Barista Magazine

FEB-MAR 2018

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

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WINNER Dale Harris, Hasbean Coffee Barista Champion of the United Kingdom What was the inspiration for your signature drink? My signature drink was led by the results of the GC-MS [gas chromatogra- phy-mass spectrometry] analysis we undertook through the department of Food Sciences at the University of Nottingham with associate professor Ian Fisk and PhD student Chujiao Liu (aka Gloria), who is already deep into an exciting thesis project on improving Robusta cup quality post-processing. Ian and Gloria both kindly gave their time running the tests and refi ning the results into something understandable. That said, the results were super complex, and it took Jenn [Rugolo], my partner, another week of researching, interpreting data, and cross-referencing with other studies to identify what we considered the three aromatic families that raised this cup's profi le in relation to the same varietal grown at a lower altitude. We gave these to Pete [Williams, Dale's coach], who then built a signature-drink component based on each family that would allow those fl avors to shine. Does it have a name? No, it doesn't. But if I had to name it, I've felt it could be a "Geoff." What coffee did you use? The coffee I used was a microlot from Finca Las Brumas, one of Ernesto "Neto" Menendez's farms. Ernesto is widely respected in El Salvador as one of their most progressive coffee farmers and has a history of success at both the CoE [Cup of Excellence] but also at WBC, having grown both the coffees that Alejandro Mendez used when he won the [WBC] in Bogotá [Colombia, in 2011]. We've worked with Neto since 2006, and although this coffee was ac- tually a lot rejected from this year's CoE process at the national jury stage, both Steve [Leighton, Dale's boss and the owner of Hasbean] and Neto believed it had potential to shine elsewhere. This is further proof to me that sourcing—and coffee in general—benefi ts from those long-term relationships and shared understandings built over time, rather than a single exemplary performance on the cupping table. What was the exact recipe? The signature beverage, which was made in a cream-whipper, included: • 88g of espresso (19.5–20g dose with a 44g yield over a 32-second extraction time) steeped in 4g of a prewashed oolong tea from Kyoto • 5ml of a fermented cacao-nib infusion (fermented over three days with a rye sourdough starter) • 5ml of milk whey separated using a 4.6pH citric-acid solution Together these ingredients were charged with NO 2 and served over a fl at plane of ice to reduce temperature and increase mouthfeel. Were there special drinking instructions for the judges? Just to sip the beverage over the fl at plane of ice, with 30 seconds between their fi rst and second sip in order to highlight the change in taste experience from botanical dark chocolate to orange cream soda. Anything else to add about the drink? When we reviewed the score sheets after the [awards] announcements, we could see that my signature beverage was the drinks course where my routine excelled in terms of points. This was mostly down to Pete. Pete is constantly excited by fl avors, but he is also one of the most organized and technically gifted people—he understands how fl avor can be developed or enhanced through fermentation, chemistry, temperature, and different meth- ods to deliver these within a drink. Most of all, he embraces the challenges the rules demand, bridging the gap between deliciousness and espresso dominance whilst developing synergy between ingredients. 64 barista magazine

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