starbarista

World Barista Championships in London

2010-06-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

Last week London was abuzz with activity surrounding the World Barista Championships. The national champions of 54 countries came to London to compete for the title of World Barista Champion. Each competitor had 15 minutes to prepare four espressos, four cappucinos, and four espresso-based signature drinks of their own design. And they must do this all whilst talking passionately about the coffee they're using. This year's World Champion is Mike Phillips from the USA. Mike works for Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago and he is the first World Champion to come from the United States.

For all my WBC photographs click through here.

This year I volunteered to be a 'barista buddy'. My role was to help a competitor find equipment, ingredients and to provide local knowledge. I was the buddy to Honduran Champion Anna Lucia Hawitt and Argentina's Gustavo Castro. Ana Lucia, in the big image above, placed in the top 12 during the preliminary rounds and made it through to the semi-finals. You can watch her semi-final presentation here.

Watch live streaming video from worldbaristachampionship2010 at livestream.com

Chris Miller: The guy who cooks the coffee

2009-11-25T08:15:00.000-08:00

In this episode first we hear from La Colombe Torrefaction co-founder Todd Carmichael as he explains why he views coffee as a culinary experience and that he considers his lead roaster, Chris Miller, to be the head chef or 'the guy who cooks the coffee'. Then Chris shows me around their Philadelphia plant where millions of pounds of beans are roasted every year. We also hear co-founder Jean-Philippe Iberti as he tells me about their 15 kilo Vittoria roaster which they first started using back in 1993 when they were only producing 12 kilos of coffee a week.
(Duration 10:24)

Right click here to download this podcast.

Crescent Moon: Bringing Great Coffee to Rural South Jersey

2009-10-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

It has been over a year since I spent an afternoon with Sharon and Ron Vacarello and a few of their baristi at Crescent Moon Coffee and Tea, when I recorded this episode of the starbarista podcast. They do a fantastic job runnning an independent coffee shop and roastery in rural South Jersey in the USA. Have a listen as they tell us how they decided to roast beans themselves in order to ensure the highest quality, that local farmers stop in for espressos, and how they have taught young people the skills to go on and work for highly regarded coffee companies like Intelligentsia and Stumptown.

Click here to download this podcast.

Here are some more photos from my visit to Crescent Moon.

Taste of Canada at Square Mile

2009-06-25T04:29:00.000-07:00

Last night the coffee community of London gathered at the Square Mile Roastery in Bethnal Green to taste four espressos from Canada. The conviviality and caffeine combined to push the colours up a notch as we downed espresso after espresso after espresso. Many thanks to James, Annette and everyone else who made Taste of Canada possible.
All the images can be found via this link.

Gwilym is the World Barista Champion

2009-06-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Gwilym Davies - the current UK Barista Champion - is now the World Barista Champion. A few months ago Gwilym travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to compete with approximately 50 baristas from around the world for the title. Congratulations, Gwilym!
(I am just posting this now because I have been too busy drinking great coffee from this company:)

Gwilym Davies, United Kingdom - 2009 WBC Finals

Gwillym Davies, WBC champion talks a little about his drink preparation

Gwilym Davies 2009 UK Barista Champion

2009-03-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Gwilym Davies who has just been crowned the 2009 UK Barista Champion. I've just thrown this post up for people who want to know more about this great barista. (click here for full post with embedded media.)

Gwilym works outdoor coffee carts at two busy London markets. He uses coffee from East London's Square Mile Roasters.

Gwilym's winning espresso was a 50/50 blend made up of Finca San Jose Pulped Natural Red Catuaí from Erwin Mierisch and family in Nicaragua, and an El Molino de Santa Rita Washed Orange Bourbon from Jose Antonio Salaverria’s farm in El Salvador.

During the the final Gwilym's espresso and signature drink attained the highest scores. The idea behind his signature drink was to enhance flavours that were already in the espresso he was working with. He created an infusion of butter, cinamon, orange peel, muscovado syrup, and dark chocolate that he added to the espresso.

Here is Gwilym's semi-final performance:

Here's Gwilym's championship-winning final performance:

Here are all the videos from the UKBC Finals.

Here is a video of the results and an interview with Gwilym:

Here's a podcast about Gwilym.

(Note: At the time of recording Gwilym was using beans from a different London roastery.)

Click here to download this podcast.

Here are some photos of Gwilym at work on Whitecross Market

Below is a map showing the locations of Gwilym's coffee carts.

View Larger Map

Here's Gwilym on Google Street View:

View Larger Map

Articles about Gwilym in the media:
Gwilym is the odds on favourite to win WBC from Newsdesk.
It's the third wave of coffee in the Guardian on 16 March 2009
Evening Standard 10 March 2009
All hail Gwilym, the coffee king! from the Islington Gazette 18 March 2009
Hospitality Magazine 11 March 2009
CatererSearch 13 MArch 2009

Blog posts about the man:
Square Mile Coffee Blog
Gwilym Davies Barista Eccezionali from Belaphon
Twitchy interview with Gwilym

Makin' biscotti with Gilda

2008-12-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

starbarista catches up with Gilda Doganiero of Gilda's Biscotti. She has been dedicated to the art of baking traditional biscotti for the last 13 years since leaving her job as a pastry chef at Philadelphia's Four Seasons Hotel. In this podcast Gilda tells us about the origins of this noble Italian cookie as well as the story of how she started her company. (In the photo to the left Gilda is holding a tray of her lemon fig biscotti.) I would love to hear what you think of this podcast - so please leave your comments below.

Click here to download this podcast.

Caffe del Doge - Venice

2008-12-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went to Venice where I visited Caffe del Doge. This place should be on every coffee lovers list of must-visit cafes. On offer were eight single origin espressos as well as their 100% arabica and 50% arabica/50% robusta espressos and a decaffeinated one. You could also try all of these coffees in a French press as well. This is one of the most serious cafes I have been to and this really reflects itself in the variety and quality of the coffee that makes it into the cup. These people are serious about coffee in a way that lifts them to the top of the Italian coffee community. I just wish I had been able to stay longer than two days in order to have enjoyed more of their fine coffees. But don't despair if you don't live in Venice - there are also locations in Cairo, Palo Alto, and Tokyo where you can pop in and enjoy a quick late macchiatto!

Check out the setup above - eight grinders - each dedicated to grind a different single origin espresso. And don't forget to notice the piston-driven lever-style Brasillia espresso machine.

The quote below is printed on the wall above the espresso machines.

"Il caffè è un'accademia platonica...in questa accademia non si insegna niente, ma si imparano la socievolezza e il disincanto. Si può' chiacchierare, raccontare, ma non è possibile predicare, tenere comizi, far lezione". da Microcosmi

“Coffee is a platonic academy…..where no lessons are taught, but where one learns to socialize and to be enchanted. One can chat and gossip but it is forbidden to preach, lecture or instruct.”
-from Claudio Magris' Micronismi

And a view of the exterior on a grim day in late November:

They also give out these cool little trading cards for each of their single origen coffees (click the image to see the card at a larger, readable size):

The World of the Paris Cafe

2008-11-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

In this episode we go beyond coffee to explore a bit of the history of the venue in which this drink is served: the cafe. Starbarista recently caught up with author Scott Haine, an expert on Parisian cafe society. We spoke about the prominent role cafes and their owners played in the lives of 19th century workers, and how coffee was often more about alcohol than caffeine. We also touched on the cafe's place in Nazi-occupied Paris during the Second World War. This podcast is a bit longer than the previous ones (17 mins), so you might want to download it onto your iPod for easier listening.

Please feel free to leave your comments below. I would love to get some feedback on what I am doing so I can make these things as good as they can be.

Click here to download this podcast.

The Barista/Photographer Guy

2008-09-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

Just back from another whirlwind trip to the US. While I was in NYC I stopped in at La Colombe in Tribeca to visit Doug Wolfe - the barista we heard from in this podcast. He made me a delicious gibralter and then we talked about - you guessed it - coffee, as well as travel, and the various projects we are working on. Then Doug went into the back of the shop and brought out an advance copy of the book he did the photography for. The book is called il Viaggio di Vetri and Doug's photos are on the same high level as the coffee he makes. I have neither read the book nor tried the recipes yet but the food, bathed in kind, natural light, looked absolutely delicious. Doug spent more than a year photographing on location in both Italy and the USA. The book itself is by chef Marc Vetri of the highly-acclaimed Vetri Ristorante in Philadelphia.

You might ask what this has to do with coffee or cafe culture - or even baristas for that matter. The very essence of a successful cafe is that it connects people over expertly-prepared drink and food in an environment that has a calculated aesthetic. Doug seems to accomplish all this whether it be coaxing espresso-based drinks from his beloved Faema e61, making photographs with his medium format camera, or just plain chillin'.

You can purchase the book directly from Ten Speed Press.

The above image of the book cover was taken from the Ten Speed Press web site.

Jenni Bryant from Gimme! Coffee

2008-09-15T02:15:00.000-07:00

Starbarista recently caught up with Gimme! Coffee's Jenni Bryant at their recently-opened espresso bar in NYC's NoLiTa neighbourhood. Gimme! started up in 2000 with a single espresso bar in Ithaca, upstate New York. They now have four shops in the Ithaca area as well as a roastery. In 2003 Gimme! made their first foray into NYC when they opened a location in Brooklyn's trendy Williamsburg neighbourhood. In this podcast, Jenni talks about coffee and how it brings people together.

Click here to download this podcast.

Taste of New Zealand Espresso at Square Mile

2008-09-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

I am lucky to live in London's Bethnal Green neighbourhood on a multitude of counts - that number has increased with the recent opening of Square Mile Coffee roasters less than a five minute walk from my flat.

One evening last week they hosted a tasting of espressos from New Zealand. The event was attended by 45 people and all proceeds were donated to charity. In just over an hour barista James Hoffman (pictured above) pulled more than 160 shots of the four espressos. You can read more about it on Square Mile Coffee's own blog here.

Square Mile was started up earlier this year by James Hoffmann (World Barista Champion 2007), Anette Moldvaer (World Coffee Cup Tasting Champion 2007) and Stephen Morrissey (World Barista Champion 2008). These people bring a wealth of experience with them and it shows in their coffees - over the last couple of months I've been drinking their espresso at a few coffee carts around town and I look forward to it being more widely available as they convince more cafes and restaurants to pull their espresso.

Visit flickr to see more of my photos from the New Zealand espresso evening.

Barista Profile: Doug Wolfe of La Colombe

2008-09-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

Starbarista recently caught up with Doug Wolfe, a prominent barista who works at the La Colombe cafe in New York City's Tribeca, a place where you might see a Hollywood star rubbing shoulders with Senagalese street vendors. This podcast also features the voice of Todd Carmichael, who founded La Colombe along with his business partner Jean-Philippe Iberti in 1993 in Philadelphia.

Click here to download this podcast.

Bedouin Jerry Can Band

2008-09-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

This summer my photography work took me to the Larmer Tree Festival in Dorset, England where the Bedouin Jerry Can Band (BJB) were playing. Being interested in music from other cultures I had long known about this band but knew little about them or their connection to coffee. When I read the following in the festival programme I knew I had to check them out: The BJB are a collective of semi-nomadic musicians, poets, storytellers, and coffee grinders. There is also an olfactory dimension to their act as a coffee grinder brews and serves coffee for the audience . . . Even though their 'coffee grinder' really only went throught the motions, bringing out ready made filtered coffee from backstage, their performance was true to the grand tradition of the starbarista: engaging and entertaining an audience while making coffee. (If you are not seeing the photos click here for the full post.)

First he roasted the coffee . . .

Then he ground the coffee . . .

He then returned the ground coffee to the pan to either roast it again (surely not) or to brew the coffee . . .

Then out came the coffee pot which promptly went back stage. . .

Then seconds later out came a tray of BJB branded styrofoam cups (please guys have some paper ones printed up) full of what seemed like a very light roast filtered coffee . . .

. . . which was enjoyed by all . . .

After their performance I spotted them and asked if they wouldn't mind posing for a group photo . . .

Here a few close ups of band members . . .

starbarista does Philly, NYC, and South Jersey

2008-05-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

starbarista has just returned to London after a whirlwind caffeinated tour of the Mid-Atlantic coffee scene in the USA. I have gathered tons of audio for future episodes of the starbarista podcast series. These will be coming out over the next few months, so be sure to sign up via iTunes or using an RSS feed reader via the buttons to the right to make sure you don't miss them.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the baristi, roasters, cuppers, suppliers, wholesalers, coffee shop owners, customers and the baker who were generous in giving their time, coffee and biscotti to me.

In the next episodes of the podcast we will hear from the following people and companies:

Jean-Phillipe Iberti and Todd Carmichael the owners of La Colombe Torrefaction in Philadelphia
Doug Wolf a veteran barista at the La Colombe cafe in Tribeca, Manhattan
Jenni Bryant a barista and manager of Gimme! Coffee at her cafe in NYC's NoLiTa
Daniel Humphries and Daniel Mulu of Boot Coffee Consulting and Training who hosted a cupping of fine Ethiopeans at the Bodum showroom in Chelsea. (See picture above)
Gilda Doganeiro of Gilda's Biscotti in Salem, NJ
Sharron and Ron Vacarello the owners of Crescent Moon Coffee and Tea in Mullica Hill, NJ

Gwilym: It's All About The Coffee.

2008-04-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first episode of the starbarista podcasts. This time around we hear from Gwilym, a veteran barista with loads of experience under his belt. Having first worked in the burgeoning coffee scene in New Zealand ten years ago, he can now be found pulling espressos using Square Mile coffee at two popular London markets. starbarista recently caught up with him on Whitecross Market where his cart is open for business Monday to Friday. He is also at the Columbia Road Flower Market every Sunday. (Note: At the time of recording Gwilym was using beans from a different London roastery.)

Click here to download this podcast.