After three years without travelling, we finally made it back to World Of Coffee ’22 in Milan and in true 2022 fashion it involved planes, trains and automobiles.

When booking the event I had contemplated not booking a transfer and having a bit of an adventure and a break from the norm. As it turns out I needn’t  have worried, the universe had sorted out that adventure for me anyway.

A rather large storm kicked off in Milan, which meant a delay on the flights and planes being diverted out of Milan to surrounding cities.

Upon arrival we found out there was a taxi strike so the bus was our preferred mode of transport.

Worryingly my phone was on the dreaded 5% battery life and gave up the ghost just as we hit central station. So on a wing and a prayer I quizzed locals on the best way to get to my hotel (which I had half remembered was called Mirage something or other).

Two very kind strangers put me on the very last metro heading out of the city and wished me luck.

On this  journey I bumped into the Australian latte art champion Victor Vu along with his brother and girlfriend. I had spotted their competitor badges, so introduced myself. Victor told me he had just made it to the finals of the competition a couple of hours earlier.

After chatting for a bit Victor asked where I was from, “Dublin Ireland” I say, “oh really I know a guy from there who saved my colleague’s World Barista Championship routine a few years back” that guy was indeed  myself.

(if you’ve never heard the story you can have a listen here) https://www.radiopublic.com/5a571f8d-0a7f-43a5-b5f8-b22c46620d38/ep/s1!94f9a

This story has reverberated around the coffee world and myself and Martin got a chance to meet and reminisce at the show. What happened that weekend in Dublin (2016) has created a bond between us that can never be broken.

Martin is one of the most genuine people I have ever had the pleasure to meet and get to know.

Have a read here https://silverskincoffee.ie/2016/06/25/world-of-coffee-dublin/

World Of Coffee Milan did not disappoint at all. Bigger and better competitions, stands, products and of course coffee.

A great chance to meet old friends and share stories, meet new friends and forge new connections.

When we finished up we headed to https://accademiaespresso.com/en/

But that’s a whole other story.

 

 

Porterhouse Collaboration Beer Release 2

 

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of visiting our friends in the Porterhouse.

Dave, Sean, Franz, Martin & Peter have been top class with us since we first met October 2018.

Our first collaboration Up & At’ em a breakfast stout, was a huge success winning the Silver Medal in the Dublin Craft Beer Cup.

We used a very special coffee which was unique to us as part of the process.

A “tablon” we created with Jasal from El Salvador. It was a natural processed Bourbon coffee grown exclusively for Silverskin.

Honestly it was so satisfying to put together the expertise of a pioneering brewing company and a producer of quality coffee.

 

At the time we discussed collaborating again and that time is now! Last week on my visit we added 10kg of Finca Palmichal by Atilano Giraldo to a 24-hour boil. 

A new beer (yet to be named) is being brewed up while you read this. Genuinely cannot wait to see what Peter & Martin produce this time around.

Release date around November 2021.

 

209 Whiskey Aged Batch 3 Sherry Cask

 

In 2018 the guys kindly donated a whiskey cask to us and we set about creating 209 whisky aged coffee .

This was hugely exciting for us, as my wife had previously bought me a bottle of Dingle Single Malt Batch release 1 and I was obsessed with the whiskey.

The chance to meet and collaborate with Peter Mosley and then to use the distilleries whiskey and casks to age our coffee was an absolute pleasure.

For those of you not familiar with what we created read below.

“What grew from this collaboration was a friendship and a desire to explore flavours in whiskey, beer and coffee. Imagine, this is my actual job! A founding fathers cask was kindly donated to us and 209 was born.

Process; We washed the barrel, and then added two litres of Dingle Cask Strength batch 3 edition. This soaked into the cask in a temperature, moisture controlled environment. We used humidifiers to keep the temperature and humidity stable. We added 5 kilos of Finca Argentina Colombia and aged the coffee for 209 days. Ageing coffee is a throw back to the early days of the coffee trade, when beans shipped in whatever barrels were on hand. The practice is most prominent in Indonesia.

Roast: Roasted using our Swiss Water Decaf profile. Based on the hunch that this treated coffee would behave similar to the soaked decaf. The roast produced a bean which was colour 67 (although it looks much brighter). Results The ageing resulted in a noticeable moisture increase caused by the alcohol, and a structural change to the bean.

The beans swelled and a noticeable colour change occurred. On the nose; Sweet, sherry, liquorish and spices. Taste; Rum, raisin and butterscotch. Peppery mouthfeel initially which subsides to a sweet, bright caramel. Incredibly lush, toffee and vanilla notes with a bright clean and structured acidity. A Werther’s Original mouthfeel and finish. “

 

What we managed to create was truly mind blowing, the coffee sold out immediately as did the second edition in December 2020.

We have secured a 500 litre sherry cask and have washed and primed it for BATCH 3. It will be different than the first two batches of course but we’ve a few tricks up our sleeve for this release. Huge thanks to all @ Dingle Distillery and Doug especially.

 

A new sherry/whiskey has just been added.  Now we wait.

Thanks,

 

Brian