After the serious business of the National Barista Championship and Technivorm distribution, the team at Transcend have decided that in November we shall let our hair down! Facial hair, at least! Every November, the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada challenges men to grow a mo' to raise money for prostate cancer research. Henceforth, we invite everyone to become a member of Transcend's Movember team: THE SAUSAGE LATTES

Mo' Bros will spend Movember grooming their glorious facial hair. The catch: if there's any existing hair, it's all got to come off on the first of Movember (or whenever you join). For some, this is a challenge in itself! That’s where the Mo' Sistas come in. Assuming most women won't want to grow facial hair, they may prefer to provide moral support. For example: "Wow, Josh, you look great when you're clean shaven"; and "Don't worry Chad, I'm sure your Grandfather-in-law will understand why you look like a 1980's used car salesman".

Sound like fun? To get more general information, go to www.movember.com or ask a Sausage Lattes member.  To just jump in and register. Go to the Movember Canada site and click on register; then "join a team". Registration # 1338306; Captain's email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Then, if you're a dude, shave your whole face and take a before picture. If you're a lady, go and convince someone to donate or participate.

But you don't have to be on the team to help - come in to Transcend in Movember to check out the progress of the Sausage Lattes - and give them encouragement by tossing a donation into the pot. Remember, its for charity! (Receipts will be distributed in December) There will also be a party at the end of Movember to crown the best face and to pitch a last ditch fundraising effort.

GO THE MO'S!

It has almost been one week since the finals.  Too be honest, it has been tough, for everyone, not just Chad or Thea or me, but everyone.  It's hard to come to grips with the emotions and self-doubt (on my part anyway) of choosing to use 2% milk to highlight the espresso, knowing that we were docked marks for this in light of everyone else using whole milk.  Chad threw it all on the table, and he rocked, and we all knew that was all that he could do. After that you leave it in the hands of the judges (who I am not slamming in any way, because they did a great job.  Judging these competitions is not an easy thing to do).

We all know that it was a great learning experience, and we all know how valuable the competition was; and despite all of that, it is still a hard pill to swallow.  We had a great time in Montreal, and a great time at the competition.  It is great to get together with the crowd and throw down some espresso.  We were at the show before anyone else on Monday to help Les and Lauro set up the stage, and we are always delighted to work with the coffee crew in ensuring that everyone has a great time.  I won't pretend that I agree with all that goes on at the Coffee and Tea Show, and I won't pretend that I wish that the focus of the show had more to do with coffee, and less to do with syrup, milk and all the things that destract from the world of specialty coffee.  We will be back next year, Chad and likely Josh will tee up and compete at regionals, and hopefully they will do Transcend proud at Nationals next year in Vancouver.  We will cheer loudly as Sammy competes for Canada in April at the WBC, and we will enjoy the show all the more, without the stress of competition and having to lug equipment and coffee all the way to Atlanta.  All in all, Montreal was a great experience, the food, the people, the wine, the city... and I will go back, to drink great espresso at Myriade, and Veritas, and will go back and revel in the food of Au Pied de Cochon, and will go back and walk the uneven streets of old Montreal.  Until then, we continue to work, strive, practice, tweak and delight in the black nectar we all know as coffee.

This is a re-post from January 18, 2008

As the company who distributes the Technivorm coffee makers in Canada, we talk to a lot of people about the virtues and benefits of the exceptionally well made Dutch brewers.  Lately though, I am getting calls from people who complain that their coffee is not hot enough, which is something that frankly surprises me.  Having said that, lets chat a bit about the brewing process and perhaps I can assist in helping to understand what is actually going on in regards to temperature both during and after the brew process.

Today I did a brew-off between the KBT 741 and the CD Moccamaster.  I wanted to see how both compared in terms of brew temperature and final coffee temperature as well as taste profile.  At the end of the process there was very little difference between the two.

Please note, that these temperature measurements were conducted with an industrial Fluke meter and temperature probe.  A home thermometer will not yield accurate results.

Brew Time  B. Temp at Arm  B. Temp Basket  Final Temp
KBT 741  6 min       200 F                 195 F                    179 F
CD          6 min       200 F                 195 F                    179 F


In both machines I used regular tap water, and an oxygenated paper filter.  I used 6 scoops of fresh Guatemala Trapichitos in accordance to Technivorm's instructions.  After brewing the final temp in the carafe for both units (1 minute after the brew completed) was the same, 179 F, which actually surprised me, as I had surmised that the hot plate on the CD would make more of a difference.  When comparing the taste of the two brews, I actually found the KBT to offer up a bit more complexity than did the CD.  To finish my little experiment, I did another brew in the KBT but this time I brewed with a Swiss Gold filter and I had the carafe preheated to 135 F (in the first brew-off the KBT carafe was at 63.5 F).  Testing the final coffee temperature after one minute like the last brew-off, I found that the coffee temperature was 181 F, an increase of 2 degrees F from that of a cold carafe.  For those who like to drink their coffee very hot, which by the way mutes the flavours and complexity of the coffee, pre-heating the carafe does make a difference.  Regarding the taste comparison between the coffee brewed with the gold filter, I noticed a significant difference.  The nuances of the gold filtered coffee were much more apparent, the coffee possessed more complexity and more sweetness and fruit.  The difference was actually more significant than I expected.

On a final note, I brewed the exact same amount of coffee in the Cusinart brewer we have at the shop and found the following results: The overall brew time was 8 minutes and the brew temperature never got above 183 F (17 degrees F lower than the Technivorms) with the coffee at the bottom of the basket at 163 F (28 degrees lower than the Technivorms).  The final coffee temperature measured one minute after the completion of the brew was 173 degrees F (6 degrees F less than the Technivorms).  The biggest difference is in the taste, as the coffee is under extracted and comparatively flavourless compared to the coffee brewed in the Technivorm.

After all of this, I get to remind myself why it is that Transcend Coffee will only sell the Technivorm coffee brewer.

Further to our last post, we now know a bit more about the judges perspective on Chad's performance.  Apparently they weren't thrilled with Chad's delivery of his cappuccino's which is entirely a matter of perspective as Chad had chosen 2% milk for his capps to accentuate the espresso.  Unfortunately, the judges are used to a bit more texture and thickness to the foam than Chad was delivering.  Alas, this is the reality of competing as judges are going to evaluate on the basis of a standard built on consensus, which is perfectly reasonable when you win.  Not to complain too much, the night finished off with a high note as we dined at Au Pied de Cochon, which according to Chad is the best restaurant that he has ever eaten at.  It was a great way to finish off a pretty bad day.  OK now it is definitely time for sleep.

PS.  On a positive competition note, at least Chad's espresso and sig drinks got high marks, which confirms that Transcend is on the right track.  Chad worked his butt off, and I am so proud of him, and so sympathetic with the hard loss.

If you haven't heard Chad finished 4th. While we are tremendously dissapointed we are greatful for all the support that we have had. Fourth best Barista in Canada is nothing to sneeze at, but nonetheless it is a bitter pill.

Chad did a great job and did his best leaving it all on the table. Now it is in the hands of the judges. We will update as things proceed.

Just a quick note to let all of you who were waiting patiently on the Technivorm shipment, that they arrived later this afternoon.  Our Shipping Manager / Roaster / All around guy Josh will start shipping out pre-orders tomorrow.  Thanks again for your patience.

Well, day one is under wraps.  As expected and hoped for, Chad has made it into the finals tomorrow.  Today there were fifteen competitors, now there are six.  The West actaully had a great day as three out of the six finalists were from Alberta.  Chad was first up and did splendidly.  Competing with Chad tomorrow is Joel May from Fratello Coffee, Phil Robertson from Phil & Sebastian Coffee, Spencer Vieghweger from JJ Bean in Vancouver, Anthony Benda from Cafe Myriad in Montreal, and Sammy Piccolo from Cafe Artigiano in Vancouver.  It will be a great final, starting at 10 am mountain time, with Chad competing in the 4th spot tomorrow.  You can catch it live again on the web at Ustream.tv, look for the channel called 2008 Canadian Barista Championship.  If you missed Chad's performance today you can watch the archived video footage of it by clicking here.

Also, check out the City TV spot that aired on Monday evening, it is a great breakdown of what the competition is all about.

The address for the Ustream feed has changed from my previous post.

Go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/2008-canadian-barista-championship

Well the day started early, too early, as Chad thought we needed to be at the venue at 8 am.  We were out too late last night, and the morning came way to fast.  Nonetheless, we pushed on, and spent the day setting up the comp stage with Les and a few others from Italy.  By around 2 pm a good group of the crew had gathered.  The machines were dialed in and the coffee started to flow.  Chad and I finally got to eat around 6 pm, both famished, and then called it an early night.  Chad is up number one in the order and the comp is scheduled to start at 10:30 Eastern time.  So if you have time, log onto Ustream and watch Chad lay some smack down.  Seriously, it is all up to the judges now.  We can only hope for a good outcome.