Zoka Blog

On June 27th we hosted our own, exclusive Latte Art Smackdown.  And by "Smackdown", we mean competition.  And by exclusive, we really mean bring your friends, babies and dogs.  I think the name and concept of the Smackdown is traditional within the industry, as you'll find baristas having Smackdowns throughout the year, most often during Regional Barista Competitions.  In any event, our Smackdown was great and we've got the pictures to prove it!

Our new friends at CakeSpy have written a wonderful review of the Wallingford, Seattle neighborhood's bakeries and were kind enough to include Zoka! You will find the article below, but be sure to check out www.cakespy.com for a special treat (pun intended).

Zoka Coffee: The pastry case here is an absolute feast for the eyes, overflowing with deep-dish pies in flavors from a vaguely virtuous blueberry to an absolutely sinful chocolate peanut butter; cookies ranging from vegan thumbprints to dense chocolate truffle cookies, to the decadent "Zoka Bar"-- a multilayer confection of coconut, chocolate, butterscotch and walnuts cradled on a graham cracker crust (reminiscent of the Magic Cookie bar from Magnolia Bakery, or the Bakedbar of Brooklyn). We love it all, and everything (except for a few bread items like bagels) is made in-house at their own commercial bakery. Sweet. A few different locations, but we visited 2200 N. 56th St.; online at zokacoffee.com.

Costa Rica Cup of Excellence 2008

The Costa Rica COE International jury met just outside San Jose, on the week of April 6-11. A week before they were to meet I found out that I was invited to be a member of the jury. I was excited and honored to be apart of the proceedings. There were 22 jurors from India, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, the UK, Japan, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Canada and the USA.

The first day was a calibration day, to get us on the same page. We did some sample cuppings to get us used to the score sheet. We then took a tour of two micro mills. Costa Rica is in the midst of changing the way they process the coffee. One reason for this is new environmental laws that the government has put into place. Another reason is the growing popularity of farms having either their own small mill (micro-mill) or a few farms getting together to form a co-op using the same mill. We were able to see the drying patios that were empty because the harvest was over and they showed us their mills with some already filled burlap sacks of green. The second farm had a few cows that they kept and they even mixed the coffee-pulp (mucilage) with the cow feed. The farmer said it makes good beef!

It's always great to read reviews about our customers, and their experience with Zoka's coffee and tea. Katrina at The Tea Pages sent us this great review of one of our customers, Cafe Aiello, who serves Zoka Coffee and Tea. If you have the chance, check out the blog or visit Teapages.net and gain some wonderful knowledge. Congratulations to Cafe Aiello, and thank you Katrina!

Katrinas post starts here:

What a find. I am always thrilled to find new tea locations that aren't too far from home. I've driven by Cafe Aiello (30 Gorham Street, Lowell), which opened in 2006, so many times and never stopped in. It's not in the easiest location - on a busy corner with very few parking spots. A local moms' group I occasionally attend had been going there over the winter so I'd been meaning to stop by. According to the press release, the two owners are former Starbucks managers who sought to open a coffee house that uses hand roasted beans and shuns automatic coffee machines.

Widge at Needcoffee.com sent us this amazing compliment of a writeup just the other day, and we thought it would be best to share it with everyone. We visited the Great American Dessert Experience Expo last month, and met many interesting people and had the chance to taste many excellent desserts. Widge was one of the many folks who passed by our display, and stopped to chat with us for a short time. This is what he had to say:

"The best coffee we had while we were there was from Zoka, a coffee roaster/retailer/wholesaler out of Seattle. They made us macchiatos in the booth and they were damn fine. But even moreso than that, these guys facilitate the opening of independent coffee stores. They can hook you up with barista training, equipment, and of course, coffee. And they have a focus on comfy atmosphere, as made evident by their booth, which was one of the most professional looking there. And the most inviting. We could use these guys in the Atlanta area, they're welcome back anytime."

Thanks very much to Widge, who wrote this wonderful post on needcoffee.com. Check out the blog, read and enjoy!

I was invited to Burundi to represent Zoka as a potential buyer and observe first hand the ongoing development of the specialty coffee pilot program in country. The coffee pilot program will represent the global coffee industry's first serious look into Burundi’s potential for producing high quality specialty coffee.

Burundi has 800,000 coffee growers-small farmers in the true sense of the word for most of whom the coffee tree provides the only cash income. The farmers tend between 100 and 300 coffee bushes on average per farm. Burundi represents the southernmost source of the Nile River and overlooks Lake Tanganyika which is 1400 meters deep. There are 140 coffee pulping and washing stations throughout the country and I was able to visit Bwayi, Teka and Ngogoma stations that represent the greatest promise as identified by the pilot program.

It is my belief that Burundi has the potential to produce some spectacular coffee and I am very excited to be able to cup new crop samples this year. The samples will represent the best that Burundi has to offer.

After Burundi I attended the 5th Annual East Africa Fine Coffee Association Conference in Kampala, Uganda to participate in the African Taste of Harvest Auction. The auction was cancelled due to lack of a significant amount of bidding participants which was a real disappointment in that there were a few beautiful coffees on the table. I stood by and observed the Ugandan barista competition, watched the arrival of the President of Uganda and then departed on an 8 hour journey by car to Butare, Rwanda.

While in Rwanda I was able to visit Ngoma, Karaba and Kinnunu washing stations and visit with the honorable Tim Schilling and all the folks associated with the SPREAD project. I also cupped coffees from all regions of Rwanda and identified farms and coops of interest. This will result in being able to offer Zoka customers the best that Rwanda has to offer for the upcoming season. The quality looks very good. The floral characteristics of the cups from Kivu are strengthening as the crop progresses. The washing stations are becoming more experienced as well and brighter coffee will result from more consistent processing.

After saying my goodbyes to my new found coffee friends I departed for Seattle via Nairobi and Amsterdam remembering the warm smiles from the children of East Africa.

-Thomas Hodges
Zoka Roastmaster

Congratulations to Zoka's own Maki Campbell who won 2nd place with a skillful and polished performance at this year's Northwest Regional Barista Competition! In only her third competition, Maki stood out amid the field of competitors with her precision, speed and creativity. After a fifth place finish at last year's Northwest Regional and advancing through the first round of fifty competitors at the last US Barista Championship, Maki felt she could do better and set out to refine the various skill sets required in the craft of espresso preparation.

During the competition, each barista is given fifteen minutes to serve 12 drinks (4 espressos, 4 cappuccinos, 4 espresso based signature drinks created by the barista) to a panel of four sensory judges and one head judge. Throughout the performance, two technical judges score a barista on their technical competency. The winner of each regional competition is assured a spot in the semi-finals of the US Barista Championship and the winner of the USBC goes on to represent the US at the World Barista Championship.

A dedicated professional, Maki spent hours behind the espresso machine fine tuning her technique and polishing her routine. From minimizing waste to velvet cappuccino foam, from her knowledge and description of the espresso to her elegant table setting, Maki left no area of her performance untouched. And when it came time to perform, the countless hours of hard work paid off. The espresso poured beautifully and she served some of the best cappuccinos she has ever made.

Not only can Maki boast some of the best cappuccinos in the region, she is always pushing the envelope with creative and delicious signature drinks. This year's drink was called "Onyx". An espresso based drink, Onyx contains a homemade black soy bean syrup, nutmeg, cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt, and a touch of heavy whipping cream. Maki wanted to create a drink that was simple, healthy, and amazing. After a lot of experimenting in the kitchen and taste testing along the way by coworkers, Onyx was born. Black beans contain antioxidants as well as other healthful properties and Maki appreciated the connection of using two beans, black and coffee, to tie her drink together. (As a side note, not only did Maki create a tasty black bean syrup for her drink, she now has lots of yummy recipes for the cooked black beans that were a byproduct of the syrup!)

Maki loves being a barista because it is an art form which gives the artist immediate feedback. She loves to see the smiles and appreciation of those to whom she serves her espresso beverages. So stop by University Zoka and let Maki "wow" you with an espresso or one of her amazing capps!

p.s. Maki says thanks to the staff at Zoka for their enduring support.

My first trip to Africa was a truly inspiring visit. It was a short 24 hour jaunt from Seattle to Chicago, DC to Brussels, and finally from Brussels to Kigali. I arrived in the evening and was off to Butare the next morning to hook up with Dr. Tim Schilling, other coffee judges and the staff of Spread, which is the offspring of the multi-million dollar Pearl project funded by USAID, other US and private institutions and the country of Rwanda. This project (spear-headed by Dr. Shilling since 2000) has been improving on the quality of coffee throughout the country of Rwanda with the addition of specialized washing stations and refined agricultural methods, supply chains and processing. The continued improvement in these coffees has now resulted in the development of the Cup of Excellence program in Rwanda. For the last three years Dr. Schilling, Susie Spindler and Ann Ottaway, other Rwanda staff and other COE assistants and jurors have been working relentlessly on getting Rwanda to this point. Thus The Rwanda Golden Cup competition of 2007 is the precursor to the 2008 Rwanda Cup of Excellence program and competition.

That said, I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the judges for this year's Rwanda Golden Cup coffee competition. There was three days of cupping and judging starting with 44 coffees that the Rwanda National cuppers had whittled down to scores of 84 or better.

Rwanda coffees are the result of over 500,000 farmers and the coffees from the Golden Cup competition are the best Rwanda has to offer. These coffees are brought together in over 145 local washing stations some privately owned but most local co-operatives. The final 20 best coffees came from 20 washing stations from all four of the Provinces of Rwanda and 10 districts. The final day of cupping brought five coffees with scores over 90 (presidential award winners), and another 15 with scores over 84.

Saturday came and the first competition for Rwanda's best coffees was over resulting in the best prices ever achieved for Rwanda coffees. The 1st place coffee went for over $25.00 and bidding was fierce. Zoka jumped in at the #2 coffee along with Coffee Hunters and then we went after the # 5 and 6, 8, 10 and 12 coffees. And we were successful in all of our bids. On all of these coffees, I had given scores of 88 or better and two of them scores of over 90. This was truly a great day for Zoka.

Yes, we are very lucky to have been a part of the first competition of Rwanda coffees, and to be so fortunate to be taking home some of the best. Look for these coffees on our menu starting in November.

Having been part of such a great competition, I was also fortunate to see five of the coffee washing stations that our coffees come from and to meet the directors and presidents of these co-ops. The washing stations I visited were Ngoma, Ucar, Cyiya, Ngoma CWS, and COCAF Amizero from the districts of Nyamagabe, Kaonyi, Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, and Gatsibo. All the varieties are from the Bourbon species, the #2 Ngoma is a Bourbon species named BM139. I spent two days seeing each of the washing stations as well as the countryside and magnificent Lake Kivu. Yes the coffees are in, they are great and I can't wait to go back…Jeff

ZOKA COFFEE ROASTERS AND TEA CO.'S store in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood bustles with activity on most days, a coffee- and espresso-stoked energy fueling discussions about the new light rail line or the latest university art exhibit. But to owner Jeff Babcock, the real strength of the shop isn't the people, nor even the fact that he roasts and sells excellent coffee. It's that Zoka offers the one thing that most large roasting operations can't: first-day freshness. "The defining feature of fresh-roasted coffee is that it's only minutes out of the roaster, not minutes out of a vacuum sealed bag," Babcock says. "It's the opposite of mass production."

by Trish Skeie, Zoka's Director of Coffee

My second morning in Ethiopia, I woke not remembering where I was. As my eyes began to focus themselves, I saw intricately woven bamboo above and to all sides of me. Through a window, I could see the sun had just come up. The jungle was alive with monkeys running and jumping from tree to tree, rustling the leaves and shaking the branches where vultures sat waiting.

Africa! Oh, yes, I was in Ethiopia! The bamboo that surrounded me was a typical Sidamo style house at the Aragesh Lodge. There were about eight of these structures on the lodge's grounds surrounded by nature preserves. I rolled out of bed and made my way to the dining house for breakfast. There was a lot of work to be done and we'd better get a move on.