Congratulations to this year's NBC winning team: Team Denmark! While each team did well, and this year's NBC was certainly one for the ages, Team Denmark, because of their exceptional teamwork and team spirit as identified by the judges, finished with the highest score. As the winning team, the members will now have the opportunity to travel to this year's focus country, Costa Rica, in January!

THE FINAL 2009 RESULTS ARE:

The Nordic Barista Cup 2009 here in Iceland has come to close, but you can already start gearing and geeking up for 2010 in Norway. See you there next September!

You may wonder how the five teams in the Nordic Barista Cup are scored? Well, they are evaluated on team spirit and enthusiasm, coffee knowledge and abilities and finally, the amount of money each team raised at the Public Day for the charity project, Manos Abiertas, which is a nonprofit in Costa Rica that raises money for children with disabilities.

And the final scores were...

Team Denmark—WINNER!—687 points

Team Sweden—682 points

Team Norway—676 points

Team Finland—627 points

Team Iceland—626 points

Congratulations to all the teams for a wonderful job!!

Regarding the amounts of money raised for Manos Abiertas: below is the amount in Icelandic Kronur and also in U.S. dollars, that each team raised on the Public Day. Note that these amounts do not include the money raised during the Silent Auction—those amounts have not yet been totaled, but as soon as they are, we will list them here.

MONEY RAISED FOR MANOS ABIERTAS

Team Iceland raised 91,814 ISK/$745.55

Team Norway raised 71,251 ISK/$578.53

Team Sweden raised 45,306 ISK/$367.89

Team Finland raised 43,364 ISK/$352.12

Team Denmark raised 32,211 ISK/$261.59

TOTAL RAISED: 283,946 ISK/$2,305.75

Final amouont for charity will be published when we have verified all numbers.

Here are the results from the teams collection on Saturday:

It's impossible to put into words what a Gala Dinner and after party at a Nordic Barista Cup event is like... you just have to experience one yourself (which is a big hint that you should prepare yourself to attend the 2010 NBC in Oslo, Norway, in September of next year!). But to give you an idea of the fun that is to be had, here are some images from the party on Saturday, which wrapped up the NBC event in a most spectacular way...

NBC Organizer Jens Norgaard and Elvis Presley: Separated at birth?		The party had a theme, as you may have guessed: dress up as Dolly Parton, Bjork, Elvis, or Elton John... is there any logic to this combination? Of course not! It's the NBC, remember? Pictured here, NBC Organizer, Bjorg Brend, and MC Jose Cleofas Arreola
Addy was thrilled to find out that Kaffitar had won third prize in the Nordic Roaster competition!		Two amazing Bjorks: Njall and Sonja
Elton John Varney... and he could even play a mean piano, as we found out later in the night		Sigga Dora and Klaus enjoy their Polar Beers!
Ken and Bjorg tear up the dance floor		Bjork, aka Jay L., and Dolly, aka Jessi M., shake a leg
Liz and Mike Phillips... the King of USBC		Petra from Finland. She had a tough time getting around due to that costume, but Dolly would be proud.

The Nordic Roaster event was, as it is every year, an exciting and intellectual activity. Ten coffee roasters submitted coffee to be judged by a panel of both their peers and members of the public. The roasters could note brewing parameters to be followed, and the merry band of NBC volunteers brewed and served each of the 10 coffees following those specific guidelines.

The set up goes like this: get in line for a small cup of each of the 10 coffees, get a ballot, taste all your coffees, and vote for one—just one. A total of 116 votes were cast, with four being dismissed as invalid. Scores were tabulated and the winners were announced at the Gala Dinner on Saturday night.

Drumroll please...

WINNER! Tim Wendelboe's Tekangu with an incredible 28 votes. (Tim Wendelboe, Oslo, Norway)

2nd place: Solberg & Hansen's Finca Kilimanjaro with 16 votes (Solberg & Hansen, Oslo, Norway)

3rd place: Kaffitar with 15 votes (Kaffitar, Reykjavik & Kaflavik, Iceland)

For the complete list of Nordic Roaster click here.

There are countless extraordinary items for auction here, from original artwork by Reykjavik artists, to dates with members of the smokin hot Swedish Barista Team, to a six-foot high pyramid of coffee cups, to the famous—or infamous?—goat trophy that Klaus won in 2006 at the World Barista Championship in Bern, Switzerland. We'll have more details about the auction winners to come, but here are some images from those most memorable items...

And the winner is...

Steve Leighton of Has Bean in the U.K. showed up as a delightful surprise today (he entered his coffee in the Nordic Roaster competition). When faced with the opportunity to win the chance to dive through a pyramid of used coffee cups, he paid 49 Euros!

We'll have more information about the total amount raised in the auction to come. All money will go to the Costa Rican charity project, Manos Abiertos. What a day!

Teams are hurrying to finish their stations and artwork with the local artists, to be displayed here at the public day, as the public will begin to enter the space in just a few minutes!

We woke up painfully early today—6 a.m.—to depart from our magical huts in the wilderness, for an exciting day back in Reykjavik: the traditional "public day," where the five Nordic Barista Cup teams will prepare and serve coffee to the public in various forms. Money will be raised for Manos Abiertos, a charity in Costa Rica. (Side note: all of the booze that we've been drinking over the past few days has also raised money for this project: all costs of beer and wine (and believe me, this group can consume a LOT) has cost money, all of which goes to the charity).

The attendees went off on a sightseeing tour of some wonderful natural attractions in Iceland, such as the enormous waterfall, Geysir, and the original Parliament. Ken attended that trip, and will return soon with the rest of the attendees to write a report on the wonders they experienced. I, on the other hand, returned directly from the huts back to Reykjavik with the teams, who have been busily preparing for the public day.

Each team has been given an assignment for what they will prepare at each of their five stations: Team Finland will prepare Aeropress coffee; Team Sweden will pour latte art; Team Norway will prepare espresso; Team Iceland is in charge of Irish coffee preparation; and finally, Team Denmark will present triangular cuppings.

An exciting twist to this years Nordic Barista Cup is the involvement of local artists. One artist who practiced a specific medium—fashion design, painting, industrial design, photography, and video production—was assigned to each team to create original artwork in collaboration with each team. Later today, the pieces will be sold, and the bet piece from each artist will be auctioned as part of the traditional Nordic Barista Cup Silent Auction.

A very special guest to every Nordic Barista Cup is the quietest of us all: the goat trophy. This trophy was originally the first place prize for Klaus Thomsen of Denmark when he won the World Barista Championship in Bern, Switzerland, in 2006. It was such a strange trophy that it quickly gained worldwide notoriety. In a stroke of  genius, NBC organizer and owner of Cafe Europa, Jens Norgaard, along with Klaus, decided to put the trophy in the NBC silent auction every year from them on. It has sold each year for at least 1000 Euro, and the understanding is that the person who wins it will return it for the next year's Nordic Barista Cup. Jens is intent on bringing it back home again!

In the true spirit of the Nordic Barista Cup, there's no telling who will be the winner until the end of this entire event, which concludes tonight—Saturday (um, er make that Sunday morning, given the way these people party). On Day 1, Team Denmark had the most points (and their prize? An Icelandic ghost story read to them by yours truly, Sarah Allen, and then a proper tuck in). But on Day 2, Sweden was the winner! Now, keep in mind that these scores aren't cumulative—we don't know which team is actually in the lead, meaning who has the highest total score from day one PLUS day two. And that's why the awards go to the winners of the day! So congratulations Team Sweden!

Just got an email from my mom saying I should identify the fact that it is indeed me -- Sarah Allen -- and Ken Olson, editor and publisher respectively of Barista Magazine, who are writing this blog account of the 2009 Nordic Barista Cup. One of the memories I most enjoy about my life in the coffee industry was when, in 2003, I attended the Nordic Barista Cup in Iceland with a crazy idea: to begin a magazine about baristas. Ken and I had prepared some make-shift media kits, and I brought them with me to Iceland to present to the organizers of the NBC, which was, at that point, only in its second year, and was for the first time involving five Nordic countries, rather than just two, as was the case the first year.

I presented the magazine idea to Tone, Sonja, Addy, Jens, Tim, and others, and they loved it! They encouraged us to jump right in and give it a go. The creative spirit of the NBC that I experienced that year in Iceland was part of the reason I believed so strongly that Barista Magazine could work and prosper—and luckily, we were right.

Since then, Ken and I have enjoyed a close relationship with the Nordic Barista Cup. It's our favorite event of the year, as it focuses on both the serious and the fun aspects of coffee, and puts primary emphasis on team building and the coffee community. We have attended every NBC event since, from Iceland to Norway to Denmark to Sweden, and now back to Iceland, and we have every intention of supporting the organization and reporting on it indefinitely.

It is truly our honor to be here and be a part of such a splendid event. Cheers to the organizers of the Nordic Barista Cup—thank you for doing this for the global coffee community and continuing to inspire us all.

So the second half of the day today was spent at a pool nearby where our huts and cabins are. And yes, there was a theme, as you can probably guess from the above image. So after everyone had gathered in either the heated pool or the three giant spas (and yes, there was even a big, old water slide), a whistle blew, the theme from Baywatch started over the loudspeakers, and running over the hill came Toné, Tim, Alex and David Hasselhoff, or nearly so anyway.

Each of the teams were then put to the test, swimming relay races, performing synchronized swimming and generally having a blast while being hugely entertaining. Check out some pics below!

By the end of the event, Team Finland had proven themselves better suited to the life aquatic than their competitors, and they won the most points.

Now we're back at camp having dinner and will soon find out who won the day.

This place is SO lovely, so deep in the woods, but we are hardly roughing it: the cabins we're staying in today for our second night are absolutely beautiful, with hot tubs and a bar, of course! Here are some images from this morning, walking around our area...

Now that’s a competition! The back to the basics theme really got things started this morning with a very cool competition unlike any I’ve ever seen. And in an interesting twist, the attendees joined the teams in the challenge: build a primitive roaster and grinder, and roast and grind coffee.

The teams were given a stack of materials (and a student engineer from the University of Iceland), and the task of building a grinder and roaster. They had to assemble, without the assistance of any instructions (though you can see them here) a working roaster and a grinder (which used sandpaper to grind the coffee).

Then given a sack of green coffee the teams had to figure out the best roast profile and the best grind for the coffee, prepare it, and serve it to the judges. They had 3 hours to get it all done.

Every team got their machines built and delivered a drinkable sample for the judges. The word “interesting” was the most frequently used to describe the result. You can draw your own inferences from that about how good the coffee tasted. We then had a lunch break featuring a lovely typically Icelandic cod casserole and rye bread.

Afterwards we were able to clear our palate with a locally brewed coffee beer. The owner of the nearby brewery created four different coffee beers (he met one of the NBC organizers Sonja Grant at a party earlier this year and was intrigued by the NBC event). Each beer featured a different coffee and the teams were challenged to identify the country of origin for the coffees. Attendees were challenged to drink as many of the beers as they could. And the event featured a guest team composed of the judges to see if they could outperform the national teams.

Following that it was time for a second go round with the aeropress. The teams were given 10 minutes to develop a recipe, then five minutes to prepare and serve as many cups as possible. As the rain poured down (temperatures are in the 40s now with rain consistently increasing throughout the day), the teams worked without pause (and many were drenched by the end).

Spirits, however, are not dampened, and now we all take a break to warm up and enjoy a little rest. Afterwards, we’re going swimming... um, what?

So a few things have happened since last we posted. Following the longstanding Icelandic tradition of a spontaneous afternoon dance party, Dr. Munchow, Morton if you please, took the podium once again to give a fascinating presentation, putting into layman's terms exactly what is happening when you steam milk to make foam. I never knew it could be so fascinating discussing the interaction between air, liquid and fat.

After Morton finished, he had several tables set up where the attendees could see for themselves how viscosity among other things affects the creation and the stability of bubbles. The teams were also given a task to use the information they had gleaned, and they were judged on the volume and consistency of their foam.

Then everyone boarded buses and we headed out of the city. Our first stop was Heidishell, a geothermal plant some 20 or 30 kilometers from Reykjavik. It provides all of the power for the city and a couple dozen other municipalities. Along the way the two buses competed in a trivia contest. Bus 2 clearly won (some folks dispute that, but they are clearly mistaken) but due to some scoring errors the prize went to Bus 1. The prize was a salty licorice lollipop, so I suppose winning in this sense is very relative.

After a brief tour of the power plant, the buses once again hit the road, and we headed north toward the Atlantic. Of course this being Iceland, heading in any direction for any length of time brings you inevitably to the Atlantic. At the shore, we were treated to an amazing meal of lobster at a terrific restaurant.

The day's winning team was then announced, and Denmark took the honors. Among the prizes they received was a bedtime story (a scary Icelandic ghost story) read by Barista Magazine's own Sarah Allen. They also were given the opportunity to serenade Alex Schwalbach, a volunteer here from Alterra, who was celebrating his 23rd birthday.

Following the meal, once again the buses started rolling, and in our bus anyway, Tim Wendelboe, Klaus Thomsen and Troels Poulsen broke into (yet another) rousing rendition of "We Are the Champions." Luckily it wasn't too far until we reached our final destination for the evening, the camp where we are staying for the next portion of the event.

More to come soon....

We're not just being crazy and having fun here in Iceland—well, not all the time. We're doing a lot of learning, as well.

After a delicious lunch of vegetarian Icelandic sandwiches, we headed in to a lecture by Morten Munchow of the Copenhagen Coffee Academy about the science of roasting. It was very good—Morten has a gift for breaking the difficult-to-understand side of science into a simple formula that even the science challenged (um, like I happen to be) can understand. He explained a lot about different methods of heating coffee—by convection, by contact, by radiation—and then we followed a short video he had made of how a green coffee bean begins in a roaster, and how it develops with high intensity heat, and then steadies out as the core temperature is raised, and the surface temperature is—with a skilled roaster—simply maintained.

Morten's lecture was followed by a great discussion by Christian Klatt of Mahlkoenig on grinding. Christian not only covered the basics of grinding technology, but went into some depth about all the historical kinds of grinding methods, including using stones and knives to chop beans! This will perhaps come in handy for the Nordic Barista Cup teams as they fend for themselves in the Icelandic wilderness tomorrow!

So as fascinating as these two lectures were, we were all a little tired at this point. What to do? Well, we were instructed to go into the next room to participate in what Sonja called "an Icelandic ritual." What could it be? A dance party, of course!

It's a special treat to have Susie Spindler of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) and the Cup of Excellence (CoE) here in Iceland. While the members of the five Nordic barista teams are an accomplished and educated group—many are barista champions and skilled cuppers—some may not have previous experience using the CoE cupping form developed by George Howell and used the world over to evaluate top coffees in producing countries. With some knowledge under their belts about Costa Rican regions, climate, and growing conditions, they listened as Susie explained the ACE and CoE beginnings, motivation and future development.

Susie gave some real world examples of how CoE can change the lives of farmers, explaining how the awards ceremony can work to raise the awareness of the government about infrastructures that may be necessary to improve conditions for farmers. She told one story about how it used to be in Honduras that, given a high government imposed export tax, farmers would smuggle their coffee through the jungle to Guatemala, where they would sell it without an export tax. But it would be sold as Guatemalan coffee, and the world remained unaware of how awesome Honduran coffee could be. Thanks to CoE's presence in Honduras, that export tax has been lowered to a more reasonable rate.

After the lecture, we filed back into the larger activity room for a cupping exercise. Attendees lined up to get samples of four Costa Rican CoE coffees, which they were encouraged to score with provided CoE cupping forms.

So while the attendees were tasting the coffees, the five teams were put through a more rigorous competition: they had to cup six Costa Rican CoE coffees, use the CoE score sheets, and then submit them. They were given 50 minutes for this task. Their submitted sheets will be reviewed by the organizers, who will compare them to the actual scores these six coffees received from the international CoE jury. Whichever team is closest, wins! But we won't know the winner of the day until dinner tonight... more to come!

The first real team challenge of the 2009 NBC just concluded. Each team was required to give a 10-minute presentation on a coffee growing region of this year's focus country, Costa Rica. The teams' options were wide open. They could show a video, give a powerpoint presentation, do a song and dance, put on a play, or whatever, and so they did.

Before the teams gave their presentations, though, Flori Marin of Mercanta (and owner of a coffee farm in Costa Rica) and Francois Castelles of Café Noble in Costa Rica gave brief overviews of the country and its coffee history.

Francois also gave an introduction for the charity chosen for this year's NBC. The teams will be raising money for Fundacion Manos Abiertas. The charity works with children and adults in Costa Rica who suffer from disabilities, such as mental retardation, and who have been abandoned by their families. The Fundacion Manos Abiertas gives those people a place to live and provides medical care.

Team Denmark went first with its presentation. The team members donned coffee bags while music played and danced while giving an informational report on the West Valley Region.

Team Norway put on a play about four friends deciding where to visit in Costa Rica before deciding on the Tres Rios region. The Tres Rios region, where some of the greatest coffees in the country are grown, is also the most threatened region. It is very close to the capital of San Jose and constant pressure for land development, real estate and greater profits than farming have meant that land under cultivation is quickly disappearing.

The Terrazu region was highlighted by a video set to Thriller presented by team Sweden after a brief introduction.

Team Iceland gave a presentation on the Orosi region while developing their own brand of Costa Rican/Icelandic cultural fusion. The team made a cold coffee,  a typical Icelandic desert to go with it, and a Costa Rican desert of plantains. All the while the team leader gave an overview of the region from the podium.

Finally, Team Finland wrapped things up with a look at the Central Valley while giving a detailed look at the type of coffee typical of the country, team members made a French press of the coffee for the audience to sample.

Next up, the teams had five minutes to make as many good cups of coffee as possible on the Aeropress.

It's the defining axiom of the Nordic Barista Cup. The only rule is there are no rules. Each incarnation of the event is designed by the host country committee and they get to set up the competition however they'd like. Going in, the teams normally don't have any idea of what's in store for them.

Just a little while ago, however, we learned a little about what to expect once the competition shifts to the wilds of Iceland (and perhaps last night's presentation on the history of coffee in the country has a little more resonance now.) It's a back-to-basics theme, and this is going to be very basic indeed.

It's simple and brutal, something certainly suited to the Icelandic countryside. Each team will receive 15 kilos of green coffee. Their challenge is to make it drinkable. No big deal, right? Just roast it, grind it and brew it. Only that's going to be a little more difficult than it seems since the teams will not have any equipment. No roaster. No grinder. No brewer.

Good luck with that then.

After some much needed sleep last night, everyone is raring to go this morning, as day number one of the 2009 Nordic Barista Cup (NBC) begins! You would hardly believe it's just 8 in the morning, as spirits are high and latte art is being poured. Here's the scoop: while the teams are getting the low-down on the program, and the judges are getting prepped, the attendees are participating in a latte art throwdown! Granted, latte art throwdowns traditionally have taken place in evenings with beer flowing, this early morning version works quite well!

So as the latte art throwdown continues, the teams return to the main gathering space to prep their stations...

Right now, the group of teams and attendees have gathered in the lecture hall, which is across from the larger space where the activities are taking place. They are learning about Costa Rican coffee from Flori Marin of Maercanta, and François Castells of Costa Rica. The reason for the focus? Csta Rica is the portrait country of this year's Nordic Barista Cup! The winning team from this event will travel to Costa Rica in January to learn about the region's fantastic and diverse coffees.

Welcome to the 2009 Nordic Barista Cup! We’re here in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, in the Art Musuem for the first day of the competition. Last night we gathered at a nearby bar called Balthazar for a meet and greet.

World famous event MC Jose Arreola

Jose Arreola known for his constant globe trotting in support of barista competitions returned to Iceland for the first time since the event was held here in 2004 yesterday. He’s here to work as the emcee through the three days of competition.

The Danish team sports some sweet sweaters!

We had a chance to be introduced to all of the teams, the judges and the many volunteers that make this event possible.

Helga Gudrun Johnson gave a presentation on the history of coffee in Iceland.

Following all of the introductions, we had a chance to listen to a presentation by Helga Gudrun Johnson on the development of coffee culture in Iceland. It was a lighthearted and fun retelling of the long journey of to get high quality coffee accepted and demanded by the public. In years past, for example, coffee beans were mixed with other materials to make a cup, including chicory, barley or even wet hay. Luckily no samples were available.

After the presentation, we had a few drinks and snacks, then the teams split to get to ready for the big event.

Right now the event is really underway with a latte art throwdown.