SCAE

Speciality Coffee Association of Europe

David Veal’s Blog: The delights to come in Maastricht in June

Apr 19

Posted by admin in Facebook, Filter Coffee, SCAE, SCAE Conference, SCAE Gold Cup Programme, Speciality Coffee, Speciality Coffee Association of Europe, Speciality Roasters, Twitter | No Comments

I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to June this year.

No World Cup, no European Championships, not even a holiday . . . but there is Maastricht. For anyone who has been there before, I am sure that you will want the opportunity to return and sample the delights of this beautiful city. For anyone who has never been, I can tell you it is one of the prettiest, most welcoming places you could visit.

In both cases our World of Coffee event, running 22nd – 24th June, is the perfect opportunity to visit. World Championships (including the new Brewers Cup), Exhibition, Roasters’ Village, the new Coffee Diploma Workshops, great social events– there really is something for everyone.

Don’t miss it: you can register on line now, and I hope to see you there.

In the meantime, I would like to know what readers think of the new Brewers Cup?  And, are there any ‘must visit’ places in Maastricht that we need to add to the itinerary? Please write and let us know!

David  Veal
Executive Director

The speciality sector shows itself off at the London Event at Caffè Culture

Jun 21

Posted by admin in Caffè Culture 2010, SCAE, SCAE Conference, Speciality Coffee Association of Europe, World Barista Championships | 2 Comments

I’m really excited—because we are about to launch the Association’s largest-ever event: our 2010 London Event at Caffè Culture.

All the planning and work of dozens of different people from every part of the sector comes together in the next few days, and we will be seeing the results with a busy Conference programme, four tracks of practical Workshops, and of course our five much-anticipated World Championships. (Even those who are not actually able to be here with us for these thrilling contests can plan to get in on the action by joining the live feed on both www.scae.com and on www.worldbaristachampionship.com).

Speaking of planning, this year visitors to Caffè Culture will need to do a bit of that themselves, because there are so many exhibitors that we have filled both the Grand and National Halls at Olympia. I would recommend looking at www.caffeculture.com to see the floor plan and plot your route around the show, because the latest innovations will be everywhere, and every important company in the sector will be represented. Want to see an Aeropress in action or taste an exquisite Indian speciality coffee? Caffè Culture will be the place!

It’s not only in the Championships where you’ll find the world’s top baristas. You can meet a number of world and national champions on the stands themselves—have a look at the CMA Astoria, Anfim, Kerry and La Spaziale stands, for a start: each of these will feature champions showing their expertise up close.

Of course, if you don’t meet all your colleagues and friends on the show floor, we have also arranged an enticing Social Programme (so enticing, in fact, that some of the events are unfortunately sold out!). There are still places at the Waterside pub evening on the Thames, however, and the ever-popular, quirky and surprise-filled Barista Party really looks like a winner this year too! (You can get tickets for both of these evening events at the SCAE stand in the SCAE Village area).

Our annual Event is always a good place to meet the most interesting members of the coffee business, but this year should be special, because not only are we showing off what our Association does, but also what our vibrant speciality coffee sector has to offer. You only need to look at the special London coffee map on the WBC website to see how impressive that sector is now—so, while you’re in London, experience it for yourself!

I look forward to meeting many of you in London, and I wish you all an enjoyable show!

Mick Wheeler
SCAE Executive Director

Mick Wheeler’s Blog 27/04/10 – Anaheim shows signs of a move back to filter coffee

Apr 27

Posted by admin in Filter Coffee, Speciality Coffee Association of America, United States Barista Championship, USBC | No Comments

Image courtesy of SCAA from the SCAA 2010 Symposium (Pool) on Flickr

For those of us from Europe who attended this year’s SCAA show in Anaheim, how we will remember it will probably be determined by whether we managed to get home in reasonable time, or whether we had to spend even more time enjoying the Californian sunshine than we intended. This is a pity, because overall, it was a good event: lively, well attended and thought provoking.

One of the interesting trends that was highlighted in the Symposium was the very definite move by a number of leading coffee bars back to filter coffee. Recent developments in single serve brewing are certainly spearheading this latest move. But it is also the theatre that can be created using the more traditional single cup pourover filters that has played a part in the decision of a number of the leading lights in the US coffee bar and café scene to aggressively push filter coffees.

True, a lot of the discussion centred on the question of whether customers would be prepared to wait for three to four minutes for their coffee to brew. But those who have embraced this latest wave argued that if you get your logistics and customer flow right, it gives the barista more time to talk to the customers, thereby enhancing the customer experience, without any loss in throughput. There was a degree of scepticism about this, but there is no doubt that those who have made the move seem to be more than happy with the results, and they highlighted the fact that the additional staff costs are outweighed by the reduction in waste.

The USBC went off well, amid lots of excitement, noise and enthusiasm, with last year’s winner Michael Phillips taking the crown again. Indeed it was repeats all round, with Ben Kaminsky once again claiming the Cup Tasting title, with Barrett Jones taking the Canadian title.

Of particular joy to me was the Leadership Medal of Merit award given by SCAA’s Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) to the most gracious and elegant woman in the business, Sunalini Menon. This thoroughly deserved recognition of an outstanding character, who has contributed so much to our appreciation and understanding of coffee quality, was applauded by all who were there.

The SCAA also recognised another really good friend, Gale Lingle, who received the outstanding contribution award, and Donald Schoenholt who was presented with the distinguished author award. For some unknown reason, the SCAA also gave me a special recognition award, which was very much appreciated and extremely flattering.

Mick

SCAE Guest Blog 6 – Colin Smith (Origin Tour Leader) explains the mysteries of the front cover of the new Café Europa

Apr 22

Posted by admin in Trip to Origin | No Comments

Cafe Europa 39In Café Europa 39, we have a full report on the SCAE’s origin trip to Hawaii, and some great pictures on the front cover. Every one tells a story . . .

You have to feel the atmosphere of Hawaii as well as tasting the great coffee—and we did. After travelling so far, we needed to experience as much as possible on the Big Island: the Pacific Ocean, the palm trees and the sun setting across the sea (unfortunately, as a tour group made up only of men, we had to imagine the romantic aspect!)

Swimming with the turtles in Pauoa Bay was a fantastic experience. As they swam right up to your snorkelling mask you could almost here them say “Ha, ha, you can’t touch me, I am protected” (but in Hawaiian, of course!)

Even while volcanic ash is changing our lives here in Europe, we remember that we made a point of looking at the spectacular Kilauea volcano, which pumps ash into the atmosphere too, and then we went on to see the images of the Ki Ki gods, protecting the outcasts of their society who managed to make their way to the Honaunau Ancient Sanctuary.

But this only was part of the trip to view the great coffee growing areas of Kona & Ka’u, with their numerous beautiful coffee plantations. We remember the green stretches of Malia Bolton’s farm and the tractor at work at Heavenly Hawaiian, the sign that indicates the steep slope of JN Coffee farms in Pahala, the lovely red cherry from Rusty’s farm and watching the selection of cherries at Hula Daddy – only the ripest cherry gives the wonderful flavour of Hawaiian coffee.

The group met for the photo on the cover with our hosts in Ka’u, and we remember that they had waited all day for us–because we were held up on the long trip to the bottom of the island–and yet they still gave us a great welcome.

So why the donkey? Well, donkeys run wild on the Mountain Thunder estate, and after a pleasant walk through the coffee trees we were confronted by two of these almost-too-friendly beasts, and they seemed to want to keep us on the lanai (a sort of raised balcony viewing platform) and it was up to our trusty guide John Langenstein to help us out and appease our over-eager four-legged friends.

To the sounds of the ukulele, we left the hotel and our experiences… but they will all be in our memories forever. And while the Hawaii State Certificate certifies the coffee quality, we all can certainly vouch for that too!

Hawaii was just the latest in the series of origin tours that the SCAE organises–you can join our next SCAE trip to origin this time to Brazil, in July 2010.

Colin Smith
Origin Tour Leader
Past President
Chair of the Communications Committee

SCAE Guest Blog 5 – Colin Smith on the Awards for Coffee Excellence

Apr 12

Posted by admin in Awards for Coffee Excellence 2010, Caffè Culture 2010, SCAE, Speciality Coffee, Speciality Coffee Association of Europe | No Comments

The human desire to win, to be acknowledged for achievement or to be recognised just for aspiration hasAward Trophy been the foundation of all progress in any field of life. In our coffee industry, the second largest in the world, there are so many aspects to the business that ultimately focus on the survival of the fittest.

The Awards for Coffee Excellence that the SCAE gives acknowledges people and organisations in different parts of the industry that work towards our aims for better quality in culture, production and presentation.

Nominated by members, and this year voted for by members too, the Awards acknowledge the effort made by individuals or groups. You can see the various categories of Award for 2010 by clicking here to visit the website. They will be presented during the SCAE Event at Caffè Culture in London this June.

The inspiration for the Awards came from Alf Kramer, who was behind the first presentation, when we gave out some “fun” Awards at our event in Rimini in 2004. The topics then were ‘Bold Initiative’, ‘Endurance’, ‘Miracle Maker’, ‘Producer’s Interest’, ‘Silent Achiever’, ‘True Sustainability’, ‘Vision of Quality’, ‘Worst Mistake’ and ‘Young Entrepreneur’. As you can see from the website, the number of categories is now much smaller, but they cover the main aspects of the trade and industry, and incorporate all of our ideals.

The actual trophies are based on a design inspired by the work of the Norwegian sculptor, Gustav Vigeland, (see right) whose monolith can be seen in the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. It interprets the human aim to reach higher levels of excellence by helping and supporting others in order to move upward together. Since 2006, we have had the Award trophies made by a Kenyan woodcarver, living near Mount Kenya in the coffee growing area.

Over the years, winners of the Awards for Coffee Excellence have been coffee shops and individuals that have incorporated novel ideas to promote their businesses, biased towards the quality of the coffee; coffee people who have spent time educating others in coffee technology and technique; and some who spend much of their free time inspiring others to enjoy the benefits of a well produced cup.

The producer has not been forgotten either, and we have recognised origin farmers who are experimenting all the time with methods to improve the crop, mills trying new ways of preparing the bean and others looking at the storage of the parchment before export. The award for Lifetime Achievement has been running since 2005, and it shows our appreciation for an individual who has dedicated much of his life to the promotion of quality.

Please look at the website and put forward the names of those that you think justify recognition for their efforts to improve coffee quality. We look forward in June to acknowledging the most inspiring people in the coffee business.

Mick Wheeler’s Blog 07/04/10 – Change – The Only Constant

Apr 7

Posted by admin in Caffè Culture 2010, SCAE, SCAE Conference, Speciality Coffee, Speciality Coffee Association of Europe | No Comments

SCAE Conference

‘The only constant we have in this world is change’…… François de La Rochefoucauld, 17th century writer

From the 17th Century to today, and for sure tomorrow, this will still ring true. So the focus of this year’s SCAE Conference at Caffè Culture could not be more apt, as it is all about change. Not change for change’s sake, but changing to keep abreast of our vibrant coffee industry as it develops to meet the needs and demands of the ever-changing 21st century.

Day One is entitled ‘Managing Change’ and focuses on change management strategies. Industry experts from international groups such as Starbucks and Caffè Nero will describe how they are meeting challenges and how they think it best to tackle them. Whatever size your business is, a strategy needs to be in place. Who better to listen to than Jeff Grout, a motivational business speaker who has advised, inspired and motivated those in industries as diverse as Morgan Stanley, Tesco, UBS and Saracens RFC.

Day Two, ‘A Whole New World’, is an exploration into different concepts for different markets. From the UK to Scandinavia, and mainland Europe to New Zealand, our guest speakers will share their knowledge of the latest developments in their corners of the coffee globe. So, if you want to adopt a fresh approach that has already been tried and tested on another continent, or if you are looking to expand into new markets, these experts could turn on that light for you.

Day Three is ‘Design 2020’ and provides an insight into the evolution of the café bar concept, which today has to carefully balance a combination of leisure, retail and workspace. Consumer trends are constantly being forecast, monitored and recorded –- and the demands put upon the coffee/café bar are frequently cited by other industry experts as the barometer of our times.

Our leading industry expert on this final day is David Schomer of Vivace in Seattle whose own unique insight has led him to determine what works most effectively for both the operator and the customer.

Be inspired, come and question – but don’t miss this opportunity to network the challenge of change.

Mick

SCAE Guest Blog 4 – Paul Stack talks about a ‘Brewvolution’

Mar 29

Posted by admin in SCAE Gold Cup Programme, World Barista Championships | No Comments

A bright future ahead for brewed coffee?

Brewed coffee has certainly grabbed the attention of the niche end of the market and therefore gained a serious audience in recent times—one which it hasn’t enjoyed for years.

Why the resurgence in interest in brewed coffee? Barista Championships, global communications and geekdom have been at the genesis of this re-awakening. The explosion in Barista Championships over the last decade, aligned with the mind-blowing advances in global communication infrastructures, personal web logs (blogs) and social networking, have enabled the move.

The openness of social networking has exposed the lies of marketing departments and allowed the coffee geeks of the world interrogate the ‘truths’ behind coffee. These coffee enthusiasts are an interesting demographic. Generally in the 18-30 age group, technically adept and without a hidden commercial intent, they probe the coffee industry armed with a healthy disrespect for accepted norms.

Ironically, these industry interrogators, who are fuelling the brewed coffee re-awakening, generally come from an espresso background, having been seduced by the passion for excellence and networking forums provided by the World Barista Championships. The driven barista then wanted to go deeper. Rather than be a performing monkey, the champion barista questioned coffee origins, processing methods, flavour profiles and the characteristics of their coffee choices. This led them to cupping different origins, ignoring commercial didacts, and simply chasing quality. Cupping coffee origins led this troupe of groundbreakers to different brew methods, because brewed coffee allows the nuances of coffees to be enjoyed and compared. Conversely, espresso’s intense strength makes it extremely difficult to contrast an origin’s flavour characteristics.

This movement coincided with an increase in the idea of terroirs for coffees, like the wine industry, whereby varietals, altitude and processing all deliver individual flavour characteristics to the cup.

With an energetic, young, well-travelled educated push for excellence in brewed coffee aligned with more and more access to single origin coffees with different processing methods, the movement was primed to benefit from the global economic boom, which fuelled a slew of micro-roasters interested in both exploring and investing in the quality end of the brewed coffee market.

The information sharing and web publication of this group’s findings has essentially exposed the coffee world’s marketing departments, who have spun stories to mask the fact that brewed coffee had universally slumped to an all-time quality nadir. Commercial ignorance and pressure to save costs yielded a standard of under-dosed, over-ground, over-roasted coffees. This led to an incorrect universal acceptance of filter coffee being bitter, over-extracted, weak coffee from poor quality beans. Shame.

Changing these perceptions will take a long time. Leading companies are taking the brave steps to do things properly, using Gold Cup brewing standards. A significant movement Stateside in brewed coffee is under way, led by companies like Intelligentsia and recently given an accepting nod by Starbucks starting the introduction of hand-brewed coffee across 11,000 stores, which can only positively influence the consumer in brew methods and the possibilities therein. The widespread availability of brewing devices for a relatively low capital spend will allow home baristas and consumers to challenge the poor norms exacted upon them on the high street.

Let’s not fool ourselves. Most of the volume roasters know what they are doing. Hopefully through education and networking, brewed coffee’s re-awakening can continue and thrive, eventually positively impacting the average brew on the high street.

Paul Stack
Operations Director, Marco
Programme Leader, SCAE Gold Cup Programme

Mick Wheeler’s Blog 24/03/10 – Can we rescue the industry at origin and keep the supply of great coffee?

Mar 24

Posted by admin in Cup of Excellence, ICO’s World Coffee Conference in Guatemala, World Barista Championships | No Comments

One of the more frightening issues raised at the recent ICO World Coffee Conference in Guatemala was the whole question of where we are going to get our future supplies of coffee from.

Demand continues to grow virtually unchecked, rising by around 2% per annum, reflecting world population growth and rising real disposable incomes, especially in emerging markets. However, at origin we see real problems, as pressure from population growth and urbanisation takes its toll, with coffee lands taken out of production to provide real estate for urban sprawl and greater food production for growing populations. You might say that the market will eventually redress the balance, as prices will rise to ensure the correct allocation of resources to the production of various commodities. That is true, but the transition might well be very painful—for all of us involved in the coffee business.

Do you realise that one of the biggest problems facing the industry at origin is its failure to attract young people into growing coffee? In Uganda, for example the average age of a coffee grower is 58—and getting older by the day. Young people are just not interested in subsistence farming, and they certainly have no time for what they see as an industry stuck in a time warp. There is an urgent need to commercialise coffee growing at every level, and to introduce greater technology in an effort to make coffee growing attractive to young, well-educated professionals.

And this is where I think we can play a major role. Coffee has become the beverage of choice for many of the young, well-educated professionals in the developed world. As an Association, we need to transfer that enthusiasm and passion for great coffee to origins, and assist with the development of internal markets, so that potential coffee growers don’t see coffee as something their fathers were involved with, but as a modern, dynamic industry, centred on excellence, in which they have a future.

Maybe I’m just too optimistic but, for me, this is a matter of enlightened self-interest. If we want great coffees in the future, then we have to invest in all parts of the industry today—and nowhere is this investment needed more than at origin. To an extent, we are already doing this, as more and more origins get involved in our championships, and a lot of the initiatives and programmes such as Cup of Excellence focus on the production of great coffees. I must also take my hat off to the many World Barista Champions who have travelled to origin to transfer their skills and knowledge to the fledging baristas in those countries. But can we and should we not be doing more?

-Mick

Mick Wheeler’s Blog 24/03/10 – Can we rescue the industry at origin and keep the supply of great coffee?

Mar 24

Posted by admin in Uncategorized | No Comments

Zambian farmer pouring red cherries

One of the more frightening issues raised at the recent ICO World Coffee Conference in Guatemala was the whole question of where we are going to get our future supplies of coffee from.

Demand continues to grow virtually unchecked, rising by around 2% per annum, reflecting world population growth and rising real disposable incomes, especially in emerging markets. However, at origin we see real problems, as pressure from population growth and urbanisation takes its toll, with coffee lands taken out of production to provide real estate for urban sprawl and greater food production for growing populations. You might say that the market will eventually redress the balance, as prices will rise to ensure the correct allocation of resources to the production of various commodities. That is true, but the transition might well be very painful—for all of us involved in the coffee business.

Do you realise that one of the biggest problems facing the industry at origin is its failure to attract young people into growing coffee? In Uganda, for example the average age of a coffee grower is 58—and getting older by the day. Young people are just not interested in subsistence farming, and they certainly have no time for what they see as an industry stuck in a time warp. There is an urgent need to commercialise coffee growing at every level, and to introduce greater technology in an effort to make coffee growing attractive to young, well-educated professionals.

And this is where I think we can play a major role. Coffee has become the beverage of choice for many of the young, well-educated professionals in the developed world. As an Association, we need to transfer that enthusiasm and passion for great coffee to origins, and assist with the development of internal markets, so that potential coffee growers don’t see coffee as something their fathers were involved with, but as a modern, dynamic industry, centred on excellence, in which they have a future.

Maybe I’m just too optimistic but, for me, this is a matter of enlightened self-interest. If we want great coffees in the future, then we have to invest in all parts of the industry today—and nowhere is this investment needed more than at origin. To an extent, we are already doing this, as more and more origins get involved in our championships, and a lot of the initiatives and programmes such as Cup of Excellence focus on the production of great coffees. I must also take my hat off to the many World Barista Champions who have travelled to origin to transfer their skills and knowledge to the fledging baristas in those countries. But can we and should we not be doing more?

Mick

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SCAE Guest Blog 3 – Hugh Gilmartin introduces the SCAE ‘Olympians’

Mar 18

Posted by admin in Uncategorized | No Comments

So, Ireland for the Triple Crown this year? England for the World Cup? Inter Milan for the Champions League? Or SCAE for most improved online team?

I often enjoy using sporting analogies and metaphors when running businesses and projects, because it is a great thing to model excellence on. After all it is usually only in sport that:

- The best talent actually plays every time

- It doesn’t matter about politics or if anybody likes them

- The biggest contributor gets paid the most

- The best players don’t get promoted to manager

- You are only as good as your last few games

- You are measured in a very transparent way

- You have to deliver—or you are out

We at the SCAE, like all teams, recognise the need to reinvent ourselves, perhaps sign a few new players, look at the coaching staff and drive ourselves to become a driving force in a few new arenas. We want this year’s award for Leadership in Coffee Education through our courses and programmes, networking through our events (including our “Cup Final” at Caffè Cuture in June), and we are making big strides to be a true voice in Speciality Coffee and lead the communications through our new web and social media platforms. More on all this in the coming weeks . . .

So, continuing the sporting and competition feel, let’s just take the last big sporting event, the Winter Olympics, and match our players and teams to theirs for a bit of fun:

Downhill
Gwilym Davies, Current World Barista Champion (http://prufrockcoffee.com)

Slalom
Valentina Kazachkova, Current World Cup Tasters Champion (http://www.world-cuptasting-championship.com)

Ski Jumping
Peter Hernou, Current World Latte Art Champion (http://www.world-latteart-championship.com)

Giant Slalom
Marta Piigli, Current World Coffee in Good Spirits Champion (http://www.world-coffee-in-good-spirits-championship.com)

Alpine Combined
Christina Koumpouni, Current World Cezve/Ibrik Champion (http://www.world-cezve-ibrik-championship.com)

Cross Country
Stephen Morrissey 2008 World Barista Champion (www.stephenmorrissey.org)

Freestyle
James Hoffman, 2007 World Barista Champion (www.jimseven.com)

Speed Skating
Steve Penk, WBC Chairman (sgp@laspaziale.co.uk)

Figure Skating
Cindy Chang, WBC Executive Director (http://www.worldbaristachampionship.com)

Snowboard
Steffen Schwarz Chair, Competitions Committee (steffen.schwarz@coffee-consulate.com)

Short Track
Mick Wheeler , SCAE Executive Director (mwheeler@scae.com)

Bobsleigh
Barista Champions, World Barista Championship (http://www.worldbaristachampionship.com)

Four-man Bobsleigh
Gold Cup Brewmasters, Gold Cup Programme (http://www.scae.com/the-scae-gold-cup-programme.html)

Luge
Latte Art Champions, World Latte Art Championship (http://www.world-latteart-championship.com)

Skeleton
Cupping Champions, World Cup Tasters Championship (http://www.world-cuptasting-championship.com)

Biathlon
Cezve/Ibrik Champions, World Cezve/Ibrik Championship (http://www.world-cezve-ibrik-championship.com)

Ice Hockey
UK Team, Best Nation Competition (http://www.scae.com/news/gallery/category/17-best-nation-prize-2009.html)

Curling
SCAE Communications Committee (colin@smithscoffee.co.uk)

Nordic Combined
Nordic Barista Cup (http://www.nordicbaristacup.com)

The main point is to see how many of our ‘players’ you know or recognise. You might decide to look a few of them up and see what they are doing, how good they are and perhaps how they could help your business or organisation.

Above all, we are asking for your support because—again, like all great teams—we are only as good as our supporters. I hope you can see progress.

Hope you all had a Happy St Patricks Day.

From Hugh Gilmartin, who has helped deliver the new Online Strategy with a great team – Mike Segal, Victoria Bishop, Mick Wheeler and Dean Salisbury.