In My Mug

It was a special evening at North Tea Power. Steve Leighton from Has Bean was visiting to do an "In my Mug". Check out his website on Monday to see it. Alejandro Martinez, one of Steve's producers, was over from El Salvador too, bringing with him a most wonderful moustache!

Photo's of the evening are on my Flickr.

At work, everyone is just about used to me hand-grinding my beans and timing my extractions of my Aeropress at the sink....."Andy being Andy" they think....a wee bit weird! Tonight though, I knew I would be in company that wouldn't view such behaviour as abnormal.

In Steve's mug was the wonderful El Salvador Finca Argentina (San George -Bourbon) produced by Alejandro on his farm 1300m above sea level. For those not in the know, the way the bean is processed has a major impact on flavour- washed, semi-washed and natural being the three that Alejandro uses for this bean. First up for tasting was the washed. I was a bit annoyed with myself as I drank it when it was too hot. The best I could come up with was "on the acidic side of balanced", good sweetness but nothing really to set my emotions alight. One chap thought it to be "very cubic"....I'm sure he knew what he meant!

For me, the semi-washed was more enjoyable. A bit sweeter, like sugar at 170?C, and it certainly had more character. I would be happy with a bag of this. My favourite was the natural though....Steve described this process as the marmite of coffee...you either love or hate it! I hate marmite but I love natural coffee....I tasted strawberry sorbet with caramelised nuts on top! Weird but working for those without faint hearts! I can't wait to try it in a cappuccino, as Mr Leighton recommends.

Finally, it was on to the espresso made with the washed beans! One of the things that puts me off opening my own cafe is having to produce good coffee in a rush. However, there are few better than Waynebo at being focussed when it gets busy. He pulled about 2 shots per minute for the next 15mins. Wow, this espresso was lively with a big kick up the backside, but I didn't get the orange taste Steve talked about! Fortunately, there was no cascara to finish the evening with as I couldn't have coped with another caffeine kick.

It was good to meet new people too. A cool young lad from Brewbar in Leeds...I'll be trying their Grumpy Mule next time I'm over. The Bold Street Cafe bunch were over from Liverpool. Sam from there is a bikie so plenty to chat about....The talk of specific hills probably didn't interest anyone else at the table though. Glenn Watson, the NZ coffee expert was there with his wife: his fav cafe in London was Kaffeine, so I must try that when I'm down.

Wayne had commissioned a special cake for the evening and the baker was also in attendance. This man is clearly passionate about cake. I still think Wayne should have chosen his Lemon and semolina cake for the evening; not everyone has as sweet a tooth as me though.

I had to speak to Steve about his red kicker shoes.....they were fashionable in my teenage years- circa 1987 and popular with the local soccer casuals. Steve said he always wanted a pair but couldn't afford them back then. He now wears them all the time in the roastery. They also helped in the naming of his brill Kicker blend!

The pub beckoned but I was exhausted after a long day...an early swim at Salford Quays. It was a struggle to get in the water as my body is objecting to my current training load. After a wee sleep in the afternoon, I did a 5km run in the hills around the village. Tougher than it sounds. The trails were waterlogged, slippery and surrounded by stinging nettles! I need my bed!