Hamburg - Tea & Coffee World Cup 2005

[HV]

Back from Hamburg, after spending three days at the T&CWC. Of course, there were the usual suspects: manufacturers of espresso machines (big & small), manufacturers of coffee roasters, coffee brands, packaging industry, cups and saucers, an everything in between. Some impressions, in random order:

* Baristas, baristas, everywhere. Unlike the Amsterdam T&CWC four years ago, most of the large (and quite a few smaller) coffee booths featured one or more very apt pro baristas pulling espressos and turning cappuccinos into little works of art. Very cool to see. It appears the championships are paying off: the barista is becoming a recognized essential part of the industry. Better still (both surprising and disappointing), most baristas were a bit more knowledgeable than the manufacturers reps themselves...

* Barista & latte art demos. Was one of the ongoing events at the show. It didn't really attract crowds, but was nonetheless interesting to watch. I spend some time with Tobias Müller (barista at The Coffee Store) during the T&CWC, which was a great way to was introduced to several other baristas he knew. Asked about latte art, he said only took him two years, and six hundred liters of milk to get the technique down. Must be easy then.

* Flavoured ..., ehmm, well, flavoured anything. 'Course one would expect the usual herbal infusions and perhaps some "enhanced" teas on a Tea and Coffee. In Hamburg though, I was surprised by huge presence of manufacturers of flavouring additives. AFAIK, every major brand was there - from the 100% natural syrups of Routing, to the 100% synthetic additives of ... hmm, perhaps I shouldn't mention names. Seems like that part of the industry has started a major offensive in Europe. A spin-off from the signature drinks idea?

* Freshness rules: grind on demand is getting big. We've seen the Mazzer Mini-E and the (excessively costly) LaMarz Swift, and various others are joining in. Several booths had a Mahlkönig K30 next to the espresso machine. Apart from the timer controlled K30 espresso grinder (nice, fast & quiet, and "only" EUR 1200 ex. VAT), Mahlkönig also had a twin hopper grinder on display. Ditting had a K30 lookalike (who's OEM'ing who?), and an interesting dosing grinder with four or six hoppers. Bit inconvenient in the home kitchen though.

* SCAE... They were at the show, but the people at the booth didn't know much. Fortunately, I was invited to dinner with some people I know at Reneka. Also present was Steffen Schwartz (managing director of The Coffee Store, director of the Coffee Consulate, and German SCAE Chapter coordinator), who welcomes the idea of inviting coffee nuts like us to the SCAE. The Coffee Store already does basic activities for consumers. Some here might be interested in that, or perhaps opt for the (slightly costly) full monty barista training at the Coffee Consulate.

* Hottop - I finally got to meet Shelly at their booth. They had a "classic" model, and two digital units roasting coffee nearly all the time. I got a look "under the hood", and it seems I've a pretty old unit. Mine's about three years old (though still going strong), on the new models various parts of the construction have been upgraded. Well, the machine's been in production for four years, they probably sorted out all (potential) problems by now. A few samples from the Sandalj booth (prolly 300g together) were nicely roasted in about 18 minutes. Couldn't hear the machine.

* Real flavour: cupping excellent beans. I was told that the people at the Cup of Excellence tasting (hi Annette!) might appreciate a hand. No sweat. It was fun to taste some very fine coffees, get a first hand introduction to the CoE cupping form (and a little guidance) from Susie Spindler. I helped out at the cupping on Monday (El Salv) and Tuesday (Nics & Hons) doing the "dirty work". Less interesting, but, otoh, it's good to get a glipmse behind the scenes now and then.

* Tea - might be a different forum, but this post is after all about the *Tea* & Coffee World Cup. Let me just say that there were a few magnificent teas. The absolute best I tasted was the top-notch first harvest sencha from Otsuka.


Well, these are just my impressions - and it might say more about my preoccupations than about the show. Anyway, it was fun to be there. Pix to follow, here, or on my site.
Next years show will be in Shanghai - bit further away from home, but it might be fun.


Cheers,



HV


ps. Annette, do you, or maybe Jon have a list of the coffees cupped on Tuesday? There was one Honduras that I just loved, with an overwhelming aromas of banana, vanilla, and flowers (jasmin?), beautifully balanced. Even impressed a Wallenford rep who attended the cupping.
Anyway, if there's any chance, I'd love to get a few kg's of greenies from this one. If I know which it is...

[HughF]

Very interesting, thanks for the report.

Cheers,

Hugh

[Beanie]

Thanks for taking the time, HV. Wish I could've gone. So, who's going to Trieste in November?

[Steve]

Great report HV really good, wished I could have gone Has an invite for the COE tasteing but just couldnt spare the time.

Now Trieste would be good, but ......

steve