Crema De La Crema - An Espresso Coffee Blog in Singapore » News

Latte Art Showdown II at Oriole Cafe

Colin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:43:33 +0000

Oriole Cafe will be organising a latte art competition on 2nd November 2009. For those who don’t check or have Facebook accounts, the details are below, as excerpted from their Facebook updates:

Get your milk jugs ready and steady your nerves,
Back after 8 months (sorry we’ve been busy…)!
New exciting and audience friendly knockout system
Many prizes galore (alcohol guaranteed)!
$5.50(nett!) beer all night long
cut price shooters
$5 entry, winner takes all
Plus…BRAGGING RIGHTS!
register early to secure your limited slots! Or just come and join in the mayhem!

This event is planned to start at 7:30 pm on Nov 2, 2009 at Oriole Cafe & Bar, #01-01 Pan Pacific Suites, 96 Somerset Rd.

WBC 2009 Atlanta: John Jhi Chiang Ting Singapore

Colin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:28:14 +0000

Coupled with the bad internet connection, I could only catch every other frame during John’s routine. The emcee is James Hoffmann, WBC 2007 Champion, now at Square Mile Roasters. Anyway, here are whatever pictures I could take during the event. As John says in his routine, “Please enjoy…”

John pours latte art in front of judges.

The familiar “tap tap tap”, dosing coffee grounds into the portafilter

John pours water for the technical judges.

John explains his signature drink, “Summer Blossom”.

John calls “Time,” signaling the end of his performance and is being
interviewed by James Hoffmann.

John thanks everyone for their support, especially the ones cooped
up in Singapore, watching his performance at an ungodly hour.

James Hoffmann.

World Barista Championship Atlanta 2009

Colin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:59:48 +0000

World Barista Championship 2009 (WBC) is held at Atlanta, Georgia, USA this year. The venue is at the Georgia World Congress Center, Expo Hall A3. It will be from 15 April 2009 to 19 April 2009, with the actual competition starting on 16th April.

A total of 52 countries are taking part in this event. Singapore will be represented by John Ting from Oriole Cafe. He will be assisted by Oriole Cafe owner, Keith Loh, who came in 2nd place in this year’s Singapore National Barista Championship (SNBC). According to the WBC article on Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) website, John Ting’s performance will be the 10th of 19 competitors on the first day, 16th April. The top 6 finalists will be announced on Day Three, Saturday, 18th April 2009, and these 6 will compete in the Final Round on Sunday, 19th April 2009.

To follow up on WBC 2009, you can click on the following links:

World Barista Championship Official Site
This is the official site for WBC and you can find the live video feeds and news updates. Live video feeds will begin on 16th April.

SCAA’s WBC article
The schedule of events and the timetables can be downloaded here.

WBC 2009 Official Blog by Barista Magazine (Click here for RSS Feed)

WBC 2009 on Twitter (Click here for RSS Feed)

Georgia World Congress Center

GWCC Google Map

We have moved! Pls update your feeds.

Colin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:27:58 +0000

This blog is now at

http://espresso.colinloh.com

Please update your feed by clicking here.

CuppaChoice Barista Challenge 2009

Colin — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:59:43 +0000

‘I AM A BARISTA IN SINGAPORE’ is organising its first ever Barista Challenge in April 2009.

Date:Saturday, April 4, 2009
Time:11:00am – 5:00pm
Location:CSC Bukit Batok Clubhouse
Street:91 Bukit Batok West Ave 2 S(659206)

Head Judge: Ian Consulta (CuppaChoice)
Technical Judge: Danny Pang (Geek Terminal)
Sensory Judge: Steve Cairns (CGSG)

Announcing the 9 Barista participating in this challenge:-

1. Siti Aindah- Starbucks Coffee
2. Suresh- Ice Cube
3. Siti Oyah- Starbucks Coffee
4. Noribsham- Starbucks Coffee
5. Rohit- Geek Terminal
6. Mohamed Azman- Geek terminal
7. Colin Loh- Home Barista (CGSG)
8. Melvin Seah- CuppaChoice Coffee
9. Shereen- Ice Cube

Starbucks Coffee: How Green Is Their Java?

Colin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:32:46 +0000

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is given credit by many for revolutionizing the American coffee drinking experience. The company however is both praised and criticized by environmentalists. Is Starbucks a leader of sustainability or greenwashed?

View Original Article

Tags: starbucks

Harvard Study on coffee and health

Colin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:26:44 +0000

Here’s the link.

Black Gold The Movie Released on DVD

Colin — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:49:54 +0000

An excerpt from the email I received:

BLACK GOLD RELEASED ON DVD

BUY IT NOW

“Remarkable – a moving but scandalous story. Black Gold has extraordinary power” – The Daily Telegraph

The much-anticipated DVD release of BLACK GOLD is here and with it, a new look web site. Read on for more news surrounding the release.

This
thought-provoking film is out now on DVD for you to share with
everyone, and raise awareness about the truth behind the coffee trade.

Exclusive DVD Extras Include:

Director’s Q+A with Channel 4′s Jon Snow
Al Jazeera Feature
Message from Tadesse: What You Can Do
6 Language Options

Opening of Peaberry & Pretzel at Sunset Way

Colin — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:26:19 +0000

My heartfelt congratulations to Adrian, another CGSGer, for opening this much anticipated bistro, Peaberry & Pretzel. Besides boasting a traditional fare of German cuisine, beautifully crafted desserts, Peaberry & Pretzel has freshly roasted coffee beans (oh yes) in store for us geeks. Coupled that with a beauty of a machine, a La Marzocco GB5, I just can’t wait to try this bistro out.

This new bistro might just put an end to all those “Can’t get a decent espresso in Singapore” posts. Darn. I need to find new blog material.

For all those raring to try out Adrian’s espresso, please head on down to:

Peaberry & Pretzel
106 Clementi Street 12
#01-52
(off sunset way)

You can also visit his blog which is chock full of great photos of Peaberry & Pretzel’s entrees.

Singapore’s 1st National Barista Championship 2007

Colin — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:28:33 +0000

Singapore’s 1st National Barista Championship 2007

Singapore, 15 November 2006 – Singapore Coffee Association (SCA) will hold its first inaugural Singapore National Barista Championship (SNBC) from March 29 – 31 at Suntec City Convention Centre Room 208 & 209.

Supported by Singapore Exhibition Services (SES), the objectives of this highly regarded Singapore National Barista Championship include:

    * Promoting the growth, excellence & recognition in the Barista profession in Singapore.
    * Growing the Barista’s knowledge of and expertise in the preparation and serving of specialty, espresso coffee through competitions.
    * Promoting the knowledge and consumption of specialty coffee to the consumer through the Barista.

SCA’s Chairman, Mr. Victor Mah said, “This is the first time Singapore is holding a barista competition at a national level and it is open to all barista enthusiasts. We are hoping that through such events, we can inculcate in our younger generations that being a barista is a professional career that is creative, fun and exciting. We hope to be able to raise the profile of Barista profession in Singapore.”

Competitors will be judged by qualified assessors such as Justin Metcalf, World Barista Championship International Judge, as well as Qualified judges from the SCA on a number of criteria such as; creativity, barista skills; coffee taste, cleanliness and etc. The winner of the SNBC will then join the other champions from the respective countries at the World Barista Championship in Tokyo from July 31 – August 2.

[excerpt from http://www.singaporecoffee.org/forms%5CmediaRelease081106.htm]