El Salvador Barista Championship
Coffee Inspiration is also a journey for discovering coffee excellence and talented baristas. Once again, our special correspondent Francesco Sanapo, who tells the extraordinary El Salvador Barista Championship final which was held in San Salvador (El Salvador).
“What I saw was something really beautiful. I lived the competition as if I was competing. The baristas have a positive energy! I could see the great technical ability and the great love for coffee and I hope to involve you with my story and my pictures.”
In 20 races this year there were as many baristas with great coffee (I tasted them all); the final, as usual, has been only with 6:
Jacob Cea, Gianmattei Rodrigo, Daniel Mendez, Bryan, Carlos Aguirre, Iris.
The first fin
alist to go down in the race was Jacob Cea: he is a barista and a coffee producer too. He presented to the judges the coffee produced from his coffee farm, Pacamara variety, mixing 2 different processes (semi-washed and natural).
The second finalist is Gianmattei Rodrigo, who has s
hown great professionalism and great accuracy during the 15 minute race. Rodrigo, despite being a great barista, is the manager of a small cafe chain in San Salvador. He started taking interest in coffee thanks to his father, who bought a coffee farm in 1986 and transmit his passion to his son, who began his story with the Café Cate in 2008.
The third barista was Daniel Mendez, a complete barista with a impecca
ble precision. During his performance he has not missed a shot: for his drink he used only the sweetness of the coffee mucilage just worked, cooking it and combining it with brown sugar. But what struck me most was his magnificent coffee: natural yellow bourbon. I think I’ve never tasted a natural coffee from Central America with this thickness.
The fourth competitor is Bryan from of Viva barista espresso team, the same team of Alejandro Mendez, the world champion 2011. Barista of this was enough only to see the equipment to be amazed: a coffee tree to the side of the judges and a pulp removing machine on the preparation table. Bryan did the judges pick the coffee and he removed the pulp for preparing his signature drink. Only here could I see such an exciting performance.
The fifth finalist was Ca
rlos Aguirre, from the team ”pro Barista Academy”, a training school for local baristas. Carlos has presented an espresso prepared with coffee from Roanita coffee farm, the winner of last edition of the CUP OF EXCELLENCE. It was a washed Pacamara. Delicious.
The last competitor was Iris. She gave us a great performance, precise, clean and simple, but with an extraordinary coffee: a bourbon from La Florida coffee farm, mixed combining different processes. Congratulations Iris
And the winner has been Daniel Mendez!!See you in Vienna …
100 years of Coffee Passion
The centenary is a very prestigious achievement: one hundred years of history, events, changes. A story of success, people, projects and claims.
Cimbali Group wants to start the centenary celebrations, showing the logo that symbolizes one hundred years of true passion for coffee and accompanies all activities that the Group has planned for 2012.
The centenary logo wants to enclose what Cimbali is: a company that daily strives to offer the best in cup quality, the result of a prestigious know-how, best expression of “Made in Italy” in the world. Hence the choice of stylized coffee cup, the italian colours and the number one hundred, written by hand, to remember hands that every day create and work.
Competition is pure research!
There are only a few days to go to the final of the Campionato Italiano Baristi Caffetteria (Italian Coffee Barista Championships). The year culminated with “Cimbali Coffee Excellence” which was held at the Gruppo Cimbali headquarters in Binasco on 19-20 December, an event that once again highlighted the importance and true significance of competition. Watching the baristas compete in the production of espresso and cappuccino, and seeing the many techniques used to obtain optimal in-the-cup results, the attention paid and the care taken with product preparation and presentation have highlighted the extraordinary interest which these competitions arouse in every barista. This is just what our sector needs: move ahead, evolve, continually improve, day by day, show not only other people but also ourselves that research, commitment and above all passion can transform a simple beverage like coffee into something special. Baristas who are passionate about their work stimulate positive thoughts and set our minds on the future: reflecting on what and how to improve, and how to maintain top quality can also lead to the development of new product technologies! This is why we like competition; we are enthusiastic about the success of the event but even more so about the positive opinions of the baristas on the efficiency of the M39GT, and this gives us the right stimulus and strength to forge ahead, producing machines designed for the future, which can facilitate and enhance the barista’s passion and quest for perfection. Enzo Ferrari said: “competition is life”. Like him, we continually take on new challenges, which inevitably help us to improve! Explaining the meaning of a competition for baristas is not easy, but we’ll try: the rules “SIMPLY” specify the preparation of four espresso coffees, four cappuccinos and four espresso-based non-alcoholic drinks. Having said this, the first thought that springs to mind is that you don’t need a great deal of experience to prepare four simple espresso coffees, but actually it requires all the resources, in terms of knowledge and passion, of a true barista; in terms of knowledge, the barista needs to know about the product, the coffee roasting, the best extraction in the cup, all the characteristics of the machine, the organoleptic profile of the coffee blend and the best service. Passion, on the other hand, helps to create that special moment when the barista interacts with the customer who wishes to relish a marvellous flavour-packed espresso in the space of only a few minutes.
In the opinion of our barista, Francesco Sanapo: each individual competition has helped me to become what I am today. I’ve got to know different people and cultures, I’ve travelled far and wide, and I’ve had all sorts of wonderful experiences that have helped me to develop and improve. When I decided not to take part in the competition this year I didn’t think it would be that difficult to stay out of it, but I miss the daily quest for perfection, the tastings, the adrenalin mixed with tension… so I agree with Enzo Ferrari’s philosophy! What does competition mean to me? For me it’s pure research, and I believe that every coffee bar should have its team and take part in the competition because that’s where you get new ideas, where you can experiment and improve your techniques, where you can compare notes, and all this contributes to growth both at a personal and group level. This year I re-lived the competition thanks to Gruppo Cimbali who, in conjunction with A.C.I.B, organised the CIBC semi-final at their works. An amazing event and an incredible experience for me and all my barista colleagues! The next stage is the final of the Italian barista championships which will select the new Italian coffee barista champion, who will have the important task of representing Italy in June at the world final in Vienna. Good luck from all the Coffee Inspiration – Gruppo Cimbali team to the twenty-four finalists who will help to build the future of Italian coffee bars.
A successful caffetteria…
I think we need a good deal of love combined with passion and knowledge for opening a cafè: it involves much sacrifice, both mental and physical; it can not be considered, as often happens, an easy investment. Many times I heard that to make an espresso is not necessary to have knowledge of a particular product. I am convinced of the contrary. Professionalism is the first need for a successful cafè. An espresso, well executed and accompanied by a smile, gives the consumer the feeling that that bar has a peculiarity and is different from all others.
To serve a perfect espresso, a barista has to know and perform all necessary rules to get a perfect extraction of aromas contained in the coffee: the correct size of the coffee powder in proportion to the dose used, the knowledge and the proper use of the espresso machine and the grinder, and their proper maintenance and daily cleaning. After a good education, will be very useful to pay attention to logistical aspects: studying the location, customers, and still the proposals offered by cafès in neighborhood. The next step will be the choice of trading partners. Starting from coffee, the main product of your bar, you will have to assess the quality of products and services related to it. After choosing a good product and a good coffee machine you need a real business plan. Try to make a good proposal, starting with breakfast and new ideas for the afternoon break, when there is drop of coffee consumption. Making one analysis of the most popular products in all the coffee-bar in the world, or cappuccino, you have to say that, for a quality product, like coffee, you must pay attention to different aspects: the choice of milk based the mixture and its nutritional values it contains (protein and fat) and a good technique of emulsion. Unfortunately there are still cafè that continue to serve low-quality cappuccino. Not everyone knows that milk should be emulsified once to prepare every cappuccino. It often happens that the milk is heated several times, getting a poor quality cappuccino, but what is worse, sometimes, its temperature is too high, making it among the other cappuccino difficult to digest.
You might think about different types of cappuccino: since there are people intolerant to dairy products, a menu-card with different kinds of milk (soy, rice, goat’s milk) may retain these consumers, whose number is increasing. For the afternoon break, however, the ideal would be proposing special tasting espresso or coffee with different preparation methods (V60; Syphon; aeropress, etc …). Moreover, serving single origin coffee is growing. All over the world there are so many cafes that offer specialty coffee, where very often the barista tells the story of that particular coffee he is preparing. I think this allows the consumer to raise awareness of bringing it closer to coffee with more interest and curiosity. Now these new cafeteria formats are gaining interest and have highly professional team of baristas. Perhaps it will sound strange, but it remembers me what once was the main business in Italy: shops specialized in the service and sale of coffee.
It may be challenging to ask our grandparents how cafè were in their time, and then study and update them to modern times. Do you think it’s a crazy idea? I’m waiting for your answers…
A dream fulfilled
I’d been waiting for years and at last it’s happened: my profession now has another string to its bow.
When they told me about M39 GT HD Cimbali, describing its characteristics, I was keen to understand and see how they could be useful to me, as a BARISTA.
My first encounter with M39 GT HD was in London during the “London Coffee Festival” where I was lucky enough to meet Alberto Galimberti, Cimbali Group Coffee Specialist, who illustrated all the technical and functional characteristics of the machine. From then on it was experimentation and research non-stop, tests with different coffee origins, with different blends and stages of maturity, and different roasting profiles to try to bring out only the best characteristics of each individual coffee during the extraction phase. I ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED! Believe me, I felt like a barista-chef! I don’t want to seem like a magician, and I’m not saying that I could ever change the aromatic profile of the coffee, but what I can say is that the possibility of controlling the water pressure allows me to modify acidity, sweetness, bitterness and body.
With M39 GT HD we can divide the pressure on the coffee cake into 4 stages, controlling the duration time and pressure of the water in every stage. Let’s now look at these four stages in detail and try to understand their effect on the end result in the cup.
The first stage, called pre-infusion, is the moment when the coffee cake is wetted by a flow of hot water. This stage, in my opinion, affects the body and colour of the crema.
The second stage, the extraction, is the first drop of coffee in the cup, the first part of the espresso. This stage, in my experience, has a particular effect on the acidity and body of the espresso in the cup and also ensures (after good pre-infusion) greater emulsion of the oils and colloids present in the coffee. And as for the argument that it’s impossible to simulate the lever machine … that’s no longer true because on some coffees I’ve tried reproducing its characteristics, setting and reaching, in the first stage, pressure peaks up to now achieved only by the lever machine, and the results were great.
The third and fourth stage of extraction are of fundamental importance for the balance of the espresso and are useful above all for controlling the bitter sensations accentuated in the last part of the extraction; this characteristic is incredibly useful when working with highly roasted coffee or with blends containing Robusta.
So do you see why my dream has now come true? Because this new evolution in espresso coffee machines allows the coffee to be extracted so as to enhance all its organoleptic characteristics. Can we be considered barista-chefs at last?
Cimbali Group and I at Host 2011
One month after the end of Host, one of the most important fairs in HoReCa, I would like to take stock of what has been my experience with the fair M39 GT HD. Let the story of what happened during the Fair.
From the first day I was overwhelmed by a strong enthusiasm due to this new professional adventure, I spoke explaining the basic concepts of the new machine created by Cimbali, seen through the eyes of a barista and described through his thoughts. During the show, I had several exchanges of views with many Italian and international baristas.
Moreover, and it was what I least expected, I had interesting discussions with roasters from all over the world: we tested the machine together using their blend and evaluating actions to implement a proper extraction. With great pleasure I tested various extraction with famous “coffee specialist” as Gianluigi Nora, Eddie Bieker, Andrea Lattuada (SCAE coordinator-ITALY), Giovanni Savaresi, Patrick Hoffer and many others.
I was really pleased to meet Andrea Illy, illycaffè chairman and CEO.
Another nice episode happened to me with another coffee symbol “Made in Italy” Giuseppe Lavazza: I tasted 12 espresso with 12 different profiles. I was fascinated by his passion.
The Host fair experience confirmed me that a barista is a competent professional specialist at last!!
Cimbali Group presents CIBC and CILA selections
On 19 and 20 December, Cimbali Group will host “Italian Barista Championship” (CIBC) and “Italian latte art championship” (CILA) selections. The appointment is at the Binasco headquarter, Via Manzoni 17.
