Italian coffee beans used in the World Barista barista contest

Before 2008, there was a heated discussion in the coffee industry about which Italian coffee beans should be used in the World Barista barista contest, so which is better to use SOE (single estate coffee,single origin) or Blend coffee?

Baristas have changed to how to pick or match espresso beans to get high marks, which is actually a sign of the maturity of the coffee industry, especially after Copenhagen in 2008 and Atlanta, which just ended in 2009. you can also refer to more espresso beans.

Contestants should use single beans or formula beans, which is purely a multiple choice question.

(1) how much do you know about bean sex? Can you show the flavor characteristics of bean style?

(2) what is the stability of baking? Including raw bean conditions, baking stability and performance, ripening period, etc.

(3) Competition planning: is an espresso bean used to make three kinds of drinks, or is it planned separately according to different drinks? (that is, two kinds of competition beans)

First, let's take a look at the competition rules of WBC. In particular, sensory scores have accounted for a very high proportion since 2008. There are four major points in the evaluation of espresso, namely:

(1) Color of crema: The color of crema should be hazelnut, dark brown and/or reddish.

(2) Consistency and persistence of crema.

(3) Taste balance: a harmonious balance between sweetness, acidity and bitterness.

(4) Tactile balance:full bodied, round and smooth.

In the Taste balance, espresso must have a well-balanced flavor in sweet, sour and bitter tastes, and a smooth and round oral touch in the tactile evaluation (tactile balance), so that it can get at least 3.5 points in the espresso evaluation.

The JCC Technical Committee of WBC has noticed the trend of baristas using single origin espresso since 2006. The judging training camp in Tokyo since 2007 and the Copenhagen training camp in 2008 have asked us to pay special attention to: barista may use single origin coffee And the coffee may lack one of the three attribute (sour, bitter, sweet) In other words, we have to compare the characteristics and sources of the manor beans described by the contestants with the taste of espresso. It can be seen that the judges and the technical committee actually have a deep understanding of SOE and have great tolerance, but the basic taste is balanced, attractive, brilliant, and these conditions for getting high marks have not changed! Don't get me wrong, that means the judges can drink very sour or strong taste, so it is risky to use a single manor, such as Yirgacheffe or Panama Geisha, to get a high score as espresso!

Any espresso lacks sweetness, is too exciting, and has a single taste, especially similar to acetic acid, with a low or even zero score of salty acid.

Single producing area or single manor bean, at first glance, seems to have a higher fault tolerance rate and better preparation, but the cup performance still determines the score, so the contestants and your competition team really need to have the ability to identify the flavor of espresso. Some single manor beans can be used to make two drinks (dual-use), espresso and cappuccino at the same time, but whether they can also be used as creative drinks depends on the theme and taste of the creativity.

[note the limitations of SOE]

(1) what's the taste of making kapok? When you pick SOE to make a great espresso, is she suitable to be a bean for Cabo? Is it too milky?

(2) stability. Pay attention to the flavor changes during ripening. Is sweet zone sufficient for barista? Will it be difficult to adjust? how is crema doing? Some SOE are excellent in taste, but Crema is too thin, so the score on touch will not be high, which is very important. You need to study and negotiate with the bean baker for many times and try to bake, and then test the flavor.