TBC preparation experience 4: equipment preparation

The equipment required for the competition seems to be very little, but the actual preparation is often more than I thought at the beginning. In my experience, I will make a list of the equipment I need in the process of purchasing and preparing. Of course, the list can be divided into the preliminary competition and the semi-finals. Listing the list has an advantage, it can also be used as your check list before the competition.

My habit of making the list is to classify it according to the competition area, which is divided into four areas, namely, the bar area, the production area, the review table area and the off-court front area, so the classification is not only regional but also functional, so it is very logical when sorting it out.

In the competition, there are many fine equipment, such as tablecloths, mats, spoons, water cups. Etc, most of the equipment has something to do with the style and theme that the players want to present, so I won't say much about it. I will only mention a few equipment that I think are more important, that is, bean grinders and cups.

Bean grinder:

Bean grinders are roughly divided into flat knife and cone knife, quantitative and non-quantitative, with and without components, speed differences, each difference will affect the production of the action or taste, so at the beginning of the competition must carefully consider which (or two) bean grinder to choose, then let's take a look at the above differences will cause what kind of impact.

The difference between flat knife and cone knife will affect the taste trend of coffee. There is a lot of discussion about the taste trend on the Internet. The general direction is that the aroma and taste of flat knife will be put more.

Quantitative bean grinder has been used by more and more players in recent years, but it should be reminded that quantitative bean grinder should be said to be a fixed-time bean grinder, except that different thickness and baking degree will cause the difference of grinding powder in a fixed time, and even if the same coffee bean is being ground, there will be errors, and the error of the fast grinding machine is larger, and the error of the cone knife grinding machine is larger than that of the flat knife grinding machine. The bean grinder with large error may reach +-1.xg, so if we choose the quantitative bean grinder, we must make some efforts on how to control the amount of powder.

Whether there is a component or not mainly affects the movement, the bean grinder without a component must consider whether the powder drop point is accurate, of course, those with a component also need to pay attention to the position of the powder drop point, in addition, we should also pay attention to the feel of the plucking rod.

The speed and the size of the grinding plate will affect the grinding speed, of course, it will greatly affect the rhythm of the game.

Cups:

The cup will affect the difficulty of getting scores for many items, such as the crema durability of espresso, the thickness of milk bubbles in Cabo, etc., and even the effect on taste and aroma when drinking in more detail. It is strongly recommended that you buy a cup to be used at the beginning of the competition, so that the coffee during practice will be more referential, although generally the cups are sold in groups of six. But it is recommended that at least 8 can be bought, 6 can be brought on the stage, and the more 2 can be used not only in front or 30 minutes in preparation before the game, but also to avoid spending extra time buying because of damage before the game.