Radek's victory was not only a reason to celebrate, but also a confirmation of what we do every day. We understand the green bean and know how to get the most out of it by roasting it - and that is what our craft is all about. We are constantly deepening our knowledge so that we can extract the best from every coffee.
Read the words of Radek Válka, who won this year's Czech Coffee Roasting Championship. He was helped with the preparations by our second roaster Radek Kolombo, whom we also invited to the interview.
How did you become a roaster?
Radek V:
It all started at Nordbeans delivery. It's the same story for both of us, we're both Radek and we both started as delivery men and then moved to the roastery. Radek Kolombo 8 years ago, me less than two years ago.
What was the motivation for entering the Czech Roasting Coffee Championship?
Radek V:
I wanted to try something new, and after consulting with my colleague Radek, who convinced me of the great experience and professional advancement, I went for it with anticipation and nervousness.
What were the expectations at the beginning?
Radek V:
I didn't know what to expect. I hadn't personally known any roasters other than Radek and my predecessor until that moment. It was my first competitive experience.
Radek K:
The competition is great because it gets roasters away from their machines, where they've been locked up all year. So it looks like ten roasters come, they look around for a while, then they roast coffee for two days and chat about it with their colleagues. The people there are so enthusiastic, they talk about how they did in the competition and how they do it at the roastery. And as Radek said, you can really gain extra experience there and try things that you don't do in normal operations. We wanted to take away new knowledge from it and confirm that we're doing the job well, which we managed to confirm.
How does the competition itself work?
Radek V:
The first part of the competition is green grading, which concerns knowledge about green beans. Within a 30-minute limit, the contestant measures the density of the beans, moisture, and then selects, identifies, and counts defects in the coffee sample. In the next part, the samples are roasted. The second day involves the contestants tasting the samples and making a roast plan based on that. The coffee will then be roasted on a different roaster that works differently than the sample one, and it is necessary to correctly estimate how the coffee will behave and taste. Within a 30-minute limit, a curve is planned and the coffee is roasted. If it doesn't go as expected the first time, a bit of adrenaline starts to kick in, because the contestant has to have time to finish the second roast, hope that it turned out as he imagined, and in the meantime, remove the defects from it, pack the competition roast in a bag, and prepare it for submission. The cherry on top is that he also has to have time to clean his workplace and the roaster.
As for the evaluation, you don't know anything until the announcement. The first contact with the competition roast is at the blind cupping, where all the competition coffees are hidden under codes. The reveal will only happen at the second cupping for the public, so you at least have an idea of how well you did with your roasting. I managed to roast a coffee that I took a picture of as one of the best and I hoped it could be mine. And it was - when the names were revealed, I only realized that it could turn out well, but good taste alone is not enough for a good result. The coffee has to match the roast plan.
Radek K:
The roast plan consists of two parts. In the technical part, Radek predicted the temperature at which the coffee would end, what color and body it would have. In the descriptive part, the contestant says how the coffee would taste – what aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, sweetness and body it would have. Points are awarded for how good the coffee tastes and for accuracy, i.e. whether the coffee really smells like what was written in the roast plan.
How was your training?
Radek K:
I prepared sets of green coffees for Radek, into which I mixed various defects, and Radek kept driving around on time. During this time, we fine-tuned the defects and drilled the procedures. Then came the roasting, when I again selected various coffees and gave the blank samples to Radek to roast. Radek roasted the samples and production alternately and had the task of getting the taste of the coffee from the sample and production roasters as close to each other as possible. We repeated this constantly, mainly to perceive the difference between the different roasters. It was quite hectic, especially now before Christmas, when there is always a lot of work at the roaster. We mainly owe this to Benjí, our third partner in our roasters crew, who roasted from morning to night, so we had time to train.
Was there anything that surprised you?
Radek V:
It wasn't exactly a surprise, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere. Ráďa said it was great there. Of course I was worried, because you're going somewhere you've never been before. And actually, when you get there, you find out that there's no reason to be. But you're still a little nervous, for three whole days. The results are a surprise right up until the end. The only thing you can go by is the color of the coffee, you can say "good, I didn't mess it up in my eyes". You go home with that and wait to see how it turns out on the third day. But overall, the atmosphere among the competitors, we actually got pretty similar colors in similar times, but everyone came to that roast differently, and the debate that broke out after the coffee tasting was great. It's nice to talk to someone about the work you love and with someone who understands who you are. And what's more, over great coffee, there wasn't a single bad sample.
What's next now, when are you going to the world championship and how will you prepare?
Radek V:
The World Championship is at the end of June. I'm looking forward to it, but it won't be the same, the atmosphere and collegiality won't be the same as at the national round. They roast in larger quantities, on larger roasters. They roast more coffee, including blends. We will have to train and improve. We hope that we won't disappoint ourselves and that we will learn something new again. The whole experience was unique for me and I would say unforgettable. For which I thank my wife, who led me to the selection many years ago and supported me throughout the competition. I also thank my daughters, who went through it with me and Radek, who passes on his many years of experience to me and talked me into the competition and trained me. To the SCA and the other competitors for the unforgettable atmosphere and experience, and to my home roaster for the support and opportunity. We are going for another experience that will take us somewhere, and that's what this is all about.
