photo summary of what i was too lazy to blog

awesomeness from Canada

tasty overseas visitors

exploring cup shape and affects on perceived coffee flavour

workshop espresso

our second home

pretty and awesome - you know you're jealous

my new local - photo by adam

hunter valley holiday - keith tulloch vineyard

hunter valley holiday - blueberry hill

ooh, reflections

family fun

Some of the photos are rubbish, I know. I almost always leave my camera at home and my iPhone usually has smudgy fingerprints on the lens. Ah well.

amazing coffee, anyone?

So I’ve been pretty much the most hopeless blogger on the planet lately. I’ll get back on top of things soon, I’m sure.

Anyone been drinking anything awesome? Let’s hear it …

Obviously, the Bagersh coffee’s doing the rounds are pretty freaking amazing. Hazel’s IMV is always amazing, and always intriguing, though I think I am overdue for another cup of it. I’ve also managed to have the Aricha #14, and #4, as well as the Beloya #16 at a few different roast levels. My current bag of Beloya #16, roasted for espresso by Mecca is emptying way too quickly. It is a stunningly complex bean this one. Such class.

Have also had some delicious coffees from O/S; a variety of shots and brews of different beans from 49th Parallel and Intelligentsia (thanks Dan!), and also Squaremile. I can’t even remember which beans most of them were, there were so many to crammed into just a few weeks! The Tanzania Kumaro Micro-lot from 49th was a particularly excellent filter brew.

Hmm, ooh, Hazel’s Brasilian offerings, the Alvarado Plot and the Moreninha Formosa, are delightfully balanced creatures. Oh, as was the Colombian El Cafetero from AIR that was yummy peach and vanilla.

Getting some delightful brews out of the Driver Brewer; more variables, more fun.

Currently also have two bags of the Guatemala San Fransisco Tecaumburo from Coffee Alchemy; one roasted for spro, and one for filter. I haven’t yet brewed for filter - I will once I get off the couch in a sec - but the cup I had of it last week whilst at Flint & Steel was floral and cidery, and very reminiscent chomping into a crunchy, juicy, sweet apple straight from the tree. And with that, I’ve just convinced myself to go brew some …

happy fathers’ day

Fathers’ Day this year is a little bittersweet.

It’s a very beautiful day, with Anastasia and Zeke celebrating their ‘Daddy’, who they, and I, love to pieces. Drew is a wonderful father, and I praise God for the deep, selfless love he shows our children, and for the concern he has to raise them to know and love Jesus.

It is, however, the first Fathers’ Day we’ve celebrated since my own father ran off with another woman and left it to my sister and I to tell our mother. He’s since moved in with her and her two boys, and we see him only sporadically. So today is also a day of for a few tears.

crazy hectic caffeinated weekend - part 4

Also known as … getting my own back.

After the Home Barista Comp there was a very spontaneous call for a professional bout; and who better to face off than our judge Hazel and last year’s HB-champ-cum-1000-shots-a-day-superstar-barista Dan.

By ’spontaneous’, I of course mean, ‘neither of them had a clue what was about to happen’. Well, Dan would have, had he not been giggling with Renzo during the team meeting in the morning I volunteered to put my judges accreditation to good use and taste their submissions.

Dan v. Hazel

Both of them were exceptionally good sports about it, and served up some über tasty shots for me to drink. Even though both are exceptionally skilled baristas, jumping on a random machine, dialling in a grinder and punching out some sweet shots in only five minutes is no small feat. Dan jumped back on the Bezzera Domus Galatea he’d had pumping all day and clearly had the speed, serving up a cracking espresso in no time at all. Hazel was a bit slower on the Minore III but soon placed a reddy-brown delicious doppio ristretto on the judges table.

Lattés came next, Dan’s super speediness meaning he had time to not only serve me a latté complete with tulip, and then pull himself a shot to steady his nerves whilst he waited for Hazel to serve her latté. Here, Hazel drew on her years of competition experience and took the performance up a notch, approaching the judge’s table to pour her rosetta clad latté.

It was a tight finish, but it was Hazel who came out on top, mostly due to the amazing syrupy sweetness she coaxed out of her espresso.

It was, however, all in good fun, and I think they’re both great sports having been put on the spot like that, and still managing to serve up some delicious ’spro.

Many, many, many thanks to Sanchia for her permission to use the lovely shots she took of the day.

crazy hectic caffeinated weekend - part 3

Aromafest 2009.

Tens of thousands of Sydney-siders enjoying a spectacularly beautiful winter’s day in the Harbour City, braving massive queues in search of $2 coffees, and ogling shiny machines.

This year I only pulled three shots. I was, instead, the ‘Home Roasting’ spokesperson at the Di Bartoli stand. Lots of interest, not many people prepared to take the plunge though … and lots of people who think the whole idea is completely mental.

The three shots I pulled were as part of the Di Bartoli Third Annual Home Barista Championships; which I got sucked in to competing in. No pressure at all … No, just having your coffees judged by the lovely lady who roasted the beans; who just happens to a former NSW and Australian Barista Champion, and ’super-palate’ Australian Cup-Tasting Champion!!!

Round 1 of the HB Comp

The first shot got dumped, the second Hazel got to to drink, and third got topped up with loads of milk with a bodgy heart poured on top, also for Hazel to drink. Luckily for me there was no tech judge in sight, and the drinks were only sensory-assessed. Though Dan has embarrassed me hugely by very kindly noticed my super-dodgy, wonky-tamp correction, which I think was for the latté

No selling-out to see here :P

Anyway, luckily for me, I hear I’m not allowed to compete next year. I’m so fine with that

crazy hectic caffeinated weekend - part 2

a) Car accident. Very minor. Crawling along the Eastern Distributor at about 10 km/h and ran up the back of a very kind gentleman who didn’t want to yell at me. No damage to anything except my nerves.

b) Hospital. Not ‘cos of the accident. Little sister was in the Royal Women’s Hospital over the weekend, which is why I was sitting in horrendous traffic on the ED in the first place. She’s ok now, and safely back home.

c) HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE!! Woot. Easily the best movie they’ve made yet. Loved it. Cried lots, laughed heaps, and could’ve easily sat there for another hour. Definitely one to see twice. Hot tip for enjoying it: just accept that they’re going to take liberties with the story lines and go with it.

crazy hectic caffeinated weekend - part 1

I'm in love ...

I have envied travelers to Melbourne for quite a while, partly because of the little cluster of Clovers nestled in the top coffee joints south of the border. Given my infatuation with brewed coffee methods, I have been very keen to experience the Clover for a long while.

And yes, I am very aware that Allpress have had one for a while, but seriously, where the heck is Rosebery?

Fortunately, however, there is now a Clover installed in one of my most favourite Sydney coffee haunts; Mecca Espresso. Also fortunate is the fact that the Mecca crew have a stash of deliciousness in the form of the amazing Bagersh-produced Ethiopian Natural Yirgacheffe: Beloya Selection 16. Even more fortunate is that on Saturday morning Dan and I somehow found ourselves standing outside Mecca Espresso, looking at their new Clover, and reading “Beloya Selection 16″ on the chalkboard. Wow!

And honestly, the hype I’d created in my own mind was well and truly exceded! Deliciousness.

We had two cups, both quite different. The first was a lot more opaque than I’d imagined, had loads more body than I expected and was Beloya-berry-licious as I expected, with that simply beautiful, sparkling acidity. The second was cleaner, more delicate, more subtle, less opaque, and had more amazing apricot-laden notes, and was a little ’soapy’ in texture. Not entirely sure why the difference; the cups were prepared by different Clover-istas, maybe that was it.

Will definitely be heading back there soon! Also, looking forward to heading to The Source and experiencing Clover there when it goes live.

My hot tip for maximum Clover enjoyment: Do NOT expect it to taste like an espresso-based coffee.

As is usual, there was so much more to be said about this; but I’ve forgotten.

ressie

I’m  just finishing up my first semester of my B. Wine Science through CSU.

An aside: No, I am not doing Viticulture. Every time I tell someone I’m doing Wine Science they say “Oh, viticulture …” No. The first half of the courses are the same, but after that we mostly do completely different subjects.

Back to topic. As I’m a Distance Ed student, I get to come to Wagga nearly every semester to cover the practical aspects of the subject(s), and sit a few exams, in an intensive Residential School. I flew in to Wagga on Monday morning for a three day Grape and Wine Science ressie, backing up now for a five day Botany stint.

The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre:

We had a pretty fascinating lecture from Prof. Jim Hardie, who now heads up the NWGIC, on the last day of this ressie. Really interesting; looking at where the wine industry in Australia is heading, where it should head, and where it could head.

I think these vines may be Muscat Frontignac; we were told, but I’m not 100% sure

CSU has a commercial winery just down the hill and to the right of this picture. We went for a tour on Wednesday afternoon. Fascinating. We also stopped in at the Cellar Door for some tasting, and I do think the wines CSU produces represent rather excellent “bang for buck” as it were. I’m bringing home the ‘08 Chardonnay (Orange), the ‘09 Cellar Reserve Pinot Noir Rosé (Tumbarumba), the ‘07 Shiraz (Orange), as well as the ‘06 Bordeaux-styled Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc/Petit Verdot blend.

Wine tasting:

This was actually Bracket #3. Bracket #1 was the usual sweet/salty/sour etc., first in water, and then in a white table wine. Bracket #2 was different sugars (sucrose, glucose, glycerol etc), and different acids (malic, lactic, succinic tartaric etc).

Bracket #3 was all about wine sensory analysis, as well as understanding varietal charcteristics of white and red table wines. There was an interesting mix of wines in the line up; the stand out was possibly the third from the right, a 1986 The College Late Harvest Rhine Riesling; some of the samples were corked, but the non-spoiled glasses were honeyed and honeysuckle florals with a rather attractive mustiness. I’m not the hugest fan of the sweeter wines but the complexity and elegance won me over. The reds were also a mixed bunch; the 2007 CSU Shiraz is chockers with clovey spicy notes, and the 1984 Leo Buring Cabernet Sauvignon had aged rather gracefully, though was probably a little past it’s best.

Bracket #4 was sparkling wines and fortifieds. This was rather interesting for me, unfamiliar territory. Sparklings were a bit tricky, not having flutes, and having glasses that were not the cleanest. Fortifieds, however, were fascinating. Seppeltsfield Flora Fino. Woah! Never tasted anything like it. Actually I’ve never tried anything like the Amontillado (aftertaste of pumpkin seeds) or Oloroso either, but the Fino was definitely a “wow” moment. There was also an All Saints Rutherglen Muscat that was simply spectacular, but that is no surprise to me.

The Botany ressie has not been quite as interesting; for me, dissecting flowers and studying up on plant hormones and photosynthesis and whatnot is just not as palatable I am rather homesick also, I miss my family enormously. I am also stinging for a good spro. Though, I did remember to bring a few things with me to keep me sufficiently caffeinated:

glass rod syphoneering

Last Christmas, Dan gave me an original, old-school Cona syphon which uses a glass rod (cool pressie, huh?!). I haven’t yet used it, as the rubber seal between the two globes needs replacing; even though I know where I can get a replacement, I still haven’t managed to get organised to do it. Today I saw that James Hoffman tweeted that he was experimenting with a glass rod in his Hario. Now why has this never occured to me?! Hazel’s mentioned it’s do-able before, yet I’ve never thought to try it. So this morning, I dug out some tools, pulled out my spare cloth filter and had a bit of a tinker. Et voilà … my Hario MCA-3 now comes with the options of cloth, paper or glass filtering.

I was a bit nervous about using it, so the first trial was with my Unibuy. Cheaper and easier to replace I used some 2 month old Masai I found lying around, and ground a bit coarser than normal (I was nervous - didn’t want to clog the filter with fines and blow myself up). It works!! A few grinds came down, but it’s much less muddy a brew than I expected. Stirring will be an issue - the Hario paddle is just a bit wide, and I don’t want to knock the rod and let grinds go down into the brew. The draw down is quite slow, so that might mean tweaking things too … hmmm … Feeling a bit pleased with myself right now ;D

Click on the pic to see it bigger.

gone fishin’

Not really. Just been a bit quiet around here lately.

I’m taking a break from blogging at the moment, life has been hard, and really, sharing it on a web page has been the last thing I feel like doing. Today I make an exception. WARNING: This post is going to be unusually personal. Those readers who only come for the coffee, I do apologise, but this one is for those friends who have persisted with me, who pray for me, and whom I love dearly.

The coffee will return, actually if I remember I’ll do a write up on Cafébiz, but bear with me.

I started this blog with three ‘themes’, what I’m reading, thinking and drinking, so I will return to these for this post.

Reading: John Piper’s When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy.

Thinking: I expect that reading a book of that title is somewhat of a give away about how life has been going lately. Joyless. Miserable. Depressed. Melancholic. Exhausting. The last few months have been a struggle. There have been days when I honestly didn’t know how I’d make it through; days when I’ve felt like giving up on everything; days when I’ve craved sleep, simply so I didn’t have to think and feel and live. I’m usually an avid reader, but getting through this book has been a struggle: I lack concentration, I lack perseverance, and then I usually heap guilt upon myself about these lackings. And then of course, the added weight of guilt makes it harder to concentrate and persevere. Am I ‘depressed’ in the medical sense of the word? I don’t know, but I’m wary of it, having been there before. I struggle to know whether my emotional state is ‘justified’ given the events of life, or whether it’s more than that.

My parents split up nearly two weeks ago; after my little sister and I discovered that our Dad has met someone ‘new’. I don’t need to go into detail, but obviously, Mum, my sister and I, and Dad actually, are all heartbroken. My family has pretty much fallen apart, but no one seems to know what happens next, so we’re in a holding pattern until someone actually decides where we go from here.

There are other things going on that I won’t go into, but they all add up to make life rather difficult at the moment. Messing about with coffee provides useful relief from having to deal with everything; the problem being that I can’t do that often without feeling like I’m neglecting the kids and Drew.

But God has been good, and He has got me through those days that I honestly thought I couldn’t deal with. He is teaching me, and causing me, to persevere. He is working all things for His good and perfect purposes, and He has graciously helped me to trust that through all these trials. He has also reminded me, in His word, that these trials are only light and momentary, that they will not last. He is teaching me to savour once more His promises, and to look to Him as my strength.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

Drinking: Ethiopian Natural Forest Dima. Espresso. Dark chocolate Cherry Ripe.
Colombian Huila y Tolima El Cafetero. Espresso. Deep. Balanced.

2009 world barista championship

Starts tonight … well, tomorrow morning anyway.

Competition starts at 1am AEST. You can watch it live here.

And find out more stuff here. And there’s a sweet blog here.

Tim Adams, the Aussie competitor, is scheduled to compete at 4:27am AEST (Friday morning).

I’m also keen to watch Canada’s Sammy Piccolo who should take the stage at 5:43am AEST, and NZ’s Carl Sara (Day 2 - 3:30am AEST Saturday morning).

There are three days and 52 competitors in the first round, then the six finalists will be announced at 6:30am AEST on Sunday morning. Finals will take place from 2am AEST Monday.

Better stock up on some midnight snacks …