Each year, the annual Specialty Coffee Association of America brings together representatives of virtually every coffee-growing country and many product representatives to create an exhibition that is the ultimate candy store for coffee enthusiasts. Additionally there are numerous educational opportunities aimed at the professional, seminars, cupping and roasting and more. Finally, the conference is the site of the annual United States Barista Championships where regional barista champions compete to see who will represent the U.S. in the World Championship.

      The SCAA is all about specialty coffee which is defined as a coffee that has no defects and has a distinctive flavor in the cup. This trade association focuses on quality coffee and includes retailers, roasters, roaster/retailers, producers, exporters, importers, manufacturers of coffee processing-roasting-brewing equipment and other allied products, baristas and coffee enthusiasts. The SCAA is the world's largest coffee trade association with member companies from more than 40 countries. Coffee is the number two commodity traded on the world market, second only to petroleum. The SCAA's mission is to be the recognized authority on specialty coffee, providing a common forum for the development and promotion of coffee excellence and sustainability.

      I had done a lot of research into the Minneapolis transportation system online. A free shuttle train takes you from the terminal to the Light Rail system which goes from the Mall of America in the south all the way into downtown Minneapolis. The $2 fare made it a very economical and quick ride. Departing the train about five or six long blocks from the hotel I planned to take the bus to the hotel. Surprisingly there was no posted information about how to connect to the correct bus line at the train stop. That would not have been a problem had it not been pouring down rain in torrents. With the help of a local citizen on foot I finally figured it out and along with a couple of others in the same plight we squeezed into the glass bus-stop which only offered minimal shelter from the downpour. Each time a bus stopped I questioned the driver if it went to my destination and. Evry bus that passed by sent a wave of water from the gutter across the sidewalk and through the bus stop. By the time I found a bus I was quite wet and my rolling duffel was soaked.

      I walked the floor talking to various companies looking for interesting items to review for this website. Since I had other duties to perform during the show there was not enough time for me to detail all the various things I saw at the show. Hopefully, between now and the next show, I will have some items to review that readers will find interesting. Keep an eye on my website as there is at least one very exciting product which you will first see here on "Espresso! My Espresso!"! Sorry for the tease, but I am sworn to secrecy!

      The ability to get products to review is a difficult one. Some companies are quite excited for any press they get and that has helped me bring you reviews of a number of items from companies such as Urnex, Keurig, the Senseo (from Phillips), Hottop, Genecafe, Hearthware, and the Aeropress just to mention a few. Other times I have tired for a year or two with no positive response at all. For example, I have been contacting Krups and their advertising representative company for the last two years with no luck whatsoever. This year I have been assured that we will have connection to the company, and they have already responded by E-Mail so watch for reviews of some of their machines to appear in the very near future.

      I had a very interesting conversation with John Langenstein of Koa Coffee . We had a very interesting discussion concerning the state of affairs concerning Kona coffee and the 'blending war' that has been going on for at least the last two years in Hawaii. He supplied me with some bean samples, green and roasted. Included in the samples was a bag of a brand new, 100% Kona, roasted espresso blend! As soon as my palate recuperates from the trip I will have a review of this coffee. A interesting point John shared with me was that he used the Hottop KN-8828B roaster to do test batches, looking for the proper roasts to blend together to create this new single-origin espresso!

Once again, it was my pleasure to meet with Kyle and Kyra of Baratza. They were showing a beta/prototype of their new Vario grinder that will begin production shortly and should be available in a few months.

In the past my major complaint about their grinders was that for espresso there just wasn't enough usable range of adjustment. The new grinder features two adjust levers for grind! Yes, TWO! One is the coarse adjustment that is marked with the method of brewing, and the other is the fine adjustment, usable at any time. Kyle explained that he came up with the idea when looking at a microscope. Most better microscopes are equipped with coarse and fine focusing adjustments, and so he applied that to the new grinder. The burrs of the new grinder are ceramic, and the upper burr mounting is quite stiff and secure and makes removal of the burr simple while maintaining alignment when mounted.       The grinder also features a digital timer with three memory locations for dosing. Programming the buttons is easy, and one press starts the grinding process. I was also told that my other complaint of earlier models, static, has also been addressed in the new model. Watch for my review of this new grinder as soon as it becomes available.

      For the first time, the Barista Championships had a cleaning product sponsor— Urnex. I have personally used Urnex products for years because they work. Every one I have used performed exactly as it was intended.

      This year they were showing their newly-packaged products intended for shelf-slotted, retail sale. The color-coded packaging makes it easy to identify each product. Cafiza, as well as many other products in their line, are now packaged in tablet form making it easier and neater to keep your machines clean.

As you have read, I am now using a Mazzer Kony grinder. Using a Kony for home use should be in the dictionary as the following: Overkill (o-vur-kil) v. 1. Way more than needed. 2. Excessive to the point of ridiculous. Ex.- Randy is using a Kony for home coffee grinding which is overkill.       The Kony is a marvelous grinder featuring large conical burrs. Mazzer was showing the Kony in a new doserless model, equipped with the electronic doser controls as seen on one model of the Mazzer Mini E.

      There was plenty of eye candy as well. Plenty of polished brass and copper and even gold plating here and there. Lots of shiny espresso machines under bright lights that would make you wish you bought you had your polarized sunglasses handy. I am a form-follows-function sort of guy, and it is more important to me to have machines that work than to look pretty. There are plenty of other websites that have been documenting the various machines, so take a look around for this. (try THIS THREAD on CoffeeSnobs in Australia.) I just didn't have the time to spend to do that this year.

      One display that caught my eye was featuring some beautiful ceramic ware from Cardew Design. A couple of their sets caught my eye including this one:

      At this time their website is still under construction, but allow the first page to load to see a slideshow of some of their designs. They are very impressive— a great collection of whimsical as well as strikingly beautiful designs. They would make great anniversary or wedding gifts (my 37th is coming up... hint, hint!).

      Mark Prince, Greg Scace, Marshall Fuss, and Jim Schulman were there, and all quite busy— Jim was hard at work as a judge for the US Barista Championships (as was Barry).

      Greg is currently very well known for his "Scace Device," the premiere, lab-quality pressure and temperature measuring device for espresso machines. These "old time" alt.coffee folks were part of our core group back when that forum was still mostly friendly and usable. I finally got to meet Reg Barber , the king of tampers who has been creating his beautiful tampers since 1995, five years before I got into this coffee thing. And I was pleasantly suprised when Dr. Joseph John of the Josuma Coffee Company stopped by the booth and said hello. We have a history together so it is always a pleasure for me to see the good Doctor again. I also had a nice visit with Jim at 1st-line, talking about the Vibiemme machines, what the future will be bringing us, and just having a nice social visit.

      I am sure there were many others I have forgotten to mention. I was on my feet for about 22 or more hours over the weekend, much of it just standing at the Hottop booth. I probably walked at least five miles or more each day, and by Monday what motor skills I had left in my tongue had to be carefully monitored for accuracy. I blame any omissions on exhaustion!

      To some, just standing in a booth, giving the same information to people over and over would seem like a mind-numbing experience. I really do not mind. I was a teacher for 20 years, and I do enjoy sharing what I know when the "student" (or in this case, the customer) is really interested. I do not assign any homework at the show.

      The show is aimed at the commercial side of things, so I do not talk to many consumers. At this show the greatest portion of those showing interest in the Hottop were small commercial roasters who cannot afford to spend many thousands of dollars for a sample roaster but still need to find a way to do sample roasts for cupping. The current Hottop KN-8828B is an ideal machine to fill their needs, and many reported to me that they had been using one for that very same purpose.

      There were also some companies that were conspicuous by their absence. Two that came to my mind immediately were Genecafe and Hearthware- neither were present. Even though I have done work for Hottop, I have given favorable reviews to both their products and enjoyed a positive relationship with the representatives of both companies. What happened, folks?

      One thing that did really came to the forefront this year (at least as I perceived the show) is the general nature of the coffee business. People from all over the world communicate and have business dealings that bring cultures together that are about as varied as you could possibly imagine. In my experience, the coffee business is a model of tolerance and acceptance. I spoke with folks from all over the world. Many were from South and Central America as you could imagine as it is the largest coffee growing region close to the United States. Many people from that region dropped by the Hottop booth, and since I have not used my Spanish speaking skills much in the last two decades, it did push my very limited vocabulary to its limits. Still, all with whom I spoke graciously accepted my apologies for my lack of skill with their native tongue.

      I spoke with a gentleman from Saudi Arabia who has been traveling to Yemen, at some risk to his own personal safety, attempting to work with the coffee farmers to increase the quality and value of Yemen coffee. Those who had the opportunity to taste the "real" Yemen coffee from decades past can tell you how things have changed. He told me that there has been blending going on, using some cheaper beans from the orient. I hope he is successful in his endeavor. Those farmers certainly deserve to benefit from their product, and the old Moka coffee, filled with rich, chocolaty tastes, is some of the most wonderful coffee I have ever tasted and I miss it.

      It always brought a smile to my face when someone stopped by, I hand them my business card, and they say, "I've been to your website!" As you know, this site has been maintained just for the purpose of helping folks avoid the various pitfalls I have encountered. As they say, the only thing better than learning from your mistakes is learning from the mistakes of others.

      Next year the 21st annual SCAA get together will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. See ya'll in Jah-ja.!