Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

[yeeza]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Sue and I arrived at about 11.30 and missed the shoot off, but I heard that Yeeza had the goods this year.  Congratulations Yeeza!

It looked like CoffeeSnobs had taken over the entire OS Terminal.  Not surprising then, to find thats where the best coffee was served too!

It was great to actually meet you in person Dennis, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, though as I write this post, the time has elapsed to the next day. It was great to put a face to a name. Good to meet you too Sue!

[recurve_boy]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Ugh ... caffeine withdrawal ? ... trying not to puke right now.

[Thundergod]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Sore feet.

[Shannon]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Trinity and I had a pretty good time yesterday. Caught the train in and was sipping on a flat white from Tobys estate just after 10am - already there was a line. We then took a walk along the foreshore to miss the tea drinking set and wandered up chocolate alley. The chocolate fountain was quite the hit along the way. We went to the end and Trin grabbed her first babycinno for the day.
Headed up to the OS terminal and out of the crowd a bit, it was nice and warm and there was a lot of bling on show!! Dibartoli and ECA was already bubbling.
Said Gday to TG in between customers and got to meet Ofra. Out of that meeting we were forced into another brew each from Michelle who we got to meet for the first time. It was nice to have a bit of a chat over a Michelle made coffee and babycinno.
Got a bit busy so took a wander around the rest - got accosted by a Gaggia lady giving away bags (Trinity was happy to have something to swing off her arm though).
We ogled the beautiful espresso cups on offer with great patterns and designs. Does anyone remember who they were?? I had planned on going back and picking up a single cup and saucer but forgot. Id love to look at a web site.
Headed back to Dibartoli for the start of the shoot out and watched some VERY capable people get a little nervous in the spotlight. New machines, new grinders, a cupping champ judging and about 100 people watching them try to make some seriously good coffee in 5 mins - I dont know why they were nervous Saw Sparrow and his wife (a fellow Bott owner.)

It was really good watching them do their stuff, there is no way Id cope with that sort of thing any time soon. I saw some of the nicest looking shots get sinked as they did not make the cut, I saw some quiality milk get ditched (hey Ben) because the rosetta did not quite meet his high standards. I would have been happy to just get brown water and a bit of bubbly milk under the conditions. TG was cool as a cucumber finishing with a couple of seconds to spare in the first heat. From memory everyone in the first heat finished on time. I was across the room from Michelle so cannot comment much other then to say that her commentary on her perfomance was a little harsh I reckon. Heat 2 saw the eventual winner - Dan - sink 2 or 3 shots before being happy and grapple with a grinder he had never used (or wanted to by the sound of it!!) I think he was the only one in this heat that finished within time. Greg needs special mention here as he had never used a HX machine before and so had to deal with that on top of everything else. It was great to see him give it a go even though he had no experience with these beasts.
After the presentation we had some lunch and watched some street performers. Then trecked across to the opera house to check it out.
Came back and ran into with Dennis and Sue, said Gday and then a cheerio to Michelle and Dan. On the way to the station met up with 30in30 at the crema mag stand
Made it out in time to catch the 2:18 home - or so we thought!! I had not made time allowances for the fact that on a weekend trains on the city circle do not run every minute or two. Missed our 2:18 by minutes and had to hang around central till 3:18 :-[
We didnt mind, I got to sit on the train and listen to Trinity singing along to Rogue Traders and No Doubt on the Ipod She had a bit of a sleep on my lap on the way home and all in all it was a great daddy daughter day enjoyed by both of us.

Great to catch up with all I saw. We need to do it again some time.

[meginoz1]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Hi Shannon, I arrived too late to watch the shoot out. I still had a wonderful day out with family and friends. The cups were great although I didnt buy one. I grabbed a brochure which is in german! The website is: www.bellaco.com.au Hope this helps. Meaghan

[Wushoes]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Apart from catching-up face to face with CSrs and sponsors (which is always the highlight for me) the gem of last years Aroma was the chilli chocolate beans for sure!

Most CSrs arrive all excited only to be disappointed with the coffee (not a great environment for anyone to exhibit their best brew) but the social aspect and the toys are always a highlight.

Enjoy it guys!

Yeah...its made by a non colonialistic company called Mayan Coffee. Had some at the final of Danes Grand Barista Championship and met Roberto. Those cardamom, chilli and choc coated coffee beans were mind blowing.

[Shannon]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Thanks Meaghan

That is what I was after. Im glad you had fun, it was good and the weather perfect

[Thundergod]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

It would have been nice to meet the famous 5000th member.

Sorry I missed you.

[meginoz1]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Thanks TG I have never felt so famous!!! We were travelling with friends from Sydney who werent as keen to get there and be there as we were and their kids got bored very quickly. It was great to see so much wonderful coffee and chocolate things. Its days like this that make you sometimes think living in a city wouldnt be so hard. The weather was fantastic too. We got home very late after a 5 hour trip home. Meaghan

[benandfaith]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

Thought Id post my little report from the Di Bartoli stand... read on if you wish!

Those of us helping at the stand started the day around 8:30am - thats when I got there anyway. I helped out taking some of the accessories out of their boxes and trying to arrange some sort of display on the tables which were for sale to the public on the day.

Then at about 9 onwards, Michelle (on Giotto/MMini), Dan (on Minore II/Macap M4) and I (on VBM/Compak K3-touch) were downing shot after shot dialing in our grinders and we even tried each others shots to see what we thought! I recall we each made some vague comments, but generally, they were mostly very drinkable shots! Renzo on the Domus Galatea/Macap M4D was still busy trying to organise the stand layout and chatting with just about everyone in the terminal who seemed to know him! Popular and charismatic guy, this Renzo!

At about 9:45, people started trickling in right up the the mad lunch rush and winding down in a big way by about 4:30pm. During that time I took 2x10-15 minutes break during which I scoffed down a vegetarian sandwich and wandered around looking at the other stands. At the end of the day I realised I hadnt sat down since I walked off the bus at 8:30am and got into the car at 5:30pm. Sore feet!

I spent probably 60% of the time on the VBM and for the main, I enjoyed the machine - I just couldnt really get the steaming down pat. I used the Minore II for the shootout and once again, my steaming on that machine just struggled for some reason. I spent more than an hour on the Domus and I think Ive found my next purchase (until I change my mind again of course!)! It is a beautiful machine and just seem to fit me best, everything just worked so well. Having the M4D over the Compak K3 was also a significant leap in usability and quality!

All up, I reckon I may have made between 150-200 cups of coffee, maybe more? Im not sure really, but it seemed like I was at it all day, making coffees while trying to talk to people - sure wasnt easy multi-tasking at times!

Probably my biggest impression of the day was this: the four machines being demoed are supposed to be domestic machines, yet, none of them skipped a beat all day. I was truly amazed that they withstood such punishment and produced the goods all day long. I have been told that these machines are those you can hand down to your kids - I think I caught a glimpse of that at Aromafest and if I do finally make that purchase, I am pretty sure, one of the machines in that class will be mine for life.

[Thundergod]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

We got home very late after a 5 hour trip home. Meaghan

Makes me feel better about the hour it took me.

Probably my biggest impression of the day was this: the four machines being demoed are supposed to be domestic machines, yet, none of them skipped a beat all day. I was truly amazed that they withstood such punishment and produced the goods all day long. I have been told that these machines are those you can hand down to your kids - I think I caught a glimpse of that at Aromafest and if I do finally make that purchase, I am pretty sure, one of the machines in that class will be mine for life.

Good point Ben.

Nice to know that you agree on one of the main reasons I bought my Expobar.

[roknee]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

congrats Dan
sounds like it was a fun day above everything else

[Scorpion]

Re: Sydney - 2008 Aroma Festival - Sunday 6th July

A bit belatedly, thanks to everyone who posted messages and photos about the day. I am certain that I speak for all CSers who werent there when I say that it was very enjoyable to read/see, although undoubtedly better to see/smell/taste!!

Well done to all and I hope that I can get to Sydney for one in the future.

Regards

S