One of our longtime friends, and one of my very favorite coffee lecturers, Tim Wendelboe will appear at Supersonic Coffee in Berkeley, Calif. on December 26 to offer a special discussion about his work with Colombian coffee, and his collaboration with the Berkeley company. Tim is the 2004 World Barista Champion, the 2005 World Cup Tasters Champion, the owner of the award-winning roastery and café, Tim Wendelboe in Oslo, Norway, and Nordic Approach coffee importers.
Attendance at the event is extremely limited ”there are only 30 seats available. Tickets may be purchased for $20 HERE.
Following the forum, in which Tim will go into detail about the specifics of his hands-on work with producer Elias Roa and the farm, Finca Tamana in Huila, Colombia, Supersonic will host an Open House for anyone interested. This event is free, but registration is required (email info@supersoniccoffee.com).
Tim’s lecture begins at 5 p.m., and will include a tasting of fresh crop samples from Finca Tamana, as well as the results from some of the farming experiments he has worked with Elias on. This cupping will be followed by light refreshments. The Open House begins at 8 p.m.
“I met Elias on my first trip to Colombia,” Tim said in a press release issued by Supersonic. “He was the leader of a group of growers, a co-op of sorts, and gave me some samples that didn’t taste very good, and I didn’t buy anything from him then. In 2011, I re-visited Colombia and met Elias again. He had just bought 63 hectares that is now Finca Tamana. I asked to rent some land to experiment on and he agreed. My first week there, I told him that he needed to change almost everything on the farm. In order to support the changes, I agreed to buy all the coffee at $3.50 per pound, no matter the result. The outcome of those changes wasn’t great initially, but it showed big improvements.”
In the last couple of years various steps have been made by Tim to improve the processing of the coffee, such as teaching pickers about more efficient picking, building drying tables, buying a pressure washer and other improvements. Tim and Elias are continuously researching various changeable quality perimeters such as shade grown coffee vs. non shade-grown and experimenting with fermentation times of the coffee. These are just the beginning, says Tim:
“We have been doing some trials on picking and different ripening stages,” Tim continued. “Three different samples of Castillo: overripe, ripe and in-between. We have also begun scientific research with a fertilizer company from Norway. We are testing 8 different types of fertilizer with different levels of micro-nutrients to test the effects on cup-quality over the next 3 years.”
DETAILS
December 26
5 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Tim Wendelboe lecture, cupping, light refreshments
Tickets: $20 (www.supersoniccoffee.com)
8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.: Open House
Free entry but reservation required (info@supersoniccoffee.com)
Supersonic Coffee
2322 Fifth Street
Berkeley, California
PHOTO BY BENJAMIN WARD
