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WORLD BREWERS CUP CHAMPION ODD- STEINAR TØLLEFSEN OF NORWAY NAMED NEWEST NINETY PLUS MAKER JOSEPH BRODSKY HAD BEEN looking forward to welcoming Norway's Odd-Steinar Tøllefsen to the elite group of coffee prodigies that are the Ninety Plus Makers ever since the Oslo-based brewing phenom visited Ninety Plus's Panama estate earlier this year. When Odd-Steinar won the gold at the World Brewers Cup championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, in June, that was just the icing on the cake. The Maker Series program debuted in 2014 as a way for Ninety Plus to collaborate with top-tier baristas in an effort to link coffee growers and coffee tasters. Other Ninety Plus Makers include 2014 World Brewers Cup Champion Stefanos Domatiotis of Greece; 2015 Japanese Barista Champion Yoshikazu Iwase; 2015 Chinese Barista Champion Jeremy Zhang; two-time Japanese Barista Champion Miki Suzuki; and two-time Australian Barista Champion Craig Simon. Odd-Steinar has been named the Nekisse Maker specifically due to his intimate relationship with celebrated coffee from Ethiopia. "His championship coffee, Semeon Abay Maker Series," says Joseph of the coffee Odd-Steinar used to win the 2015 World Brewers Cup, "is an experimental batch from a Nekisse base, a reproducible tangent of the Nekisse taste profile." Speaking to Ninety Plus's strong relationship with Oslo-based Supreme Roastworks, which Odd-Steiner co-owns, Joseph says, "He and Supreme Roastworks are champions of fruit-forward coffees in a Scandinavian landscape that often viewed the fruit-forward natural- process coffees unfavorably. Their efforts, along with some others, are changing that." Odd-Steinar will join Joseph in Ethiopia this fall to be trained on Nekisse profile processing methodology in an effort to contribute to and direct a Ninety Plus-designed experiment intended to achieve the flavor direction desired, yielding Odd-Steinar Maker Series 2016. —Sarah Allen F O A M : N E W S EQUATOR COFFEE'S TIGER EMBLEM IS MORE THAN A BRAND—IT'S A CAUSE ACROSS THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, and indeed the state of California and the country as a whole, the strikingly beautiful Bengal tiger silhouette has become synonymous with Equator Coffees & Teas. Even wearing rainbow stripes on the thousands of stickers the company gave away during San Francisco's Pride Parade, the tiger was recognizable as distinctly Equator. It's not just a pretty logo for the company, however. Equator is committed to support the Sumatran Tiger Trust in a big way, in an effort to help save the rapidly disappearing animal. Only 400 tigers remain in Sumatra, and the creature, which is naturally inclined to roam, continues to have its land fragmented by deforestation. These 400 remaining tigers have been relegated to five national parks and two game reserves. The Sumatran Tiger Trust funds rangers to patrol the forests in search of poachers and tiger traps, and to track the tigers' movements and patterns through infrared cameras in order to gather information that will help the rangers to protect the tigers. The Trust is partnered with hundreds of small coffee farmers to grow, process, and sell coffee to aid the program. Equator Coffees has purchased 26,400 pounds of this coffee at a premium attached to each pound, effectively funding one ranger for an entire year, gear included. "The tiger is near and dear to Equator," says Ted Stachura, Equator's director of coffee. "The image of the Bengal tiger has been associated with Equator's logo and branding since inception of the company in 1995. Su- matra is an important origin for Equator, because of this we have focused our support on the endangered Sumatran tiger, which is found only on the island of Sumatra. It is the last surviving of the three subspecies remaining in Indonesia. The earliest tiger fossils were discovered in Indonesia and are reported to be between 1.6 and 1.8 million years old. The powerful tiger serves as an inspiration for the work we do at Equator." Ted hopes to visit Sumatra in November to learn more about the work of the Sumatran Tiger Trust Conservation Program, and meet the farmers growing the coffee that goes into the Equator Blend and Equator Espresso. "We feature Sumatra coffee as the foundation of our namesake Equator Blend, our most popular blend," says Ted. "This is the second year in a row that Equator is supporting the Sumatran Tiger Trust by adding a premium to the purchase of the Sumatra coffee used in Equa- tor Blend. Last year we doubled the premium in order to help fund one ranger for a full year. This year we have committed to supporting the foundation on an ongoing basis. Based on our current usages, I estimate the contribution to the organization will be close to $5,500 annually." For more information about the Sumatran Tiger Trust, visit www.tigertrust.info. —Sarah Allen 22 barista magazine