Adelaide's Specialist Coffee Boutique - Bar Nine

How to avoid the traffic jam on Glen Osmond rd

2010-12-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

A big truck has had a big accident which has cause a huge gridlock up along Glen Osmond rd. Here's our guide to avoiding the jam and still finding an amazing coffee.

To help those stuck in the traffic we're also giving away free coffees to offer you some comfort in a midst the mayhem

2010 South Australian Barista Competition Results

2010-10-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well the SA heats leading up to the Australian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA) National Barista Championships have been all wrapped up.

The placings and points spread of the top 6 is as follows:

588.5 Jonny Pisanelli - "from Scratch Patisserie" coffee by Tony D'Angelo Coffee

560.5 David Moen - "Bar 9, Espresso Royale, Coffee Branch and others" coffee by 5 senses and the Coffee Barun

556.0 Mike Wells - "Bar 9, and Cibo" coffee by 5 Senses

543.5 Kye Elliott Moyle - "Bar 9 and Cibo" coffee by 5 senses

500.5 Denny Wong - "Michels Patisserie" coffee by Michels Patisserie

420.5 Tory Purcell - "C Coffee, on the run" coffee by Aroma Fresh

Well done to everyone who entered and especially Jonny for a well deserved win (and about time too!). And a massive well done to all the Bar 9 competitors for a huge result across the board.

World Latte Art Championship Results (2010)

2010-06-24T00:24:00.000-07:00

Well it seems the blogs have been a little quiet posting the results from the World Latte Art Championships. Perhaps we're all just talking on twitter instead?

In any case, here's the results

1st Japan - Haruna Murayama
2nd Australia - Will Priestley
3rd Sweden - Sebastian Ryberg
4th Netherlands - Claudie Donderwinkel
5th Thailand - Sineenart (Fiefy) Anuwatanaphorn *
6th Germany - Sebastian Lösch

Well done to all the competitors, especially Will and Fiefy!!

Results from the 2010 Australian National Barista Championship Semi - Finals

2010-01-30T00:52:00.000-08:00

And so the winners going through to 2010 national barista championship finals tomorrow are:
John Paul Sutton(qld), Simon James(vic), Scottie Callaghan(nsw), Tim Adams (Qld)and Mark Chandler (5 Senses Perth)
Through to the Cup Tasting final is:
Brad Nixon (2005 SA state barista champ, ex- Bar 9 'manager' and now working with 5 senses in Melbourne)
And latte art, after winging it with an entirely borrowed kit after Tiger Airways lost all her luggage:
Kirby Berlin (Maling room, canterburry, Vic)
My heart goes out to everyone who didn't make it through and a big Big BIG congratulations to those mentioned above!

2010 National Australian Barista Competition

2010-01-26T03:24:00.000-08:00

Here are the details for the 2010 National Australia Barista Championships, kicking off this Friday. More info, and a live stream of the event can be found at the AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association's website, www.AASCA.com

We'll be tweeting the event as much as possible (in between judging, helping out and generally running around) from our Twitter Account @BarNine using the hashtag #ABC10 (Australia Barista Competition 2010). I dare say that this will probably be the most up to the minute way to follow the event (except of course the live feed) if you can't make it the the Gold Coast Convention Center where the event is being held.

Friday 29^th Jan:

10:00am – 5:00pm: Repechage Detpak Australian Barista Championship

Saturday 30^th Jan:

10:00am – 1:40pm: Detpak Australian Barista Championship Semi-Finals

2:30pm – 4:40pm: Repechage Dairy Farmers National Foods Australian Latte Art Championship

4:45pm – 5:30pm: Repechage Detpak Australian Cup Tasting Championship

Sunday 31^st Jan:

10:00am – 12:20pm: Deptak Australian Barista Championship Finals

12:50pm – 2:20pm: Australian Coffee in Good Spirits Championship Finals

2:30pm – 4:20pm: Dairy Farmers National Foods Australian Latte Art Championship Finals

4:30pm – 5:00pm: Detpak Australian Cup Tasting Championship Finals

5:00pm – 6:00pm: Winner Presentation including announcement of Roasters Competition

South Australian AASCA Meeting and Latte Art throwdown

2010-01-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

This Monday we will be holding the last South Australian AASCA meeting before the nationals later this month. The meeting will kick off from 6.30pm and wind up with a bit of a smack down (latte art that is!). $5 to throwdown, winner get an AASCA TeeShirt (and coveted bragging rights!) .

They will be food, coffee and anything else of interest that we can find so come one, come all if you are in any way the least bit interested in the happenings of the Specialty Coffee Industry.

2010 Australian Barista Championships - Open Heats

2010-01-16T05:31:00.000-08:00

just a quick update as we gear up for the 2010 Australian National Barista Championships. Here's a list of the order of competitors taken from www.aasca.com

Opens- Barista championships Friday 29th January

1/Jason Dowding
2/Kris Wood
3/rosie Ching
4/Simon James
5/Jennifer Murray
6/KANG BYOUNG-WOO
7/ANGUS MACKIE
8/Scottie Callaghan
9/Jake Sullivan
10/Joe Tynan
11/Aaron Wood
12/Scott Luengen
13/Jean Paul Sutton
14/Kane Blaber
15/ Jessie Hyde

Opens- Latte Art Saturday 30th January
1/aaron Wood,
2/Mark Chandler
3/Mark Stewart
4/Kirby Berlin
5/Aaron Howman
6/Charles Skadiang
7/Scott Luengen
8/Sineenart (Fiefy) Anuwatanaphor

Coffee in good spirits Final- Sunday 31st January

1/Alexandra Stathis
2/David Seng
3/Courtney Patterson
4/Remy Shpayzer
5/Mitchell Faulkner
6/Emily Ch’ng

The Cupping order will be drawn on the day

Boxing Day Caffeine Bash

2009-12-24T04:53:00.001-08:00

Throwdown;

Sat 26th Dec

10am -1pm

This Boxing day (Saturday the 26th Dec) Bar 9 will be opening it's doors for a brief caffeine bash from 10am till 1pm. Expect a laid back environment with plenty of coffee designed to aid in your festive recovery.

We'll be having free tutorials on siphon, pour-over and the exciting new abid clever dripper as well as the most exciting list of premium coffee's that we've ever held at Bar 9 at any one time. We've re-tweaked White Label and re-worked Black Label, and will probably hold a throwdown or two so there's plenty of reasons to swing by a grab a coffee instead of sleeping in.

Hope to see you there, but if we don't, be sure to have an amazing Christmas anyway =D

Best Wishes

1970 Rancilio z8 lever piston vs Rancilio 1974 z9

2009-11-24T23:38:00.000-08:00

Aka Mario vs Luigi

Around 12 months ago we were fortunate enough to take ownership of 1974 z9 lever piston. After a few minor tweaks and adjustments the affectionately named Luigi was pulling some of the most amazing espresso we’d ever tasted. Then, around a month ago we saw Luigi’s “older brother” for sale on the bay of evil, a 1970 z8 lever piston... In red! “Hey, it’s Mario!” one of our friends exclaimed.

Unfortunately we couldn’t justify the funds to purchase dear old Mario at the time and the Auction ended without a buyer. After much tossing and turning another colleague got together the funds and contacted the seller. He arranged the purchase of Mario and not having anywhere to store the contraption asked if Mario could live here, at Bar 9.

A short couple of weeks later Mario arrived and the Microwave was removed from to make room. Now the two brothers sit competitively side by side vying for the next sweet shot of espresso.

Needless to say we were super keen to hammer the two machines to find out what differences, if any, existed between the two.

Side by side Mario (1970 Rancilio Z8) looks in better condition than his younger brother Luigi (1974 Rancilio Z9), though Luigi is almost entirely comprised of original parts (reconditioned) while some of Mario’s are aftermarket.

The flow rate of Mario is slightly faster than that of his brother (reaching 30mls around 2 seconds earlier), though the pressure curve on both is around the same (I say pressure curve as they are both lever pistons the pressure profiles in a bell shaped curve. Ramping up to 8.5bars fairly quickly and trailing off throughout the length of the shot).

After dialling in both machines until they tasted at their best, the temperature curves were wildly different, representing the biggest distinction between the two machines (besides their colour). Luigi’s temp (in the puck) starts at 97C and ramps all the way down to 88C by the end of the shot (we cut it at around 24mls). Mario’s temp however begins at 94C and drops gradually to 92C by the end of the shot (much more in line with general espresso theory and what is expected to taste good).

The end result is two machines remarkably similar to look at while vastly different in the cup. Luigi’s s’pro is rich, complex and wildly body dominant while Mario produces a fresh cup, with increased sweetness.

Both machines are gathering a stern following with coffee lovers divided in naming their favourite.

Upcoming AASCA meeting

2009-10-28T02:26:00.000-07:00

We are looking to hold the next AASCA meeting on Tuesday the 3^rd of November at the SA Coffee Academy at 6-30pm.

Items on this agenda will be as follows:

State co-ordinator

Roasters Guild and Cup of Excellence

SA and the 2011 WBC bid

2010 Nationals on the Gold Coast

If you're a member your attendance would be greatly appreciated and if your not but think you might be interested please feel free to contact Bill on 0407714560

AASCA update

2009-09-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

On Friday Aasca (Australasian Specialty Coffee Association) held its annual general meeting and here are a few key points that were decided.

Ross Quail elected as the new President/Chairman.

Bill Comley as Vice President.

Tom Beaumont as Treasurer/Secretary.

Other regular members of the executive are Ian Callahan (that's me), Mark Barun and Bruno Maiolo.

In other news, Robert Forsythe was officially welcomed as a lifetime member, in order to give recognition to the fantastic work he has done for our industry over the many years.

Well done to all those appointed and who put up their hand to help strengthen the specialty coffee industry here and abroad. For those of you who haven't seen the new website or are interested in becoming a member please head over to www.aasca.com for more info.

This week's wrap up

2009-08-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well I've decided to do a bit of a concise wrap at the end of every week, partly to act as a summary journal, and partly to let you all know what you missed out on if you couldn't make it through ;p

This week saw the first official week with 3 phase power at bar 9. This has meant that the lovely 40amps that the Synesso has been massively overloading our power grid with, is now taken care of, which leaves us with enough power coming to the site to fire up everything else we need without worry of tripping fuses and blowing out Etsa Boxes (yes, it happened - sorry ETSA).

This has meant a gradual introduction of some new menu items. We now have toasted panini being supplied by "queen st cafe", cakes and pastries by local pastry chef Shane Joppich and various other savoury items and house made chutneys etc by locally renowned chef, Scottie Butcher. We've finally got enough power to run a freezer which has meant the exciting introduction of Brazilian super food, Acai. For those of you who haven't tried it come in and ask for a free taster, we assure you, it's pretty damn amazing!

Also, if you have any suggestions for food, or anything you'd like to see on the menu, please let us know, as feedback on this side of the business has been the hardest to get out of people

This week has also seen a plethora of exciting coffee's coming through the doors. Rwandan Musasa, Tanzanian Blackburn Estate (both AA and AB), Bollivia San Juan 8 Estrellas, Kenya Gethumbwini (AA), Tembo and Gaikundo, Columbia Nos Larangas (which we loved so much that we decided to work it into our black blend), Guat and Brazil CoE (both getting on a bit but still quite tasty) two different Aricha's and two different Beloya's, some of Square Mile's summer espresso blend, and finally some Sumatran of which I'm not sure what region/farm but it was damn tasty as a syphon!

Nick Cho's thread on Coffeed.com regarding syphon brewing ratio's has had us really rethinking and experimenting with out syphon technique, however we still haven't made a decent brew with steep time's over a minute (still more tests to be done!). Ben Bicknell suggested a significantly different technique to what we usually employ which has been fun playing around with. Try 12.5g p/cup(120mls) roughly ground for a mokka (slightly coarser than espresso), added during the up draw with only one full stir. Steep for 45-50seconds and allow to draw down with again only one full stir. I'm not sure I'm fully sold on this technique but it does deliver a different but still enjoyable brew. If you do try it, let us know what you think.

Other than that we keep getting busier and busier so thank you to everyone who's come in and had a coffee, and even more so to everyone who's been spreading the word on our behalf, we really appreciate it.

Look forward to pulling you all some more exciting shots next week!

2010 South Australian Barista Competition

2009-08-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

Some more news has come to light so here it is. Due to a conflict between sponsors expobar will no longer be supplying a prosumer to the winner, instead a Compak K3 (wbc) will be supplied to the winner. Two K10's will also be made available throughout the comp, one of which will be given to the winner of the Nationals and the other (I am told) will be auctioned off for charity.

There will be spots available for 15 competitors, and maybe a few 'reserve' entries which will be allowed to compete if there is enough time. However there are no guarantees so be sure to get your entry in ASAP if you plan on competing. 7 spots have already been filled by Cibo, and you can bet a few more will go to "C" coffee - on the run, which doesn't leave a great deal for everyone else so if you are interested, it's on a first come first serve basis so ask now!

An information night is being held at the Coffee Barun next Saturday (22nd August) from 5pm or feel free to contact Bill Comley on 0407 714 560 if you have any questions.

Best of luck to all those who are entering!

A quick update on the SA barista comp

2009-07-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

It's all very confusing but the competition to crown the 2010 state barista champion of South Australia is set to take place mid september (yes, in 2009). Here's some info taken straight from the minutes of the last meeting:

"The SA state Barista Competition will be held at the RHAS Adelaide Show on Thursday the 10^th of September with the Latte Art and Cupping being held on the 11^th of September. We have been bumped from the Goyder Pavilion. The new location will be between the Goyder and Wayville Pavilions in the food court. This may not be ideal but is undercover and will get us maximum exposure and gives us 2 full days with no interruption."

Now a lot of things are yet to be confirmed but to get the rumour file cracking here's some 'too early to be released information'.

Judges:

Brian Raslan

Brian Lewis

Bill Comley

Craig Dickson

Remo Russo

Mario Macri

Ben Rosenthal

Richard Carman

Cameron Ballard

Alan Holroyd

Ian Callahan (That's me!)

Brad Nixon (still yet to confirm, but I'm badgering him!)

Prizes: Confirmed 2nd and 3rd place getters for the barista and latte art comp will something from the lovely greg pullman (at a guess I'd say one of his fantastic Tamps) and 2nd and 3rd in cupping will get something from Rio (at a guess I'd say some ACF cups). Also, expobar is rumoured to be supplying the 1st place prize so it's probably one of their prosumers but this is still yet to be confirmed.

So if there are any budding baristi out there who wanna step up, or if you want to come lend a hand, send me an email or better yet, contact Bill Comley direct on 0407 714 560.

I'll let you know as more developments occur

Well we're finally open!

2009-07-20T04:34:00.000-07:00

Our doors officially opened at 7am Monday the 13th July. We had opened a few sporadic days over the previous two weeks earlier and were pleased that a small group of loyal customers eagerly awaited our full launch and five day trade.

We were super excited about the fact that we had (*touch wood*) no power issues (which for those of you who aren't in the know, has been our primary issue/concern for the past couple of months). Hot water, the fridges, dishwasher, grinders and Synesso have all been firing without a hiccup and I couldn't be happier.

Of course our pastry chef came down with swine flu, and any and all of Adelaide's decent cake suppliers are all terrible at following up on potential new clients (aka 'me') which meant that we needed to bake a hell of a lot of cakes and pastries to go along with all of the coffee that was heading out the door. Many long hours (2am finish) followed by many early starts (back up at 5.30am) meant a fair amount of coffee was in order - luckily we knew just the place! I can honestly say I haven't consumed as much coffee as I did over the past week. So we are eternally grateful to our expert roaster, 5 Senses and the other roasters whose guest blends kept us going!

We were a lot busier than I anticipated, which is always great, but it did cause quite a few stress related headaches. Luckily we had some of the best Barista's in the state pop in to lend a hand and pull some shots. We also had a few special guests including the owners of Auction Rooms (one of Melbourne premier destination cafe/roastery's), Ash and Libbey of Crema Magazine and

Instaurator ('Inny'), author of the Espresso Quest, Chairman of AASCA and all round coffee guru.

We've actually been overwhelmingly surprised by the amount of interstate visitors, especially Melbournites, who have popped their heads into Bar 9. We've had an army of caffeine veterans from the likes of St Ali, Brother Bubba Budan and Seven Seeds. I'm not sure what these people were doing in SA, or how they heard of Bar 9, but thanks! Having such educated palates coming though has been nerve-wracking but in lieu of the tons of positive feedback we've been getting it has also been very comforting.

We have also had our first online review so thank goodness it was positive! And a big thank you to Beanhunter for making us the featured cafe (at the time of this writing). We are also being profiled in the next issue of Bean Scene so keep an eye out for that.

All in all the response has been very positive, and we welcome any further feedback graciously. A great big thank you to everyone who has popped through the doors and to everyone who has helped make the opening on bar 9 a reality. I've said it to many of my friends, if ever there was a cafe destined to never get opened it was Bar 9 - but perseverance, a pinch of luck, and a tonne of help and support has helped get us over the line. So thank you once again to everyone, and to those of you who haven't been in yet please pop in and say hi!

,.,

Bar 9 Adelaide - Coffee boutique 'sneek peek'

2009-06-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Those of you that have followed the progress of Bar 9 will know that it has been a (very) long time coming. There has been delay after delay after delay - and believe me, it frustrates me a lot more than it frustrates you. Money keeps going out, time keeps ticking on, and opportunities keep going by. To put it bluntly, I have enough.

This has prompted me to finally open the doors, come rain hail or shine! Bar 9 is developed enough, in my opinion, to be serving the very best coffee in South Australia, so why not just open up and start living up to that claim. And that's exactly what I intend to do.

So on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday* next week I'll be opening the doors and serving coffee. Please note however, that the cafe isn't completely finished, and there will be no food available (not enough power to run the necessary equipment). But we will have some amazing coffee for you to come in and try. There will be no specific prices, just pay by donation - or by what you think the coffee was worth (this could be dangerous ;p).

Depending on how busy we get we'll be serving drip/pour over, syphon, ice-brew and of course, espresso. So if you have and interest in coffee (or perhaps know someone who does), it will be a great time to come in and experience some amazing flavours that can exist within the bean.

If you're a local, a coffee enthusiast, a friend or simply curious as to what all the fuss is about please the time to pop in and say hi. I'll be in there from 7am and stick around till 6pm*.

Also, any barista's out there who want to lend a hand, or just pop in and pull some shots feel free.

I look forward to seeing you all at the first official 'sneak peek' of Bar 9. Please Digg, blog, re-tweet and pass on in any other method (even just talking!) to as many people as you can.

Many Thanks

Details:

Bar 9 "open for coffee"

Mon, Tue, Wed 7am till 6pm*

91 Glen Osmond rd, Eastwood SA

*Unless we run out of coffee first

How to brew without power?!

2009-06-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

Just a bit of an update before I post some exciting news. Everything was all set to go ahead with a 'soft' opening, followed by the official opening a week later. This is, however, before the power blew out last Sunday.

We didn't just blow a fuse either - we messed up the etsa box good and proper. Consequently there was no power that day which posed two problems. 1) how were we to have a coffee. And 2) how were we to get power back to the site and get the cafe open.

So to address the first problem, we had a butane burner for heating water (thanks to the syphons) and about a dozen or so ways of brewing coffee without the need of a pump or anything else electrical. However, there was no way to grind the coffee. No hand grinder, and obviously no way to power the usual grinders.

Discouraged though not defeated we put our thinking caps on. Anya has the brilliant idea of bagging up some coffee and beating it with a stick (there was no hammer handy). And I grabbed a pair of pliers and proceeded to 'crack' each bean, one at a time, until there was enough to make a cup of coffee. We then brewed the stick beaten coffee in a plunger and the pliered coffee in the Aeropress.

I'm not sure which one I preferred but I can honestly say that both cups were decent. Sure, no spectacular elixir mimicking the nectar of the gods, but still an entirely palatable cup of coffee. Just goes to show you that good stuff in (great quality coffee) mixed with a basic understanding of how to brew, equates to good stuff out.

This then leads to the second problem, no power and how that's going to effect the opening. Fortunately the sparky came out early the next day and got things up and running. Unfortunately I have to selectively power the site until an upgrade of the entire electrics of the site can occur (looking at about a month).

Fortunately with a few tweaks here and there I've been able to salvage together just enough power to get the grinders, coffee machine, fridge, dishwasher and hot water running. IE/ I have (just) enough power to make coffee. Which leads me to my next exciting piece of news.

When are you bloody opening?!

2009-06-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well after receiving this question what seems like a million times, we may (fingers crossed), be able to answer that soon. The final pieces of the plumbing map should be completed this week, which means that the Synesso will be pulling shots soon!

This inevitably means that I'm spending more and more time at the shop so if you happen to be passing by and see a few heads bobbing around feel free to pop in and grab a coffee or two! We've usually got some exciting beans laying around waiting to be consumed.

Thanks to everyone who follows this for your interest and patience. There have been too many unexpected delays and hiccups to warrant mentioning, but we're are finally getting there. And sorry I haven't been finding more time to keep this regularly updated.

For more recent updates please follow the twitter account BarNine, as it's a little quicker and easier to maintain.

So now to the suggested game plan - Assuming all goes to plan (which has happened around 2% of the time ;p), plumbing will be completed this week. Next week I'll spend 'prettying' up the place getting ready for a soft launch the week after. I'll post details for this later but basically we'll open up just for coffee (no food or cakes etc), to warm into the neighbourhood and have a chance to have a bit more a chat with everyone. The official launch should commence the week after (baring no unforeseen delays!!).

So thanks again for all your patience, and to everyone who's had the chance to pop their head in so far (I really appreciate the feedback) - and rest assured that we're more anxious than you are to get open and start serving you some amazing coffee!

Esmeralda Special Online Auction

2009-05-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Taken from coffee.com

"The Best of Panama 2009 cupping event took place May 7 thru May 9, in the highland town of Boquete. A select panel of international judges led by Ric Rhinehart, Head Judge of the event and Executive Director SCAA cupped and scored the coffees. International judges in attendance were: Willem Boot (Boot Consulting), Tracy Allen (Brewed Behavior), Chino Lizano (Deli-Café), Francisco Mena (Exclusive Coffee's SA), Mette-Marie Hansen (Kaffa), Doug Welsh (Peet's Coffee), Bob Williams (roastmasters.com), Thompson Owen (Sweetmaria's), Wendy DeJong (Tony's Coffee), Barry Levine (Willoughby's Coffee), Jeremy Tooker (Four Barrel Coffee), Mike Ebert (President SCAA) and Phil Anaker (Flying Goat Coffee)"

Last night the highest scoring coffee, Esmeralda Special (93.06 pts. HACIENDA LA ESMERALDA) went to auction online at stoneworks. The event happens live, with registered anonymous bidders located in any country able to try and outbid others to try and secure some of this outstanding coffee from various different allotments. Visitors to the site can view the action and once the auction has been closed and finalised, the winning bidders names are finally revealed. You can see the results here.

Usually the who's who of the international roasting and green bean society are present and this year was no exception with some very big names securing some of the allotments. Wataru picked up the bulk of the coffee, with other notable mentions coming from PT's, George Howell, Intelligentsia , Sweet Maria's, Stumptown, The Coffee Collective, Counter Culture and Cafe Imports.

The two biggest hitters were SAZA COFFEE Co and Fortnum & Mason, securing the first and second allotments respectively. Saza is a coffee roaster based in Japan and Fortnum is a very prestigious gift basket (hamper) distribution company based in London (however they do ship internationally).

As to what will happen to the exquisite coffee now is anyones guess, though undoubtedly some of it will (eventually) hit our shores.

The best thing (for me anyway) about this event vs the last was the online buzz centered around it. Twitter was very much alive with commentary throughout the auction. Speculation, excitement, frustration and all many of theories (like, who's bidder 58? etc) made for a very entertaining night.

Best of luck to all of those that secured their lots and to the rest of us, if you get the chance to try any of this amazing coffee be sure to go out of your way for it.

Bar 9 - an update

2009-05-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

Well it's about damn time I put up an update on how everything's coming along. Finally today (after five very longs months) the Burnside City Council has finally given me the building rules classification approval that I've needed in order to proceed.

So now the signage can go finally go up and I can remove that very dodgy sign that sits in the front window at present. Most of the machinery for the cafe is in transit and will be being installed shortly. My baby, the cyncra, is having a few tweaks done to the boiler and it will be here shortly after.

The blends have been pretty much worked out (there will be some tweaking when the cyncra gets here) as has most of our supply lines.

After all the machinery is commissioned and running there will be a few cosmetic changes to the store (making it look purdy) and we will do a bit of a soft launch that will involve giving away a whole bunch of coffee, a few specialist coffee nights and events, running the cafe open but without food to allow us to ease into the neighborhood and meet everyone, and finally a big open day.

I'm getting some pretty damn special coffee to coincide with all this so if you're mad nuts into coffee you probably won't want to miss out.

So in short, we're slowly getting there, but still have a few more hurdles to cross. I'll let you all know more as I do. Thanks for your interest and I hope we can start serving you some pretty amazing coffee soon!

...watch this space

Mazzer sweep mod

2009-05-07T04:09:00.000-07:00

Well it's about damn time! One peril that has plagued the otherwise almost untarnished reputation of the fantastic family of Mazzer coffee grinders is the fact that they constantly chuck to the left, spraying coffee everywhere. It's messy, wasteful and altogether damn annoying!

Different theories have been put forward as to whether it's best to pull slowly on the dosing lever (so as to slowly coerce the coffee to fall with little sideways momentum) or to thwack the hell out of the dosing lever to allow the coffee to 'bounce' back into the center of the puck.

There are also a few online templates of how to cut up a piece of plastic or paper and shape it to help 'fix' the problem. Me, i usually jam one of my business cards into the exit chute of the dosing chamber to help the problem.

However none of these temporary fixes a) last long or b) fix the problem entirely. What has always been missing is either 1) Mazzer just re-design their damn exit chute 2) Mazzer develop an official attachment that fixes the problem or 3) someone else develop an aftermarket 'unofficial' modification, and cash in on the many thousands of unhappy mazzer users world-wide.

Well finally someone has decided to do just that. The Elvinator is a small piece of custom designed plastic that screws onto the existing screws on the front of your mazzer grinder. Curled up like a funnel, it stops the grinds from spitting everywhere. Best of all, it's damn cheap (around US$10).

Check out Espresso Parts for more info

WBC finalists are in

2009-04-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick little update to say congratulations to all the baristas who have made the finals:

1. HUNGARY—ATTILA MOLNAR
2. UNITED KINGDOM—GWILYM DAVIES
3. CANADA—SAMMY PICCOLO

4. UNITED STATES—MICHAEL PHILLIPS

5. IRELAND—COLIN HARMON

6. REPUBLIC OF KOREA—LEE JONG HOON

It's very upsetting that the Aussie competitor, Tim Adams, while putting on a valiant effort, unfortunately didn't make the top six. And the same goes for Carl Sara, New Zealand's competitor (we all know how much we aussies like to claim NZ'ers)

Having said that, I for one am very excited to see Korea and Hungary there for the very first time. I think it just goes to show how much the specialty coffee industry is growing. And how far and wide specialty coffee, and passionate baristas have spread.

Be sure to check out http://worldbaristachampionship.org/2009/ for the official blog or get following the official tweet, @WBC2009

Bar 9 Website up and running

2009-04-14T22:22:00.001-07:00

Well, sort of. It's a public beta version up for your scrutiny. The official site won't be up until the cafe is (no, there's still no word on an official date) and we've had a chance to snap a few more photo's and upload some more exciting content.

So for now if I could ask you to have a look and post some feedback (either via the contact details @ the site, or via this blog). I'm far more interested in negative feedback than positive, so feel free to let loose. Also, if it displays wierd in your browser please let me know (should be blackberry/iphone friendly).

Anyway, the link is http://www.bar9.com.au

South Australian AASCA Meeting (11th March 2009)

2009-03-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

The next meeting for the South Australian arm of the Australasian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA)is scheduled for next Wednesday, 11th March 2009 from 6:30pm, to be held @ Bar 9 - Specialist Coffee Boutique (that's here!), 91 Glen Osmond Rd, Eastwood, SA.

Now I should point out that Bar 9 is no where near the point of completion (or opening) but under the ambient glow of floodlights and lamps (still having issues with power to the main half of the site) the meeting will go on, and be the first real coffee event to christen the walls of Bar 9.

For those of you who don't know what AASCA is, it's basically the governing body behind specialty coffee here in Australasia (and by specialty, we mean quality coffee). Their job essentially is to promote the specialty coffee industry and offer a place of reference for individuals and businesses wanting to find out more about quality coffee, rather than commodity based, mass produced rubbish.

So if you're a member please come along, or if you're not a member, but are still interested in popping your head in to see what we're all about please contact Bill (SA's head honcho) on 0407 714 560

I'll also have the Rancilio z9 Lever Piston setup for espresso and something else for milk based coffee's. I'll probably bring along some alternate brewers (Syphon, Drip, Turkish, Viet etc) in case any one's interested in having a bit of a play around.

I should also mention that I'll be unavailing the launch of 100% Directly traded Bar 9 Blak, Bar 9's non milk based coffee blend, so it will be interesting to get your thoughts.

Hope to see you there!

Coffee, an affordabe luxury... but at what cost?

2009-02-28T03:23:00.000-08:00

"Meanwhile, the mainstream first-world consumer has held stubbornly to the idea that coffee is a cheap luxury, that the $1.00 bottomless mug is somehow a right or a deserved privilege. It is this very attitude that will continue to ensure that the modern smallholder coffee farmer has little hope of escaping a life of extreme poverty. Cheap coffee (and by “cheap” I mean low cost, which typically equates to low quality) is one of the many forces shackling the developing world and suppressing opportunity for advancement for a huge chunk of the planet’s population who depend on coffee to make a living."

-GEOFF WATTS, Intelligentsia Coffee

This is an exert taken from a fantastic response to an online article that's definately well worth reading.

Location Confirmed, keys in hand.

2009-02-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

Well its been a VERY long time coming, but I finally have the keys in hand. The confirmed location of Bar Nine Adelaide is

91 Glen Osmond Rd
Eastwood, South Australia

Still awaiting certain approval's before any major can take place, and then the big install of some very cool and exciting machinery!!

I'll obviously keep you all posted as it all comes to light. But here's its location to wet your apetites:

View Larger Map

Best Coffee at the Adelaide Fringe

2009-02-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again, when the Fringe festival makes it's way to the small old town of Adelaide, South Australia.

Detail's can be found here, but basically the Adelaide Fringe Festival is an annual open access multi arts festival, which takes place over three weeks all over Adelaide. The festival typically brings together an ecletic mix of hippies, boguns, socialites, students, drunks and other arty people from across the state.

It's generally a great event (or set of events for that matter) showcasing the talents of various comedians and artists in a wide range of roles, and is definately one of the bigger nad better events to happen in South Australia.

As is usually the problem at just about any event, generally across the country, finding a decent coffee to help get you through the weeks and weeks of entertainment can be a tremendous challenge (I'd love to have a chat with the guy or girl who's in charge of organising the people (carts) providing things like food and drinks, and give them a smack over the back of the head).

So to make it easier for you, I thought I'd spill a little secret, Where to find a decent cuppa?

Head on over to Combi Coffee where coffee nutter, Josh, or one of his awesome staff will prepare you a fantastic cup. Their coffee is certified organic fair trade, made from crops in Ethiopia, PNG, East Timor and Columbia. The coffee is super fresh and rosted in the Yarra Ranges by David Moon. The Coffee is made using 100% Atlantas spring and local Tweedvale milk (from Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills).

Needless to say, they actually care about the coffee being sent out, and not just pushing out a product. They can be found just heading past the bridge, on the right, in the Garden of Unearthly delights.

Enjoy!

Launch of new Imma & Mario's coffee line

2009-02-20T03:01:00.000-08:00

This is a little late notice, but the information was only just forwarded to me, so if you see this in time and get a chance to check it out head on over.

Imma and Mario's mercato is a massive italian gourmet's delight located in Campbelltown, South Australia. This is a great place to empty your wallet and spend some time strolling through little italy looking at all the very specialist delights they offer (everything from cheese and small goods, to cooking and crockery to home wine brew set-ups, if it's italian, you can find it here).

Anyway, for some time they have been running their own brand of roasted coffee, but after some careful consultation with Aroma Fresh (located in Klemzig) they are launching a new string of three different blends of coffee. I'm yet to try any of these, but they'll be giving it away tomorrow (20th Feb, 2009) from 11am till 2:30pm, so be sure to pop in and grab a few bags. And if you do, be sure to post here and let us know how you go.

2009 Australian National Barista Competition Results

2009-02-01T16:49:00.001-08:00

Here's a snapshot of the results for those of you who couldn't follow the comp at the time and are wondering what went down.

Australian Barista Competition:
1st Tim Adams (Qld) - by a margin of 10pts
2nd Zoe Delany (Vic)
3rd Con Hara....(Vic)
4th Habib Marbani (NSW)
5th Jessy Hyde (Vic)
--there was no public announcement of the scores

Latte Art
1st Erin Sampson (VIC)
2nd Habib Marbani (NSW)
3rd Will (TAS, now working in VIC)
4th Johny Pisineli (SA)

Coffee and Good Spirits
1st Kirby Berlin (Vic)
2nd Scottie Callaghan NSW)
3rd David Seng (Vic)

Cupping
1st Ben Bicknell (WA, now living in Vic) - 8/8 in 1:29sec
2nd Luca Costanzo (Vic) - 7/8
3rd Brian Raslan (SA) - 6/8

The event on the whole was a tremendous success with all the hard work of the organisers, sponsors, volunteers and of, the competitors really paying off. It get more cliche every year to say it, but it's true, the level of dedication and passion just keeps getting higher and higher.

It was great to see so many industry professionals together enjoying the day and I think, one the whole, it was a great success.

Davinci Syrups through together a fantastic afterparty, but the stories there I think I'll leave for another time ;P

Well done to everyone involved, and especially the competitors who really gave their all!

Australian National Barista Comp Live Feed

2009-01-30T03:24:00.000-08:00

Live feed can be watched here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gun-barista-challenge

or here (when online):Free TV Show from Ustream

2009 Australian National Barista Championships

2009-01-25T15:37:00.000-08:00

Well this Friday marks the beginning of the 2009 Australian Barista Comp.

Taken from the AASCA website

AASCA in conjunction with KC Concepts and Epic Attractions will be staging the 2009 Australian Barista Championship as well as the Australian Latte Art Championship, Australian Cuptasting Championship and for the first time:The Coffee In Good Spirits Championship.
The national competitions will be held at the Gold Coast Food and Wine Show at the Gold Coast Exhibition and Convention Center on the 30, 31 January and 1 February 2009

The Itinerary reads as follows (thanks Ash)

Friday:
10am – Repechage Detpak Australian Barista Championship

Saturday:
10am – Detpak Australian Barista Championship semi-finals
2:45pm – Repechage Australian Latte Art Championship
5:00pm – Repechage Huhtamaki Australian Cup Tasting Championship

Sunday:
10am – Detpak Australian Barista Championship Finals
1:45pm – Australian Coffee in Good Spirits Championship Finals
2:45pm – Australian Latte Art Championship Finals
4:45pm – Huhtamaki Australian Cup Tasting Championship Finals
5:15pm – Trophy Presentation Ceremony

I'm going to be heading up for the Sunday so if anyone else is, feel free to give me a buzz as it would be great to catch up. I'm not sure if any is planning on micro-bloggin the event, so if no one else does, i probably will on the Sunday (keep in mind I'll be running a bit late in the morning). So keep an eye on the twitter account or just stay tuned here.

5AA radio - Follow up

2009-01-01T03:19:00.000-08:00

Well for those of you who missed it, and for some reason feel compelled to sit through and listen, here's my appearance on 5AA radio Adelaide. The best bit (besides shamefully plugging new soon-to-be cafe) was definately the people who called in ;p

5 AA Radio

2008-12-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Well thanks to a friend of mine being unable to attend a radio interview, i've managed to fluke my way in. Tomorrow (Jan 1st 2009) I'll be on air on Adelaides 5 AA Radio for about half an hour from 4pm. As it's all last minute, I'll be completely under-prepared and have no real idea what's going on, but i'm told we'll be talking about "all things coffee" and taking listener calls so it should be a bit of fun.

For those of you who don't live in adelaide (or down own an AM radio), you can listen online at http://www.fiveaa.com.au/dmgcustom/listenLive2.html.

So the details again in brief:

Ian Callahan on

5AA Radio

January 1st from 4pm

AM Frequency: 1395

Turkish Coffee (Cezve) Video

2008-12-29T04:45:00.000-08:00

To coincide with my first article for bean scene magazine, which is going to be about the Turkish brew coffee (using a cezve, ibrik or briki), I'm posting a brief video of me going through the actions. I've hooked a k-type thermocouple to the cezve to give you a readout of the temp which should give you a better point of reference of what's going on.

You'll prob notice the temp drop occasionally, this is because I was brewing outside and every now and again a gust of wind would blow through. I also forgot to start the timer, but you can obviously just use the time at the bottom of the video feed.

In the article I'll be talking about different findings from changing round some of the various brewing properties, but for info on that, you'll have to get a copy of the mag!

Let me know if any of you have any comments or questions.

Turkish Coffee Video - How to - from Bar Nine Espresso on Vimeo.

Bean Scene Magazine

2008-12-29T04:26:00.001-08:00

I though I'd give a quick shout-out to a newly appointed role of mine, as one of the contributors for the soon to be re-launched, Bean Scene Magazine.

With a brand new publisher, Prime Creative, new editor in chief Steve Agi, and an intimidating list of high profile contributors and writers, this magazine is sure to make an impact of both industry professionals and budding home enthusiasts alike.

Coinciding with my growing interests in alternate brewing methods, and the launch of my soon to be open cafe (yes, it's getting really close right now), which will be continually profiling these different methods, I'll be writing a series of articles on everything from manual pour over, to Vietnamese coffee pots (and everything in between) in an attempt highlight some of these often forgotten brewing styles.

So check out the website and be sure to look out for a copy late Jan/early Feb

Relocation of Blog

2008-12-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been following my blog (Previously know as Blue Chip Espresso, located at bluechipespresso.blogspot.com), I have relocated here, to BarNine.blogspot.com

Any Further posts i'll still publish to the old blog as well, for anyone too lazy to bother to update their rss feed reader settings.

I'll also publish the last two posts of bluechip here, just to get the ball rolling.

Rancilio Z9 Lever Espresso Machine

2008-12-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited to have recently obtained a restored lever espresso machine for the cafe. It's around 35 years old and has been given a great overhaul by an excited little tinker-er in New South Wales. Eventually this machine will run alongside a Synesso Cyncra in the cafe and will be set up in such a way so as to allow any budding coffee enthusiasts the opportunity to pull a few shots.
However for now, it resides at my place and provides the perfect morning cuppa, not to mention a steep learning curve which is great fun explore upon.
Here's the new (old) baby in action:

Bar Nine Espresso on Vimeo.

Coolest little barista ever!

2008-11-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

Here's some footage of my son, Noah, making me a coffee just before his second birthday. And just for the record, the coffee tasted awesome!

WARNING: Some explicit music present so turn down your speakers if easily offended