I created this drink to serve at the Spirit Bar, the first component of the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championships. Competitors roll a dice and depending on which side the dice lands (each side has a sponsored spirit on it), they have to create a different drink! The 'Boskop 43' is named after two components - Boskop apples (my favourite apple, and a native apple to Germany) and Licor 43, a Spanish liquer which was the major sponsor for the WCiGS event. Ingredients and tools: Aeropress Fellow Prismo Aeropress cap 50g coffee (Natural Caturra, Panama) 150mL 97 degree water BOSKOP SHRUB 3 tbsp Boskop apples, finely chopped 2g fennel seeds (to add herbal sweetness) 1 cL Da Vinci simple syrup 1.5 cL apple vinegar 1.5 cL fino sherry Cream gun 2 CO2 bulbs (for cream gun) Boston Shaker Ice cubes (10 should be fine) 2 cL Licor 43 Baristo 5 cL IPA Method: 1. Ensure that your Fellow Prismo cap is on your Aeropress, and that your Aeropress is atop a sturdy vessel which can take the weight of your pushing. 2. Grind your coffee for espresso and add it to your Aeropress. Add the hot water and stir for 30 seconds - this will increase the body of the brew. Place on the top half of the Aeropress and set a timer for 2 minutes. 3. To make the Boskop Shrub, combine apples, fennel seeds, apple vinegar and sherry in a cream gun. Place on the lid and charge the gun with the two CO2 bulbs. Leave to infuse. 4. By now, your Aeropress will be ready. Push the Aeropress down - I find that pushing in waves will allow you to get more texture in your brew. When pushed all the way through, you should have a small amount of liquid which weighs about 40g. Add this to your Boston Shaker. 5. Depressurise the cream gun that contains your infusion - it is best to face it upwards and cover the nozzle with a cloth when doing so. When all the gas is out, remove the lid and filter the contents through a bar strainer into the Boston Shaker. Discard the apples and fennel seeds in your strainer. 6. Add 2cL Licor 43 Baristo to the Boston Shaker. This will add a velvety and creamy mouthfeel and hints of chocolate. Add ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. 7. Add the 5 cL of IPA. Gently mix with a bar spoon, and then single strain into a glass and serve immediately. A medium thickness should form on your drink. Look for tasting notes of

This was one of the drinks I served in the finals of the World Coffee in Good Spirits (WCiGS) championships in Berlin, 2019. This drink is best served chilled and enjoyed from a martini or wide-rimmed glass. Ingredients: 2 double shots of Espresso (I used a Natural Processed Caturra from Finca Deborah, Panama) 0.5 cL Cold Brew X (Röststätte Berlin) 2 cL Meridor Gin 1 cL Perdo Ximinez (PX) Sherry 3 cL Tete sake Method: 1. Combine all ingredients in a Boston Shaker and add ice. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds. 2. Single strain into martini glasses and serve immediately. Video: See me making this drink at World Coffee in Good Spirits finals (2019) at the World of Coffee Expo in Berlin!

In the following I review three different Moccamaster machines (pictured below), which are all designed for both domestic and commercial use. I not only discuss the main features and functionality, but my personal experience of using and brewing with them. My recipes are by no means the perfect way to do it, but feel free to use them as a guide in your own Moccamaster brewing! DISCOVERING MOCCAMASTER Filter coffee is changing the way how we experience coffee. It isn't just a recent trend. As we learn more about coffee, what it is, where it comes from and how it developed its taste, we are also learning more techniques that help us to transform this knowledge into a delicious tasting cup. Now, it seems as if there are a million new brewing techniques and even more ways how to brew a decent cup of coffee. So as a non-professional I think this mass of information can be very confusing. What if I just want to drink a good cup of coffee without being a brew mastermind or a 'fancy' barista? And what if I don't have the time in the morning to prepare this? I can absolutely relate to these questions as I am in the same position ... I am lucky if I find two matching socks in the morning. And finding an easy and delicious way to brew is exactly why I started looking into, especially with filter coffee machines. I asked around with some friends and people in the coffee industry and the main answer I always got was: "Moccamaster!" I didn't know much about the brand or their machines and decided to buy one as they are very affordable and I really liked the design. So, two years ago I bought my first Moccamaster machine: the Moccamaster Classic. If you follow me on my Instagram account @nbattefeld you would be familiar with Silke, my machine in Germany and Cheryl, my machine in Australia (pictured below). What was important for me was the ability to brew a bigger amount of coffee at a time. As this model can be filled with 1 litre, I was curious to try out if it takes a long time or if it tastes very different to what I usually brew by hand. So, I tried by making two different hand filters. The first had 15 g in, with 250 ml of 93 degree water, the second with one with 30g on 500 mL water (same temperature). I liked the smaller brew better, and was extremely unhappy with the bigger one. It was running too slow and just tasted unbalanced. I used the same ratios for two different brews in the Moccamaster Classic and I couldn't say which brew was which - both tasted nearly identical! Sure, my small batch v 60 might have been a tiny bit better, but seeing the bigger picture I realised quickly that this was the perfect way for me to brew bigger amounts in a short time. My longest batch time using 1 litre of water was 4 minutes and the taste was bright, clean and balanced. I was absolutely amazed. I've tried out many many different coffees and different recipes and even if one was not perfect, remaking it didn't really cost me any time. After some tweaking and testing, I found a recipe which suited my taste perfectly: 35 grams of coffee (coarse - or 29 clicks on a Comandante) 625 ml of water I had a new morning routine, where I could take my time and for the first time ever sit down and relax for a couple of minutes before leaving the house. On my days off, I sat at the window and my Moccamaster brewed my coffee for me. As it has a heating plate that keeps the server warm I could really take my time and the coffee still tasted perfect after one hour and was still hot. I am a big fan of the easy handling. Just two buttons, one for off or on and one for the setting of the warm hold plate. This can be set to full heating or 3/4 if you don't want your coffee to be too hot. Having a digital display on a filter coffee machine can be problematic. As the water produces steam a lot of the displays break after a while because there is simply too much moisture. Also the way this machine is designed it doesn't take up too much space and is an absolute eye catcher. The only thing you really have to consider, and I say this not just for this machine but for any brewing method, please use filtered water. Coming from Berlin I know how fast limescale can ruin your machines and at the same time it just really doesn't taste very good. I personally use a BWT filter jug with a magnesium filter. I find that this filter gives you a water that pushes sweetness and mouthfeel in your coffee. I was living the best life, drinking stupid amounts of amazing coffee and I hoped it would never change. But then I moved to Canberra, Australia for career, love and a lifestyle change and had to say goodbye to my beloved Moccamaster, Silke and didn't know if I would ever see her again. But luckily, as soon as I arrived in Australia I got in contact with Moccamaster Australia and I got the unique opportunity to test three of their machines! I was the luckiest coffee addict in the world! So the first machine they sent me was my beloved classic, but this time it came with an adjustable filter. tThat means this filter has three different settings: Open, half open or closed. But why does it have it and what can I do with it? I started experimenting with different bloom times and realised that if I keep the filter closed for the first 30 seconds, I can extract way more body out of my coffee. The first of the three machines is a variation of the 'Classic', like my machine: the Classic KB741AO, pictured centre in the below photo. Instead of a warming plate like mine, it has a large thermos to maintain brew temperature. Classic KB741AO • 1.25 litre capacity • Aluminium housing • Illuminated on/off switch • Copper boiling element with double safety guardAutomatically switches off power to the boiling element when water reservoir is empty • Automatically switches off hotplate after 40 minutes • Mixing lid for a homogenous brew9 hole spray head for efficient wetting of the coffee grounds • Two temperature settings for warming plate • Dimensions W-D-H (mm): 325 x 170 x 355 I think this very easy tool shows how incredibly easy it is to change your brew and how many options as a barista you have to really experiment. This is why I took it to a cafe and used it with my co workers. We could dial in coffees to get incredible results and at the same time we could brew a one litre batch in less than 4 minutes. This got me super excited and I thought 'This is a great machine to use in a small coffee shop!" Batch brew is perfect for take away customers and you can really offer a fantastic quality for an affordable price as you don't have to put as much work in every cup as you do with a hand brew. I usually only order batch brews when I go out or am in a rush, to see how the 'standard' coffee actually is. It is probably my favourite drink to order. The next machine I got to test was a bigger model, the Technivorm Moccamaster CDT Grand (pictured below). Technivorm Moccamaster CDT Grand • 1.8 litre capacity • Brews directly into a thermal carafe • Polished silver finish •Brew time <8 minutes • Aluminium housing • Illuminated on/off switch • Copper boiling element with double safety guard • Automatic switch off The biggest difference I noticed was the filter basket. Instead of being in a trapeze shape it has a flat bottom. What does that change? In a conical filter shape, we can extract as much flavour as possible by forcing the water to travel through all of the coffee. This gives us a full bodied great cup, but there is a limit to this. If we use a higher dose and too much water we are most likely to over extract the coffee. Flat bottom filters are the perfect solution for this bigger batch problem. Distributing the water evenly on a wider spread bed of ground coffee actually ends up in an extremely consistent result, which is now unlikely to over-extract. Also this machine came with a thermal server, which keeps your coffee above 60 degrees for over 3 hours! The heating plate is a great feature for home users, but in a cafe environment you will notice that the coffee might get stale after being held warm on a heating plate. This problem doesn't occur with the thermal server, which is amazing. The next feature that I really liked was that the machine has a contact at the bottom witch makes it only brew coffee once the server is correctly inserted. This way you avoid to misplace the server during a stressful shift and maybe making a mess. I would 10 out of 10 recommend this machine for any normal coffee shop or office that doesn't brew more than 1 litre in 2 hours. It can make much, much more but many people just don't need more than this. And then I got this big mama to play with: The Moccamaster Thermoking (3L) The Moccamaster Thermoking (1.8L) • Brews straight into a 1.8L airpot • Manual or auto-fill versions available • Keeps coffee at consistent temperature (92-96 degrees Celsius) • illuminated on/off switch • black aluminium housing • illuminated scale indication • copper boiling element with double safety guard • brew time 7,5 minutes • illuminated on/off switch • capacity approx. 160 cups per hour • 15A power point required – 3000W 1.5 litres brewed in 5 minutes - what more shall I say? We have compared many different brews and machines blind and this machine absolutely blew my mind as it produced the biggest volume in such a short time with an incredibly clean taste profile. It again has a flat bottom filter which avoids over extraction and the server is just the best thing I've ever worked with in a cafe. The pump server keeps your coffee hot up to five hours and one push on the pump of the thermos lid is usually one serve (obviously depending on your cup size). It is as easy to use as the others and became my absolute favourite. The only problem I encountered a couple of times was to do with cleaning - if you don't clean the filter basket properly, coffee can get stuck in the hole and then your brew overflows so make sure you clean it properly. Obviously you just have to pay attention and ensure that it is cleaned between uses. I would definitely recommend this model, especially if you have self-service in your business (for example, in hotels, offices, or coffee shops with a batch brew flat rate). The speed and volume of this machine makes it perfect for large-volume environments, and the result is the same if not better than most hand brews. In general I am super happy that I was able to play with all of these incredible machines. I found that I was actually able to learn a lot about my coffees during this testing process, as I didn't get distracted by technical settings of the machine. I could focus on the basics and that truly made me a better barista. If you want to know more about Moccamaster machines or have any questions, feel free to message me via my Instagram or my contact page. Until then, we can brew it!

Hello there! I know I haven’t been updating you guys the way i should, but bear with me….it's been quite busy. But let me start at where my journey took off this time… After World of Coffee In June I made it to the finals in Berlin of the world stage in the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championships. This is so far my biggest achievement ever, and probably the hardest I have ever worked in my entire life. I was lucky enough to place 5th in the world, alongside some incredible coffee professionals. During this crazy period, I made a decision. I am moving to Canberra, the capital of Australia, to grow, to learn and to live life; all with the very strong motivation to go back to the competition stage. So in June, I booked my flights and the day was set: 14th of October. That gave me four months in Europe, so I had to make the most of it. Once you make finals in a world coffee competition, you get this huge opportunity to finally spread you coffee message to the world and then the real work starts. World Coffee Events (WCE) had given me a stage and a big platform, now it was on me to use it. At first, I needed a rest. So after the World of Coffee (WOC) expo that hosted the competition, I took a short holiday and spent some very very important quality time with my boyfriend in Italy. I had to relax and calm down, find myself again and realise what happened and what I had achieved. After I had returned to Berlin, I did a lot of sports, bouldering, yoga and just actively hang out with people I love because I wasn’t really able to do this during my training for Coffee in Good Spirits. As a good German, after my holiday, it was time to get Alles In Ordnung, so before I went to Australia I needed to book a very important appointment: getting my wisdom teeth removed. About three months before I had looked after a friend who had hers removed, and we spent the week lying in bed, eating ice cream, spargle, and watching super hero movies. Unfortunately, my time schedule didn't afford me the same luxury, and the day after getting them removed I was already back at work. This was quite challenging, and also very confrontational as it was the first item on my checklist for preparing to leave Berlin, which has been my home and my whole world for the last 10 years, and resulted in a lot of emotions coming to the surface about my growth and experiences that I've had while living here. Travel and Training Shortly after, I was ready to get back into the coffee world and start accessing the opportunities coffee and good spirits has given me – and begin to take maximum advantage of the few remaining months I had left living in Europe - so my first trip was to Italy, where I visited Vittorio Arduino headquarters and took part in the SCA Barista professional training certificate. All up this was a great summer experience which I could use to learn more about coffee, tasting, and technique. Back to Berlin and straight into the cafe! However, soon afterwards I was approached by some coffee professionals from Belfast who own The Pocket, a beautiful coffee shop in Northern Ireland, who asked me to consult for them in the opening of their second venue. As I had never been to Belfast, I decided to take this opportunity to expand for my own experience in consultation. So at the start of September, I flew over and gave barista trainings to all of the staff, help work out the optimal work flow for their new bar and on the second day, made drinks at their opening party of their new venue. Belfast gave me insight into the wonderful warm and passionate people who are working in the coffee industry and gave me fond memories of great hospitality, dedication, and amazing people. I was so happy that I decided to take the job as I welcomed with so much love from people within hospitality and re-instilled my own ambitions. Later that month, a friend of mine approached me to help him with training for the Tirol Barista Championship. Between Belfast and this invitation, I had the revelation that I was being recognised for my own achievements and gradually being recognised as a reputable person in the coffee industry. After everything that has happened, this is still crazy to me - however, I am grateful for all the opportunities I have had, and all the new ones that I have been able to have recently. So, I quickly flew to Frankfurt shortly after Belfast, to give my friend a two day intensive training where together we designed his entire stage time from workflow, to recipes, and signature drink. Considering we only had two days, and it was his first time participating in this competition, I was incredibly proud oft he points he made – and although he didn't place where he wanted to place, this experience was enough to light a spark in his fire and for him to want to compete again, and train even harder. Being in a position to inspire and motivate people like that has been the most rewarding and humbling experience I have ever come across in my professional career in coffee. I will carry this forever in my heart. HotelEx Qingdao Only a week later, the biggest opportunity after the WOC was at my doorstep – I was to fly to China, as I had been invited by WCE to take part in the All Stars Quingdao 2019, a three day event with some of the worlds best in coffee. To be honest, I was terrified. Not just terrified because I would be sharing the stage with so many world champions in the coffee industry, but also (as some people might know) because I'm terrified of traveling by myself! One of the main reasons I was so tense travelling by myself was because it was the first time I was gong to a country where I knew I would have limited communication abilities. Not only considering language barriers, but also social media restrictions, meaning I would be cut off or limited to connecting with the people I was normally in contact with, and those who I reach out to for help. Annnnnyway, I found myself at Tegel Airport travelling to Amsterdam on the 22nd of September, then from there to Guangzhau, and finally to Quingdao – where I had a little bit of a celebrity moment. I was picked up at the airport by a person holding a sign which read: Nicole Battefeld, All Stars. I really had to smile and acknowledge the happiness I had within myself and my achievements. SO I bounded up to the driver and said "Thats me!“ It was the best. I really felt like a super star. From the airport I was taken to my hotel where I met James and Kayla, who work for WCE and took care of all of the All Star Champions throughout the trip. They were freaking amazing! So, What do you have to do as an All Star? We had an itinerary for each day, which were divided in two stages, the first stage being the Espresso Bar. This part of the day consists of making espresso and entertaining the audience. The second stage focused on Filter Coffee, with the same interaction with the audience. After that there were a couple of group challenges, meaning the Alls Stars went head to head, at the categories were: Latte art, Signature beverage and Coffee cocktails (my favourite). For these competitions, I had to go to the local market daily to collect new and different ingredients to incorporate into my drinks. I ended up working with components that I've never used or even heard of before, and was the most creative I have been to date while being on stage. This was a huge challenge for me and I had to trust in my intuition and theoretical knowledge to help me through this. This happened to be a wonderful success, as to my surprise my drinks turned out stunningly and were very well received by the audience. I was very happy with myself and reinforced my confidence within my own capabilities. On the third day of the convention the All Stars were asked to give a Champions Talk, where we were invited to speak about our experiences and challenges of how we made it to the world Stage. Tim, who placed second in the world CiGS championships in Berlin, was speaking in Mandarin and I was not able to understand anything, but after his talk he translated what he said to me, that when he was on stage in the finals of Coffee And Good Spirits 2019 he felt like he was "Dancing with the giants.“ I asked him "What do you mean?“ and he explained that he felt so lucky to be in the finals with all of these big names, including me, and again I didn't really understand what he was saying,He looked at me and said "you are the German Barista champion, you have competed sever al times, and it was an honour to share the stage with you." I couldn't reply. I was speechless and so awestricken that someone like the world number two would think so highly of me. I felt so honoured and proud, and I will never forget this moment, and never forget my love and respect for the people in this community. After the three days of the convention were finished, I was picked up and we travelled by train to Beijing, where I was asked to run a barista training. I taught my students how to cup coffee, how to extract it in an espresso machine and how to brew coffee as a filter. On the second day of the training we went more creative and I asked my students to create coffee cocktails (under my direction) and we ended up with a bunch of new recipes for amazing drinks. I was so proud of all oft hem and how dedicated they were to learning about coffee and good spirits. My trip to China was my furthest journey that coffee ever took me, and I am so glad that I was invited to attend this convention, for the experiences, connections, and opportunities it gave me, and the insight and inspiration I have taken home from it. Now, writing this, I am back in Berlin, in my neighbourhood of 10 years, at my local pizza shop after a 14 hour flight and I'm about to embark on the next challenge tomorrow - the 2019 Berlin Coffee Festival. During this festival, I will be taking part in many events and sharing the best of the German coffee industry with the rest of Europe, alongside some incredible coffee professionals. After the festival, I'll then go straight into working at the Berlin Bar Convention, where I will be presenting cocktails and speaking about Coffee and Good Spirits, before leaving this Berlin life behind for Australia in exactly 12 days. What a wild time!! Onwards and upwards to new challenges, adventures, friends, and opportunities. I am so privileged as to how far I have come and achieved within coffee, and how much the industry has given back to me. I hope that my experiences over the past few years and my personal journey show some people that despite self-doubt and a lot of trials and failures, if you do what you love and work hard, that's what really matters. Tschüssi

Hello everyone! It’s June 2019 and I thought that since I hadn’t written in a while, I’d share a story with you. A story about how I came 5th in the world in a competition called ‘Coffee in Good Spirits‘ (CIGS). This is the world’s largest coffee-based cocktail competition and this year, it was held in my home city of Berlin. But how did it all happen? To be honest, it’s all still a bit surreal for me … but let’s start at the beginning. Coffee in Good Spirits I am a competitor. I take part in barista competitions. And this year in January, I wanted to defend my title as the German Barista Champion, having won in 2018. So I took part in the German barista championship and despite months of training, practising over and over, what shall I say … I didn’t win. All those months of training, of commitment and rehearsing and then my coffee just wasn’t on point. All of us only had one go. Only 15 minutes to show the judges the results of months of hard work and I couldn’t convince them enough. So of course, I was pretty devastated. After the barista championship had ended, my bosses and I were at the bar of the hotel we were staying in, enjoying a glass of champagne to at least celebrate my third place. Then, I had an idea; the World of Coffee, Europe’s premier coffee expo was being held in Berlin in 2019 so I said, “How about I compete in CIGS?” My bosses replied “Don’t you have enough? You just competed today and are already thinking about the next comp! Well … you do you.” The best thing is that I know that I can always count on their support, so my idea became reality as I had soon applied to compete in the CIGS competition, to be held two months later. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the competition, it involves the competitor making a series of coffee-based cocktails to present to a panel of judges. Except of 15 minutes, there are multiple components, including the Spirit Bar, Stage Performance and if you’re lucky, Finals. But more about this later. I read the rules, I made a presentation and drinks, without having any clue about how to mix coffee and alcohol. I had never held a cocktail shaker in my hands until I started training. At the same time, I was also really busy at work and had to attend several conventions, which resulted in a very, very short training time. I rehearsed the whole presentation maybe 3 to 4 times in front of people and drove to Unterhaching in Bavaria, where the event was held. And somehow … I won! It was such a cool event, such a chilled atmosphere and the people that I met really made it one of my funniest competitions ever. So now, after years of competing in Barista competitions and wanting to reach the world stage, I finally had my golden ticket to take part in a world competition! And the best part was, it was being hosted in my home town!! So no traveling, so packing, no driving, perfect. In April, I travelled to the SCA Expo in Boston, USA to work with Urnex and Vittoria Arduino, as well as watch the World Barista Championship. I was able to watch many competitors on stage, as well as see a lot of the preparation backstage. During the expo, I met a super well known and amazing coffee producer, Jamison Savage, who produces incredible coffees at his farm Finca Deborah in Panama. He said that he had a coffee in mind for me to use for Coffee in Good Spirits, but only 2.5 kg. I said “That’s perfect! How much can I possibly need for a couple of drinks hey?” Waiting for spirits I returned to Berlin and Jamison organised the shipment of coffee from Panama. As soon as the coffee arrived, we roasted a sample on our 50g test roaster. It was amazing! But then, we realised…. we only have a 35kg roaster at the shop. Or the 50g sample roaster. So no jok, in the end my boss roasted the 2.5 kg in 50 gr batches. It took him about 16 hours! Once the coffee was sorted I started collecting ideas and contacted my judges to give me feedback. My performance that won the German Coffee in Good Spirits competition was based on a talk about strong women in coffee and good spirits. I really liked this topic, but as THE local in this world competition, playing this card seemed to be the most obvious and advantageous topic. My performance then became a tour through Berlin moments, in both summer and in winter. I started writing my script. And then, I had to wait. The CIGS rules are very, very different to Barista and they also include sponsored alcohol. The tricky thing is, the spirits that you have to use are announced only four weeks prior the championship. I tried to think about this positively, as every competitor has the same amount of time to practice. The downside of it for me was that I was used to preparing my presentations for about 3-4 months. So obviously, I was stressed out. The waiting time killed me. I tried making different drinks but at the end of the day I was always thinking ‘This makes absolutely no sense at all. It could be any spirit. If I make drinks now, they will probably not work with the given spirits.’ So, what to do? I messaged the German Ibrik champion, my good friend Sinan, to see if needed help. While I waited to learn about my spirits, I spent time and energy helping him to prepare his championship. We chatted for hours on the telephone, writing his script, designing a presentation. He came to Berlin and we chose his coffee, decided on recipes and ratios and designed his signature drink. And then finally, I got the mail with the sponsor alcohols. What a relief! How the CIGS Competition works Let me explain the rules: in the CIGS competition, you have different rounds. The first round is called the ‘Spirit Bar’. In this component, you have 6 minutes time. Before your presentation you have to roll a dice, on which are a few different spirits - the sponsor spirits. Depending on the spirit you roll, you have to present a drink. The given spirits where licor 43, licor 43 baristo and grey goose vodka. The stage for the spirit bar is quite small and it isn’t normally filmed so many people don’t really know what’s involved in it and there is nearly no footage online (which is difficult if you want to know what the competitors from previous years have done). Luckily, mine was filmed by someone watching in the crowd - you can watch it here. The next round is stage time on the big stage, in front of a lot of people. You have 10 minutes to make two different drinks; one has to be warm, one has to be cold. One has to contain espresso, the other one has to be made with filter coffee. And in one of your drinks you have to use the sponsor alcohol, which in this case was gin meridor from the Loire Valley, France. The points of your spirit bar round and your stage time will be count together and all those points will decide if you scored high enough to make it to the top 6, who become the finalists. In the finals you have 10 minutes again to make two different drinks again - this time the only rules are different: you have to make an Irish Coffee, containing only coffee, sweetener, whisky and unflavoured cream, and the other drink (a ‘designer drink’ of your choice) must contain gin meridor. Countdown to comp So far so good. But hang on a second…. That means i have to prepare three different drinks for the spirit bar, then two different drinks for the stage time and the again 2 drinks for the final. Phew. Where to start? I said to myself “Ok Nicole, calm down and organise yourself. You have 4 weeks. Make a timetable.” First week: brainstorming and finding recipes. Writing scripts for each drink. Check. Second week: practice all your spirit bar drinks. Do they taste? Whats the best ratio? Whats the best set up? Am i in time? Third week: practice stage time one. How are the drinks? Whats the text? Whats the set up? How much time did i have again? Last week before comp: practice finals and start officially freaking out. So during my first week, a friend who is a bartender came over and we brainstormed together. Creativity flew, we had some amazing ideas and I could also use components of my drinks from the German Championship. We wrote everything down and during the next few days, I organised all the ingredients and equipment, as well as writing texts for each drink. End of the week we started mixing, tasted coffee, set ratios and techniques. All of this whilst working normal hours as a barista. During the second week of preparation, I met three days with the bartender and we trained workflow. I started training at about 9am, finished at 1pm and started my normal shift at 2 until 7, then went home and tried to learn text and make drink decorations. A lot of the decoration was..well, not great. The ideas were much better then the actual results… so every time i showed something to my bosses, they gave me the most honest feedback: it was terrible. And I felt terrible. How was I supposed to learn all of this in such short time? My shakers exploded, I spilled half my drinks, my decoration was sh*t and i was struggling to remember the right words. I had to buy ingredients every day and i was constantly running against the time that was ticking. So week 2, pretty demotivating, but, I still managed to fulfil the tasks from my timetable. During the third week, I had to start performing in front of people. So again, 9am at the shop, train until 1-1.30pm then work. On my days off, I trained the whole day. Most of the presentations weren’t even within the time limits. But at least I made it a couple of times, which showed me that it was possible. I invited judges, friends, anyone that could give me a qualified feedback. Most of them loved my drinks. The feedback i got was so positive that I didn’t believe it. I thought they are just trying to be nice, or i thought they were joking. I even specifically said “Be as honest and cruel as possible”. But apparently the narrative of my performance had a lot of fans and the drinks were tasting good. So week three, definitely getting to the point of exhaustion but also, great feedback, self confidence (as far as my stubborn mind would allow it) and delicious drinks and again in time. One week before World of Coffee and the CIGS competition, I had became a daily regular at the mall where i bought my ingredients. I was very tired and I couldn’t think of anything worse than drinking coffee cocktails in the morning. I printed my menus, bought my final glasses, my trainings were 3-4 run throughs of the three spirit bar presentations and the stage time. Then I practiced a presentation for the finals round, for exactly five times. However, the Irish Coffee didn’t taste right, the coffee wasn’t right for it. But I thought “Hey, I won’t make it to the finals anyway, so better focus on giving a solid presentation in the other rounds.” I mean, come on, I’d seen the line up. Dan Fellows (UK), the former CIGS world champion, the second and the third placed competitors as well…. 2018 World Barista Champion Agnieszka Rojewska (Poland) who just wins everything, and two other world champions who had won latte art. I was happy to be on a world stage and all I wanted was to not place last. My final run throughs with an audience where terrible. I forgot the vodka in the vodka drink,I forgot other ingredients, I spilled everything, my shakers didn’t come undone or they weren’t sealed enough… everything went wrong, believe me. And the worst part - I was never in time. Unless I forgot the main ingredient. Despite this, I thought “I am probably not the only one stressing out” and because I seriously wanted the other competitors to have a good time in Berlin, I suggested to ur bosses that we open up our training room for other competitors. For some reason I had this urge to give everyone a great experience. They are all coming to my city and i want them to go with: Berlin, what a freaking awesome city! And that is exactly what I love about the World of Coffee event; every time i went, as a visitor or working, I always had the best time! I just really wanted to share this. So we rented out our location and the first guys came on the 3rd of June, so three days before the comp. They had 2 hour slots and I was quite busy hosting all of them, organising ingredients and helping them. On the same day Sinan, the German Ibrik Champion, came to taste his coffee with me. We spent five hours discussing, deciding, changing dose and temperature….until we finally had it. A bright clean geisha Ibrik. So many people came to the shop and I was so busy that all I could do was stop worrying, and to start being excited about all the people that i will meet or see again, one of them being my boyfriend who flew all the way over from Australia to support me. In his bag he also had some coffee for me. He said it would be perfect for the Irish Coffee, so I just trusted him and thought: “Hey, what are the odds?” World of Coffee - Spirit Bar On Wednesday we had our competitor meeting with the World Coffee Events team, who host the competition. The convention was still being built and I arrived with my cart and my equipment for the first day. Everyone was quite stressed. I watched the other competitors setting up their equipment and well, everything was so beautiful and shiny with so much decoration, and I was sitting there with my bar mats and my glasses. No fancy setup or anything. But that was okay, because if I would start to panic now, where is the point in that? It was too late to change anything anyway. On the same day we also had our practice slots of 30 minutes, where we could use the sponsored machines and grinders to practice. My slot was quite late, at 5:15. Plenty of time to see what all of the others did. They made drinks, they tasted and I was just thinking: “I have made these drinks 100 times. If it doesn’t taste good now, I’m screwed anyway. And i only have 30 minutes, thats nothing.” So I think I was the only competitor who just checked their equipment. I used my time to see how long I will need to set everything up and that was it. At the end of the day I could finally pick up my boyfriend from the airport and we chatted for the rest of the evening. I was so incredibly happy to finally see him again after several months, and all of my competition stress seemed irrelevant. Thursday was the first competition day, and the Spirit Bar. We arrived at 8 in the morning and I did what felt like my 100th equipment check. I took my time, I packed my trolley in slow motion. In addition to this, staff from the venue had trouble communicating to competitors and organisers, so I helped everyone who needed a translator. I felt much more like a volunteer than a competitor. At 2pm i had my Spirit Bar performance. Five minutes prep time and six minutes presentation. I rolled the dice and rolled ‘licor 43 baristo’ - after that, I can’t remember a thing. After watching the video of my presentation I still think it’s a different person. I transformed into a coffee cocktail stage robot. All i remember is that I was in time and that I said everything. I had no clue if it was good or not; but I felt ok. So And I had finally done it, I had competed on a world stage! The first part was over. After my presentation i went to the Ibrik stage where Sinan had his performance. We stared at each other, knowing that only the two of us understood what is happening right now. He did so well, I was so proud of him. In time, clean, good stage presence. Afterwards I gave him a hug and went back to my trolley and equipment backstage. I packed up what I didn’t need anymore and drove to work, to unpack the spirit bar equipment and pack the stage time equipment. After all this, my boyfriend and I went and ate pizza at my favourite restaurant. It was perfect. We laughed, we drank and I could spend time with the most important person for me. It was the best thing I could have ever done before the big day. I was so relaxed, so calm, so happy. World of Coffee - Stage Time We arrived early again. My run was at 2.30 pm and I had all the time in the world to set up my trolley. Every hour I went outside and practiced my speech. With every hour it got better. At first I struggled and mixed up the texts from the first day and the second day, but after saying it a few times I got it together. And then it was my turn. Of course things went wrong. I forgot to open the hopper of my grinder, which meant on stage it took longer to grind coffee… but otherwise, I remembered all of the words. I gave all the right drinking instructions and I loved sharing the Berlin story on stage. After my run everyone congratulated me and I just said “I have no idea, only the judges know.” We went backstage and opened some beers, and waited. The results were announced at about 7pm. So we went to the Ibrik stage at 3.30pm, were the announcement for the finals were held. They called them out one by one: Russia … Ukraine … Poland… when 5 of the 6 finalists stood on stage and Sinan wasnt one of them, I didn’t care, because I was proud anyway. Suddenly, they announced the last name - SINAN! He made it!! Sinan wasn’t just the first ever German Ibrik champion, but had also made it to the finals in the world competition! A photographer with a passion for coffee, with a presentation that we made together, a coffee that we choose, a signature drink ….I mean everything was his and my work. I cried. I was so freaking happy I struggle to put it in words. I already felt like I had won. What ever else would happen with my own competition, I had helped a friend to reach the finals in a world championship!!!! We went back to the CIGS backstage area. And we waited. And waited. And we chatted to other competitors, until finally the announcements came up. Everyone had to queue up and us competitors drank whisky before we went out. I was standing next to my friend, the Australian competitor and 201 3rd place CIGS winner, Danny Wilson. They called out the finalists one by one … UK … Thailand … Hong Kong … Poland … Greece… and when the 5th spot got announced, I held Danny’s shoulder and said “Now it’s your turn, you got this.” I wanted to push him to the front but then … they announced my name. WHAT? This is a joke right? The crowd was going insane, with my friends, colleagues and so many German coffee people screaming and jumping in the crowd. Agnieszka came to me and said after a couple of seconds I should start breathing again. Me? I was one of the 6 World CIGS finalists?! World of Coffee - Finals After my name was announced as a finalist, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I had people running up to congratulate me but I couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened. I never thought I would have a chance of getting to the top 6, and there I was. I went backstage with my bosses and boyfriend, still trying to understand what had happened. Slowly I realised “Okay, I’m in the finals. I have to come back tomorrow and go again.” But then, I also realised “Oh god. I have barely practised for this! We have to go to the shop!” I have never even tried the Irish coffee using the coffee my boyfriend had brought, and I had only practised a few times with the other one. So, we went back to the shop and we made Irish Coffees … a lot of them. It was my boyfriend Jordan, Hugh Kelly from Australia, my flatmate Nathan and Philip, a friend from southern Germany. We made about 16 coffees and after a while, we were all highly overdosed with cream and nearly vomiting. Don’t get me wrong, the taste was really really good and the coffee Jordan brought was great for the competition. It was just the amount of coffee combined with whisky and cream killed us after this already kind of eventful day. At 11.30pm Jordan said “We have to stop and get some sleep.” I was quite on edge. I was soooo tired, felt so sick and still couldn’t believe i would be performing in the finals in a few short hours. In bed I asked him what the presentation shall be. I thought about the routine from the German Championship and I still had the text in mind - women in coffee and good spirits, working together. We dozed for only a couple of hours; too much coffee, too much everything. On the way to the convention Jordan said “Do the same presentation that you did yesterday, but with all the new drink information. Use your home advantage and make it about Berlin.” I thought “Okay, that’s doable.” My stage time was at around 2pm again. We arrived at the convention around 8.30am and it was one then that I started learning the text for the Irish coffee, three hours before stage time. As we practiced, I looked Jordan in the eyes and said “ You know i’ve never done this routine before. I always improvised, and said ‘Imagine that I am using two clever drippers now’”, I’d never actually done it before. In the backstage area I remember that I fell asleep for a couple of seconds here and there because i was so tired. Everyone else just said “Wow, she is so calm.” Trust me, I wasn’t! It came time to go on stage. I didn’t feel ready, but we had done as much as we could since the announcements the day before and I just wanted to do the best job possible. It was the first time I had ever done this routine on stage, so we had no idea if I would stay in time or not. I can’t remember much of what happened on stage. Afterwards I asked everyone “Did I say my tasting notes?” and “Was it okay?” and overall, people seemed happy. The only thing that I messed up was that I forgot to say the brew ratio of my coffee, which is essential for judges. But I thought “Hey, can't change it now, can I?” I was the final competitor of the day so between me and the announcements, it was just waiting. So we had to wait, and wait, and wait. We sat backstage with other competitors, sharing our drinks and the various ingredients we’d used for our cocktails. We cleaned our equipment, put everything in the car, had a few drinks and then finally, the big moment came. When they announced the first name, I completely expected it to be me. I didn’t even think I’d make the finals, surely I would be last in the top 6. When they didn’t call my name, I was in shock. They called my name next. I had placed 5th in the WORLD! I placed 5th, only three points off 4th, who was the former runners up from last year. After all the announcements had finished and Dan Fellows (UK) had been announced as first for the second consecutive year, so many people rushed on stage to take photographs, to congratulate competitors and to finally relax. That night there was a big party and a gigantic sense of relief. Finally, it was over! It had been a very stressful, but very rewarding experience and I thought “I think i can be proud of myself.” I never thought that I could compete with the big players, but I did. And it‘s not over. This experience has shown me that there is talent in me and that the hard work that I put into my championships does pay off. I started believing in myself, at least a little bit, and I hope that i can share my passion with more people over the next years. Thank you so much for reading, and … Time!

Für mich hat Kaffee oft etwas fast schon magisches. Das Thema fasziniert mich einfach und in den letzten Jahren habe ich immer wieder versucht diese Faszination mit anderen zu teilen. Und am besten geht das nun mal mit dem Syphon, denn neben seiner langen Tradition und Geschichte hat er auch noch eine magische Anziehungskraft, die uns wie Motten zum Licht treibt und vielen tatsächlich wie ein Zaubertrick vorkommt und mir endlich das Recht gibt mit einem Tusch den Kaffee zu servieren und meine Schürze zum magischen Cape umzufunktioneren. Erstmal gehen wir zurück in das Berlin der 1830er Jahre, denn hier genau wurde das sonst auch Vakuum-Kaffeebereiter genannte Gerät erstmals von einem Herren names Loeff entwickelt. Seitdem hat sich an der Funktion an und für sich nicht viel verändert, die Faszination riss allerdings sogar berühmte Baushaus Größen wie Gerhard Marck in ihren Bann und er nutze den Syphon zum Beispiel für diverse Design Studien. Aber wie funktioniert das ganze denn jetzt eigentlich? Kommen wir erstmal zum Equipment. Ich brauche: 1. Gefiltertes Wasser 2. Frisch gemahlenen Filterkaffee Versuch es erstmal mit einem normalen Filtermahlgrad und taste dich dann weiter heran. Je gröber ich den Kaffee mahle, desto leichter wird mein Kaffee. Je feiner ich mahle, desto stärker wird mein Kaffee. 3. Einen Syphon bestehend aus - einem Heizgefäß ( das kann entweder ein Gefäß sein, welches einen Docht hat und in das ich Brennspiritus geben kann,ODER: ich persönlich mag Gasbrenner mit einstellbarer Flamme, die man normalerweise unter Gasronomierechauds für Buffets stellt, ODER: man möchte etwas mehr Geld ausgeben und kauft sich einen Beam Heater, welcher sehr heißes Licht produzieren kann. Sehr saubere Sache) - einem Ständer, welcher das untere Gefäß hält - einem Filtereinsatz (entweder ein Metallgestell in welches ich einen Stoff- oder Papierfilter spannen kann, oder ein Glasfilter) 4. ein oberes Gefäß 5. einen Rührstab 6. eine Waage 7. einen Timer So funktioniert’s: 1. gefiltertes Wasser zum kochen bringen 2. Ständer mit dem unteren Gefäß auf deine Waage stellen und das heiße Wasser abwiegen ( ich schlage 230 ml vor) 3. Kaffee mahlen und abwiegen (ich würde 15 Gramm nehmen) 4. Ständer mit wassergefülltem Gefäß auf deine Wärmequelle stellen und diese auf volle Flamme/ Heizstufe stellen 5. Oberes Gefäß darauf stecken und warten bis das Wasser nach oben steigt. Warum passiert das eigentlich? Das Wasser wird weiter erhitzt und möchte sich gerne ausbreiten. Ist allerdings ein bisschen schwierig in so einem kleinen Gefäß…. Also entschließt sich das Wasser der Schwerkraft zu sagen: nix da! Ich möchte mich gerne ausdehnen! Nun beginnt also die spannende Reise das Steigrohr nach Oben in mein oberes Gefäß. Wer hätte gedacht dass Wasser so zielstrebig ist. Während dessen entsteht ein Unterdruck im unteren Gefäß, das ist nämlich ganz schön traurig dass es seinen neu gewonnenen Freund nun gehen lassen muss. 6. Warten und staunen bis das Wasser nach Oben gewandert ist 7. Wenn du die Hitze deiner Wärmequelle einstellen kannst, reduzier sie ein wenig, aber nur so sehr, dass das Wasser immer noch im oberen Gefäß bleibt. Wenn du diese Option nicht hast: nimm von Anfang an einen leicht gröberen Mahlgrad, da die Hitze mehr Aromastoffe, darunter leider auch Bitterstoffe, löst 8. Jetzt den abgewogenen Kaffee in dein oberes Gefäß geben und mit deinem Rührstab oder Löffel leicht in das Wasser tunken 9. Blooming…. Was du nun beobachten kannst ist, wie sich eine Kruste an der Oberfläche bildet. Das ist das entweichende CO2, das aus dem Kaffee austritt 10. Nach 30 Sekunden machen wir dem Kaffee allerdings mal eine Ansage. Genug an der Oberfläche entgast. Wir nehmen den Rührstab und tunken das Kaffeepulver leicht wieder in das Wasser, schließlich wollen wir, dass Alles aus unserem Kaffee extrahiert 11. Unser Timer schlägt 60 Sekunden. Wir geben dem ganzen Gebräu einen letzten, vorsichtigen aber bestimmten Dreh mit dem Rührstab und nehmen den kompletten Syphon von der Hitzequelle 12. Was nun passiert kann ich nur mit Magie (und den Regeln des Unterdrucks) beschreiben. Dem Wasser wird nun etwas kalt, immerhin ist ja die schöne Fußbodenheizung aus, es erinnert sich also an seinen Freund, das untere Gefäß und entschließt sich wieder eine Etage nach unten zu Wandern. Der entstandene Unterdruck zieht die Flüssigkeit nach unten und wird durch den eingelegten Filter gefiltert. Ist das ganze Wasser wieder unten angekommen, sollte mein Kaffeemehl eine leicht gewölbte Kuppel ergeben haben und es sollte auch kein Kaffee an den Seiten des oberen Gefäßes kleben geblieben sein. (plusquamperfekt fetzt) 13. Zum Schluss darf man einfach mal schweigen, in die staunenden Gesichter der Beteiligten schauen oder sich selber einfach mit großen Kinderaugen daran zurück erinnern, wie der eigene Großvater eine D Mark Münze einfach so verschwinden lassen hat, nur um Sie hinter dem eigenen Ohr wieder hervorzuzaubern Das hört sich alles nach sehr viel Aufwand an um einen Filterkaffee herzustellen…. Also was spricht denn für diese Filtermethode? Zunächst einmal ist der optische Faktor nicht zu unterschätzen. Nach dem gelungenen Dinner mit Freunden ein absolutes Highlight! Doch auch geschmacklich ist der Syphon wahnsinnig interessant. Bei keiner Brühmethode habe ich eine derartige Temperaturkonstanz! Da die Wärmequelle direkt und ständig wirkt kann ich zu gleichen Teilen verschiedene Aromastoffe aus dem Kaffee lösen. Um es einfacher zu beschreiben, erkläre ich den Zuschauern meistens, dass der Syphon wie ein Verstärker wirkt. Mehr und konstantere Hitze betont sowohl die fruchtigen als auch die schokoladig nussigen Aromen meines Kaffees. Dabei muss man allerdings auch auf die Bitterstoffe achten…die mögen es auch ganz gerne heiß. In jedem Fall das Getränk bitte erst einmal abkühlen lassen. In diesem Sinne, simsalasyphon. (Tusch und Knall müsst ihr euch jetzt vorstellen, gerne auch eine Windmaschine, gekoppelt an eine Nebelmaschine)

Wusstet Ihr eigentlich, dass die Aeropress von einem amerikanischen Erfinder namens Alan Adler stammt? Ein Teufelskerl! Er stand sogar schon mal im Guiness Buch der Rekorde für den am besten fliegenden Frisbee! Ja, Ok, ich weiß das hat jetzt eher wenig mit Kaffee zu tun, aber der gute Mann musste eben auch viel reisen, Weltrekordspreise abholen und ähnliches. Nun war er aber eben auch ein großer Kaffeefan und ärgerte sich, dass er selten guten Kaffee bekam. Selbst ist der Mann und kurzerhand tüftelte er an einem portablen Kaffeefiltersystem. Leicht sollte es sein, und robust. Glas oder Keramik bricht zu schnell im Gepäck und mit Metall in der Tasche braucht man ja schon mal so 5 Stunden am Security check in den USA… Adler nahm also seinen hyper aerodynamischen Hochleistungskunststoff, immerhin hat der ihm ja bis dahin einige Preise beschert. Die Aeropress war geboren. 3 Teile. Handlich. Leicht. Robust. Kein piepsen bei der Sicherheitskontrolle. Und super leicht im Handling. Ich möchte gerne 2 verschiedene Methoden erklären und dabei vorab sagen: es gibt ungefähr 1001 Wege um eine Aeropress zuzubereiten. Was allerdings immer gegeben sein sollte ist gefiltertes Wasser. Ich persönlich benutze eine Filterkanne von BWT und das ist für zu Hause absolut ausreichend und verbessert die Qualität aller eurer Getränke (ja, auch Tee) um ein Vielfaches. Also, los geht die wilde Fahrt. Traditionelle Methode / Aeropress steht richtig herum Mahle deinen Kaffee in einem Mahlgrad, der für Filterzubereitung geeignet ist. Mahlst du feiner, wird der Kaffee stärker, vielleicht aber auch bitter. Mahlst du gröber, wird der Kaffee leichter, vielleicht aber auch zu schwach. Es ist wie immer die goldene Mitte und dein ganz persönlicher Geschmack.Entscheide dich welchen Filter du benutzen willst. Es gibt Papierfilter oder Metallfilter. Papierfilter saugen ein bisschen mehr von den Ölen des Kaffees auf und geben deinem Getränk mehr Klarheit während Metallfilter mehr Öle mit in deinen Kaffee durchlassen und somit ein cremiges Mundgefühl und mehr Body ( Baristafachwort, das man benutzen kann um cool zu wirken) geben.Leg den Filter deiner Wahl in den Filterhalter und schraube diesen an den Aeropress Zylinder.Koche dein gefiltertes Wasser auf und versuche mit einer Temperatur von ca. 93 Grad zu brühen.Lass etwas heißes Wasser durch die Aeropress laufen um einerseits das Material zu erwärmen und andererseits, solltest du einen Papierfilter benutzen, um das Papier durchzuspülen. Riech einfach mal an dem nassen Papier und du wist merken was ich meine. Stelle eine Tasse oder ein geeignetes Gefäß auf eine Digitalwaage, im Idealfall mit Timer (Hario Drip Scale, Brewista Drip Scale,….) , setze den Filter mit Zylinder darauf und gebe dein gemahlenes Kaffeepulver hinein. Ich empfehle ein einfaches Verhältnis von 15 Gramm Kaffee auf 200 ml 93 Grad heißes Wasser.Schalte die Waage und den Timer an und gieße die passende Menge Wasser in die Aeropress.Rühr das Gebräu kurz um (Rührer ist in der Originalpackung enthalten) und stecke den Presskolben auf den Zylinder ohne ihn runter zu drücken! Er sollte aber trotzdem gut schließen. Ziehe den Kolben ein minimales Stück nach Oben. Dadurch entsteht ein Vakuum, welches verhindert, dass der Kaffee unten aus der Aeropress tropft.Nach deiner gewünschten Brühzeit (Ich würde 50 Sekunden bis 1 Minute 10 empfehlen), nimm alles von der Waage herunter und drücke den Kolben langsam und gleichmäßig nach unten bis die gesamte Flüssigkeit aus der Aeropress gelaufen ist und ein leichtes Zischen zu hören ist. Ein zufriedenes Grinsen aufsetzen und den Kaffee genießen. Methode die ich persönlich immer an der Bar verwende /Aeropress steht auf dem Kopf Wir mahlen unseren Kaffee wieder frisch und wiegen ihn pflichtbewusst abStecke den Kolben direkt in den Zylinder der Aeropress und gehe sicher, dass auch deine Flüssigkeitsmenge rein passt (200ml). Der Kolben sollte fest sitzen und dicht abschließen. Jetzt kannst du bereits dein heißes, gefiltertes Wasser in die Aeropress geben um das Material vorzuheizen. Lege den Filter deiner Wahl, Papier oder Metall, in das Sieb und solltest du dich für Papier entschieden haben, spüle auch das erst mal mit heißem Wasser durch, am besten über dem Waschbecken.Schütte das nicht mehr benötigte Wasser aus dem Kolben, jetzt ist ja alles einmal vorgeheizt, und stelle den Kolben mit Zylinder auf deine Waage.Fülle deinen Kaffee ein (15gr) und checke noch einmal ob dein Wasser die korrekte Temperatur hat. Manchmal braucht man am Anfang ein bisschen länger, dann kann es schon mal passieren dass das Wasser zu sehr abgekühlt ist. Sehr hilfreich hierbei ist eine Kettel mit Thermometer, zum Beispiel die von Fellow, sieht übrigens auch wahnsinnig schick aus. Es geht los! Starte den Timer. Fülle 50 ml Wasser ein und rühre alles um. Direkt danach füllst du den Rest deines Wassers ein (200ml) und rührst noch einmal um. Nimm jetzt den Filter und schraube ihn auf die Aeropress. Da der Papierfilter nass ist brauchst du dir auch keine Sorgen machen, er wird nicht herausfallen. Schnappe dir jetzt deine Tasse oder Kanne und halte Sie verkehrtherum auf den Filter. Nach 50 Sekunden drehst du alles zuammen um.Das war ganz schön aufregend! Wir versuchen aber trotzdem cool zu bleiben und drücken lässig und gleichmäßig den Kolben nach unten. Der ganze Zauber sollte bei 1.20 min vorbei sein.Ein zufriedenes Grinsen aufsetzen, extrem lässig gucken und Kaffee genießen. Was ist denn jetzt aber das besondere an der Aeropress und warum sollte ich diese Filtermethode benutzen? Also: erstmal habe ich ein sehr gutes Kosten-Nutzen Verhältnis. Das Gerät ist absolut erschwinglich, leicht, kompakt, einfach zu Reinigen, sehr robust und macht echt guten Kaffee. Immerhin gibt es sogar Aeropress Weltmeisterschaften! Was kann ich geschmacklich erwarten? Da wir mit Druck arbeiten, kann ich bestimmte Stoffe aus dem Kaffee wortwörtlich rausdrücken. Öle zum Beispiel. Daher ist eine Aeropress in einem Glas betrachtet auch immer etwas trübe. Ich habe einen sehr vollen Geschmack und ein kremiges Mundgefühl. Wenn ihr cool seid und das passende Beanie aufhabt sagt ihr einfach: mehr body und ein creamy mouthfeel. Hier noch mal kurz die Stichworte: 15gr 200ml 93 grad celsius 1.20 min Extraktionszeit Cool sein nicht vergessen Noch Fragen? Schießt los! Ich bin gespannt.

Image: Sascha Hoecker Ganz im Ernst? Ich habe schlaflose Nächte gehabt, als ich gesagt bekommen habe, dass ich einen Beitrag über Handfilterzubereitung schreiben will. Warum? Wer bin ich denn um zu entscheiden, welche Handfiltermethode die eine ist, die ich vorstellen möchte? Ich gebe euch mal einen kleinen Einblick in meine Küche: Mocca Master V60 Chemex Kalita Karlsbader Kanne Clever Dripper Melittafilter Und auch noch unzählige Prototypen von verschiedenen, teilweise sogar handgeklöppelten Filtergeräten. Es ist ein einziges Chaos sage ich euch. Und all das zählt als Handfilter! In meiner eigenen Küche werde ich also nicht fündig… deshalb habe ich mir fix meine Schuhe angezogen und bin mal zu meinen Freunden (ja ich kenne auch normale Menschen, die nicht Barista sind) gegangen, um zu sehen, wie machen die sich eigentlich ihren Kaffee? Und endlich! Da war er! Der Filter den wirklich fast jeder hatte. V60 ist ein eher abstrakter Name für einen recht simplen Porzellan Filter. Die Geschichte von Hario, dem Designer des V60 Drippers, startet 1921 in Tokio. Die Firma stellte anfangs hauptsächlich Glas für chemische oder physikalische Zwecke her. Nach 30 Jahren Forschung stellten Sie Harioglas her, ein hitzebeständiges Glas, zu 100 % aus natürlichen Mineralien bestehend und sehr umweltfreundlich. Viele viele Jahre später entwarf der Konzern den V60 Filter, welcher mit Abstand das erfolgreichste Produkt war. Der Name kommt von dem 60 Grad Winkel des Trichters und das Design besticht durch 3 Hauptkomponenten: Der 60 grad Winkel hilft dem Wasser in das Zentrum zu fließen und somit den Kaffee gleichmäßig zu extrahieren.Das große Loch ermöglicht uns, besser auf unsere Extraktion einzugehen und Brühzeiten zu bestimmenDie sprialförmigen Rippen helfen der Luft nach Oben zu steigen und somit die Expansion des Kaffees zu erleichtern Ich persönlich bin auch ein großer Fan von dieser Methode und schaut man sich mal die Brewers Cup Weltmeisterschaften an, sieht man auch dort wo man auch hin schaut immer wieder den V60 Filter, ob in Glas, Keramik, Kupfer oder sogar Plastik. Das Equipment ist recht überschaubar und auch sehr bezahlbar. Man braucht: -eine Waage mit Timer -einen Server -einen Dripper -V60 Filterpapier -gefiltertes Wasser -einen Wasserkocher mit geeignetem Ausgießer, wahlweise auch eine Kanne, in die man das kochende Wasser füllen kann, wichtig ist ein sehr schmaler und präziser Ausgießer -gemahlenen Kaffee nicht vergessen Ich möchte euch jetzt einen kleinen Brühvorschlag geben, so wie ich auch auf Arbeit arbeite. Los geht’s: Wasser kochen (Ich persönlich bevorzuge eine Temperatur von 96 Grad da das Wasser wahnsinnig schnell an Temperatur verliert sobald es auf das Kaffeebett trifft)Pfalz vom Filterpapier einmal knicken und in den Filter legen. Das LEERE Filterpapier mit heißem Wasser durchspülen. Das hat mehrere Gründe. Zunächst könnt Ihr ja gerne mal an dem nassen Papier riechen und Ihr werdet merken: zappalot! Das riecht ja mega nach Papier! Das wollen wir natürlich nicht in unserem Kaffee haben. Auf der anderen Seite heizt Ihr ganz nebenbei das Material des Drippers und des Servers vor. Und was ich selber festgestellt habe ist folgendes: je heißer das Wasser ist mit dem ich spüle, umso mehr dehnen sich die Fasern des Papiers aus und meine Extraktion läuft etwas schneller. Klingt logisch, ist es auch und hilft geschmacklich einen klareren, definierteren Brew zu bekommen. Nach dem spülen bitte nicht vergessen das Wasserwegzuschütten! Server mit Dripper und gespültem Papier auf die Waage stellen und 15 Gramm Kaffee abwiegenJetzt fangen wir mal mit dem Brühen an. Starte den Timer und gib 30 gr Wasser so gleichmäßig wie möglich auf das Kaffeepulver. Das Ganze nennt sich blooming. Dabei wird das CO2 im Kaffee gelöst und das Pulver quillt auf. Erst danach ist der Kaffee bereit all seine Aromen frei zu geben. Ähnlich wie wenn man einfach mal aufstoßen muss und danach geht’s einem viel besserNach 30 Sekunden ist dann auch mal gut mit Entgasen und wir können wieder in gleichmäßigen Bewegungen mehr Wasser hinzufügen. Achte dabei stets darauf, das ganze Kaffeebett so uniform wie möglich zu bedecken und es sollte kein Kaffee am Papier kleben bleiben, dem wird sonst kalt und der hat dann keine Lust mehr Geschmack abzugeben. Fülle erstmal auf 100 gr auf. Der nun entstandene Rand ist unser Level. Dieses Level möchte ich gerne halten.Lasse dir Zeit und gieße nach und nach mehr Wasser auf. Bei 1:40 Minuten solltest du 240 ml aufgegossen haben. Wenn alles geklappt hat ist bei meiner Methode die Sekundenanzeige bei Ende der Extraktion (z.B. 2:40 Minuten) exakt gleich mit meiner Einwaage (z.B. 240 Milliliter) Wenn das nicht so ist weiß ich sofort dass ich wohl in meinem Gießverhalten geschlust habe.PROOOOOST! Ich liebe das klare Geschmackserlebnis dieses Filters und vor allem die Zeremonie drum herum. Denn darum geht es ja auch. Sich zu Hause einfach mal bewusst die Zeit zu nehmen und bewusst zu Genießen. Knöpfe drücken kann ja jeder.

Hi guys, my name is Nicole. BEGINNINGS OF A BARISTA I started working in coffee when I was 18 years old and what can I say? Coffee very quickle became a part of me. Since then, I’ve been working in specialty coffee and over the years, my perception of what it means to be a barista has changed drastically. I’ve always been fascinated with food and drinks - handmade, real products that require a certain way of respect and understanding. After my first few years working in coffee I decided to start an apprenticeship as a chef and moved to Berlin (from my hometown of Görlitz). I learned what it meant to work insane hours, learned rules and respect, reached limits and broke them to go further. For me, being a chef was everything but glamorous. We worked 13 to 14 hours per day and constantly smelled like food. My day was a big to do mis en place list and my smoking breaks, trying to not get yelled at. I learned so much in this time and I started to understand that if there is something that I really want, I would have to work my ass off to get it. In 2015, I quit my job as a chef and started working again in specialty coffee, with a new drive to push myself to learn everything about the craft. I was employed at Röststätte in Berlin - however, they didn’t actually need a barista at that point. I was ok with working minimum hours (I think it was 26 or so, which was insane after my 70 hour weeks) and worked in the kitchen, washing dishes and cleaning. It was weird. I could barely pay my rent at that time and everyone said “You are crazy!”, but I felt as though I was doing the right thing for the first time in a very long time. So, bear in mind that before my short career as a chef, I had already worked as a shop manager and barista before moving to Berlin. However, when I restarted my career in coffee, for the first year it was only washing dishes and working on the cash register (and asking many, many questions). I asked so many questions that everyone quickly realised that I was eager to do more and wasn’t going anywhere. BACK BEHIND THE MACHINE Soon, my hours went up to normal working hours and full shifts. My colleagues where insane - I’d never seen such a clean workspace, so much precision, so many details. They showed me how to dial in coffee properly and I thought to myself, ‘I will never get better if I don’t constantly try and stay curious’. This is probably one oft he most challenging things in the life of a barista: to be your own source of motivation. Stay hungry. Learn more. Connect. It’s really hard to always push yourself. But I wanted more. As I was learning more and more about working behind the bar and using the grinders and machines, I annoyed my boss to teach me how to roast their coffee (over a year, I asked every day). Eventually, he began to teach me and now we work together to roast all the coffee for the company. At the same time, I began to work on my technical skills. As my workplace is also a distributor for equipment, as soon as we would receive a new product, I would read the complete manual. And, I would do the same with coffee; as soon as we’d receive a new coffee, I would try to read about the country, the farm and about the coffee itself. This way, I knew I always had stuff to tell the customer and could always tell a good story. Gradually, I became more involved in the wider coffee community in Berlin and began to participate in events. I took part in some casual latte art events and seriously, I sucked. I always got kicked out in the first round and felt so bad. So one day, I decided to lock myself in at work, buy litres and litres of milk and train. Eventually, I got better and it started being really fun. BARISTA COMPETITIONS My first real barista competition was in 2016. The idea grew after watching Erna Tosberg, one of the most inspiring women in the German coffee industry, compete on stage and i was so impressed. I wanted to be just as powerful and professional as she was. The preparation for the championship was all over the place. When you are first beginning, you have no clue what to do, or how to start. One week before my first competition, a barista champion from another European country watched my routine and asked “So, how long until comp?” When I told them it was one week, their reply was “One week? Well, we cant change everything now…..” As you can imagine, I felt horrible. During the championship everything was new and exciting (and terrifying)! I managed to advance to the second round and after performing my routine for the judges again, they announced me in second place overall - I was pretty overwhelmed! I wanted more! I started experimenting with new ideas for the next championship. I trained for six months, four of which I was working seven days a week. I felt like I was going crazy, but I wanted to win it soooo badly. It was time for the championship. My first run on stage was … well, a disaster. I made what felt like a million mistakes and thought, ‘Well, that’s it man…..’. But somehow, I managed to make it to the second round. And from that moment on I just said ‘F*ck it, I want the judges to have fun with me on stage.’ So, I went back on stage with nothing to lose, delivered what felt like a great performance and it felt great. When it came time for the announcements, I expected my name to be called in last place. But they called 6th…..then 5th….then 4th…and still, my name hadn’t been announced. When they called 3rd place and it wasn’t my name, I thought ‘Oh my god, what is happening?!’. When 2nd place was called and it still wasn’t my name, I immediately began to cry (of happiness)! I couldn’t believe it - I had won! AFTER THE CHAMPIONSHIP Winning the German Barista Championship felt surreal. I had worked so long and so hard for it, but in some ways winning the trophy somehow didn’t really satisfy me. I was much happier talking about coffee and showing my skills than holing this award in my hands. After I won, I fell hard. I felt overworked. Stressed. Lacked a social life. After the championship, I still worked over one month without a day off. Until my body gave up. And my mental health as well. During this period, I wasn’t able to use my left arm at all due to the fact that I’d completely overworked it during training and working. I had an extremely hard decision to make - I decided to not take part at the 2018 World Barista Championship, as I felt this injury would impair me and maybe someone else would have a better chance to represent Germany. I felt so ashamed. Ashamed that I couldn’t pull through and that I had reached my limit. I felt weak and depressed. I still travelled to Amsterdam to watch my replacement compete in the World Barista Championship, to see the best baristas in the world performing their craft and to watch the first female barista champion, Agnieszka Rojewska win the world title. Watching all of these amazing baristas, I knew that this was the only thing that I really wanted - to work in coffee. I love it! I didn’t want to give it up, I just had to learn to not be so hard on myself. A NEW GOAL Slowly I started working on a new concept for the next German Barista Championship. I travelled to Barcelona for a week to write my speech for a new performance and it came out pretty ok. Then, I started working on my signature drink and I absolutely loved it. I loved every single part of my routine by the end. My favourite music, the drinks, the energy. I took my time to think about everything. I still trained hard but nowhere near as hard as the year before. Or maybe I did, but it just felt more like me. At the 2019 championship, I placed 3rd. It wasn’t the result I wanted, but I knew that this time I managed to show so many people my real passion. People kept writing to me, saying that the performance and my work is so inspiring for them. I really want to share this passion, share knowledge and build a new generation of strong, driven baristas that love what they do with every heartbeat. So, I’ve decided to share my experiences with all of you. If you have any questions or suggestions, do please message me. And now, I want you to enjoy my blog. We can brew it! #nicolebattefeld #barista #germanbarista #baristablog