Interested in how strong your coffee was brewed? The SCAE now offers the SCAE Refractometer, it is easily portable and is an essential tool for quality control everywhere coffee is brewed.
The Refractometer comes with the new dedicated ExtractMojo software developed by George Howell, this guarantees a quick and easy measurement.
Have you bought one? Or a similar device? Please let us have a look!
The top coffee in mid-November’s Cup of Excellence auction attracted a record price of $35.05 per pound after bidding from an international group of speciality traders and roasters, the organisers said.
Japanese trader Maruyama Coffee, acting for the Mikatujuku Group, Itoya Coffee and Orsir Coffee won the coveted coffee, 24 boxes of wet processed typica from Maurico Ramiro Diez de Medina’s Agrotakesi farm near Yanachi in the Sud Yungas region.
The average price for the winning Bolivian coffees in this year’s fifth Cup of Excellence programme rose to $7.77 a pound, the organisers said, with total auction proceeds up by over $100,000. There were seven Presidential award winners (scoring over 90 points from the international jury) among the thirty top coffees in the programme.
The second highest price went to a lot of 20 boxes of a caturra and criollo cross from the Café Jacaranda farm operated by Crus Elia Choconapi near Caranavi. Another Japanese bidder, UCC Ueshima Coffee Co, won the lot by offering $12.80 a pound.
A $12.35 per pound bid from Canadian-based 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters and Café Imports secured the 21 boxes of red catuaí from the Luis Yujra Arismende’s Café Alan Coffe farm.
Among the other successful bidders in the Bolivan Cup of Excellence auction were Mercanta the Coffee Hunters for Andronicas World of Coffee and for Bolling Coffee in the UK, as well as fellow British concerns Has Bean Coffee, Origin Coffee and Gala Coffee, Iceland’s Kaffitár, Kontra Coffee from Denmark, Ireland’s Bewleys, Sviezia Kava from Lithuania, and regular participants Solberg & Hansen and Kaffebrenneriet from Norway.
Source: Scae.com
Barista is a new application for iPhone users, it can be found using App Store and costs 2,39 EUR. It is about making quality espresso at home and covers step-by-step instructions on the most common espresso beverages. It also contains tips and techniques such as selecting, storing and grind coffee beans, tamping and extracting single and double shots, texturing milk, pouring latte art and much more.
More info can be found at Baristaapp.com
In the mood for a macchiato? Like to make one at home on your own espresso machine? Barista, a recent arrival on the App Store, can guide you through each step in the process of creating a caffè latte, cappuccino, americano, mocha, and other delightful expresso beverages. It also offers tips — on selecting and storing coffee beans and creating “latte art” — and a handy glossary.”
The SCAE is now offering a select line of coffee-related jewellery items from Italian designer, artisan and goldsmith Pietro Marmo. The online coffee jewellery range, which is being offered at special prices to members, includes pendants, bracelets and cufflinks, all using coffee as a theme. Included is a line of miniature silver coffee grinders, as well as life size coffee beans moulded in silver, in natural, dark or gold plated finishes. Click here to visit the shop and see the collection.
Basic, advanced and professional and profile roasting are all covered in the three latest one-day courses being given in December by IECafe, the Barcelona-based training organisation led by SCAE Authorised Trainer Jon Willassen.
The SCAE’s certified Authorised Trainers, coffee experts with wide experience of their subject, offer courses covering everything from green beans through roasting, brewing and serving the final cup.
The Authorised Trainers are based in most European countries, and offer their courses on a regular basis and in a number of European languages.
To get full details of the three courses, and others, offered by IECafe — as well as details of the many other SCAE Authorised Trainers and their courses — consult the Education section of the website, where you can access the full list — or just click here!
The espresso machine was invented in 1901 by a man called Lugia Bezzer. He would like his employees to have a shorter coffee break so he created a device to make coffee faster. This deviced was supposed to save time by using pressure to brew a concentrated shot of coffee. What they called the machine originally was the “Fast Coffee Machine”. Later in the years, the patent of the “Fast Coffee Machine” was sold to Desidero Pavoni in 1905. What he did, is use a piston pump to push water trough a tube for an even finer espresso product.
