Last weekend the NZ Barista competition opened up, with the Wellington heats. The “coffee capital” brought some great competitors up to the plate. Hats off to all those who competed!

But as with any competition there can only be one winner! This year, the Wellington winner is: Richard Legg from Sage Cafe in Feilding (go the small towns!)  he did a great job of warming to the judges, and presenting some of his finest coffees!

So 1st Richard Legg, 2nd Frank Hsu. Both Frank and Richard now head off to the finals in Christchurch at the end of Febuary, to compete against NZ’s best for the title of NZ Barista Champion, with the winner respresenting NZ at the World Barista Championship in April, in Atlanta USA!

Well done guys! look forward to seeing what you bring to the table in the finals!

Coffeeman

Thats right this weekend is the start of the NZBC for 2009. Its starting off with the Wellington heats on sunday the 25th at Cafe Laffare, College Street in Wellington! Be there and support your local Barista!

The Wellington competition is then followed up by heats in both Auckland (Saturday 31st January 9am- 7pm at Allpress Roastery in Auckland.) and Christchurch (Sunday 15th February 9am – 7pm at Vivace Roastery Tuam Street in Christchurch) with the finals being held in Christchurch also.. (Saturday 28th February at C4 Roastery Lichfield Street in Christchurch)

The Eventual winner will be named New Zealand Barista Champion, and will get the chance to represent NZ at the WBC in Atlanta, USA !

The events are promising to bring out some of the countrys best baristas! With discussions on blogs and forums heating up.It will be exciting to see what happens!

I am personally not competing in the national competition this year, and as such, have been asked to judge in the wellington heat. It will be eye opening being on the other side of the table. Hopefully i will be able to learn heaps from looking at it from judges eyes so to speak.

Keep an eye on this site, and i will try and keep you updated on the going-ons in upcoming comps!

In the meantime.. one of the favourites for the competition (Previous NZ Champion 3 times! – with the last time coming 3rd in the world at the World Barista Championship) has a blog and is keeping it updated with his journey on his way to competitions and the people he meets, and how his preparation is going (without giving too much away!) very interesting reading! check his site out here! Carl is competing in the Christchurch heats! He has a wealth of knowledge in the coffee scene and has helped many a barista in thier journey – including yours truely!

To get more in depth info on the Competition, and the Coffee Roasters Association, whom are running/hosting the events check out thier website.

Until my next post. take care

Coffeeman

I know.. i have been a slacker, and its been a fair bit of time since my last post.

However, we are now in a new year, and i am looking forward to what 2009 may hold!

So Thank you for being patient, this will hopefully be the first post of many for this year. I have some ideas which i would like to see happen on this site, we will see how it goes over time.

We are approaching what i call Coffee Competition “season” so stay tuned, and i will try and keep you informed of how things unfold.

Thanks again, and look forward to your feedback over coming posts!

Coffeeman

Well, after a month of waiting, after preparing coffees for judges, last night i was stoked to be named 2008 Manawatu Barista of the year.

The Hospitality Community from Palmerston North and surrounding Manawatu towns came together at the Regent Theatre to celebrate the efforts made across the board in manawatu hospitality.

You can read all the winners here. You can also read all the nominees and details on the awards at the Manawatu Hospitality Awards Website!

It was a fantastic night, and great to meet up with many people from other areas in our great industry!

Thankyou to all the oragnisers, judges and also to all the sponsers! it was great to be part of it! It is very inspiring seeing so many people passionate about thier areas in the industry, and seeing the enthusiasm spread can only be good for the industry, and will only lead to raising the standard across the board!

Also, i’d like to thank my customers, friends and family whom offer me support day to day, and encourage me to get out there and do my best!

Thank you!

I know i am delayed in getting this info on here, and the event happened a few weeks ago now..

but the Kiwis have done it! they won the transtasman comp overall for the first time in the few years it has been running!

Well done to Carl, Luie, Chris and Emma! (and that amazing sub on the sunday heat you pulled into the ring )

Over the three days at the NZ Hospitality show, we won the first day, then the ozzies won the second. Making for an event organisers dream, of having a final battle on the final day!

Making 30 drinks in around 7 mins, makes for a great team event!

The Ozzies put up a great show, and played up to the banter between “us and them”, but just couldnt match the pace that the kiwis laid down!

Roll on next year, and see if we can do it again eh.. if rumours are to be believed, i hear it could be a “tri-nations” between Austrailia, New Zealand and…… Japan! which would make for a fantastic event! With the coffee culture/community in Japan growing rapidly, they are egar to get involved!

Coffeeman

Below is a pic of the teams from both Aussie and New Zealand. Cheery looking bunch dont ya think?

Today the kiwis take on the ozzies in the final round of the trans-Tasman cup. Runs for 3 days at the NZ hospitality show in Auckland.. Stay tuned for more info as I am there to catch the fun…..

I am writing this on the go on my phone…

GO KIWIS!!!!!

Tags: ozzies kiwi black cups coffee barista

Last week, i was asked by my good friends Frank and Di on the afternoon show on Life fm if i had any coffee personifications or stereotypes for types of people that get certain types of coffees.

The List i came up with is as follows, and i thought i might share it with you to have a giggle and agree or even say no i go against coffeeman’s grain!

Latte – ladies in later 20s -30s
flavoured/sweetened lattes – Ladies late teens early 20’s
Moccas – Polynesians and young guys
Long Blacks – Older guys 50ish
Hot Chocolates – kids? and coffee dislikers…
Decaf – Skip Parker….   (long story)
Espresso/Short Black – males 20-30’s
Cappucinos – Older folk – part of the 80’s revolution to coffee and dont like change from then, they like cappucinos with chocolate, and probably a wee bot of sugar…

Flat whites – Any exception to the above.. -at times the most popular drink for anyone above 25+

Soy milk – Those allergic to dairy – and the rest are hippies

I’d be interested to know your thoughts, and if things differ from your neck of the woods, as this is what i find here in the mighty manawatu!

Coffeeman

P.S disclaimer (gotta have a disclaimer) – i dont mean to discriminate or offend anyone by my stereotypes, as there are always exceptions, and those that like to change depending on thier mood, but then most people stick with one.

Ok, so we’re not talking about global warming here, although that may come into another discussion further on.

What i am talking about here, is with all the changable weather we are having at the moment, from the cold mornings to the warmer wet mornings, how this effects the process we as barista’s make coffee.Similar to how i talked a while back about how what the cows are eating and doing at certain times of the year and how this can effect the milk qaulity going into our lattes etc, so to does the enviromental changes effect other aspects of coffee making.  Seen as i have been having this battle myself even more so in the last couple of months, i thought i would share.

You see, as soon as coffee is ground it is very vulnerable to what is happen to the air around it. so if it is a cool morning with a fair amount of dampness in the air, the coffee can absorb more moisture and slow down the speed in which the coffee comes out of the machine (flow rate of the extraction for us coffee geeks).

This changes as the air warms up, or gets cooler, and we have to change how coarse we grind the coffee accordingly. This can be an ongoing battle for us who really wanna keep the qaulity standard high, as it can alter the taste and body of your cup of coffee drastically.As such when i am not happy with the way it comes out, i would throw away the odd shot of coffee rather than using it in a coffee.

If anyone would like to talk more about this feel free to drop me comments and your thoughts on here, or send me an email.

I like to hear others thoughts about how the enviroment we work in changes any aspect of the coffee process.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, comments and questions…

Coffeeman

Hey everyone, i know its been a while since i had posted,i have been rather busy. I am looking towards what i will be posting about in the near future. And i would be keen to hear what you would like to see on this blog. Whether you would like to see more info about whats going on in the coffee industry, or would like to see more content targeting the home/novice/newbie barista. Feel free to comment on here, or drop me an email on mail@REMOVEcoffeeman.co.nz (take out the remove before sending, its to help me reduce my spam! – as tasty as SPAM sammies can be…)

In the meantime, i wanted to post this YouTube vid i found, very entertaining!

Take care, and Enjoy great coffee!

Coffeeman

Stay tuned…

This weekend is fast approaching, and again i am finding myself preparing for the final (that i know of) barista competition for this season, the New Zealand Latte Art Championship.

This competition is part of the NZ Coffee Festival, an Annual event attracting coffee industry people and people who generally enjoy the makings of a great coffee and related products.

It is open to the public to come and wander around the stands on coffee related businesses, and enjoy coffee, and see what else is on offer.

Obviously alot of people will be there to support their Baristas entering the latte art competition, which is great. I encourage any one to get behind the baristas getting up there as its hard getting on top of nerves in that enviroment. I know personally everytime i get up there, its hard, but is a great challenge, and this competition can be alot of fun! and we all hope that everything goes smoothly!

I have entered, as i feel i should attempt to defend the title, but who knows, anything can happen on competition day!

Do come along, and if you see me, say hi! Should be a fun weekend in the big smoke of Auckland city.

Details of the Coffee Festival:

June 6-8th @ the Ex-Alighi base, Viaduct Basin, Auckland.

Cost  $10 entry.

For further details check out: www.coffeefestival.co.nz

Latte art Competition heats are during the day on Saturday, with the finals being held Sunday!

See you there!

Coffeeman

P.S the picture is of the winners from the 2007 competition