STiR coffee and tea magazine

54 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 1, 2018 (February / March) Brew time in cone-shaped drippers without adjustable flow are controlled by varying the amount of coffee or adjusting the grind away from the optimal. Photo by bettr Barista. www.bettrbarista.com recognizable logo of the famed masked Mexican lucha libre wrestler. Hoon travels the world to direct-source top producing quality origins and single estate coffees for the Korean market. He often shares his "gems" with other like-minded roasters. Coffee Libre branched out this year and is now offering single origin chocolate bars sourced much the same as estate coffee. Featured at the time of this writing is a Costa Rica Tapanti 70% chocolate called MOAI Bar Systems. Koreans accomplish things quickly and show a tendency to run instead of walk which can be applied to everything, including the business of coffee. More and more Koreans travel to origin to buy coffee directly from farmers. Augustin Manirakiza, technical di- rector at Burundi Coffee Regulation Authority (ARFIC) has seen the growth first hand. "The growth is real and can be attributed to the multiplication of small and medium sized roasters who need good quality coffee," he says. Koreans prefer to source unique coffees directly from origin. "In addition, they want consistency in supply and aspire to build long-term business relationships," he said. Koreans are inquisitive and want to understand the real-world conditions in coffee producing countries like Burundi. "Coffee is not just coffee―these buyers want the story behind the coffee; to experience how the coffee is produced and processed and share the story with their customers." Coffee buyers no longer simply buy most of their coffee from a list without cupping or visiting the country. This is innovation. El Salvador and other countries from Central America intend to sign a Free Trade Treaty with South Korea effective in mid-year 2018. Hugo Hernandez, executive director of the El Salvador Coffee Council, describes his vision of the Korea coffee market from the vantage of El Salvador. "In the framework of the treaty, green coffee will enter in the 'A' category which allows immediate access with zero tariffs. Processed coffees will also have free tariff access in three years. Hernandez says "Korea is a very important market for Salvadoran coffees with most new buyers arriving from Korea. The Cup of Excellence El Salvador 2017 hosted 22 buyers from Asia. The Asian continent represents 62% of the total buyers who registered for the on-line coffee auction." During the most recent harvest, El Salvador exported 13,117 60-kilo bags of green coffee bags, earning an average price of $204.25 per 100-pound bag. Sales exceeded $2.6 million, a number Hernandez expects to increase in 2018. "Pounds or price?" he was asked, "both" he said, laughing. E.Z. Yon, owner of Coffee LaB in Los Angeles, visits Korea at least three times a year. He operates a coffee school and roastery in both countries. According to Yon, "Korea used to be a very passive coffee consumer in the world coffee market. But they are evolving very fast." So much so, he believes, that Korean buyers now influence the entire world coffee market. He attributes this to "well-organized coffee education programs and a great deal of participation by many Korean coffee lovers". Yon continues, "Scentone Coffee Flavorist is one of the innovators in today's Ko- rea coffee market. Jake Ahn, the creator of Scentone, wanted to analyze coffee in a scientific way and develop a more objective method using only aromas." Because of this passion and inquisitive nature, Ahn played a pivotal role establish- ing the Korean Coffee Science Associa- tion (KCSA), which focuses on academic research about coffee. Ahn is the inventor and scientist responsible for the Coffee Flavor Map. This map describes the aro- mas and multitude of tastes that mirror the different regions and cultures at origin, and where it is savored. "The volatile aromatics, flavors, and taste profiles require a unique language by which we can communicate with oth- ers the sometimes subtle and, at other times, overwhelming rush of sensation we experience as we gently inhale the aroma and allow the coffee to roll over tongues," he says. "We designed our kit, the Coffee Flavor Map, with a philoso- phy of creating a more systemized instru- ment of analysis that enables you to de- scribe with confidence and in a language used by experts the unique personality of each coffee," he said. Regarding taste and innovation, fil- ters are all the rage currently with mi- crons and flow rates denoting infinite so- lutions involving dwell time and patterns for infusion using the hand drip brewing method. This led to the development of the December Dripper, an invention that sprung from the collaboration of Nic Cho, at Wrecking Ball Coffee, and Young Min Lee, CSBC and Korea's very first barista champion. Manufactured in Korea after a successful Kickstarter cam- paign, the filter has since received global fanfare. Last spring the filter was named "Best New Product" in the consumer equipment, non-electrical category by the Specialty Coffee Association. Retailers say this $70 flat-bottomed, variable flow filter is a big hit and appears here to stay. Where does innovation originate? In- quisitive minds and sensory experiences and a desire to share these experiences drive Korea. Independent coffee roasters are dedicated to improving the specialty coffee experience, and therefore continu- ally inventing. A thirsty quest for cof- fee education, a desire for better quality and direct relations with coffee farmers, a push for sensory development and ex- pansive tasting profiles and bringing it all together for the consumers to enjoy. The Republic of Korea has a long rich future in specialty coffee which it will continue to share with the world.

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