Interview with SA AeroPress Champ 2022

We interviewed SA AeroPress Champ 2022 Brandon Smith, to learn how to create a winning AeroPress recipe.

Brought to you by: WORLD AEROPRESS CHAMPS , COFFEEMAGAZINE, ULTIMATE WATER, MOREFLAVOUR

@moreflavoursa: Congrats Brandon! Were you surprised?

Brandon Smith: My goal was to compete and see where I end up? Getting top nine, I was like, okay, top three would be pretty cool and when they announced I won, I was so shocked! I’m very appreciative of Chad Whitby (@chadsbestfriend), my surrogate barista, who I’ve never actually met. I’ve seen his cafe on social media and he has a really cool café (@FlatWhitesa). Afterwards I’ve figured through social media that he’s an OG barista. I was very glad to see all the surrogates were top class baristas and I’m sure that would be the case in Australia (World AeroPress Championship 2021/22) as well.

THE SURROGATE FORMAT WORKS, SA FULLY TESTED IT

MF: We were relieved that you won, because, as you know, on the day, we decided that there were quite a few finalists there, so we decided to let them compete live. We were conflicted, because we wanted to be fair to everyone, including the folk that couldn’t be there and had to compete via a surrogate. So we were actually thrilled that a surrogate won in the end.
BS: I think that proves that the format does work. I guess that also comes down to your explaining capability. It’s one thing to make someone’s recipe, but it’s another to make it if it’s not well explained.
MF: I think we were the first country to run it and as we were in full lock down, the first to do it fully virtual.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN RUNNING A SURROGATE FORMAT – CALL A HOMIE

BS: Yeah it is quite cool to actually see the format now being released for Worlds is exactly the format we had to run: receiving coffee, water, and so on. It really helped that Chad actually phoned me on the day to make sure of a certain part of the recipe that he didn’t fully understand. So that was pretty cool. You know, having the barista care enough to actually phone you was rad because I was super stressed that day. I was at work behind the bar and I was just like, I hope he understands the recipe. I hope I was clear enough. But I’ve felt much more calm after the call.

WHAT WAS THE COFFEE THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE

BS: Back in 2016, Stevo Kuhn (@stevobarista), and SA’s 2021 Barista Champion representative from Urban Brew (Bloemfontein SA), made me a Chemex. That’s when I realised that coffee can be a sweet enjoyable drink. There was a soft acidity, but it was so balanced and smooth, something I can actually drink on a daily basis and enjoy you know. Not just a caffeine bomb to get you going. I think it was probably either Kenya or Tanzania. But I just remember chocolate, grapefruit and a lime-like acidity that blew my mind. I thought to myself, are you sure you gave me a coffee?!

FAVOURITE CAFÉ?

BS: The one I’m at now, (Millwick’s Cafe in George on the Garden Route). I have a great team working with me. The owner’s awesome. So right now that’s definitely my favourite cafe.

FAVOURITE ROASTERY?

BS: I’m quite a Bluebird Coffee Roastery (Howick KZN) fan boy. They doing an amazing job in the coffee scene in South Africa.

APPROACH FOR SA CHAMPS?

BS: I started researching and trying winning recipes. I took one that I really liked. It wasn’t bright enough for me. so I wanted to bump up the acidity a little and that’s when I changed the recipe. I changed the weight up to 18g from 16g. Then I adjusted the water temperatures a little bit for my recipe. The first temperature was 90 degrees and the second one 75 degrees. So you had to put extra water in afterwards to bring it down quick enough to 75. Then I changed the grind size. I went one click finer, just to get that little bit of more extraction for that acidity.

APPROACH FOR WORLD AEROPRESS CHAMPS?

BS: Firstly, I brew it the way I always do and adjust from there. So I think I’ll probably have to see what the coffee is and begin research from there: E.g. Origin, processing, variety etc. Maybe it’s completely different recipe? Maybe by some miraculous chance the same recipe works. I know they are sending coffee and third wave water, sachets. Let’s hope with all the shipping delays at the moment it gets here in time!

TIPS FOR CREATING A WINNING AEROPRESS RECIPE?

BS: Google recipes, searched Instagram for recipes and try every single one. I made at least five years’ of WAC final recipes to see what it does to a coffee. Why do they use so much coffee with so little water and bypass with that much etc. I think that’s the easiest way you can see what different aspects does to your coffee.

Also, don’t change too much at a time. Start with one thing and go from there. Lastly, play around with temperature because it does make a difference. It’s not that huge, but it does.

BRANDON’S WINNING RECIPE: