Yesterday we spent the day at FAF Studio (Fazenda Ambiental Fortleza) in Sao Paulo. The first stage of the Brasilian Blend Competition, where teams of 2-3-4 people (teams were mix of Brazilian and Nordic baristas) who had to create their own blend from 10 different coffees, roasted by Felipe at FAF. There were multiple cuppings […]
Day 2-3-4
The internet connections have bin as scarce as washed coffee in Brazil. So here is a recap of iur last couple of days bringing us through Matas de Minas, Minas Gerais and Sul de Minas.
BRAZIL FIELD TRIP – day 1
Team Sweden not only won the honour and the NBC trophy at the Nordic Barista Cup 2013 – they also won a trip to Brazil, kindly sponsored by Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association. On the Swedish team were Anna Nordström, Oskar Alverus and Tobias Palm. Unfortunately Tobias could not go, so he kindly gave his seat […]
From Mt. Kenya to Nairobi and then home…
The night was spent at the Hotel Serena Mount Kenya Lodge, which is located on the hills of Mount Kenya. The hotel is in the middle of the jungle and built around a watering hole where animals from the jungle came to drink water during the night. The service at Hotel Serena hotel was amazing: […]
Nyeri farmers, coops and mills
Ruthaka Farmers Cooperative Society is in the Mukurwe district in Central Kenya. The coop has 4028 members which have farms in the altitude ranging from 1650 – 1700 meters above sea level. The farmers deliver their coffees to 5 wet mills and 2 collection centres. The Ruthaka farmers use Sustainable Management Services as a marketer […]
Training, trading, stacking coffee
The morning started with a training session at the Dormans’s. There were some 20 baristas invited to learn and interact with the NBC crew. The baristas were divided into groups and went straight to the espresso machines. Niki from Team Finland was on the first machine (far right) who started talking about cleaning the machine, […]
Karinga Primary School
The Karinga Primary School is in Kiambu, north west of Nairobi. The principal Paul Kuria greeted us at the entrance together with representatives from the coffee community and the parent group.
Learning more about Kenya
First thing in the morning we met Kennedy one of the green coffee traders for Dorman’s. He explained the Kenyan auction and (direct) trading system. The first auction in Kenya took place in 1935. Today – Kennedy figured that 60 % of Kenyan coffee is traded through the auction while 40% is direct trade. […]
Karibu Kenya (Welcome to Kenya)
First day of the Nordic Barista Cup Field Trip on coming to an end. Who would have thought that this day would give us the possibility to hand feed a giraffe, to stare into the eyes of a buffalo (one of “The Big 5’s”) and to clap elephant orphans on the head… But this trip […]
SARIMAKMUR TOUR AND BRISTA JAM
The first thing to notice about Sarimakmur mill is the size, cleanliness and the good organization. We got the full tour. Here are our two guides on the tour Hendri (Left) and Mukfin (right). First receiving area where the “asalan” coffee gets in. Shortly after the “asalan” arrives in white bags it will be dried […]