2015 SCAA Event in Seattle

Australia’s Sasa Sestic is the World Barista Champion

For the first time since 2009, the USA hosted the World Championships and it was a very special year for Australia. Sasa Sestic from Ona Coffee in Canberra became the World Barista Champion, only the second time an Australian had won the prestigious title. His family said what an amazing feat it was considering he was very sick, and had to be taken to hospital the night before. Like a true champion, he performed well even against the odds.

Paul and I were proud to be among the flag waving and camera clicking Aussie supporters that included his wife Betty, brother Dragan, nephew Nicola, the Ona Coffee team including Hugh Kelly and Sam Corra, the Edwards family Sean, Kristine and Tilly along with Chris Short, Michael Bishop, Andy Freeman, Julie Kerr, Ben Bicknell, Anne Cooper and Phil McKnight. Hidenori Izaki, Sasa’s coach, and Fabio Casallero, the farmer from Honduras who grew the beans Sasa used were also there. It was all very exciting. The other 2015 Australian champion competing in the Brewers Cup in Seattle was Dane Oliver from La Cabra Coffee Roasters. He placed 10th in the world.

Starbucks Reserve

On the local front in Seattle, the buzz about town was Starbucks Reserve. With not a hint of green nor a mermaid insight, but a gold star as the new logo, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery opened with great fanfare. Taking its name from the selection of high end and sometimes rare coffees they’re serving, no expense has been spared and Starbucks has been taken to a whole new level.

There’s an espresso bar, brew bar, restaurant and roastery – all on a very large scale in one open space. Walk in the door and you can’t help but be impressed. We took up a couple of seats at the brew bar and chummed up with a woman who claimed to be a both a lawyer and an expert on ‘all-things Starbucks’. We learnt a few mind-blowing facts and figures as we sipped on some delightful Ethiopians.

Gin Barrel-aged Rwandan

We were to hear about one of Starbuck’s new products – Gin Barrel Aged Rwandan. It’s a bit of a story, so bear with me here. Gin is first of all stored in barrels that also once aged bourbon. The used barrels come from a local spirit merchant via Kentucky. Then coffee beans with a tasting profile that pairs with the flavours left in the barrel are chosen. In this case they come from Rwanda. They’re put into the barrels for several weeks and turned every few days – a process that, according to the Starbucks reserve website, ‘ enhances the sweet citrus flavours of the coffee and brings out notes of juniper, sweet fruit, warm spice and caramel. The roasting process producing a rich, nuanced cup unlike anything we’ve ever tasted before’.

Called a block party because it took up the whole block around Starbucks Reserve, a street party went on into the night. Food and drinks flowed freely, and despite the enormous crowd, everything remained under control. We’ve come to expect things to be big in the USA wherever we go now.

Tour of a Starbucks roastery

One of the organised tours was to another local Starbucks roastery, one of four in and around Seattle. To get an idea of the scale of this, try to imagine how much coffee would be needed to supply over 25,000 large stores across the globe, then imagine that much green bean arriving, being put in and out of roasters, and leaving as packaged bean. To say that’s a lot of coffee and logistically a very big operation, hardly sums it up.

Barista Bible book signing

Barista Bibles and Perfect Espresso products were selling in the SCAA Store again, and thanks to my trusty assistant Kirsty who organised a book signing, I was signing Barista Bibles for customers.

Trends on the show floor

While the event seems to be getting bigger, one thing we noticed on the trade show floor was that some coffee-making devices seemed to be getting smaller. There were single-serve machines, portable brewing devices and grinders of all kinds. And single group espresso machines such as the Slayer single group and the La Marzocco Linea Classic Mini. Among the more unusual things we saw were an espresso machine with most of its workings under the bench and a guy using used coffee grounds to paint murals.

The lovely thing about these big coffee events is that you get to bump into your once-a-year coffee friends from around the world and make new ones.

A nice touch was the show guide that came with a coffee map of Seattle’s downtown with the best spots to grab a good coffee. We found this enormously helpful after the show was over. Thanks Seattle, you’ve put on a superb event once more!

While the Barista championship was in Seattle, the rest of the events were in Gothenberg and Athens. The world champions for 2015 are …