This Week in Coffee
Happy new year and welcome to this week's This Week in Coffee.
Onwards to the news and, at the end, some photos of my recent purchase.
Equipment
This announcement was over a month ago in what seems to be an unlisted YouTube video. I’ve held off adding this to the newsletter because no official statement has come from Mahlkonig but, the video is still up so I’ve decided to put it out there.
The EK43 is the most iconic grinder in coffee shop culture and obviously dominates high-traffic specialty locations all over the world. I think this 999-limited-edition version will only be cosmetic but each one is going to be a talking point in the respective cafes they end up in.
This product is currently either pre-launch or not available directly from Mahlkong (they redirect queries to their distributors).
Industry
Miko has posted consistently good returns over 2022 so it’s not surprising to see them snapping up other businesses this year. Miko does roughly the same thing (out of home coffee) all over Europe and it seems that Bayer was not interested in that part of the market.
I'll likely be attending this event due to my personal interest in coffee roasting and the convenient time zone for me.
Chris Kornman's talk on data in the process will be the highlight and the "can't miss" for me.
Events
This is for Birmingham, UK. If anyone is thinking of going, let me know and maybe we can meet up.
I've just got back from Berlin which is, in my humble opinion, the best cafe city in the world and certainly the best I've visited. A combination of low rents*, a young urban population, and late nights mean that you can't move for aesthetic high stools or grungy deep velvet sofas. The coffee itself is broadly great but the vibes are immaculate.
I also acquired some specialty coffee equipment from the Sunday markets of Germany, in particular a 1950s Melita ceramic pour-over cup. Makes fine coffee but looks subtly retro while dripping style.
*This is slowly being lost apparently.
After last week's commitment to the newsletter, we had a small set back this week. I like to post the contents of the newsletter to reddit (r/coffee) and link the discussion here, sadly this week that post was removed.
I'm currently in discussions with the mods to work out an approach that they think is suitable.
I post the round-up to Reddit because I know that not everyone wants to subscribe to a newsletter and because I've long felt this kind of content is missing there.
The mods have the best interest of the community at heart and I think it'll be a case of explaining that I make no money from this newsletter and that I'm happy to work with them so the community is never a dumping ground for advertisements.
That's why there's no link to the subreddit this week but I have confidence that this will be resolved.