I am super pleased with it, with more to follow very soon. I’d love to hear your feedback through the normal channels.

There is also a guide below and a download pdf version here

But as we do this with Machacarmarca it seemed like a great chance to work with the coffee I’ll be working with over the next 9 to 12 months.

I also have never been able to process and pulp before and seeing how a farm does this can give you a big insight into why the coffee tastes the way it does. I was to find out this was probably the highlight of the tour for me as I never understood why machacarmarca tasted the way that it did, I think I do a lot more now.

So early breakfast and of to pick with my basket. I thought maybe three four in a day I’d need to empty the basket. I didn’t plan for how hard it is to pick coffee. The guys told me they do this four five six times a year not just triple picking which is thought to be good but making sure only ripe cherry’s are picked not doing any post sorting as a lot of other picking is. the yield is so small ere that if they did this we would have virtually no coffee. Picking takes three four months because of this method, but it makes sure you get the very best cup.

It got to lunch time and all I had was this

The guys told me I had done well and they were impressed, I am not sure if this was due to their low expectations of me, or they were truly impressed.

I was slower than them of course but I wasn’t a million miles behind as I had thought I might, so I was pleased with my mornings work.

Great food was the foundation of this trip. Great home cooked food, well prepared great portions at the right times. Home backed bread from the huge clay oven. But the best part was everyone stopped (including the pickers) and got fed. The other part was it was all about sitting together and family. I was accepted within 20 mins of being on the farm as family, we all talked and shared what we had done.

I was tempted with beer and siestas or world cup football games at the local bar, but I had a job to do so back to picking I went. The day I picked around 20-25kg, and was told this was not bad, the guys were around 35-40 kg. This kind of selective picking is hard work, low yielding and very hard work mentally and physically. But I think we have all seen in the cup what this kind of extra work does to the cup.

While picking the cover of the trees meant even in the midday sun it was cool and a nice place to work. It made me think about shade and its importance in the final product. I was given a number but in translation it got lost what it was referring too but it was most plots the size with these varietals, with this we were working on would yield 12 – 18 (of what ever it was) this plot yielded 9 at its very very best, and this was replicated across the farm. But Mario and Lupe have no desire to increase that yield, but to maintain the quality.

Then it was time to pulp, this washed fermented to remove mucilage coffee. Everything at this stage is done with Lupe’s input, she is the hard work of the farm, and the consistent. Everything is had weighed and then hand floated, in small plastic containers. There are no huge tanks to do this in just plastic baths.

A rudimentary but incredibly effective way of doing it. Small batches (everything is picked and de pulped within 20 mins of finishing picking) by hand and eye. Because of the skill of the pickers there were not many floaters but what there were are removed and used for consumption on the farm or in the community.

This is where the true pleasant surprise came for me. I have always been told this was a washed coffee and although it presented with some washed qualities I have never 100% felt it was a washed and fermented coffee. Three days on the farm I had not found a fermenting tank so when the pulping began I waited with excitement.

The beans are run through the depulper and the cherry is removed with a small amount of water and the centrifuge force of the depulper. Some small pieces of cherry run through get through, but on the whole most make it through in the correct condition. If you touch these beans they are slimy and sticky from the mucilage. Normally on a traditional washed coffee these would be put into to water to ferment to remove this sticky slime. But these are run through the bypass system to be washed once more, which visibly removes some of the mucilage, but not all.

It is then taken to the Indian drying tables on the back patio to dry in the sun, being turned regularly and taken to a moisture level of around 13%. They are then bagged and taken to the plant in La Paz (more of that to follow on that part).

So its a kind of cross between washing and pulped natural, something I have been tasting for the past couple of year but now understand. Without these trips you don’t find out about the cover, the processing, the good people who pick and work the farm, and the love and care that goes into the processing by the owner

This day was the real highlight for me, an awakening of what the coffee is, and an insight into how dam hard it is to pick coffee well. I slept like a log this night in bed by 8:30 pm in a heap. Before bed Mario and Rodrigo took me through a presentation of the plans for the coming years of the farm, of improving quality ecology and increasing production with new plant stock. also maintaining the current stock by pruning and maintenance. A great piece of news was also that the farm is in stage two of organic certification. The farm has always been organic so they thought they should take advantage of it. so next years production will be organic certified which is no bad thing.

I know on this evening I felt a little sad, that it was all coming towards the end (I always do this too soon) but it was an a amazing day I enjoyed very very much



To be fair I have been incredibly busy of late, a quick jump to www.hasbean.co.uk you will see exactly why. A major revamp of the whole site, focusing on some of the lovely photos I’ve collected over the past few years, I hope you enjoy using is as much as I enjoy looking at it. Feedback always very very welcome

I had an email conversation last week that set my blogging mind off, and I was talking about roasting styles for certain brewing methods, and we got talking about the recent in my mugs being roasted more for espresso. I disagreed with this and thought the gayo was a great brewed coffee, and well, it set my mind a running.

I think that the roast style has nothing to do with the brew method of the coffee, nor do I believe that you should roast coffee differently for those different styles. I think I owe it to the coffee to let it be the very best that it can, if that means playing with a profile that may not suit the majority of peoples pre conceptions of a brew method then I can live with it. What I couldn’t live with is not present the coffee the best I believe it can be.

On saying this I don’t think a roast will suit all brew methods an omniroast, but it will be what it will be, it may be inclined towards brewed or espresso. I really enjoy some times a darker roasted coffee in the filter just as some times I’ll play with a lighter more delicate bean in espresso its all part of the fun, but what I want from each cup is delicious tasty coffee that is a wonderful expression from the farmer.

So thoughts, I’m guessing the camp I am in is not a popular one, and not for the cool kids, but I’d love to hear your thoughts, and arguments for and against. Opinions can be changed.

It talks about how fairtrade might not be all that, and about coffee ethics the kind of stuff I enjoy. Then popped on the end it talked about pre ground and it said

As an industry, I think we need to start practicing what we preach; refuse to sell ground coffee to the public in all forms. We wouldn’t dare to prepare an espresso for guests at our cafe’s using pre-ground coffee so why is it suddenly acceptable to sell pre-ground for domestic use? How much respect do you have for your coffee if you are the retailer and willing to take money for it? I’ll dub it coffee prostitution; selling your integrity for a little money!

Ouch! so it inspired

So I’ve been asked for a while about twitter and who the people you should follow.

So I made one full of friends and hero’s in the industry (in many cases both) but I think it makes up a great list. Of course I didn’t include my wonderful self (j/k) but you can still follow me @hasbean or http://www.twitter.com/hasbean

This is in no way a comprehensive list and I may re visit it once this is thrown out there. Also feel free to use the comments to make suggestions for the folks I’ve missed. If I have missed you I am very sorry, please still like me and comment with your twitter name and link below. A twitter directory if you will.

So in no particular order

James Hoffmann
@jimseven
http://twitter.com/Jimseven

King of the coffee bloggers of course is going to be on Twitter. The 2007 world barista champion is as articulate as they come and as charismatic and delightful to boot.

Has a new trick of being a bit of a shock jock on occasions, but I prefer the nice James who lives there most of the time. Has a great knack of making you re think something you thought you already knew, some times with great effect, others confirming you ideas, but always interesting.

Mark Prince
@coffeegeek
http://twitter.com/CoffeeGeek

The head geek of www.coffeegeek.com, Mark isn’t afraid of saying something controversial or shocking, and is always ready for a fight. But his insightful view of the coffee market in Canada and the US is fascinating and thought provoking. You should follow Mark, as I’ve warmed so much more since I’ve seen the personal side of him.

Mark is the godfather of the coffeeforum, and no one has done more for the specialty coffee industry across the world who doesn’t actually work in coffee.

David Walsh
@otherblackstuff
http://twitter.com/otherblackstuff

Top home barista and now the Irish cupping champion, David was @dublinbarista mentor / coach at the World Barista championships in Atlanta where Colin finished 4th.

David is insightful, knowledgeable and quite often to the point. Not one of his 140 characters are wasted, and fools are not suffered. But an amazing guy just take a look at his blog www.theotherblackstuff.ie to see what I mean.

Colin Harmon
@dublinbarista
http://twitter.com/Dublinbarista

OK, OK disclaimer that Colin is my friend, but even if he wasn’t he would still make this list. Colin came from no where to 4th in the 2009 world barista championships, and since then has been very loud and has certainly arrived. My co host on Tamper Tantrum he has spent the past 6 months since winning the Irish Barista championships touring the world growing his knowledge, Most people follow him just to know where he is in the world at any one time. Now he has the shop I hope he continues to use both accounts

Ben Helfen
@Benexhale
http://twitter.com/benexhale

Ben is a Barista trainer in Atlanta at the world famous Octane. Winner if the 2008 Millrock Latte Art Competition, and all round VERY nice man. Ben virtually arranged the after show parties single handily in SCAA and WBC Atlanta 2009, and made the experience very special for many people.

Ben’s twitters are also a great insight to the man, but also insightful to the world of coffee, if Ben doesn’t know them they are not worth knowing. We can even let him off for being an Arsenal fan.

Mike White
@mike_White
http://twitter.com/mike_White

Mike White of Gimmie coffee New york (NYC regional manager). Mikes been a prolific blogger for a number of years, and is again in the middle of the coffee world, some of the best Re Tweets in the business. Very US based but a great way to keep up with whats going on over the pond, also one of the best ever Barista Magazine front covers

Emilly Oak
@em_oak
http://twitter.com/Em_Oak

My favorite Aussie, Emily is head green buyer for AIR (Australian Independent Roasters) is Sydney. Emily is also a board member for the World Barista Championship committee, and instrumental on getting the word out about the competition either with live streaming or making sure everyone knows whats happening at competition.

Emily also has her finger on the pulse of the Ausie scene, a must addition to your twitter list.

Gwilym Davies
@Prufrockcoffee
http://twitter.com/prufrockcoffee

the current world barista chap is not a regular poster, but a must follow as he is not only the current WBC champ but the nicest guy in coffee. Also one of the most colourful and complicated people in coffee a must follow

Tim Varney
@tcvarney
http://twitter.com/tcvarney

An exiled Ausie who lived in London now lives in Norway. If that can not bring you some story’s and a little confusion then I don’t know what will. Tim is the roaster for Tim Wendlebow coffee in Oslo. A talented roaster, an opinionated and charismatic guy, and just very very interesting.

Nick Cho
@nickcho
http://twitter.com/NickCho

I guess another disclaimer that I’m one of nick Cho’s biggest fans here would be a good start.

Scraping in, not because of his quality posts, but because a late entry to the twitter world. His irresistible charm and insight means he is in.

His style from his famous podcasts ( http://www.portafilter.net ) and his sometimes brash opinionated style may turn some off, but some how the lovable Nick comes across in his tweets.

I love keeping up to date with the story and the random shock jock post. Long live the Cho!!!!

The first part of the process to produce any blend takes place in the mind and on paper. Before any coffee is tasted or anything is brewed, it is crucial to have some aims and objectives for the coffee. These can be diverse aspirations or simply seeking specific flavours within the blend. There is also the basic question of what proportion of acidity, sweetness and body is required. Next, with these answers in mind, it’s time for me to think about the Has Bean coffee inventory, and this is where I feel we have an advantage over many. We taste and cup lots of coffees, and have numerous beans available to us at any given time. I like to think we always have all the bases covered in terms of options and diversity.

To create a blend it is necessary think of individual beans, how they might compliment each other and what they can bring to the blend, primarily in terms of taste, but also in respect of mouthfeel, viscosity, aroma and complexity of flavours. Putting a complex, busy coffee in a blend alongside a wallflower of a bean may not be good, though two complex coffees can also just end up as a car crash of flavours.

I like to use no more than four beans in a blend, with a heavy learn towards having just two or three. Any more in the mix can make it too complicated and reduce the chances of actually achieving what is being sought for the blend.

It is important to think about the ‘glue’ that will hold the coffees in the blend together. We have a range of key coffees that I like to use as this ‘glue’, with some of my favourites being Guatemala El Bosque, Bolivia Machacarmarca, Brazil Cachoeira, El Salvador La Fany and Nicaragua Limoncillo.

I utilise these coffees for a number of reasons, the first, but not necessarily the most important, being availability. If a main component coffee is in very short supply it leads to constant chopping and changing of the blend recipe. I like consistency in a blend and I know lots of baristas appreciate this too.

Secondly, these coffees hold up very well and remain extremely consistent over a whole season. So even when they are moving towards becoming ‘past crop’, the stage when they are not actually yet the previous crop but the transition period when the new season crop starts to arrive, all of those mentioned remain tasty and as consistent as a fresh crop. When these coffees arrive at Has Bean, we can rely on the certainty that the exporters and farmers have given them adequate resting time in order that they are calm and ready to drink straight away. It may surprise you that this isn’t always the case with every coffee that arrives, with some having to be rested longer before they can be used.

It happens that these key coffees are also amongst some of my all time favourites. Each would make it into my top ten coffees. This leads us nicely into the third reason that these coffees are often found in Has Bean Blends. They are balanced, they have sweetness, they have acidity, and they have body. They are also all incredibly tasty. This is why they act as glue to hold the other components of the blend together. They act as a bridge across the spectrum of flavours present in the blend.

The blender also needs to find the personality of the coffee. This comes from the original brief, the pen and paper stage. A shortlist is drawn up of coffees that will work together and bring the desired components to the cup.

Another thing must be considered that will dictate the shortlist; the machine that the coffee will be brewed upon. The same coffee produced on diverse machines can often, though not always, vary greatly in flavour. Therefore, a blend for a Hydra Synesso in a commercial setting, for instance, will be very different to another intended for a Baby Gaggia in the home.

Temperature stability, or the lack of it, from machines is often not considered. The skills of the barista are also frequently forgotten at the blending stage, but these factors are crucial if the blend is to be tasty just about every time it is poured. For example, I rarely use (or would at least not do so without a warning) a high acidity coffee in a blend intended for home users, as many machines in this sector struggle to produce a constant temperature and acidic coffees made on them often present sour or metallic like mouthfeel. At the other end of the scale, I find a coffee with a big body will give a more forgiving base to build a blend upon.

There are many of these broad brush rules because, as we all know, one size does not fit all. Having said that, they can often be broken with good effect, it’s just worth keeping them in mind whilst blending.

So let’s go through the formation of a blend to explain the theory. I’ll use the brand new Espresso Blend that we have just launched as the case study.

Brief:

So the brief for this one was of course to be tasty, and to be very forgiving with temperatures, extraction time and extraction pressures. This would be used on many diverse machines in numerous homes by some people who are not professional baristas. Sweetness is a major player, chocolate caramel with a tight but not overt acidity, a healthy body, and it should cut through milk.

The Selection for the cupping table was broken into three things that I was looking for as components; body, acidity and sweetness, plus something to tie them all together.

Sweetness:

Bolivian Machacarmarca: Sweet, balanced, tight controlled acidity, spice body.
Brazil Rancho: Thick mouthfeel of caramel, chocolate, slightest hint of acidity, vanilla.

Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira Canario: Elegant, clean, sweet, mellow, creamy, dark chocolate.

Body:

Sumatra Raja Batak: Heavy body, syrupy flavour, spicy, tones of dark chocolate.

Sumatra Wahana Natural: Herby, black pepper, over-ripe apples, big body.

El Salvador Los Amates: Sweet, great mouthfeel, lovely espresso, spicy, blackberry, dark chocolate.

Acidity:

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe: Mushroom, earthy, jasmine, light and bright.

Ethiopia Zege: Clean, transparent, lemons, floral, jasmine.

Nicaraguan Limoncillo: Toffee apple, sweet, caramel, green apple, body.

Glue/Multi-talented coffee:

El Salvador La Ilusion: Balance, fruit salad, winey, rich, sweet aftertaste.

El Salvador La Fany: Sweet, caramel, creamy, great mouthfeel, great espresso.

Guatemala El Bosque: Milk chocolate, grape, apple, cherry, spice.

From the table the coffees that stood out and I thought would tie well together were:

Sweetness – I decided that I would go for the Bolivian Machacarmarca for the sweetness, with its balance and tight controlled acidity, spice, smooth controlled and big body.

Acidity – I didn’t what high acidity as the body (as you will see) wasn’t going to be the normal big body one might expect, so the need for something bright was not so necessary. I decided to go for El Salvador La Ilusion, an all-rounder that brings many of the components into one. This holds everything together in the blend. An expensive choice, but one I felt would bring so much to this blend and give it a real backbone.

Body – For the body, I decided that the component we had so far were enough so I would reach for something to tie the other two together. I decided on Guatemala El Bosque with its milk chocolate sweetness and grape, apple, cherry, acidity with a spicy body in the background.

Now what came from the final outcome was a second consideration that I had not to that point thought much about (though it should be included in the stages of espresso blending); the final cost of the blend. With our current blend at £3.30 and the average price of the three chosen coffees at over £6, the cost would make it not possible for retail.

So, in order to bring down the price, I decided to remove the El Salvador La Ilusion and swap it with the Nicaraguan Limoncillo. They share many common properties with an elegant controlled acidity, sweetness, body and are equally delicious. I felt we were not lowering the quality, just adjusting affordability for the real coffee world. Maybe one day I’ll offer the original blend as a special one-off for people to try side by side with the amended version. I also felt that it would aid the body too.

I then took this blend as equal thirds mixed and tried it as an espresso. This was the first time it was tasted as an espresso.

Although I could tell there was a delicious blend coming together, it was not quite ready and the balance needed to be addressed. The ratio of thirds rarely works but I find it’s the best place to start tasting espresso. The initial espresso was a bit too bright and a little low on sweetness (which was crazy with the three sweet coffees it contained), so a tweak of the mix was necessary.

Version two consisted of 40% Bolivian Machacarmarca, 40 % Nicaraguan Limoncillo and 20% Guatemalan El Bosque. The sweetness was bigger, the body bigger, and the acidity more controlled.

The next stage of testing was to try the prospective blend in milk, pulled long, pulled short, ristretto, macchiato, etc. It passed all those tests with flying colours and a new blend was born!

So there you have it. That is how the latest incarnation of our Espresso Blend was devised. However, the method is not set in stone. There is not a set of hard and fast rules and often blends can be born out of experiments going well, surprises, or even mistakes that prove delicious.

I hope you found this little insight into blending at Has Bean interesting. As always, I welcome your questions and comments.

For those who haven’t watched an episode before a lot of in my mug is inspired from Gary. He’s a legend and a great man and this is well worth watching (for me).

I hope you enjoy I hope you watch it and would love to hear your thoughts. I had the best time I hope you can see this in the video.

Willie Harcourt-Cooze owns both a cocoa farm and a chocolate business based in Devon. Willie has a passion for chocolate. He was followed a few months ago filming a program getting the business of the ground, truly taking seed to bar to a new level. There was also a follow up seris where he decided to take a 70% bar to market.

I am a huge fan of the program and the product, so when a friend (Aramndo a guy who brings in the Cafe Ita we sell)said he knew this guy called Willie who likes the cafe ita, I said I wanted to meet him big time.

He then went to tell me Willie wanted to try roasting coffee in his cocoa roaster, but I insisted I must help

It so happened when we arrived Willie JUST took delivery of his latest container from Venezuela with some from his farm too in there.

Working like dogs we got the container unloaded. We then got to meet all Willies family from the TV who were as lovely as they appeared on the box.

Treated to some amazing food at a country pub it was back to the factory to brew as many brewing methods as we could.

We had vac pot, french press, eva solo, ibrik, chemex, and a presso.

More photos at the link here

Willie then kindly agreed to do an in my mug with us below. It was a great laugh much fun had by all.

Episode 36 on Monday the 20th of July 2009 Brazil Cafe Ita with special guests from Stephen Leighton

I went along to work, to go back to my first real interaction with coffee and become a barista again. Most people don’t know, but we used to own a coffee shop in stafford, here we used to serve coffee sandwiches etc. This was/is my roots in coffee. I knew so little then but I was a bar barista and I think I can always have it on my CV.

On saying this I wasn’t such a good bar barista and many many roasts have passed under the bridge since then, so to say I was a little out of practice would be accurate.

Things I learnt about my Barista skills were

1. I really enjoy pulling espresso, its a strange routine I got into but it was fun and I liked it a lot.

2. I cant do latte Art. I did some great texturing but my art sucks and blows all at the same time.

3. I enjoy running bar when your customers are the headline acts at the Pyramid stage, this does make it much more fun.

4. I like working bar with great fellow baristas, this makes it so much easier.

We managed to chew through around 22kg of coffee in three days on our stand and lots and lots of milk. We actually ran out but luckily on our customers was on site also serving coffee so Sam helped us out

I would have some photographic evidence of me working but because we were back stage (pyramid stage) we were not allowed to take any photos but you can see my in my mug I recorded here

Episode 33 on Monday the 29th of June 2009 Brazil Fazenda Lagoa Natural from Stephen Leighton

I also found a new way to insult me, just ask me for a decaf soy chai latte extra hot.

Big thank you to Joe from Ristretto who’s gig it was, thanks pal for the invite and the chance to remind myself I should stick to roasting. Also thanks to Jamie, Chris, Loz and David for putting up with my rubbish skills.

Once a month we hope to pump out an episode (and beware they will be long) on all things coffee. A little bit of industry a little bit of fun, a little bit of learning (mainly for us).

Its a little raw, and we do plan to change it improve it, but we thought lets throw an episode out there for people to rip apart, so please do.

Mostly its about two mate’s getting together and talking coffee, good fun and your invited to watch in. Please let us know what you think.

You can view it here (or below) and you can subscribe via Itunes here.

I do hope you enjoy it, I can tell you we had great fun making it.

Tamper Tantrum