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Danielle’s Semi-final

You can watch Danielle’s semi-final performance here.

USBC Day 1 and 2

The Octane crew are up here in Minneapolis, Minn for the SCAA and 2008 US Barista Competition.  Both Ben and Danielle are competing along with 48 other competitors for 16 spots along with the 9 other regional finalists, for the 25 semi final spots.

Ben competed fourth early on Friday. He did great, he tore it up! He was very relaxed and comfortable, enjoying himself and having fun.  He did really good and we’re super excited for him.  Go Finland!  It’s was a good day with lots of really good competitors.  I’ve got to say it looks tough up there.  This is my first USBC, but I have to say it looks really tight this year.  All the competitors are very, very good and well prepared!

Danielle was up next for the Octane crew on day 2.  Off the bat her microphone started cutting out, but you wouldn’t know it.  She was a champ!  She presented herself with such confidence to the judges.  It was great, she never skipped a beat.  She delivered herself with such excellence and professionalism. Great job D!

Come the afternoon after all 50 competitors had gone, the semi finalist were announced.  And Danielle made it in!!  She competes 22nd tomorrow. Watch it here live.

fromage, queso, käse, formaggio, сыр, ost

It is with a bit of sadness that I write this tasting post. This was my last tasting with Octane, and my last bar shift was this past Monday. Don’t worry, it’s all on good terms, Chris and I are just going on a little adventure!

Since it was my last, our cupping this past Monday was centered around one of my favorite things, CHEESE! Really, I love just about every cheese I’ve ever encountered. Let’s just say, I used to be vegan and what was the thing I ate when I decided that I actually love dairy, a grilled cheese sandwich accompanied by a cheese quesadilla!

Our set-up tonight was through different varieties of cheese processes. A chevre (from a local dairy!), a mild cheddar (from dublin), brie, a washed rind (munster), a classic hard (abricone with a red wine wash), and a blue (sheeps milk mirablue). It was stellar, there was also some pinot noir, dogfish head 60 minute ipa, and assorted crackers to pair.

While we tasted we noted each cheese’s:

• Texture (smooth, grainy, crunchy, etc.)
• Density/weight (how compact the cheese feels in your mouth)
• Intensity (how flavorful the cheese is)
• Acidity (tartness, lemoniness)
• Fruit (fresh dairy tones, sweetness)
• Saltiness
• Flavors (earthy, nutty, roasty, toasted, musty, mushroomy, meaty, et al)
• Finish (how long the flavors remain in the mouth)
• Favorites

As soon as the cheese was set out people gathered to partake. The overall favorite for the night was the chevre, for it’s mild creaminess and the fact that you could eat a pound of it before taking ill.

Next time I do a cheese tasting I would love to explore different regions and the cheeses they produce, or a milk type, or… soo many cheeses..

I am currently in Minneopolis at the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America)’s annual conference and the United States Barista Championship (ps this is the live feed link, click it to watch what’s happening and chat).  Ben Helfen and Danielle Glasky are both here to represent Octane at the competition and I am here representing Octane through the weekend as a USBC judge.  John Cole is here to blog about Octane’s goings ons, so keep reading here.  But also, if you want to, I will continue to write about fun times with coffee at tampthis.com!  Please add my new blog!  Thank you everyone.

Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day and yesterday was Erin’s, my lovely co-worker, birthday. Everybody knows that have tastings on Mondays, what could we possibly have tasted… birthday cake!!!

Here’s a little history for you..
The tradition of placing candles on birthday cake is is said to have come from the Greeks, who used place lit candles on cakes to make them glow like the moon, then they would take the cake to the temple of Artemis, the Goddess of Moon. Some scholars say that candles were placed on the cake because people believe that the smoke of the candle carried their wishes and prayers to the gods who lived in the skies. Others believe that the custom originated in Germany where people used to place a large candle in the middle of the cake to symbolize ‘the light of life’.

Nowadays, people place candles on birthday cakes and make a wish before blowing out the candle. If you blow out all candles in one breath that means your wish will come true! Some people also smear out the name of the person before slicing of the cake to bring good luck.

Around the middle of 17th century, Europeans had made considerable advancement in the art of making cakes. They began to make what can be called precursor to modern cakes that were round and had icing.

The phrase “Happy Birthday” did not appear on birthday cakes until the song Happy Birthday to You was popularized in the early 1900s.

mmm… cake…

We tasted lemon cake with lemon glaze, yellow cake with butter cream frosting, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, and chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.  Also Erin make an amazing lemon yogurt cake with lemon-orange frosting!  They were all great!

I’m sure if you check Curt’s flickr he will have the pictures posted soon.. :)  (and ask him about his coffee butter, it’s fantastic!)

a quick trip to durham..

Team Octane has been practicing their USBC competition routines for weeks now, but I thought for extra practice and good feedback, a trip to Durham to Counter Culture Coffee headquarters was in order.  As you may recall from a past Barista Magazine article, Counter Culture has their own barista certification program.  Firstly, you must complete the Beginner Espresso and Intermediate Espresso labs, which you can check the website for the next lab near you.  Then, you must take a written exam based on the labs.  Finally, you must do a competition performance, making two espressos, capps, and signature espresso based beverages, in the 15 minute time.  Ben, Danielle and I loaded all the competition gear into the car and trekked up to Durham.

Of course we stopped in Greenville, SC on the way.  We were at Haywood mall when they opened the doors.  Our friend Shannon at Coffee and Crema was pulling some fantastic single-origin shots of Yirgacheffe roasted by Crema.  CI joined us for a morning cup or 4 and we chatted for probably too long, before completing our drive to North Carolina.  A few hours later we arrived at HQ.

I was so nervous to take the certification and go through my performance.  I used the single origin Biloya that Ben will be using for a couple of his drinks at the USBC for all 3 of my drinks.  Similar to my ccc bud, Katie, at the NERBC.  The espresso was week off roast and pulled to bring out the fruitiness as well as dark chocolate and spice.  mmm… My signature drink involved some pineapple juice and a drop of sweetened condensed milk.

Ben and Danielle did their full routines and hopefully walked away with a list of things to work out before the weekend after next.

Don’t worry we all passed the certifications!  Then we went out with the Counter Culture family for a couple of much needed drinks and dinner.  A huge thanks to Lydia, Daryn, Kim, Brian, and Lem for setting up and participating in our perfermances!!  And another thanks to everyone at CCC for being so awesome! Thank you!

roaster tim and his lady, julie

After the cupping the next morning (if you haven’t tasted the new Valle del Santuario, you really should!) we ate lunch with the crew and then headed back down south.  Our stop in Greenville this time was longer and more relaxed.  We were treated to homemade pizza and the best float of my life.  The blog family is truly outstanding.  We can’t thank you enough!

Now we are home and practice has resumed.  I can’t wait until Minneapolis!

Olive You!

This week’s tasting was olives.  I love olives and all their salty goodness.  Plus I learned a lot of fun, useless facts about them, and I really love fun, useless facts.

“This tree possess a wealth of symbolism - peace, fruitfulness, purification, strength, victory and reward. In Ancient Greece the tree was sacred to Athene and the first olive, which sprang from her quarrel with Poseidon, was preserved as a treasure behind the Erechtheum.  In Jewish and Christian tradition, the olive is a symbol of peace and it was an olive-branch which the dove brought back to Noah when the Flood was over. And old legend tells that Christ’s cross was made of olive-and cedar-wood.  For Islam, the olive is the central tree, the World axis, a symbol of Universal Man and of the Prophet.” “The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols” by Jean Cheavlier and Alain Gheerbrant.

Green olives and black olives are washed thoroughly in water to remove oleuropein, a bitter carbohydrate. Sometimes they are also soaked in a solution of food grade sodium hydroxide in order to accelerate the process.

Green olives are allowed to ferment before being packed in a brine solution. American black (”California”) olives are not fermented, which is why they taste milder than green olives.
Olives are also one of the only fruits that you have to process before eating.

We tasted 6 different olives of different varietals from different regions and having gone through different processes.
Alfonso Olive~ purple from Chile: softer texture, brined with salt, water and citric acid
Halkidiki Olive ~ from the Halkidiki peninsula of Greece: super salty green, brined with salt, water and citric acid
Kalamata Olive ~ named after the city kalamata in Greece: used red wine vinegar in the brine
Mt. Athos Olive ~ from Macedonia: dry cured and so so sweet
Thasos Olive ~ an island of the coast of Greece: oil cured with extra virgin olive oil
Cerignola Olive ~ native to Italy: “normal” black olive, brined with salt, water and lactic acid

Oil Curing ~ confusing but I think in addition to the salt soak you add oil, or you soak in oil afterwards.
Brining~ cover in salt water brine solution for days and up to months, store in a cool place.
Dry Curing~ like curing meats, cover in salt and let hang out for a long time.

the Mt. Athos Olive, photos by Curt

We also had some delicious goat cheese and small glasses of pinot noir.

Thursday Night Throwdown on CNN!

This came out today! YAY!!

APRIL IS RWANDA MONTH!

This is an amazing piece written by Mark Overbay at Counter Culture, and I couldn’t have said it better…

Rising from the rubble of its catastrophic civil war and genocide in the early 1990s, Rwanda is in the midst of an extraordinary coffee renaissance and coffee-fueled socio-economic recovery, becoming a source of some of the world’s finest, most sought after beans. With the help of USAID, a handful of NGOs, and a few U.S. coffee roasters, Rwanda’s growing, quality-driven coffee trade has not only helped the country experience economic recovery; it also has led to social reconciliation among people on both sides of the recent conflict. In April, Atlanta’s Octane Coffee Bar & Lounge, located in the city’s renovated Westside neighborhood, is celebrating the incomparable quality of Rwandan coffee and the country’s coffee-fueled triumphs with a month-long series of events designed to honor and benefit the country’s artisan farming communities.

For the entire month of April, Octane’s regular espresso blend will be replaced by a special, single-origin espresso roast from Humure, Rwanda, a partnering coffee growing community of the Durham, NC-based Counter Culture Coffee, which works on the ground-level with Rwandan coffee farmers and supplies Octane with all its fresh-roasted coffees. Also, instead of its normal daily selection, Octane’s French press program – which involves grinding and brewing to order – will feature coffee from a different Rwandan coffee farmer cooperative each week. Other Rwandan coffee events include: (all events at Octane)

April 11: Latte Art Throwdown and Grill-out
April 12, 6 PM: Charity Bike Race and Spoke Card Art Show (8pm) to benefit Bikes to Rwanda, a nonprofit working to the improve quality of life in Rwandan communities through a bike workshop and maintenance program that provides transportation resources for basic needs and enhances production of quality coffee.       April 13, 8:20 PM: Pecha Kucha Night Art Show, featuring original art inspired by Rwanda’s coffee growing communities.

“We have been really impressed with the quality of the incredible Rwandan coffees, as well as the reactions we receive from customers who not only love the quality, but also support Rwandan coffees for social and humanitarian reasons,” said Octane owner Tony Riffel. “Rwandan coffee, because of its unique flavor and inspiring story, tends to spark conversation, and we’re hoping that our month-long Rwandan coffee celebration will help communicate the message that our coffee choices can have far-reaching, potentially very positive effects on the world.”

Barista Hostel and the GS3

Our house became an international barista hostel for the past week. It was so exciting to see friends and hear their stories of coffee. First was a murky coffee team, Katie Duris and Shannon Ducrest.

They were coming through Atlanta on their way to Florida. It was a quick visit as they were quite tired after a long drive. We showed them Octane and then took them to Tilt, a new omer to the ATL coffee scene also brewing up Counter Culture goodness.

The following night, during a long layover on a flight to Guatemala, was Klaus Thomsen and Mads HØgstad.

Man, do I love the Danes, but I guess the US Customs agents don’t as much, it took them hours to get through! We took them to see Octane and the CCC training center of course!

Next up to slumber in the small house was James Hoffmann and Anette Moldvaer.

photo by Ken. thanks.

Atlanta was the last stop on their East Coast Tour with Counter Culture. They brought a tornado with them but we tried to show the drrty drrty as best we could.

The last crasher on our rad little air mattress was Ben Kaminsky, on a layover coming back to the States from Guatemala (he was on the same origin visit to Finca Vista Hermosa as Klaus and Mads).

most excellent photo from tonx’s flickr (sorry/thank you)

I’d like to thank everyone who stayed with us, it really made this house feel like a home.

And yesterday, I went uptown to Buckhead to train one of our regulars and his friends on his new GS3 and Versalab grinder! It was such a blast and by the end of the afternoon they were all pulling gorgeous shots and having fun with it. Even his 10-month-old darling was excited!