The Flourishing Coffee Scene in the US

The US consume a mind-blowing 400 million cups of coffee per day.

This statistic totals 146 billion cups a year and this makes the United States a world-leader in the coffee world. The average cup of coffee is 9 ounces and about 83% of adults are drinking coffee. This makes up 75% of all the caffeine consumed in the US.

A coffee lover in America is luck to find that a great cup of coffee is in almost every city. In fact, a vast size of the population in the US loves coffee. Just recently a study has been created that help to determine and compare the different habits of drinking coffee in the various city. From this study, it was determined that there are 8 cities that are considered the best places for a coffee lover to live in and visit. They are; Kansas City, Austin Texas, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle.

With several trips to the US this year already and a visit planned to the New York Coffee Festival in a few weeks’ time, La Cimbali’s coffee specialist Rob Ward reflects on his time spent at numbers one and two on the list – Seattle and Portland.

Rob says that all of the cities that made the top eight list produced by thrillist.com deserve to be there. He was last in Seattle for the SCAA exhibition and World Barista Championships in April this year. His previous trip to the US west coast and Seattle and Portland had been nine years before and was the first time that he experienced the ‘west coast way’ of doing things. Then, he tried short amazingly sweet, caramel & chocolate style espressos, and a lot of different blends, showing how exciting and charismatic each shot could be away from the mainstream chains that we are all used to in the UK as well as the US.

Both Seattle and Portland are eye openers for what is being done in the UK and how the UK could improve their offering. There were a great number of coffee places that had sprung up and most of them not just focussing on espresso but also exploring and developing new origins, their individuality, their processing techniques, roast heights and above all producing great new flavours!

Next stop for Cimbali is the New York Coffee Festival at the end of September where Rob will be popping in to see what is happening in the flourishing coffee scene in the great city.

For more details about the eight US cities that made the list visit: www.thrillist.com

For more details about the New York Coffee Festival visit: www.newyorkcoffeefestival.com

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La Cimbali at the HOST event in October

This year is the 39^th for the International Hospitality Exhibition which features the HOST which is a show that centres around coffee, equipment and food. This event will take place from October 23-27 at Milan’s Fieramilano. For 5 days, this event will be sure to attract manufacturers and buyers from around the world with its many demonstrations, product displays, seminars and discussions.

Even though Milan is known as the design and fashion capital of the world, October is simply the time that it will become a hub for the professional hospitality industry. There are going to be an estimated 14 pavilions in a layout of 100,000 square metres that visitors will be able to enjoy.

A short distance away, the EXPO 2015 is still being held until 31 October.

Cimbali is looking forward to the HOST as they had a very good experience with it last 2013. This year, the event is bigger than ever where there are about 1,700 exhibitors from more than 48 countries around the world. It has also been estimated that there would be over 130,000 visitors from 62 countries.

During the event, Cimbali will be launching new products. They will also show the visitors more about the machines and accessories of the La Cimbali brand.

Other things to look out for include top experts from the coffee world discussing their latest research and findings in the ‘Coffee District’ area. Plus, the SCAE will be hosting meetings at their ‘Enjoy the table’ sessions which will bring coffee culture to the table where members of the public can interact with top baristas and experts.

Look out for more details soon. In the meantime as the last week of EXPO Milano will be taking place at the same time as HOST, pre-registering and buying your tickets early will guarantee your entrance at a discounted price, and less queuing means more time at the show!

HOST 2015 runs from Friday 23 October – Tuesday 27 October at Fieramilano fairground in Rho.

For more details regarding HOST 2015 please visit: http://host.fieramilano.it/en

Importance of Water Treatment Systems

When it comes to creating coffee, water is a vital ingredient of course. However, what those in the coffee industry know about water is that everyone’s water is different. This is why coffee machines contain water treatment systems that help ensure that the hundreds of espresso cups created each day tastes the best that it can be.

Baristas know that the quality of water used will improve the taste of the final drink, that’s why water should be treated before it enters the coffee machine. Not only will it give great tasting coffee, it will also reduce scale build up in the coffee machine. According to Rob Ward, La Cimbali’s coffee specialist, water quality and treatment are extremely important for creating great tasting coffees and at the same time, protect the equipment used.

Water composition will greatly affect the taste of coffee. Although it is up to the coffee roaster to get the right composition of water, here are some tips that will help prevent scale build up and protect the coffee machines.

Coffee machines with steam boilers are extremely vulnerable to scale build up because the high temperatures encourage the deposit of scale and then this scale can lodge in various components of the machine causing blockages.

Descaling coffee machines is expensive and often requires the machine to be taken away to be treated and parts replaced, it’s crucial to have an appropriate water treatment system in place to prevent this. With plenty on the market to choose from, there are a number of factors that need to be considered before purchasing, including; cost, effectiveness, corrosiveness of output water, waste water, taste, capacity and environmental considerations.

At La Cimbali it is recommended that the use of sodium water softeners, as they auto regenerate and help keep a stable pH. However whichever water treatment system you choose, we have these top tips to help you find the right one:

·        Capacity – All systems have a defined maximum capacity and it’s important to size them correctly to avoid running out of treated water or paying too much for an over specified unit. We recommend fitting individual water meters for each coffee machine that are non-resettable and count up because the water history is never lost.

·        Check water hardness – Many people do not test the hardness of the water entering their coffee machine before installing a water treatment system. Lots of areas of the UK do not have hard water so water treatment systems are not always necessary.

·        Installation – Try to arrange installation in a place where the system can be seen rather than hidden away, to be reminded about routine exchanges and maintenance.

·        Service and maintenance – Scheduling regular service and maintenance is essential. It’s not unusual to arrange the service of the water treatment system at least every six months, and in harder water areas this may be much more frequent. It should be given the same importance as boiler inspections and other equipment maintenance visits as it can easily be forgotten, as the damage being done by scale is unseen until it’s too late.”

Cup North 2015 Tickets Now Available ta Discounted Prices!

This year’s Cup North event is just three months away and at this time, tickets are already on sale at discounted rates from the re-designed Cup North website.

The event will take place on 7-8 of November in Manchester. This year, it will be held within the Victoria Warehouse Hotel, Stretford. It is expected that visitors to the event will include baristas, roasters and other industry professionals. There will surely be a lot of foodies and even devoted coffee lovers of the general public.

This year La Cimbali will be one of three official sponsors of Tamper Tantrum. This event was a big part of 2014’s program and it will surely encourage a lot of debate and learning as participants will hear dedicated stories, opinions, theories and data from the coffee industry.

La Cimbali’s coffee specialist Rob Ward says, “We were thrilled to be part of last year’s event which was a great success. I can’t believe that the next Cup North show is only three months away. Myself and the La Cimbali team are really looking forward to being part of it again”

The tickets are at a lower ‘early bird’ price for a limited time only via the Cup North website.

For more information regarding tickets and Cup North please visit:

www.cupnorth.co.uk

www.cupnorth.co.uk/tickets/

For more information regarding Tamper Tantrum please visit:

www.tampertantrum.com