About Us > Our World Research
Belaroma believes there is no excuse for drinking a bad cup of coffee. That's the reason we have invested in developing a huge amount of expertise within the company which extends from green bean buying and quality assurance through master roasting, production and packaging to training the cafe staff who make our products.
Getting perfection out of the best beans requires passion, creativity and commitment.
To make this possible, Belaroma has gone above and beyond, travelling all over the world researching farms, coffee beans, equipment, barista techniques and anything that is coffee-related.
In this section you'll discover some of Belaroma's worldwide coffee research destinations, where knowledge gained is helping Belaroma provide the very best coffee experience for our customers. Check it out!
Seed to Cup Barista Challenge, Day 2 - Peru, Oct'10
Building coffee drying beds, having pig for lunch and drinking a cerveza at the end of the day, and another one and maybe just one more! Read more...
Seed to Cup La Encanada - Peru, Dec'10
It's a video. A short video with some awesome footage of Scottie and nine of the best baristas in the world on a life changing trip in Peru, on a coffee farm called La Encanada, in the jungle.
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Espresso machines of the past in Italy - Nov'10
There are some really cool old espresso machines here, Check them out!
Worlds Barista Championship crew in Italy, Week 2 - Nov'10
How often will someone get to spend 7 days with and as one of the top 6 baristas in the world? So it was with great excitement that Scottie headed off to Italy on Sat 6th Nov 2010 to see his friends from the WBC and Nuova Simonelli for a trip of a lifetime. Read more...
Here we are Mike Philips, Raul Rodas, Sorn Stiller Markussen, Collin Harmon, Stefanos Domatiotis and Cindy Chang who runs the World Barista Championship.
Seed to Cup Barista Challenge, Day 1 - Peru, Oct'10
Scottie lived in the jungle on a coffee farm for 1 week with 9 of the best baristas in the world and lots of local Peruvian coffee workers. "It was an experience I will never forget. Maybe we can change their lives, because they have changed ours." Read more...
Maybe we can change their lives, because they have changed ours.
Worlds Barista Championship crew in Italy, Week 1 - Nov'10
Photos are worth a thousand words. Check them out!
Coffee cart at Columbia Rd - London, Apr'10
Have you been to London? If yes, then we hope you went to Columbia Rd. If not, then when you do, go to Columbia Rd Market. It's a market on Columbia Rd (off course) and there is a famous coffee cart there that is a coffee destination for many coffee enthusiasts the world over because it is the coffee cart owned and run by 2009 World barista Champion Gwilym Davies. Read more...
Gwilym at his coffee cart at Columbia Rd, London.
All coffee should be, must be, there is no other way but my way? - Apr'10
Everyone is an expert on coffee; so that means you too, because you are a part of everyone. You know what I mean! When you are out for dinner and talking about coffee, everyone has an opinion about it. It's like wine. Well, with the real expert people who have been roasting coffee for 15 years, barista champions, farmers, etc, it's exactly the same. On a different level, but everyone buys, roasts and brews coffee differently and swears by their method. As Scottie travelled around the world, he was experiencing this incredible diversity first hand. Read more...
Siphon served in stemless wine glasses
Looking back at Finca La Encanada - Peru, Nov'10
Scottie says it feels like so long ago that he was at La Encanada coffee farm, the people and the place are now so distant in km and in memory, but the strong feelings remain. "I haven't really tried to explain to people here the experience we had because I don't think I can." Read more...
Awesome beer, oh, and coffee in Amsterdam - Apr'10
Scottie went to Amsterdam looking for some coffees to use in the upcoming World Barista Championship, but found more than coffee, click on Saint Sixtus (http://www.sintsixtus.be/) and learn all about Westvleteren, voted the world's best beer by a few famous beer review sights. Read more...
Van Der Westen's Speedster, Mirage and Mistral - Eindhoven-Netherlands, Apr'10
Kees, as he is often called, is respected all over the world as the creator of some of the best espresso machines in the planet; namely the 'Speedster', the 'Mirage' and the 'Mistral'. Read more...
In the early days Kees would use this machine at trade shows to attract attention. It is basically a Speedster with some creative lights and all the internals exposed. A great way to get attention and then explain to people what's on the inside. And typical Kees style.
Oslo and the Tim's - Apr'11
Tim Wendelboe is the 2004 World Barista Champion, Tim Varney is the roaster at Tim Wendelboe roastery and Tim Styles trained the 2008 and 2009 World Barista Champions. Scottie had a great time in Oslo with these guys, particularly being trained by Tim Wendelboe. Read more...
See Tim Wendelboe's website
Single Origin - Sumatra, Apr'10
Origin. The term often used in the specialty coffee industry for the origin of coffee, the place where the coffee being served began its journey. Scottie has always dreamt of visiting origins and hoped that one day he can use his career to have a philanthropic involvement with some people at origins. This trip was the first of many trips to Sumatra and other origin countries. Read more...
Copenhagen - Mar'10
On March 24th 2010 Scottie hopped on the first of many planes on a life changing 5 week world trip to nine countries and numerous famous coffee destinations including espresso bars, barista competitions, coffee roasters, coffee farms and meeting and learning from previous world barista champions on a quest to learn, train and prepare for the 2010 World Barista Championship. In Copenhagen, a roaster and espresso bar called 'The Coffee Collective' co-owned by previous World Barista Champion Klaus Thomsen was his first stop. Read more...
Cupping coffee with Klaus
Sweden - Mar'10
Next stop Sweden and a visit to Koppi, a micro roaster and café owned by Anne - 2004 Swedish Barista Champion and Charles - 2005 Swedish Barista Champion.
'I think espresso is disappointing' - London, Apr'10
'I think espresso is disappointing'. This was the famous opening line of 2009 World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies at the 2010 World Barista Championship. Scottie was fortunate to spend 5 days in London being trained by Gwilym and experiencing his world of coffee and foodie providores of all kinds. Read more...
Scotties Coffee Trips
How high can you go? - Aug'10I have recently launched my very own coffee brand with the team here at Belaroma and I was in the middle of coming up with the concept so I thought I would put my thoughts onto a blog Read more...
Our Stella
Melbourne International Coffee Expo - May 13At the Belaroma Coffee Centre we have put in a new Stella from UNIC - and love it !
Our enthusaistic team have also been down at MICE showing off this impressive espresso machine.
July 2009 - Wendy's 30th Anniversary International Convention & Exhibition.
Nick and I went to Fiji representing Belaroma as sponsor and coffee supplier of one of our customers at its International Convention & Exhibition. During the breaks we made coffees for the guests and talked to them about the benefits of having coffee offerings in store. We had the equipment sent over from Australia. The event organisers did a fantastic job of plumbing the machine in, however they used plastic pipes and the water tasted like plastic until we managed to use filtered water! Then we had an airlock in the machine - fixed with technical assistance over the phone. At this stage I went to use the grinder and discovered the locking pin for the grinder had been lost in transit! It would grind but spin off completely and grind chunks. I had two very attentive Fijian helpers who were my designated 'technicians'. They both went off to find a solution for me. On their return they had both carved wooden wedges for me to jam the grinder in place. It worked! I was ever so grateful. Next hurdle was the lack of milk. We managed to get some long life milk, the coffee was a hit and all were happy! You forget how we take small things like fresh milk for granted!
The definite highlight of the trip would have to be once the Exhibition was finished and all the staff from the resort came and lined up for the Wendy's ice cream which was left over. It was amazing to see how something so small - like ice cream (which again we take it for granted) - made so many people happy. For many of the staff they had never tasted ice cream in their lives as it is a luxury which they simply can't afford. It was such a special moment which I will never forget.
Written by Anna Brooker, Barista Trainer and Assessor
UNIC in France
Anna tours the UNIC factory - March 2012I recently went to Nice, France, to spend a week with Head Technician Norbert at UNIC. It was amazing to go and visit the place from which Belaroma obtains our espresso machines ! The entire team at UNIC were very welcoming, even with my very limited French. Day one was spent with a factory tour which was fascinating. We started at the spare parts department where they were all working on assembling various parts and testing them. Next I saw where the frames were being cut by a very expensive machine - incredible. I saw the boilers being crafted by two men; once the copper has been cut, it is rounded and welded down the long edge; next one man hand welds one end and the second man hand welds the other end. The attention to detail is incredible! Read more...
Scottie returns to Peru
Finca Encanda - April 2012Back in 2012 Scottie Callaghan visited Peru and spent some time on a farm called 'Finca La Encanada' with a group of 10 baristas from around the world. Belaroma Coffee bought the coffee direct from Dionicio the owner of the farm to put it in our premium blend Tiempo. Recently Scottie went back to Finca La Encanada to learn more about the intricacies of direct relationship coffee buying and to see where and how Dionicio has been investing in his farm to make improvements. And also off course simply to see his Peruvian friends again.
Read more...
