5/7/2007
Goin' Back to Cali
Today marked the second day of the conference. It was truly difficult
to go inside as the weather was perfect, 70's and sunny. Now we know
the brilliance of site selection. The hardest part of the day was
deciding where to have an espresso or coffee. The clover machine
seemed to have rock star status with a crowd three deep around the new
latest thing. The idea behind the clover combines the french press
with the vacuum system to brew each cup of drip coffee uniquely. The
coffee is ground then steeped in a chamber before a piston rises and
the coffee is vacuumed through into the cup. Individual coffee profile
brewing may be a good idea for those of us who care enough but is
impractical for any working application due to time and labor
constraints. The cost is dear, too. For my pragmatic side, I would
say that as long as the final product tastes good I don't care so much
how one arrives there as regards equipment.
I
kicked tires on the equipment side looking at Probat and Diedrich
roasting machines. These roaster manufacturers are getting more adept
at adding profile control systems. Under this system, the roaster can
control the roast parameters from roast to roast to ensure that each
bean gets its' due respect, something we have been proponents of for
quite a while. On the cultural side, Probat is building its' roasters
by hand in Memphis, Tennessee now , so the German craftsmen can indulge
in their passion for barbeque pork. Only in America. I tried espresso
roasted on both traditional drum machines as well as fluid bed air
roasters and all I can say is that the final results are based more on
the quality of beans and the roasters' knack for blending. Again, as
long as the final product tastes good, who cares. Speaking of Germans,
I ran into my friend Markus LaBusch who bought espresso from us when he
worked for VW in Michigan before getting transferred to California.
Lucky guy. It is nice to see people with passion for coffee That is
what the SCAA show is about.
Another exhibitor with passion
for coffee is TransFair which hosted coffee growers from around the
globe and translators so they could communicate with the attendees. I
spoke with growers from Tanzania, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nicaragua
and Guatemala. Coffee is something that unites people across the globe
and if we can help provide support for farmers who are improving the
quality of the coffee we import, we should all be involved in this
process. Buy fair trade certified coffees.
I returned to the
board of India for an espresso which this time was a blend of mysore
nuggets, don't ask--mysore is actually a city in India, and monsooned
malabar. It had the pepper notes, but a more citrusy flavor and a
funky, earthy finish that went on and on. I have become enamored with
Indian coffees. Look for us to bring some on in the future. One
billion people can't just be drinking tea. Some Indians do like the
music of southern California because my brother phoned from India where
he's been working to let me hear that Snoop Dogg was on the playlist of
a club there. It made me think of the classic LL Cool J song I used to
listen to in high school: Goin' back to Cali. Any regrets about
coming out here for the show? Hmmm, I don't think so.
posted by roastmaster at 12:00 AM
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