I had just come out of a client meeting yesterday when my friend Signe sent me a cheeky Facebook message: “Alex!!!! Did you know about this barista event at Roest that’s happening tonight?” “What event?” “Here, take a look! You should totally contact them and go!”
Sure enough, the next thing I did while waiting for my train on platform 5 at Den Bosch station was to look up Roest Amsterdam, send them a cheeky message (The Coffeevine and all that) and see if I could attend. Barista competitions are always super fun and you get to meet some really great people. I am fun and great! Let me come, too!!! After a few minutes only the deal was perfect. I was on the list and according to the messenger: “They are super happy for you to come and write a piece.” Yeyeeer.
After work I jumped on my bicicleta and rode all the way across town to one of my most favourite yet most remost locations. Hidden behind the huge Volkskrant building is funky little Roest. What the guys from the Coffee Company Barista Cup had set up just outside resembled the teepee field at Glastonbury, ponchos and cowboys and indians theme included. As I walked in I said my name and the lady went: “Oh yes, The Coffeevine. We’ve been expecting you.” I don’t know why but it still gives me a big rush every time someone says they’ve been expecting me.
As I entered the wilderness of the commercial coffee world I immediately stumbled upon a cupping competition in one of the teepees. Kim, the mouthy but hysterical organizer kept shouting funny things into her megaphone while I stood on the sidelines observing, looking important with my giant iPad. When they were ready to go, a bunch of guys entered the tent and 2 guys and 1 girl competed for cupping glory. Everything happened pretty quickly and as you can imagine, there was lots of slurping and spitting involved. I realize this might sound sexual but trust me, it’s not. One of the contestants told me later: “That was fucking hard man. I am sure there were 2 coffees from the same farm but different roasts. I am sure, yes yes.”
Next, I popped into the brewers’s cup tent where a man with a hat was explaining his pour over technique to a rather stern looking jury. The noise inside made it impossible to hear voice but what I did gather was something about extracting the flavours and ensuring you end up with a smooth coffee. Smooth all the way fella. As it so happened the next contender, Bob, was psyching himself up for his Aeropress demonstration. I asked him why he chose the Aeropress to which he said: “I’ve worked with this for a long time and I just like how you are totally in control of the result. You choose the grinder level, the amount of water, the pressure and how much you extract. It’s the best.” He’s right, this is one of the last pieces of slow coffee equipment that I am still lacking in my home. It looked like he did a good job although at some point he almost slapped himself for forgetting to do something that I didn’t quite catch.
Overall the atmosphere at this place was really great, probably helped by the huge amount of young aspiring Coffee Company baristas who were all getting jolly on 1 coin beers. Unbelievable but true, the sun even came out and the smell of spit roasted pig just put me into a trance as I queued for my dinner.
Just after I had managed to get myself a portion of salad, chickpeas, humus, pork and prawns, I discovered my friends Jonatan and Lex from Headfirst Coffee taking a seat at the jury table. As ex-Coffee Company employees themselves, they are probably seen as idols by some of those guys who are just as passionate about coffee but haven’t quite gotten the courage to go it alone. I joined them, they were slightly surprised to see me, to which I said: “Don’t you know who I am? I’m The Coffeevine!”
The final round of the evening consisted of a typical barista championship in which Hanae (Korte Poten), Tara (Ferdinand Bol) and Ka-Tjun (Nieuwe Doelen) competed with each other for every lasting coffee company glory. Each one of them had a big possy of friends and each one of those possies carried a large poster with their individual faces on. I liked that a lot.
Hanae seemed a bit nervous to go first but once the clock started ticking seemd to get herself together to deliver 4 Espressi and 4 Cappuccinos to a quietly scribbling jury. She finished just in time and then handed the floor over to Tara who had made a bit more of an effort to explain which flavours she was planning to extract in her 2 drinks. I heard her mention almond, red fruit and orange peel, which she also presented to the jury in real form. The clock started ticking and Tara, despite facing strong winds, did a pretty amazing job to finish her 8 drinks and clean the machine just in time. Last but not least, Ka-Tjun had his turn and he approached the jury to explain his creation. He said there was even a hint of jasmin in his Espresso. I was curious to try it out. When the clock started ticking he quickly fell behind a bit and must have been sweating blood and tears to finish just above 5 minutes.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYAcNDsIqJA]
I really liked the fact that Coffee Company put in a lot of effort to offer something quite unique to its many young baristas who I am sure are very keen to make more specialty coffee than what most of them get to make at your average Coffee Company shop. I was never hugely fond of their coffee but have to say it’s a lot better than Starbucks and most other commercial chains. Maybe it’s the fact that they engage their people so much and have had the “specialty coffee chain store” idea a lot earlier than Starbucks. In fact, there is one here in Amsterdam too on Meester Treublaan.
What was slightly strange however was the fact that there was nowhere to actually get a good cup of coffee. Ah well, for what it’s worth I am glad I got to experience this and I am very chuffed that Tara won the trip to New York. Although everyone did a great job she was the best contestant that evening. Thanks to the guys at Roest and Coffee Company for inviting me.
