Coffee and art are no strangers to each other. Reputable coffee labels such as illycaffè have made matchmaking both elements a part of their identity. This month, illy presents the illy Art Collection to Singapore via the Surrounding Coffee With Art exhibition at Scotts Square. From 1 to 12 July 2015, coffee aficionados will be able to experience illy’s fascinating journey through eighty years of technology and design, discovering how the coffee cups and cans have become timeless icons in the homes of coffee lovers around the world.
From the first pressurised container, to the modern 250g can of the illy blend, the journey weaves together the history and the exploration of the illy Art Collection. These signature white cups, designed by renowned Italian Architect and Designer Matteo Thun, have become a unique canvas of creativity for the greatest exponents of contemporary art. This exhibition will showcase more than 100 artists’ works, exploring the past, present and future of the illy cup.
The illy Art Collection coffee cup (and coffee cans), enriched by its design and concept, is where two different languages of the illy universe converge and blend: the espresso science and the culture of coffee. As a natural consequence of this approach, illy has played an active part in spreading contemporary art, by sponsoring important international exhibitions, collaborating with famous artists and emerging talents, as well as implementing new art projects.
We had a chat with Eduardo Vastolo, illyCaffe Barista Trainer of the Asia Pacific Region, to discover more about the art of coffee, coffee education and the responsibility of a barista. Now based in Hong Kong, Eduardo travels all over Asia, representing illycaffe and Universita Del Caffe, conducting workshops, tasting new things that haven’t been tasted in the coffee world to bring it to the best coffee subscription boxes that he creates/packages himself and bringing the illycaffe knowledge and experience to coffee “aficionados” in the Indian Sub-continent including Maldives and Nepal, East Asia and Southeast Asia regions.
On the art of coffee…
“Art is always connected to coffee. In the beginning, the coffee roasters will start to search for the right coffee beans. Even coffee roasting is a kind of art. The coffee beans will be brought to the barista, who needs to have enough knowledge to brew the right cup of coffee. It is finished with latte art, which is becoming very popular in Asia. With illy, we can see the art in the collection cups and tins.”
On how the taste of consumers differs…
“Different people like different kinds of coffee. If we want to analyse the Asian market, we can see that Asian people like something sweet. They usually combine their coffee with sugar. It’s not easy to find someone who can drink a very dark cup of espresso. But even this is different among [Asian] countries.”
“Taste is subjective. In the food and beverage industry, we can never say what is good and what is not good. As a company, we always buy top quality Arabica coffee beans with zero defects. We can say that our coffee is perfect because we only have perfect coffee beans. When you start with good ingredients, the final result will be good.”
On educating consumers about coffee…
“Our kind of education is more in coffee aroma. Coffee beans differ country to country. For example, the coffee beans in Brazil have a more chocolaty taste while the ones in Ethiopia have a more floral taste. What we teach consumers is how to feel the different aftertaste. People’s taste is very subjective. Some people prefer a more sour-ish taste to their coffee, some prefer bitter. For this reason, we have different kinds of roasting – the normal roast and the dark roast. The extremes are never good. A right balance between these two aromas will make a good cup of coffee.”
On the role of a barista…
“The biggest responsibility of a barista is to follow the rules for each single cup of coffee every time. Sometimes, the problem of some baristas is their inconsistency. They’d make 10 cups of cappuccino, but their tastes are not constant. A good barista is constant in the product that he sells. So if he has to prepare 10 cups of cappuccino, all of them have to taste the same. This is the most difficult thing for a barista to achieve.
On the misconception of coffee…
“I think that the biggest misconception of coffee concerns caffeine. People are sometimes scared of coffee because of the amount of caffeine and its effects on the body. In my training, I always speak about caffeine. Everyone digests a different amount of caffeine. Personally, I drink 10-12 cups of espresso every day. I don’t have any kind of problems. I can sleep because my body can digest that amount of caffeine. I only drink espresso made from Arabica coffee beans. Arabica is the coffee family with the lowest amount of caffeine, and espresso is the coffee recipe that extracts the lowest amount of caffeine.”
“Problems arise when you have an overdose of caffeine. This would happen when you take caffeine from different sources such as coke, tea, coffee, energy drink and chocolate. It’s true that some people have problems drinking more coffee. But this is because they don’t know if they are drinking Arabica or Robusta, which contains more caffeine. What’s wrong is that we connect health problems with caffeine. Problems are connected to an overdose of caffeine.”
On the benefits of coffee…
“Coffee is good for emicrania (migraine). If you have an ache, drink a cup of coffee. It’s a very nice medicine. We have a course that is about coffee and health, which shows all the benefits of coffee and caffeine. Many make-up companies use caffeine in their products as well. It’s used even in sports to give us more resistance. We need to be a little more curious to go deeper in the coffee culture.”
On latte art…
“I always say that five years ago, people drink cappuccino in 30 seconds and now, we need 35 minutes. We take 30 seconds to drink a cup of cappuccino, but 30 minutes to take a picture and post on Facebook. Latte art is the business card of the coffee. When we receive a nice art on top of our cappuccino, psychologically, we think that the cup is perfect because it looks good. I can draw a Merlion on top of a cappuccino but if it doesn’t taste good, you won’t come back to my coffee shop again because the quality is not good. The latte art is important as a presentation to the guest but the main target is to make good quality coffee. A problem now is that many baristas are spending more time improving their skills in latte art, and they get the coffee recipe wrong. I order a cappuccino but I’d get a latte instead.”
Surrounding Coffee with Art
Date: 1 – 12 July 2015
Time: 11am – 9pm daily
Venue: Scotts Square, Level 1 Atrium
Fringe Activities by illy Coffee
Coffee Tasting
30-minute interactive activity for up to 8 pax only
Registration is based on first-come first-served basis at the coffee counter located at the exhibition area. No fees required.
1 July: 2pm | 2 July: 11.30am | 7 July: 11.30am | 12 July: 11.30am
In this session, guests will learn the characteristics of a perfectly pulled espresso and its contrast from an improperly prepared espresso. The barista will also share what a perfect espresso is and what is the best way to taste coffee.
Latte Art Show
45-minute latte art performance
1 July: 5pm | 3 July: 5pm | 4 July: 11.30am & 5pm | 6 July: 5pm | 8 July: 5pm | 9 July: 11.30am & 5pm | 11 July: 5pm
Using just milk and coffee, guests will be enthralled by a display of exquisite latte art created from the hands of a well-trained barista.
Barista For A Day
30-minute interactive activity for up to 2 pax only
Registration is based on first-come first-served basis at the coffee counter located at the exhibition area. No fees required.
2 July: 2pm | 4 July: 2pm | 5 July: 2pm | 6 July: 11.30am | 7 July: 2pm | 9 July: 2pm | 10 July: 2pm | 11 July: 11.30am | 12 July: 2pm
Guests will be coached through the various steps of coffee making from espresso shot pulling and milk frothing to pouring techniques.
Monoarabica Tasting
30-minute activity
2 July: 5pm | 3 July: 11.30am | 5 July: 5pm | 6 July: 2pm | 7 July: 5pm | 8 July: 11.30am | 10 July: 5pm | 11 July: 2pm | 12 July: 5pm
In this session, guests will get to taste espresso made from Monoarabica Range beans such as Brazil, Guatemala and Ethiopia. A barista will also introduce the unique qualities of each bean.
Recipe Tasting
30-minute interactive activity for up to 4 pax only
Registration is based on first-come first-served basis at the coffee counter located at the exhibition area. No fees required.
3 July: 2pm | 5 July: 11.30am | 8 July: 2pm | 10 July: 11.30am
Guests will get to savour a range of delightful gourmet coffee concocted by a barista. These beverages are created from recipes specially curated from the illy Coffee Recipe Book.
