Writing this now (or at least beginning it), I’m about 7 hours from home. My hopes of a blogging spree, not surprisingly turned to be overly optimistic, as Bogotá went by in a blur of late nights, early mornings and long days.

On Wednesday we built the Brew Bar, literally (see time lapse on Uber Project Blog for an idea). Every component had to be put in place, even to extent of putting together junction boxes for the electrical supply. Corferias, the venue hosting the WBC, itself was under construction, and from what I understand, there was a whole lot less venue only a few weeks ago. It is a credit to all that come kick-off everything was ready. In the background, judges calibration was in full swing. An impressive level of organisation and attention to detail were on display, far more than I’ve witnessed at any other time.

Come Thursday morning we were ready. The brew bar crew was ably staffed by Brian Ludviksen and Lem Butler of Counter Culture Coffee,  Tyler, Mike and Chris of Handsome Coffee Roasters, Rusty Angell from Bunn and a whole host of volunteers. It was a privilege to work beside them. Interestingly, one observation about brewing at altitude, aside from having to brew at a lower temperature, was that water moves through a coffee bed far more slowly, requiring us to grind far coarser than we normally would.

I spent a good deal of time on Thursday and Friday helping Steve Leighton and Monika Palova prepare for Friday’s first round. Monika had won her National Championships only a couple of weeks previously, it also being her first time competing. Take away the time penalty from Monika’s score (not to mention her grinder which broke in transit), and the achievement given her lack of time and resources becomes all the more impressive. I look forward to seeing Monika competing again. I expect great things.

As was the case in London a lot of excellent baristas didn’t progress into the semis, some were agonizingly close, small mistakes, time issues, some as in past years didn’t really want to “play the game” so to speak. It is a game though, one that does not always reward moving too far from what is expected. I can empathise with a desire for originality and for principles, but there has to be a clever way to do it, otherwise you are just pissing in the wind.

The hometown support for Colombian champ Lina was beyond anything I have witnessed outside of a football stadium. You could tell a massive effort went into her routine, not least learning a new language. It was very interesting to see she was in first place in round 1.

Lina’s omission from the final six by virtue of a time penalty highlights what a cruel and unforgiving competition this can be at times, but the final six was a great mix, and going into the last day it seemed it was anyone’s trophy.

The final result announcement was surprisingly emotional. I’m not sure why. Aside from seeing Alejandro’s three performances, and meeting him and his team backstage, I couldn’t really say I knew him well enough to justify an emotional response to his success. Nonetheless that is what happened, and I was not alone. There did seem, from my vantage at least, a building sense of inevitability that Alejandro would win. The reaction when he did seemed almost euphoric.

Any of the six finalists would have made great champions. There were no passengers.

I must also note how much the win meant for Steve Leighton. Steve has invested as much time and effort in supporting baristas as anybody I can think of. We likened Steve’s efforts in the WBC to a scene in the golf movie Tin Cup where Kevin Costner keeps trying an impossibly long shot, repeatedly landing in the water. Even though Steve says he only manufactures golf balls, right now he’s the golf-ball manufacturer to world’s best golfer.

The barista party also deserves a mention, as being the singularly weirdest and most enjoyable party I can recall. It was quite the antidote to the obligatory post-results anti-climax (not to mention the speedy destruction and strip down of the brew bars). I only wish I didn’t have to leave early to catch a plane.

[photo courtesy of James Hoffmann]

Vienna has a lot to live up to. As James has noted in his recap, it will probably be impossible for Vienna to match Bogotá for passion and atmosphere, but at the very least it should match or better the organisation side. Let’s not repeat the London mess, or even worse that of Copenhagen (as I am told by third parties – I wasn’t there).

It has been mooted that all previous champions should re-enter their national competitions this year. We had a few interesting discussions about which champions might still win. I only mention it here that I might fan whatever tiny flame exists. Wet dream stuff.

I come away from Bogotá more than anything with a head full of ideas, with a perhaps clichéd, though genuine respect for the amount of work that goes into all aspects of this at times, surreal, but ultimately worthwhile event. I come away thinking perhaps that post-Maastricht I may turn my thoughts once more to swinging that club.

After not a whole lot of sleep, I’m up and sort of awake in Bogotá. I’m a bit breathless as a result of the altitude. Stairs are less fun than they used to be.

Down at Corferias the judges calibration is in full flow as is the floor setup. We’re just waiting on a few things to get the brew bar going.

It’s a busy place right now, but the vibe is very positive. Organisationally everything is tight.

Here are some pics.

Aurelia Bogotá Edition

Ongoing Floor Setup

Tyler presenting for judges calibration…

ooh… and my breakfast…

More to follow…

Barack may have come and gone amidst a touchy-feely fuzzy whirlwind tour, but I guess he did not have to subject himself to the horrors of the US Customs Preclearance at Dublin airport. Great friendship between our nations? Me bollix.
Since joining Marco in January I have spent ever increasing time in the air, going somewhere. This time it is to Bogotá, Colombia, again to the World Barista Championships. As I wrote on the Über Project blog, the main purpose for my trip is to help install and make sure all our kit is working on the Brew Bar. Aside from that, I’m looking forward to meeting some old friends, and offering a helping hand to Monika, who works with Colin Harmon/3FE, the Slovakian barista champion, and dark horse at the WBC.
So that’s where all that is at, and now sitting on this continental flight to Newark, I have something which I have not had a chance to do in a while, write a blog post. So here we go – stream of consciousness self-indulgent splurge.
There are a few things I think are worth a bit of prose in the last few months. The first, and foremost – the VST baskets. I’ve been following the development of these for some time (about 12-18 months maybe?). The theory always made sense, and the analysis of the quality of baskets out there was quite damning… on paper. I always worry with paper logic, no matter how well thought out, and how much considered research goes into them, whether they will play out into a real, discernible advantage. Having spent several weeks with the baskets, I have no hesitations in concluding the advantage is not only tangible, but obvious, and it would be very difficult for me to revert to using baskets without a comparable level of quality control (well, actually it would be easy but my coffee would taste worse). Kudos to Vincent Fedele (and La Marzocco) for once again making a significant contribution to the progress of coffee brewing standards.
While I’m on the subject of espresso, I have also been living with a Nuova Simonelli Musica for a little while, and have found it to be a nice bit of kit, well built, consistent in delivery, lots of nice little touches. It is the best espresso machine I’ve owned. I reckon it will deserve more prose at a later point.
We got some Kalitta wave and Kantan droppers from Nick Cho a while back. These fall into the paper logic category once more, suggesting more even brews because of flat and suspended/floating beds. Nick makes a persuasive argument on his blog. I have found little evidence in terms of taste to support the Kalitta Wave dripper being appreciably better than a V60 in terms of taste (nor worse). Yes, it has a flat bottom, but it is a small flat bottom, and we are still in essence talking about a truncated cone. I won’t speculate on why / why not I have come to this conclusion, perhaps there is some flaw in my technique… The Kantan on the other hand is far and away my favourite dripper. Again it might be premature to speculate why, but the results have been constantly excellent. One observation I have is that the paper used is rather unique, very thin, semi-translucent, it imparts practically no flavour. In terms of geometry it does seem to have a truly flat bed (roughly rectangular cuboid shape), and would seem to lose little heat through conduction/radiation (the Wave seems to lose plenty of heat through the dripper itself). The Kantan seemed like a gimmick, a curiosity, but it would be foolish to dismiss it.
Tamper Tantrum Live came and went, and was a privilege to both take part in, and observe. Much credit primarily to Colin and Steve, for putting together a great event and getting the tone, importantly, right. I hope that the format can find some regular spaces on the calendar to build on this success.
My last stream of consciousness topic relates to blogging itself. I’ve written this blog for a while now, learned a lot I think in the process. It has mostly been for fun and developing ideas (you can’t beat actually writing something down to ascertain the level of inherent bullshit). Since actually beginning to work in the coffee industry I have struggled a little though. My thought process has shifted. I guess in general I am also busier, but for whatever reason, I have found worthwhile topics more elusive than ever (ok the wet grinding would probably have been a blog post had it not been for TTlive). I guess this is just an observation, rather than a conclusion. This process remains strangely cathartic (and happily distracting from the plane full of aul wans), though I’m not sure I know how to most effectively balance this forum with my new role.
Epilogue: well I landed. More to follow tomorrow. Now – beer.

Day Two

With mistakes made over the breakfast buffet, terrible haunting mistakes that no amount of showers could erase, day two began in earnest with our first outing on St Petersburg’s incredibly well run and well maintained underground rail (think well preserved Art-Deco), followed by a 10 minute walk through a bleak and treacherous frozen park to reach our venue, a striking Soviet era Ice-Hockey stadium, the Peterburgskiy Sportivno-Koncertniy Kompleks (PSKK). Inside we found a grim, almost desolate HORECA trade show in which we would spend nearly all of the daylight hours of the next three days. The highlight of the show floor, apart from candy apples available to purchase from a little cart, was a stand devoted to the Big Green Egg – a combination charcoal grill/smoker. Most stands, of which there were scant few anyway, were either occupied by a solitary person in a chair, accompanied by some leaflets, or not occupied at all.

When the proceedings eventually kicked off we got a nicely presented talk from Andrew Hetzel on current C price trends, and a double header on coffee processing and defects from Alexander Tsibaev, though not unfortunately the “planned” (and for me eagerly anticipated) defect cupping. After lunch we tasted and rated six different coffees (make note – 6 coffees / 7 teams), in order to ascertain which green to choose for roasting and presenting with our allotted brewing method (Aeropress). The pretend auction for the coffee was somewhat interrupted by the realisation that 7 teams and 18 bags of coffee (3 bags of each of the 6) did not permit an equal distribution of 3 bags per team. With another 3 bags of something hastily thrown into the mix, we could proceed. That was in essence day two, content-wise pretty good, though in truth, it could have easily been fit in before lunch, instead of enduring long periods of waiting amidst the depressed exhibitors, and earning the chagrin of the security staff as we went over time. Along with the abandoned defect cupping, an introduction to the roaster we were to use the following day was also lost without so much as a whimper.

As it was we had short time to make the journey back to our hotel, before having to turn around to go out for dinner, a “banquet” across town. We proceeded on a long train journey followed by a couple of miles walking around the dark, frozen St Petersburg streets (this was the night of Mr Sherwood’s undoing as I recall). The banquet turned out to be a buffet, with the few seats available long since taken by the time we arrived. Reluctant to make the snowy trek and train negotiation on the return, we instead ordered a taxi. Interestingly on the taxi ride home we passed by some of the beautiful St Petersburg buildings that we had heard of, this was our first glimpse.

Day Three

Happily we did not immediately have to make our way to the PSKK as day three kicked off. Instead with the aid of our terrific guide Nick, we made our way to a St Petersburg cafe – Cafe Ideal Cup, part of a chain of coffee shops. We spent two hours making coffee there, trying to earn tips for charity. This was the highlight of the trip, the staff were friendly and enthusiastic, the customers admittedly took to our presence somewhere between curious bemusement and gruff annoyance, though more often the former. For instance instead of the 100ml 40/50s double espresso they were used to (and is apparently normal in Russia) we served a 60ml – 30s version – as a compromise with some water on the side to replace the missing volume. Karl gave the staff an impromptu latte art lesson, myself and Nick sat down for a Brewmaster “lite” in the second hour when Julie and Vicky replaced us behind bar.

Our experience on this task was entirely satisfactory, and left us all in high spirits. The task perhaps achieved in a small way a portion of all the promise the ETCC once held. In another part of town, however, the Finnish team met with a less enthusiastic reception, got a mere 45 minutes in the “Coffee Museum” in which time a total of one customer passed through the door. This alone, essentially their inability to score points on this round (completely outside of their own control) could have been enough to prevent a team from winning the competition. It felt a little like rolling the dice…

We returned to the PSKK for the afternoon roasting session, which seemed to progress relatively smoothly. Due to our tardiness returning from Cafe Ideal Cup to the venue, our slot was moved to the end, and we had just 20 minutes (instead of an hour) on an unfamiliar roaster, none of us possessing much knowledge on roasting. While we waited for the other teams to finish, I pulled out a bag of Square Mile Colonia San Juan 8 Estrellas that I had brought with me. The immediate crowd of eager tasters that emerged spoke to both the enthusiasm and desire within the community to learn, progress, taste, become part of the global coffee community, but also to the difficulties in getting stuff into Russia, in how isolated it seems they still remain. With the security guards gathering around us for eviction, and lights being shut off to speed our exit we somewhat fortuitously happened upon a reasonably ok roast of our “washed Nicaraguan”, certainly drinkable in the end, a touch darker than perhaps we would have ideally chosen. We exited the PSKK still cooling the coffee as we went.

In the hurry we all forgot there was supposed to be an appointment with a graphic designer to create a nifty package design for our coffee. This, like so much else, vanished without so much as a mention.

That evening we were scheduled to cook a dish of our own invention to a panel of judges. One that had something to do with our national cuisine, to tie in with our coffee, and possibly using crab (apparently there was a crabfest in St Petersburg – not that we saw any crab). The venue for this was once more significantly geographically isolated from either the event hall or our hotel. Between train journeys and walking it took about 90 minutes to reach.

Once there, a small kitchen / canteen located inside a Cash & Carry in the middle of nowhere, we quickly discovered firstly that our ingredients (a list of which we were asked to provide before leaving for Russia) were nowhere to be seen (apart from a huge slab of smoked salmon we purchased in Dublin airport and carried with us). Instead we assumed, eyeing the random assortment of ingredients laid out, there would be some kind of invention test, alá Ready-Steady-Cook. As it turned out we were not permitted to deviate significantly from what the “chef” of the kitchen had in mind for us to cook. We were essentially tasked with cooking our own dinner, each team getting a different course. That there were only 6 dishes and 7 teams didn’t seem to matter. The Finns sat this one out. Which was no great loss to them as we would learn the next day looking at the scoreboard, this “event” was nowhere to be seen.

We needed another taxi back to the hotel at the earliest possible opportunity, finding one and reluctant to wait in that hinterland for a second vehicle, we bribed the driver to take the five of us. The prospect of possible death or dismemberment in an overcrowded Lada seemed like a risk worth taking at that moment. Face pressed up against the window I once again got to gaze in awe at some of St Petersburg’s beautiful landmarks en route to our hotel. I wagered with myself that they would look even better during the day and from a stationary vantage point.

To be continued…

The purpose of these posts is to honestly recount my experience during the four days I spent in St Petersburg representing Ireland at the 2011 European Team Coffee Challenge. Other than that, I have little motivation for the post. The dearth of publicity surrounding the event, considering that it is an international event, speaks volumes to the low regard in which it is now held. This is a pity, as in terms of potential this competition could have been one of the better events in the SCAE’s calendar. It has been allowed to fall into disrepair, to remain rudderless for far too long. Whatever potential it had may never now be realised under the weight of its own beleaguered history.

What can I take from this trip? I can’t say I drank much great coffee – sorry Russia most of what I tasted had a lot of Robusta (though I accept I did not make it to any of the better destination coffeeshops). I can’t say that I learned a whole lot, or came away inspired with new ideas. What I can take, without resorting to maudlin, saccharin cliche, is the meeting of lots of great people – our hosts, our fellow competitors, people from the Russian coffee community. As a purely social experience there is much to take from the event. I literally could not name all the great people we met (partly due to being bad with names, and also due to my desire not to impose the inevitable tedium of reading such a list). That, however, is not enough, it is important and should remain a key aspect of this competition if it is to prevail, however, it must be backed up with a worthwhile competition that is both thoughtfully structured and efficiently organized. Fun is a key component of this event, but it has to be able to be fun, without being a joke.

Day One

Team Ireland (Vicky, Julie, Karl and I – and “coach” Jackie) assembled at some ungodly hour in Dublin Airport’s shiny, new Terminal 2, one of the last vestiges of the Celtic Tiger. As it turns out Dublin Airport is a lot quieter these days, and would be even quieter were it not for the hoards emigrating from our economic crisis. With a trip to the West Coast of the US fresh in my mind, the flights to Russia via Amsterdam seemed relatively painless, at least in terms of retaining feeling in my posterior. Arriving in St Petersburg, weary from the mountain of paperwork we had to complete in order to have some hope of seeing our bags again, we found a city that looked little different from many european cities, with the addition of the cyrillic script on all the signposts reminding us of where we were. Apparently St Petersburg does not thaw out until May, this resulted in several missteps, slips and a general lack of grace among the traveling teams. Primary among those who would succumb to the conditions was the UK’s John Sherwood whose late night slip resulted in a trip (pardon the lazy pun) to the hospital and some stitching to the top of his cranium.

John’s head was yet to be blemished when, playing to stereotype, team Ireland positioned itself in the hotel bar from the mid-afternoon prior to our evening meeting. Well lubricated we were split up for the evening’s dinner, per the rule – only one person per country per table. How I ended up at a table almost entirely composed of Russians and Ukrainians I’m not sure, but nevertheless this would turn out to be the culinary highlight of the trip, and the closest we came to eating “Russian food”. I couldn’t really say that I had any prior idea of what Russian food was, nor do I now. What we had I suppose was food whose culinary style I was unfamiliar with, and I presumed Russian or at least Russian fusion. During the course of the evening we drew Aeropress from a hat as our assigned brew method, dodging a couple of bullets that would have been Ibrik/Turkish or to a lesser extent Moka. Things were looking up.

The evening was to conclude with a table quiz, though this never materialised. Tired from our flight and good cheer we didn’t really care, instead we were happy to expedite our journey to our beds (via the hotel bar for some ludicrously expensive negronis). Though we thought little of it at the the time, the absence of the table quiz would prove to foretell the degree of organization that we would become intimately familiar with over the next few days.

To be continued…

So, next Sunday, the WCE descends on Dublin for meetings about the WBC and other prestigious coffee events. It is a rare occurrence to have so many luminaries in Ireland, probably being the first such occasion, and is unlikely to be repeated until 2013 when Ireland hosts the WBC*

So – welcome. I shall be marking the occasion by flying to the west coast of the US. It’s not you, it’s me.

Anyway here are some tips for visitors – places to see, people to do…

coffee

The first stop many of you will have in mind will undoubtedly be 3FE, Colin Harmon’s unique cafe serving Hasbean coffee. It is pretty much bang in the city centre, and Dublin city centre is small enough really to walk everywhere. Go there, have a tasting menu. Check out some of the very tasty baked things.

Down the quays there is Karl Purdy’s Coffee Angel operation (several locations), which has served some of the best coffee to Dublin’s financial district for many years. Karl serves coffee from Bailies from both mobile units and indoor locations. Stop by en route to the Point Village and the (relatively new) Dublin Wheel – a completely unique idea that has absolutely nothing in common with the London Eye.

Another City Centre spot worth a nod are Murphy’s Ice Cream, again serving Hasbean coffee. Expect a different take on espresso here than in 3FE – bigger, wilder flavours (think natural process instead of washed). V60 also available. Great ice-cream. If ever there was a place to get an affogato…

beer/food

For beer, there are a couple of interesting spots. The Porterhouse occupies a three storey location on Parliament St on the edge of Temple Bar. At the weekends (Friday/Saturday) I’d consider it a no-go, unless you really love cramped spaces, loud music and travelling hen/stag parties. During the week, however, it reverts to a more local audience, and space is more freely available. Your reward – their own range of beers on tap, of which I am particularly fond of the Oyster and Wrasslers stouts, both of which leave mass marketed stuff for dead. Also available in bottle (and seasonally on tap) is a massive selection of excellent international beers. The food in the Porterhouse is fine, if a little unremarkable. However, of note across the road, a guilty pleasure may be had in the form of Zaytoon – a turkish Kebab house which I have frequented all too often – far from haute cuisine but it provides an excellent service for the community.

Up the road from the Porterhouse near Christchurch Cathedral is The Bull & Castle ostensibly a Gastro Pub, though I would put the emphasis more on Pub than Gastro, as the food, like the Porterhouse is of the fine, yet unremarkable quality (see comment/rebuttal below from The Beer Nut re their steaks). They tend to offer more regional Irish beers on tap, such as Galway Hooker IPA (Irish Pale Ale), O’Hara’s beers etc, as well as a pretty strong international selection. Service from the bar has a reputation of occasionally being curt.

If you are willing to travel a little out of the centre, to Stoneybatter, a recent addition to the scene is L Mulligan Grocer, as Gastro Pub whose food stands shoulder to shoulder with it’s drink selection. The LUAS (tram) goes near here (from near 3FE). It is very much a traditional pub, in a very non-touristy locale. Recently acquired by who I could only describe as a bunch of foodies / wine-beer nerds. Menus change daily. The only criticism – portions can be small, so be sure to order some sides (think quality not quantity).

Also look for Against the Grain, (11 Wexford St) – [with thanks to The Beer Nut (comment below).]

food

For food, Dublin has several Michelin Star and Bib Gourmand restaurants (listed below) all worth a punt depending on your budget. I reckon the best meal I ever had in Dublin was in L’Ecrivain. For a much more casual (and better value) experience, however, Pichet is consistently a joy.

2 Stars: 
 Patrick Guilbaud (Upper Merrion Street, D2)

1 Star:
 Bon Apetit (Malahide)
 Chapter One (Parnell Square North, D1)
 L’Ecrivain (Upper Baggot Street, D2)
 Thornton’s at Fitzwilliam Hotel (St Stephen’s Green, D2)

Bib Gourmand – New Additions:
 La Maison (formerly La Maison des Gourmets, Castlemarket Street, D2)
 Pichet (Trinity Street, D2)
 The Pig’s Ear (Nassau Street, D2)

Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St occupies a vast multi-storey space, with a very nice and reasonably priced restaurant upstairs, a very nice not so reasonably priced foodie market on the ground floor, and an excellent wine bar in the basement. Their coffee is also improving at pace, having recently switched to Hasbean, and may be worth a shot. The food/wine though is a definite.

Others.

For the best chicken wings in Dublin – go to Elephant & Castle.

For sort-of-tapas in a nice space go to the Market Bar.

For a unique tasting menu experience – Salon Des Saveurs / The Tasting Room, offering set tasting menus at various price points.

Junior’s Deli Cafe and their sister spot Junior’s Paulie’s Pizza have been getting great reviews, for uncomplicated, hearty soul food.

See Drewry’s more comprehensive list/map below for a much better guide to food.

touristy stuff

If you stay until the weekend – there is a nice foodie market in Meeting House Square in Temple Bar every Saturday.

In terms of touristy stuff, you could do worse than jump on one of the tourist buses and sit on for the route. The Guinness Storehouse and the Jameson Distillery are both pleasant enough experiences to occupy some time, though I wouldn’t call either compulsory. The museums tend to be run well, though perhaps without the some of the blockbuster exhibits seen in Europe’s bigger capitals. Dublin Zoo and the Phoenix Park are a bike / bus / tram trip from the city centre. The Phoenix Park is massive. Within it are the Zoo, the President’s Residence (Aras and Uachtarain), several monuments including the Papal Cross, and a large herd of free roaming deer.

In terms of getting around, Dublin City Centre is small enough, but even then if you need to get about a bit quicker Dublin has a self-service bike rental scheme for a nominal charge. There are 42 locations around the city, 15 of which allow you to buy a 3 day ticket for €2. The basic idea is you grab a bike, cycle to where you want to, at which point you can find the nearest drop off point to return the bike, or you can lock it to something as you would a normal bike, and return it at a later point. Info here.

For longer trips your options are Dublin Bus which pretty much goes everywhere with varying frequencies. Or the LUAS tram which has two very focused routes. Or the DART light rail, which runs essentially along the coast north and south of the centre. Taxi’s are not cheap (though I’ve seen worse), but tend to be very easy to get.

Drewry from Marco put together a much more comprehensive list of city centre spots – which can be viewed on a Google Map here. It includes nearly everything I have mentioned plus much more.

I know I’m probably forgetting loads. If anyone has corrections – bang em’ into the comments below.

Sorry I’ll miss you.

*make it happen

A little over a month ago, on a Friday evening, nursing a bottle of wine, and feeling rather in love with the world, I made this blog post. The result was thirty people sending and receiving bags of coffee from all over the world; thirty people who put their faith in complete strangers to uphold their side of the bargain. It has broadly been very successful, with the only caveats being an inevitable couple of lost/delayed packages expected of these kind of international shipments.

The group of people involved include coffeegeeks, roasters, baristas, trainers, retailers and even a grower. Coffees sent (that I am aware of) have come from Supreme Roastworks, Square Mile, 49th Parallel, Catalina Coffee, Safehouse Coffee & Tea, Brown Coffee Co, Wolfredo, Ritual, Intelligentsia, Five Senses, Hasbean, Espresso Lab Mircoroasters, iKhofi, Coffee Prince, Market Lane Coffee, James Gourmet Coffee, Coffee Alchemy, and Monk Bodhi Dharma.

Phew.

Some reactions…

From Chris Capell, a coffeegeek turned coffee pro from Montreal on Square Mile’s Yirg – [sent by Paul Stack]:

…there was one clear taste note listed on the bag that completely shined through in every sip: sweet lime. It was so pronounced that as it spread across my tongue I was often afraid it would turn sharp and unpleasant, but at that exact moment it would soften and the sweet, chocolate base notes of a properly extracted coffee would then come through, balancing out the taste. The best word I could come up with to describe this taste experience is that the coffee *shimmered*.

Collin Moody (Catalina Coffee) on 49th Parallel’s Burundi Kibingo [sent by Chris Capell]:

It has intense floral sweetness with soft rounded stone fruit that overwhelms the palate in a wonderful way. I’ve been enjoying this coffee quite a bit and am surprised by how well the coffee has held up. This is my first experience of a coffee from 49th and i am happy to have found another stellar North American roaster i can order from every once in a while!

Jesse Raub, a barista with Intelligentsia in Chicago on Brown Coffee Co’s Karuya Estate [sent by Daniel Larsen]:

After running it on the V60, Chemex, and Cafe Solo at home and off shift at work, I was nicely surprised by the consistent flavor notes — red licorice, savory body, and anise seed in the finish. It was a bit darker of a roast than I’m used to, especially for a Kenya, so it was really great to get to try a coffee outside my normal spectrum. More than anything it’s expanded my viewpoint of coffee in this country, and put me in touch with more coffee people in Texas than I had been previously.

Paul Canavan from Ireland, on Coffee Prince’s Knockrow Naturals [sent by Cameron Prince]:

Om nyom nyom nyom

Joe Crawley, from Ireland, on Monk Bodhi Dharma’s Kenya Tinganga [sent by Emily Chang]:

The coffee arrived on Tuesday and I’ve been busily making my way through it. It’s a beautiful Kenyan altogether and the roasters certainly seem to know what they’re doing.

Chris Grant, from Orelia, near Perth, Square Mile’s Colonia San Juan Espresso [sent by Joe Crawley]:

It had a unique… lovely smokey taste to it with a bold yet powerful smell and a very subtle taste leaving a lovely aftertaste for me to hang there till i made myself another cup.
The colour it gave whilst being poured through the portafilter was a lovely golden caramel colour.

Mark Wilson, from London, on Five Senses Coffees [sent by Andrew Petrie]:

I received from Australia two bags of roasted coffee, one which was Rwandan Abakundakawa and the other was Ethiopian Sidamo, I am fairly new in the world of speciality coffee and have been trying to expand my palate so this was a real treat. The Sidamo very quickly became a firm favourite with me and was like drinking a bar of very dark bitter chocolate complete with the dry mouth feel – think Lindt 70% cocoa.

Matt Perger (via Twitter), from Melbourne, on Hasbean’s Colombian Narino Consaca [sent by Paul Canavan]:

My @otherblackstuff pass-it-on coffee by @hasbean is suuuuper sweet melony goodness!! http://twitpic.com/24uvrn

So thanks to everyone who took part. I’m going to close the comments on the original post now, as it’s been a few weeks since the last comment. To those still awaiting your coffee, it seems that South Africa has been slow due to the World Cup, followed it seems by Australia. I have had comments from participants who don’t know if their bag arrived at its desintation, and have offered to send out a second bag if necessary.

A couple of other blog mentions:

Kalle Freese

hermitudinous

If anyone has anything to add to the above, please feel free to drop comments below.

I’ll leave you with the map (definitely worth viewing large).

It was an odd few days, a very different WBC to last year’s. The atmosphere at the show was simultaneously wonderfully convivial and at times disconcertingly surreal. I found my mind switching between awe at the assembled talent and resources, and reeling against what I hope most will forgive me for calling the sometimes boderline absurdity of this subculture. It is a happy kind of absurdity I must add.

I first met Mike Phillips in Atlanta at WBC ’09, and I thought he delivered then a performance worthy of winning a WBC, and another year may well have done so. It was inspirational and original. Mike, personally, is hugely skilled, excessively humble, without a trace of arrogance for which, given his expertise most would readily forgive, and I’m delighted that one of the few competitors who could compare to Gwilym Davies on those levels will carry on the mantle.

As for Colin’s performance, I am enormously proud to be able to claim him as a friend. His performance was not only original, and inspiring, but it was also staggeringly brave and important. I do expect it to spark a discussion on water, which is much overdue. Similar to Mike’s 09 performance, I also feel Colin’s performance was worthy of winning a WBC, and another year, probably would have done so.

I have for my part to thank Steve Leighton, Paul Stack, Shane Pender, and Colin Harmon for getting me focused for the cupping competition. Steve provided a slew of coffees to challenge my abilities, Paul and Shane setup the triangles, and Colin provided some stiff competition. Thanks guys. I am indebted.

I drank beautiful coffee from Intelligentsia, Da Matteo, Counter Culture, Hasbean, Coffee Angel, Square Mile and Tim Wendelboe at the Brew Bar. I had Gwilym Davies and Charles Babinski make me espresso and capps on the espresso bar. David Schomer even pulled me a shot on the La Marzocco stand on the new Strada. Every beautiful coffee reminded me of why we do this, why what might seem absurd and excessive to someone unfamiliar, can be justified by us without too much difficulty.

More than all this though, I left London I suppose with renewed inspiration, not only from Mike and Colin, from Steve and Paul, but from John and Oda, from Ben and Barrett, from Vince and Rasmus. These individuals along with dozens of others are changing the coffee world from their own corner. Knowing that fills me with ample optimism for coffee’s continued evolution, and for delights yet to come.

One of the great things I enjoy about coffee, is sharing a coffee I love with someone. Recently I’ve been running Saturday cupping sessions at 3FE, and seeing week after week people getting those new experiences has been really fulfilling. I also feel I spend far too much time on this blog being cantankerous, this I hope will be my penance for dozens of long winded blog posts.

I don’t know if this is going to work, in the cold light of the morning it may seem shockingly naive, but here goes. The first person to comment on this post gets a bag of coffee of my choosing from a roaster of my choosing (and an email explaining my choice). However, by commenting you are committing to do the same for the next person to comment (in a timely manner – you shall be held on your honour), and so on and so forth.

I don’t know who that person may be, where in the world they may be, but I do already have some candidate coffees in my mind. Cups I’d love to share. Their locale will probably influence my choice – eg probably wouldn’t send a bag of coffee from one of Hasbean / SqM / JGC to someone based in the UK as they could already be quite familiar with their offerings etc.

I will pass on/coordinate postal addresses if you forward them to me via the contact page (after commenting).

*edit* don’t forget to send me your address!