CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Andy & Ben...

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Ben & Nunu in the heat of the battle... the huge crowd behind cheering them on...Andy taking notes...

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

A couple of lattes...my double is on the left after a couple of Andys sips (as you can see, Im not into latte art!), I think it was Thundergods seagulls on the right...

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Nunu showing off his lightning fast thwacking style on the mazzer!

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Thundergod at work on the Minore II...

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Nakedbean at work...

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

The Di Bartoli stand with a couple of CSers fighting it out!... Andy keeping an eye on everything in the background.

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

My wife Dale & son Rudy, George Street brimming in the background...

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

my sons expression after seeing the loooong coffee lines, (no not really, hed just broken his pirate sword on a park bench...)

[JasonD]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Id also like to extend thanks to everyone involved, to the Di Bartoli crew for letting us amateurs take up valuable selling time on their stand and play with their toys, Andy for his words of wisdom and letting us force him to drink that yucky milky coffee http://coffeesnobs.com.au/templates/forum/default/wink.gif and to all of the others CSers who competed and cheered us on, it was great to meet you all.

Some pics from the day will follow, (mods: please remove if inappropriate)
Jas.

[Viviane]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

I would like to echo the comments about the De Bartoli stand and coffee shootout today - it was a lot of fun, albeit very nervewracking. Thanks to Ofra and Renzo for hosting the competition, Andy for judging and for the entrants goodies, Michele for organising the competition and Aaron for compering it (though no thanks for picking me to go in the first round, Aaron :P). Thanks also to Dennis for making "lumpy spud" latte art something to laugh about in the heat of competition - at least now my art has a genre. And congratulations to Ben for winning. He definitely doesnt do lumpy spuds.

It was great seeing other CSers, I managed a few coffees during the day, mostly from the De Bartoli stand, the queues in other places were horrific.

[andy]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

The Final

JasonD was the highest point scorer at this stage but sadly had to forfeit the final to take the family home. I’m sure he will have another go next year.

We then had two people on 14 points and everyone else on 13. Any one of the equal 3 place getters could have made the final with just the most subtle of changes. (I told you it was close!)


Setup 1 - Thundergod
Category 1 – 4 points.
Category 2 – 4 points
Category 3 – 4 points
Bonus
Total 12

Thundergod was rattled after changing machines, everything was vastly different to what was working before and a series of under and overdoses while learning the new gear ate too much of the 10 minute time period. The neatness around the grinder was spot-on but a slight overdose meant that the espresso shot was shorter than planned and the latte was weak too. I’m sure another round on this machine and he would have go up to speed, the clock is crewel.

Setup 2 - Ben
Category 1 – 5 points.
Category 2 – 5 points
Category 3 – 5 points
Bonus +2
Total 17

Ben on the Expobar was in his comfort zone now. Housework included a flush, clean, inversed group-handle after tamping well and a espresso that had good colour, crema and volume. The latte was a double-shot and a brilliant etch of the judge (complete with goatee) earned the bonus points for a perfect score of 17.


Congrats to Ben for a great job and congrats to everyone who had a go. Special mention to Dennis and Vivienne who had to go first (EXTRA pressure!)

It was all good fun.

[andy]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Heat 4 – Nunu - Ben

Setup 1 - Nunu
Category 1 – 4 points.
Category 2 – 5 points
Category 3 – 4 points
Bonus
Total 13

Excellent work around the grinder, good machine purging and quite a few test shots to get the grinder dialed-in right. Sadly the “money shot” was a little too shallow (under the circlip) and that lost a point. The espresso was a perfect volume and pour and was one of the best tasting (although not a scoring criteria). The latte milk texture was closer to old-style cappuccino so that lost a point but the temperature was spot-on. I later found-out that Nunu doesn’t “do milk” at home so it was a very noble effort.

Setup 2 - Ben
Category 1 – 5 points.
Category 2 – 4 points
Category 3 – 5 points
Bonus
Total 14

Around the grinder I think Ben was the standout. Good dose, perfect tamp, nice clean around the top of the basket and even an invert to make sure the puck stayed there. The espresso shot was well timed but was a little short in volume so it lost a point. The Latte had great texture scored full marks.

[andy]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Heat 3 – NakedBean and Thundergod (both wearing DiBartoli shirts!).

Setup 1 – NakedBean
Category 1 – 5 points.
Category 2 – 4 points
Category 3 – 4 points
Bonus
Total 13

Nice work around the grinder after Bruce dialed it in. A couple of the test shots were with a crooked tamp (under the circlip on one side, over it on the other) but the actual shots for the espresso and latte were tamped well and pulled well. The espresso was a good volume but a little shorter than the 30ml target and the latte ran a little short on milk. It was only these areas that lost points else this was also a finals appearance performance.


Setup 2 - Thundergod
Category 1 – 5 points.
Category 2 – 4 points
Category 3 – 4 points
Bonus +2 -1
Total 14

Great work around the grinder, dose was correct and the use of a credit card sized plastic gift voucher from his wallet made a good dose leveler. Tamp work was square and well weighted. The espresso lost a point for being a little too short in the glass but the quality was spot-on. The latte lost a point for being a little short in the glass too but the toothpick etched “seagulls” scored the first 2 bonus points and looked very good. The other -1 was for running over time.

[andy]

Re: CS Shoot-out @ Aroma

Heat 2 – Battle of the Jasons.

Setup 1 - Jason
Category 1 – 5 points.
Category 2 – 5 points
Category 3 – 4 points
Bonus -1
Total 13

Great work around the grinder with some initial coaching from Nunu the dose was spot-on and tamp good. The espresso was great with a good pour, good crema and the right volume. The initial latte was great but not handed to the judge, instead an attempt at a better one was made and due to the time keeper counting down, Jason had to squeal the milk to get it finished and sadly late. This would have been a final appearance without that last minute change of mind. Nice work.

Setup 2 - JasonD
Category 1 – 5 points.
Category 2 – 5 points
Category 3 – 5 points
Bonus
Total 15

Not too much to say here. Great dose and tamp, perfect looking pucks, espresso pour was spot-on and tasted great and the latte was a doubleshot (no bonus for that but it does taste better!) with great texture and sweet milk. I tried hard to deduct something but it wasn’t there, it was good solid performance under pressure and some art on-top would have netted a perfect score.