Coffee is no longer just hot liquid to me....


This past week me and 14 other staff members from all of the "Sweet Surrender" coffee shops headed to Copenhagen, Denmark. This is where we attended the 8th annual Nordic Barista Cup. The event is part competition/ part conference. It is where all 5 of the Nordic countries (Iceland, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) come together to compete to see which team knows the most about coffee. Also during this time there are many lectures and MANY coffee tastings (also known as a cupping in coffee lingo) helping all of us coffee interested people learn all about what is happening right now in the world of coffee.

You might think it is strange for a group of 10 Polish people + 5 Americans to go to a event where are countries are not even represented. But in Poland "Well made coffee" is still on the rise. It is still at the beginning stages so there is not a big championship for Poland and surrounding countries to compete in. This is as close as we can get to the experts.

So we went to learn. To be challenged by the far more accomplished Barista's (coffee making professional) at this event. But to my surprise Poland was not the only European country that came to watch and learn that is not apart of the Nordic area. There were many different people from all over the world coming to learn from the best.

I learned TONS about coffee, and I don't want to bore you with it. But I did not realize how much work goes into one tiny cup of hot brown liquid. From the farmers picking the best "coffee cherries", to extracting the "green bean" from the cherry to washing the beans, to drying the beans, to properly packaging the "green beans", to sending them to the roaster, to roasting them, properly packaging the roasted beans and selling them to stores.

Seriously. Whoa! There is a lot more in that process then I ever knew.

The week also gave me a chance to really take time and talk to each of the staff members. One funny thing is every Polish staff member is a girl. So I got a chance to spend time with each of the ten girls. Really hear there story, how they have felt so far in working in "Sweet Surrender". I felt like it was a wonderful time, and felt so much more connected to each of them by the end.

Well now it is on to a new week in the shop. We all are so excited now to try out our new ideas we got from the confrence. We want to be the best coffee shop in Krakow, and there is no reason why we should not be!

Comments

Erin said…
This is amazing! I just love hearing about what you are doing in the Sweet Surrender coffee shop. And I love the pictures! It sounds like you're having a blast there. Here's a question for ya (and you can answer on facebook or email or whatever) Are you gonna want to leave Poland? Do you think God will want you to stay for a longer period of time than just 2 years? Or have you thought about it? Or do you want to continue traveling and making difference in other places too? BIG QUESTION, I know. hahah. :) Love ya, lady!
September 6, 2011 at 10:47 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Long time comin'

Let me start you out with a few facts: * I finally called my parents on saturday. It had been 13 days since we last talked. * It has been 19 days since my last post. * 3 months since I moved into my new apartment . Today I have finally posted the pictures. Ok. Yeah so life has been jam packed as of late. I have many exscuses, but I am just going to say dont be sad that I havent been on the internet. Because friends it has been a good thing. I needed to just live HERE for a while. With no distractions of home or other thoughts in my mind. I needed time, to focus on life here. I had gotten back into a rut again. I for some reason forgot why I was here. I was unhappy for no reason. Thankfully I gave it to God, and he my friends yanked me out. He reminded me once again why I am here, and now has really given me the passion I have been looking for here. You do not know how different my days are when I get up in the morning now. I actually want to get up. I am so thankful, because for so lon...
Read more

Soon and very soon....

This coming sunday will be a month since I have been in Krakow. I love how at the end of my last post I wrote how updates would come soon. I guess in my time, that means a month. Ha, sorry for waiting so long on telling you what has been happening here. I guess I tend to get so wrapped up in things, I forgot theres another world out there (outside of Yonkers...) Anyways, me and my roommate Katie (who is pretty much amazin' by the way) have gotten our apartment all set up, learned exactly how to get to ikea by tram and a couple buses, and we have learned where to find really really good cupcakes. But on the serious side of things the coffee shop is coming along, and everyday something is happening. Almost all of the plumbing & construction is done, there is just still lots of small things that tend to add up. Today we FINALLY got our really nice espresso machine all hooked up so now we can make the world's best cup of coffee. At least we shall try. Through connections fr...
Read more

What a year and 3 months can do...

In the past 3 weeks the shop has tripled with buisness. It has been unbelievable, exciting, and to be honest VERY tiring.  But it has been amazing to see people filling the shop at all hours of the day. All different kinds of people: Business men and women in need of a shot of espresso to get them through the day.  Tourists that heard from their tour guide that we have the best cheesecake in town :) Students cramming for their final exams, chugging down cappuccino after cappuccino. Families that were out for an evening walk, that our in desperate need of a nice cold fresh orange juice. This is what we are to our community. We are the morning wake up call, the home away from home, and always the place to come and relax.  Last night we had a "New Summer Menu Party" and we also celebrated the shop being open for a year. Actually it's been open a year and 3 months, but it just took us a little while to get the party together :) It was a gre...
Read more