Places to go in Amsterdam during WOC

The World of Coffee Amsterdam is coming closer and closer, and questions for tips are rolling in.

I have a running list of best coffee places in Amsterdam separated into bars and roasters. Personal favourites are: Sweetcup, Scandinavian Embassy, East57, but all of them are great.

But ofcourse there is more to do than drink coffee; eat, drink, shop, hang... Below all my Amsterdam fav's.

Is Specialty Coffee Safe?

What are the Food Safety Concerns for Green Coffee?

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about food safety and coffee, and food safety and specialty coffee. Since May this year roasters in the USA need to have a food safety system in place in order to be in compliance with FSMA. The EU, which has had quite a strong food safety system in place for a long time, also has started checking coffee roasters more and more the last couple of years. Where specialty roasters, especially smaller ones, have been able to fly under the radar, they are now being asked to proof their product is safe to consume.

Coffee Crawl Lima Edition

Where to drink coffee in Lima, Peru

There is a whole lot of coffee in...Lima.

I had the good fortune to travel to Peru this August to see several producers during the harvest season, travelling to San Ignacio in Cajamarca and to Rodriguez de Mendoza in Amazonas. Which was an amazing experience. Peru is such an amazing, beautiful country. 

If that was not lucky enough, I also had the pleasure to be able to stay in Lima two days, and got to visit some of the amazing cafes in Lima. I was able to set foot into seven of them. But, there are many, many more. And all of them are more inspiring than the next. 

Serving only Peru, you get the freshest of the freshest harvest, and although the espresso culture is more prominent, pour-over is available, pretty much, everywhere.

These are the seven coffeeshops I visited, and I'm planning to go back and visit an other seven!

map

What is a Coffee Professional?

The Difference Between a Cupper and Other Coffee Professionals, and the Need for a Common Language

In December of 2015 I went to one of the Odorama events of Mediamatic. It was an evening dedicated to the vocabulary of fragrance. The whole evening was structured around the question of our sense of smell and why it is so difficult to find the words to capture what we experience. 

One of the most interesting talks was given by Ilja Croijmans, a linguist researching this very thing. Apparently Western languages are one aspect of making the act of aroma descriptors difficult. Just think about it, how many words to you know that are only dedicated to a smell?

In other languages around the globe, and specifically in some parts in Asia, there are words dedicated only to olfactory experiences; there are specific words to specific smells, and so constructs such as: 'smells like ...', are not necessary.

Ilja wanted to know if in Western society the fact that we find it difficult to describe smells is due to this lack of specific defining words, or if there is an other layer of explanation: do we simply not get enough practise?

To test this

Cascara Banned in the EU?

What is a novel food and why can we suddenly not drink cascara anymore?

A lot of people have read this article "Is cascara actually banned? Mixed messages in The EU" by Perfect Daily Grind the last couple of days, which was probably inspired by the video James Hoffmann of Square Mile posted recently.

The article is quite short, slightly confusing and arguably incomplete causing some misinterpretation of what is actually going on with cascara in the EU. As someone working in coffee as head of quality, which not only includes quality control of the products, but also the food safety aspect, I wanted to give some background and further information on the concept of novel food and how it is linked to the use of cascara.

what is a novel food?

The whole idea is to keep people safe and not bring anything to the food market that could be harmful or even deadly to humans, literally food safety. For the EU this is regulated through the European Commission. A novel food is a food  is a food that has:

The Christmas Coffee Gift Guide 2016

Christmas time! But what should you get for that coffee loving geek in your circle of friends or family? Below some ideas for gifts that any coffee lover would like to receive.

Five Elephant 

 Coffee EU8-50
Coffee, it's always a good idea. Most roasters or coffee subscriptions have some awesome coffee beans on sale during Christmas.

Any good artisan coffee roaster will do, so go and find your local coffee roaster, dealing in the lovely product of specialty coffee and buy some beans.
Try not to buy too long in advance, as coffee beans are better when freshly roasted.

If you are looking online, these are some awesome options for you.

How to Prepare for Taking the Q Arabica Coffee Grading Exam

Me (front row in the brown apron) and my fellow Q graders

When I started working at a green coffee sourcing company as their cupper, they requested I take the Q grader's exam for Arabica coffee. I had heard of it before, but had never really looked into it. Al I had heard was that it was an exam to test your sensory skills in coffee tasting and that it was quite difficult to pass.

The Q grader's exam is part of the Coffee Quality Institute and it meant to create a universally shared language for coffee tasters. It is an internationally recognised certification grading and cupping calibration. Meaning that all people that passed the Q grading exam will give a calibrated score for the same coffee. 

I read up a little on the test that would be taken, but mistakenly saw it as a course, not necessarily an exam. So when I walked into the cafe in Paris during a cold February day, I was surprised to find everybody there had been practising at home for weeks. I had read up a little bit, but I hadn't created my own training program beforehand. I also quite quickly learnt that the 'course' part of the exam mostly existed of practising the exam. Not an actual educational training session. So if you failed a practise exam, there really was no time to understand why you failed and to really learn how to improve yourself before the actual exam will take place.

This freaked me out quite a bit, especially as the course is quite expensive. I did not want to fail and let my boss, who paid for everything, down. So the first three days in which we practised the courses I tried to learn as much as I could. At night I would practise in my Airbnb and think of strategic ways to pass the exams that I had trouble with during the day.

I have to say, going through all the exams in the following days, must have been some of the most nerve recking days in my life.

And...it paid off. I passed with flying colours. So what did I do to pass the infamous sensory exam, or the sample roast identification exam? In this blog you can read the tips I wished I had had before I took the Q grading exam per exam category.

Coffee Crawl Leiden: Where to Drink Coffee in Leiden

People from Amsterdam never want to travel outside the capitol of the Netherlands. Everything you need is at a palm's reach. Although the Netherlands is a small, tiny country, everything outside of the city centre is far-far-away land for the Amsterdammers. But there are a lot of amazing cities and coffee spots to see all across the country. And so friend 'B' and I decided to put on our walking boots and 'travel'; take the trains and discover all the lovely coffee spots outside of our hometown. 

Finally, after months of trying -I don't exaggerate, first it was the Reco symposium, then a sick pet, a sick human and some inconvenient calendar mix up- we made it to Leiden. Leiden, a city in South Holland, holds the oldest university of the country. The old centre is beautiful with canals, small courtyards and multiple monumental buildings. But we weren't there for all that. We wanted coffee.

see map

Restaurants Serving Specialty Coffee in Amsterdam

Restaurants serving specialty coffee

We have all experienced it. One night you go out, with your friends or family. You go to this well recommended restaurant. The service is friendly, the food is tasty. You talk and laugh. Perhaps take some pictures of nicely plated food to put on social media. And then you order coffee after. And if you're lucky, you get a Nespresso capsule. If you are unlucky, you get some dark roasted, robusta blended drink that maybe if you quench your eyes kind of falls into the category of an espresso, made from beans that were pre-ground at a certain time in history on a machine that has not been cleaned properly since it was installed. What a way to finish a meal.

The Genetic Diversity of Yeasts in Coffee Processing

Yeast. It's used for many, many things. Including fermentation in wine, cacao and coffee. It's the distinguishing element between grape juice and wine. It is part of the process of creating alcohol, but also has a huge influence on the flavour. Using starter cultures of yeast have been common in the wine industry for a very long time and this is one of the reasons all vineyard-yeast strains are so similar.

Coffee and cacao farmers do not use starter cultures, but often rely on their local surroundings. So interestingly enough, although the coffee tree is very homogeneous as most plants around the world share the same origin, the yeasts found in the green bean end product differ completely.

At least this is what Aimée Dudley of the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute and Justin Fay of the University of Washington found. They were even able to use DNA sequences of the yeast strains to determine origin. 

According to the researchers this diversity of coffee yeasts opens up the possibility to create new flavours of coffee, by using a yeast from a certain region, in the fermentation process in a different location. Who knows what this would taste like?

As a coffee cupper and q grader myself, this sounds very interesting. At the same time my mind immediately flew to one of the most thought provoking and inspiring Reco talks of Gothenburg on what lessons coffee can draw from the 'natural wine' movement.

Are starting yeasts and yeasts for sale really something we want to invest in? Or would we be stepping away from a product we love. If we start adding yeasts from the Panama Geisha from Esmeralda to all coffees from all over the world, we might in theory create more floral and perfumed coffees, but we might also be destroying local yeasts and culture that have been in use for centuries.

What do you guys think? Am I too conservative? 

2016 Dutch Barista Championship - The Finalists - Esther Maasdam

Esther Maasdam is a real competition barista. Next to competing in almost all competitions you can think of, she has represented the Netherlands multiple times in the Latte Art competitions. Will she get to do the same for the Barista Championship?

photo by Thari Parson

2016 Dutch Barista Championship - The Finalists - Vincent Zwaan

The Amsterdam Coffee Festival is happening in March 2016. It will host the Dutch Barista Championships. Who will get to represent the Netherlands in Dublin during the World Barista Competition? One of the competitors is Vincent (Vinni) Zwaan, representing Bocca Coffee Roasters.

Coffee Crawl Haarlem: Where to Drink Coffee in Haarlem

People from Amsterdam never want to travel outside the capitol of the lowlands. Everything you need is at a palm's reach. Although the Netherlands is a small, tiny country, everything outside of the ring is far, far, away land for the Amsterdammers. And so, most coffee places I know in the Netherlands are located in Amsterdam. Of course I can name others, but most I have never seen in real life with my own eyes. And so my friend 'B' and me decided to travel. Take the trains and discover all the lovely coffee spots outside of our hometown. We did not travel far this time, but trained over to Haarlem. 

Haarlem is a great little city, with beautiful old architecture and the best small shops. It is also filled with places with pretty decent coffee, mostly delivered by Bocca Coffee Roasters. But there is more out there.

see map

2016 Dutch Barista Championship - The Finalists - Merijn Gijsbers

The Amsterdam Coffee Festival is happening in March 2016. It will host the Dutch Barista Championships. Who will get to represent the Netherlands in Dublin during the World Barista Competition? Introducing Merijn Gijsbers, coffee trainer at the Koffiegenootschap and consultant for Alpro.

photo by Thari Parson

2016 Dutch Barista Championship - The Finalists - Jesper van Stek

The Amsterdam Coffee Festival will crown a new Dutch Barista Champion. Who will get to represent the Netherlands in Dublin during the World Barista Competition? Introducing Jesper van Stek of Doppio Espresso Amsterdam VU.

2016 Dutch Barista Championship - The Finalists - Wendelien Verver

The Amsterdam Coffee Festival will crown a new Dutch Barista Champion. Who will get to represent the Netherlands in Dublin during the World Barista Competition? Introducing second finalist Wendelien Verver (Single Estate Coffee Roasters).

2016 Dutch Barista Championship - The Finalists - Lex Wenneker

The Amsterdam Coffee Festival will crown a new Dutch Barista Champion. Who will get to represent the Netherlands in Dublin during the World Barista Competition? Introducing our current champion Lex Wenneker (Espresso Service West).

Picture from SCAENL taken by Marjolein Meulendijks, Smit Prins Amsterdam Agency

The Christmas Gift Guide 2015 for Coffee Lovers

It's almost Christmas time! That means fairy lights, Christmas trees, warm drinks and thoughts. Plus, of course presents. Now buying presents for a coffee geek is quite hard, especially if you do not know a whole lot about coffee yourself. You do not want to end up giving a blender grinder, some dark roasted Kopi Luwak or pre-ground Holiday blend from some mainstream company.

And so, just in time for some Christmas shopping and shipping, a guide for some lovely  and useful gifts every coffee snob will thank you for.

Great Coffee 

EU7,50 - EU71,00

A lot of specialty coffee roasters bring out special Christmas roasts. And specialty coffee is always a good idea. Here are a few examples.

Solberg&Hansen - Tim Wendelboe - Roestart

Java Coffee

Solberg and Hansen, a Norway roaster has a Christmas roast from El Salvador with notes of nuts, spice, tangerine and chocolate. While Roestart has a very unique coffee from Capo Verde, which I know very well has it originates from my place of work. A juicy and fruity natural coffee. Don't you just love the Christmas label? Tim Wendelboe, also from Norway has a Christmas packaging with a Colombian coffee inside with notes of plums, herbs, brown sugar and green apple.

Java Coffee from Poland always has fun and playful packaging, and their Winter Blend is not any different, with the cutest well-dressed fox.

Five Elephant

Five Elephant from Berlin also has a Holiday gift box, filled with three of their coffees. The box is pretty awesome and custom hand made. Hurry, hurry, because there are only 100 available.

Of course there are many, many more. Such as Counter Culture Coffees iridescent and many others. But not only could you try to get your hands on a special Christmas coffee, you could also go for something amazing, exclusive and limited edition. Such as Stumptown's Grand Cru, a Gesha variety from Guatemala. I have to say, not only is the coffee one of a kind, so is the packaging. It looks stunning. What a great gift.

Blue Bottle

The last gift set I want to mention here is the Blue Bottle Dick Taylor Chocolate Bar and Coffee Pairing set. A lovely box with a bar of chocolate and a bag of coffee beans, both from the Alta Verapaz region in Guatemala. Blue Bottle describes both as follows:

Taking its influences from the rich volcanic loam of the jungle floor, the chocolate smolders with gunpowder and oolong. The coffee, meanwhile, reaches up toward the canopy of trees with delicate florals and sunlit fruit. Clouds part, heaven and earth collide.

Now, who wouldn't want that in their Christmas stocking?

Beankeeper

EU0,10 - 2,30

While you're at it buying coffee, why not add something that can keep the coffee fresh for as long as possible? I've been a fan of these, long since before they have been brought out for coffee bags, using them mostly to keep my cat food crunchy for my impossible cat.

You can buy an official Beankeeper, or try to find them on ebay, alibaba or your local store for a brandless cheaper option.

Travel Kits

EU100,00 - 330,00

Now I've written before about travel kits for coffee lovers. There are some beautiful ones out there. Of course you can go out and make your own kit, for tips you can read about what I carry in my kit here. Or you can go out and buy one that is already complete.

Blue Bottle Travel Kit

Blue Bottle also has a limited edition travel kit. It's very expensive, but it carries a lot, such as a travel dripper by Bonmac, a Porlex hand grinder, a Tsuki Usagi kettle and a Hario scale, just to name a few.

A bit too expensive? They carry a smaller kit as well, for around EU170,00.







Cafflano

Or buy an all in one system, like the Cafflano. This system has an adjustable grinding system, a drip system with a reusable metal filter, a cup and the lid serves as a pouring kettle. What more could you need?

Depending on where you buy it, it will cost you around EU100,00.

Something to read

EU27,00 - 38,50

I do not know any coffee lover that is not interested in learning more. More about coffee, more about taste, more about anything remotely related to their hobby. These are the books to buy.

Water for Coffee - Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood and Christopher Hendon

This book as been the most anticipated coffee book of the year. A collaboration between a leading UK barista and a successful chemist, this book explores the influence of the main ingredient in coffee: water.

Do make sure, however, that this book has not already made it's way to your coffee loving friend's bookcase. Because it is very likely it already has.







Bitter - Jennifer Mclagan

I was introduced to this book through an amazing podcast on the BBC, on bitter. Coffee lovers and bitter, it's a love-hate relationship, and this book is fascinating:

"In this deep and fascinating exploration of bitter through science, culture, history, and 100 deliciously idiosyncratic recipes—like Cardoon Beef Tagine, White Asparagus with Blood Orange Sauce, and Campari Granita—award-winning author Jennifer McLagan makes a case for this misunderstood flavor and explains how adding a touch of bitter to a dish creates an exciting taste dimension that will bring your cooking to life." (Amazon) 

Chemex

EU8,00 - 46,00

Okay, okay, bear with me. I know it was on the list last year. But not only is the Chemex awesome, but there are some amazing Chemex related things out there this year.

First of all Toms, a brand you may know for their awesome shoes and apparel, is also a well established coffee roaster. And now they have a special project. An 8 cup glass uniquely branded Chemex.
Not only that, but for every Tom's Chemex sold both companies will give one week of safe water to a person in need. So not only are you giving an awesome and unique gift, you are also giving to charity. A great Christmas gesture, no?







Now with Etsy, you can customise the Chemex even more! Chemex cozy's, Chemex socks, in any style or colour you can think of. Or buy a little Chemex Moleskine, you know, for brewing recipes and such.

Sock - Moleskine - Cozy

Amazing Kettle
EU112,60

Copper, it's the colour of fashion. Plus, all baristas love gooseneck kettles, as it gives higher precision when pouring water on your coffee bed, giving you more control.

Also, the name 'Monarch Kettle', what more do you want? Okay, it is quite expensive. But it is a work of art.

Designed and made by Chris Chekan in Toronto, Canada.




Latte Art Dice

EU 23,46 - 27,91

If your friend is not only a coffee lover, but a barista. And he or she is a barista that enjoys latte art, you can get them a latte art dice. What's that? A dice with 6 different latte art figures. Throw the dice, and the barista can pour the figure the dice lands on. Let customers throw the dice, use it for practise, or organise a latte art throwdown competition.

You can buy the latte art dice, pictured on the left, or if you think those figures are too easy, buy this one. Guaranteed high level of difficulty.

Cupping Spoons

EU8,00 - 60,00

Okay. So. All coffee people I know love coffee cuppings. This is a gift for a coffee professional though, not necessarily for the coffee hobbyist. Cupping spoons are used to taste coffees, during coffee tasting sessions. Either at importers, sourcing companies, coffee roasters or at trade shows. And having your own cupping spoon is very, very cool.

There are multiple ways you can go. You can either go the official route, and buy a cool cupping spoon from a coffee company. Such as the cool red handled Invictus, or the large Ritual Roasters spoon. Or the more classic spoon from any other coffee company, such as Espresso Parts and many, many others.

Invictus - Ritual Roasters

Or, you can go and browse and find a one of a kind spoon. To be able to do this, you need to know the following; 

• Ideally a cupping spoon is made of silver, although stainless steel also works. These materials conduct temperature perfectly and do not alter the taste of the coffee.
• The spoon bowl should be more round than oval.
• The spoon bowl should be deep enough to get some liquid in there
• The spoon bowl should not be too big or too small, probably between 3 and 5 centimetres in diameter.

So something like this, or this, this, this or maybe even this, you know, for looks.

some spoons of ebay

And then...not only should you get a sock for your Chemex, you should get a sock for the cupping spoon. The cupping spoon sock can be bought on Etsy for EU15,00 and is hand made in the Netherlands by coffee lover and SCAE Education Field Coordinator Kim Staalman.

Why? Because it keeps the spoon clean while it's roaming around in a bag, plus it breaks a fall. Just look at this video from the coffee sock maker Kim, find her on Instagram for more inspiring visual input.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

pictures are of webshops linked in the article, unless otherwise stated

My Month on Instagram ǁ November 2015

I post photos on Instagram on a regular basis showing my coffee and tea drinking habit. Plus some running pictures are inevitably going to be passing by. Once a month I bundle these and talk about the photos on my blog.

In November I:

»  All the luck in the world opened on the Lineausstraat in Amsterdam. They have a couple of other shops as well. Selling furniture, jewelry and other fun stuff, they also serve coffee roasted by Stooker. Always great to see more specialty coffee in the East part of Amsterdam. A great place to find some Christmas gifts as well.

» An other place I finally got to visit was Toki, a great little place in the Jordaan in Amsterdam, serving the always tasty Bonanzacoffee. Good coffee, good vibes, great company. If I lived a little closer by I would spent way too much hours of my time hanging in this great little bar.

» On an other note, my cats love the fact that I foam milk at home on occasion.

» We had a huge cupping with some Russian customers of ours at work, and so I spent quite a few hours behind the Probat sample roaster at Trabocca, making sure all the samples were ready to go.

» Cupping so many coffees during the work week, sometimes you just want some tea on the weekends. I love this combo of a lovely light Oolong, fresh ginger and hibiscus. Works well against inflammation as well.

» We had some Chelbessa sample left over from our Russian cupping, so that meant some great Chemex at home. Brewing some amazing coffee at home does always put a smile on the face of your partner, because of course.

» As a runner and a coffee lover, this hessian bag from Falcon Specialty just in front of the roaster at the Coffeecompany Roastery was just to good to not take a picture.

 » Finally, the last picture of the month was the roasting set up at Trabocca's USA office in Minneapolis. I went up there to calibrate on cupping scores and got to admire this lovely set up.

See you next month!

Want to see my other pictures? Check out my Instagram at instagram.com/ceriannebury.

2016 Dutch Latte Art - The Finalists - Joep Willemsen

Early 2016 seven gifted latte art pouring baristas will fight for the ticket to Shanghai, where the World Championship will take place. Who are the baristas that want to represent the Netherlands? Let's get to know them a little better...Who is Joep Willemsen?

Photo by Vinni Zwaan @WetTheFilter blog

Where can people find you?

Lucifer Specialty Coffee, Eindhoven.

What figures did you pour for the qualifying rounds?

I poured a hummingbird with a flower next to it for my designer latte. For the free pour I made a combination of rosetta's and a tulip.

How did you prepare?

Because of Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven I started way too late and it showed in a sloppy presentation. The patterns were decent though. I prepared in evenings after work in my work place.

Who inspires you when deciding what figures to pour?

The routines of the competitors of the world championships are always pushing the envelope, and there is always inspiration to obtain by watching their routines. Also just browsing pictures of things, animals, shapes and trying to think how you could adapt them and pour them into a cup.

How long does it take to learn a new figure?

After some 10-20 tries you tend to get it right. Then lots more to not get it wrong anymore. But that level is hardly ever accomplished with difficult patterns.

And how do you master a new figure?

The first part is looking for inspiration. Then I draw on a paper in a circle how I would try to pour it and start trying. Sometimes you have to abandon an idea because it's just not working the way you thought it would.

How are you going to make sure you win the National competition?

Considering Nick is in the finals again, that will be one hell of a job. The level he obtained in a few years is really impressive. I will have to choose complex and original patterns and totally nail them, so that will be my strategy, to kick ass.

If you could change the Latte Art Championship format, what would you change?

I think it is quite well thought out. The change from 6 to 8 minutes (in the preliminary) was good, because now you have some time to have somewhat of a presentation, instead of rushing to get everything done in time. I already struggle to get it done within 8 minutes with some etching.. Being able to bring your own music would be nice though.

Anything you would like to add?

Yeah, to the team of SCAE volunteers, you guys rock.