Et interview med en kaffenørd

AF NINA HØJGAARD JENSEN

Patrik Rolf er en af Skandinavinens dygtigste og mest nørdede mennesker når det kommer til kaffe- og ristningen af denne. Han startede for 7 år siden, og har blandt andet arbejdet med Matts W. Johansson i Gøteborg, der introducerede ham til ”Speciality Coffee” samt været Head of Roasting for Two Elephants i Berlin.

Han er en af de mest prominente figurer indenfor konkurrenceverdenen i kaffe; særligt ”Brewers Cup” har gennem de seneste år været i fokus, hvor han tidligere på året vandt sølvmedaljen i netop denne disciplin til Verdensmesterskabet.

I dag har han sit eget risteri i København ved navn April, som er fokuseret på Speciality Coffee og mikro-lots. Han har en klar mission om at forbedre kaffekvaliteten samt den måde kaffe ristes- og brygges på. En af måderne ifølge Patrik er ved, at arbejde kontinuerligt- og have et personligt forhold med de kaffebønder der udvælges som leverandører til April.

Mange gange om året rejser han eller hans kollegaer for at besøge kaffedyrkerne. De lærer om, hvordan de dyrker og taler om hvordan de kan blive endnu bedre til at levere det som April søger. Det lyder måske underligt for os vinmennesker, der ynder i tide og utide at besøge producenter, men dette er faktisk en sjældenhed i kaffeindustrien.

Derudover er han en af de eneste i Skandinavien om rister på Loring systemet og har oprettet et verdensomspændende program kaldet ”April Athletes”, hvor han agerer mentor for konkurrenceinteresserede unge mennesker verden over. Kort fortalt: En mand med mange jern i ilden.

Denne mand har vi fået lov til at interviewe om hvad kvalitetskaffe er, hvad det vil sige at konkurrere, og i hvilken retning kaffe bevæger sig netop nu.

Selvom Patrik er svensk er engelsk han fortrukne sprog at kommunikere på, hvilket er grundet til at resten af artiklen vil være på engelsk.

Q: What makes a high quality coffee for you?

A: “When you can taste every step of the process in the final cup. Farming, Roasting, and Brewing are all connected, the best professionals are able to taste which part of the process has contributed to which taste aspect of the final cup. High-Quality Coffee starts with the best raw material (green coffee), roasted in a way that showcases it's character and brewed to showcase the full transparency of each step in the process”.

Q: What coffee regions do you find most exciting and why?

A: “At the moment it's Costa Rica. The quality of the green

coffee processing is very high and they have close to perfect growing conditions. The most exciting coffees today is Kenyan and Ethiopian varietals planted and farmed in Costa Rica. There is plenty of potentially great coffee around the world but more than often what falls short is the processing: Very few small farmers have the opportunity to process their own coffee. In Costa Rica, due to the financial situation, they can and it makes a lot of difference in the final product”.

Q: Can you give a few example of these Ethiopian and Kanyan varietals?

A: “The trading in both countries has changed for the better, today is more transparent and we are able to single out individual farmers and varietals. Something that we before weren't able to. Especially interesting is the arrival of Carbonic Maturation in coffee processing, a fairly new concept that is revolutionizing how we experience the taste in coffee.

Q: Are there any specific varietals you especially like working with?

A: “I have always been very interested in the "classic varietals" such as Bourbon & Typica. These two are basically the parents to all other varietals in the Arabica Family. They are not as common today as they were 10 Oversat fra engelsk til dansk af redaktøren:

Specialty coffee er termen man burger om den højeste kvalitet af kaffe der eksisterer, og hentyder både til kaffens oprindelse samt etisk korrekt vej fra jord til kop i hele handelskæden. Udtrykket blev first brugt i 1974 da Erna Knutsen brugte den i en artikel til Tea and Coffee Trade Journal. Her brugte hun ordet om de absolut bedste kaffebønner og skelnede mellem mikroklimaer og producenter.

Den alment accepterede definition på en ”Specialy Coffee” er, når en kaffe scorer minimum 80 ud af 100 på ”Coffee Review Scale”. 90-100 får betegnelsen ”Outstanding” 85-89.99 får ”Excellent” og 80-84.99 får “Very Good”

The Specialty Coffee Association har en serie af endnu mere specialiserede udtryk. Organisationen vurderer ligeledes kafferne ud fra en masse fysiske parametre allerede inden, de har været berørt af mennesker. Det er et meget komplekst system.

Den dyreste kaffe i verden er Panama Geisha, som har været solgt for over 800 dollars pundet.

years ago but when you find the right ones they taste better than most other "fancy" varietals out there. Most of the quality in the final cup comes down to processing”.

Q: What are the most important lessons you've learned about coffee from roasting? A: “The final cup quality is based on more than just one variable. Farming, Roasting, and Brewing is a system, connected. If you don't understand how it all fits together it is very difficult to make tasty coffee”.

Q: Can you briefly elaborate on roasting with Loring and why

you chose this roasting machine? What do you look for when roasting?

A: “I always look for a clean and transparent cup profile where you are able to taste the quality of the Farmers work. The Loring Roast System is the most modern Roast System in the world. The way it is set-up allows me to roast clean coffee without having to worry about "smoke/dirty" characters in the final cup. It is also the most environmentally friendly roasting system in the world which goes well with our vision here at April”

Q: How do you differ when roasting for filter vs espresso?

A: “The main difference is the brewing approach. Espresso is commonly brewed with 9 bar pressure whereas Filter is brewed with very little or no pressure, this makes a big difference in what you actually extract from a coffee (on a chemical level) therefore we are looking to roast in a way that highlights the quality of the Raw Material the best in both options. Our Espresso approach is far from the "traditional idea" of what espresso should be. We focus on transparent flavors with a balance of Sweetness and Acidity. You should be able to clearly taste the terroir of the coffee.”

April roasts are mostly on the quiet light side. One could think of it as the way you use oak on wines: Some grapes can handle more, some less without losing the sense of terroir.

Q: What would you like to see more of on the coffee roasting scene?

A “We need more integrity and better roast machines. Apart from Loring, it has been very little innovation done on roast machines for the last 50 years. We need better machines that allow us to control a wider range of variables. The Raw Material has improved a lot during the last 10 years and we need to make sure to continue that way.”

Q: How do you find new farmers to collaborate with?

A: “We try to not work with new farmers. We have identified a few selected farmers around the world that we think is doing a great job and our aim is to continue to grow with these.” brewed coffee in a coffee shop.”

Q: What are the key essentials to brewing a good cup of coffee?

A: “The raw material needs to be of the highest level with a solid roast that highlights the terroir and farming process. After that, you need a basic solid grinder, doesn't have to be anything fancy but grinding fresh is always a good thing. With that, you can go a long way using a standard V60 or Melitta filter brewing at home, or a simple Wilfa Electric Brewer.”

Q: How can you utilize the knowledge you obtain by competing in your daily life?

A: “For me they are both the same, I don't make a difference between the two. We keep everything we do at April at

Q: What would you like to see more of on the coffee drinking scene?

A: “Better brewed coffee. It is very rare, anywhere in the world today, that you get a well

TANKER OMKRING KAFFERISTNING – MEST “LORING” TEKNIKKEN

Traditionel kafferistning producerer en masse røg som bliver udledt direkte til atmosfæren – her behøver jeg ikke beskrive, at det er en ret klimabelastende løsning. Alternativet er at forbrænde røgen før den bliver udløst som en efterbrænding af ristningen og filtrere luften før den bliver sluppet ud i atmosfæren. Problemet med den anden løsning er, at den kræver to apparater, og denne løsning kræver store mængder af gas.

“Loring” ristere er designet til at arbejde med kun en brænder til begge brug. Luften varmes af en brændekilde bag ved risteren og bliver ledt ind i kammeret, hvor bønnerne ristes. Denne luft bliver så ledt ud til en udstødning, der leder røgen tilbage ind i kammeret, så man bruger den varme luft flere gange. Dette er en meget klimavenlig måde at genanvende energien flere gange.

Der findes fire grundlæggende måder at varme elementer (som kaffebønner) op på: Varmeledning gennem fx en væske eller metal (som en gryde i et vandbad eller på en kogeplade), direkte varme fra en varmekilde (som et gasblus), varm luft der bliver blæst ud (som en hårtørrer) samt strålevarme (ligesom en terrasse varmer)

“Drum” ristere arbejder ved, at en metalgryde bliver opvarmet fra en ydre varmekilde. Her får de kaffebønner, der ligger yderst i risteren selvsagt meget varme, og dette giver en kaffe, der er mørkere yderst og ’grønnere’ inderst. Problemet med denne og meget brugte metode er, at varmekilden er meget konstant, og der derfor er meget varmt på et centreret sted, og køligere i resten af ”gryden”.

“Loring” risteren arbejder mere som en hårtørrer, og bønnerne bliver simpelthen ristet mere ensartet, men noget lysere end ved de mere hårdføre metoder. Dette gør, at bønnerne og derved kaffen bliver mere vinøs ved samme ristningsgrad.

Man skulle måske ikke tro det, men vejret spiller også en meget vigtig rolle. Det fleste kafferistere suger luft ind udefra for at blæse røgen fra kafferistningen væk fra bønnerne. Det vil sige, at på en kold og regnfuld dag, vil luften der går ind i risteren være fyldt af vandpartikler, hvilket køler risteren ned, og kræver endnu mere energi for at arbejde med høj varme. På en varm dag, ja, da vil luften selvsagt være varm, hvilket kan føre til en uønsket høj varme i risteren, hvilket vil brænde bønnerne mere end tilset.

Her har “Loring” teknikken også en kæmpe fordel ved det, at det er et helt lukket system, hvor den samme røg bliver brugt igen og igen, og vejret udefra spiller derfor ingen væsentlig rolle.

Og hvorfor skifter alle ikke bare til ”Loring” risterne? Jo, det er simpelthen piv-dyre! Og så giver den også en anden smagsprofil i kafferne, som måske er uønsket for et allerede etableret brand.

"competition standard" and see it as a formula for progression”

Q: What are the most important lessons you've learned while competing?

A: “You need to have a very broad range of experience and skills. It's never the stuff you practice the most at that have you lose, it's always the small cracks you didn't fix in your training.”

Q: What is April Athletes and what is the goal of it (and what is the cost of being and April Athlete)?

A: When starting the April Athlete program, I reflected on

my own experience as a coffee competitor. In all honesty, my first years were, to some degree, a waste of time. I didn’t know what I was doing, and there wasn’t anyone around me to support me in my process or guide me. In all fairness, I was probably also not smart enough to be looking for help.

Long story short, competitions can be challenging, and some people never try it because of the challenges that come with it are seeming overwhelming. I am not saying competing is easy, but rest assure that above all, it’s a fast track to learning and understanding. I can’t think of any time or place during my years in the coffee that has taught me more than when I have been competing.

The April Athlete program exists to support people around the world that shares our passions for learning and improving. Currently, we support several athletes from all over the globe, professionals and amateurs, employees, and business owners. If you are willing to put in the effort, we are here to support you as much as we can.

At the moment we are a small team. There are limits to how many athletes we can take in, but we are hoping to grow the program — building a community of people that want to take this industry to the next level.