The Science of Pour-overs
There were a few reasons behind implementing a pour-over bar:
- We wanted to serve our coffees within a minute or so of brewing, as fresh as possible.
- We wanted to eliminate wasted, stale brewed coffee almost completely.
- We wanted to be able to dial in different coffees and refine our technique in order to achieve proper brew strength.
- We wanted to have a good conversation piece to start educational coffee discussions with customers.
The SCAA has determined that these standards result in the most palatable cup of coffee for most drinkers. The pour-over bar is the ideal place to constantly refined our techniques in order to achieve these standards, and that's why we use it.
Asheville GrownIf you've not heard of the Asheville Grown Business Alliance, it's time! It's a movement towards shifting our buying defaults to local businesses, thus supporting the local economy and keeping our friends in business. Check out the links below for more info:
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Thoughts from the Southeast Regional Barista ChampionshipI attended the first round of the Southeast Regional Barista Championship this friday past (2/19) in Atlanta at the King Plow Arts Center and had a blast. It was great to meet all the people I constantly troll and argue with on Barista Exchange, as well as some new faces in the southeastern coffee community. While I wasn't able to attend saturday or sunday (I do have a shop to run), I did watch the finals streaming on the web. Two-time SERBC winner Lem Butler from Counter Culture tore it up, placing first again with a final score of 617.5. For those of you not familiar with barista competition, you have fifteen minutes to make four espressos, four cappuccinos, and four signature drinks. For his signature drink, Lem layered a combination of espresso and honey in flute glasses and topped it with a whipped foam made of egg whites, espresso, ginger, and cucumber. i didn't get to taste this crazy concoction but the judges obviously enjoyed it. At the end of the day I had a few thoughts swirling around my caffeine overloaded brain, which I'll relate here in bullet point form: 1) It's strange to me that there is a tendency towards serving ristrettos at the moment. Competition rules (and most Italian standards) say an espresso should be between 25ml and 35ml in volume, so 50-70ml for a double. Yet more than a couple baristi on the fourth machine (there to make drinks for competition voyeurs) were pulling 30-40ml doubles standard. The spro was good - both Batdorf and Bronson's Rwanda Buremera and the aforementioned Counter Culture's Espresso Toscano - but the ristrettos were just too syrupy sweet and intense. To my palate, they felt a bit too much like port when I wanted wine. I try to pull 60ml doubles here at Waking Life, and I think it strikes a nice balance between sweetness, volume, and body. Plus you can always get a ristretto if you ask for one. |



