Results from the 2010 Australian National Barista Championship Semi - Finals

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

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

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

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

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

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.