2010 Barista Championship

One of the more memorable extra-curricular activities at SCAA '10 was the Latte Art Throwdown on the first evening of the show.  The competition was head-to-head with single elimination - but that doesn't mean it went quickly! Each barista had a few pours to get a latte they were happy with, and the crowd helped judge by cheering the lattes (as judged from a big screen feed).  Proceedings were greatly helped by the enthusiastic MC who continually encouraged outed competitors to buy back in for $5.

On a larger scale than the throwdown - the USA Barista Championships were going on from April 15 - 18 in conjunction with SCAA 2010.  In the end Michael Phillips was crowned as the 2010 United States Barista Champion.  Check out the listing of winners on Barista Magazine's Website, and see photos of the competitions on Barista Magazine's Facebook Page.

SCAA - Coffee Circus in Anaheim

A note from Coffee Catcher co-inventor, Nate Jones:

"SCAA was a blast.  It was one giant circus, complete with clowns (coffee aphrodisiacs anyone?), ringleaders, sideshows and food your stomach regrets. At times, I felt lost in all the chaos, but my job was clear: set up an attractive booth and brew the best coffee possible. We warmed up our Zojirushi boiler, set out our scale and proudly displayed our coffees: Estate Honduras from Water Ave. Coffee and a very special Lake Toba Sumatra from Herkimer Coffee.

"Friday and Saturday were crazy, with lots of cafe owners, media people and company execs trolling the booths. Many of them stopped to ask about the Coffee Catcher and some (if they weren't over-caffeinated!) tasted the Coffee Catcher difference in our coffee. Visions Espresso even created new Coffee Catcher fans by doing a head-to-head tasting between a traditional French press and a Coffee Catcher-assisted press.

By Sunday, everyone was dressed casually and exhausted. During my times away from the booth, I got a chance to try out the new Synesso concept machine, visit with friends at the Slayer booth and check out the new Bunn Trifecta coffee maker. Boothmate Tom Pikaart of PouredOver was in hot demand, he even took a turn manning the Roust About Slayer booth (formerly Hario USA).

"The coffee world is huge! A whole part of the show was all about drink containers - thankfully most were being touted as reuseable or compostable this year. There were syrup people. And the cookie and snack food people. There were even water people! To make tasty coffee, water needs to contain a certain percentage of dissolved minerals (in most places, you get pretty close from the tap) and companies like EverPure are devoted to filtering and adjusting the mineral balance in water so that the cafe can focus on producing quality coffee from that water.

"The activity wasn't limited to the trade-show floor. On Friday evening, a large cross-section of the convention piled into buses and headed into LA to the Intelligentsia Roastery for a big coffee shindig. Intelligentsia brought in Brat trucks, $2.50 tacos and plenty of ale courtesy of Eagle Rock Brewery (with whom they are producing a coffee beer).  DJ's were throwing tunes from the coffee storage lofts and barkeeps were pulling espressos from hand-held mypressi TWISTs.

The whole party was worth it for a look at Intelligentsia's LA roaster. Wow. What a beauty. The roaster's an old German machine from mid-century. It's built with super-thick walls and a double-barreled construction for thermal stability. There are two separate heat sources (air and direct) and belly dump doors so the coffee is removed super quickly when it reaches the right point. The whole thing was painted with Intelligentsia orange trim and hooked up to a laptop for detailed roast profiling. (I've attached some pictures below.)

"The show was a big success for the Coffee Catcher. We made contact with a couple of big distributors who could help us to reach market more quickly, and we met and made friends with many coffee people and companies from around the world. Enjoy the pictures!

Tom is so happy to start work! :)

Brewing endless French presses...

Intelligentsia Roaster pic 1

Intelligentsia Roaster pic 2

Tom dons a Slayer shirt and tamps for the team.

Coffee Catcher Tasting at SCAA, 2010

In addition to exhibiting at SCAA, 2010 Coffee Catcher will also be conducting daily tastings in the main exhibition level cupping room.

We're pleased to be offering a variety of coffees from Herkimer Coffee and possibly some Water Ave. Coffee as well.  Also, we'll be bringing in coffees from our friends at SCAA to taste with the Coffee Catcher. nWe will compare the flavor and cup-life of traditional press coffee with coffee brewed with the Coffee Catcher, offering tasters a chance to experience the drink consistency we've gotten so excited about.

All three sizes of the Coffee Catcher will be on display in the Coffee Catcher booth (#2731), and booth visitors can enjoy tastings and lively conversation on the flavor and function improvements that the Coffee Catcher brings to the table.

gearing up for SCAA

So we're headed to SCAA in a matter of days. It's exciting and it's crazy.

Sometimes we think we're going to explode with all that's going on - here are a few of the fish we've got frying: Another batch of samples is en route for use at the booth (booth # 2731, be sure to stop by!) and posters are at the printers for a local Seattle coffee shop that's been using the Coffee Catcher for their clients.  On top of that, we're in this midst of a round of pre-SCAA meet-ups, introducing ourselves so people know to look for us at the show.

And the most exciting news of all is that we're adding two new team members to the Coffee Catcher crew, as well as having some excellent follow up conversations with our Coffee Catcher testers and tasters to see how our baby is performing in real life.

We're thrilled with how things are unfolding and also excited to keep things rolling into next month as production fires up.  People are excited to try the Coffee Catcher and we know they won't be disappointed!

check out our new ad for Roast Magazine

See it in the May/June issue, available at SCAA next month

SCAA Registration is still open!

 We're very much looking forward to the SCAA Expo in Anaheim next month.  Running from April 15 - 18, the Expo describes itself as "the coffee professional’s one stop shop for everything they need to succeed in the coffee industry."

Since we'll be debuting the Coffee Catcher to the West Coast coffee community (it made its first trade show appearance earlier this month at Coffee Fest, NY) we're looking forward to demonstrating the Coffee Catcher's effect on both flavor, cup-life, and easier carafe cleanup.  We expect to have a lot of feedback to report after the show and if history is any indication, a lot of Coffee Catcher converts as well.

To learn more about the Expo, download the official 2010 SCAA attendee fact sheet.

You don't have to be an SCAA member to attend the Expo.  If you're planning to attend and haven't registered yet, we suggest doing so now to ensure available registration.

Coffee Catcher 2010 appearances

2010 is shaping up to be a busy year for the Coffee Catcher.  After making its debut in the Seattle coffee scene and attending Coffee Fest, New York it will be taking the show on the road over the next few months.

Don't miss The Coffee Catcher at one of its upcoming appearances:

SCAA Expo (April 15 - 18, 2010)
Hilton Anaheim
777 Convention Way
Anaheim, CA

Caffe Culture (June 23-25, 2010)
This is also where they'll be hosting the World Barista Championships, 2010
Olympia, London

Coffee Fest, Seattle (October 29 - 31, 2010)
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
800 Convention Place
Seattle, WA

SCAA Membership!

We're excited to announce our membership to the Specialty Coffee Association of America.  Here's a little history on the organization, as per their website:

"Established in 1982 by a small group of coffee professionals seeking a common forum to discuss issues and set quality standards for the specialty coffee trade, the SCAA is now the world's largest coffee trade association with nearly 3,000 company members. SCAA members can rightfully be credited for much of the growth and success the specialty coffee industry has experienced over the past twenty-five years."

We have also reserved our spot at the 2010 SCAA Symposium in Anaheim, CA on April 14 - 15, 2010.  See you there!