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Written by John Brinkman
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Article courtesy of Maverick Magazine
Extracted from: Vol 1, Issue 12, 5 Oct 2006
There’s an awful lot of coffee in the trendy vending spots of South Africa.
And a lot of it is awful. But some is ambrosial – which requires a deal of
knowledge and skill to achieve. Tastings by GAIL STRAUSS.
AT WIMPY THEY NO LONGER ASK IF YOU WANT MILK
or cream in your cappuccino. In fact, you’re very likely
to get a surprisingly good cup of coffee, even if some
of the punters are still not exactly sure what a “mockee-
ah-toe” is. And when the home of the bottomless
cup of coffee starts dabbling in foreign, espressobased
beverages, you know something is a-buzz in the
coffee industry.
“People are waking up to great coffee,” says Mark
Blanckenberg, affable MD of Ciro Alliances, the arm of
branded products giant AVI that supplies the “out of
home” – i.e. non-retail – component of Ciro and House
of Coffees and includes Wimpy as its client, along with
Mugg & Bean and a myriad other restaurants and
“coffee-themed” shops, including just about every
large hotel and casino group in the country.
“Specialty coffees have come of age in a very big
way. People no longer want a cappuccino – they want
a great cappuccino and they know the difference.”
South African coffee
watchers date the dawn of the
decent coffee era to the late nineties, when TriBeCa,
Seattle Coffee Company and, latterly, Woolworths Café
entered the market, bringing with them a world of
espresso-based beverages and signaling the end of the
reign of the filter coffee pot.
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Written by John Brinkman
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SCASA - Speciality Coffee Association of South Africa
A total of 26 Baristas are taking part in SA's 1st national WBC-Sanctioned Barista Championship taking place at the Good Food and Wine show in Cape Town from the 24th to the 27th of May 2007. The winner will be traveling to Tokyo Japan in July 2007 to compete in the World Barista Championships along with Barista Champions from Kenya, Ethiopia & Zambia.
The 26 Baristas have been split into two groups of 13 Baristas each. The first group will be performing their routines on the 25th of May, the second group will be completing their routines on the 26th. The competition is being run strictly to WBC rules with each contestant being required to present 4 Espressos, 4 Cappuccino's & 4 Signature Drinks to the judges for evaluation.
The judging staff consists of 7 Judges, 4 Sensory, 2 Technical and 1 head judge overseeing the process. The judges are headed up by John Saunders, head of the technical standards committee for the WBC and by Klaus Thomsen, current reigning WBC champion from Denmark. The balance of the up judging committee is made up from top South African chefs, food and wine writers & coffee industry experts.
Event Photos
Proudly sponsored by:
     
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Written by John Brinkman
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 Wow, a whole load of people that are nuts about coffee, all in one room to talk about it, what a crazy idea. It was amazing.
Thanks to David Donde from Origin Roasters for sharing some of his wealth of knowledge with us as well as all the other "undergrounders" who came along. I am sure that you will all agree that the night was an amazing success and the start of something really great for coffee lovers in SA. David managed to whip up a few Espresso's for us on the shops machine using some the beans he brought with him and was able to demonstrate for us the basics of pulling a decent espresso.
Looking forward to the next meeting.
JohnB
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Written by Trevor Ou Tim
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The first Barista Underground meet will be on Friday 20 April 2007 at 7:30pm at Anna’s Wiesenhof Coffee Shoppe, Mountainview Shopping Centre, Fairlands.
Coffee Master David Donde of Origin Coffee will be giving a presentation. Come along an join us for some good coffee and some pointers on getting the best out of your own cup.
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Written by John Brinkman
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Aerobie Aeropress - Background
 The Aeropress has long fascinated me (being a bit of a gadget freek), in April last year I spoke to Lucien from the Coffee Co. about the Aeropress and asked him if he knew of anybody bringing them into SA. He didn't and I gave up on ever getting to try out the the Aeropress. Fortunately I decided in January to look at other ways to partake of my favourite drink and decided to email the guys at Aeropress in the US again and see if things had changed at all. Low and behold, a local distributor had been appointed, when I spoke to Morne' he organised for Lucien from the CoffeeCo to ship me one to try out  . Luckily I had just got hold of my Super Jolly and eagerly awaited the courier with my Aeropress and Lucien's latest Nicaraguan Marango roast to try out. What a treat! I half expected the courier to be wearing a red suite driving a sleigh with a whole bunch of reindeer.
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Written by John Brinkman
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The Barista Underground is a place for people who are passionate about their coffee to meet. There is no cost to being a member of the club and we do not anticipate having to charge one for the forceable future. We are not affiliated to any of the local roasters/equipment importers but will be using relationships with these suppliers to organise educational talks and presentations for our members. This is an undertaking which we have started purely for our love of coffee and a desire to see the specialist coffee community in South Africa grow.
We will be running monthly "grinds" where we will have a local equipment supplier & roasters speaking to members and helping us to further our knowledge of coffee.
We would also like to use our membership base to secure:
- Group buys of equipment to secure discounts
- Special offers on beans for club members from roasters
If you are involved with the coffee industry and would like to interact with us as a club, please contact us so we can discuss the opportunities
JohnB
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