decent packaging NZ

At decent, we’re always up for a good coffee conversation. And recently, our Account Manager, Yrjo, took that conversation to the competition stage at the NZSCA Barista Champs.

For his routine, Yrjo put the spotlight on a coffee from Vietnam, challenging the way we think about specialty coffee and the origins that deserve more attention. From the people behind the beans to the role of processing in bringing out a coffee’s character, his routine was about more than what ends up in the cup.

We sat down with Yrjo to chat about the coffee he chose, the thinking behind his routine, and what the experience taught him about the wider world of coffee.

What made you decide to compete in the Barista Champs this year?

Barista Champs is a competition I’ve wanted to enter for many years now. After competing in the Barista Open at Ozone earlier this year and with a little nudge from our Managing Director, Craig, it was hard to say no.

What were you hoping to explore or communicate through your routine this year?

I really wanted to explore Asia as a specialty coffee region. For so long, we’ve predominantly looked to origins like Ethiopia, Panama and Colombia. There’s nothing wrong with those origins, but as a proud Filipino, I wanted to show that coffee from Asia can be just as good as coffee from anywhere else in the world, while also being accessible.

Tell us a bit about the coffee you used. Where is it from, and what made you want to take it to competition?

The coffee I used was the Zanya Marc Selection, Incheon Edition, from Lam Dong, Vietnam. Its unique tasting notes really stood out to me.

It was so yum! But more than that, if someone had given it to me blind, I wouldn’t have picked it as a coffee from Vietnam. That really highlighted my earlier point that Asian coffees can rival some of the best in the world.
 

The coffee combines Catimor, Bourbon, Typica and Caturra. How did those different varietals influence the way you approached the coffee?

My experience as a barista played a big part here. I drew on what I knew about the characteristics of each varietal, alongside plenty of trial and error, to find the best way to serve the coffee.

This coffee uses a double anaerobic washed process involving Korean nuruk, mead yeast, acacia honey and lactic acid bacteria. Can you break down what happens during that process and what it brings to the cup?

The coffee goes through two stages of fermentation. First, the whole cherries are fermented anaerobically for three days with Korean nuruk, which is a fermentation starter traditionally used in Korean alcohol production. The coffee is then pulped and fermented again using mead yeast and acacia honey, with the honey feeding the yeast rather than being there to add flavour. Lactic acid bacteria are also added to help balance the fermentation.

For me, the important thing is that fermentation shouldn't cover the coffee, it should reveal it. In this case, it helped bring out those really interesting fruit and sweetness characteristics without taking away from the coffee itself.

Can you tell us more about Marian and Lim, the people behind Zanya, and what stood out to you about their story?

Absolutely. Marian originally worked in IT in Slovakia before moving to Vietnam, and Lim is part of the K’Ho community, an indigenous Vietnamese highland community that has been growing Arabica for generations. What really stood out to me was that Lim’s family had grown coffee all their lives but rarely had the chance to taste the coffee they produced or see what happened to it after it left the farm.

Marian learned how to roast and Lim trained as a barista, so together they were able to take more control over the process and understand the coffee from a different perspective. I think that connection between the producer and the final cup is really important.

To honour the care and love they put into growing the coffee, processing it and everything in between, I wanted to make sure I treated it with the respect it deserved.

You worked with Ewan from Maeve to roast this coffee. What were you trying to achieve?

Ewan from Maeve introduced me to the coffee and helped me roast it. We wanted a clean and even roast that would preserve the character from the processing without adding too much roast character of its own. We used the ROEST P3000 convection roaster, and the roast time was just over five minutes, dropping at 210°C. 

How much experimentation went into finding the recipe you went on to use on stage? 

Honestly, not too much experimentation was needed. I tried to keep things as simple as possible. With limited access to equipment, I made do with what I had at home. It reinforced the idea that creating amazing coffee recipes isn’t necessarily about having access to the latest tools or equipment.

What were some of the key decisions you made around extraction and serving temperature, and why?

I wanted the judges to experience the coffee at its best. I chose to serve the espresso in room-temperature cups to slightly cool it and help bring the sweetness forward and reduce bitterness. I took a similar approach with the milk course by avoiding overheating the milk, helping create a sweeter end product that was easier to drink.

You chose to serve your signature drink using filtered espresso, honey syrup, green grape juice and saline. How did you arrive at that combination?

The ingredients were all chosen to connect back to the coffee. I used honey syrup to represent the honey used during fermentation, then green grape juice to lift the green grape notes I was getting from the espresso. I also added a few drops of saline to help balance everything.

I filtered 100g of espresso through a phin with an AeroPress filter at the bottom, which removed the crema where some of the bitterness hides and let the sugarcane sweetness and green grape come through more clearly. I then shook it over ice to chill it, open up the aromatics and add some texture.

What do you hope people took away from your routine beyond simply enjoying the coffee? 

The biggest thing I wanted people to take away, beyond the coffee itself, was a broader perspective on Asia. I wanted people to look beyond sweetened condensed milk coffees and see the potential that's there. I truly believe Asian coffees can stand on their own in the specialty coffee world, and I wanted to show people that.

📸 @nzspecialtycoffee / @decentpackagingnz