It was the biggest crowd of the whole four weeks. There was seriously no more room at the inn as about 50 people crammed into Eastcastle street to watch the final heats and see who the final four would be to go to Square Mile on October 7th.
Unfortunately, two of our pre-planned judges could not make it on the night, but we were still honoured to be able to have lead judge and superstar photographer Glenn Watson and last minute saviour, the Director of Curators Coffee Catherine Seay in the mix and then I jumped in myself to be a judge and to put even more pressure on the competitors as well as MC'ing the evening.
We dropped the lights again, and kicked off with Faithless Live at the Brixton Academy for tunes. The atmosphere was electric, with cheap beer, free food, anticipation, excitement, 90's rave music nerves and good humour and we soon kicked off into the final round of 16.
In the end, these guys got through to the finals.
Daniel from Kaffeine
Jakub from Prufrock
Julius from Second Shot
Wendy from Second Shot
So this Friday we move over to the roastery at Square Mile for the finals with the top 16 baristas competing for prizes, cash and glory. We have an SCAE certification course as well as trophies donated by Victoria Arduino, coffee subscriptions from Square Mile, prizes from Coffee Hit and cash donations from London Coffee Festival and Estate Dairy, making the total cash prize pool £1000 to be split between the top 3.
Judges invited along for the evening include:
Glenn Watson - Lead judge four years in a row and superstar photographer
James Hoffman - Director of Square Mile and author of The World Coffee Atlas
Maxwell Colonna - Dashwood - Director of Colonna and Smalls Coffee, UK Barista Champion 2012, 2014, 2015 and author of Water for Coffee
Dhan Tamang - UK Latte Art Champion 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 - Currently 4th in the world
Dan Fellows - Origin Coffee - Current UK Barista Champion and curernetly 9th in the world
Andrew Tolley - Director Taylor Street Baristas, World Barista Judge, World Sensory Judge and runner up in the 2016 World Tea Brewing Championships
Phil 'Bassplayer' Wain - Editor of London's Best Coffee
Catherine Seay - Director of Curators Coffee and original Kaffeine barista
Paul Radin - Director of Coffee Hit
Shaun Young - Director of Noble Espresso and The Estate Dairy
James Phillips - Director of Dose Espresso
James 'I won the first year' Bailey - Head of Quality at Workshop and World Coffee Masters Champion 2015
Ben Townsend - Former Director of The Espresso Room and trainer at London School of Coffee
We will have legend Ross 'Browns of Brockley' Brown as main MC and very special guest DJ Billy Tahtis on the decks with old school and new school tunes.
Once again, we have some great photos up online for your to see all the action so please check out these ones here and do share them across all your social media channels with #smackdown16.
Round Four
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157674503223506
Round Three
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670935448013
Round Two
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670649014324
Round One
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596
Have a great week and if you are competing on Friday, please be sure to check in when you arrive.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
Monday, 3 October 2016
Friday, 30 September 2016
Week beginning September 26th - #Smackdown16 - Round Three
It was a bit of a late start on Friday as either people were running late or they were all at the pub next door getting beers in. However, just on 7:30 we had a full house again with people ramming into our Eastcastle street store to watch 16 brave and fearless baristas competing in Round Three to get into the finals.
We were honoured to have another incredible trio of judges for this round as lead judge and superstar photographer Glenn Watson kept everyone in line and he was joined by the current UK Barista Champion and ranked 9th barista in the world, Dan Fellows from Origin coffee alongside one of the originators of the London Coffee scene, former owner of The Espresso room and still heavily involved in the SCAE events and a trainer at the London School of Coffee, Ben Townsend.
So we started a bit late, but we dropped the lights and kicked off once again with Underworld Live at the Roundhouse for tunes. The standard was again very, very high and even though the judges are amongst the best in the world, they still had a mammoth task deciding, especially when it came to how to hold the cup when you are pouring. Watch out for this if you are competing, watch out for it general. If you are reading this and work in coffee, it was a great reminder tat part of your training program is to discuss and teach the how's and why's of how to hold a cup - no fingers on the rim!
In the end, after two intense rounds, these guys got through to the finals.
Alex from Originb
Zain from Saint Espresso
Zoe from Prufrock
Nick form Coffee Lab
This week we are again honoured with our judges as Glenn returns to be lead judge and is joined by a former manager of Workshop espresso, a barista at Noble espresso, a writer for Sprudge and the winner of #Smackdown16, Nico Halliday. As we write we do not yet have a third judge, but will have confirmation by the time we kick off.
Competitors this week include:
Daniel from Kaffeine
Edgar fromThe Attendant
Two mystery baristas from Curators
Pariwatan from Sodexho
Matt and Dan from Artigiano
Dan from Press London
Stephane from saint
Two mystery barista from Second Shot Coffee
Two mystery baristas from Prufrock
Kat - Freelance barista
Dan form Baxter Story
Once again, we have some great photos up online for your to see all the action so please check out these ones here and do share them across all your social media channels with #smackdown16.
Round Three
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670935448013
Round Two
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670649014324
Round One
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596
It is also a great indication of the depth of talent and number of baristas in London and across the Home Counties that we filled all 64 places a week before the heats started and still have 15 people in the waiting list in case of any drop outs.
Unfortunately 64 is the maximum number we can have to make it a short, sharp competition, so look out if you missed out for next September when #smackdown17 is on.
Have a great week and if you are competing on Friday, please be sure to check in when you arrive.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
We were honoured to have another incredible trio of judges for this round as lead judge and superstar photographer Glenn Watson kept everyone in line and he was joined by the current UK Barista Champion and ranked 9th barista in the world, Dan Fellows from Origin coffee alongside one of the originators of the London Coffee scene, former owner of The Espresso room and still heavily involved in the SCAE events and a trainer at the London School of Coffee, Ben Townsend.
So we started a bit late, but we dropped the lights and kicked off once again with Underworld Live at the Roundhouse for tunes. The standard was again very, very high and even though the judges are amongst the best in the world, they still had a mammoth task deciding, especially when it came to how to hold the cup when you are pouring. Watch out for this if you are competing, watch out for it general. If you are reading this and work in coffee, it was a great reminder tat part of your training program is to discuss and teach the how's and why's of how to hold a cup - no fingers on the rim!
In the end, after two intense rounds, these guys got through to the finals.
Alex from Originb
Zain from Saint Espresso
Zoe from Prufrock
Nick form Coffee Lab
This week we are again honoured with our judges as Glenn returns to be lead judge and is joined by a former manager of Workshop espresso, a barista at Noble espresso, a writer for Sprudge and the winner of #Smackdown16, Nico Halliday. As we write we do not yet have a third judge, but will have confirmation by the time we kick off.
Competitors this week include:
Daniel from Kaffeine
Edgar fromThe Attendant
Two mystery baristas from Curators
Pariwatan from Sodexho
Matt and Dan from Artigiano
Dan from Press London
Stephane from saint
Two mystery barista from Second Shot Coffee
Two mystery baristas from Prufrock
Kat - Freelance barista
Dan form Baxter Story
Once again, we have some great photos up online for your to see all the action so please check out these ones here and do share them across all your social media channels with #smackdown16.
Round Three
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670935448013
Round Two
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670649014324
Round One
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596
It is also a great indication of the depth of talent and number of baristas in London and across the Home Counties that we filled all 64 places a week before the heats started and still have 15 people in the waiting list in case of any drop outs.
Unfortunately 64 is the maximum number we can have to make it a short, sharp competition, so look out if you missed out for next September when #smackdown17 is on.
Have a great week and if you are competing on Friday, please be sure to check in when you arrive.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Week beginning September 19th - #Smackdown16 - Round Two
Well we put all the beer in the fridge this time. There was no way were were gong to be caught out again. We weren't, but we just had enough as over 60 people crammed into Eastcastle street or even stood on the benches outside and watched through our wonderful arched windows.
We were honoured to have another stellar selection of judges for this round as lead judge and superstar photographer Glenn Watson kept everyone in line and he was joined by the author of the World Coffee Atlas, Director of Square Mile Coffee and 2007 World Barista Champion James Hoffmann. Unfortunately Director of Dose espresso and coffee legend James Phillips was unable to make it on the night, but we hope he can make it for the finals, instead were were able to bring in 4 times UK Latte Art Champion and currnently ranked 4th in the world and owner of three cafes and a training academy in Winchester, Dhan Tamang to be a guest judge.
In a sure sign of the commitment of some of the UK's baristas, we also had two of them drive four hours from Sheffield to compete, as well as a competitor from Oxford and others from Winchester. This is massive, and the quality of everyone was exemplary. Each year the standard gets higher and higher.
But we got started bang on time, so once again we killed the lights, dropped Faithless Live in Brixton for some tunes and kicked off. The standard was again very, very high and even though the judges are amongst the best in the world, they still had a difficult time and often different opinions on their choices
In the end, after two intense rounds, these guys got through to the finals.
Jack from Origin
Tom from Store Street Espresso
Csaba from Chief Coffee
Paul from Origin
This week we are again honoured with our judges as Glenn returns to be lead judge and is joined by one of the originators of the London Coffee industry when he opened The Espresso Room back in 2009, Ben Townsend alongside the head trainer of Origin Coffee and current UK Barista Champion Dan Fellows.
Competitors include:
Alex from Origin
Brenda from Department of Coffee
Shaun from Noble Espresso
Marco from The Attendant
Two mystery competitors from Curators - is Catherine competing?
Bartek from Store Street Espresso
Colina from Kaffeine
Zain from Saint Espresso
Johnathan from Terrone
Ben from Coffee Lab
Two mystery competitors from Prufrock
Nick from Coffee Lab
Joey from Upshot
Angelique from Cuisine de Poilane
Once again, we have some great photos up online for your to see all the action so please check out these ones here and do share them across all your social media channels with #smackdown16.
Round Two
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670649014324
Round One
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596
It is also a great indication of the depth of talent and number of baristas in London and across the Home Counties that we filled all 64 places a week before the heats started and still have 15 people in the waiting list in case of any drop outs.
Unfortunately 64 is the maximum number we can have to make it a short, sharp competition, so look out if you missed out for next September when #smackdown17 is on.
Have a great week and if you are competing on Friday, please be sure to check in when you arrive.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
We were honoured to have another stellar selection of judges for this round as lead judge and superstar photographer Glenn Watson kept everyone in line and he was joined by the author of the World Coffee Atlas, Director of Square Mile Coffee and 2007 World Barista Champion James Hoffmann. Unfortunately Director of Dose espresso and coffee legend James Phillips was unable to make it on the night, but we hope he can make it for the finals, instead were were able to bring in 4 times UK Latte Art Champion and currnently ranked 4th in the world and owner of three cafes and a training academy in Winchester, Dhan Tamang to be a guest judge.
In a sure sign of the commitment of some of the UK's baristas, we also had two of them drive four hours from Sheffield to compete, as well as a competitor from Oxford and others from Winchester. This is massive, and the quality of everyone was exemplary. Each year the standard gets higher and higher.
But we got started bang on time, so once again we killed the lights, dropped Faithless Live in Brixton for some tunes and kicked off. The standard was again very, very high and even though the judges are amongst the best in the world, they still had a difficult time and often different opinions on their choices
In the end, after two intense rounds, these guys got through to the finals.
Jack from Origin
Tom from Store Street Espresso
Csaba from Chief Coffee
Paul from Origin
This week we are again honoured with our judges as Glenn returns to be lead judge and is joined by one of the originators of the London Coffee industry when he opened The Espresso Room back in 2009, Ben Townsend alongside the head trainer of Origin Coffee and current UK Barista Champion Dan Fellows.
Competitors include:
Alex from Origin
Brenda from Department of Coffee
Shaun from Noble Espresso
Marco from The Attendant
Two mystery competitors from Curators - is Catherine competing?
Bartek from Store Street Espresso
Colina from Kaffeine
Zain from Saint Espresso
Johnathan from Terrone
Ben from Coffee Lab
Two mystery competitors from Prufrock
Nick from Coffee Lab
Joey from Upshot
Angelique from Cuisine de Poilane
Once again, we have some great photos up online for your to see all the action so please check out these ones here and do share them across all your social media channels with #smackdown16.
Round Two
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670649014324
Round One
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596
It is also a great indication of the depth of talent and number of baristas in London and across the Home Counties that we filled all 64 places a week before the heats started and still have 15 people in the waiting list in case of any drop outs.
Unfortunately 64 is the maximum number we can have to make it a short, sharp competition, so look out if you missed out for next September when #smackdown17 is on.
Have a great week and if you are competing on Friday, please be sure to check in when you arrive.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
Saturday, 10 September 2016
Week beginning September 12th- London Latte Art #Smackdown16 - Round One
So that was massive. The people cleared out, the room was empty and we went 'wow, so that was amazing'. The biggest crowd ever to come to a smackdown at Kaffeine rammed into our Eastcastle street store last night to cheer on their baristas as they battled for cash, prizes, an SCAE qualification course, huge trophies and never ending fame and glory.
We put 75 beers in the fridge in anticipation and after about 30 minutes we had run out and had to put more in the freezer for quick chilling. We killed the lights above the crowd, put on Underworld Live at the Roundhouse for tunes and kicked off. BOOM.
We were honoured to have lead judge and photographer Glenn Watson, World Barista Judge, Director of Taylor Street Baristas and World Tea Brewing Championship runner up Andrew Tolley and the editor of London's Best Coffee and 'superstar in his own mind' Phil 'Bassplayer' Wain as judges in what was also the highest calibre of latte art ever seen. With a superb prize pool donated form sponsors from Square Mile Coffee, Estate Dairy, Coffee Hit and Victoria Arduino it is no wonder.
Winners through to the finals from round 1 are:
Will from Origin
Sam from Kaffeine
Radu from Coopers Coffee
Joseph from Climpsons
This week we are honoured again to have Glenn back as lead judge, to be joined by Director of Square Mile Coffee, World Barista Champion and author of the World Coffee Atlas James Hoffman as well as one of the pioneers of the London coffee scene, founder and Director of Dose Espresso James Phillips.
Competitors in Round Two include:
Joao from Lab espresso
Jack from Origin
Paul from Origin
Luis from The Attendant
Sam from Upshot
Chloe from Kaffeine
Tom from Store Street
Jaspher form Oxford
Evan from Cuisine de Poilane
Chad form Chief Coffee
A mystery competitor from Notes - (might it be fabio himself?)
Tom from Overeasy
Katrina from Saint Espresso
and another mystery competitor from Climpsons
Photos from last night are already up on Flickr - check this out and remember #smackdown16 across all social media channels.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596
I'm off to get more beers in. See you next Friday.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
We put 75 beers in the fridge in anticipation and after about 30 minutes we had run out and had to put more in the freezer for quick chilling. We killed the lights above the crowd, put on Underworld Live at the Roundhouse for tunes and kicked off. BOOM.
We were honoured to have lead judge and photographer Glenn Watson, World Barista Judge, Director of Taylor Street Baristas and World Tea Brewing Championship runner up Andrew Tolley and the editor of London's Best Coffee and 'superstar in his own mind' Phil 'Bassplayer' Wain as judges in what was also the highest calibre of latte art ever seen. With a superb prize pool donated form sponsors from Square Mile Coffee, Estate Dairy, Coffee Hit and Victoria Arduino it is no wonder.
Winners through to the finals from round 1 are:
Will from Origin
Sam from Kaffeine
Radu from Coopers Coffee
Joseph from Climpsons
This week we are honoured again to have Glenn back as lead judge, to be joined by Director of Square Mile Coffee, World Barista Champion and author of the World Coffee Atlas James Hoffman as well as one of the pioneers of the London coffee scene, founder and Director of Dose Espresso James Phillips.
Competitors in Round Two include:
Joao from Lab espresso
Jack from Origin
Paul from Origin
Luis from The Attendant
Sam from Upshot
Chloe from Kaffeine
Tom from Store Street
Jaspher form Oxford
Evan from Cuisine de Poilane
Chad form Chief Coffee
A mystery competitor from Notes - (might it be fabio himself?)
Tom from Overeasy
Katrina from Saint Espresso
and another mystery competitor from Climpsons
Photos from last night are already up on Flickr - check this out and remember #smackdown16 across all social media channels.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596
I'm off to get more beers in. See you next Friday.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
Sunday, 28 August 2016
Week beginning August 29th - London Latte Art Smackdown 2016 #smackdown16
It is back again, now for the fourth year and as per last year, there are a massive 64 places available. The London Latte Art Smackdown, sponsored by Square Mile, Coffee Hit, Victoria Arduino, The London Coffee Festival and Kaffeine, runs over five weeks starting with four rounds of heats from Friday the 9th of September at our new store on Eastcastle street and finishing with the final on Friday the 7th October in the event space at Square Mile Coffee Roasters. Yes, it is now on a Friday, hopefully allowing for a bit more of a sleep in/recovery on the Saturday morning.
It is pretty simple. 64 spaces, £10 entry, maximum of four entries per company, 16 entrants per heat, knock out rounds to get the top 4 to go through to the final, making another 16 competitors for the finals. Kick off is from 7:30 pm sharp each Friday night and we usually finish up about 9:30 pm.
The rules: They get tighter each year, but again we keep it simple.
A Kaffeine barista will be pouring double shots for you into 2 x 5 oz 'flat white' Acme cups.
You steam your milk and split your jugs.
You pour your preferred pattern, but we only allow rosettas, tulips or hearts.
Cup handle must be presented to the right of the judges, with the base of the pattern at 6 o'clock
You choose your best looking and presented drink and put it forward for consideration
You pour your left over milk into a glass to measure your 'wastage'
You remove your second drink.
The barista you are battling against then goes through the same process and the judges will then confer.
The judges, who include some of the complete legends of the London Coffee Scene are looking for:
Consistency
Colour
Symmetry
Dribbles (or lack of)
Milk wastage
Fullness of the cup
Formation of pattern
and many other things that they make up as they go along.
The judges, of which there are three, will then make a decision and on the count of three, point to the winning cup.
The winner goes through to the next round.
The prizes? Well all entry money goes into the pot, so that's £640. The Allegra London Coffee Festival have kindly put in £250, so that is £890 all up in cash. Last year Coffee Hit donated 1 x Baratza Grinder and a Rhino Hand grinder for 2nd and 3rd and Square Mile organised trophies and even more prizes, not to mention the glory and accolades and hopefully a bonus from your employer that comes with it. Along with this, Victoria Arduino will again be helping out with prizes, last year the winner Nico Halliday walked away with a single group espresso machine. NICE!!!
The judges confirmed so far include Dan Fellows (UK Barista Champion) from Origin, James Hoffman from Square Mile, Ben Townsend formerly of Espresso room, James Phillips from Dose, Andrew Tolley (World Barista Judge) from Taylor Street Baristas, former winners James Bailey of Workshop and Nico Halliday from Noble, multiple UK Latte Art Champion Dhan Tamang and lead judge for the fourth year, Glenn Watson.
Spaces are filling fast already, with most spaces on the first three heats already gone. To get involved, the best way is to come into our Eastcastle street and say 'I'm want to compete' and we will help you out.
At the heats, we will have light snacks for free and cheap beers available to purchase if you so desire and Square Mile are already in talks with one of London's iconic beer suppliers for the finals. Guests are welcome to watch and to support you on your way.
Also, it is not just limited to London baristas, anyone can enter. And seriously, every year now someone misses out on entering. Do not be late. Enter today.
Any queries, please email me direct. It's going to be brilliant, we look forward to seeing you.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
It is pretty simple. 64 spaces, £10 entry, maximum of four entries per company, 16 entrants per heat, knock out rounds to get the top 4 to go through to the final, making another 16 competitors for the finals. Kick off is from 7:30 pm sharp each Friday night and we usually finish up about 9:30 pm.
The rules: They get tighter each year, but again we keep it simple.
A Kaffeine barista will be pouring double shots for you into 2 x 5 oz 'flat white' Acme cups.
You steam your milk and split your jugs.
You pour your preferred pattern, but we only allow rosettas, tulips or hearts.
Cup handle must be presented to the right of the judges, with the base of the pattern at 6 o'clock
You choose your best looking and presented drink and put it forward for consideration
You pour your left over milk into a glass to measure your 'wastage'
You remove your second drink.
The barista you are battling against then goes through the same process and the judges will then confer.
The judges, who include some of the complete legends of the London Coffee Scene are looking for:
Consistency
Colour
Symmetry
Dribbles (or lack of)
Milk wastage
Fullness of the cup
Formation of pattern
and many other things that they make up as they go along.
The judges, of which there are three, will then make a decision and on the count of three, point to the winning cup.
The winner goes through to the next round.
The prizes? Well all entry money goes into the pot, so that's £640. The Allegra London Coffee Festival have kindly put in £250, so that is £890 all up in cash. Last year Coffee Hit donated 1 x Baratza Grinder and a Rhino Hand grinder for 2nd and 3rd and Square Mile organised trophies and even more prizes, not to mention the glory and accolades and hopefully a bonus from your employer that comes with it. Along with this, Victoria Arduino will again be helping out with prizes, last year the winner Nico Halliday walked away with a single group espresso machine. NICE!!!
The judges confirmed so far include Dan Fellows (UK Barista Champion) from Origin, James Hoffman from Square Mile, Ben Townsend formerly of Espresso room, James Phillips from Dose, Andrew Tolley (World Barista Judge) from Taylor Street Baristas, former winners James Bailey of Workshop and Nico Halliday from Noble, multiple UK Latte Art Champion Dhan Tamang and lead judge for the fourth year, Glenn Watson.
Spaces are filling fast already, with most spaces on the first three heats already gone. To get involved, the best way is to come into our Eastcastle street and say 'I'm want to compete' and we will help you out.
At the heats, we will have light snacks for free and cheap beers available to purchase if you so desire and Square Mile are already in talks with one of London's iconic beer suppliers for the finals. Guests are welcome to watch and to support you on your way.
Also, it is not just limited to London baristas, anyone can enter. And seriously, every year now someone misses out on entering. Do not be late. Enter today.
Any queries, please email me direct. It's going to be brilliant, we look forward to seeing you.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
Thursday, 11 August 2016
Kaffeine - The Guest Espresso Program rides again
Quite a long time ago, we started a guest espresso program on weekends, whereby we would take off decaf on our second grinder and order in and dial in a guest espresso from various roasters across the UK and Europe on a weekly basis. To start with, it worked very, very well and we ran it for approximately two years. However, over that time, we also started to realise that we had a few problems. I have addressed most of these in previous blogs, so I will not go into them here. As I did note in them though, there were certain benefits and certain problems with the entire process.
http://kaffeinelondon.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/week-beginning-october-19th-menu.html
I am quite open to being told that what we have done now is what we should have done originally or at least a long time ago, in fact a few people already have, but that's okay, as an old boss used to say when he stuffed things up 'well we are where we are we are'. I also admit I am not an expert specialty barista, with loads of knowledge about coffee or new equipment and I cannot keep up with all the many writings and informations on equipment or techniques, just like I am not a superstar chef with loads of knowledge about food, and I am quite comfortable with this too. What I think I do know is a little but about hospitality and a little bit about business operations and a little bit about listening to advice and acting appropriately.
Our current lead baristas Sam and Dan as well as previous baristas in Bianca, Jakub, Shaun etc have been pushing for us to invest in an EK43 for ages. I have been reluctant. The EK made a lot of news, a lot of headlines and a lot of discussions. In fact, as an example, James Hoffman and Dale Harris wrote extensively on the issue of EK43's.
http://www.jimseven.com/2013/08/21/alright-lets-talk-about-ek43s-then/
In fact, there is lots and lots to read on it, a lot of it captured here by Sprudge.
http://sprudge.com/ek43-pin-up-girl-photospread-43323.html
One of the main points that was easily picked up on here was 'do not rush into this as a silver bullet'. But time has passed, and I feel that the purchase and the use of this grinder has finally justified itself.
Over the past six months or so, we started again at looking into it. We did quite a lot of research, made lists of negatives and positives, consulted with Square Mile coffee and eventually have now invested in an EK43 for each shop. We have taken off our Anfim grinders that we used maybe twenty times a day for decaf and installed the EK in its place. I also watched a very good Tamper Tantrum video on the benefits of the EK43 by Rob Berghmans form Caffenation. I was finally convinced.
http://www.tampertantrum.com/ek43-as-espresso-grinder/
We will now be starting our guest program again, just that this time it will be different. We will run a guest for an entire calendar month. We will have the words 'guest espresso' on our printed menu on the walls, we will be training the FOH staff to be informing the customer when they order a short drink that we have a guest on offer. We will all know the guest characteristics, so when we deliver it or get asked about it we can answer with confidence and we will have retail bags on sale for take home. It is not really designed to be on for milk based drinks, though of course you can try it if you like, but more specifically for espresso or short drinks only. Because we are running it for approximately a month, we will not have to try and 'get rid of it' over the weekend. We will be able to play with it over time, dial in and experiment the flavour profiles and extractions.
In order to get to this stage, the lead baristas will be responsible to talk amongst their staff about what great roasters we should profile, they will contact them at least a month earlier, request any samples and once received, will cup them and assess them with as many staff as possible to gain feedback and also to train palettes.
We will have decaf available as well of course, pre-portioned into those little metal jewellery containers and also very importantly we will also start to be able to grind coffee for retail sales, something we have never really done before.
In order to track how the program goes, I can look at the past 12 months of sales and be able to compare them in another six or twelve months. For example over the past year at Great Titchfield street, double espresso have made up 2.64% of our total coffee drinks whilst single espresso make up 1.68%. This is only on Square Mile Red Brick. I am looking forward to being able to look back again and see if sales of espressos have increased, decreased or remained static.
What is for certain though, is that it has created great excitement amongst all the staff who work here, which of course was the main problem when we took it off. We will now be further challenged, our palettes will be further enhanced, we will be able to show off our skills and knowledge with even more pride and enthusiasm and really get behind some of the amazing single origin espresso that are available these days.
Of course we will cost our coffees out and work how much extra a double shot of espresso may cost including postage and shipping and we will sell the espresso at 'market price', so they may be an extra 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 pence per shot. This will allow us to bring in coffees up to £30 a kilo and have a pricing mechanism that works for the business and reflects the price of the coffee fromm the roasters.
We will start with the Koppi Bildiimoo Local Heirloom from the Gora Fone washing station in Nensebo, Ethiopia. It is a fully washed coffee, with tasting notes from Koppi of nectarines, jasmine and rhubarb. We are currently working on our guest calendar and if you are a roaster reading this, we do welcome your contact.
It is something we are all very excited about and we think is a new stage in Kaffeine. We hope you can join us.
In coffee we trust.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
http://kaffeinelondon.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/week-beginning-october-19th-menu.html
I am quite open to being told that what we have done now is what we should have done originally or at least a long time ago, in fact a few people already have, but that's okay, as an old boss used to say when he stuffed things up 'well we are where we are we are'. I also admit I am not an expert specialty barista, with loads of knowledge about coffee or new equipment and I cannot keep up with all the many writings and informations on equipment or techniques, just like I am not a superstar chef with loads of knowledge about food, and I am quite comfortable with this too. What I think I do know is a little but about hospitality and a little bit about business operations and a little bit about listening to advice and acting appropriately.
Our current lead baristas Sam and Dan as well as previous baristas in Bianca, Jakub, Shaun etc have been pushing for us to invest in an EK43 for ages. I have been reluctant. The EK made a lot of news, a lot of headlines and a lot of discussions. In fact, as an example, James Hoffman and Dale Harris wrote extensively on the issue of EK43's.
http://www.jimseven.com/2013/08/21/alright-lets-talk-about-ek43s-then/
In fact, there is lots and lots to read on it, a lot of it captured here by Sprudge.
http://sprudge.com/ek43-pin-up-girl-photospread-43323.html
One of the main points that was easily picked up on here was 'do not rush into this as a silver bullet'. But time has passed, and I feel that the purchase and the use of this grinder has finally justified itself.
Over the past six months or so, we started again at looking into it. We did quite a lot of research, made lists of negatives and positives, consulted with Square Mile coffee and eventually have now invested in an EK43 for each shop. We have taken off our Anfim grinders that we used maybe twenty times a day for decaf and installed the EK in its place. I also watched a very good Tamper Tantrum video on the benefits of the EK43 by Rob Berghmans form Caffenation. I was finally convinced.
http://www.tampertantrum.com/ek43-as-espresso-grinder/
We will now be starting our guest program again, just that this time it will be different. We will run a guest for an entire calendar month. We will have the words 'guest espresso' on our printed menu on the walls, we will be training the FOH staff to be informing the customer when they order a short drink that we have a guest on offer. We will all know the guest characteristics, so when we deliver it or get asked about it we can answer with confidence and we will have retail bags on sale for take home. It is not really designed to be on for milk based drinks, though of course you can try it if you like, but more specifically for espresso or short drinks only. Because we are running it for approximately a month, we will not have to try and 'get rid of it' over the weekend. We will be able to play with it over time, dial in and experiment the flavour profiles and extractions.
In order to get to this stage, the lead baristas will be responsible to talk amongst their staff about what great roasters we should profile, they will contact them at least a month earlier, request any samples and once received, will cup them and assess them with as many staff as possible to gain feedback and also to train palettes.
We will have decaf available as well of course, pre-portioned into those little metal jewellery containers and also very importantly we will also start to be able to grind coffee for retail sales, something we have never really done before.
In order to track how the program goes, I can look at the past 12 months of sales and be able to compare them in another six or twelve months. For example over the past year at Great Titchfield street, double espresso have made up 2.64% of our total coffee drinks whilst single espresso make up 1.68%. This is only on Square Mile Red Brick. I am looking forward to being able to look back again and see if sales of espressos have increased, decreased or remained static.
What is for certain though, is that it has created great excitement amongst all the staff who work here, which of course was the main problem when we took it off. We will now be further challenged, our palettes will be further enhanced, we will be able to show off our skills and knowledge with even more pride and enthusiasm and really get behind some of the amazing single origin espresso that are available these days.
Of course we will cost our coffees out and work how much extra a double shot of espresso may cost including postage and shipping and we will sell the espresso at 'market price', so they may be an extra 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 pence per shot. This will allow us to bring in coffees up to £30 a kilo and have a pricing mechanism that works for the business and reflects the price of the coffee fromm the roasters.
We will start with the Koppi Bildiimoo Local Heirloom from the Gora Fone washing station in Nensebo, Ethiopia. It is a fully washed coffee, with tasting notes from Koppi of nectarines, jasmine and rhubarb. We are currently working on our guest calendar and if you are a roaster reading this, we do welcome your contact.
It is something we are all very excited about and we think is a new stage in Kaffeine. We hope you can join us.
In coffee we trust.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
Monday, 1 August 2016
Week beginning August 1st - Should all customers be treated the same, or should all different customers be treated differently?
We are very lucky in that the majority of our customers are regulars, or become regulars, but we also attract other customers, the occasional tourist who is looking for coffee, or the occasional lost tourist, or Antipodeans looking for coffee on their travels, or parents with buggies and little children etc etc. It is easy for a service person to simply to treat all customers the same, and of course it is fair and reasonable to do so, but this cannot and should not be the case.
Recognising the different types of customers and dealing with each one is such an important part of the service provided in any quality hospitality establishment. In our situation, this will most often be the person on service at the front end of the shop, the first person the customer sees in the door. It would be by using their amazing talent of peripheral vision that this person on service would recognise that a customer is approaching the shop, or walking in the door and they would do this often whilst serving other customers already in the queue. In their mind, they would already be breaking down the new customer into a certain category and preparing themselves to be able to assist them, probably also acknowledging their entrance with a nod of the head, or a quick smile.
Once ready, they will break into the appropriate actions, words, gestures and processes that the specific category of customer requires. This is one of the true signals of a great service person or manager, it is why service people are just as valued as any other staff member in the business, it is why they are as important to your business as the chef, the kitchen hand and the barista. I often feel that a lot of talk within the specialty coffee industry just focusses on baristas. 'What is the career path for a barista' ' How do you look after your barista' What training do you offer your barista'. I get a bit fed up with this. Does any one else work in your cafe?
In Kaffeine, each person is as important as each other, so when these questions are asked, I feel they should be asked to include all the categories of employees that work in specialty cafes. 'What is the career path for a employees' ' How do you look after your employees' What training do you offer your employees'.
In some cases, a barista can go and hide behind the machine if they wish and just pull shots. A service person cannot hide. A service person is in the front line. They need to be talented, fast, clean, efficient, adaptable, empathetic, patient, understanding, helpful, sympathetic, fast, friendly, service focussed, clean, tidy, organised and hospitable. Simply being empathetic is a hard enough. Worst case is that eventually, a person's empathy can run out and it is very hard to replenish.
So treating each customer according to their demographic is another vital component of a great service person or manager, as this will greatly enhance the overall experience of the customer, which is basically what all customers are looking for, a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
We recently did a staff training session to try to focus on this and highlight it.
We broke into four groups of four. Each group was given a category of either regular customers, a family with child in buggy, tourists with limited english skills and first time customers. No-one knew what the other groups had, it was their 'secret'. They had to then talk amongst themselves about how they would deal with their secret, what might be important to think about. When ready, the leader of the group stood behind the counter and the rest of the group role played their secret category in front of everyone else. Then, the other groups had to guess what they were role playing. It was hilarious, great fun, but it also has a point where we really highlighted the differences. I know I certainly treat any customer with a buggy differently these days than I did before children of my own. Empathy big time.
Every customer that takes the time and effort to walk in the door is quiet simply there to have an overall pleasant experience, but as all people are different, they need to be treated differently too. The employees that can recognise this and act appropriately to the customers demographic are extremely valuable employees indeed.
Please enjoy the menu for this week, as we will certainly enjoy bringing it to you.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
Recognising the different types of customers and dealing with each one is such an important part of the service provided in any quality hospitality establishment. In our situation, this will most often be the person on service at the front end of the shop, the first person the customer sees in the door. It would be by using their amazing talent of peripheral vision that this person on service would recognise that a customer is approaching the shop, or walking in the door and they would do this often whilst serving other customers already in the queue. In their mind, they would already be breaking down the new customer into a certain category and preparing themselves to be able to assist them, probably also acknowledging their entrance with a nod of the head, or a quick smile.
Once ready, they will break into the appropriate actions, words, gestures and processes that the specific category of customer requires. This is one of the true signals of a great service person or manager, it is why service people are just as valued as any other staff member in the business, it is why they are as important to your business as the chef, the kitchen hand and the barista. I often feel that a lot of talk within the specialty coffee industry just focusses on baristas. 'What is the career path for a barista' ' How do you look after your barista' What training do you offer your barista'. I get a bit fed up with this. Does any one else work in your cafe?
In Kaffeine, each person is as important as each other, so when these questions are asked, I feel they should be asked to include all the categories of employees that work in specialty cafes. 'What is the career path for a employees' ' How do you look after your employees' What training do you offer your employees'.
In some cases, a barista can go and hide behind the machine if they wish and just pull shots. A service person cannot hide. A service person is in the front line. They need to be talented, fast, clean, efficient, adaptable, empathetic, patient, understanding, helpful, sympathetic, fast, friendly, service focussed, clean, tidy, organised and hospitable. Simply being empathetic is a hard enough. Worst case is that eventually, a person's empathy can run out and it is very hard to replenish.
So treating each customer according to their demographic is another vital component of a great service person or manager, as this will greatly enhance the overall experience of the customer, which is basically what all customers are looking for, a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
We recently did a staff training session to try to focus on this and highlight it.
We broke into four groups of four. Each group was given a category of either regular customers, a family with child in buggy, tourists with limited english skills and first time customers. No-one knew what the other groups had, it was their 'secret'. They had to then talk amongst themselves about how they would deal with their secret, what might be important to think about. When ready, the leader of the group stood behind the counter and the rest of the group role played their secret category in front of everyone else. Then, the other groups had to guess what they were role playing. It was hilarious, great fun, but it also has a point where we really highlighted the differences. I know I certainly treat any customer with a buggy differently these days than I did before children of my own. Empathy big time.
Every customer that takes the time and effort to walk in the door is quiet simply there to have an overall pleasant experience, but as all people are different, they need to be treated differently too. The employees that can recognise this and act appropriately to the customers demographic are extremely valuable employees indeed.
Please enjoy the menu for this week, as we will certainly enjoy bringing it to you.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine
Great Titchfield Street Menu
Breakfast
Seven Seeded toast with butter and preserves 2.00
Cinnamon and Raisin Toast 2.50
Fruit salad with pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit 3.90
Seven Seeded toast with butter and preserves 2.00
Cinnamon and Raisin Toast 2.50
Fruit salad with pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit 3.90
Traditional bircher muesli with Greek yoghurt and rhubarb and raspberry compote 4.00
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses, Greek yoghurt and rhubarb and raspberry compote 4.00
Brioche with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 5.00
Brioche with avocado, omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 5.00
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach and plum tomatoes 5.00
Breakfast Ciabatta - Cotechino sausage, fried egg and gruyere cheese 6.00 (weekends only)
Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissant 2.00
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissant 2.80
Baked Treats
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Portuguese tarts 2.00
Banana bread 2.50
Double chocolate chip and macadamia cookies 2.50
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Portuguese tarts 2.00
Banana bread 2.50
Double chocolate chip and macadamia cookies 2.50
Blueberry with white chocolate muffins 2.50
Butternut squash, rosemary with feta savoury scrolls 2.50
Cherries with milk chocolate friands (gf) 2.70
Super moist chocolate brownies (gf) 2.80
White chocolate blondies 2.80
Raspberry and coconut slice (gf, df) 2.80
Polenta cake with citrus and spices 2.80
Polenta cake with citrus and spices 2.80
Carrot Cake 3.00
Lunch
Own made brioche 5.00
Grilled honey ham, roasted apple, red onion, sweet chilli, brie cheese, rocket
Buffalo mozzarella, crumbed courgette, plum tomato, lime mayo, baby spinach
French retro baguettes 5.30
Smokes chorizo, basil pesto, roasted red pepper, gherkins, gruyere, rocket
Smoked salmon, wasabi pesto, cucumber, avocado, watercress
Salads: 5.50/7.00
Chicken pad thai salad with cucumber, carrot, bean sprout, cabbage, mixed herb, cashew nut, lime and chilli dressing
Grilled yellow courgette, pea croquette, roasted red onion, feta, mint and caper dressing, pine nut, rocket
Green beans, broccoli, sesame seeds, coriander, tahini sauce
Tart: 4.40 or 8.00 with salads
Spinach, new potato, chilli, egg
Eastcastle Street Menu
Breakfast
Sourdough seeded toast with butter and preserves 2.00
Fruit Toast 2.50
Fruit salad with pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes and passion fruit 3.90
Sourdough seeded toast with butter and preserves 2.00
Fruit Toast 2.50
Fruit salad with pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes and passion fruit 3.90
Traditional bircher muesli with Greek yoghurt and rhubarb and raspberry compote 4.00
Paleo granola with Greek yoghurt and rhubarb and raspberry compote 4.00
Brioche with corn fritter, baked egg, chives cream cheese, onion marmalade 5.00
Brioche with treacle smoked back bacon, roasted tomatoes, smashed avocado, rocket and aioli 5.00
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach and plum tomatoes 5.00
Croissant with smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, tomato and rocket 5.00
Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissant 2.00
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissant 2.80
Baked Treats
ANZACS 2.00
Portuguese tarts 2.00
Lemon curd tarts 2.00
White chocolate, oats and cranberry cookies 2.50
Banana bread 2.50
ANZACS 2.00
Portuguese tarts 2.00
Lemon curd tarts 2.00
White chocolate, oats and cranberry cookies 2.50
Banana bread 2.50
Passion fruit and cream cheese muffins 2.50
Courgette and feta savoury scrolls 2.50
Strawberry and coconut friands 2.80
Raspberry and coconut slice (gf, df) 2.80
Strawberry and coconut friands 2.80
Raspberry and coconut slice (gf, df) 2.80
Super moist chocolate brownies (gf) 2.80
Protein bar (gf, df) 2.80
Salted peanut butter and white chocolate bar 2.80
Protein bar (gf, df) 2.80
Salted peanut butter and white chocolate bar 2.80
Own made brioche buns 5.00
Meat patties with baked apple, fresh tomato salsa and rocket
Roasted aubergine and tomato with basil pesto, goat's cheese and watercress
Baguettes 5.30
Italian ham, pear, aioli, Leicester cheese and rocket
Smoked mozzarella, spinach, plum tomato, cucumber and spicy peas pesto
Salads 5.50 / 7.00
Stir fried pork minced meat salad with pickled cabbage, tomato, mix pepper, cucumber and lime vinaigrette.
Shred raw beetroot and carrot with feta, pomegranate, toasted walnut and molasses dressing
Steam baby potato and carrot with boiled eggs, garden peas, fresh herbs and peri peri aioli
Savoury Tart 4.40 or 8.00 with salad
Cheesy butternut, courgette and leek quiche
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