In the last couple of months, Istanbul has been bursting with new cafes, roasters, competitions, festivals, and museums about coffee. And on Sunday, March 15th, the first annual Turkish AeroPress Competition took place at the recently opened Soho House, Istanbul, which once housed the US consulate.
The competition was organized by Probador Colectiva, with event sponsors Mahlkönig, Marco, Soho House, Norm Coffee, Piknik Istanbul, and AeroPress Turkey representative Mira Gıda.
Probador Collectiva is a new project by Çağatay Gülabioğlu, who is the founder of Kronotrop, an excellent Istanbul coffee bar profiled previously on Sprudge. Probador Collectiva aims to be a education and workshop center with several coffee roasters where anyone can get a roasting education. Roasters will be available for rent so that cafes who don’t have the space or budget will able to roast their own coffee. There will also be cupping sessions, brewing technique courses, and Gülabioğlu will also be coaching national competitors.
The three judges of the competition were Daniel Thompson, head of the coffee department at Soho House; Aslı Yaman, head roaster at Soyuz Coffee in Russia; and Çağatay Gülabioğlu.
Probador Collectiva provided 18 competitors with coffee from Ninety Plus. Prizes for the three winners were an AeroPress, Able filters, and a Baratza grinder.
The crowd was excited, doubly so for the fact that this was a first-time experience for both contestants and organizers. And with stiff competition, Ufuk Arslan took home the first place prize. However, because of a delay in the visa process, the second place finisher Refika Kortun will be representing Turkey at the World AeroPress Championship in Seattle.
Below you can find recipes from the top three baristas of the Istanbul AeroPress Championship:
First place: Ufuk Arslan, Kronotrop
Filter 30 grams coffee through 250 and 850 micron sieve for 2 minutes and get 20 grams coffee
Add 55–60 grams of water at 93.5 degrees Celsius and stir for 30 seconds
Add water for total 240 grams
Put the cap on at 1:35/1:40 minute mark and rotate the AeroPress 10 times
Finish at the 2:45–3:00 minute mark
Second place: Refika Kortun, Walter’s Coffee & Roastery
300 grams of water at 80 degrees Celsius
Pour water into the AeroPress with a paper filter to heat everything up
20 grams coffee, grinder at 8.5
Pour water until it reaches the number 1 on the AeroPress
Stir with wooden stick
Pour water until it reaches the number 4 on the AeroPress
Press slowly for about 30 seconds
Stop when it reaches the number 1 on the AeroPress
Third Place: Cem Bozkuş, Norm Coffee
AeroPress in regular position
Well-rinsed two paper filter
18 grams ground coffee using Mahlkönig at grind setting 6
Pour 60 grams of water at 92 degrees Celsius, wait 30 seconds
Pour 200 grams water, wait till 1:00 minute mark
Start pressing at 1:10, press till 2:10 minute mark
Wait 2 minutes before serving
Gökçe Yildirim is a Sprudge contributor based in Istanbul. Read more Gökçe Yildirim on Sprudge.
