If you like both tradeshows and coffee then last week you’d have been foaming like a freshly brewed cappuccino if you’d have been hanging out with us. Yes it was this year’s Caffè Culture tradeshow, home of the 2010 World Barista Championships and perfect place for us to sell some gum whilst learning about the art of making the perfect cup.
The highlight for us was meeting all the Baristas from around the world who were there to compete. Bert from Belgium (below) was there for the notoriously tough Cup Tasters Championship. Contestants have to taste 8 sets of 3 coffees and in each set spot the odd one out. Sadly despite an admirable performance he was beaten by Hector Gonzalez of Guatemala who achieved a perfect score in a time of only 4m11s (which is pretty darn good by the way). But Bert’s fetching hat, unconventional facial hair and coffee-themed body art meant he was definitely a winner in our eyes.
A special mention also to the Japanese Barista champion, Shimokawa Yasuhiro. A charming man who was particularly interested in our strange English gum…
Another good thing to come out of the show is that our Dave learnt the vacuum siphon method of brewing up (see below). The standard of our office coffees has gone through the roof although sometimes we’ve lost the urge after his 3 hour preparation time (mainly due to trouble getting in and out of the Kimono).
4 Comments
My friend was at the this coffee event and brought back a sample of Peppersmith. Great gum with a brilliant taste. I’m hopeful of buying some more soon. Kindly let me know how I can purchase.
Many thanks.
Hey Umar, Glad you like the gum. If you go to the Buy Gum section of our site it shows some of the shops that sell Peppersmith and you can also buy it direct from our site. Have a look here…
http://www.peppersmith.co.uk/buy-gum
Just discovered the stuff. Interesting packaging and I like the tiny notebook that comes with it hidden under the flap. Very useful. Chicle is good, but why so bland? Peppermint is supposed to taste of peppermint. Please beef it up. Many thanks.
Hey Jay, Thanks for the feedback. Our gum has a bit of a smoother flavour because we only use a natural peppermint and no synthetic flavour enhancers. Having that said that we are working on ways of making it more pepperminty so watch this space.