We’ve been out to a few international shows recently and our chocolate took us on a trip to Seattle for the North West Chocolate Festival first, then later to Shanghai for the Chocex. On the way to Seattle we stopped a few days in Melbourne, capital of coffee roasting and home of some of the great bean to bars in Austalia “Ratio Cocoa Roasters” & “Atypic Chocolate”, and a stop-over in Vancouver Island gave us room to enjoy the beautiful city of Victoria and the charms of his old-fashioned coffee shops and “Cacao 70” chocolate shop, an award winning Canadian bean to bar. Though Vanuatu chocolate is and will remain the main topic of this blog, we thought a twist to look at our friends from the coffee industry would not hurt, and possibly draw to further collaborations.
I have to admit that before this trip to Shanghai, my personal knowledge of coffee as a member of this team was fairly limited and yet, I drink easily half a dozen of cups a day. The striking picture that came to my mind thinking back to what we’ve experienced is a like of the first time you try a bean to bar fine chocolate as opposed to mainstream chocolate brands. Think of the excitement to be able to experience it all with some of the best in this industry, the Glyph’s team from Singapore, who are amongst the best coffee curators you could name.
Working every harvest season with our hands in fresh beans, the cacao ones, we could easily relate to the different coffee techniques to start the journey from the cherry to the cup. Aerobic and Anaerobic fermentations, transformation of sugar into lactic acid or alcohol, interactions with bacteria, we were in known ground and we could understand what would make a fine coffee cup. We were gradually losing ground when it came to washing techniques or the coffee genetics and origins. We learned about the Gesha varieties which we would compare to Criollo for their very floral flavours and the fact that they are low yield coffee trees, need more spacing and good shade when planted and they are not resistant to diseases. Seeing the parallel? Bourbons would relate to our Forasteros while a broad range of ancient species and new hybrids are grown across the planet.
Our discussions also covered the supply chain and trade of coffee. Pricing of the different coffees Working every harvest season with our hands in fresh beans, the cacao ones, we could easily relate to the different coffee techniques to start the journey from the cherry to the cup. Aerobic and Anaerobic fermentations, transformation of sugar into lactic acid or alcohol, interactions with bacteria, we were in known ground and we could understand what would make a fine coffee cup. We were gradually losing ground when it came to washing techniques or the coffee genetics and origins. We learned about the Gesha varieties which we would compare to Criollo for their very floral flavours and the fact that they are low yield coffee trees, need more spacing and good shade when planted and they are not resistant to diseases. Seeing the parallel? Bourbons would relate to our Forasteros while a broad range of ancient species and new hybrids are grown across the planet. in international auctions, the share of the farmers, intermediaries, roasters and brewers. The Coffee supply chain is intensively human and there is a growing will and need for transparency over prices and distribution of margins across the value chain. Cacao is no stranger to these topics either. We believe that transparency will be achieved through both, education of the consumers and every actor in the supply chain, and appropriate tools and indicators to capture the data and digest them into edible reports that would set the standards.
While scratching the surface of the basics of bean alchemy, we were enjoying the presence of a large number of coffee roasters and brewers at the Cafeex (which is run in parallel of the Chocex) and could experience a wide variety of coffees from all origins, of which our three favourites were as follows:
- Glyph Supply Co. Finca Hartman – Gesha Panama, a subtle balance between peach and citrus notes, Jasmine floral notes common to Gesha genetics.
- Cupping Room Coffee Roasters – Gesha Village Lot 86 Ethiopia, a beautiful floral fragrance and lots of fruity notes, Peach and Pineapple.
- Glyph Supply Co. Finca El Ancla – Columbia origin, 280hrs fermentation, with notes of cacao nibs and aged port wine.
Now about the coffee making end of the processing, in which we count the roasters and the brewers & baristas, the field of possibilities is vast. We had to learn about the different ways of brewing and how they would affect the beverage. We learnt about the types and sizing of beverages and the clean cut between black and milk beverages. And we found no better way to practice than touring Shanghai with the team and crawl from the finest coffee cup to the next. Shanghai has over 7,000 registered coffee shops and a list of fine brewing places with talented baristas worth the experience. The Asian vanguard of baristas trusting podiums in international awards and the flourishing number of fine coffee shop is definitely placing Shanghai at the heart of the coffee scene, and so are South-Korea and Singapore from talks with the crew. While the coffee industry is amid to learn and experiment more and more on fermentation techniques and processing, roasters will do the magic in developing certain aromas to express the quality of every bean in a precise and narrow time range, bridge between the farmers and the baristas at the other end on the consumer side. Brewing is a science of timing and balance between water, flow and temperature, all of it precisely scaled throughout the process.
This eye opening trip on international coffee scene planted the seeds of curiosity and we will continue to learn about the brother crop to work on new recipes in the months to come. Stay tuned and follow our Instagram feed[of1] to know when it will be available to our beloved customers. For those of you who want to know more, have a look at this awesome publication “Coffee t&I”, the reference magazine in Asia for the coffee, tea and ice-cream scene with over 10,000 units printed for Shanghai alone.
Now about the coffee making end of the processing, in which we count the roasters and the brewers & baristas, the field of possibilities is vast. We had to learn about the different ways of brewing and how they would affect the beverage. We learnt about the types and sizing of beverages and the clean cut between black and milk beverages. And we found no better way to practice than touring Shanghai with the team and crawl from the finest coffee cup to the next. Shanghai has over 7,000 registered coffee shops and a list of fine brewing places with talented baristas worth the experience. The Asian vanguard of baristas trusting podiums in international awards and the flourishing number of fine coffee shop is definitely placing Shanghai at the heart of the coffee scene, and so are South-Korea and Singapore from talks with the crew. While the coffee industry is amid to learn and experiment more and more on fermentation techniques and processing, roasters will do the magic in developing certain aromas to express the quality of every bean in a precise and narrow time range, bridge between the farmers and the baristas at the other end on the consumer side. Brewing is a science of timing and balance between water, flow and temperature, all of it precisely scaled throughout the process.
This eye opening trip on international coffee scene planted the seeds of curiosity and we will continue to learn about the brother crop to work on new recipes in the months to come. Stay tuned and follow our Instagram feed to know when it will be available to our beloved customers. For those of you who want to know more, have a look at this awesome publication “Coffee t&I”, the reference magazine in Asia for the coffee, tea and ice-cream scene with over 10,000 units printed for Shanghai alone.