So a big reason for wanting to make this trip was to go picking pulping of my own coffee. I've never been able to say I have picked the coffee I roast as pickings have been on farms that we have been unable to buy everything from.
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.
"........... plan for a while has been to take in my mug on the road and visit some of our customers.........."
Following on from the Tamper Tantrum live I also have some plans to do an In My Mug live.
A plan for a while has been to take In My Mug on the road and visit some of our customers. This weekend we went to see Hayley at The Window in Norwich, which was great to combine visiting a lovely customer and giving you a change of scenery on In My Mug.
But I thought what if we combine this with telling you lot so you can come along drink some coffee ask questions and be a bit of a live version. So on May the 7th I’ll be recording an in my mug at 6/8 Kafe in Birmingham (see map below) a train to Birmingham in the middle of the country is easy, we will be doing the tasting around 4pm and would love to have you along.
We will retire afterward to enjoy some cooler beverages for those who wish to partake, and I am sure it will be a fun day. No need to be on camera unless you want to, but a great chance to see one of Birmingham’s coolest coffee shops.
I hope you will be able to make it along. Email me if you need any more details.
"....... A few months back during a recording Colin had the great idea that we should do an event where people are given 20 mins to talk about any coffee related topic.........."
A while since the last post, I’ve turned into the blogger I never wanted to become.
But this is huge news that has me very very excited and makes me want to blog.
Some of you may have seen the video blog we do called Tamper Tantrum with my esteemed colleague and friend Mr. Colin Harmon on coffee industry type things. A few months back during a recording Colin had the great idea that we should do an event where people are given 20 minutes to talk about any coffee related topic. Nothing too geeky, everything possible. No dumbing down, for an audience of 100 people and a web streaming audience across the world, but also build a library of these talks so anyone can access them when ever they want.
Seemed crazy at the time but we asked our coffee mates if they would like to and they said yes. The venue will be Twisted Pepper in Middle Abbey Street in Dublin (home of 3FE coffee and Colin), and flights are so cheap there is no excuse for anyone in Europe to make the trip (home of Ryanair does have its advantages) the line-up is as follows
David Walsh, Marco twice Irish Cup Tasting Champion, Ireland
Cosimo Libardo, Nuova Simonelli Espresso Machines Italy
Paul Stack, Marco Ireland
Gwilym Davies, Prufrock Coffee, World Barista Champion UK
James Hoffmann, Square Mile Coffee Roasters, World Barista Champion UK
Colin Harmon, 3FE Coffee, two time Irish Barista Champion, Ireland
Steve Leighton, Hasbean/3FE Coffee UK
Each will have 20 minutes to talk on a topic of their choosing, on what ever they want to do with coffee into as much detail as they want. The only limitations are the 20 minutes.
We will also do a live Tamper Tantrum on stage at the end and invite some of the guests up to do a Q & A type session, all part of the fun.
I think that this will not only be useful for industry folk but also a great chance to learn more as a home user. There will be lots of folks around to ask questions and learn from. And if nothing else a great chance to visit the lovely city of Dublin.
Tickets are €20 each and can be purchased online here and will fill you in with any other details as they happen!
"............in London last year I got to meet Frederico and the 2010 champion Alejandro Mendez who I really liked. He was super charming and super talented, and one of the true highlights of the competition for me meeting these two......."
So as many of you know I spent last week on the other side of the world in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Most (nearly all) of the time was spent on farms, and there is lots of info on all that to come soon, but one afternoon was spent in a training room in El Salvador.
The training room was that of viva Espresso, an independent group of shops in San Salvador doing amazing work. I first found their shop on my trip in 2007 and their wonderful owner Frederico Bolaños, and was blown away with the shop. I also got to meet Lili Pacas, who was the champion who would go to Copenhagen for the World Barista Championships in 2008.
Since then I have had fond memories of the shop and the team there. I have since kept a close eye on their exploits and they have held the national title ever since.
In London last year I got to meet Frederico and the 2010 champion Alejandro Mendez who I really liked. He was super charming and super talented, and one of the true highlights of the competition for me was meeting these two.
Because of the wonderful internet, I’ve exchanged tweets and emails with Frederico and it’s great to have friends over the ocean.
So on the Tuesday I was invited to a run through of the three competitors from the shop, for feedback advice and to help them run through the performance.
So the three were Daniel Méndez, Flor de María Góchez (2009 el Salvador Champ and finished 9th in the world championships in Atlanta) and Alejandro Méndez (2010 El Salvador Champion and has made the semis of the world championships finishing 11th overall).
The performances were amazing, like truly amazing. I didn’t have to say this, but I felt all three could have competed on a very high stage, with the sig drinks being amazing.
But there was another reason to be there. Because of meeting Alejandro in London, he asked if I could roast the coffee for him for his national competition. Not because of anything we can do better than them (the quality of roast from both the other guys was amazing) but to show the international reach of great El Salvador, and how coffee has brought new friends to know of what they are doing in San Salvador.
Honoured to be asked to help, I took the coffee in my luggage (we sent some out earlier to make sure he was happy with fedex) and with a blend of Coffees from La Iluison, Alejandro only went and won! So off to Bogata in the World Barista Championships in June.
So proud of the guys asking us to be involved and so pleased that I decided to roast for competition again this year, I would have been gutted to miss out on the feeling I got when I heard that Alejandro had won, that’s very special. Also because of competition I’ve got to make great friends like Frederico.
"........you may remember the launch a few months back of the upgraded app, it was a huge leap forwards, but we realised there were a few ways we could make it better........"
I love my iPhone and iPad, and I love my iPhone app. But now you can enjoy this app on the iPad too.
The Has Bean app just got a bit better. You may remember the launch a few months back of the upgraded app, it was a huge leap forwards, but we realised there were a few ways we could make it better.
1. Improved shop with categories
2. Grind options within the shop
3. More coffee option in the shop along with In My Mug subscriptions.
4. Emergency orders option improved, with “hidden” special offers
5. Added “tool” in tools section of varietals
6. Improved photos with categories
7. Wholesale videos added to the videos page
8. Updated where to drink Has Bean Coffee map
9. iPad support
10. Intelligent shipping that is not only better value for you, but works in the same way as the online shop
11. Improved Paypal checkout that’s quicker and more stable
A mega list I am sure you will agree. I am so grateful to Nigel for the work he has done on this. He has promised to look at the Android version at some point in the future, but Nigel has done this as a friend and fan of Has Bean, and Android is not a platform he has worked on before, so I am lucky to have what I have.
If you downloaded the new app a couple of months ago, go to iTunes and check for updates and it should be there. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, or have the first version without the shopping ability, delete that, and go to the link here and down load it now
"......hot on the heels of the has bean app, we are pleased to announce our second application, the In My Mug app......"
So hot on the heels of the has bean app, we are pleased to announce our second application, the In My Mug app. This is written for the Iphone and the Ipad (a special version for ipad) where you can watch and library all the in my mug episodes in one place.
Thanks big time to In MY Mug Viewer Aiden Montgomery, who has done a great job. Also Aiden has said next on the list is to do an Android one for all you droid users.
There is also the chance to be able to keep a track of all your own cupping scores within the app, and compare against mine. The truly special part is that it not only keeps them for you, but allows other people to share you scores with others and theirs with you. Its better described in the video below than me waffling about it, but you can download it from the link here
".......it seemed right if we were to sell them then a brew guide would be a good idea........"
So it is with great pleasure I present to you the fourth in the series of the Has Bean Brewing Guides.
This one is a little bit of a strange one to cover, as I know there are some more obvious ones to do before the solo, but we have today started to sell them and it seemed right if we were to sell them then a brew guide would be a good idea.
I have really spent a long time with this brewer trying to get what I think is the very best from it. It is my technique and not in any way should you follow it if you think your method is better, but this is what I now do and I hope you find it useful.
Card are also on there way so a nice little collection of guides building up now. Its also available in the Has Bean App as a brew guide (has been for a few days as some of you noticed)
I'm happily married to Sarah and we have a son, who both help in the world called Has Bean Coffee
In My Mug Videos
Every week I review and taste a new coffee, you can watch the videos here or at www.inmmug.com, we also do a subscription so you can taste them with me too
The videos I record just for the blog can be watched here, some product reviews, a few features and best of all interviews with great coffee people
Has Bean iPhone App
We have just launched the first version of our iPhone application, it allows you to keep you to date with Has Blog, In My Mug, Has Bean Twitter and more. Give it a spin and download it now
