So for you "Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast" coffee nerds...


30th Nov until the 3rd Dec


Get the full program here.


http://www.cafeculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/official-program-guide.pdf

Mmmm that link doesn't work for me.

Can I just wander down and watch or is there an entry fee?

Try this main link and navigate around - http://www.cafeculture.com/golden-bean-info

It's a $700+ event.  Just don't get arrested Kelsey!  Me the kids would stick out like a sore thumb (yes you have to pay for them too!!!)

I read somewhere that Gloria Jeans got a gold in syphon.

Results are in: http://www.cafeculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Golden-Bean-Results.pdf

My congratulations to Carlini Coffee and Cosmorex. 

Thank you Dennis - and well done to you as well.

Well done to all - The one that really surprises me is Gloria Jeans for Syphon. All this says to me is that companies are using this to get their name out there, but what you buy in the shop might not actually be what they won awards for. It's sad that companies with deep pockets can buy the absolute best of the beans, put a sample for tasting, and claim a win, despite not serving it in any of their shops.

This is why people who are true to their blends and submit what they sell should be respected mostly above all others - because you know you're actually getting an award winning blend when you buy it after the fact, and striving for greatness EVERY DAY, not just for a competition.

Well put RM.

I also thought the number of CoE and tiny microlot coffees winning medals this year was extraordinarily high - in fact a bit OTT.

I also have 4 different CoE coffees and some very interesting microlots in my roastery, but we submitted coffees that were available on our consumer portal www.mycuppa.com.au. Winning on a coffee that is not generally available does raise some interesting questions, particularly when marketing kicks in after the event and the poor consumer can't differentiate.

Guess is comes down to context - on the one hand it's testing skills of bean selection and blending and on the other hand it's testing the roasting. The question in my mind ........is it the bean that wins or the roaster ?

I kinda liked what ASCAA was trying to promote - blind coffee roasting - the same beans are sent out to all roasters and they submit samples. Challenge with this concept is the variation in roaster capacities required for batches.

Thanks for your kind words fellas, and congrats to you also Jeff and Dennis.

Rgdz,
A.

I loved seeing that AM, such fantastic talent to make things like dragons and fish etc.  Oh and the peacock was fantastic

Just chatting with the Golden Bean organizers -  there was an error in the previously published information.

Corrected mycuppa results:-

Single Origin - Silver (was previously shown as Syphon)
Espresso - Bronze (just missed Silver)
Milk-Based - Bronze

Well I arrived home from the 2012 Golden Bean Coffee Conference and Competition about 7 pm last evening. The trip was punctuated with a late arrival at Sydney from Maroochydore Airport, resulting in my missing the connection on the next flight home. The airline kindly, efficiently and without fuss put me on the next available flight resulting in a 1.5 hour wait in the terminal, that was put to good use!

That said and after having had 3 great days at Golden Bean, there was no stress!

They're having a "free day" today and finishing off with the presentation dinner tonight. My compliments to all that have worked hard enough to win something in the comp and even to everyone else that submitted their entries.

The standard of coffee making this year was excellent. I was never presented with a badly made coffee, making judging that bit easier. There were times on my table when particular entries were asked to be "re brewed", and that was to check that whetever the judges detected in the particular coffee was indeed the coffee and not the way it had been brewed.

I'm not going to say anything about the standard of entries at this point and particularly as the organisers will have a much better overview of the total.

The seminars were very very good and I suggest anyone (industry) that didnt attend missed out on some good speakers and topics. Both topics yesterday (Utz Certified - fair trade movement / sustainability, and Cafe Pulse - surveys, stats and their use to improve your business) were eye openers. Mark Beattie (Coffee Roasters Australia) gave a very informative talk on Wednesday, and of course those I've left out (including keynote speaker Chuck Hahn) were also very well received ( and in the case of Chuck Hahn, very funny as well - what a great public speaker).

I'd also like to mention the Beer Matching Dinner (degustation) was well worth the attendance!

Lastly, my sincere compliments and best wishes to Sean and his Cafe Culture team, for putting on a very professional Conference and Comp.

Rgdz,
Attilio
very first Crema site sponsor

Not wrong 

The total time to get home was from 11am to 7pm, a reasonably heavy investment in time, and in actuality, a heavy investment in cost as well. The Golden Bean is in Caloundra and the airport is in Maroochydore. Its a $140.00 round trip in taxi fares (or you wait for and catch the bus, but this adds a substantial and unacceptable time penalty.....). You could hire a car, if you intended to make use of it while at the conference (not) and that costs more for no gain!


Note the times given above were qld time to nsw time ie non daylight saving to daylight saving so its really 1 hour less than it seems......correspondingly on the way to the conference the trip seemed unbelievably short due to "losing" an hour in the time change.

Coffee Comp results should be somewhere on the Cafe Culture website soon......the presentation dinner is on now as I write.

Just chatting with the Golden Bean organizers -  there was an error in the previously published information.

Corrected mycuppa results:-

Single Origin - Silver (was previously shown as Syphon)
Espresso - Bronze (just missed Silver)
Milk-Based - Bronze

Can I ask which SO got the Silver?