In Portland, Still No Turning Back

I'm writing this from the Judges Chambers at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland during the 41st competitor, Greg Lefcourt of OZO Coffee Company, of the SCAA 2012 USBC.  He's out there making three rounds of drinks in 15 minutes.  That's a total of 12 drinks---3 espressos, 3 cappuccinos, + 3 signature beverages, all while their soundtrack is playing, and 2 technical judges, 4 sensory judges, and 1 head judge monitor their motions and words.

Heather Ringwood, WBC certified judge and employee of Batdorf & Bronson, asked me if the USBC was any different from the regionals, a question which sums up my experience here.  I responded with a simple answer: "The competitors are tighter, and I walk around seeing all sorts of famous people."  Not 'famous' in the movie/music/sports/tv sense, but in the coffee world.  Everybody is here and it is such an invigorating feeling to see such a large number of people dedicated to moving coffee culture and business forward.  I will be bringing a lot of new ideas---and a bunch of swag from the convention floor---home to Rev and hope that you will enjoy the changes, adaptations, and betterings (is that a word?) that will happen.

I will update more tonight... but coffee people drink coffee in the morning, and all sorts of yummy booze at night, so I don't promise sense in my words.

Heading to Portland, No Turning Back Now

Hello All!

Just a quick post about one adventure a small portion of Rev is having.  I am currently en route (and have been since 5:30am this morning) to Portland, OR to serve as a technical judge for the United States Barista Championship (USBC), which just so happens to be in conjunction with the SCAA 2012 Event (pretty much the largest coffee event of the year).  Needless to say, there is a whole lot of exciting events planned for this week.

I am currently in my 5th hour of an 8 hour layover in Denver.  Did you know they have birds flying around inside?  And if that's not weird enough, there is a worker here---one of the passenger cart drivers---who whistles like a bird to let people know he's behind them.  It has been an interesting 5 hours, with $2.50 bottles of water and $3.50 boxes of popcorn.  I get it now, the movie theaters want people to think they're in an airport... or maybe vice versa.  Ponder that.

I guess I should give you a little bit of info about what being a tech judge for the USBC means:
Tomorrow I will sit through a day long session of written & visual tests, calibrations, mock runs, and (of course) lunch.  We have to pass with flying colors in order to be certified to judge, high scores than were necessary to judge the regionals.  Thursday-Sunday, we tech judges spend hour after hour watching the every move of competitors, standing on our feet, alert, focused, and watchful for 15 minutes at a time, for probably 5 hours with 15 minutes between each to calibrate on what we saw during the performance.  If you'd like to read more on what happens, or how you can watch live streaming video of the competition Thursday-Sunday, visit www.usbaristachampionship.com or you can catch the live tweets from @sprudge.

Well, maybe I'll post a little bit about what I'm up to throughout the week.  Just know that coffee professionals know how to party and we can stay up late, so I'm not promising anything.

Aajay

The Ledge of Know - The Cappuccino

Disclaimer:
Please don’t read this expecting some elaborate history of what is called a “cappuccino”.  I have found it hard to track down any factual information about such beverage, because everything is either hearsay or not confirm-able.  Thus, I am in no position to give the end-all story of the cappuccino.  From here on out, it’s all my interpretation, baby, so take it or leave it.

The cappuccino is a beverage that occurs naturally in the horn of a unicorn.  Typically, it is a 5-6 ounce beverage of 30 milliliters of espresso and 120-150 milliliters of textured milk.  Crazy, I know.  You’ve always believed that the horn of a unicorn has a cavity larger than that, but believe me… I’m “well researched”.

To definitely clarify the definition, let me define some definitive things for you (at least our interpretation thereof):

1. Espresso = the result of placing a portafilter filled with 17-22 grams of finely ground and compacted (tamped) coffee into contact with the group head of an espresso machine (such as the Simonelli in our shop) and forcing filtered and heated (to 190-200 degrees Fahrenheit) water at around 9 bars of pressure for about 20-30 seconds.  The only way to achieve espresso is to use such a device…. Sorry, Aeropress marketers.
2. Textured Milk = the result of crafting a smooth, velvety steamed milk with a minimum of 1 centimeter of foam depth.  There is a fine balance between over-stretched (which leads to massive bubbles) and under-stretched (which amounts to plain ol’ hot milk… you may as well have microwaved it), and the important factor to keep in mind is that the end product should be smooth with microbubbles and quite sweet and not too hot (150-160 degrees F).  To put it into practice and in very trade-specific terms, fill a small steaming pitcher with milk up to half way between the beginning of the spout and the bottom of the pitcher.  Then, place steam wand into milk with one of the little holes poking out, steam milk until you can feel the warmth through the pitcher’s outside (which should be about 100 degrees F, given that our internal temp is 98.6 degrees F).  At the point of feeling warmth, sink the steam wand.  Create a whirlpool with the steam, incorporating the stretched milk microfoam into the whole of the milk (speaking of whole, this works best with whole milk).  Keep steaming until the pitcher is uncomfortable to the touch, which technically should be around 150-160 degrees F, unless you can’t feel heat because of nerve damage.

So… that, in essence, is a cappuccino.  But since you have probably skimmed over most of what I have said, you should stick to coming into the shop for your fix.  Not only is the process even further complicated by the “at-home” espresso machines, but without adequate training and countless hours of practice, the end product may not be as tasty as you’d like.  PLUS I’ve only given you specifications of our shop and how we do it.  Your machine is probably a lot different.

Now for a little bit of what Google has given me about the cappuccino.  Don’t worry: I’ll shy away from the boring stuff.

Google tells me that there are monks and monkeys named “capuchin”, which is the name that Wikipedia tells me the word "cappuccino" has derived from.  Monks and monkeys!  Who woulda thought?  Maybe its true, maybe its not.  At this point, it doesn’t really matter.  The name “cappuccino” has now been given to a 20+ounce, super foamy beverage that is typically flavored with vanilla or chocolate and whose coffee content is questionable at best.  Go to any gas station if you don’t believe me.  They’ll sell you a 48-ounce “French vanilla” cappuccino if they have the cup. Starbucks, too.  They’ll sell you any sized cappuccino because they pretty much invented the variable size for it.  In my opinion, the 6-ounce cappuccino is the best delivery of coffee + milk.  It is sweet, milky, velvety goodness.  Seriously, come in a try one, but only if you have the time to enjoy it “for here”, out of a ceramic mug.  The paper cups don’t deliver the same fanciness that you and the cappuccino deserve.