Five Senses' Blog
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Following the coffee
I know it’s been a while since my last post, but the truth is we have barely had a moments rest this past week. We spent a solid two full days of cupping, Panamanian, Costa Rican and Guatemalan coffees in San Jose. It was exhausting but equally exhilarating as we purposely left our schedule open to visit our fav’s. We snapped up a huge variety of micro lots from these three countries including some delicious naturals, Pacamaras, Geishas etc … The hard part is only really going to be waiting for these to land in Australia.
Post cupping we decided our next stop was Panama, we had some great results from Hortigal, Lerieda and Don Pepe and so we made arrangements to drive with our new friend Rumi from Natures Best Coffees to Panama. It’s a beautiful drive through the misty mountainside and via the famous Terrazu region. We spent the first night in Volcan visiting some great farms Los Cantones, Hartmanns and Bambito … from there we drove through the mountains to the other side of the Baru Volcano and into the stunning Boquete region.
We spent the next two days staying at Lerieda and visiting our favourite farms. Don Pepe and Hortigal were both overly organised and amazing hosts, they have fantastic properties with some of the higher coffee growing altitudes of this region. All of their coffees are immaculate and super organised, the mills are clean as a whistle and so it was clear why these farms stood out on the cupping table.
We also visited Don Pachi and tasted his famous Geisha cherries right from the tree … we’ve been fortunate to taste many geisha cherries on this trip, from Guatemala to Panama and both Nolan and I have been gobsmacked by how sweet and distinctly tropical fruit, peach, mango they have been. For me, it’s a testament to how much impact a variety in the right growing conditions can have.
We cupped and cupped and cupped some more which was awesome and totally what we came for. So it’s with little sleep and lots of coffee that we find ourselves about to board a flight for Honduras. This is our last stop in Central America and we’ll be here until Thursday. We have not yet really tasted anything from Honduras and we are keen to see what’s on tap!
I’ll keep you posted.
Geisha cherries
Nolan, myself and Don Pepe
NZ Barista Championship 2012; the judges’ calibration
We’re here, we’re keen and we’re looking forward to judging what looks like being an exciting three days of competition in Wellington, New Zealand. But will we get the opportunity? For the first time, the New Zealand competition is stepping away from a series of regional preliminaries to a single three-day competition consisting of two days of heats, then semis and a final. Attracting a large number of volunteer judges means selection based on demonstrated judging skill. With regional judges’ workshops conducted prior to the event, a reasonable knowledge of the rules is assumed, so today took the form of competition run-throughs. This saw yours truly performing as a calibration barista for the morning session. It proved a really fun opportunity to step up to the other side of the competition table and share some Five Senses coffee with the New Zealand judges, pouring our Bolivian Estrella and Crompton Road.
It turns out that, whilst I can spin a creative coffee story on the fly and pour a good coffee, my technical scoring left a little to be desired. I managed to knock up a creative signature drink using a Clever Dripper, treacle, apple syrup and (cribbing from Alejandro Mendez) I separated the crema through a Swiss Gold. I thought I was a 6 scoring barista — but judging consensus seemed like I was more a 3.5. Not bad given the impromptu nature of my performance, I suppose.
Tomorrow sees the more relaxed NZ Cupping Championship take place — I’m hoping to get a casual guest run in, Tbc! Friday will see me stepping back to more familiar territory, being involved in barista sensory judging and helping New Zealand find a champion to send to the World Barista Championships to compete alongside our own soon-to-be decided Australian Champion. I’ll keep you posted….
Brydon doing his thing!
The judges
El Salvador — so much quality in such a small place
It’s amazing how quickly you can get around in Central America, a short 3-4 hour bus ride and we were in San Salvador. We were really lucky to be able to spend some quality time at El Manzano, a farm run by Emilio Lopez and owned by his family for that last five generations. It’s squeaky clean and highly organised, whilst licking the patios is not recommended, I’m sure you could get away with it here. Lots of experimental processing going on, not only to manipulate the flavors, but also to have more control over the fermentation regardless of weather. Basically, Emilio wants to find out what works best for his specific farm, in specific micro climates, with specific varieties and processing. Sounds to me like and endless search, but I have no doubt he will continue to uncover some surprising results and also get the best out of his coffees.
Next we head to visit the Pacas family for a couple of days. They also have some farms that have been in their family for generations as well as a couple newly aquired ones. The Pacas family are well known for first discovering the PACAS coffee variety mutation on their farm some 100 years ago. If you have never tasted PACAS variety, many of you will have tasted the hybrid Pacas — Maragogype at some point, better known as Pacamara. We spent a couple days visiting Santa Sofia, San Joaquin, Esperanza and La Guachoca. They have some great profiles and I think this could be a good family to work with in upcoming years.
We ate lots of cherries, cupped lots of coffees and met tons of new people. It was such a quick trip, it would be nice to spend some more time in El Salvador in the future.
From here we fly to Costa Rica.
Central American picking
So much going on in Guatemala!
Our first stop was Guatemala and we’ve left feeling like our finger is on the pulse. We visited a number of farms, but most importantly, we cupped coffees, lots of coffees! Table after table of freshly harvested and available Guatemalan coffees, from micro’s to full lots, we were able to narrow down the masses of great stuff, to a select few. From here, we send samples home to our lab to be cupped on Aussie soil (ensuring I’m not just getting caught up in the moment) and we’ll make our final decisions. In my opinion, the selected profiles are all great options and it’s more about the complete package, who do we want to work with and what will benefit our clients most. We managed to jam so much into our short five day trip and I can’t say enough great things about all the people who went out of their way to ensure we were well looked after. We nibbled on the sweetest organic geisha cherries (Mango, pineapple, passionfruit!!!) at Santa Felisa in Acetenango, we four wheel drove up Santa Clara, we soaked up Antigua, we saw our way around the city, we visited some of the producers of La Travesia, and we met and spent time with lots of new and exciting contacts. Coffee passion is in the air here, all sorts of things to be excited about in Guatemala in the present and in years to come. Guatemala is a stunning country, once this is all said and done, my next visit here will hopefully be a vacation. Time to hop on the bus and head to El Salvador.
More tomorrow …
The slopes of Santa Clara
Serving coffees to engaged foodies
Melbourne is buzzing with excitement and the weather has been surprisingly beautiful this weekend as the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival rolls into its 20th year. For the third year running Five Senses is stepping up as the coffee partner for the festival and in particular at the star event, the Langham Masterclass.
We’re having some great experiences serving coffees out to a group of open minded, engaged foodies and chefs. After helping to finish the meal at The Worlds Longest Lunch last Friday (500m of dining table on the banks of the Yarra!) we’ve been serving out some delicious brews at the Masterclass event, spread across the grand ballrooms of the Langham Hotel on Southbank and the amphitheatres of the MCEC. Some of the culinary masters gracing the presentations include David Chang (Momofuku – New York/Sydney), Rene Redzepi (Noma – Denmark), Corey Lee (Benu – San Francisco) and some of our locally grown stars like Ben Shewry (Attica – Melbourne) and Dan Hunter (The Royal Mail – Grampians). While there’s some amazing knowledge of produce, technique and history being displayed, the personalities and passion is really what grabs people — it’s obvious that it’s not just great technique that elevates these professionals to this level but also their magnetic drive. Like Trinh Dien Vy, from Vietnam: her humour and insight into the cultural differences had us all laughing and glued with intrigued.
The Five Senses stand looks amazing at both sites and hosts a full brew bar and map of the world, with different coffee tasting regions around the globe. It’s really interesting to see just how many people now are more comfortable exploring single origin and brewed coffee. This year you can opt to try our Dark Horse Blend or try a specially selected micro lot coffee for your espresso or milk coffee. At the brew bar you can try one of six brews from a clever dripper. Simply look at the map, pick a region, match the coffee and off you go on your world journey of coffee tasting! Want something cold? … well there’s cold drip as well.
There is a class A team on and we have help from NSW, QLD and SA! (Thanks Anthony, Ian and Dean). Although we are getting slammed in session break outs, the vibe is really chilled and relaxing and we have the vinyl spinning all day long. It’s a great event to be part of, you are surrounded by people that are passionate about produce and really interested in the different tastes of coffee. Aside from that it’s just great to hangin with the Five Senses crew.
Our brew bar at the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
Anthony mans the alternate brew station
The crew hard at work
You down with ODP?
I’m back in Singapore and tonight I’m catching up with good friends Harry Grover (Australian native and creator of 40 Hands Coffee) and Cynthia Chua. Cynthia is Managing Director of Singapore’s Spa Esprit Group which founded the legendary waxing parlour “Strip” and concept restaurants and bars such as House, Tippling Club and Skinny Pizza. We’re meeting at their new venue called ODP (Open Door Policy). Opening the doors (no pun intended) in October last year, ODP is Harry and Cynthia’s latest bistro concept — focusing on great food, unique wines and, you guessed it, delicious Five Senses Coffee!
Situated in the quaint little neighbourhood of Tiong Bahru, tucked away on Yong Siak St, ODP is literally across the road from 40 Hands, a specialty coffee venue that the “dynamic duo” created a year ago, setting the standard for speciality coffee in Singapore and turning a tired Yong Siak St into a funky little strip, which is now, thanks to 40 Hands and ODP, a high demand property hotspot …
Still not accustomed to the Singapore culture of being fashionably late, I found myself at the bar with some time to kill. Fortunately I was greeted by ODP’s bar manager, Jay, a young 40 Hands barista I had met on my last visit to Singapore. It had been a long day and I was craving a good espresso. Jay decided that what I really needed was an Espresso Martini. I couldn’t argue with that — so Jay got to work, throwing all the usual suspects into his Boston Shaker and adding a touch of Agave Syrup and a sweet, pressure profiled double espresso, pulled from their Generation 2 Synesso Hydra. All I can say is that it was a good start to a great night!
Halfway through one of the best Espresso Martinis I have ever experienced, Harry and Cynthia arrived and we were quickly seated at our table. I knew I was in for a treat as the menu was written by Tippling Club’s very own Ryan Clift, an award winning chef who has worked with some of the world’s greatest chefs including Marco Pierre White, Peter Gordon, Emmanuel Renaut, Raymond Capaldi and, of course, Shannon Bennett, where Ryan excelled as the Head Chef of Vue de Monde.
Food-wise, the menu is centred around modern bistro fare with a rustic twist. I decided to leave the ordering in the capable hands of Harry and Cynthia who ordered a plethora of food to share, including crispy chicken wings with curry, yogurt and cucumber salad, haloumi cheese with olives, white anchovies and crusty bread, flamed tuna carpaccio with radish and yuzu salad, papaduck pappadum with crusted duck fillets and mint yoghurt dip. We also hoed into jamon with sliced baguette, crushed tomato, garlic and extra virgin olive oil and my favourite steak tartare with truffle mayo and potato chips. Combined with a beautiful 2007 bottle of Viu Manent – malbec from the Colchagua valley in Chile, it was probably enough food. However Cynthia suggested I should also try the 48 hour cooked braised beef cheek with mochi potatoes, carrot puree and snow pea tendrils. How could I say no? I didn’t, and I enjoyed every mouth-watering bite of the most tender beef cheek that has ever been put in front of me. It was so good, that if I was in the comfort of my own home, I would have been obliged to carry out the only ritual that would truly give the dish the respect it deserved — and LICK the plate! Yes, that would have been the right thing to do …
As I loosened my belt, which is generally a good indicator that it’s time to stop, Harry and Cynthia ordered one final course — the ice cream “why just Sunday?” and white chocolate mousse with a raspberry headache. As delicious as those two dishes were, it was just too much and I couldn’t bring myself to finish dessert. Strangely enough, I did start to feel a little headache come on, but somehow I don’t think it was from the raspberry …
Jay mixing me up an espresso martini ... yum!
My awesome meal
More of my awesome meal
Women eager to be on the speciality map
I’ve been invited to represent Five Senses at a short IWCA (International Women’s Coffee Alliance) workshop in Burundi, East Africa. Not only was I representing Five Senses as a roaster, but I have the honour of representing women in coffee. The Burundi chapter of IWCA, an association where women collaborate with peers to establish good growing and production practices, signed their charter only one year ago. I am joined at the workshop by a fellow roaster from Korea, a lab and development specialist from India, representatives from USAID stationed in Burundi, and numerous female growers, processors and marketers, just to name a few.
The first day consisted of a lot of presentations and discussions. Various topics included the importance of meticulous picking and processing, cupping as an invaluable tool, how roasters choose what green beans to buy, how sustainable direct relationships are formed, the importance of education for children in coffee, and a bit of exposure to the resources available to the women of IWCA Burundi.
After the conclusion of the presentations, roundtable discussions took place and the members of IWCA Burundi wasted no time in establishing their initiatives. For a country with growing conditions that rival Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia, Burundi has a lot to be excited about. These women mean business and are eager to learn. They are intelligent and ambitious, and until recently, the Burundian government had control over all aspects of the country’s coffee. As the country’s industry begins the shift begins toward privatisation, it is clear that these women intend to solidify Burundi as a spot on the map of speciality coffee exporters.
Day two of the trip involved visiting various farms, all operated by women, and a washing station recently purchased by a Burundian woman for the first time in the country’s history. Harvest in Burundi isn’t until June and July, but due to some unseasonable weather this station was already in operation. We also witnessed a new dry mill under construction which will aim to focus on speciality grade coffee.
Tomorrow I will head back toward Perth, of course wishing I could spend more time in this beautiful East African country, but grateful to have met many amazing women growers, exporters, and every role in between, as well as the people who are supporting their efforts to achieve great things at this special coffee origin.
Women from the International Women's Coffee Alliance, including, Sunalini Menon, the founder of Coffeelab in India.
The Precision Shot Brewer
I’ve been spending quite few hours testing and evaluating various burrs and baskets recently and I have come to realise that a purpose built, highly stable shot brewer would be a useful tool. It may be my metrology background but I am always looking for ways to remove uncertainties and subjectivity from my test procedures so a Precision Shot Brewer is now top of my wish list.
The machine will be, in essence an espresso machine without any facility for producing steam or hot water. It will of course need to be very stable in terms of brew water temperature and water pressure and it must also have the ability to replicate the pressure profile of the Synesso Hydra as found in many of our clients cafes. I think I should also have the ability to collect and digitise temperature, pressure and flow rate data for analysis and lastly but very importantly, it must look cool …
For a base to build it all on I am chopping up a chassis from a new three group Synesso Cyncra that had been dropped from the back of a truck and written off. My stainless steel welding skills are best described as ‘amateur hobbyist’ but with enough tries and plenty of grinding I manage to get something to hold together. The overall plan is to have everything from the hydraulic system to the electronic circuit boards fully out in the open or behind perspex guards so we can be mesmerised by the blinking LEDs while we wait for our espresso shot.
If you want to see ALL the pics, check them out at our Five Senses Flickr Site …
Precision Shot Brewer - where's it's up to now
The SynessoMac Mark II is born
What was 18 months in the making is finally complete and stands proud on my kitchen bench — the SynessoMac Mark II.
My home set-up including the SynessoMac Mark II
It’s been about two years since Richard finished and installed the original SynessoMac at his home and after a few months or constant pestering, late night sms’s and post-it notes on his fridge, he finally agreed to go around the block again and create a Mark II of his original creation.
Once I got the nod, I raced my machine into the service department ready for its conversion. Richard assured me it would only take about eight weeks 
… ok, maybe it got dragged out just a little a bit, but I guess a few slightly more important projects like green bean lifting machines, roasted bean mixing trays and a 90kg Giesen roaster install were a little more important to bump my little machine further down the priority list.
Alrighty, enough about those other projects … a mere 18 months in the womb and the SynessoMac Mark II was born. It’s almost identical to the original with a few small differences: blue PID (at my request), a custom-made double walled cooltouch steam wand (thanks Synesso, you guys rock!) and the pump was mounted externally under the bench (making the internal area much easier to work around).
It came home just before Christmas, which was gold!!! … seens as it was holidays. I’ve been experimenting with different coffees, different temps and even dosing levels, which has been a lot of fun. I’ve been looking for something that’s chocolaty and super sweet. I really don’t know whether it’s possible to beat our Colombian Monserrate at 96°C, which is what I’ve been tasting for a few days now. I started at 92°C and one thing that I’ve definitely found is the shots get sweeter as I drive up the temp. Next up is to try some of our blends.
For all the technical details of Richards original project, check it out here: http://blog.fivesenses.com.au/category/project-x/
And just for the record … the wait was totally worth it.
Close up of the Synesso grouphead
COE winners are grinners … off to Sul de Minas Gerais
The Brazilian COE has only just come to an end, it was a busy week and most certainly a very intense last couple of days. It’s exciting, draining and lots and lots of work for everyone involved, but most importantly, an invaluable experience and program for producers, buyers and consumers the world over. I’ve always had a soft spot for Brazilian coffees and it’s probably the reason why I originally chose Brazil as a jury I wanted to be on. I’m not sure if it’s because I find them often misunderstood as I often hear “I really don’t like Brazilian coffees” from speciality coffee buyers, drinkers etc. Being here, learning and tasting super fresh Brazilian coffees has proven to me once again, that Brazil has a lot to offer the speciality world, especially (but not exclusively) the espresso market. Caramel, juicy, fruity, clean, sweet, spicey, chocolately, malty, citric … need I go on.
Jules (Juliana Nobre) and I have packed our bags once again and are now in Sul de Minas Gerais (South of the state of Minas) … a very well known coffee growing region in Brazil. We are surrounded by rolling hills of coffee and spending the next couple of days of the Santo Antonio Estates, where for the first time this year, our fresh crop Brazils are coming from. In fact, they are due to land in Australia just around the corner in early December. We are also spending time on some of the estates we get our micro lots from, Samambaia, Villa Boa, Pinhal as well as some new ones. The air is fresh, the coffee is sweet and those warm cheesy buns straight out of the oven are absolute heaven!!
We saw two Toucan’s yesterday … I couldn’t believe my eyes!!
The final days in Brazil
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