Live, from cloudy, sneezy Amsterdam, Holland, Portland-based Stumptown barista and trainer Jennifer Prince is pulling shots and doing the clickity-clack over at her blog, Netherbrew. She recently attended the Dutch Barista Championship:

advert but first coffee cookbook now available

 

The competition was truly great. I honestly didn’t expect the level of expertise to be as high as it seemed. I only wish I understood Dutch better so that I could have understood more of the presentations, but the cognates for flavors were plentiful!

At least 5 of the competitors used a washed Ethiopian SOE, or blends with Ethiopians as the dominant component. The competitor from Illy, who won, used a Sidamo for his espressos, and a blend of Yirgacheffe, Brazil, and Costa Rican coffees for his capps and sig. The new champ (who will compete in Colombia next year) was Yakup Aydin. This guy seemed like a crowd favorite. I was told he had competed for a couple of years, but things always went wrong in his past presentations, like last year when he served his sig drink without espresso!

Read more at Netherbrew.blogspot.com

banner advertising the book new rules of coffee