greater flexibility.

A

fter years working behind a coffee machine – tamping, extracting, and texturing – many professional baristas look to roasting as the next step in their career progression.

American manufacturer Loring heard the industry’s calls for an entry-level roaster, and has responded with the small-scale S7 Nighthawk, which reached Australian shores in February.

Independent United States roasting consultant Rob Hoos is excited to share with Australia what the seven-kilogram roaster has to offer.

“The S7 Nighthawk is going to really meet the needs of people who want a good roaster that doesn’t need an afterburner and

is a smaller size. The merits of the machine stand on its own,” Rob tells BeanScene.

As well as consulting for Loring, Rob works as Director of Coffee at Nossa Familia Coffee in the US and authored Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee. He says one of the defining benefits he’s found working with Loring’s machines is their operational consistency across the line.

“Loring’s engineers have done an incredible job making the experience of roasting on the S7 Nighthawk nearly the same as roasting on its 70-kilogram S70 Peregrine,” Rob says. “[Loring] decided early on they were going to make each of these machines as similar as humanly possible.”

Rob says this, and the ability to share

roast profiles between Loring roasters, makes the S7 Nighthawk useful for businesses that want roasters of different sizes.

“The S7 Nighthawk is going to be impactful for people who want to scale with the Loring product line. As a company grows, it can easily upscale its roasters and transfer its profiles over. You don’t have to relearn on a new machine,” Rob says.

“I’ve also seen Loring customers with larger machines buy the S7 Nighthawk as a development tool. The roaster can roast batches as small as 1.4 kilograms, so people can develop profiles then transfer them to a 70-kilogram batch.”

Auto Proportional–Integral–Derivative (PID) profile roasting measures the bean

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The S7 Nighthawk can roast batches as small as 1.4 kilograms, then transfer the profile to larger roasters.

temperature multiple times per second.

This information is fed to the roast curve, which allows the user to stay on profile.

The roasters also have the advantage of being a fairly closed loop system.

The S7 Nighthawk’s single burner design significantly reduces the machine’s gas usage while also decreasing the amount of smoke the machine emits without using an afterburner. The single burner heats the air which enters the roast chamber. It then re-enters the cyclone in a separate section where the burner incinerates the smoke.

“Using the same flame to provide process and afterburner heat reduces its use of natural gas significantly,” Rob says.

“When we are running our S35 Kestrel at [Nossa Familia Coffee], we are only using one US cent’s worth of natural gas for every pound of coffee we roast, so about two to three cents per kilogram. It has incredibly low fuel usage, which is great.”

Since he began working with Loring in 2012, Rob has seen perceptions of the company’s roasters change for the better.

“When Loring first came out, people thought if you recirculate the air it’s going to be smoky, that you wouldn’t be able to do a light roast on this. What’s funny is I hear the opposite being said now that more people have adopted it,” Rob says.

“Now people say, ‘oh it’s so clean, it must be off a Loring’.”

It’s not just gas usage that Lorings can reduce. Rob says Loring roasters require significantly less maintenance.

“Roasters hate cleaning, and the low maintenance is a big selling point for a lot of people. The maintenance is really half of what you’d have to do on a comparable roaster,” Rob says.

The first business in Australia to take advantage of the S7 Nighthawk is Open Coffee in Queensland. Daniel Delaney launched the co-roasting facility in April to provide baristas, small cafés, and domestic roasters the chance to roast for themselves.

“Some baristas are getting frustrated because there are only so many roasting

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positions,” Daniel says. “We end up losing some of those passionate people because they don’t have the opportunity to further their careers.”

For Open Coffee, Daniel purchased two Lorings, the S7 Nighthawk and S35 Kestrel.

“In 2011, I saw an ad for Loring and immediately something clicked. What struck a chord was their focus on emission savings as their point of difference,” Daniel says. “Since then, Loring has also become

synonymous with cleanness of cup and repeatability of profile.

“The energy efficiency of a Loring is a major plus when you’re renting out a roaster and there are several hours in between batches. Loring’s design saves quite a bit of gas during these downtimes.”

Loring Australia Representative James Banman suggests the S7 Nighthawk’s smoke-free roasting system could allow cafés in residential areas to gain council approval to install the roaster.

“Many cafés are located in areas where the smoke and smell from roasting [would be] a problem,” James says. “The S7 Nighthawk incinerates all smoke and smells coming out of the hot stack, allowing roasters to be placed in sensitive neighbourhoods.”

With the S7 Nighthawk first arriving in Australia in February, James is excited to see the market adopt the roaster.

“People buy Lorings for the result in the cup,” James says. “The number one virtue of Loring roasters is that they really bring out the natural sweetness and beautiful clean flavours of green coffees.”

For more information, visit www.loring.com

Daniel Delaney of Open Coffee is the first person in Australia to receive the Loring S7 Nighthawk.

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TECHNOLOGY PROFILE

Precision roasting Aillio Founders Jacob and Jonas Lillie explain why the use of infrared technology is set to take the guesswork out of roasting and separate fact from fiction.

S

cientists have said our best ideas develop in the shower thanks to a relaxed state of mind and release of the brain chemical dopamine. But in the case of Jonas Lillie of roaster manufacturer Aillio, his best idea evolved while brushing his teeth.

Jonas has been trying to find a solution to the moisture build-up and dust collection inside the protective germanium glass of the Bullet roaster he and twin brother Jacob had developed.

“I had been thinking about it for a while but on this one day I had an epiphany. I thought: ‘How can you have an infrared sensor looking at the roasting beans without glass for protection?’

Without it, the sensor would be exposed to smoke and just break down over time – it needs to withstand 145°C,” Jonas says. “Then the idea popped into my head – a very, very tiny fan.”

At just 20 x 20 millimetres in size, the quick spinning fan at 15,000 revolutions per minute blows enough air into the drum of the roaster around the exposed sensor to protect it from gathering dirt or moisture.

“Some people would say, ‘well you’re just blowing cold air into the drum’. But it’s not an issue. The high-pressure air barrier is just enough to protect the probe,” Jonas says. “It’s also about having the right design and the right angle of air circulate the probe. It’s now a patent design.”

The Aillio brothers first came onto the coffee scene in 2016 when they launched the Bullet R1, a small-volume roaster that uses induction heating to roast a kilogram of beans in just nine-and-a-half minutes, or less for small volumes.

The 5.9-litre, 2.8-kilogram drum of the Bullet can reach temperatures of up to 310°C, measured using an infrared temperature probe. This device records the amount of light of a specific wavelength (infrared) emitted by an object, and is not influenced by batch side or weight.

“This probe was an innovation for version one of the Bullet, but as time has gone on, we also learnt from our customers what we need to improve, like cleaning

Jacob and Jonas Lillie with the Bullet V2 roaster with infrared bean temperature probe.

access to the probe,” Jonas says. “It’s a five-minute job, but people would just forget to do it, and when dust and moisture build up, it really can change roaster output over time.”

That’s where Jonas’ bathroom epiphany changes the game. The small fan positioned inside the roaster means fewer maintenance issues and more accurate data. The challenge, however, was how to install the new infrared bean temperature sensing system (IBTS) in more than 1500 Bullet roasters already on the market.

“We didn’t want people to be disrupted by this change so we have made the probe a permanent part of our V2 Bullet roasters, and compatible in V1 models, which can be easily fitted and replaced for just US$60. All you need is a screwdriver,” Jonas says. “If you consider the costs, we’re actually losing money on this replacement, but we think it’s such a good long-term solution for roasting. The dollar value is not important – the fact that it does a better job is.”

More than just a device to help improve the longevity of the roaster, Jacob says the new IBTS is proving to be a game changer and is already challenging current

roasting practices.

“When you read books about roasting, they say you should never stall your roast, which means that the temperature always keeps going up,” Jacob says. “But what if it was actually dropping? What if everything we thought we knew wasn’t right?

Jacob says shapely curved roasts have become synonymous with a good roast, but the curves represent a plot of the bean probe’s temperature, not the actual bean temperature.

“The data is leading to false pretences because it’s generated from a lagging temperature probe, making it impossible to compare bean probe data across different batch sizes,” he says.

“It is well-known that the thermometric lag of traditional bean probes creates data that is inconsistent and of limited use.

These limitations have held back datadriven roasting for many years.

“People have long-been talking about the classic probe, trying to improve it by making it thinner and a little longer, and talking about the turning point (when the traditional bean probe temperature begins to rise following the charge) not being the turning point.”

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TECHNOLOGY PROFILE

Jonas eludes to the fact that “real time” profiling is not in fact real at all, and that the misleading probe data suggests we have only been guessing what really occurs during a roast.

“Why has no-one changed the way we roast for the past 25 years? Because most people don’t realise the way they roast is wrong,” Jonas says. “Anyone in their right mind who wants more accurate data will see the infrared probe as a breakthrough.”

To test this, Jacob and Jonas compared a roast using a traditional probe versus the infrared bean sensor. It turned out that the information was lagging by minutes.

Unlike traditional probes, the IBTS does not experience thermometric lag because it directly senses the surface temperature of the beans. In the Bullet V1, the infrared probe was looking upwards into the drum, recording only the drum temperature. Now in Bullet V2, the infrared probe has a 12-degree cone-shape field of view which now points downwards into the roasting chamber and bean mass.

“As far as we know, ours is the very first system in the world to allow users to profile their roasts using infrared data – the most accurate, real-time reading of bean temperature without lag. We firmly believe that better data makes better coffee,” Jacob says. “With further use, maybe we’ll find out that we can stall the roast. Maybe we even have to go down in temperature after you reach a peak. We don’t know that yet, but finding out will be exciting.”

The hope with the implementation of IBTS across all Bullets will be a much easier, more predictable, and more reliable method of roasting.

First crack temperatures are consistent across different batch sizes, data artefacts such as the turning point are no longer present in roast profiles, and for the firsttime, Jacob says roasters will have accurate bean temperature readings to work with.

“Before, the roasting curve really depended on how much coffee you roast at a time. With the old probe, if you went from roasting 700 grams to 200 grams, your whole roast profile would be off. But with the new infrared sensor, first crack for one kilogram is around 206°C and at another volume, still 206°C,” he says, although there might be slight variations with different origin coffees and their moisture content.

“You can sample roast 300 grams, and if you want to roast for production to increase it to 500 grams or one kilogram, it’s the same profile. First crack will always occur at the same temperature, every time.”

In the past two years, Bullet creators Jacob and Jonas have received a lot of feedback on their roaster and software.

The pair have now extended the team to four and have made the roaster software Mac and Windows compatible.

“Some people were reluctant to buy the Bullet because it didn’t match their software. So we spent a lot of time and money investing in the new software. It now connects to ‘the cloud’ where we have a Roast.World platform, an online community where people can share their roast data,” Jonas says.

This includes a space for users to access saved and suggested roast profiles from green bean suppliers and other active users for different brewing methods.

“We have upgraded this platform to make it a lot easier for people to get started into the roasting world,” Jacob says. “If I’m new to the roasting industry, your natural reaction is, ‘where do I start? What do I do?’ Most have no idea and take a course or watch something online to find out more.

“You need some baseline information to learn the craft and that’s where our software comes in – it’s a really good

The Roast.World online platform monitors the performance of the Bullet V2 throughout its roast.

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The Bullet R1V2 new induction board.

reference point. We want to ensure we’re making the roasting process as painless as possible.”

The software is updated every two weeks, and analytical data is being used to help understand the needs of the user and what draws their attention.

Feedback and diagnostics has helped the Lillie brothers develop Bullet R1V2, with tweaks that have improved the system for the better, including a brandnew induction board, reduced wiring, and more power to roast one kilogram faster than before.

Jacob and Jonas have taken production into their own hands in the past year, designing and manufacturing the Bullet’s induction board themselves for greater control over the product rather than sourcing 200 different components from 20 different people. The rest of 2019 will be focused on manufacturing and supporting the community the Aillio founders have helped built up.

“It’s our philosophy to try and improve things. If we stick to what we know and don’t question anything, then things won’t change. Every time we order a new part we think to ourselves, ‘is there anything we can change or do better?’ If the answer is ‘yes’, then we do,” Jacob says.

“We want to help people make better coffee. If we can help improve the products they use to do that, then it’s a good solution for everyone.”

The Bullet V2 is distributed via Espresso Company Australia.

For more information, visit www.espressocompany.com.au

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Good nature Pedro Gabarra Teixeira is a sixth-generation Brazilian coffee farmer committed to protecting the natural habitats around his farms and educating the community on the importance of preservation.

D

espite Pedro Gabarra Teixeira’s family having more than 150 years of coffee farming behind them, his first taste of the coffee industry came further down the supply chain.

“I am a sixth-generation coffee farmer, but I wasn’t actually raised on the farms.

My relationship with coffee actually started in 2001, when I was at university and started to roast,” Pedro tells BeanScene.

“The idea behind the roaster was to give Brazil the best coffees of Brazil, not necessarily exporting everything good.

That’s how I got into coffee.”

After several years working as a roaster and graduating in 2004, Pedro’s father Joao Newton Teixeira encouraged him to join the family business.

“I started in administration, then spent one or two years learning about the industry and entered the more commercial area. In 2012, I became fully involved in the production aspect of the farm,” Pedro says.

“Now, my father and I divide the family business. Sharing the work means we can help each other as we need it, and I can spend more time with my kids.”

Pedro owns four farms – Pinhal, Santo Antonio, Vertentes, and Mirante – in the micro-region Campos das Vertentes on the border of Southern Minas Gerais.

Altogether the farms cover 1286 hectares, but just 457 hectares are dedicated to coffee production.

Pedro describes Campos das Vertentes as a dense area, with a climate different to the rest of Minas Gerais.

“The farms are from 930 to 1160 metres above sea level. It’s a mountainous area where we grow coffee in flat spaces atop the mountains,” Pedro says.

“We’ve put an emphasis on quality since 1997, beginning with my father. We try to improve our coffee every single year. We are always open to new things, whether that is produce, processing, or ideas.”

In 2018, Pedro produced 13 varieties of coffee across the four farms. His personal favourite is a natural process Yellow Topaz, with a complex and elegant body, and a well-balanced finish. Pedro says the coffee contains flavour notes of roasted nuts on a dark chocolate base, with apricot and hints of stone fruit acidity.

“This year we are conducting intensive observations, and put four new varieties of high-quality coffees to the test,” Pedro says. “We are always trying new varieties and processes to be ahead of the market.”

One new process Pedro has experimented with is the cachaça method.

“It’s the same process up to the hulling.

Then, we put [the coffee] to rest in cachaça barrels for 15 days to absorb the smells and flavours of the liquor,” Pedro says.

“We have areas of the farm dedicated to experimentation. One area is exclusively wild coffee, where we take

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Marcelo Brussi (centre) routinely visits the farm of Pedro Gabarra (left) and his father Joao (right).

care of the coffee but we let things grow naturally. We have different ideas we are trying to build on to help improve our coffee.”

In one area of the farm, Pedro uses only organic fertilisers in the ground and biological controls in the plant to assist production. He says this will be the future of coffee farming.

“Something of great concern to us is the environment. This has always been important to my mother and I now share this passion,” Pedro says.

“By Brazilian law, you need to preserve at least 20 per cent of the land. We currently preserve 40 per cent, because we need to do our part.”

Pedro runs a number of projects across the four farms to encourage environmentally friendly and sustainable practices, primarily aimed at educating children.

“We like to work with kids. They have fresh minds and are open to seeing everything and learning,” Pedro says.

“Maybe, if you change the kids they can change the parents. It’s a good place to start.”

The largest of these projects is called Wings, or “Asas” in Portuguese, where local birds are rehabilitated on Pedro’s farms before they return to nature.

“We work with the Brazilian Government to collect birds that people have removed from nature to sell on the black market,” Pedro says.

“The idea is to bring the kids along to see how important it is to protect these creatures, and how harmful being captured is to the birds. Hopefully, bringing kids to the farm for this course can cause a cultural change.”

More than 90 types of bird can be seen across Pedro’s farms, but that is only some of the wild animals visitors to farms

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can expect to see. Pedro says Brazilian wolves and wild dogs, deer, anteaters, and armadillos are all frequent sights. Although less common, jaguars and pumas are occasionally spotted emerging from the forests.

“I believe the world is not just for humans, it’s for everything that lives on it and animals are part of that. Just like I have my home, they have theirs, and you have to respect that,” Pedro says.

“The animals are a part of the farm.

It is very important to respect everything from where we are, from the plants and animals to the people and the land.”

To create that connection between children and the environment, Pedro runs a project called Environmental Education.

“We bring kids in from the second grade, about six years old, to the farms twice a year. The first semester they listen to some presentations and plant a tree. Then they come back in the second semester to see the results,” Pedro says.

“We’ve run this project since 2012.

It has resulted in more than 600 trees in the ground and 600 kids enjoying the program.”

Another reason Pedro tailors his projects towards children is to keep the next generation interested in farming.

“There is a challenge in Brazil of young people believing its better to live in the city without a job or quality of life is better than it is in the country, simply because you are in a big city,” Pedro says.

“So, two years ago we started a project that aims to include the families of our workers as part of the company. They bring their kids to the farm to see and understand what their parents do. Part of the idea was for them to see that their parent’s work goes all around the world.”

Recently, falling coffee prices have also placed pressure on the future of

the Brazilian coffee farming industry. In September 2018, the coffee price on the New York Stock Exchange fell below US 100 cents per pound for the first time in 12 years. “[The coffee price] has been affecting us a lot. I believe the whole chain needs to be sustainable for growers. It’s very important for the market to understand there is some limits on price,” Pedro says.

“We need to find new ways of approaching the market that respects both ends.

“Fortunately, we have partners like Marcelo [Brussi of Minas Hill Coffee] who help us so we can still get a fair price.”

Specialty coffee importer Minas Hill is the Australian distributor of Pedro’s coffees, a relationship that began in 2013.

“We met in Brazil at a [coffee trade] show similar to the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) and since then, the partnership has grown,” Pedro says. “When I met Marcelo, he was looking for farmers who could provide him a single-origin coffee, rather than just selling him coffees from a cooperative.

You never know what’s inside the bags.

It’s hard to track a co-op’s coffees down.

“He’s an excellent partner to have. In fact, he’s more than just a partner, Marcelo is a part of the farm. He shares a lot of the feelings, ideas, and principles that we have about coffee, and in our family. Doing business with him is simple, honest, and always smooth.”

Marcelo visits the farm every year, bringing Australian roasters and developing new coffees with Pedro to offer the Australian market.

“From Santo Antonio farm, we offer a full-bodied Natural Yellow Catucai in patio, with a bold dark-chocolate flavour and hints of stone fruits. It’s a coffee that normally scores above 85 points” Pedro says. “We also have one coffee from Pinhal

STRALIAN I N AU

“I think mainly there’s a lack of information. On the grower’s side, a lot of people don’t want to open their minds to new ideas, or innovate and try new things in their farms.”

On the consumption side, Pedro says Brazil still has a lot of work to do to improve its reputation for quality and Minas Hill is committed to helping achieve this goal.

“A lot of people see the quality of coffee Brazil has, are working hard, and getting very good results,” he says.

“We have a lot of good coffee in Brazil and a lot of different processes, varieties, and flavours that we can share with the Australian coffee scene.”

For more information, visit www.minashill.com.au

STRALIAN I N AU

GOLD

W EE A ARDS FF O

S I LV E R

Pedro runs education programs for children promoting environmentally friendly and sustainable practices.

ATIONAL RN C NATIONA TE LC R TE W EE A ARDS FF O

ATIONAL RN C TE

W EE A ARDS FF O

STRALIAN I N AU

farm, a Yellow Topaz. This coffee presents a milk-chocolate base with lots of dry fruits such as apricots and plums.

“Finally, we produce Natural and Pulped-Natural coffees at Vertentes farm.

Both coffees are very solid, and excellent blenders due to a static dryer we recently acquired. These two coffees are a great option for roasters seeking consistency.”

Marcelo brought Pedro, along with Minas Hill’s other farming partners from Brazil, to Australia for MICE2019. Something Pedro hoped to communicate on his visit is how hard it is to get good coffee.

“There is lot of work and variables that we don’t have control over. We need rain, then we need it to stop. You are praying for the right stuff to happen at the right time,” Pedro says.

“My father has a friend who jokes we are never satisfied. ‘One day you are praying for rain, the next day you are praying for it to stop.’ Farming coffee is like a big industry with no roof.”

With Minas Hill’s presence in Australia, Pedro says the coffee trader is able to act as an advocate for the quality of Brazilian coffee, as well as farmers.

“There is a lot of great coffee coming out of Brazil but not everyone has access yet to this market,” Pedro says.

BRONZE

Celebrate exceptional.

Congratulations to the 2019 Australian International Coffee Award Champions. For the full list of winners visit rasv.com.au/coffee

#AuCoffeeAwards rasv.com.au/coffee

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FEATURE NEWS

Something in the water Seven Miles Coffee Roasters has identified the ideal water composition to bring out the most flavour during espresso extraction, and is applying this information to cafés around Australia.

W

ater is one of only two ingredients required to make coffee, and its quality is almost as important as that of the beans.

While many baristas think of water quality in terms of how it affects filter coffee brewing, Dr Adam Carr of Seven Miles Coffee Roasters’ Coffee Science Education Centre (CSEC) says the same principles apply to espresso.

“Both methods extract solids from roasted coffee using water.

There’s actually no difference in chemical mechanisms in terms of extraction,” Adam says.

“The difference with espresso is that you have a much finer particle bed, and a slower flow of water going through it, resulting in a much more concentrated brew. With that said, the pressure will increase the solubility of gases and volatiles in the water.”

To delve deeper into the espresso extraction process, CSEC has released details of a study into what water composition maximises flavour.

“The primary objective of the study was to determine what kind of water filtration systems [Seven Miles] can put in its cafés to achieve a consistent quality coffee anywhere in Australia,” Adam says.

“To hit a specific water quality,

however, we needed to know what that benchmark is.”

For CSEC, that standard could only be obtained through rigorous analytical chemistry and skilled barista work.

The centre tested the impact a range of tap, artificially modified, and purified waters had on espresso. The chemistry of the resulting brews and brew waters was analysed through a combination of scientific processes.

These included gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, a bank of photometers, and a series of pH/conductivity multiprobes.

Adam says results of this study

beanscenemag.com.au

39

FEATURE NEWS

Nutty/Chocolate (2-Methylpyrazine)

Graph 2: The effect of TDS on flavour intensity Source: Seven Miles Coffee Roasters

are similar to the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)’s brewing guidelines.

“If you look at the SCA standard brewing chart, our findings indicate that window is just as relevant for espresso,” he says.

“A lot of the numbers people use for brewing are also entirely applicable to espresso.”

The study looked at how three elements of water affected flavours in extraction: hardness (the amount of calcium, magnesium, carbonate, and bicarbonate in water), pH levels, and total dissolved solids (TDS). CSEC tested water with modified levels of these factors, ranging between 17 and 198 parts per million (ppm) hardness, 4.5 and 11.6 pH, and 100 to 600 milligrams per litre TDS. A medium-roasted coffee was extracted to a standardised recipe using a La Marzocco Linea Mini coffee machine, with a 170-millilitre boiler, operated at 93°C. CSEC then analysed the concentration of chemicals extracted from the coffee that are attributed to certain flavour characteristics, such as nutty/roasted (2-methylpyrazine), fruity (furaneol), vanilla/caramel (vanillin), and caffeine/bitterness (caffeine).

“The biggest effect on flavour was achieved by modifying the hardness of the water,” Adam says.

“We found that the higher the hardness the better, up to 60 or 80ppm.

At that point, we started seeing a dropoff. After 60ppm, you could double the hardness and you’d only get a one or two per cent rise in flavour extracted.”

Adam says this cap conveniently lines up with machine manufacturer recommendations, with higher hardness levels contributing to corrosion and lime scale – the build-up of minerals as boiled water evaporates. He also recommends a minimum hardness of 50ppm.

“Below this level, you get a significant drop off in flavour and get a flat tasting coffee,” Adam says.

Higher pH tended to concentrate stronger flavours in coffee, though not to the same extent as hardness. However, higher pH levels also led to issues in the extraction process.

“When we got to a certain pH level, we experienced what we think was a neutralisation reaction,” Adam says.

“At a pH of 11.6, the extraction process slowed quite significantly. It doubled the time it took to get the same mass out. We think a neutralisation reaction causes gases to come out, which impedes the flow of water coming through the pipe.”

CSEC also doesn’t recommend a low pH level, as this can damage a machine.

It also had an unusual effect on the extraction of vanillin.

“Vanillin’s extraction concentration got lower with increases in pH until it got to a level of 7.7, where it flipped around

Graph 1: The impact of water hardness on 2-Methylpyrazine Nutty/Chocolate (2-Methylpyrazine)

Source: Seven Miles Coffee Roasters

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and saw a significant jump,” Adam says.

“It was an interesting trend, and perhaps an indication of something more complex going on during extraction. It is possible other extracts dissolved in the water helped, or hindered, the extraction of vanillin in the studied conditions.”

Due to this, Seven Miles recommends a pH level between seven and 8.5.

In the case of TDS, CSEC says it has almost no impact on flavour. TDS refers to all organic and inorganic compounds in water. For the study, to isolate the effect of TDS, CSEC manipulated waters with salts that did not impact hardness or the pH of the solution.

“TDS had absolutely had no effect on the extraction of any materials.

Everything basically flatlined,” Adam says.

“We increased TDS by a factor of six and there was almost zero impact on flavour. Increasing TDS of your water might not do much for your coffee, unless it is also affecting hardness or pH.” CSEC’s research also involved going into the field, and measuring the contents of local water supplies for comparison.

Based at Seven Miles’ Manly Vale roastery in New South Wales, CSEC naturally began fieldwork in Sydney, where it found the water already fit in its recommended parameters.

“That 50 to 80ppm hardness, chloride levels, and pH in Sydney’s water was serendipitous with our findings. It just so happened that the water quality you want for coffee is what Sydney Water is pumping out of their stations,” Adam says.

“In some ways it is not too surprising.

If you have much higher concentrations, it can cause problems for pipework or appliances.”

However, the water leaving pumping stations doesn’t always have the same

Graph 3: The effect of pH level on flavour concentration Nutty/Chocolate (2-Methylpyrazine)

Source: Seven Miles Coffee Roasters

composition once it reaches someone’s home or café.

“It has to pass through a massive piping network, and if you’ve got pipes that were laid decades ago, you can get a lot of different materials passing through there,” Adam says.

“We have the targets, but how to reach them differs from location to location.”

Using the information from this study, Seven Miles intends to help its café clients achieve consistent water quality.

“Seven Miles has developed a filtration heuristic, basically a problemsolving diagram which we have automated in our systems,” Adam says. “We’re able to go into any café in Australia, take measurements of the water, and now that we know the targets, install the right filtration system.

“People can drink coffee the way it was as intended at the roastery.”

CSEC’s next step is to analyse Queensland’s water supply, where Adam says the water is not at the level of quality Seven Miles has benchmarked.

“We’ve heard reports of some people in Queensland having some problems with chloride recently. We’ll be going out there and looking at the best filtration

strategies to mitigate that,” he says.

“If you strip the chloride, you remove other things as well. If we alter the water too severely, we need to know how to return it to our specifications.”

Seven Miles can do this through a combination of filters, water softeners and hardeners, remineralisation cartridges, and carbon filters.

“Getting good quality coffee is

achievable even with really difficult-towork-with water,” Adam says.

“The technology exists, Seven Miles knows how to use it, and we have extreme confidence of what the targets are we want to hit. We’ve done the chemistry now.”

For more information, visit www.sevenmiles.com.au

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Smart banking The Commonwealth Bank of Australia provides its business and hospitality clients with industry and consumer insights needed to find a niche in a competitive field.

R

unning a small business can be difficult. From what décor to use to what coffee to serve, café owners face tough choices that can ultimately make or break their venue.

To make some of these decisions easier, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) has a dedicated team that specialises in the retail and hospitality environment. This includes commissioning original research on topics such as retailer resilience and pricing strategies, connecting clients to industry experts, and keeping staff up to date on the fast-moving world of retail.

“Hospitality is a strong contributor to the economy and plays an important part in the day-to-day life of all Australians,” says Jerry Macey, National Retail Lead at CommBank.

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“CommBank has long been a proud supporter of the hospitality industry.

Given our market leading position in merchant solutions, extensive branch network, and 24/7 call centre support, there’s a strong fit between our offering and the needs of café owners.”

Prior to joining CommBank in 2005, Jerry was General Manager of a health insurer in the United Kingdom. He says this role prepared him to understand and assist CommBank’s hospitality and retail clients.

“We weren’t the biggest, so we knew we needed to differentiate to stand out.

We chose excellence in customer service as our differentiator and won coveted awards for it. Both differentiation and customer service have been part of my DNA since then. They are also key capabilities for winning in retail, and influence the way I look at retail

businesses,” Jerry says.

While not identical, Jerry says that hospitality and the wider retail industry share more similarities than differences.

“Both need to intimately understand their customers, differentiate their offering to best appeal to them, and be agile enough to change with their customers’ desires,” he says.

“There are some challenges that are unique, or more acutely felt by those in the hospitality industry. For cafés and other food service venues, quality control and waste management are a more urgent challenge. Regulations are complex and subject to greater scrutiny. Staff training requirements and qualifications are generally more onerous than retail.”

From a payments point of view, Jerry says the hospitality sector has to cater for common customer practices such as

tipping and splitting bills, which are not prevalent in retail. CommBank provides a number of tools to help cafés address these needs and turn data into insight.

CommBiz, the institution’s online business banking platform, is a one-stop shop with real-time reporting capability and easy transfer into accounting packages for further analysis.

CommBank’s Everyday Settlement program ensures eftpos and credit card sales are settled the day they’re made.

“We put funds into your account on the day you receive them – even on public holidays. You can reconcile your takings more easily and put your money to work straight away,” Jerry says.

“Everyday Settlement makes cash management simpler and, most importantly, when they join CommBank, our customers find out just how passionately our hospitality team cares about the industry and helping them succeed.”

While CommBank’s Everyday Settlement assists its clients in the present, its Daily IQ service prepares them for the future.

“Not only will cafés discover the ease with which day-to-day transactions occur with a CommBank merchant terminal, they’ll be introduced to the insights of Daily IQ,” Jerry says.

“Daily IQ is provided free to CommBank customers and helps them optimise cashflow, enhance performance, and identify opportunities for growth.”

Daily IQ draws on merchant data to give personalised insights into a business’ performance against the industry and

CommBank provides its clients with up-to-date information on customer trends and behaviours.

the purchasing behaviours of customers.

This includes comparing the spend of new and existing customers, average spend, age breakdown, location, and changes in spending behaviour.

“This can enable them to not only create targeted marketing campaigns but also see, in the moment, whether the campaign is having the required result.

Knowing the suburb where customers live can even help determine whether and where to open a new venue,” Jerry says.

“Daily IQ’s merchant insights can also help the business to make informed decisions when managing resources by identifying high and low trading times.

Businesses can then create campaigns to increase business during the quieter periods.”

Jerry says the costs of staying relevant to customers, such as refurbishments and lease negotiations, need careful management to protect capital, which small businesses may struggle to do internally.

“Venues need to stay on top of their expenses to underpin profit margins, as a highly competitive industry means stiff price competition. Small venues are no exception and having the right reporting systems in place are important,” he says.

“For sole traders and small chains, it may not be viable to employ staff for administration purposes, so this burden can increase as they grow until they reach a scale that allows them to invest.

Resources such as CommBank’s Daily IQ can support smaller businesses with financial insights as they grow through this phase and beyond.”

Jerry Macey is the National Retail Lead at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

CommBank’s retail team predicts that within the next few years, café growth is likely to slow as the industry moves towards saturation, which will force venues to optimise their spending practices.

“We have a strong coffee and brunch culture in Australia. Small and specialised operators are expected to remain popular as consumers generally associate quality, ambience, and experience with smaller independent venues,” Jerry says.

“With a growing number of specialty cafés, the industry is facing a high level of competition.”

Despite some level of saturation, Jerry says tourism, changing café practices, and sense of community will maintain the overall relevance of cafés.

“Cafés are becoming popular places for consumers to spend leisure time and also as a substitute workplace, such as for meetings,” he says. “Cafés are also increasingly offering additional services such as a bar in the evenings, where liquor licences are available and appropriate.”

To succeed in a booming but overcrowded marketplace, Jerry says cafés will need to “understand and cater to specific characteristics of consumer demand”.

“Operators finding ways to deeply understand their customer and provide them with a differentiated offering is key,” Jerry says.

“In the end, it all comes down to information and insight. Businesses are often drowning in data. Turning that data into timely and useful information to help with day-to-day decisions, as well as insights to help make strategic choices, is crucial.”

For more information, visit

commbank.com.au/businessinsights beanscenemag.com.au

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Special permission Lavazza explains why the Australian market has been given a leave pass to make history with one of the world’s most precious and original sources of Arabica coffee.

I

magine sitting in the inner sanctum of Lavazza’s decision-making room in Torino, Italy, with Giuseppe Lavazza pondering one of the biggest brand decisions the family company has ever made.

No country has ever been given permission to alter the roast profile of one Lavazza’s premium coffees outside of Italy, until now. That honour has gone to Australia.

Cristiano Portis, Asia and Pacific Coffee Research and Development Manager and Licensed Q Grader for Lavazza, was the man tasked with the role of testing the ideal roasting profile that would respect the identity of Lavazza’s original Kafa single origin coffee, but also reflect the Australian market’s penchant for delicate roasting.

“The quality of Kafa is the same as Italy’s, but the roasting process and roasting time is different. I went through many different batches and roasting profiles.

We didn’t bother using a small roaster.

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We went straight in and used a large-scale 120-kilogram roaster to find the perfect blend, roasting 100 kilograms at a time,” Cristiano says.

“I selected five different roasting profiles and after two weeks of maturation, did a blind cupping at the Lavazza Australia training centre. I got a fair amount of judgement, but took my favourites to Italy for a blind cupping with the Lavazza family – the family always has the final say.”

With a few further tweaks to reduce the acidity in the cup, the outcome was a slow 15-minute roast to preserve Kafa’s organoleptic profile. Cristiano says this is the secret to Kafa’s perfect balance of aroma, taste, and body, and the key to Giuseppe Lavazza asking him for a cup of his “Australian roasted Kafa” each time he returns to Torino.

“The coffee in Melbourne is very fresh so we have chosen to roast a bit lighter and brighter compared to the way we roast Kafa in Italy, which is a bit more rounded.

Lavazza’s Silvio Zaccareo.

The result is a more aromatic cup profile with fruity, floral tones,” Cristiano says.

Silvio Zaccareo, Lavazza APAC Business Unit Director and Australia Managing Director, says one of the reasons Australia was given special permission to

make history with one of the world’s oldest coffee plantations is in large part due to the consumer’s high level of coffee knowledge and appreciation.

“Since the beginning, Australia has been a very important market for us. It’s the fifthlargest market outside of Italy,” Silvio says.

“The level of sophistication from the Australian consumer’s point of view is really high. That was pretty shocking for me to see when I first arrived here. The consumer knows about coffee. They know about quality, and they’re looking for a story, which is what Kafa embraces as the most premium single origin coffee in the Lavazza portfolio.”

Located about 460 kilometres southwest of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa is the Kafa Biosphere Reserve, the birthplace of wild Arabia, dating back around 850AD. The biodiversity hotspot contains close to 5000 wild varieties of wild Arabica, which have grown spontaneously with minimal intervention from the region’s inhabitants for centuries, according to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

It’s this unspoilt terrain and the region’s low yielding coffee production, however, that makes Kafa Forest coffee one of the most exclusive and premium beans on the market.

“Coffee has such a beautiful history and Kafa is a true reminder of where it all began. I remember spending time with a local family who invited me to a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony,” Cristiano recalls.

“They roasted the coffee on a saucepan over a flame, like the way we roast chestnuts in Italy. A mortar and pestle was then used to grind the coffee before putting it into a bunna – a traditional brewing vessel, like an old moka pot. The bunna was put on the fire and we waited for the water to boil before small cups of coffee were served, first to the oldest member of the family.

The remaining coffee was then served in rounds. With each round you could taste a deeper, more complex, and developed flavour.”

The Italian roaster has demonstrated its commitment to the Ethiopian coffeeproducing community for more than 30 years, including the sourcing of its 100 per cent Arabica Kafa Forest Coffee.

Lavazza says it will continue to support Ethiopia’s agricultural economy and the beauty of the Kafa Forest, which is now under threat from climate change and disease.

“It’s a scary reality how much longer we’ll be able to enjoy the beauty of Kafa coffee. Research is showing that in some countries, changes are already happening, much earlier than what was expected,”

The birthplace of wild Arabica, Kafa Biosphere Reserve in Ethiopia, dates back around 850AD.

Cristiano says.

The quality of Lavazza’s coffee is paramount. The roaster does not use a grading system to assess its coffees. Rather, the company has practised strict quality control measures long before there were mandatory. This ensures Lavazza purchases specialty coffees 80 points and above that naturally do not carry any primary defects, and only allows for a limited number of secondary defects.

“We buy about four to five containers of fully natural processed, hand-picked Kafa, dried naturally in the sun. You can buy Kafa coffee from other people but it’s not the Kafa we buy. Ours is prepared just for Lavazza. We know it’s good quality. We buy all our coffee against our standards.

Then it’s just a question of in-cup quality,” Cristiano says.

Lavazza’s Kafa Forest coffee is suited to both milk-based and black coffees.

However, its low yield is what makes it an exclusive and premium coffee with an intense richness, best reserved for fine dining establishments and venues wanting to offer customers the ultimate specialty coffee experience.

Visitors to this year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in March got to experience the beauty of Kafa first hand when it was used to accompany the event’s high-end food experiences.

“Kafa has everything the Australia market is looking for: really high quality, heritage, and a story to share,” Silvio says.

“Kafa is an authentic, premium, niche product, but we feel that the offering is a unique experience. We’re talking about one of the most rare coffees in the world, and the most luxurious product in our range.”

Silvio says Lavazza’s 120-plus years of history among the top global coffee players, and credibility as a leading Italian coffee industry have given the brand confidence to make bold decisions in the market.

Since Lavazza took over operations of the Australian market in 2015, the company

Kafa Forest Coffee is a premium product, best suited to venues wanting to offer customers the ultimate specialty coffee experience.

has seen huge growth in the home and food service markets, reaching record sales growth in 2018. Silvio predicts 2019 will be another exciting year with lots of innovations, key events, and partnerships that will reinforce its brand, including its sponsorship of the Australian Open tennis tournament, its new partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria, and a refreshed look at its current product range.

“These events will further enforce Lavazza as a connected brand in a very dynamic market,” Silvio says “Lavazza has the credibility but we also know in a humble way that we need to respect Australia’s sophisticated and knowledgeable industry and get closer to the consumer, evident through its commitment to roasting Kafa especially for the Australian market. If we can continue to do that, I think Lavazza can play an even greater role in this country.”

For more information, visit

www.lavazza.com.au beanscenemag.com.au

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Completing the paper chain The Detpak RecycleMe System provides recyclable cups alongside collection and guaranteed recycling logistics.

S

ince the ABC TV series War on Waste drew attention to the more than one billion coffee cups sent to landfill every year, consumers, cafés, and companies have taken large strides to reduce single-use cup waste.

One such company is Australian owned packaging manufacturer Detpak, which initiated a rollout of its RecycleMe System with customers in November 2018, providing a solution for takeaway cups.

Detpak General Manager of Marketing and Innovation Tom Lunn says RecycleMe innovates coffee cup recycling in two ways.

“One, the cup itself has a unique lining which means it can be recycled

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in a normal paper recycling plant,” Tom tells BeanScene.

“Second, we’ve established a collection system with our [waste collection] partner Shred-X, which guarantees that every cup and lid collected gets recycled.”

Tom says working with Shred-X provides an extra level of reassurance to Detpak and its partners that RecycleMe is successful from end to end.

“People are pleased to have an assurance and guarantee that cups collected are recycled,” Tom says.

“They are keen to do the right thing and they want to understand how it works practically in a café.”

Tom says there is still some confusion over whether it is better to compost or

recycle coffee cups.

“Compostable coffee cups need to go to a commercial composting facility in order to have effective conditions to break down, and most often are being sent to landfill. Whereas a cup that is recycled can live again and contribute to a circular economy,” he says. “The longer we keep materials at their highest value and use, the better.

“Composting still has a place, but we should be striving toward recycling as the ultimate solution.”

Detpak spent more than three years looking into new linings that it could use in its recyclable cups.

“We came across this coating out of the United States,” Tom says.

“The advantage is it can run through

standard paper pulping equipment and doesn’t require any additional investment at the recycling plant.”

To ensure the cups do get recycled, Shred-X collects the cups and lids from specially designed collection points. The stations allow consumers to separate the cups, lids, and liquids at the time they are disposed to minimise contamination.

Shred-X shreds and delivers the cups straight to paper mills, where they are recycled into paper products. “[Detpak] made a cup that is not only recyclable but can be blended in with our current collections,” Shred-X General Manager Van Karas says.

Shred-X has a network of trucks across Australia, with more than 50,000 individual collection sites as part of their existing secure document destruction service. “[Detpak] came to us, knowing our ability with logistics and the collection situation,” Van says. “We’re used to going into sites like where coffee is sold, so we’re able to get in there, collect the waste, and take it away without any hassle to the venue owner.”

Shred-X Sales Manager Renee Pryor says RecycleMe has seen a positive reaction, appreciating the transparency of the system.

“There has been a really positive response with people appreciating the chance to recycle their takeaway cup and lid, rather than have it end up in landfill,” Renee says.

What’s more, Van says the system is easy to explain to consumers.

“You just have to look at the imagery – a cup being turned to paper – to

“A CUP THAT IS RECYCLED CAN LIVE AGAIN AND CONTRIBUTE TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY. THE LONGER WE KEEP MATERIALS IN USE, THE BETTER.” understand that’s exactly what happens.

[Consumers] learn that and ask how to get on board,” he says.

In February, RecycleMe received an endorsement from leading environmental foundation Planet Ark for its transparency and holistic thinking. “[The endorsement is] an extension of our guarantee,” Detpak’s Tom says.

“People trust the brand and research of Planet Ark – and they’ve endorsed this system. It has also confirmed for us that what we’ve created is a valid solution.”

Planet Ark CEO Paul Klymenko says with RecycleMe, Detpak has thought of every link in the chain.

“It’s a genuinely transparent system that considers every element,” Paul says.

“As part of our endorsement, an independent audit occurs annually to ensure the recycling promise is met.

When you take the effort of putting the cup in a collection station, you can be sure it’s going to a recycling plant to be turned into new paper, or plastic products in the case of the lids.”

Paul says in order to gain an exclusive Planet Ark endorsement, every detail must be considered.

“How will the product be separated?

Where will the material go? Who are

The Detpak team with the staff of Queenslandbased Tim Adams Specialty Coffee.

the commercial partners? It’s a question of seeing who is going to do all the bits in the chain and making sure there is no stone unturned,” he says.

Paul says systems like RecycleMe are important to maintain a sustainable industry.

“Think of all the effort that’s gone into making a coffee cup. Growing the tree, turning it into paper, using it once and throwing it in a hole in the ground seems ludicrous,” he says. “Capturing and keeping these resources in use for as long as possible is what creating a circular economy is about.”

Coffee roasters who have been early to support the RecycleMe movement include Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Seven Miles Coffee Roasters, Axil Coffee Roasters, Seven Seeds, Tim Adams Specialty Coffee, and Genovese Coffee.

“There are lots of coffee and food service brands starting to adopt RecycleMe. The foothold is growing very quickly,” Detpak’s Tom says.

“The majority of coffee is actually consumed in business areas, so our next move is to introduce RecycleMe to big corporations, large banks, and institutions that have cafés in the vicinity.

“Then, we’re looking at closed environments like stadiums, and finally, we’ll be tackling public collection points.”

RecycleMe will also launch in the United Kingdom in April, with roasters Taylor St Baristas, Caravan Coffee, Colonna Coffee, and Curators Coffee already signed up to the system.

“People in the UK understood RecycleMe very quickly. The adoption and discussion with brands is quicker there because they’ve been looking for a sustainable solution for longer,” Tom says.

In Australia, Detpak plans to expand the RecycleMe system, introducing collection points in more locations.

Planet Ark’s Paul says collaboration with the RecycleMe System will help it reach its full potential.

“A system like this is only successful if there’s lots of collection points. People who decide that are cafés, roasters, and corporations implementing it,” he says.

For more information, visit www.recycleme.co beanscenemag.com.au

47

CAFETTO BARISTA PROFILE

Jade’s journey Jade Jennings of Veneziano Coffee Roasters reflects on her experiences with coffee and competitions, and how it’s prepared her to train the next generation of champions.

Jade Jennings is the National Training and Development Manger at Veneziano Coffee Roasters.

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hen Jade Jennings travelled to Rwanda in 2016, the Veneziano Coffee Roasters National Training and Development Manager experienced what she calls her fondest memory working in the coffee industry.

“I remember getting out of the car and I could hear these men singing and clapping. I walked up these hills to follow the music,” Jade tells BeanScene.

“It was from these men in a big fermentation tank marching on top of the beans to help remove the mucilage from the coffee. They sing not only to keep their spirits up but to keep in time. They know once they’ve done a certain number of songs, the coffee is finished.

“I got a bit teary and emotional seeing it, and being in their presence. They invited me to join, so I jumped in the fermentation tank.”

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Jade travelled to origin to meet farmer Epiphanie Mukashyaka, whose coffee she used to win the 2016 Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) Southern Region Barista Championship and place second in that year’s Australian Barista Championship.

The trip inspired Jade to again use Rwandan coffee when she competed in 2017, where she continued her winning streak and rounded out the national podium in third place.

“When I create my concepts, I like to talk to the producers and coffee buyers, and get an understanding of what makes that coffee unique,” Jade says.

“In specialty coffee, you see and connect to where the coffee comes from. It’s about developing relationships at origin and across the whole chain.”

Jade’s first coffee, however, was not the café-style beverage she would become accustomed to. Instead, like for

many Australians, it was instant.

“My Scottish nana would always make me milky teas as a kid, and I would dunk my Vegemite toast in it. I was always a tea drinker,” Jade says.

“I went on work experience in Year 10, and they didn’t have tea bags, so I had to resort to instant coffee. I didn’t have my first proper flat white until my first day as a barista at Hudsons Coffee.”

Jade’s coffee career began in 2005 when, after five years as a disability care worker, she wanted a change of pace. Within two years of starting as a part-time employee at Hudsons Coffee, Jade was promoted to Area Manager, where she found a love for operations and coffee.

Jade met Veneziano Managing Director Craig Dickson at a coffee chain challenge in Adelaide in 2008. While there, Jade also became acquainted with Christopher Short, Owner of coffee

machine cleaning product provider Cafetto. From the start of Jade’s competition career, Cafetto was always a supporter of the industry’s barista talent.

“I remember taking a tour of [Cafetto’s] factory in Adelaide and thinking: ‘This guy Chris knows so much about his product.’ Now I see it all the time at Veneziano,” Jade says.

“Without sponsors like Cafetto, we wouldn’t be able to have our barista competitions or this bonding event. We’re always grateful to have a company like Cafetto give us an amazing opportunity to stand up there and compete.”

It wouldn’t be for another two years before Jade joined the Veneziano team, beginning at the roaster’s former flagship café First Pour in Bond Street, Richmond.

“Everyone who started at that First Pour would move onto other roles in Veneziano. It was seen as a bit of a stepping stone for the company,” Jade says.

“Within six months, I was overseeing and setting standards for all of the other First Pour cafés, as well as sister company Coffee Hit’s stores.”

In 2012, Jade took over the role of Veneziano Key Account Manager and Trainer from Erin Sampson while she was on maternity leave.

“She came back in 2013 and I got pregnant,’” Jade says. “We kind of tag-teamed the role, and became known as ‘salt and pepper’ within Veneziano.”

As the company grew, so did Jade’s role, in which she gained her current national training title in 2015. Jade says even while working with Hudsons, she’s always found herself attracted to training roles.

“I get to break down concepts and find the best way to help someone understand them and improve their skillset,” she says.

“I think the biggest challenge many baristas face, that they don’t even realise at the time, is not receiving adequate training. Cafés are busy and they have high turnover of staff. Baristas are often thrown in the deep end and chucked on the machine. They don’t really understand what they’re doing and they have to practice on customers.”

“IN SPECIALTY COFFEE, YOU SEE AND CONNECT TO WHERE THE COFFEE COMES FROM. IT’S ABOUT DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS AT ORIGIN AND ACROSS THE WHOLE CHAIN.” To Jade, it’s important trainers leave their egos at the door, and are able to walk the walk as much as talk the talk.

“Trainers sometimes want to demand respect from their students, but that’s not how it works. They need to earn it.

The best way to do that is knowing your stuff and having some fun with your

students,” Jade says.

“I’m always trying to push our trainers to compete [in barista competitions], because it opens up a lot of doors and gives you so much more confidence when your training staff because you understand what it’s like. If not compete, then judge.”

Jade says that coffee competitions provide baristas with a learning experience that cannot compare to anything else.

“There’s a couple of baristas in the [Veneziano Richmond] café who have had exposure to the recent barista competitions, who now wanting to compete, and I look forward to helping them,” Jade says.

“It’s not just the barista that benefits, the whole company does.

Everyone gets involved, from the green buyers that source the coffee to the roasters who pull it apart over the cupping table. It’s a real cultural thing.”

Jade added another award under her belt in 2018, winning the Eleonora Genovese Women in Coffee Rising Star Award.

“It was really quite humbling.

The award is named after such an inspirational person,” Jade says.

“Women are definitely starting to take more steps forward in the industry, and awards like Rising Star and Women in Coffee are important because they encourage women to step forward and be seen.”

Jade points to the 2019 ASCA Australian Coffee Champions as emblematic of women’s presence in the Australian coffee community.

“I’ve definitely seen a lot more women competing, although never as much as the boys,” she says.

“But with women winning the Brewers Cup, Latte Art, and Cup Tasters Championships this year, girls are starting to really take ownership.”

In fact, the female dominance on the competition stage has Jade pondering a return back to the spotlight, just maybe.

“Never say never,” Jade says.“I’ve got that itch to compete again.”

For more information about Cafetto, its support of industry members, and latest product range, visit www.cafetto.com beanscenemag.com.au

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

The flavour master

Japanese café consultant Hitomi Sato talks to BeanScene about Japan’s coffee scene and how it differs to Australia.

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hen Monin Beverage Innovation Manager for Japan and Korea Hitomi Sato touched down in Melbourne, she made a point of experiencing the city’s renowned coffee scene for herself.

“Coffee people [from around the world] want to go to Seattle in the United States, Melbourne in Australia, and Milan in Italy to learn about coffee,” Hitomi says.

“I went to Patricia Coffee Brewers and it felt really energetic. Customers were taking their time, enjoying it, and talking, and the operation speed was really high.”

Hitomi is familiar with high volume work. She entered the coffee industry as a Product Developer for Starbucks Japan in 2013, where she created the company’s limited-release seasonal flavours and drinks. With Monin, Hitomi now develops unique recipes and beverages for Monin’s café clients across Japan and Korea, providing her with insights into many facets of the Japanese coffee industry.

“I help cafés create menu items unique to them that you won’t find elsewhere,” Hitomi says. “Japan is a really big market for Monin, in the bar industry especially. But the café scene is growing, so we feel there is a big opportunity there.”

Hitomi says though specialty coffee is starting to take shape in Japan, there is still a need to spread awareness to the consumer.

“The younger generation doesn’t like coffee because it’s too bitter and a little bit sour for them. People prefer tea, which has a much softer taste,” Hitomi says.

A phenomenon unique to Japan that influences much of the population’s perception of coffee is the prevalence of canned coffee.

“There are vending machines all around Tokyo where you can buy warm coffee for ¥100 [approximate $1.25]. It’s not good and full of additives and sugar,” Hitomi says.

“But canned coffee’s popularity is slowing down as people see that brewed coffee is much tastier.”

Hitomi says cold brew is increasing

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Monin Beverage Innovation Manager Hitomi Sato develops recipes for cafés across Japan and Korea.

the approachability of café coffee in Japan.

“Cold brew is soaked over 12 hours, so the taste is mild and less bitter,” she says. “Winter in Japan is really dry and summer is really humid, and that mild taste makes it is easier to drink.”

Hitomi says the popularity of cold brew in Japan is providing opportunities for baristas to customise beverages with different flavours.

“Cold brew is really good in combination with fruits, and Monin can provide a lot of these exotic flavours,” she says. “Some tastes like pink grapefruit and orange spritz are great with cold brew. Sparkling soda can also be added to make a really refreshing beverage.

“I even saw this in Australia, with the popularity of flavoured cold brews like cherry and salted caramel.”

While the café culture is growing in Japan, it is taking on different forms to

Australia. US-based chain Blue Bottle Coffee is already making its mark on Japan with 11 stores opening since September 2018, and more scheduled to open later this year. Hitomi says Founder James Freeman took inspiration from the country’s filter coffee traditions.

“Hand drip is very culturally rooted in Japan and is still popular today.

Old-style Japanese cafés, called kissaten, make coffee one by one with hand drip,” she says. “People do not drink much espresso or milk coffee.”

Hitomi says one of the driving forces behind Japan’s growing café appreciation is a cultural shift following a 2011 earthquake.

“That incident changed peoples’ [priorities]. They’ve realised they only live once and want to connect with people and do more of what they actually want to do,” Hitomi says.

Meanwhile in Australia, Hitomi says cafés provide an inviting social scene.

“In Japan, the cafés are much more relaxed, quiet. In Australia, people go to cafés every morning. For the Japanese, cafés are for special occasions, and not somewhere you go daily,” she says.

“I want Japanese cafés to be more like Melbourne’s, more social and a part of the community.”

Something Hitomi didn’t expect when she arrived in Melbourne, however, was the opening hours of the cafés lining the city’s laneways.

“I was surprised Australian coffee shops are usually only open from 6am or 7am until 3pm or 4pm. Most cafés in Japan wouldn’t close until around 7pm,” Hitomi says.

“After work we go to the café to make conversation with friends. I was surprised that you can’t really go to the café in the evening here, but that’s usual [for Australians].”

Hitomi says Japanese cafés could learn from the Australian scene, such as how food complements coffee.

“Australian cafés serve great food, from the pastries and toast to salad or full meals. In Japan, the food options are limited. They don’t bake and usually source their bread, pastries, and chocolate externally,” she says.

Hitomi says though quality is a clear focus of the Melbourne coffee scene, it is important to remember the playful

“THE CAFÉ INDUSTRY HAS TO TRY NEW THINGS NOBODY ELSE IS DOING. MONIN HAS KNOWLEDGE OF WORLD HOSPITALITY TRENDS, NOT JUST IN COFFEE.” side of coffee.

Monin’s focus on playfulness and creativity can also create a pathway for new audiences to discover specialty coffee. Hitomi describes a café in Japan that makes a signature drink using Monin’s orange-flavoured syrup to highlight the flavour profile of its Gesha beans.

“They looked at this beautiful coffee,

its history and flavour profile, and combined it with additional flavours to better tell that story,” Hitomi says.

“Coffee has many flavour profiles and it’s beautiful, but sometimes it’s difficult to explain these profiles in detail to customers.”

Hitomi says there are similar developments in flavour happening around the world, and Monin aims to play a large role in introducing these concepts to Australia.

“The café industry has to try new things nobody else is doing. Monin has knowledge of world hospitality trends, not just in coffee but food, liquour, and pastries,” she says.

“We have connections in more than 150 countries, and there is a Beverage Innovation Manager or Product Developer in each of them. We work closely together discussing and sharing trends.”

One example Monin has picked up in Asian countries that Hitomi hopes to share is the popularity of Yuzu.

“Yuzu is a basic flavour in Japan, but for a country [like Australia], it’s new. Combined with a high-quality cold brew and Indian tonic water, it tastes amazing,” Hitomi says. “We want to produce specific, unique flavours that have the potential to make playful coffee.”

Coffee Shozo in Tokyo takes inspiration from traditional Japanese cafés called kissaten, which offer hand drip coffee.

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Images: Adelle Lacey

In good taste Following a successful launch in 2018, Alternative Dairy Co has received the backing of a Melbourne coffee institution and a former Australian Latte Art Champion.

S

t Ali is a prominent name in the Australian coffee community.

Inside the roaster’s South Melbourne store, every detail is considered: the music, lighting, flower arrangements, even the staff attire with baristas sporting ‘feels good’ branded socks. Image is everything to St Ali, but so is taste and quality, including with its alternative milks.

St Ali has chosen Alternative Dairy Co to supply almond and soy milks at all of its stores, and recommends it as the diary alternative milk of choice to its café clients.

“When the opportunity to work together presented itself, it was a no brainer,” St Ali General Manager Lachlan Ward says. “Now in 2019, St Ali and Alternative Dairy Co are working closer together than ever before.”

Alternative Dairy Co Brand Manager Emma Seberry says aligned values of quality and great taste as well as a drive

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for success make St Ali a perfect partner for Alternative Dairy Co. “The credibility of St Ali is undeniable. They are experts in their field and like Alternative Dairy Co, St Ali is constantly seeking the best,” Emma says.

When developing the barista milk range, Alternative Dairy Co approached several coffee roasters, baristas, café owners, and consumers for feedback on its formulation. St Ali was one of the roasters to provide input to this development process.

“Our more formal relationship is pretty fresh, but these guys have worked in the café and coffee scene for a really long time,” Lachlan says. “They’ve created a product that fits into that very specific market.

“Alternative Dairy Co has been very forthcoming and open to feedback and suggestions. That extends beyond product development to how our brands talk to and about each other.”

Alternative Dairy Co’s Barista almond and soy milks have been crafted specifically for use with coffee. Its almond milk is produced with peeled and unroasted almonds to provide a lighter taste. Whereas most soy milks only use soy protein as a base, Alternative Dairy Co uses a blend of protein and fibre, giving the milk a smooth mouthfeel.

The Alternative Dairy Co range was in development for several years prior to its official release at Fine Foods Australia in September 2018, with St Ali providing comments on its taste and performance since 2017.

“Our guys are very serious about what they do, and are willing to giving honest and open feedback about products,” Lachlan says.

“Working so closely in the milk’s development, the last piece of the puzzle was to stock them once they launched.”

Alternative Dairy Co’s range is crafted at its Berkeley Vale factory on the New South Wales Central Coast. The

Shinsaku Fukayama has signed on as a Brand Ambassador for Alternative Dairy Co.

soy and almond milks are fortified with calcium to ensure its drinkers receive the same benefits they would from dairy milk, with fewer kilojoules and saturated fats. Emma says Alternative Dairy Co is an advocate for the benefits of plantbased foods and living a healthy lifestyle.

“We believe in giving Australians healthier choices that are good for them and better for the planet,” she says.

“It is an exciting time to be in the dairy-free milk business with more and more consumers seeking a plant-based lifestyle. Alternative Dairy Co is very excited to continue producing quality dairy-free milks and delivering consistent and reliable service to our customers.”

St Ali’s Lachlan says the decision to serve Alternative Dairy Co ultimately came down to taste.

“Regardless of the other details, a product has got to taste great for us to consider using it,” he says.

“The milks have a balanced sweetness and richness of texture and flavour that sits nicely with coffee. Alternative Dairy Co has finally delivered a milk that truly complements espresso.”

Lachlan says customers approve of the dairy-free milks, commenting that the strong almond flavours do not overwhelm the coffee.

“Feedback from our customers has been excellent, especially from people who drink almond milk but don’t necessarily appreciate the taste,” he says. “[Alternative Dairy Co] has got the right balance. It’s not too over the top with that roasted almond flavour, and there’s a natural sweetness to it.”

St Ali’s baristas have also taken to the product, appreciating the ease with which they can handle the almond milk in particular.

“While there’s always challenges with alternative milks because of the protein structures being different to dairy, we’ve found [Alternative Dairy Co] consistent and easy to steam,” Lachlan says.

“It heats a little quicker than dairy milk, but that just means it requires a bit of early aeration. As far as products on the market go, it’s much easier than some of the other almond milks. In our opinion, this is the best alternative milk on the market.”

In addition to the St Ali partnership, Australian Specialty Coffee Association 2018 Australian Latte Art Champion and St Ali Trainer and Coach Shinsaku “Shin” Fukayama has signed on as an Alternative Dairy Co Brand Ambassador.

“Alternative Dairy Co milks have great functionality. They texture and stretch perfectly for latte art and enhance the coffee experience,” Shin says.

Emma says Shin’s latte art credentials made him an obvious choice to represent the company and demonstrate what its milks are capable of.

“Shin will represent Alternative Dairy Co at key trade events, and also coach coffee art classes on our behalf. He also has an amazing smile and positive outlook, which is perfectly suited to our brand,” she says.

Alternative Dairy Co’s next major event is Fine Foods in Sydney, September 2019. However, the company will hold smaller events with Shin and St Ali throughout the year which it will advertise via Instagram at @thealtdairycobarista.

“Based on the initial feedback we have received since launching the brand, we are very excited for the year ahead,” Emma says.

“Baristas are very happy with the way the milk textures and stretches.

Meanwhile, consumers are also pleasantly surprised by the great taste.

When choosing alternative dairy milk, you do not have to compromise on taste and quality.”

For more information, visit www.altdairyco.com or contact

enquiries@altdairyco.com

St Ali serves Alternative Dairy Co’s soy and almond milks at its South Melbourne flagship café.

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Dairy Alternatives MILKLAB LACTOSE FREE Milklab is an Australian collaboration between foodies, baristas, and farmers to develop milks that complement the intensity of espresso, and the texture and stretch needed for espresso-based coffees.

The Milklab mission is to source the best ingredients possible and trial different blends to ensure the perfect pour. Milklab is proudly designed and validated by experienced baristas and coffee professionals – because the best coffee deserves a better milk.

It collaborates with farmers including those in Australia’s Goulburn Valley to bring you a lactose free dairy milk. The Goulburn Valley is home to some of the longest serving Aussie dairy farmers who help supply Milklab with its freshly sourced milk.

Milklab Lactose Free was awarded a Silver Medal at 2019 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Show and is now available in 12 x one-litre cartons.

For more information, visit www.milklabco.com

CALIFIA FARMS BARISTA BLEND Califia Farms has formulated a version of its signature almond milk in partnership with baristas, for baristas. Using whole blanched almonds that are gently ground for a smooth creamy texture, Califia Farms Barista Blend creates full-bodied foam for better latte art. It’s easy to steam, rich in taste, and the perfect partner for any coffee.

Califia Farms Barista Blend is free of gluten and carrageenan while being vegan and kosher friendly. With zero clumping and zero splitting, Barista Blend will be your new go-to.

For more information, visit www.califiafarms.com.au

ALMOND BREEZE UNSWEETENED VANILLA More than 3000 almond growers make up the Blue Diamond Growers cooperative and have been pioneering how almonds are enjoyed for more than 100 years. Many of the Blue Diamond growers have been co-op members for generations, so there’s a lot of family pride in each carton of Almond Breeze.

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze provides a touch of Blue Diamond’s almonds’ natural sweet taste without added sugar, instead using a touch of natural vanilla.

The natural vanilla taste makes it the perfect accompaniment to smoothies, warm beverages, or even enjoyed on its own.

For more information, visit www.almondbreeze.com.au

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PAULS PROFESSIONAL With more than 80 years of dairy experience, rest assured that Pauls Professional has the right milk for you. With the only national dedicated milk brand and range in the café market, Pauls Professional milk is specifically produced from its local dairy farms to perfectly complement coffee. Whether it’s Full Cream, Trim, Skinny, or Café Crema, Pauls Professional has a premium product to meet your and your customer’s needs.

For more information, visit www.parmalatprofessional.com.au

THE ALTERNATIVE DAIRY CO BARISTA MILK Proudly Australian made, these dairy-free milks have been specially crafted for coffee in collaboration with baristas, café owners, and non-dairy milk consumers to achieve the perfect formulation to complement espresso.

The Alternative Dairy Co milks are designed to texture and stretch while allowing the espresso to shine. They are lactose and dairy free, vegan friendly, low in sugar, and do not contain gluten.

The Alternative Dairy Co is a preferred partner of St Ali Coffee Roaster and 2018 Australian Latter Art Champion Shinsaku Fukayama.

“Great functionality, textures, and stretches perfectly for latte art,” says Shinsaku Fukayama.

For more information or to trial The Alternative Dairy Co milks, contact Craig Lawson on enquiries@altdairyco.com or visit www.altdairyco.com/barista-hub

RIVERINA FRESH GOLD Riverina Fresh knows that making great coffee requires great ingredients, so it has on-site staff testing the quality of its milk for consistent functional performance every day. Riverina Fresh has a smooth, full-bodied flavour and an unmistakably rich mouthfeel. It also knows that not all coffee blends are the same, which is why it developed Riverina Fresh Gold.

Riverina Fresh Gold has been specially crafted to deliver a rich, creamy mouthfeel that complements strong coffee blends, yet allows light, subtle flavours to shine.

Riverina Fresh Gold is the milk of choice for Matt Lewin of Ona Coffee, 2019 Australian Barista Champion. “Riverina Fresh Gold was perfect for my competition blend, balancing the darker style chocolate flavours. It complements a range of coffee flavours and is why we use it at all our Ona cafés,” Matt says.

He will use Riverina Fresh Gold in Boston when he competes in the 2019 World Barista Championships in April.

Riverina Gold, Full Cream, Light, and Skim milk are available in two-litre and 10-litre formats.

To get your free trial* for your café, register at www.riverinafresh.com.au or on 1800 993 081 *Max 2 crates per store.

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ALMOND BREEZE BARISTA BLEND Almond Breeze Barista Blend is Australia’s first almond milk developed in partnership with baristas, for baristas.

It’s created with a focus on superior functionality and performance with coffee, especially for the experts behind the coffee machines.

Almond Breeze Barista Blend tastes terrific thanks to Blue Diamond’s premium almonds used in every carton. The industry-first formula ensures a rich, creamy froth to sit perfectly atop lattes and cappuccinos every time, just the way baristas and customers love.

Almond Breeze Barista Blend has no added cane sugar and is lower in sugar than any other café almond milk brand, so it not only tastes great and looks great, but is better for you too.

For more information on Almond Breeze, National Barista Day, the Australian Barista Census, and the barista and coffee community, visit www.baristasforbaristas.com

VITASOY CAFÉ FOR BARISTAS Grown by Aussie farmers. Made in Australia.

Vitasoy Café for Baristas range is made exclusively for the trade and has been specifically formulated to complement barista skills and deliver the perfect plant-based coffee every time. The range features Soy, Almond, and the newest member of the Vitasoy range, Oat milk. Vitasoy’s whole soy beans, almonds, and oats are harvested and delivered to its Wodonga Factory where a supply team makes sure only the best make it. Vitasoy preps the key ingredients until they are ready to be ground and blended with filtered water, before being enjoyed at cafés.

For more information, visit www.soy.com.au

CALIFIA FARMS OAT BARISTA BLEND Califia Farms’ Oat Barista Blend is landing in Australia.

Made with whole rolled oats, the Oat Barista Blend is completely unsweetened and has no gums or stabilisers. Crafted in partnership with the barista community, Califia Farms made sure it exceeds expectations on both taste and performance. It’s creamy, rich, and perfectly complements the natural, robust flavour of coffee. It also steams without splitting and creates a delicate foam for impressive latte art. Califia Farms’ new Oat Barista Blend will available in 2019.

For more information, visit www.califiafarms.com.au

SO GOOD VANILLA 1L FROZEN DESSERT Sanitarium So Good Vanilla 1L frozen dessert is 97 per cent fat-, lactose-, and animal-free. This deliciously creamy frozen dessert is the perfect vegan offering for all frozen dessert needs, including affogatos, iced coffees, and smoothies.

You do not have to miss out on your favourites to be dairy free.

For more information or to trial So Good’s frozen dessert, contact Wes Thomson on Wes.Thomson@sanitarium.com.au or visit www.sanitarium.com.au

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MILKLAB MACADAMIA Milklab Macadamia is made in Australia with 100 per cent Australian roasted macadamias, perfect for creamy lattes, smoothies, and more.

Milklab is an Australian collaboration between foodies, baristas, and farmers to develop milks that complement the intensity of espresso, and the texture and stretch needed for espressobased coffees.

The Milklab mission is to source the best ingredients possible and trial different blends to ensure the perfect pour. Milklab is proudly designed and validated by experienced baristas and coffee professionals – because the best coffee deserves a better milk.

For more information, visit www.milklabco.com

PAULS ZYMIL Pauls Zymil is Australia’s favourite lactose-free milk that loves its customers as much as they love their coffee. It is easy to digest, meaning that it is gentler on the stomach and less likely to leave customers feeling uncomfortable. Pauls Zymil is a beautiful, easy frothing milk, which gives a rich, dense, creamy froth to coffees.

It is the perfect choice for customers that want real dairy milk but don’t like or want soy or other non-dairy alternatives.

Pauls Zymil. Real milk, lactose free.

For more information, visit www.parmalatprofessional.com.au

D

eveloped in conjuction with the BeanScene magazine website, The Long & Short of It news EDM is dedicated to keeping the coffee industry abreast of the latest relevant news as it breaks, in addition to providing an electronic interface for the viewing of BeanScene magazine content. To keep up to date with fresh, informative and relevant content, register your details at www.beanscenemag.com.au A World-Class Coffee Magazine

APRIL 2019

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Backing techno and passion

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How water composition impacts flavour extraction

St Ali ’s instiga Salvatore Malate tes no ise sta Co

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

Leading ladies Gina Di Brita and Tilly Sproule have been awarded for their commitment and dedication to progressing the coffee industry in the way that the late Eleonora Genovese devoted her career.

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n the competition stage, Tilly Sproule of Tim Adams Specialty Coffee has a gift with words.

She captivates the audience with her recounts at origin and has the judges hanging on every syllable, but on the occasion she was named the 2019 Rising Star in the Eleonora Genovese Women in Coffee Awards, she had no words.

“I was honestly trying to hold back the tears, I was speechless. I felt extremely proud and in total shock hearing my name called out. There were so many amazing women nominated, all [of whom] I look up to and admire greatly, so it is an honour to receive this award for Rising Star,” she says. “There are so many amazing women in our industry and to be not only nominated but then trusted to receive this award, is such an honour and it is a humbling feeling to share this award with Gina [Di Brita, 2019 Eleonora Genovese Australian Coffee Woman of the Year] in Eleonora’s honour.

The Rising Star award is presented to an up and coming industry female who has made a great impression in their field of work, regardless of their length of time in the industry.

Tilly Sproule was commended for more than 10 years of service.

“Honestly, I was blown away that my name was [even] on the nominee list. I feel so supported by our industry, but most importantly my team at Tim Adams Specialty Coffee for their encouragement, belief and pushing me to be better. I have a long list of people who I respect and look up to, and it’s honestly an extremely special feeling knowing that I could potentially be on someone else’s list,” Tilly says.

Tilly began her career in coffee just over 10 years ago, working part-time while studying at University. She entered

G

Gina Di Brita is passionate about helping improve quality production for smallholder farmers.

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ina Di Brita of Numero Uno Coffee Roasters was lucky she booked her ticket back to Sydney at 8pm on the final day of the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) on 9 February.

She had wanted to stay around for the results of the ASCA coffee championships but something told her it would be worth the wait. Gina has been sent an Instagram message letting her know she was shortlisted for the 2019 Eleonora Genovese Australian Coffee Woman of the Year. Then, in front of hundreds who gathered around the ASCA competition stage, she was announced as the 2019 winner, presented by ASCA in collaboration with the Genovese family.

her first Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) coffee competitions five years ago, and has won the Northern Region Barista Championship the last four consecutive years.

“I have been in coffee for many years now but I believe receiving this award has sparked a little light in me to give back more than I ever have. To be the Rising Star, and motivate and inspire others, not just women but all baristas, to reach for their dreams and for them to truly trust that we all can [be] and are rising stars in our field,” Tilly says.

Tilly encourage other women on the rise in the Australian coffee industry to not hold themselves back, and step outside the box.

“Don’t ever doubt what you truly believe, trust yourself and your skills.

Believe in your dreams and strive for them. Don’t let anyone or anything hold you back,” Tilly says. “I would love to encourage as many women as possible to give ASCA competitions a go. If you are inspired by a routine or a message, contact that coffee professional and spark a conversation. Our industry is all about community and connection, and I believe in supporting each other, men and women.”

The Award recognises the many contributions Eleonora Genovese made to the Australian coffee community.

Like Eleonora, Gina was commended for her drive, leadership, and passion to unite the local and international coffee communities.

Gina is the former owner and operator of a multi-award winning tobacco farm, which she ran for 13 years in Queensland before taking on a Marketing Officer role with Far North Queensland Institute of TAFE for five years. She eventually moved back to Melbourne where she grew up, to further a marketing career.

One day while sitting in a café in Melbourne having a coffee, Gina remembers looking through the jobs section of the newspaper, thinking about

her dream job – a role where she would communicate with customers and use her expertise to solve people’s problems and make them happy. Then she saw a small advertisement with the words “marketing guru wanted” with a phone number. She intuitively felt this was for her.

It wasn’t until she arrived at the interview that she learned that the job vacancy was at a boutique coffee roaster. From one legal drug to another, after two interviews, the sales and marketing coffee job was hers, and Gina fell in love with coffee instantly.

In 2001, Gina moved to Sydney with her three daughters to help expand the Melbourne-based coffee company, and later in 2003, she started her own roasting business Numero Uno coffee.

“I could see the real need to offer a more personalised service,” Gina says. “There was no education and no support at the time to start a coffee roasting business. I joined the only association for the Australian coffee Industry at the time (ASCA), and at every given chance, I would volunteer at any ASCA event. Occasionally, a course from the Specialty coffee Association of America would come to Australia, and I would jump at the opportunity.”

In the early days, Gina would go door to door to introduce her coffee brand.

“I would say to myself before walking in a café: ‘If the coffee doesn’t come first for them, then it’s not a right fit’ and I’d walk out.

Funnily enough, most asked about price first.”

Gina has travelled to Central and South America forming direct trade partnerships with producers, but she is passionate about building relationships and helping improve quality and production with Australia’s closest coffee producers, smallholder farmers in Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea. Her goal is to see more of the money in the coffee supply chain flow directly to the farmers and their families.

“My mission is to create a program for improvement in gender equality through our holistic Barista and Coffee Roasting Centre for Excellence in Sydney, incorporating emotional and physical training.

This mission will be further enhanced to promote cultural exchange and strengthen people-to-people links in the rural coffee communities of Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea through specialty coffee knowledge, skills and training,” says Gina.

Gina says receiving this year’s Women in Coffee Award is an honour and privilege in recognition for her industry contributions.

“I can’t express how grateful I am. I must thank ASCA for providing a platform in recognising the importance of this initiative created in memory of the wonderful Eleonora Genovese. I was lucky to know Eli and share the WBC judging stage many times with her,” Gina says.

“What I love about this award is that I’ve been recognised and acknowledged within my industry. This is what makes it extra special.

I’ve been nominated for other awards in the past outside the coffee industry. There are so many women out there who are just as talented and deserving. I’ve dedicated 18 years to the industry while at the same time raising my three daughters as a single mum.

“It feels like the completion of a very long chapter in my coffee career, giving me the sense of leaving behind the many highs and lows, and propelling me into a new realm, a new chapter.”

Gina says the unexpected award has reignited a fire in her belly to push forward with my vision for 2019.

“It’s given me a new perspective and focus to keep serving this wonderful community of coffee,” she says. “I want to be a voice in affecting change, to keep raising the bar. No matter who you are, I encourage the individual to continue raising the standards within themselves, so that together we can align as respected equals for a more connected, inclusive and forward thinking, Australian coffee industry.”

After the award presentation, Gina made her flight home back to Sydney – carrying the winning plaque as she boarded the plane back to Sydney.

BARISTA PROFILES

We are the champions Introducing the 2019 ASCA Australian Coffee Champions who proved they’ve got staying power, can take risks, and keep calm under pressure.

Matthew Lewin

2019 ASCA AUSTRALIAN BARISTA CHAMPION

I

t’s taken six years for Ona Coffee’s Matthew Lewin to declare himself the Australian Barista Champion, and now he can.

After competing in the Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) Vitasoy Australian Barista Championship finals since 2014, the one trophy lacking from the Ona Coffee Barista Trainer’s cabinet was the big one, first place.

“This is an incredible achievement for me. It doesn’t feel real. When Hugh Kelly’s name was called in second place, I was stunned,” Matthew says. “I’ve finished in every possible position from

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After six years competing in national finals, Matthew Lewin is the 2019 ASCA Vitasoy Australian Barista Champion.

second to sixth place, so to do it the hard way is so much more rewarding. You have the opportunity to think ‘OK, I’m not going to try anymore’, but every year I’ve improved, and grown as a person.”

Matthew’s finals presentation focused on two coffees from the Santa Barbara region of Honduras – Finca Beti (Ona Coffee Founder Sasa Sestic’s farm) and La Montañita.

Matthew used these coffees to explore the ways in which specialty coffee can

be shared with everyday coffee drinkers, and how to bring them into the ‘specialty bubble’.

Regardless of experience – a coffee professional or first time drinker, Matthew’s routine highlighted the need to “create a world where we can all see the full value of all coffee’s the same way” and to “connect people with coffee in a more personal, considerate and curated way”.

“It’s been a tough road to get here.

I’m so grateful for everyone who has helped me and taken me under their wing over the years,” Matthew says. “I made a big sacrifice moving interstate to train with the Ona team in Canberra, giving up everything I knew, but I stuck with it, and maybe persistence is what’s got me through.”

Matthew says placing fourth in last year’s finals was disappointing, but he picked himself up and went to compete in the Fushan Barista Cup in China, with a point to prove, and won. “[It] was was incredible and very rewarding to own that moment. It gave me the confidence I needed to keep working hard and continue the year,” he

Matthew Lewin’s winning routine focused on ways to bring the every day coffee drinker into the world of specialty coffee.

says. “Along the way I’ve had the most incredible support around me.”

The Barista Championships focuses on promoting excellence in coffee and advancing the barista profession.

Competitors must prepare prepare four espressos, four milk drinks, and four original signature drinks in a 15-minute performance.

For his milk beverages, Matthew used a Pacas variety coffee from Finca Beti.

He described the beverage tasting notes as consisting of “65 per cent single origin dark chocolate, and raw fermented cacao nibs”, a result of natural processing. To balance the coffee Matthew used 75 grams of full cream Riverina Fresh milk.

For his signature round, Matthew bridged the gap between darker style flavours used in his milk beverage, and lighter fruit notes from his Pacas variety

coffee from La Montanita farm. The extended growing time of 10 months on the trees is what produces the lighter flavours of the coffee, such as blood orange and ruby red grapefruit.

The coffee underwent sugar browning in the roasting process, and as espresso, was paired with blackened chestnut syrup, blended with equal weight water and strained through muslin. To bring the light fruit notes out of his espresso, Matthew roasted coconuts at 150°C for three hours to create roasted coconut water. Nine millimetres was added to his espresso. For lightness in the cup, Matthew added coffee ice, made with a filter roast of Montanita coffee. The overall taste profile was plum, orange juice and subtle fresh apricot.

Last served were Matthew’s espressos, using the semi-washed Pacas coffee. On first sip, Matthew described the coffee

as “medium weight, velvety mouthfeel, vibrant citrus, and medium to long finish”. On second sip he described the espresso tasting notes as “blood orange and red plum”.

“The calibre of the finals field was just incredible. It’s so hard to win here (in Australia), which is why it feels so surreal,” Matthew says. “I was competing against what I consider to be some of the best baristas in the world. It’s like winning the lottery, that’s how it feels.”

Matthew will represent Australian in the World Barista Championships, taking place at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, United States from 11 to 14 April.

“I know we have an amazing competition here in Australia, but it’s a big thing for someone to attend their first world competition,” Matthew says. “I just hope I can bring it.”

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BARISTA PROFILES

Yanina Ferreyra

2019 ASCA AUSTRALIAN BREWERS CUP CHAMPION

I

n her first national brewing competition, Yanina Ferreyra of Project Origin claimed top honours at the 2019 ASCA Australian Brewers Cup. “I’m not sure if it’s beginners’ luck. I can’t believe it,” Yanina says.

Yanina started working in the Australian coffee industry in 2010 and entered her first barista competition in 2016, in which she made the finals.

“This year I wanted to do something completely out of my depth. I didn’t want to do barista competitions again because I’d already done that, so I decided to give Brewers Cup a go – I didn’t even know how to do a V60 pour over until six months ago,” she says.

The Brewers Cup competition highlights the craft of filter coffee brewing

Jibbi Little

2019 ASCA AUSTRALIAN LATTE ART CHAMPION

J

ibbi Little’s joy was uncontainable when she was announced as the 2019 ASCA Australian Pauls Professional Latte Art Champion, her fifth attempt at the title.

The Sydney barista threw her arms in the air and screamed as her name was called and she was handed the trophy.

“I feel so happy and grateful to win,” Jibbi says. “I enter latte art competitions to see how my skills compare to the industry standards, and to learn from my mistakes and other great competitors.”

The Latte Art Championship is a 10-minute competition where Australia’s best and brightest showcase their creativity and technique in front of a panel of industry experts.

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by hand, promoting manual coffee brewing and service excellence. For her winning routine, Yanina using a natural Geisha coffee from Finca Deborah, the Jasper Evolution, which had been processed using carbonic maceration (CM) techniques.

In her presentation, Yanina spoke about her experience as a green bean buyer, and how experimentation in processing can be a risky, yet successful venture for producers.

“As a green bean buyer, I work with experimental processing. I tend to see a lot of crazy experiments happening at origin, but for this competition I wanted to present the judges and the audience with an elegant and refined version of aerobic fermentation

in the cup,” Yanina says. “I wanted to connect with the judges and show them how important it is to continue to improve the customer experience with better tasting coffee. Being a green bean buyer is not just about buying and selling good coffee.

It’s a responsibility to help the producers, to represent them the best we can, and to share innovation with consumers – that’s what I believe I did in my routine by using the Jasper CM coffee.”

Yanina will now represent Australian in the World Brewers Cup Championship in Boston, United States from 11 to 14 April.

“I can’t wait to represent Project Origin and Australia on the world stage,” Yanina says.

For her winning performance, Jibbi’s literary-influenced theme drew inspiration from her favourite stories as a child.

Jibbi’s designer latte art pattern drew inspiration from Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse. She used black colouring to accentuate the mouse’s eye and lion’s paws and facial features.

Jibbi’s free pour designs included interpretations of Mary Poppins and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Jibbi used a combination of techniques, including rosettas and dragging. She also used 2017 World Latte Art Champion Arnon Thitiprasert’s Cunning Eye to create the Fantastic Mr. Fox design.

“The Fox pattern is extremely similar to a real fox with, with two ears and an eye included in the pattern,” Jibbi says. “I think this level of realism helped me win the championship.”

The Mary Poppins design was crafted using rosettas for the hair, and dragging to create the figure’s bow and hat.

“These were some of my favourite books to read growing up,” Jibbi says.

“I really wanted to have a nanny when I was growing up because of [Mary Poppins].”

Jibbi will represent Australia at the 2019 World Latte Art Championship at World

of Coffee in Berlin, Germany from 8 to 10 June.

“I received good feedback from the judges about my designs, but need to polish all aspects of my routine to win the World Championship,” Jibbi says.

“I will practice a minimum of 10 hours a day. My focus in the first month is on designing new patterns and the next two will be working on my routine.”

S

low and steady won the race at the 2019 MJ Kim ASCA Australian TCX Cup Tasters Championship.

MJ Kim of Shamble Coffee Brewers in Melbourne placed first with a perfect score of 8/8 in six minutes and 28 seconds, the longest time recorded of the six finalists.

“I knew everyone else competing would be really good, so I just went for the perfect score and wasn’t really worried about the time,” MJ says.

“All that endeavour and time spent training was worthwhile. I’m very thankful to every single one of my friends who has helped and supported of me to achieve this result.”

MJ’s foray into the world of coffee began while working at a restaurant in Brisbane in 2014. After falling in love with the drink, she took a job as a barista at a roastery in Queensland.

“I was absolutely enchanted by coffee and got drawn in instantly.

After about a year working there, I decided to move down to Melbourne to pursue my passion in coffee,” MJ says. “I am lucky to have met all the people who have always inspired and helped me grow.”

The Australian Cup Tasters Championship sees competitor’s speed and accuracy put to the test. The coffee cuppers demonstrate their ability to distinguish the taste differences in specialty coffees by identifying the odd cup in each triangulation of eight as quickly as possible. The winner is whoever identifies the most odd coffees, with the fastest taking precedence in case of ties.

Runner-up Juwon Jung took an opposite approach to MJ, finishing with the fastest time of one minute and 41 seconds and scoring 7/8.

Matthew Smithies of Five Senses Coffee placed third.

To prepare for the competition, MJ set up the same set as the Australian Cup Tasters Championship at work with her colleagues and practiced as if it was the actual stage, “I worked with various origins of beans and roast profiles,” MJ says.

MJ will compete in the 2019 World Cup Tasters Championship at World of Coffee in Berlin, Germany from 8 to 10 June. She will attempt to win Australia’s second World Cup Tasters Championship in a row, following Yama Kim of Kingswood Coffee’s victory in 2018.

“I am honoured to go on the world’s stage with the chance to bring back a second trophy in a row for Australia,” MJ says. “I’ll definitely do more palate training [ahead of the World Championship], try to relax and go for a perfect score.”

2019 ASCA AUSTRALIAN CUP TASTERS CHAMPION

“...he has consistently focused on finding innovative ways to help producers improve coffee quality and consistency ... I look forward to reading his book and applaud his decision to invest profits in sustainable and community-driven initiatives in producing countries.”

Henry Wilson, Founder perfectdailygrind.com Journal of a World Barista Champion Follow the journey of Saša Šestić from war-torn Europe, to the Olympics Games and eventually, the World Barista Championship stage in his tell-all book, The Coffee Man. All proceeds from this book go to funding projects for coffeeproducing communities in countries across the world.

Learn more at sasasestic.com.au

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MICE2019

It came and went in the blink of an eye, but the memories of the eighth Melbourne International Coffee Expo live on.

DAY ONE

The first morning of the 2019 Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) felt like Christmas day, with a mixture of excited energy and anticipation for one special time of the year. Only on this occasion, the gift that would keep giving for the next three days, was coffee.

Early on Thursday 7 February, an unusual sight was observed outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). Crowds of exhibitors stood staring up at a large digital sign welcoming them to this year’s MICE. That was new, and so was the venue behind it.

Once indoors, the MCEC presented a large floor space with airy ceilings, air conditioning and a secure roof to withstand Melbourne’s random weather.

Overhead banners pointed in the direction of feature exhibits, but all one had to do was close their eyes and listen to the sounds of Australasia’s largest dedicated coffee expo to absorb the

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gravity of where they were. A bellowing voice echoed through the expo hall introducing the next barista competitor in the Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) Australian Coffee Championships. Fresh beans gushed into the hoppers, coffee machines warmed up, extractions were tested for optimum output, and steam arms put their power to the test.

Over at stands like the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association, Minas Hill, Cofinet, and the Cupping Room, the sweet sounds of slurping has already begun with coffee fans drawn to the bowls of hot brewing coffee like a moth to a light.

Day one was a whirl of stand activations, competition heats, and high profile guests who took advantage of the dedicated business day to do trade, network, create leads, and sell their service and product to those who had travelled from interstate or overseas.

This year saw 11,978 people walk

through the tradeshow doors, the fourth consecutive year of attendance growth.

Visitors came from 42 countries, with representatives from 25 media organisations including The Wall Street Journal, The Herald Sun and Fairfax media.

Of trade attendees, 35 per cent were café owners/senior management, 21 per cent were roasters, and 11 per cent were origin and trader representatives.

The majority of people (44 per cent) came to see existing suppliers or customers. Thirty-one per cent came to source new suppliers, 59 per cent to find/see new products, and 45 per cent to taste different coffees.

“MICE just keeps getting bigger and better. It’s a credit to the quality of exhibitors, their commitment to making the show a priority in their yearly landscape, and their support of our unique coffee industry,” says MICE Show Director Simon Coburn.

“What we have now is one of the most

sophisticated and important coffee expos in the Southern Hemisphere. Everyone who wants to be part of this coffee festival knows it is a must-attend event on the global calendar.”

The farmers knew it. They travelled for thousands of kilometres to be there.

They stood proudly as ambassadors of their country and profession on many of the stands, including Minas Hill, Five Senses, Southland Merchants, Coffee Board of India, 3 Brothers, and those down Origin Alley. When asked why they made the journey, one said it wasn’t only to see a kangaroo – it was to do business in one of the world’s most progressive coffee markets.

Day one had it all, demonstrations on grinder calibration at the Mocopan Stand, ‘Heroes and Heroines of the Coffee Industry’ talks as part of the Barista Social Club by Freedom Foods Group, a chance to meet a dairy farmer at the Riverina Fresh stand, latte art demonstrations by the reigning ASCA Australian Latte Art Champion Shinsaku Fukayama (if only for another two days) at the Alternative Dairy Co stand, and a master class with Swiss Barista Champion and Nuova Simonelli ambassador Andre Eiermann on the Espresso Mechanics stand.

Feedback on the new venue was largely positive throughout the day, but what really had people talking was the announcement that MICE would host the 2020 World Barista Championship (WBC) and Brewers Cup. “MICE2019 was already drawing enough hype, but then word started to spread about 2020, and excitement levels were taken to a whole other level,”

Veneziano Coffee Roasters presents its range of batch brew to MICE visitors.

Introducing the Aremde Nexus One bodiless espresso machine.

Simon says.

“It will be seven years since MICE hosted this world event when it roles around next June, but look how much the event has grown. We have the perfect place to host the WBC, and Melbourne as a coffee city, is in the ideal position to welcome the world back next year.”

Day one of MICE finished as quickly as it began, with afternoon cocktails quickly replacing the 5pm pick-me-upcoffee, and large crowds gathered at the ASCA stage to hear the Semi-Finalist announcements.

For those keen to party on, La Marzocco took care of that, with the

espresso machine manufacturer hosting night one of the industry events in the CBD as part of Melbourne Coffee Week.

DAY TWO

Coffee roasters know from experience that exhibitors look for a strong morning coffee on day two. After one day to walk around and dip your toes into the offerings, day two is about exploring even further.

Let’s start with some of the exiting new machine releases to make their national and even international debut at MICE. From nitro brewers to milk jugs, latte foamers to extraction stabilisers, new-release coffee gadgets and gizmos were put under the spotlight.

Over at the Rancilio stand, the large contingency used its Italian charm to talk all things Rancilio Specialty RS1, an espresso machine that drew plenty of attention for its patent-advanced temperature profiling technology. At the La Marzocco stand, part of the fun was watching the crowds bend over as they inspected the new KB90 in its first trade show appearance. This machine replaces the twist-and-lock portafilter action into a ‘straight in’ manoeuver. Then there was the Aremde Nexus One, a machine you could run your hand through, like a scene out of Casper the Friendly Ghost, and the push-bottom volumetric Slayer Steam EP. Innovation was rife. It wasn’t only espresso machines that had people taking notice. New milk dispensing units were considered from Milkit, Übermilk and Perfect Moose, to intelligence tools like Ordermentum’s Business Insights

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Zest Specialty Coffee presents its new-look packaging at MICE.

for Coffee Roasters, the Loring S7 Nighthawk automated roaster, Slingshot grinder, and various plant milks had customers knocking back soy, oat, and even pea milk (thanks MilkLab).

Over on the competition stage, routines got serious with more handraising close the 15-minute mark. The professionals were here to play. While on the Axil Coffee Roasters stand, it looked more like the launch day of a new iPhone as swarms of people made a beeline to the cupping table to try Anthony Douglas’ competition coffee – for free.

When it came time to mangia, as the Italians say, there were so many options the only problem was how to fit it all in. If you were after a breakfast treat, then Coffee Supreme’s coffee flight with peanut butter toast was a delight, as was Parmalat Professional’s triple cheese toasties, but the pièce de résistance that had everyone talking was St Ali’s Southern American-inspired menu and ‘those’ chicken tenders.

Over on the MilkLab stand, the Barista Battle Series saw competitors do battle in a latte art smackdown using MilkLab products. It was down to the wire, with crowds mobbing the stand, but it was the talent behind the coffee machine that stood composed.

Renowned latte artist Jibbi Little of Jibbijug reigned supreme, jumping for joy at the end result and the main prize of an origin trip for two.

That afternoon she also won a place in the Australian Latte Art Championship finals, as did five other latte artists for the following day. The finalist results for the brewers and barista

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competition were just as intense. There were tears and commiserations for those that didn’t make it through, and hugs for the finalists.

The lucky few headed straight home for final preparations, while everyone else ventured into the Melbourne night.

DAY THREE

The final day of MICE had arrived, and for some, rather too quickly as the affects of late night revellers were seen to be taking its toll.

There really was no better place to start the day than at one of the many roasters in Roasters Alley, such as Zest Specialty Coffee for a chance to explore flavour creation through fermentation.

Toby’s Estate had French barista champion Charlotte Malaval pouring filters like a pro, and Five Senses lured visitors with their famous coffees flights.

When the Ona coffee team weren’t congregated at the competition stage, their booth was an impressive set up of brews including its Cascara Cherry Bomb, signature coffee cocktails, and carbonic maceration coffees. And if you thought there was a rather young barista behind the bar, you weren’t mistaken.

Ona Founder Sasa Sestic’s son proved age is no barrier in the barista game, especially when your dad’s a former world champion.

The final day of MICE was all about the people. Public day was a chance for coffee enthusiasts to explore the unique coffee world, and gain an insight into the profession and industry they may one day call their own.

There were kids knocking back

babycinos and family members looking confused and intrigued at the competition stage that resembled more of a live cooking demonstration. But alas, this was the point – an introduction to the world of coffee.

Of the public members who came through the doors, 52 per cent said they made coffee at home with a domestic coffee machine, 19 per cent used a plunger, 13 per cent used capsules and 13 per cent of people used a stovetop.

Interestingly, 38 per cent said they spend $51 to $100 on coffee per month, 36 per cent $11 to $50 and 21 per cent spend more than $100 – the hard core fans.

While they were busy consuming as much free coffee as they could, over on the competition stage the grandstands filled as the final round of the national coffee championships got underway.

Baristas called “time” while latte artists turned Disney characters into works of art.

The crowd applauded, and conversations around the show floor were quickly drowned out as the finals heated up.

First up was the ASCA 2019 Australian TCX Cup Tasters Championship, with MJ Kim of Shamble Coffee Brewers scoring a perfect 8/8 in six minutes and 28 seconds to win the national title. Juwon Jung of Mikro Coffee Roasters placed second, and Matthew Smithies of Five Senses Coffee placed third.

After five years of being the latte art

bridesmaid but never the bride, Jibbi Little finally won the ASCA 2019 Australian Pauls Professional Latte Art Championship. Her reaction was everything a competition fighter would have expressed: stunned, unsure, excited and relieved. Alice Park of Pure Brew Co placed second and Zhao Ting Wu of Cote Terra Coffee placed third.

The girls’ reign at the top kept going as Yanina Ferreyra of Project Origin made a trifecta, winning the 2019 ASCA Australian Brewers Cup Champion, her first national brewing competition. Two-time Australian Brewers Cup Champion Devin Loong of Ona Coffee placed second, and David Train of Code Black Coffee placed third.

Then came the results of the most hotly contested event, the Barista competition. Six baristas became four, then four became three, until just two remained – Ona Coffee teammates Matthew Lewin and Hugh Kelly. Both looked nervous, but it was ultimately Matthew who looked the most stunned with the final result, completing a six-year journey to become this year’s Australian Vitasoy Barista Champion. His emotion was mute, but his coach Sasa Sestic well and truly made up for it, with tears of joy for a barista who has worked hard to chase his dream.

Ona wasn’t the only winner of the night. Gina Di Brita was named the 2019 Eleonora Genovese Women in Coffee award winner for her industry contribution, and Tilly Sproule of Tim Adams Specialty Coffee was awarded the Rising Star award.

In the 2019 Product Innovation Awards, United Supplies had the people’s vote, winning the People’s Choice for the Milkit Dual Milk Tap system, while BrewBar’s Energy Bar system won the Judge’s Choice in the Product Innovation Awards.

With so much energy in the room, it was time to celebrate another successful MICE that served its purpose of uniting the industry for one special week of the year. As exhibitors left the convention centre rolling suitcases out the door and showbags full of goodies, the rest of the industry made its way to Mercedes Me for St Ali’s official After Party.

The lights dimmed on another MICE, but the celebrations had only just begun with one thought on everyone’s mind: “MICE2019 was awesome, but bring on the Worlds in 2020”.

Crowds gather at Cofinet and 3 Brother’s stand for a Brazilian and Colombian coffee cupping.

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A World-Class Coffee Magazine

APRIL 2019

What lies beneath Quiet achievers have their say

Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani’s leading lessons

Separating roasting fact from fiction How water composition impacts flavour extraction

MICE2019 wrap

SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE & CAFÉ ESSENTIALS No.62 ISSN 1449-2547

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9 771449 254002

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From green bean traders to packaging companies, manufacturers to roasters, we invite you to share your sustainable commitment – it could be a particular product, technology or service.

The June edition of BeanScene will also highlight Café Essentials.

New and prospective café customers need to be equipped with the latest tech and must-have gadgets on the market that can assist their daily operations. To help make purchasing decisions easier, this feature will provide a one-stop-shopping guide for café owners to purchase point of sale equipment, alternative brewing devices, espresso machines, grinding equipment, barista tamps, and milk dispensing units.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be scene – and heard.

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FIRST CRACK

Raising the bar MICE2019 Product Innovation Award winner Energy Bar allows cafés and mobile sites to operate demanding equipment without access to a large power supply.

T

he World Surf League tours Australia every year, bringing the world’s best surfers to the country for a chance to brave the waves and claim a championship title. Under-the-counter espresso machine manufacturer BrewBar saw an opportunity to showcase its units at surf events, but hit a roadblock when the league moved to follow the waves.

“We wanted to cater for the World Surf League event but weren’t able to due to power restrictions,” BrewBar Director Brett McKimmin says.

“What I’ve learnt from attending and exhibiting at events around the world is that having to source a mobile supply of 20 to 32-ampere (A) is extremely difficult.”

Making coffee and steaming milk requires significant power for short bursts. BrewBar says to make quality coffee, commercial coffee machines need a high current, delivered through 20-A-plus power points.

“High current power points are not always available and may require expensive wiring. [Most] mobile coffee units are fitted with low current, two group machines which struggle in high volume situations,” Brett says. “These machines are generally single boiler machines and not the multi-boiler temperature-stable machines used for specialty coffee.”

Realising there was a need in the coffee market for a system that addresses mobile venues’ power requirements, BrewBar partnered with engineering company Move Energy, which was developing a product specifically to meet this demand.

“It essentially provides power where there was none,” Brett says. “This is the first system of its kind that we are aware of, and it opens up the opportunity for mobile units to be used in any location.”

The Energy Bar allows coffee machines and similar electrical equipment with significant energy requirements to operate from a 240-volt 10-A supply. It is equipped with an inverter, engineered software that manages and tracks peak waves of

Energy Bar can be purchased on its own or with a BrewBar under-the-counter espresso machine.

energy demand, and lithium-ion batteries to enable mobile usage. The unit comes in two models to cater to different power requirements: the EB100 and EB200.

While in battery mode, BrewBar estimates that the EB100 can run a standard espresso machine for up to five hours, producing 200 cups with a three-group unit or 250 cups on a two-group machine. The EB200 doubles that capacity.

“Energy Bar allows a coffee outlet to operate anywhere from the top of a snow field to the beach,” Brett says.

After use, the Energy Buffer can be plugged into a standard power point for charging. Full charge is attained in approximately three hours.

When plugged into a power point, Energy Bar enters power assist mode.

When a high current is required for heating water or steaming milk, for example, the Energy Bar boosts the output power from the battery. When not using high power, the battery remains in charge mode.

Brett says this technology proves useful inside a café as well as for mobile venues.

“Energy Bar can assist people who are establishing a new café in a venue that doesn’t have the capacity to power all of its equipment,” Brett says.

“The system can save people from having to do a lot of backend work, such as setting up distributor boards. This can be very time consuming and often costs up to thousands of dollars.”

With the idea conceptualised at the

2018 Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE), Brett says Energy Bar was developed in less than 12 months.

“There was a bit of a trial and error trying to understand the process.

Eventually, we measured a coffee machine’s peak energy requirements, and designed around what would allow us to operate on battery mode and work in power assist mode,” Move Energy Director Mark Wexler says.

Energy Bar was recognised at MICE2019, where it received the 2019 Product Innovation Award.

“We learnt at MICE the potential our system offers from an events point of view, but it also opened our eyes to the wider possibilities of this technology,” Brett says. “We received enquiries for use of the Energy Bar from food vans, and are looking to apply this technology across other areas of hospitality.”

While the Energy Bar can be purchased separately, BrewBar’s focus for 2019 is to integrate the Energy Bar new draw mounted system with its own underthe-bench espresso machines, for both mobile and stand-alone use.

“This will allow people purchasing our BrewBars to operate their equipment offsite and in high volumes,” Brett says.

“Having used the Energy Bar in events ourselves, I can tell you that being able to run a coffee machine without needing to worry about finding an outlet or limiting the use of power makes it very easy.”

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CAFÉ SCENE

The Sensory is a child-friendly café with an open space and kid’s play area for all to enjoy.

THE SENSORY 1 Borilla St, Emerald, Queensland, 4720 Open Tuesday to Friday 7am to 5pm, Saturday 7am to 2pm, Sunday 7am to 12pm 0434 881 329 When Sydney barista Peter Jeon moved to Emerald in Queensland, he brought a love of specialty coffee with him, and wanted to share it with the local community.

Peter opened The Sensory in November 2018, his second café in Emerald following the success of his first, Shelfield Coffee Brewers.

“Emerald is a mining town and many of the people moved here from big cities, so enough people wanted good coffee,” Peter says.

“I thought a specialty coffee shop might work here, and opening my own café was a dream. I knew if I opened my own coffee shop, Campos Coffee would be my first choice.”

The Sensory serves the Campos Superior Blend for its espresso-based beverages, which are prepared with a Mahlkönig grinder, Puqpress automatic tamper, and La Marzocco espresso machine.

“Campos was really big in Sydney and it was my favourite coffee,” Peter says.

“A lot of people are surprised to see Campos in Emerald. I try to bring the same level [of quality] you’d expect to find in the city.”

Single origins rotate on a monthly basis, and are prepared via V60 pour over and as Nitro cold brew. Peter says the cold brew is particularly popular due to the extreme temperatures in Emerald.

“Most of the people here try cold brew or V60 for the first time through

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us. I don’t think they’d like very strong coffee, so I try to make it smooth and gentle,” Peter says.

Despite operating two cafés close together, Peter says both have been successful due to them targeting different audiences. “[Shelfield] is not that big, it is more of a takeaway coffee spot. Its customers are mostly people on their way to work, especially in the mornings,” Peter says.

“The Sensory has more of a dine-in setting, which is particularly popular among mothers’ groups. I’ve tried to make it kid-friendly with a play area and lots of open space.”

Though operating in a small country town limits some of his cafés’ supply options, Peter says in some cases this has worked out for the better. “[In Emerald] there are women running home businesses, baking homemade sweets, muffins, cupcakes, and slices at home, who supply our café.

In my experience, customers prefer that

home-baked style food,” he says.

However, Peter has established relationships with some key suppliers, like Campos, that allow him to provide a specialty experience in Emerald.

“We are the first café who uses Milklab [barista range alternative milks] in the area,’ Peter says. “Delivery can be costly for a lot of suppliers, so I’m lucky I found good suppliers like Campos and Milklab.”

In the near future, he hopes to live up to The Sensory’s name by hosting cupping sessions at the venue.

“I want to bring that sensory experience to Emerald. I would attend Campos cupping sessions in Sydney and it helped me to understand coffee,” Peter says.

“I want to host filter coffee sessions here too. Because of the area, a lot of people have their own coffee machines at home, like small espresso machines and AeroPress. I want to demonstrate how to make nice filter coffees.”

Campos Coffee supplies The Sensory with its Superior Blend and rotating single origins.

CAFFEINE TRADER Shop R111, 1382 Albany Hwy, Westfield Carousel Shopping Centre, Cannington, Western Australia, 6107 Open Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Saturday 8am to 5pm, Thursday 8am to 9pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm (08) 9350 6075 Situated in Westfield Carousel Shopping Centre, local hot spot Caffeine Trader is the perfect pit stop after a long shopping trip.

Since opening, the Caffeine Trader team has seamlessly emerged within the Western Australian community. The coffee lovers of Cannington have been extremely happy and welcoming of the offering. The café says it has become their home away from home within the centre.

Being a loyal customer of Veneziano Coffee Roasters for 12 years, Caffeine Trader had no hesitation to source its beans from the roaster. The café values the product itself as well as Veneziano’s knowledge, and offers a diverse range.

It retails Veneziano’s full suite of blends and micro-lots and accompanying coffee accessories for customers to take home.

What takes Caffeine Trader’s experience to the next level is the

Caffeine Trader offers Chemex coffee prepared with a MarcoSP9.

alternative brew method on the bar, the Marco SP9. The SP9 offers a seamless process, in comparison to a traditional filter which can be time consuming and impractical in peak hours. It also offers a new experience for our customers to see.

For those who want to expand their coffee knowledge, Caffeine Trader says cuppings are a must. This allows customers and locals to gain a deeper

C O F F E E

understanding of the roasting process behind coffee and how it’s scored.

Customers can experience the qualities and faults to pinpoint what profiles they’re attracted to and increase their terminology when communicating with industry professionals.

Caffeine Trader is proud to bring a new urban coffee offering to the shopping centre.

R O A S T E R S

J O I N T H E C A U S E .

M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E .

We’re committed to sustainable practices, that’s why we’re converting 100% of our wholesale takeaway cups to Detpak’s RecycleMe™.

Endorsed by Planet Ark, every correctly disposed RecycleMe™ cup & lid collected, is guaranteed to be recycled into new products.

To find out more about this program plus, a full list of our participating cafes with designated RecycleMe™ bins, head over to our blog: www.localeespresso.com.au

CAFÉ SCENE KIND 16 McDonald St, Morningside, Auckland, 1025, New Zealand Open Monday 7:30am to 5pm, Tuesday to Friday 7:30am to late, Saturday 8am to late, Sunday 8am to 5pm +64 21 484 855 The last thing Cathie Cottle expected when she opened Kind café in Morningside, Auckland was for members of the All Blacks rugby team to frequent the female oriented café.

“It is not a demographic we aimed for at all, but we’re very close to Eden Park stadium and a couple of our All Blacks are of different faiths and have dietary needs because of that,” Cathie says.

“While developing Kind, I was given free rein to basically make it a café where I would like to go, and because of that we have a largely female demographic. We’ve been pleasantly surprised to have a lot of guys come in too.”

Kind serves a mostly plant-based menu with minimal use of animal products that caters to a wide variety of dietary needs.

Cathie says the ethos behind Kind is to make Morningside a greener place to live.

“We want to take people on a journey towards healthy eating, in a style that is kind to yourself, the neighbourhood, and the Earth,” she says.

Standouts on the menu Cathie recommends include the smashed beans, avocado on toast, and a barbecue breakfast burrito using pulled jackfruit. All pastries and sweets on display at the café are dairyfree and egg-free.

Kind boasts a French garden-themed decor to make guests feel a part of nature.

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Kind brews it espresso beverages using an under-the-counter Modbar espresso machine.

“Parents bring in children with severe allergies to things like egg and tell them, ‘you can have anything you want from this cabinet’. The little kids look up with their big, wide eyes and ask, ‘I can have anything?’” Cathie says.

“People with those sorts of dietary requirements, young and old, can come in and have choice. There are people who choose to eat a certain way, and there are others that have to. The response from people with these dietary restrictions has blown me away.”

Kind serves Coffee Supreme’s Supreme blend, which Cathie calls “a really nice all-round coffee”. It is prepared using an under-the-counter Modbar, which Cathie says is quite special for New Zealand.

“It definitely helps with customer interaction and that’s one of the things we wanted from it,” Cathie says. “There is no barrier between our staff and customers.

We even have bar stools at that area so

customers can talk to the barista, and be part of the café experience.”

Further contributing to that experience is Kind’s French garden-themed decor.

A see-through ceiling and walls create a glasshouse aesthetic over much of the venue.

“I really tried to blur the lines between outside and inside. We wanted people to feel that they were outside and among the plants and a part of nature,” Cathie says.

“Hopefully that will inspire them to do more to look after this world.”

Kind has also begun organising weekly workshops on topics ranging from composting to healthy cooking.

“We’re just starting the workshops, but the plan is for there to be one every Monday,” Cathie says.

“Morningside is very industrial, so we’re looking to add a little more community spirit as well as make it a greener place to live.”

DOCS COROWA 83 Sanger St, Corowa, New South Wales, 2646 Open Monday to Friday 7am to 3pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 2pm 0459 844 377 At only 20 years of age, Jack Schilg was excited to bring something new to the Corowa coffee scene when he took over Doc Yarrum Café a year and a half ago.

“I wanted to put a fresh modern café spin on it,” Jack says. “We’ve just finished pretty extensive renovations with some new architects in town. The new Docs has a contemporary feel to it, and the exterior looks really nice and inviting.”

Despite his youth, Jack has gathered a wealth of hospitality experience both behind an espresso machine and in the kitchen.

“I started off as a cook at the local whiskey factory and moved into coffee,” Jack says. “The opportunity to take over the café came up and it was something my business partner and I had always wanted to do.”

Docs’ modernisation isn’t only in the revised name and furnishings. Jack got in touch with Josh Pederick of Direct Hospitality to discuss his options in terms of offering specialty coffee. Josh

Docs recently underwent renovations to provide the venue with a contemporary feel.

recommended Seven Miles Coffee Roasters, who now supplies the café with Belaroma Octavia as its house blend.

Octavia is a light to medium roast characterised by milk-chocolate sweetness and clean acidity, combined with notes of creamy malt. “[Direct] tells us everything we need to know and Seven Miles have been really good to us. They and Josh come in often to see the café and ask how everything is going,” Jack says.

As well as the Belaroma blend, Docs serves The Cat’s Pyjamas as its “boutique coffee”.

The Cat’s Pyjamas features Latin American coffees that deliver a rich, chocolatey depth, while the spicy allure

of a wet-hulled Sumatran coffee adds an indulgent finish.

“I really like the name and absolutely love the taste. The regulars also appreciate how unique it is,” Jack says.

During weekdays, Corowa’s older community makes up a large part of Docs’ customers, with an influx of younger people on weekends. However, with Corowa located along the Murray River and surrounded by wineries, a large number of tourists visit the area.

“Seeing people happy with what you serve them is pretty rewarding, and we will keep improving our offering into the future,” Jack says. “We’d like to really cement ourselves as the place to go in Corowa for coffee.”

We’ve formulated a version of our beloved Almond milk just for Baristas.

Using whole blanched almonds for a smooth creamy texture, Califia Farms Barista Blend creates full-bodied foam for better latte art.

calif iafarms.com.au

australia@calif iafarms.com

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CAFÉ SCENE SALUMINISTI 892 Bourke St Docklands, Victoria, 3008 Open Monday to Saturday 7am to 3:30pm (03) 9088 2999 With two hole-in-the-wall stores in the CBD and a larger venue in the Docklands, Saluministi brings an authentic Italian experience to Melbourne. Visitors to the cafés can expect rich Italian-roasted coffee, good old-fashioned customer service, and its signature panini.

“Every single panino on our menu has a story behind it. Our salsiccia panino is based on our homemade salami recipe.

Our melanzane parmigiana (eggplant) panino is my mother-in-law’s recipe,” Coowner Peter Mastro says.

“It’s about really connecting with people, putting our story on a plate, and seeing people’s faces when they eat food they recognise. It brings back memories.

When it came to sourcing coffee for Saluministi, Peter says Lavazza was the only option he considered. “[Lavazza] is something I associate with myself and grew up on. I love the product, its style, what the brand represents, and the culture,” he says. “I’ve been good to

DEVOUR CAFÉ PATISSERIE 52 Davenport Tce, Richmond, South Australia, 5033 Open Monday to Friday 7am to 3pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 2pm When the original Devour was forced to relocate, Owner Quang Nguyen chose to adjust the venue’s focus from late night desserts to morning coffee.

Devour’s reborn menu now focuses on breakfast food with an Asian twist.

“We like to do things a bit differently.

Our breakfast bao in particular has been pretty popular. We do a range of them using different ingredients like egg and bacon, panko crumbed chicken, and mushroom and halloumi,” Quang says.

Devour’s menu includes Panko crumbed chicken and chili aioli breakfast bao.

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them, but they’ve been amazing to me. I’m Lavazza for life.

“We try to do coffee consciously and the way we grew up with it: consistent, oldschool Italian roasts.”

Saluministi prepares the Lavazza Super Gusto blend with La Marzocco espresso machines at its Docklands and Flinders Lane venues and a smaller Wega machine at its Causeway café. As well as espresso, Saluministi offers traditional stove-top caffettiera coffee, which Peter says elicits strong responses from guests.

“We’ve refined [the caffettiera] a lot, and made it more elegant. There’s some steps and procedures we’ve implemented to keep it consistent and offer a better product, but

it’s essentially what we grew up with,” Peter says.

“People come in, see the caffettiera and go ‘oh my god, you do that here?’ They try it and say we’ve done it justice. It’s given the respect it deserves.”

Peter says in hospitality, though it can be hard to operate a business on your own terms, Saluministi has been true to itself since day one.

“The food we want to do, the way we want to do it, for the people we want to do it for, when we want to do it,” he says.

“There is a market for everything and there’s an opportunity for us to really own that old school coffee style. Simple, basic coffee, when done right, is all you need.”

Saluministi serves traditonal caffettiera coffee alongside house-made panini.

In terms of coffee, Quang felt Devour had the potential to offer something new to the South Australian suburbs.

“Devour was one of the early suburban cafés to actually focus on quality and drive specialty coffee in the area,” Quang says.

“We’re good friends with Ian Callahan [owner of Bar 9] who’s done great things for Adelaide and thought we could bring that out further.”

The café serves a selection of Onaroasted coffee, including Black Betty for its house blend, with Raspberry Candy and The Founder also available.

Devour is Ona’s first café partner in South Australia. Quang says the relationship began when one

of Devour’s baristas struck up a conversation with the Ona team at the 2016 Melbourne International Coffee Expo.

“We brushed it off at first. Ona is such a big company and were doing so well.

We thought: ‘as if they’d be interested in someone as small as us.’ Then we got a phone call. The Ona team said they were coming down for a chat and it took off from there,” Quang says.

“Ona has been amazing. The support and education they offer us is incredible.

It’s been great to really get a chance to dive into the world of specialty coffee.”

Devour is one of three venues Quang operates in Adelaide, all serving Ona Coffee. He recently opened Shibui, a dessert bar to carry on the original Devour legacy, and co-owns Third Time Lucky with 2018 Australian Brewers Cup Champion Heath Dalziel.

“Devour is a bit more of a relaxed venue with a simpler offering and a much larger space, while Third Time Lucky offers a wider coffee selection and is more experimental,” Quang says.

“This means we can try new things there before introducing them at Devour. Right now, Heath is working with Ona’s Frozen Reserve coffees at Third Time Lucky. Once we’ve figured out the logistics, we’re looking forward to offering this at Devour too.”

GREEN COFFEE PARTNER TO AUSTRALIAN ROASTERS SINCE 1987

UGANDA

MOUNT ELGON GIBUZALE From a sustainable coffee scheme operated by our sister company in Uganda, Kyagalanyi Coffee, involving over 400 small family farms.

Farmers are supported by Kyagalanyi’s 37 field operatives who provide practical advice on improved farm management, including plant rejuvenation, use of organic/non organic fertilisers, pest/ disease control, climate change adaption and erosion control.

All Gibuzale coffee is grown between 1150 – 2200 metres and handpicked.

This is a true speciality coffee that’s juicy, has lovely balanced acidity along with red apple, caramel, black tea and dried figs.

Packed in roaster friendly 30kg bags.

More details on coficom.com.au

CONTACT 02 9809 6266 dariusz@coficom.com.au / john@coficom.com.au coficom.com.au

ORIGIN

John Russell Storey is the Marketing Manager of Trade at Cofi-Com.

Trekking Tanzania Cofi-Com’s John Russell Storey explores Tanzania’s countryside that reveals committed farmers, impressive coffees and a real life animal kingdom.

A

rriving in Tanzania was a world away from the bustling, crazy capital city experience of Kampala.

Kilimanjaro Airport is bang in the middle of the countryside, with the nearest major town well over an hour’s drive away.

Most arriving passengers are whisked away by tour operators heading off to big parks like Serengeti. For us, it was a short drive to a nearby lodge for an afternoon of R&R before driving almost two hours the next day through arid scrub and acacia trees to Burka and Mondul Estates.

On arrival, the greenery and shade of the estate seemed like an oasis. Edwin Agasso, who looks after quality and export, took us through a tasting session and history of the farm. As we drove through the estate, Edwin explained the complex cycle of pruning and stumping.

It was clear was that this was a tightly run operation. The thriving trees were a shining green that cames from care, water, and fertilisation. Signs on the various blocks showed the trees were of the Blue Mountain varietal, which we had just cupped: bright, bold body with chocolate and deliciously complex fruit notes.

The visit finished with a truly wonderful Burka AA coffee as we sat on the veranda of the original 1940s farmhouse on one of the highest peaks of the farm. Edwin wryly pointed out that the owner could see who was doing what at just about every point on the farm. The farmhouse is now heritage listed and maintained by the estate.

Then it was off to Karatu, our base for the next three days. The drive had its moments: a troop of cheeky baboons, the amazing sight of very young Masai boys chatting on mobiles herding 30 or

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Visiting the Mkwika North Agricultural Marketing Co-operative Society wet mill.

more cattle, and kilometres of Tanzanian countryside. Then, an inevitable puncture.

Fixing it was a masterclass in minimalism in just 10 minutes flat. An elderly gent and his assistant pulled out the offending screw, rammed in a soft rubber plug and cut off the excess with a penknife.

The final climb up through the mountains to Karatu was magnificent.

Lakes shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight and the views went on forever.

The following day, our host Harriet Ndola from Taylor Winch had us on a busy schedule of farm visits. Harriet’s background as a field support officer for three years meant we had an in-depth insight into each farm’s production cycle, the challenges farmers face, and how Taylor Winch has assisted.

For most field officers, their office is a dusty Land Cruiser travelling hundreds of kilometres every day on rough roads.

They have to earn the trust of farmers in their area through offering practical advice, covering everything from agricultural practices to personal finance.

Often the areas are remote, with the

nearest large town a couple of hours’ drive. The reward is seeing increased yields and projects coming to fruition like a framer building a new house or a mill being rebuilt. It’s hard work and only for the motivated and committed.

During the visits we saw how coffee borer disease was affecting farms and the expense that went into fighting it.

Another estate showed the steps they had taken to focus on specialty grade coffee. One estate brought home the fact that few children want to carry on the family business, and sadness as two generations of hard work come to an end.

The final visit on day one was Ngila Estate. Paul and Emmanuel, both senior managers at the farm, showed us around the mill. Their knowledge and passion stood out as they explained the improvements that had been implemented. Every area was signposted, the channels and fermentation tanks were white-tiled, and there was even the estate management structure on display. The place was immaculate.

In the parchment storage area, we

Kongoni Estate fast-processes picked cherries and covers drying parchment with shade cloth to improve coffee quality.

were shown gorgeous honey processed coffee and two barrels containing parchment. The coffee had been sitting in the old Burgundy barrels for a month or two and smelt divine. This was exactly what I’d been looking for.

In a walk around part of the farm, Ngila’s owner and director Vera Meyer pointed out an elephant fence that had to be put in place next to the bordering reserve. Apparently the local jumbos had a habit of taking a shortcut to a spot on a nearby hill where they liked to eat the high-mineral-content soil. The fence was a polite reminder to take the long way.

We were invited to stay for dinner, which was truly something special.

Imagine sitting on a veranda watching the African twilight approach. Monkeys chattered in the trees, night insects sang, and a breeze cooled everything down.

We had great conversation, ate delicious food, and drank cups of the estate’s honey processed coffee.

The next day we took a safari trip to the Ngorororo Crater. It’s one of the wonders of the world, 100 square kilometres inside an ancient crater.

Absolutely stunning. At the main viewpoint overlooking the crater is free Wi-Fi. It speaks volumes about how Tanzania values their tourist trade.

The next few days were hectic with Harriet making sure we saw an educational cross section of farms. First was Kongoni Estate where the last of the season’s cherries were being picked.

Reuben, the General Manager, explained that the estate was concentrating on improving every process that directly affected taste. This included fast processing of the picked cherries to covering drying parchment with shade cloth during the midday heat.

Then at Heights Estate, Owner Vimax gave us a personal insight into

the challenges of coffee growing and the effects of coffee borer disease. Coffee prices, cost of fertilisers, fighting pests, finding pickers during harvest, and being totally reliant on rainfall is not an easy life. Once he retires, the farm has to be sold. None of his children want to carry on the family business and Vimex understands why.

Next was Karatu Estate where very little coffee is wasted. Manager Vitesh knows how to make the most out of his harvest, picking every last cherry on the tree. Even after processing, rejected cherries and beans are hand checked for anything that could be salvaged. Vitesh’s day goes go on well after sunset.

In our last few days in Tanzania we visited cooperative-run wet mills including Mlimani Ngarashi Wet Mill and Mkwika North AMCOS (Agricultural Marketing Co-Operative Society). Each were proud of their coffees, knew all about specialty, and ensured their field support officers worked with them to increase quality.

In the end, we finally got to meet the incredibly busy Juan Jose Suelves, General Manager of Taylor Winch Tanzania. ‘JJ’ passionately believes in

being in the field, working with the field team, and talking to growers to make things actually happen. The rapport with farmers, whether on a small farm or modest sized estate was genuine. It allows new ideas and processing to be suggested and introduced.

Finally back in Moshi, we walked around the Rafiki Mill, a fascinating hour in among the equipment and processing that turns parchment into bagged and finished beans. With the sun going down, it was like something out of a movie set – shafts of fading sunlight, hisses, bangs, and roaring machines. The visit finished with a 48-coffee cupping session with Ballam and Philbert. We cupped coffees from all the growers we had met, and a few more. An absolute delight.

The final morning we snuck into the Tanzanian Coffee Board (TCB) auction rooms to see how they operated. I imagined a noisy room with harassed traders yelling offers and the banging of a gavel as each lot was sold. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Imagine a headmaster’s office, sombre, quiet, and huge. No-one said a word.

A screen shows what lot is offered and the various traders bid electronically.

The pace is fast. This system ensures that famers receive payment within a fortnight from auction day. Not concentrating for a few seconds means missing out on a wanted lot. On average, well over 200 coffees are cupped weekly, making our 10 to 15 cuppings per day seem inconsequential.

Leaving the auction, there was time for a coffee in a Moshi landmark, the Union Café. History seeped out the old black and white photos on the walls and the service was quaintly old fashioned, matched with delicious coffee.

Tanzania, like Uganda, has boundless energy and pride, brimming with potential. Coffee wise, it’s muscling up to produce some stunning specialty coffees, as well as incredibly good value commercials as we certainly know. It’s an origin standing out of the shadow of its big brother Kenya.

The Rafiki Mill in Moshi turn parchment into bagged and finished beans.

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FLAVOUR FASCINATION

Mandy DelVecchio is a flavour advocate for Zest Specialty Coffee Roasters.

The design of flavour Zest’s Mandy DelVecchio on how to explain the intricacies of specialty coffee flavour notes to an untrained palate.

A

t Zest, we’ve been exploring the specialty coffee lexicon for years.

Our mission as roasters has been to properly translate what exactly flavour means to the people who still don’t get it.

For most of us in the coffee industry, the third wave has granted us the well-developed skill (and obsession) of tasting coffee. Cupping sessions for us are purpose-driven. We are savvy to the flavour wheel. We can pick tropical fruit notes and delicate floral, chocolate, and sticky pineapple-jam flavours with a single sip. But, for the everyday drinker, understanding flavour comes with a very different learning curve.

If we don’t change the way we educate consumers about flavour, the specialty industry may struggle to sustain itself. Without greater awareness and appreciation of differentiation from cup to cup, the value, even the existence of these more obscure and delicious flavours, won’t translate to consumers. That’s where the buck stops.

Like many of our industry peers, at Zest, we’ve made significant effort to share the wonder of specialty coffee with those outside the fold with our developed knowledge and language of flavour. We go to great lengths to associate flavour traits with accessible sensory memories in the every day drinker.

You may remember our insanely busy dessert bar at MICE2017? We created an espresso bar that served up desserts to accompany our top three espresso

blends. This wasn’t just for sweetening up the public. The desserts themselves were carefully curated by our creative team with individual elements specific to the major tasting notes in each of the three coffees.

For instance, our African Mailman blend (El Salvador Pacamara/Ethiopian Guji) boasted flavour notes of dark berries, chocolate pudding, cream, and maple syrup, so that was on the plate.

If the drinker couldn’t taste the flavour notes in the coffee alone, they had an accessible reference to the exact flavours in front of them. Sure, it fell short for some and we don’t blame them – free lattes and cakes are exciting enough.

But even for the ones that didn’t get it on the day, at least now they had a reference to file away.

Around that same time we did a photoshoot for our blend cards that used the very same concept. We smashed the flavours together in a Pro Hart-inspired collage. The zest of a lime curled around plump blueberries with a bed of sticky mango, holding shards of musk. That was presented in the photo for our Composition VII blend (Ethiopia/Kenya), and it worked. The flavour became so obvious it lifted the whole experience.

Food works. It’s a great reference. But we all know there’s more to it than that.

Coffee is a tapestry of knowledge. It’s textural. Origin, terrain, and processing all make up the flavour experience.

With a recent review of Zest’s brand visuals, we set out to develop this idea a bit further, to entice the untrained palate

to dive in a little deeper. We wanted to create a journey for the eye and pull drinkers further into the tapestry.

To do that, we recruited the design team from Melbourne creative studio Pop&Pac, and they nailed the brief. It developed a similar concept to our dessert smash photography, but with a more complex design.

Our Flavour Terrains motifs are displayed on our new packaging, with the aim to offer the same purpose for our drinkers as the dessert bar and the photography did – to connect strong visuals to flavour and help translate the fascination. But of course, when you have a team of creative people as talented as Pop&Pac, plus months of development behind your brand story, the concept becomes something else entirely.

We wanted our customers to understand that there’s more to coffee flavour than meets the eye. To do that, we needed to create something visually and texturally appealing that’s slightly recognisable, yet also hints a texture of curiosity. The result is a wonderful fusion of topography, colour, texture, and a hint of the unknown.

Our mission, as a roaster, a company, and a creative team, is to transport our customers on that journey of flavour, from seed to cup. Our new packaging concept, Flavour Terrains, is a creative communication of the personality and unique flavour profile of each coffee we feature at Zest – an interpretation we believe is the perfect entry point for that journey.

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TECH TALK

Maurizio Marcocci is the Director of Service Sphere.

Top signs you need new equipment Maurizio Marcocci discusses the differences in repairing versus replacing equipment, and how to tell when your machine is on its last legs.

T

he lifespan of a coffee machine can vary greatly. So many factors come into play, including vend amount, servicing, brand, quality of machine, user error – the list goes on.

Just like an old car ticking over in the morning or putting along on a freeway and stalling every now and then, there’s often warning signs that something’s not quite right with an old faithful machine.

But how do you tell the difference between equipment that needs replacing versus repair?

First, a good indication of a machine’s lifecycle is to check for a label with a build date or serial number. About five to seven years for a high-end machine is about right, and five years for a lower budget machine. It’s important to know the behaviour of your machine and pay attention to three key elements: sight, taste, and sense. By looking, drinking and smelling your coffee, you can roughly establish the health of your machine.

Furthermore, some of the sure signs that your machine needs attention include: •T here are puddles or drips in places.

Usually, this is a sign that your seals have become brittle and are no longer working as required. If one leaks, usually most are worn.

• T here is a lack of steam pressure. This means the boiler and components are

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overfilling and parts are not working correctly requiring further inspection.

• T here’s a burnt taste in the coffee. This is caused by water scaling in the lines.

Overtime, the heat exchange blocks up with build-up of scaling and the coffee becomes burnt with hot water.

• T he steam and/or hot water tastes off, or has a bad smell. This is a super easy indication that once again that scale in the boiler and lines are to blame.

Ultimately, how does your coffee taste? Having good beans and good milk are a must, but if you have both of those things and notice the coffee is still not tasting great, then there’s a larger issue at play.

Ok, so if the above scenarios apply to your machine, then it’s time to get serious about your machine’s future, and ask: do I replace the broken parts or go for a brand new machine?

A friendly technician like one from the team at Service Sphere will be able to guide you through the next process, but we know it can be a tough one. We love all our machines but sometimes parts simply get broken. Knowing what to do next is a matter of weighing up the pros and cons.

THE ADVANTAGES OF REPAIRING A MACHINE:

• The

machine may simply require a cheap component and will return back

to its former glory in no time • User

knowledge on particular machine which may not be available anymore •S ave money. No replacement machine, no excessive cost •M inimal decision making. A repair is a far easier decision to make than scaling through a catalogue of machines to work out which one’s right for you and your needs.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF REPAIRING A MACHINE:

•P arts may be no longer be available and non-genuine replacement parts may have to be used • I t may be difficult to replace new parts on an old worn out machine.

•E xpensive and not economically viable in the long term •L ittle improvement. A repair may buy you time but it may not be a permanent solution. A repaired machine may also be challenged with keeping up with consumer demand, such as warming up the boiler tank.

However, before you get to replacement stage, there are some important things to consider if you want to help extend the life of a coffee machine.

• I nstall a good quality water filter. Water filters are used to prevent unwanted particles from entering the machine. By installing filters, less unwanted material

will flow through the water lines, thus decreasing the likeliness of scale in the machine, which overtime can take over the machine and ruin it •R egular servicing. Service Sphere recommends Preventative Maintenance. By doing so, you are not acting on reactive issues and doing quick fixes but ensuring machines are operating to their capacity. Depending on the volume you’re using your coffee machine, our dedicated team at Service Sphere can ensure you have a regular 12-month or more service to ensure any issues are addressed early before reaching crucial point. The last thing you want is an emergency breakdown to throw you out of business for days, if not weeks. Preventative Maintenance is your best bet to keeping your machine in healthy working order •R eplace old parts and follow manufacture specs. Using genuine spares that have been rigorously tested as opposed to a cheaper, often far inferior product •W hen replacing one component, think what else could be done at this point to avoid additional trips to a technician and additional costs down the track.

Repair is certainly one option, but what if you took the leap and replaced your machine altogether with something new and shiny. In the past year, I’ve noticed that more people are choosing to move towards full and semi-automatic machines offering better capabilities as opposed to fixing individual parts. This seems pretty logical really.

THE BENEFITS OF REPLACING A COFFEE MACHINE:

• Warranty is in date. Should there be anything wrong in the early stages of the machine’s life, most big issues will be covered by the manufacturer •G uaranteed customer support from manufacturers and technicans.

Technicians are not always familiar with older models and their intricacies.

•P arts are easy to locate and technicians are trained. For every new machine and model, technicians and service providers have learnt the ins and outs of the machines to help their customers maximise their usage. Pick their brains and be a sponge for information so you can utilise the machine to its full capacity.

And for whatever reason, if a part needed replacing, the newer the model the easier it would be to locate a replacement, unlike older parts.

•T he cleanliness of internals. Observe how lovely and clean the machine is –

Regular preventative maintenance is one way to help extend the life of a machine.

now try to keep it this way. A healthy machine is a happy machine, and this is the chance to treat it right from the start before dirt and scale start causing problems. This can be monitored with a regular preventative maintenance schedule, but the last thing you want to do is follow any bad habits from your last machine. Use this clean slate to look after your machine from the get-go.

• I ncreased features and performance.

The great thing about buying a new coffee machine is that they’re constantly updated. Newer machine offer features that are invaluable to managing workload, service and volume, such as telemetry, Bluetooth options, improved steam capacity, greater temperature control, greater consistency, warranty, aesthetics, improved functions – the list goes on. Old machines often have none of this •N ewer technology. Undoubtedly a new machine will have the cream of the crop when it comes to the most advanced technology. Back with the Black Eagle T3 came out and the Eversys Cameo, these machines had the latest and greatest of everything.

The next models will strive for much the same innovation.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF REPLACING A COFFEE MACHINE:

• Lengthy decision to make. Coming to terms with the decision to buy a new machine is one thing, the next is actually finding ‘the one’. You can be sitting on the fence between two or three models, but much like buying a new car, you

need to road-test them to see how it could fit into your environment •T ime needed to learn new functions.

Training a new staff member on any machine is time consuming to begin with, but if you purchase some from scratch it means you will have to become a pro on the machine yourself before teaching others •C ostly exercise. There’s no easy way round this fact. It’s going to pinch at first but what’s that saying? Short-term pain for long term gain It can be hard to let go of your tried and tested machine for a newer and often shinier upgrade. In my opinion, consider how long you’ve had your machine and have a good think about whether replacing a broken part will fix your problem.

At Service Sphere, we service new and old machines. We have a huge service department and spare parts centre backed by manufacturers, so we do it all, but ask yourself: if I repair a part, will I be jumping into the problem treadmill with one issue creating another? Is it even worth it?

In a commercial and competitive environment, replacement is a far more suitable option. You don’t have time to be walking on edge wondering if today’s the day your machine doesn’t steam, or your boiler fails to heat.

When the day comes that your machine can’t carry on any further, remember the good times you’ve shared together, the volume of coffees it’s made, and know that your decision to replace or repair is made with the best intentions for your customers, and hip pocket.

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ESPRESSO YOURSELF

Jibbi Little of Jibbijug is the 2018 ASCA Pauls Professional Australian Latte Art Champion.

Jibbi’s butterfly BeanScene welcomes Jibbi Little to the editorial team as she demonstrates one of her favourite floating insects.

I

finally did it. I’m sitting here writing my first editorial column for BeanScene and it’s because I’m an Australian Latte Art Champion.

Some might say it’s been a long time coming, but no-one knows the dedication and training I’ve put into my competition career more than I. It’s been a labour of love to come back year after year and put my best foot forward to show the judges my original patterns. Each year I look for that spark, that special something that will separate myself from all the other baristas all wanting the same thing as I do – to win, of course. This year was my turn. My fifth national competition and my fifth national final.

When my name was announced as the champion, I was in complete shock, so much so that I had to wait a second before reacting to make sure I hadn’t heard wrong. When the nodding heads in the audience and emcee Ross Quail confirmed the result, I screamed with sheer excitement and joy.

Now I’m training hard to compete in the World Latte Art

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Championship in Berlin in June. Until then, I’m excited to join the BeanScene team and share my love for latte art with you all.

My style is creative and crazy latte art creations, so before you come on a journey with me, ensure you have the latte art basics down pat (I’m talking tulips, rosettas, drags etc) because we’re not starting at the beginning. We’re jumping straight into it and recreating patterns I’ve used on the national stage.

For my first edition, I’m demonstrating my beautiful butterfly, a deceivingly challenging pattern. Don’t be fooled by its fluttering wings – it’s not just about how many rosettas you can pour down the cup, it’s about technique – continuous movement, correct hand position, and a tricky eye at the end inspired by 2017 World Latte Art Champion Arnon Thitiprasert’s Cunning Eye technique. But it’s all in the name of fun. I want you to enjoy the challenge, practice hard, pour thousands of cups, and keep trying until you produce something that brings a smile to your face and that of your customers. So come along on the ride, and let’s try some latte art.

1.

With your cup handle facing nine o’clock and the cup positioned in your fingertips, build up your base.

3.

Underneath, pour six single tulips down the cup, with each one slightly overlapping each other in height, side by side.

If you’re feeling adventurous, try a nine-leaf tulip in one go, pushing in one layer into the next down the cup.

5.

Continue the same drag and in one fluid movement pour a 10-leaf rosetta down the right hand side of the cup, in a tight squiggle action, or lots of little ‘S’ shapes.

7.

Rotate the cup handle to three o’clock. Pour a seven-leaf rosetta and pull up on the right hand side to create the butterfly’s body.

2.

In the centre of the cup, pour a three-leaf tulip to create the first wing.

4.

At the base of the last tulip drop, drag your pour in one long line along the right hand side of the pattern until the start of your first tulip.

6.

At the end of the rosetta, continue the drag of your pour up along the left hand side back to the top of the rosetta, but leaving a gap between the crema and white of the milk foam. This will form the butterfly’s wing.

8.

To create the butterfly head, pour a semi circle or Q shape at the end of the body. Then, fill the middle with another pour, leaving a little gap of the coffee crema to show contrast. This will give the illusion of an eye.

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TRAINING TACTICS

Jared Chapman is the National Account Manager for McDonald’s and Suntory Coffee ANZ.

The basics of grinder calibration Mocopan Coffee’s Jared Chapman explores the four variables that impact over- and under-extracted coffee and why coffee is a game of constant tasting.

T

aste. It’s what we’re all about in the coffee industry.

Striving for that sweeter, more delicious cup of coffee. This has led to a lot of work being put into understanding the many variables that affect the flavour we end up with in the cup.

With more information out there on

variables like particle size distribution and total dissolved solids (TDS), it can be overwhelming for a budding barista to start to understand the basics without getting confused by all the detail.

The purpose of this article is to stick to the basics of grinder calibration to help those who are still learning to better understand the process and basic

Grind too coarse and coffee is likely to taste sour. Grind too fine and over-extracted coffee will taste bitter.

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variables in calibration and their effect on flavour.

To illustrate this, I’ll be referring to the diagram on the right, which provides a simple way to look at the impact of these variables on flavour.

As you can see, the “sweet spot” is where we want to aim in our extraction.

This sweet spot will be different for every coffee based on a multitude of factors, but where the sweet spot lies for the particular coffee will determine our recipe. The two other flavour descriptors we are going to use are “sour” and “bitter” for under-extraction and over-extraction respectively. While there are many other traits in coffee that are over- or underextracted, these are generally the easiest to identify when first tasting coffee.

The reason these flavours are dominant in under- or over-extracted coffee is that each part of an espresso extraction tastes different – more sour, sweeter, or more bitter. The goal is to have a balance of these flavours to achieve a well-rounded espresso. If we don’t extract the coffee correctly, we’ll have too much of a particular flavour, so it may not be unpleasant, but it won’t be balanced. The main two ways this can happen is by the amount of time that coffee is exposed to water, and the amount of water it is exposed to.

These two things will be impacted by the four variables we are going to explore: grind (particle size), extraction time, dose, and yield.

GRIND/PARTICLE SIZE

This is essentially how coarse or fine our ground coffee particles are. The easiest way to think about it is to think of a coarse grind being like pebbles, and fine grind being like sand. Now, imagine you have a bucket of pebbles next to a bucket of sand. You pour water in the top. Which bucket does the water flow through fastest? The coarse pebbles.

Now, how does this translate to flavour? Looking at our diagram, if we have grind that is too coarse, our coffee is likely to taste sour. On the other hand, if our grind is too fine, we will overextract our coffee and it will be too bitter.

EXTRACTION TIME

Extraction time is the amount of time the water is in contact with the coffee, and has a large impact on the flavour of the coffee. Remember what we said before.

Coarse grind makes the coffee run faster. So, if we take another look at our diagram, unsurprisingly, an extraction that is too fast also results in an underextracted and sour coffee. Likewise, fine grind makes the coffee run slower, thus an extraction that is too slow results in an over-extracted and bitter coffee. You’ll notice that all of our other variables can

impact time, resulting in us taking too much or not enough from our coffee.

DOSE

We’re going to look at dose in isolation for a moment. Dose is the amount of ground coffee we’re putting in our basket, in grams. To understand the impact of dose on extraction time, and thus flavour, imagine that we’ve got our buckets again.

This time, the grind size is the same in both buckets, but one is half full and the other is full. In this case, which one will the water flow through faster? The half full one.

Again, how does this translate to flavour? According to our diagram, if we have too low a dose, our coffee is likely to taste sour (as it will run too fast). On the other hand, if our dose is too large, we will over-extract our coffee and it will be too bitter.

YIELD

Yield is a measure of the amount of liquid we extract from the coffee, in grams. It can be a little confusing that we measure liquid in grams instead of millilitres but the reason is simple: consistency.

Essentially, as coffee ages, it will extract with less gas, and thus a smaller crema (crema is largely made up of gas). This

means if we measure the same coffee extracted at different ages, the volume will be inconsistent due to the crema, but because the crema weighs almost nothing, the weight will still be consistent.

As we can see, a yield increase results in over-extraction and a yield decrease results in under-extraction.

Now, it’s important to understand that this diagram simply looks at what happens if we change each of the variables in isolation and keep the others the same. For example, if we make the grind finer or coarser without changing any other variables.

If we start changing multiple variables at once, things get a little more complicated. For example, if we decrease our dose (thus making our coffee more bitter), but increase our yield (making our extraction more sour) this won’t balance the flavour. Also, adjusting some variables can potentially affect other variables, for example adjusting grind can affect our dose also. We’ll cover these concepts in detail another time.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to experiment with your coffee and taste, taste, taste. There is no right or wrong and you may just come across something that unexplainably tastes great too.

Use this simple diagram to look at the impact of grind, time, dose, and yield on flavour variables.

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R&D LAB

Dr Monika Fekete is the Founder of Coffee Science Lab.

The power of perception Dr Monika Fekete investigates the role of minerals in brew water, asking whether they influence extraction or if it’s just our taste buds.

“

Y

ou must realise the power that water has,” explains Yanina Ferreyra, the recently crowned Australian Specialty Coffee Association Australian Brewer’s Cup champion.

Reflecting on her journey, she stresses “water plays a gigantic role, but there is much left to discover. Working with water opens up lots of questions”.

I couldn’t agree more. Experience shows that the mineral make-up of water has a substantial and even somewhat predictable effect on the taste outcomes of coffee. This immediately presents the question: what happens exactly? How do minerals modulate the taste of coffee?

I have recently reviewed the scientific literature to date on the role of minerals on taste outcomes (see R&D Lab article in BeanScene December 2018). Briefly, I found that while the role of bicarbonates is fairly well understood, the allimportant part played by cations (such as magnesium, Mg, and calcium, Ca,) remains obscure.

As proposed back in December, I set out to investigate if the key role of cations lies in aiding extraction or if they mainly act on our taste buds to affect the final taste experience.

As it turns out, taste perception has more to do with it than we might think.

A SENSORY EXPERIMENT

My goal was to test if a panel of coffee experts could taste a significant difference between coffee brewed with minerals added into the brew water (salts added pre-brew) as compared to the coffee sprinkled afterwards with the same salts

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The panel tasted samples with the same concentration of minerals added into the brew water (pre-brew, top) and into the extracted coffee (post-brew, bottom).

(salts added post-brew).

If the salts aid or block the passage of flavour compounds by chemically interacting with them during extraction, the pre-brew result should be quite different to the post-brew addition, where the salts never had the chance to work their magic on the extraction. In this case I would expect the panel to prefer one method over the other.

If there was no preference either way, we could argue that extraction proceeds similarly with or without the added

cations, and that they really only need to be present in the final brew in order to create a particular taste profile.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

The trial had to be carried out in a blind, randomised manner to minimise unconscious bias. Judges were not informed about the goal of the experiment to ensure they had minimal information that could affect their scoring.

Randomisation helped to remove potential confounding factors as I’ll explain below.

With the help of my hosts at Bennetts, we decided that 12 filter coffee samples would be close to the maximum that the panel could taste without significant palate fatigue. This allowed us to use two different coffees: a Colombian natural (Coffee 1), and a Guatemalan washed (Coffee 2). The two coffees were brewed using each method (with salts added preand post-brew), so we had four different samples altogether. Repeat samples were essential to account for any variation.

Three repeats of the four samples quickly built up the total of 12.

SAMPLE PREPARATION

All coffees were prepared in a separate room using the same automatic drip filter method: 120 grams of pre-ground and mixed coffee was brewed with two litres of water over a five-minute brew cycle into a thermos pot. The only exception was the water recipe.

For pre-brew samples, pure water was mixed with mineral concentrates to yield a final concentration of 75 parts per million (ppm) Ca and 75 ppm Mg. These levels were chosen based on previous taste tests to represent a significant but not completely overpowering difference compared to tap water.

The post-brew samples were prepared without any Ca or Mg added into the water. The minerals were added to the brewed coffee to result in the same final concentration in the coffee as in the prebrew samples, taking water retention in the spent grinds into account.

TASTING AND SCORING

The panel of 13 judges was carefully calibrated.

Samples were then served to the tasting panel in identical cups. The order of sample allocation to tasting station was randomised to make sure no one would always taste the first pump or the bottom of the jug.

The panel was asked to assign scores ranging five to 10 (average to exceptional) in 0.5-point increments for acidity, sweetness, body, balance, aftertaste, and overall attributes. They were also asked to list main tasting notes, without any lists or prompts.

In one sitting, all four samples were tasted once in a randomised order. The panel then had a short break, before returning to another two sittings to taste the same samples again in a new, random order. The samples were featured equally in each sitting to account for the progressive fatigue of the panel.

To me, crunching the numbers was the most exciting part of the experiment. The time has finally come

Adding minerals before or after extraction made no significant difference to the sensory assessment of the two coffees involved in the trial.

to deliver the verdict.

The result was very clear. The statistical test (non-parametric ANOVA) showed two main conclusions.

First, the panel had a strong preference for Coffee 1 over Coffee 2. As shown in Figure 2, Coffee 1 (red and orange) was given a median score of 7.5 for the overall attribute, a full point higher than Coffee 2 (purple and blue). (The median score is shown as the thicker line inside each box. Inside the box are commonly given scores, while the whiskers show the extremes.) The same trend was observed for all other attributes.

This result tells me that the scores given by the panel well reflected their preferences. They weren’t scoring at random. This makes the second observation even more interesting.

There was virtually no difference in the scores with respect to the brew method used.

For the overall attribute, the median score was equal for pre-brew and postbrew salt addition in the case of both Coffee 1 and Coffee 2. There was no statistically significant preference for either brew method for any sensory attribute.

Tasting notes were given freely, and frankly, I didn’t have great expectations of their usefulness. The result left me surprised.

Look at the word clouds over each sample. Larger fonts represent the most common tasting notes, smaller fonts the less common ones. The key notes for Coffee 1/ pre-brew (red) were plum, lemon, juicy, winey, chocolate, sweet, apple, and orange. Some caramel and a hint of dryness. These are nicely echoed in Coffee 1/post-brew (orange): winey,

chocolate, plum, dry, apple, caramel, bitter, with some sweetness, orange, and juicy notes. Coffee 2 was less liked, which is reflected in notes such as dry, woody, bitter, smoky, burnt, with caramel as a redeeming feature. The similarity between pre-brew (purple) and post-brew (blue) is glaring.

Like any experiment, this one has its limitations. However, I would argue that the results present a strong case to challenge our understanding of how minerals affect the taste of coffee.

Adding calcium and magnesium salts to coffee that was brewed with almost perfectly pure water yielded a taste experience indistinguishable to another coffee brewed with a high level of added minerals.

Is it all in our tastebuds then? Well, they might just play a bigger part then we expected.

Shifting our thinking this way could potentially open up avenues to help circumvent unpredictability and reduce undesirable side-effects minerals can cause in brewing equipment.

THANK YOU

The success of this experiment hinged on the number of tasters, their level of calibration and ability to score repeat samples consistently.

I felt overwhelmed and humbled by the response to my call for judges.

They made it possible to obtain quality data. I would also like to express huge thanks to Georgia Major and Thijs Baarda at Bennetts for the venue and their hard work in making this happen.

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What lies beneath Quiet achievers have their say

Simonelli Group CEO Fabio Ceccarani’s leading lessons

Separating roasting fact from fiction How water composition impacts flavour extraction

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ASTCA

Rebecca Zentveld is an Australian coffee specialist, Owner of Zentveld’s Coffee Roastery and Plantation, and President of the Australian Subtropical Coffee Association.

Border protection ASTCA’s Rebecca Zentveld on how to keep Australia’s coffee growing industry pest and disease free. bean they sell is for the purposes of roasting, not growing.

Back on home soil, there are, however, a few simple steps you can take to ensure Australia’s coffee production remains fruitful.

• At the roaster: Keep hessian bags separate from everything else and dispose of hessian bags responsibly.

Thoughtfully repurposing for art or craft work is ideal.

• When returning from origin: At international arrivals, do the right thing and declare your coffee farm visit to the quarantine officers and get your shoes sprayed by the biosecurity officer. It only takes a few minutes.

Also, wash all clothes, boots, jackets, and bags soon after returning home.

• When visiting an Australian coffee plantation: Either soon after returning from origin or after being in your roastery, tell the plantation staff where you have been and be sure not to have the same bags, boots or clothes.

If we all take biosecurity seriously, we can help prevent any breakout or transference of the dreaded coffee pests and diseases, and Australia’s coffee growing industry can bloom without fearing the future.

Pests can be easily transmitted on return from origin. Take the necessary precautions to protect Australia’s coffee producing industry.

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J.R Baker (right)

bring back coffee leaf rust spores on your clothes and shoes. Spores aren’t visible, but cling easily to clothing and textured material. The berry borer beetle can easily get caught up in folded clothing, or in a backpack or camera bag. Shake your clothes out thoroughly for any little critters.

• Never bring home hessian or jute coffee bags from origin. Also avoid bringing back small samples of green bean. If you do bring back small samples, treat them like the biosecurity hazard that they are and keep them isolated. Leave hessian bags at your roastery, and above all else, do not place anywhere near a coffee tree — even if in a garden or a pot. Leaf rust spores can last for weeks on hessian bags, and become active under the right conditions.

• Only use green beans for roasting. Do not germinate green beans yourself, or contract a local nursery to do so. This is illegal because the biosecurity risk is immense. The biosecurity protocols for importing coffee for roasting do not cover the purposes of growing coffee, which is far more stringent.

Australia’s legitimate, law abiding coffee importing companies know and strictly communicate that any green

Images: courtesy of hawaiicoffee.com (left) and

T

hanks to Australia’s geographical isolation, it is the only coffee-producing nation in the world that is free of coffee leaf rust and the coffee berry borer pest.

It’s also thanks to Australia’s rustresistant cultivars that Australian coffee growers enjoy the unique position of being able to grow naturally spray-free coffee in a cooler, subtropical climate.

However, with such isolation comes a degree of vulnerability, and we are always at risk of introduced pests and diseases.

If coffee pests such as the berry borer or leaf rust were to arrive on our plantations, the Australian coffee growing industry could be wiped out.

Farmers can only do so much to ensure that Australia’s coffee crops remain free of pests and disease. We also rely on the people visiting and working with international origins to be on the lookout, such as baristas and roasters, the ones who could accidentally introduce these pests to the country.

To avoid introducing pests and diseases to Australia, be aware of the following risks and rules.

• When returning from visiting origin plantations, you could inadvertently

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ASCA

Kieran Westlake is the President of the Australian Specialty Coffee Association.

Winner winner Another national coffee championship has come and gone, but it’s thanks to the support of dedicated businesses and sponsors who help bring these competitions to life each year.

W

e promised a bigger and better 2019, and so far the year has not disappointed.

The 2019 ASCA Australian Coffee Championships were the biggest and most successful yet, crowning our newest Australian champions.

Congratulations to: • Matthew Lewin of Ona Coffee – Vitasoy Australian Barista Champion • Yanina Ferryra of Project Origin – Australian Brewers Cup Champion • M J Kim of Shamble Coffee Brewers – TCX Australian Cup Tasters Champion • J ibbi Little of Jibbibug – Pauls Professional Australian Latte Art Champion.

As you read this, Matthew Lewin and Yanina Ferryra will be wowing the world in Boston, United States at the World Barista Championships and World Brewers Cup respectively, with MJ Kim and Jibbi Little set to show the world what they can do in Berlin, Germany in June. We can’t wait to share the results of our national champions and wish them all the very best of luck.

Of course, it’s impossible to run these events without the support of some fantastic companies.

ASCA works with partners that reflect its passion for excellence in the Australian specialty coffee industry.

It’s important to us that our members know who these companies are, so that we can ensure we’re all supporting those businesses that help us make this industry so great.

A special thanks goes to: • Vitasoy, title sponsor of the Australian Barista Championship

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Sponsors play an integral role in supporting ASCA’s national competitions.

• Pauls Professional, title sponsor and white milk supplier of the Australian Latte Art Championship • TCX, title sponsor of the Australian Cup Tasters Championship • AMC Roastery Supply, title sponsor of the Australian Roasting Championship, and grinder supplier across all Australian Coffee Championships • Espresso Mechanics, the official equipment supplier of the Australian Coffee Championships • Pullman Espresso Accessories, the official supplier of the baskets in all our espresso machines, and supporting sponsor of the Australian Barista Championship • Pentair Everpure, supplier of all filters used in the Australian Coffee Championship and supporting sponsor of the Australian Latte Art Championship • Xtracted Espresso Solutions, official competition bench supplier and supporting sponsor of the Australian Brewers Cup

• FTA Coffee, supplier of all Cup Tasters and Brewers Cup compulsory coffee, and supporting sponsor of the Australian Cup Tasters Championship • Just Coffee Insurance, providing our members with an outstanding insurance solution and supporting sponsor of the Australian Cup Tasters Championship • Castaway Packaging, supporting sponsor and supplier of all coffee bags for the Australian Roasting Championship • Condesa, supporting sponsor and official green bean supplier for the Australian Roasting Championship • Monin, title sponsor of the Coffee Chain Challenge.

• Silver Chef, corporate sponsor •B eanScene magazine, corporate sponsor Many of our sponsors offer members exclusive benefits and discounts. To see what these are, please log into your membership on the ASCA website and visit the ‘Special Offers’ section.

While I’m talking about member benefits, ASCA has launched its partnership with Member Advantage.

The program offers all members an extensive range of benefits and discounts, including on dining, shopping, entertainment, and travel.

These discounts extend outside of the coffee industry and are valid for a huge selection of everyday stores and experiences. You can access your Member Advantage discounts and offers through your membership login.

Sign up for our FREE newsletter at www.australianspecialtycoffee. com.au

NZSCA

Emma McDougall is the Communications and Administration Co-ordinator of the NZSCA.

Dove Chen flies high, again

W

inning a national competition of any description is challenging in itself, be it surfing, dog breeding or cake decorating. But winning a national title for a second time is the sign of a determined, dedicated and passionate champion, and that’s what we discovered in Dove Chen this year.

Due to the World Barista Championships (WBC) occurring in line with the Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Boston in April, the timeline to host the 2019 New Zealand Barista Championship was shortened. Given that we only had nine competitors in the field last year and a shorter timeframe to find a champion, it was imperative to gain momentum and regenerate the competition, and that we did. This year’s event saw a sell-out field of 22 competitors, including a former champion.

After an incredible final on 3 February, it was the experienced hand of Dove Chen who won the 2019 Meadow Fresh New Zealand Barista Championship. Dove, of Grey Street Kitchen in Hamilton, had previously placed eighth in 2015, third (by two points) in 2016, and first in 2017.

After four years on the competition circuit, Dove says it was the theme of happiness that inspired him to compete once again.

“I didn’t give myself any pressure on the result. My goal was to deliver my happy coffees to my happy customers, [or] in this case, the judges,” he says.

Dove says the feedback he received in the previous year’s debrief was that his routine lacked personality. That valuable

feedback inspired Dove to bring more colour to his routine, while making his presentation simpler and more focused on the sensory experience.

Dove also credits a strong team effort including his wife Amy Chen, coaches Sam Low and David Huang, roaster Han Sol Kim, roaster and mentor John Gordon, and Dan Webster, Toni Izard-Price, Ria Lingad, Stu Hargie, Glenn Woodcock and the Grey Street Kitchen team.

For his routine, Dove used an anaerobic natural Gesha coffee from Finca Nuguo, Panama. Han Sol Kim from Handpicked Coffee drum-roasted the coffee for Dove’s espresso and signature drink courses.

“We focused on the balanced taste as well as showcasing all the flavours from the coffee,” he says.

John Gordon, 2018 Meadow Fresh New Zealand Barista Champion hot air roasted the coffee for the milk-based beverage course. “John used halogen to penetrate the inner beans during the drying phrase, in order to achieve the perfect development percentage in a fast roast,” Dove says.

Dove was also the recipient of this year’s NZSCA Most Outstanding Milk Beverage Award as voted by consumers.

He spent a lot of time experimenting with different milk to match the roasting style and decided to use the competition naming rights sponsor Meadow Fresh because it helped complement his concept of ‘sweetness and happiness’ in his milk coffee beverage. In this beverage he achieved flavours of banana milk, and Kiwi confectionary icon ‘pineapple lumps’.

For his signature beverage, Dove had a clear idea from the start.

“This coffee is very special to me as it

Image: ATPhoto

The NZSCA inducts a two-time barista champion and celebrates outstanding milk and newcomers to the New Zealand coffee industry.

Second time lucky for Dove Chen who will represent New Zealand on the world stage.

brought back my happy memories when I visited the producer José and Finca Nuguo.

The anaerobic natural process was one of the methods that José and I discussed before the harvest. It just stood out from other experiments, so I used different ingredients to represent and celebrate this process in the signature drink,” Dove says.

The NZSCA would like to thank our sponsors for making Dove’s championship campaign possible, and congratulate Kenneth Te of Society Coffee in Auckland who won $2000 cash as this year’s Best Newcomer, awarded to a first time competition entrant.

As for the second-time WBC competitor Dove, he will fly the flag for New Zealand in Boston from 11 to 14 April.

The New Zealand coffee industry is behind Dove as he flies high, again.

For more information on the New Zealand Specialty Coffee Association, or to join, visit www.nzsca.org

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E-SCENE

Every edition we highlight BeanScene’s digital coffee community, hearing from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram followers.

For more information, visit www.beanscenemag.com.au

JORDAN MONTGOMERY

I began working in the coffee industry while I was at university as a way to pay rent. I quickly become enveloped in the specialty coffee world and have spent years working in different areas, from behind the machine to origin trips, roasting and my current role in marketing.

One of my favourite coffee moments was on a recent trip to Ethiopia to visit some farms and washing stations.

We were taught how to sort coffee properly when suddenly, all the people working around us began singing, clapping, and laughing while they were working.

It was pure magic.

Being at the origin of coffee and enjoying such a joyous moment with the people that make it all happen was an experience I’ll never forget.

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FELIPE MARTELO

My name is Felipe Martelo from Colombia. I’m the Co-Founder of Hugo’s Cartel. Together with Mick Stepanian we decided to build an amazing mobile coffee shop, in which we enjoy a three-quarterfull long black everyday. We are committed to brewing the finest specialty Colombian coffee by Mule Coffee around Sydney, and eventually throughout Australia.

My coffee journey started 10 years ago when I first came to Australia. I just fell in love with the espresso machine. Working in two places (19 hours a day) for three years, I found the way to upskill myself to understand and treat coffee the right way. I quickly understood how powerful coffee was and how I could change people’s day with it. Since then, I’ve never stopped learning. After 10 years, I’m still in love with that espresso machine.

I’m excited to see what’s happening in the Australian coffee industry. I believe we’re in the right place at the right time to educate our customers about our coffee, our roots, and our passion.

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NADYA MARSHALL

My passion for coffee is the happiest of accidents that ever was. A timeless story of a charismatic uni student who took a job to pay for the beer, and ended up falling in love with a fickle little bean that took over her life. It’s true my first coffee gig was at McCafe 14 years ago, but I knew there was more to it. I went searching for answers, which lead me to many incredible adventures like competing with the likes of Tim Adams, and cupping with Toby Smith. I have tried other career paths. I quit my uni degree, but have always been a barista and am weirdly pouring at a winery at the moment. It really is the best days. My favourite café at the moment is in the town where I now live, Alby + Esters in Mudgee, New South Wales. My pug Penny and I love our morning long black.

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WE WANT YOU!

Have a coffee passion you’re dying to share?

We’d love to see it. Email a 150-word bio about your love of coffee, your favourite coffee moment, and a little about yourself with a high-resolution image (1MB or greater) to BeanScene Editor Sarah Baker: sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au

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Same difference.

Everything you do with milk, you can now do with oat.

AUSSIE GROWN & MADE

Finally a plant milk that works just like dairy.

When it comes to taste and foam quality, no other plant milk comes close to NEW Vitasoy CafĂŠ for Baristas Oat.^ With a mild and balanced flavour, and perfect fat content, it lets the beans speak for themselves. ^Based on our results from an independent blind trial with select baristas.

Full cream dairy milk used for the coffee above, Vitasoy CafĂŠ for Baristas Oat used for the coffee below.