Talking Espresso and Great Coffee

A email alerted me to check out a espresso maker being shown at the Gulfood 2010, Dubai International Convention. The opening blurb from the convention post states what I was to find:

Coffee Planet LLC the region’s leading provider of automated self-serve espresso systems has launched the Concordia “Integrated Beverage System 6+” (IBS6+) – the fastest commercial espresso system available on the market.

I’m sure if your a coffee fan like me, your first reaction was… how could could a coffee possibly be if it is being processed so fast?!

If you believe the press info, Coffee Planet has it all figured out. They use fresh ground beans to produce the shots. They state that a important part of the process is the unique way they heat and foam the milk. The company president mentions that the machine was 5 years in the creation so they have created a system that offers fast espresso drinks, even at a lower noise level than other options.

Has automation finally hit the level of our favorite barista manual fine tuning? Personally, I’ll wait to try a few drinks Coffee Planet produces before I make a strong statement. Who knows…

For more info on Coffee Planet, Hotelier Middle East did a nice interview that I found enlightening for folks not in the area that Coffee Planet serves.

Here is a fun one… an ad I didn’t see on the market. It is fun to see how creative folks are with ads from around the world. Sometimes it can be hard to cut through what they are really selling. When I first saw this ad, the Eurocard was off the bottom of the page so I thought it was for a Espresso machine parts or warranty. “Part payment, it makes sense” is their pitch. Whether you buy into the ad or not, it is a great blow apart of what goes into a espresso machine… and cups too.

As I travel about the world, usually for work, I try to stop and smell the local coffees. Taking time to visit as many local coffee spots I can fit into my buzzing about, drinking the coffee and enjoying the atmosphere.

If you have a location, I would love to hear from you. For locations that will be in my near travel plans, I will drop by for an interview if you have the time. If your off my beaten path and I can’t convince the folks controlling the money here, then we can do the interview over the phone.

I will post those interviews here so others in your area or traveling to your part of the globe will think of you to enjoy what you have to offer. I am not looking for money, this is all about providing a service to help spread the word that there is wonderful coffee choices outside of the big names!

Take a moment to go to the About page on this site and send me info about you, who I should contact for an interview and a few fun facts. Some questions I would like to ask that would be interesting to others:

What makes your spot unique
What is your competition
Is there a particular brand of beans you use
Do you offer chairs, casual chairs, booths
Do you sell non-coffee products
Do you invite artists visual or audio
Do you have something your known for
What made you want to open the location
Are you a stand alone location or in a ‘mall’
Do you do more espresso or premium drinks

When marketing for companies I work with, I’m well known for ‘being where we shouldn’t be’. It’s the idea that you get more attention and smaller ads make more of an impact when your out of the norm. I’m not talking about doing things to shock people, this is about putting your message where people do not expect to see it.

I was reminded of this when I was looking around at another one of my passions (not as much as Coffee of course!), MindMapping. I was doing a search for new news on MindMapping and had not removed ‘coffee’ from the search box and came up with an unexpected post.

No, Mindjetter is not selling coffee these days. But, they have a couple employees that have a coffee passion and they took the time to talk about a bit of fun competition. A great example that searching for Barista Competition will now get their software found.

Don’t run out and ask MindMapping software companies to host your barista competition. But, why not ask local companies to drop by as a place to have an hour off-site meeting. Companies get set in their ways and forget your an option to freshen up a meeting. When their onsite, they could be reminded that you will deliver coffee to their next meeting if they can’t come to you.

Anything you or your customers do is a place to think about for your ads. Golf courses have sponcered holes, sewing clubs need their caffeine too as well Businesses hold classes on doing spreadsheets… think about where people will notice they need a cup of your coffee.

The last post was fun finding interesting espresso machine designs, so I set off to find other fun personal coffee items. (We’re snowed in so I’m going through coffee shop withdraws) It didn’t take long to find these Coffee Pad Machines. I had never heard of the company before, and I really doubt these will be found on a store shelf… well, unless IKEA starts making Pad Coffee Makers.

I love the simplistic flush look to the front, the way the cup just fits in it and of course – there are many colors! They are available on the WMF For Home site.

It holds just enough water in the resovour for one cup of coffee. Since it is using pads, the process of making a cup should be less than a minute. I’m not see any adjustments on it so flavor and strength will be adjusted by the brand of pad.

What if we had a bunch of creative design folks that could come up with an espresso machine that worked but was also a piece of art… yup, what if.

Well, the group at YankoDesign reached out and have some real fun hardware that begs to be in our kitchens. The Design site has many fun coffee and espresso ideas. Like, cups that make a coffee in it’s self. Here are a few machines that are note worthy – we can dream…

A design by Adam Zerbib. Who said making two espressos at the same time they have to be made with the same coffee grounds. Those interesting looking cups to the right are just that, a handy stack of artsy cups. Take a look at the full write up…

Next is a All-In-One espresso maker by Soren Henssler. Sporting a bean holder for just-in-time grinding as well a water bin. This offering is nice in the office or home counter. I’m not as sure about usability with the water and beans on different sides, but then we are just dreaming here. Looks great and brags that it’s easy to clean…

Finally, while this maker is a stand alone table which you might see in an airport, it will be great anywhere in your home. The Maurizio Maiorana designed espresso maker is a stand up table that is completely self contained… it even has it’s own trash can.

While my family is from Sicily, I find that most of my travels to Italy from the States has me in the Northern parts. Coffees and Espressos of the area are very memorable. So many fine beans, each with their own tastes yet very similar. Wondering if it was just my taste buds, I started researching the coffee differences between north and south… actually, I was researching ‘if’ there was any.

One particular insightful article I found was “Sicilian Coffee: excellence, tradition and culture” from the fine folks of lovesicily.com.

“If you are passionate about coffee and visit the South of Italy for the first time you might be surprised by the different taste of a simple espresso. While in the North and Central part of Italy, people generally prefer the intense aromatic taste of Arabica, in the South they go for a much stronger Robusta coffee.
Coffees made with Arabica are sweeter, more flavoured, slightly acid and often a bit chocolaty with a light beige reddish cream and a varying caffeine while Robusta coffees are less flavoured and bitter, with a brown cream and a stronger caffeine level.”

The article continues with some key spots to visit when in the area so you can enjoy the local beans prepared as they should be. Personally, I find myself making many new friends when stop to smell the coffee and check in with those that know…