BGT：Please describle the signature drink that you won 1st place in the World Barista Championship in 2004, and how long did it take you to create the sig drink?
談談你在04年拿下冠軍的創意飲料。花了多久時間來構思與創作？
Tim： The drink is based on one of my favourite desserts, Tiramisu. I had to make it into a liquid drink because of the rules in the WBC. This was the fun part. I spent over 6 months trying to balance the different ingredients until the drink was perfect. It consisted of a whisked topping made out of marsala syrup, mascarpone cheese, egg yolks and sugar. The coffee I used played a vital role in the drinks taste balance. I managed to find coffee from Mountain Top estate in Australia. This coffee had just the right fruitiness, chocolate aftertaste and loads of sweetness. Fortunately I found this coffee only weeks before the actual championship. On top I drissled orange scented chocolate from Valrhona. All togeather a delicious drink where the coffee flavour was the dominating aftertaste and the topping contributed with a creamy and airy mouthfeel.
創意的源頭來自於我最喜歡的甜點之一～提拉米蘇。因為WBC的規則限制，我必須把它轉變成一種飲料，從固體到液體，正是整個創意過程中最有意思的部份。一共花了我超過六個月的時間，讓所有的原料做一個完美的組成，包括marsala糖漿、mascarpone起司、蛋黃和糖，而我所選用的咖啡在整杯飲料的味覺平衡裡，更是扮演一個最關鍵的角色。我選擇澳洲Mountain Top莊園的咖啡，它有我要的水果風味、巧克力餘韻，也提供豐富的甜度。幸運的是我終於在正式比賽前幾星期取得了這個咖啡。我在最上面還灑了少量的來自法國的法芙娜橙香巧克力。最後，有著絕佳咖啡風味當做背景主體，並結合上層滑順的乳脂與發泡後的輕盈質感，我的創意飲料就這麼誕生了。
BGT： Many coffee people think about that the Scandiavian espresso blend almost with the highest reputation in the world , what do you think? And how did you creat a good espresso blend?
斯堪地那維亞幾乎已是全球咖啡人公認espresso最高水平的地區，你個人怎樣看待這件事？而你對espresso配方的設計概念是如何？
Tim： Scandinavians has a long tradition in buying quality coffee. This has many reasons, but I believe that a good espresso blend always starts with finding coffee that is exceptionally good alone. By mixing good coffees together, you can create something more that what the coffees taste alone. To get the right taste balance between the different coffees used and the degree of roast is very time demanding and hard work and you have to taste a lot of coffee to reach your goal. But you need a vision of what you want that goal to be. Without having a vision or a goal for the final taste, you don’t know what to look for in the single coffees either and you will end up with being more confused than satisfied.
購買優質的咖啡已經變成是長久以來北歐人的傳統了，這有許多因素，但我認為一個好的espresso配方，本來就是從尋找單品咖啡獨特風味開始的。藉由混合各種好咖啡，你可以創造出更多的單品豆所沒有的風味。要在各式各樣不同的咖啡，與烘焙度的配對組合下，找出一個正確的口感平衡點，是一件非常吃力又困難的工作，你必須經過大量的杯測過程來達到這個目標。你更需要一個敏銳的洞察力來幫助你完成組織最後你需要的配方風味，不然你會根本不知道怎麼選擇單品豆進來配方裡，徒增困惑而已。
BGT：What kind of single overriding flavour in the espresso is the worst? And what kind of flavour is your priority choice?
那一種味道出現在espresso裡是最糟糕的？而哪一種味道又是你個人的優先選擇？
Tim： The worst flavours for me would be if the espresso is stale and has a charcoal or burned flavour. I do not like overroasted espresso, nor too light so it tastes like lemon juice. I also dislike ferment, mustiness and all other defective flavours. I believe in a good balance between sweetness, bitterness and acidity and mouthfeel. Sweetness is always the taste I try to enhance the most. But without bitterness the coffee is not interesting. I prefer many styles of espresso. Right now my blend has a strong aroma of almonds and marzipan. The taste of the espresso reminds me of dried fruits. The aftertaste is very longlasting, oily and has the flavour of bittersweet chocolate. I like fruity espresso and also chocolaty espresso, but taste is individual and there is no correct answer to what an espresso should taste like. If it pleases you and stands out from other espressos, then you have probably tasted a good one, right?
對我而言，最糟糕的espresso莫過於出現不新鮮的味道，或是碳味或焦味。我不喜歡過度烘焙的espresso豆，也不喜歡太淺焙，喝起來像是檸檬汁的espresso。我當然也不喜歡發酵味、霉味和所有的缺陷風味。我堅信在甜味、苦味、酸味與口腔觸感之間，會有一個絕妙的平衡。甜味絕對是我要提升到極限的味道，但是少了一點苦味，咖啡又不夠有趣了。我喜歡各種風格的 espresso。目前我正在做的配方豆聞起來有非常濃烈的杏仁香氣（marzipan是歐洲人耶誕節常做的杏仁糖餅，被認為象徵幸福的味道），做成 espresso則有種讓我聯想到水果乾的味道，而後味是油脂感跟巧克力般的苦甜味的組合表現，餘韻綿長。我個人喜歡水果風格的espresso，也喜歡巧克力風格的espresso，但感官總是個人主觀的，espresso的風格走向是沒有標準答案的。如果你覺得喝到這杯咖啡比別的好，那就是好咖啡了，不是嗎？
BGT：Which one is your favorite single origin coffee? Did you use it as one of your espresso blend?
你最喜歡甚麼單品咖啡？你會用這支豆子進配方嗎？
Tim： My all time favourite is Kenyan coffee. I love the lively black currant flavour and the citric acidity it often represents. I have always had a good amount of Kenyan coffee in my espressoblends. Right now I am using 10% of a Kenyan coffee from Eeagads estate. It is an amazing coffee. I do also often find coffees that are exceptionally good and that might be my favourite at the time. Right now it is a Rwandan coffee from Bukonya estate. I also use 10% of this coffee in my blend. This coffee is super sweet with a lot of coffee blossom aroma and a delightful sweet ripe frutiness.
肯亞咖啡始終是我的最愛，我喜歡它所呈現的黑醋栗風味和檸檬酸質，我也經常在espresso配方裡有效地運用這支豆子。目前我做好的配方裡就用了10％的肯亞Eeagads莊園豆，這可是一支令人驚嘆的好咖啡。我也經常尋找其他具有獨特風味的咖啡，在當下它可能也是我的最愛。比如我目前也用了10％的盧安達Bukonya莊園豆在我新配方中，它擁有超級的甜度表現，和大量的咖啡花香，加上令人愉悅的水果熟甜風味。
BGT：What's your opinion of ristretto, for example, in Taiwan ,some barista like to make espresso with high volume (over 20gram or use triple basket), long extraction time and light roasted blend(before Second crack)?
你對ristretto的看法如何？比如在台灣有些barista喜歡用超過20g的高劑量，更長的萃取時間，加上未至二爆的淺焙配方。
Tim： It depends on the coffee and the occation. I have had some great shots made by Paul Bassett where he used this method, but I personally prefer a lighter texture and a longer shot when I use my own blend. I have to pinpoint that every coffee needs different brewing parameters in order to taste at its best. Therefore there is no method that are more or less right or wrong. The taste is what matters, but taste is individual, and that is why working with coffee is so much fun.(and frustrating at some times)
我想這取決於咖啡本身與使用的場合。我喝過一些非常棒的espresso是Paul Bassett用這種手法做出來的，但是我個人還是喜歡比較淡一點的，萃取量多一點的方式來呈現我自己的配方。我確定的是每一種咖啡需要不同的沖煮參數，才能喝到它最好的那一面，因此沒有一個方法是比較好或是比較差。也因為品嚐是這麼主觀的事情，所以從事這一行才會這麼有趣，當然有時也令人沮喪。
BGT： what's your opinion about Italy certifies the "official" cappuccino" and what is your idea of the volume and stracture of a cappa .
有關最近所謂的義大利官方認證的卡布其諾型態，你的看法如何？你又怎麼看待卡布的量與結構？
Tim： I believe it is important to state what a cappuccino really is. Serving a 32 oz milk based coffeedrink in a paper cup and to call it a cappuccino is wrong and disrespectful to Italian culture. I don’t mind people drinking such a thing, but I believe it is wrong to compare it to a cappuccino. I believe we need to educate the people about quality coffee. This is hard to do when most of the espresso drinks served around the world is 99,9% milk and 0,1% coffee.
我覺得去界定卡布其諾到底該是怎樣的東西，這點是很重要的。一份32oz的加奶飲料裝在外帶紙杯裡，如果說它是卡布其諾，不但是個錯誤，也是對義大利文化的不敬。我不在意人們喝這樣的東西，但是不該拿來跟卡布其諾相提並論。我相信我們需要教育人們有關優質咖啡的知識，當然推廣這並不容易，目前全世界的市場上加奶飲料仍然是壓倒性的懸殊比例。
BGT： Do you believe milk-based espresso drinks need a different (and possibly more forceful) blend than straight espresso or ristretto drinks do? How many blend will you serve in your espresso bar?
你覺得加奶飲品需要另外不同的配方，來跟純飲espresso或ristretto做區隔嗎？你會在自己店裡提供幾種配方？
Tim： Yes, my new blend is not dominating enough in a cappuccino. Therefore I need to make another one that will taste more coffee in milk based drinks. I will have 2 standard blends in my espresso bar and also various single origin espresso to offer.
我認為是有必要的，目前我的新配方並沒有足夠的支配力在卡布其諾的表現上，因此我需要研發另一個配方，來讓加奶飲品上能更凸顯咖啡本身的味道。我將在店裡使用二種標準配方，並有各種單品espresso的供應。
