Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

Coffee News Recap, 26 Jan: Researchers create new genetic map to “future proof” arabica production, UAE & Italian Coffee Champions crowned at WoC Dubai and SIGEP & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s coffee news stories. The word of the week is: competitions. Mon, 22 Jan Timemore launches crowdfunding campaign for upcoming Millab E01 portable electric coffee grinder. The wireless electric coffee grinder features a 5,000 mAh lithium battery […]


Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

Introducing the specialty cafés of Quito, a city worth exploring on your coffee quest. BY JORDAN BUCHANANSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE Featured photo courtesy of Stratto When traveling across South America, Ecuador can be forgotten between the high profiles of Colombia and Peru. Similarly, coffee from Ecuador may be overlooked due to its giant neighbors, including […]


Know Your Sweeteners: Agave: Part One — Indigenous Use

Known today primarily as a sweetener, agave can be traced back thousands of years. BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo by Bruno Cervera via Unsplash Recently, we launched our brand new article series “Know Your Sweeteners,” where we’re discussing a variety of sweeteners and syrups, and analyzing the unique characteristics of each one. […]


Interest in coffee & health is rising – what do consumers need to know?

There is a wealth of scientific research available about the many health benefits of coffee – as well as the undesirable side effects of drinking too much. But like all fields of science, research about the impact of drinking coffee on human health is ever-changing as we uncover new findings.  Interestingly, the continuous discovery of […]

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

Coffee News Recap, 20 Jan: Last chance to apply for PRF El Salvador Mayorga Scholarship and volunteer positions, World of Coffee Dubai attracts more than 12,000 visitors & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s stories. Mon, 16 Jan World of Coffee Dubai 2023 attracts more than 12,000 visitors from 48 countries. The event, which was held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, also included over 180 exhibitors and 36 […]


Ethos Agriculture’s Journey from Vision to Impact in Coffee Sustainability: Part Two

In the second half of this article, we discover how the Coffee Barometer attempts to bridge the gap between discourse and action, envisioning a sustainable…


Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

We talk to the first Colombian World Barista Champion and Diamante Coffee Farm founder Diego Campos about his brewing habits. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Diego Campos The focal point of a coffee worker’s professional life is, obviously, coffee. Whether for a customer, to check a specific production batch, or to verify the […]


María Andrée Is Honing Olfactory Skills in Antigua 

A sensorial class in Guatemala at Artista de Café teaches how to use your nose for the ultimate coffee experience. BY JORDAN BUCHANANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of Arista de Café Walking into a specialty café in Guatemala, your nostrils are infused with aromas from the best coffees in the country. Your nose recollects the […]

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

In Tbilisi, Parsek1 Merges Comic Books with Specialty Coffee

We take a look at how this innovative café has changed the face of comics and coffee in the capital of Georgia. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Parsek1 When it comes to coffee and comic books, Japan is a longtime leader in the field. Manga cafés have been around for decades, combining […]


An Unfiltered History of Vietnamese Coffee

We explore the history of coffee in Vietnam and how the industry’s perception of Vietnamese coffee is evolving.  BY EMILY MENESES BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo by frank mckenna via Unsplash What do you think of when you hear the term “Vietnamese coffee”? For Kim Dam, founder of Portland Cà Phê, it extends far beyond […]


Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

The Turkish specialty-coffee community is coming together to support earthquake relief. BY MICHAEL BUTTERWORTHSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE When Niji Coffee went live on Instagram,…


Brewing at Home and on the Road with Justin Pierce

In this series, we ask coffee professionals how they like to drink their coffee while at home and when traveling. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Feature photo courtesy of Justin Pierce Coffee professionals tend to spend most of their days brewing coffee. Baristas brew coffee behind the bar for their customers. Roasters brew it to […]

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

The Turkish specialty-coffee community is coming together to support earthquake relief.

BY MICHAEL BUTTERWORTH
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

When Niji Coffee went live on Instagram, it felt as though the entire Turkish specialty-coffee community was watching with bated breath. Niji Coffee made a name for itself in the Turkish specialty-coffee scene when, as a relatively unknown roaster out of Gaziantep, their head barista Ali Razzaghzadeh won the Turkish Brewers Cup in 2022.

None of that seemed to matter at the moment. Multiple earthquakes devastated southeastern Türkiye and Syria on Monday, February 6, and Gaziantep was the epicenter of the first quake.

Ali was one of the first people I texted.

“Are you okay?”

A wave of relief came over me when he replied. “We’re okay.” But the rest of his message revealed the severity of the situation.

“It was so big. … It’s still going on.”

Gaziantep was the epicenter of the first disastrous earthquake on February 6. Image by Michael Gaida from Pixabay

Unspeakable Damage and Loss

On the livestream, Niji founder Kevser Atmaca takes us on a tour of her neighborhood, revealing collapsed apartment building after collapsed apartment building. Many were once more than 10 stories, now reduced to piles of jagged concrete and twisted rebar. A search-and-rescue team carefully combs through the rubble in hopes of finding survivors. Somberly, Kevser explains that the last person they found hadn’t made it.

At the time of writing, the death toll in Türkiye and Syria has exceeded 30,000 people. It’s officially the deadliest natural disaster in Turkish history.

Relief Efforts on the Ground

Despite being survivors of the earthquake themselves, Kevser and Ali have thrown themselves into relief efforts. They have been brewing coffee for search-and-rescue workers—some of whom are sleeping less than two hours a night as they race to find survivors under the rubble. They’ve also become a hub for delivering aid to the community, sharing whatever resources they can with their neighbors.

“There’s no gas, there’s no water. There’s only sometimes electricity,” Kevser says in the video. “There’s no bread. Mothers don’t have milk or diapers for their babies.”

With tears in her eyes, Kevser turns the camera around and pleads, “Don’t forget about us.” 

The Turkish specialty-coffee community has not forgotten.

Within 24 hours, the SCA Türkiye chapter announced they were organizing a caravan to deliver food, water, and clothing. The overwhelming response from the community led to a second van being dispatched a day later. When I arrived at the meeting place outside Coffee Dept. in Istanbul’s Balat neighborhood, I found baristas Sametcan Genç and Murat Erdoan carefully packing the van to make room for bags of ground coffee, canned food, and diapers.

“We will need to work together in the following days,” says Asli Yaman, national coordinator of the SCA Türkiye chapter. “People will need more help.”

La Marzocco Türkiye has shifted from delivering espresso machines to delivering tents. Çetin Gürer, partner at La Marzocco Türkiye and an off-roading enthusiast, is utilizing his off-roading vehicle to deliver supplies to remote villages.

An aerial view of the city of Adana before the earthquake. Photo by Hulisi Kayaci via Unsplash.

My own company, Etkin, is donating a week of profits from our web store to the effort. It feels like a small gesture to give back to the country where our pourover drippers are designed and manufactured. One of the cities affected, Adana, is my business partner’s hometown. He’s currently on the ground, distributing over-the-counter medicine and tents to those in need.

The unified response of the specialty-coffee community in Turkey has been truly inspiring, but we need more help. We’re asking those who are able to give to relief efforts, such as the TPF Turkiye Earthquake Relief Fund.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Butterworth is the cofounder of Etkin and the inventor of the Etkin 8-Cup Coffee Dripper. He is an Authorized SCA Trainer and a frequent contributor to several food and beverage publications, including his own coffee website, thecoffeecompass.com. He lives in Istanbul with his wife and three children. 

The post Serving Coffee in the Epicenter appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0