Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
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TAKE AWAY Continued on page 20 Golden Bean Arrives in North America Australia has been home to the world's largest coffee-roaster competition, the Compak Golden Bean, for more than 10 years, with around 2,000 entries evaluated by internationally renowned cuppers on an annual basis. With its success Down Under, organizers set their sights on North America for a sister competition, which took Portland, Ore., by storm this fall. Over 400 coffees were submitted—quite impressive for the first year of the competition—and the big winner stateside was Southern California's Klatch Coffee, which was awarded the title of Overall Champion Roaster. Klatch's Golden Bean Competition Blend Espresso is available to purchase at www.klatchroasting.com. Wide Distribution Among the most talked-about obsessions of the 2015 World Barista Championship in Seattle was what looked like a handleless tamper. U.K. Barista Champion Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, who placed fifth, and Australian Barista Champion Sasa Sestic, who took top prize— sported different variations: Maxwell used the PUSH from Clockwork Espresso, which delivers a perfectly level bed, and allows the barista to set the tamping depth and lock it in. Sasa developed his own, called the Ona Coffee Distributor, or OCD, which helps the barista achieve more even extraction and no channeling. Sasa says the OCD will be ready for sale in early December. While PUSH developer Pete Southern is still enhancing his product, and therefore doesn't have an exact launch date, he's excited to have just shipped a handful of beta editions to baristas around the world. Cuba: The New Origin Coffee has been subject to the U.S. embargo on all Cuban goods that dates back to 1963, but with President Obama's reestablishment of diplomatic relations, Cuban coffees will soon be available to North Americans for the first time in half a century. It's going to be a rough road, of course: While specialty- coffee importers see great potential in Cuba's mountainous farmlands and ideal coffee-growing climate, Cuban producers haven't been privy to the technological progress and industry expertise that has allowed nearby Honduras and Costa Rica to financially flourish in coffee exports. Cuba is still recovering from a 2009 harvest that was so terrible that the government actually had to import $50 million worth of coffee just for domestic consumption. Get ready for some changes, however: We know of at least two top specialty-coffee importers with scouts on the ground in Cuba already. From le , Klatch's Noah Poletiek, Mike Perry, and Travis Hochhalter Clockwork Espresso's PUSH (above), and at right, the Ona Coff ee Distributer. 18 barista magazine