Proud Mary Owner Nolan Hirte has announced he is opening Proud Mary’s in Portland, Oregon in the United States – and he’s moving the family there too.
The Proud Mary Founder says one of the reasons for opening Proud Mary in Portland is because of Melbourne’s saturated café market. Read more
Italy’s largest airline Alitalia has signed a three-year partnership deal with Lavazza.
The new deal will see passengers on the Italian airline’s 147 routes able to savour an exclusive range of Lavazza’s coffees. Read more
New research has found tidy dining areas and fresh bathrooms are more important than service to guests.
The research initiative, carried out on behalf of hygiene brand Tork, involved a survey of 3000 restaurant guests and a unique eye-tracking experiment, devised to learn how a restaurant is perceived through the eyes of a guest. Read more
After 11 days living the life of a coffee farmer in Brazil, Nikolaos Kanakaris from Greece has been crowned the winner of Barista & Farmer 2016.
The 32-year-old barman from Athens won the third series of the reality talent show which took place from 3 – 13 May. Read more
Maria Paoli, host of Melbourne’s café tours, launched the Australian Women in Coffee Association on 11 May at Axil Coffee Roasters.
The new entity will serve as a networking group that recognises the contributions of women to the Australian coffee industry, and supports their continued growth. Read more
Project Origin has celebrated the best of El Salvador coffee in its inaugural event, which took place from 2 – 8 May.
With a score of 88.75, Ever Leonel Díaz Pérez from the Milaydi farm in the Chalatenango region took top honours in the Washed Category. Read more
The Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) has announced it will host five coffee championship events at World of Coffee Budapest in 2017, in partnership with World Coffee Events (WCE).
Hungary’s capital will open its arms from 13 – 15 June 2017 to host the World Brewers Cup, World Latte Art, World Coffee in Good Spirits, World Cup Tasters and World Cezve/Ibrik Championships at the SCAE’s annual speciality coffee event. Read more
By Ria Lingad, Cerebos Gregg’s 2016 New Zealand Brewers Cup Champion.
Next year is fast approaching and it’s time to start thinking about competing in the 2017 coffee championships – if you haven’t already done so.
No one can testify this sentiment more than me. Last year I decided to compete in New Zealand’s Brewers Cup simply to take some of my basic brewing skills to the next level. At the same time I gained the opportunity to zestfully share good cups of coffee with other people.
Winning the NZ Brewers Cup provided the outlet I needed to exploit my creativity and travel through a quest of discovering new tastes and connect with people with similar passions.
Here are my top five reasons to compete in Brewers Cup:
1. You are forced to deeply understand basic concepts and build a solid foundation
Understanding and mastering the many variables in brewing takes time and practice. Systematically, practice for the Brewers Cup compulsory rounds using coffees of varying roast degrees and development. It is as important to practice for the compulsory round as much as for the open service.
2: Practice and experience sharpen your taste buds
n When you accept taste is relative, that it is built upon taste experiences from when you are born, it opens a whole new dimension in understanding flavour and how ethnicity can influence your taste buds. Where we were raised or live, and our environment, plays a big part. In a competition like brewer’s cup where accuracy in describing taste is key, this poses a real challenge. There’s a lot of human element, such as ethnicity, at play.
3: Get to sweat the small stuff, at least in competition
Continual practice gets you to a point where the little things get noticed, reviewed, critiqued, overhauled, and eventually changed. Anyone who has competed on the world stage will know how important the minor details are. Consider breaking down score sheets in percentage rather than points, so you can see the weighting of each attribute and prioritise the high weight attributes in your presentation.
4: Meet amazing people as passionate as you
I have forged friendships that would never have happened if I’d not competed. From Tim Grocott, my cup maker, to Jose and Ailenne Gallardo, my coffee producers in Panama, and all the people I’ve met through this journey. It’s an incredibly magical thing to connect through coffee and I’m fortunate to have met genuine people who went the extra mile to help out.
5: Springboard on other people’s experiences and learnings
n Reach out for help – more often than not, people are keen to offer a helping hand. Don’t even think about snobbery and rejection. We all need help and I would definitely make it my mission to assist competitors next year.
Why not listen to that voice inside your head and give it a go? Start your preparations now.
For more information visit nzcra.org.nz/
Image credit: Dianne Jialei Wang
Australian food personality and cook Justine Schofield has been announced as The Coffee Club’s new National Food Ambassador.
The Coffee Club General Manager of Marketing Greg Bowell says Justine was the natural choice for the inaugural position, not only because she is well respected by her peers, but because her TV show Everyday Gourmet embodies all that The Coffee Club stands for. Read more
Allegra Events have announced the judges participating in Coffee Masters New York City 2016.
The line-up of international judges includes John Letoto of Greenway Coffee and Blacksmith in the United States, Anne Lunell of Koppi Roasters in Sweden, Dan Streetman of Irving Farm Coffee Roasters in NYC, David Donde of Truth Coffee Roasting in South Africa, and Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood of Colonna and Small’s in the United Kingdom. Read more