St Ali

2008-07-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Throughout the rest of the year our cuppings will grow( look out for our new cupping room). We are looking at being registered Q-cuppers by the end of the year and have our own coffeelab.

I think we will be focussing on education and study as well as keeping up our focus on single origin coffees

the news.....

2008-06-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

Our recent trip overseas was to source another roaster for St Ali. Capacity has increased and will increase with the change over. So we have purchased a 15 kilo renegade for St Ali. Computer controlled profiling with the fully manual mode and the ability pretty much change drum speed, airflow etc etc really sold it for us. We have been getting some great results with the 5 k and hope it transforms straight onto the 15.

WBC go Dave!

2008-06-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

All the best for the qualifying and finals Dave, we will have our fingers crossed. It would be great to see Australia bring the title home. So most of the focus is on Copenhagen at the moment, but just to keep it real, we will be having some of the coffees David is using on as Single Origins over the next few days. Some big news next week, can't really let the cat out of the bag yet.

Coffees try the natural El Salvador, its a winner. The Pacamara as well is great. We will be having a few interesting brazils on as well.

Probat and Europe

2008-06-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here I am making the pilgrimage to Probat, thanks Antje for showing us around. Looked at the new Probat shop roasters which look pretty sweet as well. So we checked out some roaster guys who are rebuilding and reworking some roasters over in Belgium and the Netherlands, all doing great stuff.

Cupping this week is an El Salvador selection which is outstanding. 5 different El Salvadors that are really in a class of their own.

15 K roaster and on the road

2008-05-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks, all the best David and Con. Habib great work and hopefully next year, ripped off.... So lots of interest in the cupping on Saturdays and hoping that it will continue. Currently on the road looking at securing a roaster. Attached is the new renegade 15k which does look pretty sweet, over engineered as usual. Caught up with Deaton in L.A., doing great work and putting in the hours and looking forward to Copenhagen. Thanks dude and all the best. Check out deatons blog for all the lead up to the big event etc. Its on our links page I think.

Also great to see Emily from Cafe Imports out here, thanks Em...

Back...... from the SCAA

2008-05-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to all who helped the "kids" when they were over in the states. Bridget and Justin had a great time, perhaps too much of a good time even. Rueben and Russ were well looked after also. So thanks to Emily, David, Deaton and Skip. Look forward to returning the favour. Attached photos give a fairly good run down of events.

Ok a bit on the go at the moment, we are looking for a new roaster, and will be looking at a few changes to the layout at ST Ali. BBB is changing a little as well, we have secured the last clover on sale in Australia. Bridget caught up with Coeqco while in the USA and did a technicians course. As well as having a good look over the clover manufacturing line. And that Rwandan golden cup through the clover as well as through the espresso machine, coffee of the year so far..Congrats to Kyle as well...

Post Barista champs....whoa the head

2008-05-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Ok the fog has cleared slightly and we have less people timing our shots now.... Wow what a weekend, Congrats to all the competitors, the standard was fantastic, which makes Davids win a real highlight. Look out rest of the world. Thanks to everyone who attended Saturday night, it was a great night. On the other side of the world Bridget and Justin have been attending the SCAA conference in Minneapolis, lots of socializing, lectures and labs. Prior to the SCAA it was the Agtron course in Reno Nevada. Anyway they currently in Seattle with our friends at Coeqco, (David you are a bad influence), Synesso and checking the coffee scene.

2008-04-28T02:56:00.000-07:00

It's the season for baristas to be a little edgy, 5 days until we know the 2008 Australian Barista Champ. We are holding a little gathering on the Saturday night, 7.30 onwards for those in town. Some refreshments and light snacks will be on hand as well as a little smackdown action. So come along. Also check our list over the next few days, we will let some of the CoE coffees come up on both the clover and espresso machines to try.

Look out for the Da Grama through the synesso and the La Montana clover style.

reporting in.......Anzac day

2008-04-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

We are closed in the city today, will reopen tomorrow. We have just kissed Justin and Bridget goodbye on their trip to the USA. The Agtron course, then to Cafe imports, Scaa, Seattle and Portland. And maybe a little time with Deaton in LA. Ok we are truly stocked up, we now have a green bean store off site in a basement and we are currently rebagging all our coffee. Tomorrows cupping is going to contain a few recent arrivals so it should be interesting, 2pm if interested.

Everything is coming into new crop pretty much, so it is a fine old time.

11 April

2008-04-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at BBB cupping, which is at 2pm, we have the Cachoeria De Grama brazil cup of excellence coffee. A Geisha roasted with 2 different profiles, a Cachoeria Yellow Bourbon and another Brazil Yellow Bourbon. So basically same same and different different, using 2 common points and checking the cup quality with roast and farm differences etc.

We have had a great week we are fully stocked at the moment with great coffees, the rwandan golden cup has been outstanding as has been the de grama. Looking forward to some more of the Pacamara la Montana and checking out our other CoE coffees. The new blend dubbed 12gauge (at this stage) is starting to emerge, a blend the any Seattlite would be proud.

Plenty of coffee news, Andrew Kelly has opened Auction Rooms, which sounds great, and by all accounts is busy already, all the best Andrew. Tobys Estate (is that a brambati in your pants or are you just happy to see me) should be roasting soon in Brunswick, and the five senses kids must be almost ready to unleash the new roastery as well. It's definitely a buyers market.

Cupping Saturday 5th

2008-04-04T01:19:00.001-07:00

Cupping tomorrow, a quick heads up. La Montana CoE El Salvador #1, will be on the bench. An opportunity to taste a outstanding Pacamara. Also a great estate Kenyan and perhaps some other coffees to highlight some of the brighter cups. Not to go on too much, but really where are you going to taste a non espresso outstanding coffee, we have had to import, that costs $48 green for free.

Last weekend Melbourne Hosted the barista and cupping state finals, congrats Dave (Veneziano) and Toshi(St Ali). We have some plans for the finals as in a event at St Ali, we will keep you posted.

It's been a busy week, we are currently changing a few of our blends, in fact all, Chompy is on the toolshed bench being reworked, we are going hardcore darker italian for those extremists. We are going lighter (roast) and more delicate, sweeter and richer with the espresso blend, well actually we have 3 weeks ago, anyway check the board for the recent arrivals, sorry no CoEs at this stage.

e do also have some Rwandan Golden cup which will be on the cupping bench soon.

Friday 21st, the big news clover

2008-03-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

Clover has sold to Starbucks, as most coffee people would know by now, congrats Zander and the team. Special thanks to David who helped us alot along our clover path. There has been many goings over what will, what did, and why in the coffee blogs/boards over recent days. My feelings are that clover re ignited our interest in the brewed/filter coffee arena. They made it exciting and renewed. It was a redirection to a quite pure way of drinking coffee, similar to cupping. Clover had developed a way to bring it to the public in a form which repackaged a perhaps tired format. I think clover should be congratulated on its contribution to the coffee world. Obviously no one really knows what will happen to clover 1s machines, and whether they will still be available. We have ordered another to go into St Ali as we feel that they may be scarce if not available at all, whether we get it or not will depend on whether we feel they will be able to be serviced. Local News no cupping this weekend, due to the easter holidays. Back on next week with some new award winners provided by cafe imports.

Saturday the 15th March,

2008-03-14T18:15:00.001-07:00

We have been on a little bit of a rant recently. Storage and transportation of green coffee. George Howell is freezing his green, perhaps not the most environmentally friendly way to go but serious. Mane has a controlled environment he is testing. Others are doing this and that. The main area of concern for us is that trip from wherever to here. That 2 month trip inside that steel box that lets temperatures rise and fall with huge differences, large humidity changes and exposure to salt and

sea winds etc. Hopefully over the next few months we will be able to trial a few different methods of packaging and also packing inside temp controlled containers as well. The latest CoE's are clearly customs and should be here this week as well as some rwandan golden cup and other goodies. The La Montana CoE will be a

cheers Mark

Back in the swing of it, Saturday 8th

2008-03-07T16:55:00.000-08:00

Back and in to it, thanks all those who dropped past the Celebrate the bean booth. The clover

was great and we had some fun. We do have some great new coffees on our sheet at the moment.

The Bin 549 is coming up a treat and the new Mercanta coffees are working well. We will have some new CoE coffees in the next few weeks

Good to see a clover in Epicure, good work Nolan.

All true geeks should really get some Cachoeria Canario which is a very unusual varietal. The Peru, Yirg, El Sal and Guat are outstanding as well.

Thanks to all the people on our recent trip... It was a great experience.

Celebrate the bean

2008-02-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

Celebrate the bean.... we will be there.

Currently organizing our setup but we will be there in some shape or form.

Caught up recently with Deaton and the LA intelligensia people, great setup, great passion and great coffee. And the Silver lake coffee bar is cranking. Enjoyed some great clover and espresso.

As well as the chemex.

2008-02-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

So just back in Seattle after a trip to origin, kindly invited by Cafe Imports our coffee suppliers from the USA.

More photos:

www.flickr.com/photos/8053969@N07

The thing about a trip to origin is realizing the journey coffee takes and the amount of effort it takes to get from growing it to the cup. We are catching up with a few friends in seattle Synesso and Clover then down to visit Deaton at intelli and then to check our sample roaster at renegade. be back on friday.

13 Feb coffeelab

2008-02-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

Coffeelab a project run by Mane Alves, is situated in Waterbury Vermont USA. And as you can see

currently cold. I am here attending a roasting workshop, looking at profile roasting and cupping techniques etc. We have been roasting on 4 or 5 different roasters and cupping the results as well as

looking at storage and packaging issues. It's great

to be able to get such indepth knowledge and approach to the science of roasting.

The Mercanta coffee has arrived and we are currently roasting samples so look out for some great Single Origins available soon.

7th Feb

2008-02-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

Guatemalan Finca El Bosque Amatitlan.

Indonesian Sumatran Lintong Zero defect

Brazil Fazenda Barreiro Bourbon

Colombian Huila La Esperenza

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

El Salvador El Borbollon

Kenyan AA Gethumbwini

Dominican Juncalito tipo barahona

Peru Finca El Sauce San Ignacio

Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira Da Grama Canario varietal

They have all arrived and will be released over the next few weeks. We are looking forward to

offering these fine coffees. Cupping over the next few weeks should include some of these coffees. We are currently looking for staff as well, barista, floor and kitchen positions are available.

4th Feb

2008-02-04T01:57:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

We hope to have some new coffees in the next week, some Kenyan Gethumbwini AA, Guat El Bosque, Colombian Esperanza Huila, Peru El Sauce, Brazil Barreiro single estate Bourbon and Brazil Cachoeria Canario varietal. Looks like we will change Saturdays cupping time to 2pm. Just to make a little more room. We are still keen to do our Bolivia CoE tasting but we may wait until we have our sample roaster. All the best for those getting ready for the upcoming barista heats.

29th Jan ......

2008-01-29T01:38:00.000-08:00

Iv'e been a little lazy..... on holidays the last few weeks.. and pretty much no coffee time..

So a great break but back into the fold now. The latest is that we expect our Mercanta shipment in next week, and the Coe's etc a few weeks after that. The blends are a changing and we are going through a fairly solid training stint in January. We will have a few great cuppings coming up, we plan to have the top 10 Bolivian CoE coffees to cup in a "our top 10 bolivian" cupping. Lame title but you probably get the drift, we have the coe bolivian samples so we will roast them and have ou own cupping to se if we can pick the top coffees. I am off to visit a couple of CoE farms, catch up with a few friends, and some cupping and roasting over the next few weeks. I send in some Blogs, we will be heading to La Montana El Salvador to check on the current crop.. We have some La Montana heading our way.

Tuesday 8th Jan

2008-01-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

The Brother is back open again, and cuppings will be held this Saturday. A detailed rundown of the coffees will be available at BBB and St Ali. We have purchased some more CoE coffees which we expect to have on hand in late Feb. The El Sal La Montana will be of particular interest. A pacamara varietal. We also have some Rwandan golden cup lots, the golden cup is a precursor to the Cup of excellence to begin this year in Rwandan.

Summer

2008-01-03T02:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all...

St Ali opened today and BBB will open Monday.

We have spent the last week having a little R & R down the coast surfing.

Ok roasting has been in full swing for a few days and we

are back up to speed with blends and most of the single origins, another day of roasting singles tomorrow.

Our new synesso is in and going strong, along with a few changes to St ALi. The Brother will be ready Monday and we will have cuppings every Saturday starting next week.

We will have our last lot of COE coffees next week, I think we have some of the Guatemalan left. I will confirm early next week.

Cupping format Saturday

2007-12-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

Cupping program for Saturday...

Coffees

Mexican Altura chiapas San Cristobel.

Mountain Top Bin 549

Nicaraguan #4 COE Las termoplias Organic.

Sumatran Blue Batak

El Salvador Santa Elena.

which have been some of our favourites for the year..

Traditional cupping and maybe some other favs through the clover..

Brain cells screaming for mercy!

2007-12-16T16:38:00.000-08:00

Wow... the kids went hard.. classic

xmas party there was laughter, tears,

and good times. The BBQ was tearing through the seafood then on to the kebabs and finally the lamb chops. The beers went then it was the Rose and then the heavy reds. The jager came out and it was time for me to head home..A little older a wiser than some of the kids who remained out until the 4 am mark.. Pretty much sad a sorry for themselves today. So more info on the cupping this weekend in the next few days. Winding down our roasting operations so perhaps get in sooner than later if you are after than specific estate coffee. As later in the week all the range will not be available...

Cuppings

2007-12-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

This Saturday our 1pm public cupping session is a visit to Africa..

Tanzania Kilimanjaro

Rwandan Ingoboka

Ethiopian Kafa Natural

Kenyan Tembo

Ethiopian Yirgecheffe.

Format will be traditional cupping so if you have one BYO spoon.. if not we will supply one.

BBB wil close from the 22nd of December 2007 until

the 10th of January 2008