As some have quite correctly pointed out, the 2012 Brewers Cup sort of got the international attention shaft in terms of coverage and attention last week in Vienna. That’s a shame because it was by all accounts a heated battle of talent, an onslaught of competitive geekery, and an exhibition of the new heights to which brewed coffee has risen in recent years. We were personally buried under a mountain of WBC coverage, but that’s why the archived video services provided by the team at World Coffee Events are so gosh darn valuable. The smoke now cleared from WBC 2012, we had a moment to look back and pick apart Matt Perger’s winning routine in the 2012 World Brewers Cup. Mr. Perger is a representative of St. Ali, a specialty coffee boutique in South Melbourne.

Full videos for each of the 6 WBC finalists are linked at the bottom of this post, including the equally fascinating 2nd place routine from two-time United States Brewers Cup champion Andy Sprenger, of Ceremony Coffee Roasters in Annapolis, Maryland.

Equipment:

Hario Buono Kettle
Curtis Hot Water tower
Glass Hario V60
Hario #4 White Filter
250 micron sieve
Scale
Hario Range Servers (for “focused smelling” of aromatics of brewed coffee)
Glass mugs

Parameters:

11.8 grams of coffee
200ml of 110ppm TDS water
50 grams of water every 30 seconds
2:30-2:35 minute total brew time

Coffee: Panama Finca Santa Teresa Washed Gesha

Secrets:

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Post-performance Sprite soft drink.

Brewed coffee to achieve an extraction percentage of 23% at 1.45TDS. Due to the removal of fines using the sieve, an extraction below 22%, according to Perger in his post-performance interview “doesn’t taste very good”.

Used 110ppm TDS water. Using different combinations of locally sourced water, Perger discovered wildly different flavor notes using the exact same brew recipe and achieving the exact same 23% extraction and 1.4-1.45 TDS refractometer reading.

Flavor Notes:

“More robust than usual” washed gesha coffees. Juicy, clean, sweet.

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Videos:

1st Place:ย Matthew Pergerย AUSTRALIA

2nd Place: Andy Sprenger UNITED STATES

3rd Place: Christos Loukakis GREECE

4th Place: Anthony Benda CANADA

5th Place: James Bailey UNITED KINGDOM

6th Place: Robert Gruber AUSTRIA

Award Ceremony

Further reading:

DCILY – “2012 World Brewers Cup Champ – Matt Perger!

Official World Brewers Cup homepage.

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