Talking Espresso and Great Coffee

In a recent press release, Starbucks announced that, beginning at the tail end of August, it is releasing Galápagos San Cristóbal (a “medium-bolded” coffee), the first in a series of premium single-origin coffees called “Starbucks Reserves.”  Throughout the fall, Aged Sulawesi Kalosi, Fair Trade Nicaragua Corcasan, Brazil Sul de Minas Peaberry, and El Salvador Montecarlos Estate Pacamra will follow Galápagos San Cristóbal.  According to this fact sheet, Galápagos San Cristóbal is “a rare coffee from the unique subtropical climate in the Galápagos Islands that produces a limited amount of coffee each year.” Baristas brew Galápagos San Cristóbal via the pour over method or with a Clover coffee maker (Clover machines are currently available in more than 60 Starbucks stores, with more to come throughout the year).  Both methods will enhance and enliven the coffee’s rich and complex flavor over traditional drip brewing.

Starting August 31, if you’re fortunate enough to live in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, D.C., Boston, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta, or Miami, you will be able to purchase Galápagos San Cristóbal in-store for an immediate fix or whole-bean by the half pound. The suggested retail price for a half-pound of these ultra-premium beans is $12.50; $2.95 will get you a freshly brewed Tall.  For comparison, 11 oz of Starbucks’ Natural Fusion flavored coffee comes in at $8.95 and the old standby Caffè Verona runs $10.95 a pound.

If you’re not lucky enough to live in those areas, you can purchase (as of August 17) the 8 oz bag online at www.starbucksstore.com.  On August 28, participating Starbucks Reserve stores will host special tasting events.

No advanced word as to whether Starbucks Reserve will see an incarnation as a VIA instant coffee drink, but with the increasing popularity of VIA and Starbucks’ willingness to innovate by continuing to expand VIA options (VIA Iced), don’t rule it out.

Nestle is recalling 100g jars of Nescafe Alta Rica, Alta Rica Decaff, Cap Colombie, Suraya & Espresso. Due to the possibility of small pieces of glass in the jars. Customers should be expecting refunds. The company reports that the recall shouldn’t be needed for any other products.

The recall is getting news all around the world, which really shows how far reaching the product is. The Times Live – South Africa, CBC - Canada, Arab News, Irish Independent,  and the Voice of Russia.  There doesn’t seem to be any mention of a particular bar code, ID coded or expiration date to limit down which are OK and which are not.

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.

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

I was reminded recently that not ‘everything’ is best done from a Web page. Sometimes, the personal touch of a human interaction can get you further. For myself, and perhaps readers of this blog, there are many options to get training in making a better espresso or coffee drink. No one is complaining about my current creations but you can always learn a new trick or more info behind the ‘why’ of a process.

Classes and tools can be great for someone just looking into pulling their own drinks at home. Get a espresso machine for Christmas?

I have added a new page (link in the right column or Click here to jump) to show many offerings for classes. They can be for getting better at home to folks looking to start a new Espresso Spot and want their Baristas trained. There are options to have training at your location, at a school, on a DVD and even for your iPhone. Take a look if your ever thinking about fine turning your skills.

I just found that there was a Latte and Espresso drink competition recently in Dallas. A local lady, Teresa Gubbins, was chosen to help judge the cups of dark joy. She wrote a nice post about her adventure. After reading the fun she had, I researched and found there was another major global competition for Baristas. I need to see if next year’s competition will be a possible vacation spot.

For the local event: Sherri and Danny Johns of Portland-based (my old stomping grounds) WholeCup Coffee conduct barista competitions at trade shows around the world. On Sunday, June 28th, they hosted the Ultimate Barista Challenge competition at the Southwest Foodservice Expo, a three-day trade show for the restaurant biz at the Dallas Convention Center which continued through Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday’s competition drew six baristas from Texas and beyond who prepared three espresso-based drinks: 1. macchiato, 2. latte, and 3. specialty drink creation. Danny emceed and Sherri supervised the judging, with a panel that included coffee experts Heather and Jay Kurima, and the author. Catch her whole adventure here…

For the big global competition, you can go to World Barista Championship who just finished their 2009 event in Atlanta. 52 Baristas competed for the award, with Gwilym Davies from the United Kingdom. I’m not sure if that plays into next year’s event, but it will be in the United Kingdom.

A post on Twitter got me thinking about how much waste there is around a great cup of coffee. I feared that I would find I was being a bad person by encouraging some industry to burn up resources helping me get my morning drinks. Today I would like to speak a touch about helping the planet, not on a soap box here, but a quick couple lines that will hopefully help you with some info.

What I found was good and bad news. Unless you get into a situation of someone having a very dirty machine that burns up huge amounts of electricity to heat the small amount of water there is no major impact. The process of gathering and processing the beans, storage and shipping and the selling are all in line with most food products. Whew!

The area that is about to get nailed for waste is the little Single Serving machines we see everywhere. I’m guilty of having one, as is most of my friends. It is a convenience that after reading up a bit, I might have to consider doing without. It is a situation where the sheer numbers off all of those little plastic containers going into the trash all over the world is getting out of hand.

Jennifer Berry over at Earth911 wrote an article just last week on what she found about some producers of these coffee pucks are doing to help. It appears some are getting the message and changing the materials and processes. Let encourage them to continue when we can – thanks!