When I started out in the coffee industry, I was amazed at how fiercely competitive it was – especially among the early Italian pioneers. With blending and roasting secrets to protect, there were no risks taken when it came to the topic of coffee. There seemed to be very little sharing and collaboration among companies. 10 years on, I am pleased to say this has changed considerably.
Paul and I recently attended the 5th Golden Bean Roaster Competition and Conference in Port Macquarie organized by Sean Edwards and his team from Café Culture. Over 500 delegates, representing coffee companies from all over Australia, came together to share and learn. In fact, we talked of nothing but coffee for 3 days and nights – at seminars and social events alike.
A beach party was planned to kick off the event, but due to rain was cancelled and substituted with a coffee trivia comp. and indoor BBQ at the last minute. I won the lucky door prize, which was a moisture meter for green beans, hardly something a writer of coffee books would need. I gladly donated it to Mark Bullivant, a coffee grower and roaster in the Northern NSW area.
For something entirely different, Peter Dobrenov gave a demonstration on how to make Turkish coffee, which we all enjoyed with some Turkish delight, the traditional accompaniment. A nice treat after so much espresso!
The Golden Bean event is a competition, judged by peers in a blind tasting, ultimately designed to recognise Australia’s best roasters.
What goes into a Golden Bean entry is still a closely guarded secret and competitive, but there is certainly no lack of camaraderie about beans and blends these days. So how does a competition happen in such a convivial manner?
First off there are sponsors and for 2010 it was CSR. On entering the competition, coffee roasters are sent a plain numbered bag to put their roasted beans in and must get it to the organisers the week before the start of the event. They may enter any or all of the 8 categories. The delegates, or judges, sit around big round tables and are run through a calibration and scoring process. Then the competition begins.
In what’s affectionately called ‘the engine room’, a team of baristas makes pairs of beverages from each entry. This year, Dave Makin headed up the team ensuring that every beverage was as good as it could be. Runners deliver them to tables where judges proceed to collaborate and deliberate with a tasting buddy – about the qualities of the coffee beverage they’re judging and scores they’ll give someone’s beans in the first round of judging. Depending on the score, this may put the entry into the final round to win a bronze, silver or gold medal. They might be unknowingly judging their own entry or those of their closest competitors.
Judges spend hours swilling and swishing their way through as many entries as they can manage. Justin Metcalf heads up this team to ensure the judges palates are calibrated. Scoresheets are collated and checked. The top scoring beans are then put to a final test via the taste buds of a select group of Australia’s best coffee professionals.
At the formal dinner on the last evening, award winners in the various categories are announced. In each category, there may be up to 10 or 12 who receive a bronze medal, or 3 or 4 who receive a silver. But there is only one gold awarded in each category and for 2010 these went to …
- Espresso – Di Gabriel Boutique Coffee Roasters
- Milk-Based – Cre8ive Coffee
- Australian – Real Coffee
- Filter – Eureka Coffee and Growers Espresso
- Organic Espresso – Numero Uno Coffee
- Single Origin Espresso – Remedy Coffee
- Decaf – Prestige Organic Coffee
- Coffee Chain – Veneziano Coffee
The overall winner of The Golden Bean is then determined by the combined scores in the espresso and milk-based categories and in 2010, this prestigious award went to Mahalia Coffee from Robe in South Australia.
We feel honoured to be part of such a wonderful community of coffee enthusiasts. Thank you Sean Edwards for the role you play in breaking down the barriers to communication and collaboration and making the coffee industry a healthier and happier one.