For the past few months Espresso Parts has been hard at work on a “behind the scenes” project. As part of our Official WBC cup sponsor gig we were asked by Nuova Simonelli to partner up with them on the time-honored WBC cup gift set presented to key volunteers and judges.
Needless to say we were pretty excited to partner with the WCE and Nuova Simonelli in supporting the efforts of the WBC and WrBC. For years we’ve seen these sets, coveted them, and even received 1 or 2. In the past similar sets have contained an espresso cup and a cappuccino cup. We gave this traditional approach some thought and found ourselves inspired by coffee’s social side. We wanted to create an opportunity to share one’s love of coffee and thus our concept for a “Coffee for two” set was born.
The 2013 WBC set contains 2 cappuccino cups and saucers from the EP porcelain collection with custom printing featuring the very cool WCE Melbourne logo and art. We housed the set in a custom gift box designed by Espresso Parts using the colorful and whimsical WCE Melbourne identity and iconery patterns provided by to us for the project by WCE.
How do you get one of these sets? Well if you aren’t headed to Melbourne for the event chances are you are out of luck. However even if you are not a judge or key volunteer or sponsor they’ll be selling additional cups in the merchandise area
Espresso Parts Korea held their first #TNT!!!
While we were sleeping this morning Espresso Parts Korea was holding their first #TNT. It was really great working with our associates in Korea to plan this event! We also had to send them some amazing custom tamp trophies. By the looks of it they had a great time. Big props to Espresso Parts Korea for putting on anevent for the Korean Barista community. Also thanks to the sponsors La Mill, and La Marzocco Korea.
The setup!
Custom tamp trophies.
SWAG
Such nice art!
I picked that one too.
You don’t HAVE to pour into cups!
SCAA Boston Wrap Up
We had an amazing experience making the annual journey to The SCAA Event! This years event was located in Boston (across the country for us Espresso Parts folk) and promised to be an epic showing. We were especially excited with the unveiling of the new Espresso Parts display which features many of our greatest core products and the center piece of the display our restored and customize GS Hybrid.
This year we were showcasing a Custom La Marzocco GS2/GB5 MP designed and fabricated in the Espresso Parts Custom Shop! This beauty features the classic profile of the GS2 teamed with the GB5 Mechanical Paddle group and PID controlled brew boiler and steam boiler. GB5 steam valves with Sproline Vortex and Foam Knife tips. Sproline group screen and screw. Handmade teak side panels and portafilter handles (no CNC machines here!) Body powder coated semi gloss light gray and pearled cream. Brew boiler powder coated matte black. Two layer back panel, pearled cream and high gloss black, honey comb pattern. Finally to top it off we included some tall, Italian designed, chrome legs that go on for days! You may now wipe up the drool from your screen..
During The Event we were fortunate to sponsor some exciting events one of which was sponsoring the US Aeropress Championships and judging The Most Innovative Brew Method. We saw some really great methods and it came down to Andy Sprenger and his double filter method versus Dut Goodman’s awesome copper tubing heating system. Andy won not only because the method was innovative but because his coffee scored higher with the sensory judges. He was very happy to receive his custom Triple Brewing Station prize.
The top 3:
1st Place – Kenny Smith @sunergoscoffee
2nd Place – Charles Babinski @GandBcoffee
3rd Place – Cabel Tice @thinkingcup
Latte Art Exhibition
TNTs have really taken off in the past couple of years. These volunteer driven coffee events have become a haven for local coffee communities all over the country. We have been coordinating the #TNTNW for a couple of years now and it’s been so amazing being involved with the local Barista community. We can’t say thank you enough to all of the supporters and hosts that make these events possible.
*We now have the opportunity to bring this to the next level. A group of industry pros (including us!) headed by Skip Finley and Patrick Burns have been working to create a Latte art competition that can send an American Barista to the World Latte Art Championship. Right now there aren’t any WLAC sanctioned events in the U.S.A. which means no American competitor at the world level. We are here to change that.
At SCAA in Boston we will be helping present the first Latte Art Exhibition. On top of helping to organize the event we are the official porcelain sponsor for the Latte Art Exhibition!! That’s right! All of the Baristas will be pouring their beautiful latte art in OUR porcelain. While this event will not qualify anyone for the WLAC it will show that we have the ability to organize such an event. From this event on we hope to bring sanctioned latte art competitions to the masses.
To read more about the event check out the SCAA Special Events page.
*We from this point refers to the group of coffee pros.
Espresso Parts Dials-In For World Coffee Events Australia
Olympia, WA– We’re beyond stoked to announce, Espresso Parts Porcelain Collection has been selected as the official cup sponsor for the World Barista Championship and the World Brewers Cup! Competitors may throw down their drink with our stylish Tulip Cappuccino! Plus you might just spot our sturdy Diner Mug hanging about during the WBrC competition, be on the look out!
The 2013 event is set to be a milestone expected to attract a record number of visitors from all over the world, even more so now that Espresso Parts has joined the fun! Best of luck to you intrepid baristas, cheers mate!
Love Espresso Parts!
Top The Espresso Parts Rinser has been helping professionals save time, money, and water for nearly 5 years now! Our newest build represents everything we’ve learned and includes a number of key feature enhancements.
Our Rinser is not just for steaming pitchers, it works with pitchers, glasses, bar wares, any vessel with a diameter of 1″ to 4 1/2″ (20mm to 115mm) that needs a wicked good rinsing fast.
Bigger and Better Actuator Star
The new actuator star is made from an NSF approved diecast composite which features a larger diameter (now 4.875″, was 4.375″) , more pronounced non-slip ridges, and a more durable thicker thread body to endure extra downward pressure.
New Surround for Counter Top Model
All counter top models now include a sleek new black ABS base.
New Spray Assembly
All stainless steel valve body with machine finishing and a fitted brass pin for smoother valve action. New spray head is all stainless and is now machined as part of the valve body with slightly larger holes which eliminates clogging and serves up more water faster for a quicker rinse action.
Easy Installation
Water & Waste Attachements. Water Inlet is 3/8 John Guest and drain is a 1/2″ drain.
Check out all our Rinsers at http://www.espressoparts.com/RinsersDipperwells
BACC launch a huge success.
I met Richard Sandlin a couple of years ago at Barista Camp. We hit it off and have stayed in contact. He’s a pretty rad dude making some great moves down in California. Richard hit me up a few months ago regarding a new competition series he wanted to start in the Bay Area. Of course I wanted to help. I’ve been coordinating the #TNTNW series here at EP for almost two years now (WHOA) and it made me super happy that they wanted EP involved.
The Bay Area Coffee Community was born! BACC is a six month latte art competition series that will take place in the Bay Area. The first event kicking off at Barista Nation SF. Each event will pit Baristas against each other to see who can pour the best latte art! These events will help create an even stronger community in The Bay and will be open to the public. The three winners from each event will receive points, at the end of the series the people with the most points will be the all around winners. So, the more you compete the more likely you are to win the all around competition! Espresso Parts decided to sponsor the awards. We wanted to make an award the wasn’t only aesthetically pleasing but also functional. We finally decided on tamp trophies! Our in-house design wizard Dave White came up with the beauties you see below. The Kino tamp handle features the BACC logo and the base is marked with the EP logo and the competition year. The handle also features a pistol grip that was inspired by The Bay Bridge. You really want to win one!!
I was super stoked to find out that I would be accompanying Matt & Melissa (owners) to the Barista Nation SF/BACC kickoff. I had two bags for the one day trip, one was completely full of swag and the other a change of clothes. We flew into SFO got our rental car and headed for Sightglass Coffee.
After we got some awesome coffee in our system we made our way to Barista Nation. The event took place at The Women’s Building in The Mission. The building itself is covered with some amazing paintings and is the first woman-owned and operated community center in the country! Once we got our badges we split up.
I REALLY wanted to see Ken Olson’s talk “Doing Good While Doing Good Business” but our flight arrived too late! The next discussion on my itinerary was “Why We Do What We Do” led by Jeremy Kuempel of Blossom Coffee Inc. & Rip Pruishen of Rip Van Wafels. They went over the process of concept, prototype and product. These guys are so smart it’s crazy!
One of my favorite discussions was from the Keynote Speaker Katie Carguilo. She led the crowd through her career from Barnes & Noble to being the NE Champ. She is so dang humble and down to earth. I can’t remember her exact quote but she mentioned that just because she won the regional and US competition doesn’t make her the best Barista in the room it means she did really good at a game. AMAZING!!!!
The night ended with the BACC’s first throwdown. Not only were there awesome trophies there was also a food truck feeding hungry Baristas outside of the event. We had over 30 people compete for the top three spots. Everyone brought their A-game and a fun time was had by all. Big thanks to all of the baristas that showed up!
Winners Josh Bonner of Stanza (3rd), Che Garcia of Ritual (1st) & Demart Denaro of Blue Bottle (2nd) with judges Ant Walach (Sightglass), Katie Carguilo (Counter Culture), and Pele Aveau (Blue Bottle)
Make sure to check out http://www.bayareacoffee.org/ for upcoming events.
