Features

 Industry profiles

MICE2019 a ticket to the world

The Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) is like the Australian Open of tournaments – it’s the first major event to kick-off the year, one of the most revered expos on the circuit, and arguably a crowd favourite by exhibitor and attendee standards.

Event organisers are encouraging guests to plan their year wisely, starting with the Asia Pacific’s greatest coffee dedicated event, MICE 2019, from 7 to 9 February, before continuing onto the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, United States from 11 to 14 April for the World Barista Championship (WBC), and World of Coffee in Berlin, Germany from 8 to 10 June.

“Next year is going to be huge,” says MICE Show Director Simon Coburn. “MICE hosts what is already considered a world-class expo, but next year we want to be acknowledged as the first must-attend event on the global coffee calendar.”  Read more

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 Industry profiles

Australian Barista Champion Craig Simon’s long way to the top

Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi once said that champions are made from something they have deep inside of them  – a desire, a dream, a vision.  

One person who knows this well is three-time Australian Barista Champion Craig Simon who returned from the 2018 World Barista Championship (WBC) in June ranked seventh in the world. 

Naturally, Craig says there’s disappointment in his result given his countless hours of preparation and financial investment, but the result is yet another learning curve and another experience to add to his competition career, spanning more than a decade. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Bombora Coffee + Water Supplies looks at the latest filters

Filter brewing in its simplest form is coffee extracted with hot water. There’s always many brewing variables that can impact flavour, such as the freshness of the coffee, the recipe used and technique, whether it be via AeroPress, V60 Pour Over, or Clever Coffee Dripper, for instance. But at the end of the day, the outcome should be an uncomplicated and tasty extraction. Despite the constant improvement of technology embedded into high-tech espresso machines, sometimes it’s nice to acknowledge the beauty in simplistic brewing methods. The functionality of such devices has not changed much over the years, but new tools have made their way on the market to enhance the filter brewing process, and the team at Bombora is excited to welcome them to the market. Let’s take a look at our newest additions that are perfect for the home user, barista, and volume-driven café looking for an upgrade.   Read more

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 Origin

A model Costa Rican farm

October is Eduardo Gurdian’s favourite month of the year. It’s the start of crop season, when weather conditions are optimal for cherry picking, when staff receive a steady income, and the month he expects his first child to be born.

“October will be a good challenge for production volume and sleepless nights,” Eduardo says.

Eduardo is a sixth generation coffee professional. It’s too early to predict if his unborn son will join the family dynasty one day, but Eduardo is working hard to ensure he creates a sustainable legacy for the next generation of Costa Rican producers.  Read more

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 Industry profiles

Why café hot spots are driving property prices up

When real estate agents make their opening address on why a property is deserving of your hard earned dollars, they don’t just address the king-size kitchen, Olympic length pool and movie theatre, they mention the nearby coffee shops. 

According to Hockingstuart agent Daniel Atsis, café hot spots are driving property prices up and real estate agents aren’t afraid to use it as an attractive selling tool. 

“Buyers are looking for established suburbs that sell ‘lifestyle’ with all the trimmings, and sellers are using those lifestyle attractions such as cafés to add value to their properties,” Daniel says.  Read more

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 Knowledge Leader

CQI’s Mario Fernández on myth busting

Coffee Quality Institute’s Technical Director Mario Fernández is determined to bring coffee processing into the forefront of flavour control, but warns it comes with full responsibility.

Mario Fernández has a growing list of more than 50 problems, but his determination is not one. Rather, his spreadsheet of issues consist of common coffee processing myths he says are simply rumours that have circulated like a bad case of Chinese whispers.

For the past few years, that’s included the poor quality and mistrust of natural processed coffees, false claims about yeast fermentation and honey-processing methods, and one of Mario’s particular favourites – people preferring solar drying over mechanical drying just because it’s “more environmentally friendly”. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Veneziano Coffee Roasters on opening its new flagship café

Veneziano Coffee Roasters has opened the doors to its highly anticipated flagship café in Melbourne and invites the coffee community to become part of the specialty coffee experience.

It’s been four years since Veneziano Coffee Roasters closed the doors to its dedicated Bond Street Café in Melbourne. 

Since then, the brand has put its focus on growing and training its customers to embrace the Veneziano wings and flourish in their skills and businesses. Behind the scenes, however, the Melbourne-based roaster has been slowly progressing on the ultimate specialty coffee experience. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Toby’s Estate on its time to shift

Toby’s Estate on why its time to challenge perceptions, alter mindsets and recalibrate our tastebuds.

Early this year, Toby’s Estate launched the first volume of Shift, a limited edition series all about challenging perceptions and changing coffee experiences.

It is not the quick and habitual coffee drinking experience you might be accustomed to. Shift involves tasting curated coffees roasted to engage, push, and stretch the senses and what you thought you knew about coffee. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Square One Coffee Roasters thinks outside the box

Square One Coffee Roasters is committed to customer growth by delivering education that’s more visual than theoretical, and more personable than automated.

Square One Coffee Roaster’s Head Roaster Elika Rowell visits customers once a week – not just to ensure they’re upholding best coffee practices, but to create a common connection with baristas.

“We want to remove the idea that roasters sit on a pedestal, and only roast behind the scenes. We want to get out in front of our customers and be available to share our knowledge in a way that’s more direct and personable than a phone call or email,” Elika says. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Home grown Milkadamia

Milkadamia is created for consumers who want to support a sustainable approach to farming and a naturally grown product born just outside of Byron Bay. 

When it comes to designing the perfect dairy-alternative product for Australia’s discerning tastebuds, there’s two boxes that customers appreciate: Australian owned and Australian grown.

With those elements covered, Milkadamia Owner Morgan Roy says its time to introduce Australians to the product that saw him once approached for TV show Shark Tank USA. Read more

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