In our journey of roasting and sharing unique coffee to more people in Asia, our UnCommon coffee range offers unique coffees from all around the world, respectfully sourced from trusted relationships. This month, we launched a CCD Gesha Nano Lot RSV 6 from Panama, beautifully processed in a unique style called ‘Intrinsic Cherry’. For those seeking a Gesha varietal, this new coffee is not to be missed.
Ker You Quan, our CMCR Barista Academy trainer selected this as the coffee to present in 2023’s Singapore National Brewers Cup Championship. Our team did an interview with him to find out more about his journey and what amazing flavours await in this special coffee.
Watch his interview here.
You Quan: My preferred brewing method is drip style filter coffee and my favourite dripper is the V60.
You Quan: Prior to working at CMCR, I used to brew coffee at home every morning using a french press. There was this one morning when I I was brewing a natural processed Ethiopian. I could taste very ripe mango in my coffee which got me really excited. That got me started on reading up about coffee to understand why coffee can taste like this.
You Quan: Trying to find the best way to brew a cup of coffee that would represent the pinnacle of what filter coffee can be.
You Quan: I was trying to look for a coffee with intense fruit-like sweetness balanced with ripe acidity.
You Quan: I had a great time working with Tam to achieve a profile that is well balanced! This coffee is delicate with very approachable acidity and well supported sweetness due to the processing method. Whole cherries are fermented in an open tank for 12 hours before they are dried on a raised bed for 8 days. Through many tastings and development, we were able to create a roast that showcased the true qualities of the coffee.
You Quan: 15 grams of coffee, 225g of 94°C water with 5 equal pours of 45 grams each, done in 30 seconds intervals.
You Quan: My routine in the competition was centered around the theme of ‘discoveries’. The first one was about glowing green beans which were a result of cherries being exposed to slightly longer fermentation, leading to a more complex cup of coffee.
The second was using non-woven filter paper which allowed coffee oil to pass through, leading to viscosity in the brew. Lastly, I understood how the colour of a cup will shape our perception of taste. This is also something that we’ve incorporated into our product label design, featuring colours of the tasting notes.
You Quan: To participate in the upcoming brewer’s cup in June 2024. I would like to reflect on my past routine and present a better coffee based on last year’s feedback. It creates quite a fair bit of pressure but I think this serves as a form of motivation for me.
The UnCommon - CCD Gesha Nano Lot RSV 6 is now available online here.
I sat down with the man behind Instant Specialty, Marcus Allison, to understand more about the science and wizardry that goes into turning one of our most beloved blends into something that is ready to drink in seconds, and generally geek out about coffee.
Matt - How did you get into the Instant Specialty game? What was the impetus to start?
Marcus - I've been in the coffee industry since 2010 and always thought a bit outside the box. We were one of the first companies in Brisbane to bottle iced coffees in glass stubbies through our cafe, [Bunker]. Instant Specialty started when I saw some companies in the US were experimenting with making high-quality, instant coffee and it made me wonder why Instant Coffee normally tasted so bad.
I started to research how the big commercial businesses do it and pretty quickly began to understand how it could be improved, when quality is the focuss, rather than quantity and price. I was actually drinking my own Instant Specialty coffee as long ago as late 2017 and I played with it for about 12 months before we launched it as a business.
Our product is unique compared to any other I have tasted so far.
Matt - Take us through the steps our coffee goes through, from the whole bean, roasted product, to get to the finished Instant Specialty.
Matt - You’ve recently started using new and improved equipment in the process - how has the equipment improved and what effect does this have on the finished result?
Matt - Is there anything random normally found in an average jar of commercial instant?
For the coffee world though, they’ve often been mystical lands where filter coffee reigned supreme and people drank litres of specialty coffee daily. We’ve reached out to our friends roasting up a storm across the oceans, to curate an exciting cupping showcasing a tasty snapshot of the Nordic scene — join us to learn more about this influential coffee culture!
Nordic Coffee: Stand, Cup & Conquer
When
6:30pm, Wednesday 30 September
Where
Common Man Coffee
22 Martin Road, #01-00
Singapore 239058
One of Common Man’s core goals is to actively foster the development of a community around the specialty coffee industry, cultivating a culture of sharing and learning together in the interest of progressing specialty coffee in the Singaporean market.
To that end that Xin Loke (our super star roaster/account manager), teamed up with Bronwen Serna (director of coffee and education for The New Black), for the first ever ‘SG Pow-Wow.’ The Pow-Wow was an opportunity for those involved in Singapore’s specialty coffee industry to get together for a conversation around a specific theme.
As an extension of the recent master class on Coffee Chemistry conducted by Joseph Rivera, former director of Science and Technology at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), the inaugural ‘SG Pow-Wow’ explored the intricate chemical elements at play during the coffee brewing process. CMCR’s Nijo Neo and Michael Tan presented detailed thoughts on the topic followed by a practical demonstration conducted by the former US barista champ herself, Bronwen Serna.
Neo and Tan gave a detailed explanation of the chemical characteristics of the five accepted tastes: sweetness, acidity, saltiness, bitterness and umami. Participants were then able to assess a number of different coffee samples which highlighted compounds that exhibit certain flavours after the presentation. We also explored the effect of temperature on our ability to perceive those flavours.
During the practical demonstration, Bronwen served up a number of manual and espresso brews which further explored the effect of temperature, at both the brewing and serving stage, on the result in the cup. This prompted some lively discussion and healthy debate from the audience.
In addition to playing host to Singapore’s first specialty coffee Pow-Wow, CMCR also had the pleasure of running our first Curated Cupping in Kuala Lumpur this month on the subject of the ‘Roast Development Spectrum’. Fahrenheit600 in Publika played host for the evening, graciously welcoming a crowd of around 30 coffee professionals and enthusiasts who were all keen to learn from our head roaster, Jinyu Wang, about our roasting philosophy and the measures we take to maintain quality and consistency. The cupping table consisted of our amazing single origin, YirgZero, which was roasted in seven different profiles, ensuring that any perceivable differences in the samples were as a result of differences in roast, not the coffee itself. This really added practical value to the presentation.
The future of the specialty coffee industry in this part of the world is dynamic and exciting – and it’s through our focus on engagement and education that Common Man Coffee Roasters hopes to progress the industry further. We’re proud to be part of it!
]]>Over the past few years, we’ve been fortunate to be able to take part in a positive event which has helped change the lives of many young girls looking for a better education and future. Not surprisingly, coffee was our means of participating in #WeWantChange. This event was founded and hosted by our partners at Five Senses Coffee, Australia who have been involved in sponsoring the We Want Change event for the past four years.
We Want Change supports the Nanhi Kali Foundation, an NGO which seeks to provide primary education for underprivileged girls throughout India. There’s no doubt that growing up as an impoverished girl in India is extremely challenging. With a widely prevalent dowry system, a girl can be seen as an economic burden for her family and, in many cases, one to be resolved by abandonment or childhood marriage. Education for young girls in India has been proven to break the chain of the dowry system and also to make a positive impact on the economy as a whole.
We Want Change was hosted by Common Man Coffee Roasters in Singapore on the 23rd of May, simultaneously with ten other events in inspiring cafés all over Australia (the participating cafés are listed below). All these cafés donated the proceeds from that day’s coffee takings to help enrich impoverished girls’ lives in India. With a total of over $17,000 SGD raised, the event was a huge success! With these generous donations, the We Want Change event will be able to continue to provide education for the 195 girls which the event supported last year. This is a great investment in the future thanks to your generosity.
Next year, we are looking forward to rallying more passionate cafés in Singapore and around the region to help us champion this cause. We hope not only to inspire other local cafés to join us, but perhaps even to reach a higher level of donations. This would help develop our drive to highlight the importance of equal rights and education for young girls through the choices we make when spending our dollars.
Participants
To find out more about the Nanhi Kali Foundation, please visit their website -www.nanhikali.org
]]>Every year, visits to Central America form a major part of my travel. In today’s specialty world, Central America’s coffees seem to be a staple in everyone’s line-up. Their ability to master processing and thus provide consistency year after year has created not only a dependency, but a general love for their coffee. Prior to leaving, I cupped samples furiously to help guide my itinerary. With many things already shifting with regards to supply, I knew it was more than likely that we would be starting a new relationship this year. The real question was — where?
Although I did travel to Costa Rica this year, I invested most of my time between the countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua. I had a rough profile and price in mind and so the majority of the work involved exploring a few choice mills and gleaning information to help me understand what a new coffee relationship might look like. In all honesty, I love Guatemala; it’s an epic country with great people, varied micro climates and beautiful coffees … However, as shocking as it might seem, this year we will not be purchasing our normal volume from Guatemala. It’s strange to be even writing that sentence and yet, as one door shuts another opens, and so for the first time this year, we will be offering a beautiful Nicaraguan coffee from a mill named La Florencia. There are a few reasons why we are moving in this direction, so let me explain.
La Florencia, despite being a good-sized enterprise, has a great vibe. It’s perhaps a bit idealistic, but I believe that great people make great coffee. So as I contemplate supply and the start of a new relationship, the people portion of the business is just as crucial as the coffee quality. I love to assess the vibe of a place and see how people treat each other. I think it often speaks to ownership and the true ethos that the organization abides by. It’s no exaggeration to say that everyone was friendly to one another here — from the patio workers to the mill manger. I am not naïve enough to think that this is always the case, but I have definitely been to places where you don’t sense this or even feel welcome.
Also, it is fairly important for me to discover if I can build genuine rapport with the mill manager and quality control personnel, as these will be the people I engage with on an ongoing basis. Lydia, the mill manager, was a fantastic individual; small and soft-spoken, she carried herself as if she had been in the biz for years. Lester, head of QC, was unbelievable. All he wanted to do was talk coffee and share their experiences with the COE. Had he been tatted and English-speaking, I swear he would have been one of your stereotypical, geeked-out Melbourne baristas.
Another selling point (and a real surprise) was that La Florencia collects a number of different varietals and processes them in many different ways. At the moment, La Florencia collects the Maragogype, Pacamara, Maracaturra, Bourbon, Typica, Catuai and Java coffee varieties. Alongside that varied portfolio, they’ve benefitted enormously from the knowledge shared by their Costa Rican counterpoint, Deli Cafe, regarding processing. Thus La Florencia processes coffee using the natural, black honey, red honey, yellow honey and fully washed methods. That is pretty incredible for any coffee origin, and especially for one which is definitely not labelled as ‘leading’. In fact, learning about their varied processing methods gave me further justification to secure this Nicaraguan coffee.
Coffee people have mixed reactions when they hear the word Nicaragua. There are good reasons for this, but I would not be honest if I did not mention that I have had some exceptional Nicaraguan coffees. So when I visited La Florencia and warmed up to the idea of Nicaraguan coffees, I began to think of this possible relationship more along the lines of a start up. The core product is solid, but the potential looks amazing.
All the big things seem to be aligned here for them to produce great specialty coffee — exceptional micro climates, good elevation and genuine enthusiasm for quality preparation via the leadership. If we can also invest what we have gleaned over our years of origin travel and offer incentives at the produce level, we might even find ourselves serving a Nicaraguan coffee that pushes the re-imagination of Nicaraguan coffees in Australia.
Let’s see what we can do. Here is to an exciting opportunity and relationship!
This article was originally published on the Five Senses Coffee website: Re-imagining Nicaraguan coffee.
]]>One of the topics we explore in depth in our Advanced Barista Skills class at the Australian Barista Academy is brew water temperature and its effect on espresso taste and extraction.
Brew temp is an easily accessible brew parameter with the right espresso machine, but is not something that all café operations chose to alter as part of their morning dial in. Conversely there are plenty of cafes using brew temperature for everything from regulating extraction yield, to overcoming issues with machine and grinder temperature as their workload increases. To bridge the gap and provide some info for new and experienced baristas alike, I’ve prepared some objective testing and solid numbers to digest.
Brew temperature: things people say
It has been observed using a standardised recipe and solid brewing technique that brewing hotter will result in higher extraction yields (more content removed over time) while brewing colder will extract content at a slower rate (less content removed over time). Taste wise, hotter temps result in increased body and sweetness (with a greater chance of astringency and bitterness), while cooler temps emphasise less bitterness, body and sweetness (resulting in a sour, bright shot).
Baristas who are savvy with brew temp modification might make some of the following suggestions:
These suggestions guide practice in many commercial cafes. There is probably a mixture of truth and half-truth among them, and maybe even some outright heresy, but it would certainly be nice to have more data to back it up. If you stay tuned for a follow up article you’ll get exactly that — I’ll be using some nifty equipment to test the effects of puck depth, density, and brew temp. For today’s article I wanted to answer a simpler question — what does brew temperature do to extraction yield and flavour?
The effect of brew temperature on extraction yield
If you need a quick catch-up on extraction yield and what it is, check out our previous article on VST baskets here.
To fully test the effects of brew temp on extraction yield, I set up the following test:
The raw data
To remove the outliers, I sorted each temperature category by extraction yield and removed the two highest and lowest data points. This reduced the sample size, but removed outliers resulting from inconsistent extraction behaviour.
Tables 1-4 summarise the data for each extraction temperature, and Figure 1 puts it all together for you.
Table 1 - 92°C |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cup | Temperature (°C) | Dose (g) | Beverage (g) | Time (sec) | TDS | Yeild % |
1 | 92 | 22 | 48.3 | 29 | 8.41 | 18.4 |
2 | 92 | 22 | 46.6 | 28 | 8.7 | 18.4 |
3 | 92 | 22 | 48.2 | 29 | 8.53 | 18.8 |
4 | 92 | 22 | 46.2 | 30 | 9.26 | 19.3 |
5 | 92 | 22 | 47.1 | 30 | 9 | 19.3 |
6 | 92 | 22 | 47.1 | 32 | 9.11 | 19.5 |
Averages | 46.5 | 30.3 | 9.2 | 19.38 |
Table 2 - 94°C |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cup | Temperature (°C) | Dose (g) | Beverage (g) | Time (sec) | TDS | Yeild % |
1 | 94 | 22 | 46.7 | 29 | 9.09 | 19.3 |
2 | 94 | 22 | 46.2 | 30 | 9.22 | 19.3 |
3 | 94 | 22 | 47.1 | 32 | 9.01 | 19.3 |
4 | 94 | 22 | 46 | 31 | 9.28 | 19.4 |
5 | 94 | 22 | 45.4 | 30 | 9.39 | 19.4 |
6 | 94 | 22 | 47.8 | 30 | 9.03 | 19.5 |
Averages | 46.5 | 30.3 | 9.2 | 19.38 |
Table 3 - 96°C |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cup | Temperature (°C) | Dose (g) | Beverage (g) | Time (g) | TDS | Yeild % |
1 | 96 | 22 | 44.8 | 29 | 9.43 | 19.1 |
2 | 96 | 22 | 45 | 29 | 9.43 | 19.2 |
3 | 96 | 22 | 46.1 | 30 | 9.24 | 19.3 |
4 | 96 | 22 | 45 | 29 | 9.49 | 19.4 |
5 | 96 | 22 | 46.2 | 30 | 9.41 | 19.7 |
6 | 96 | 22 | 47.2 | 30 | 9.23 | 19.7 |
Averages | 45.7 | 29.5 | 9.4 | 19.40 |
Table 4 - 98°C |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cup | Temperature (°C) | Dose (g) | Beverage (g) | Time (sec) | TDS | Yeild % |
1 | 98 | 22 | 46 | 28 | 9.25 | 19.2 |
2 | 98 | 22 | 47.2 | 29 | 9 | 19.3 |
3 | 98 | 22 | 47 | 30 | 9.08 | 19.4 |
4 | 98 | 22 | 48 | 31 | 8.89 | 19.4 |
5 | 98 | 22 | 48.9 | 31 | 9.03 | 20.0 |
6 | 98 | 22 | 48.6 | 30 | 9.03 | 20.1 |
Averages | 45.7 | 29.8 | 9.1 | 19.57 |
The Results
You can see from these results, a nice consistent trend! Lower brew temperatures produced a lower extraction yield, whereas higher brew temperatures produced a higher extraction yield. With a much larger sample size, we might expect to see a smoother line. What’s most surprising from this data is the relatively small difference in extraction yield a 6°C temperature change makes! The total difference was just over half a percent yield from 92 to 98. Even more interesting is just how radically different the cups tasted, despite the relatively small difference in extraction yield.
The effect of brew temperature on taste
Despite the small differences in extraction yield, the four temperature groups tasted radically different. I blind tested this with our staff and the response was exactly what theory predicts:
Does this mean our tasters were detecting the tiniest differences in extraction yield, or is it something to do with the balance of constituents removed from the coffee? Maybe both? I’m going to go with maybe both, and if you read on you’ll see why.
The perceived flavour changes which result from altered brew temperature are in agreement with data from ‘The Coffee Brewing Handbook’ (Ted Lingle, SCAA). Rather than reprinting the whole section on temperature changes from the handbook (I’d love to), Figure 2 is a quick graph I made from data in the book showing how the flavour components of the brew change as the extraction temperature changes (74, 94 and 100 °C).
There are a few trends you can see in this graph:
Even with this snippet of data, you can see the huge effect brew temperature has on constituent balance*. If this isn't a great explanation for the taste differences in our cups, then the other route to explore the huge effect on taste which we get from very small differences in extraction yield.
Conclusions
If you put it together, this data clearly demonstrates two things — higher brewing temps lead to higher extraction yields, increased sweetness, bitterness and body while slightly reducing acidity. Lower temps result in lower extraction yields; have less body, sweetness and bitterness and more pronounced acidity. Although the yield differences are small, the cupping results are huge, leading me to the conclusion that there’s a little more at play in terms of what temperature does to our cup profile than to simply increase or reduce overall extraction yield — the changes to the extraction of each flavour component are larger than the overall change in extraction.
This round of testing wasn’t thorough enough to answer some of the most burning questions on the topic of brew temp. One thing that stands out is the limited information gained from the use of a single espresso recipe and its resulting flow rate — would a faster flow rate provide a wider range of extraction yields? This is something I’m very keen to explore. Stay tuned for an upcoming article in which we further explore the effects of temperature across a range of grind profiles, as well as the effect your espresso flow rate has on your ability to thoroughly extract coffee (and how temp can help in that regard).
*the testing from Lingle’s book was conducted with large volumes of filter coffee, not espresso. Still, I believe the effects observed in my testing on espresso are due to a similar effect of creating a different balance of constituents depending on the brewing temperature.
References
Ted Lingle. The Coffee Brewing Handbook (Specialty Coffee Association Of America Handbook Series, Second Edition). SCAA, 1996.
This article was originally published on the Five Senses Coffee website: Brew Temperature and it's Effects on Espresso.
]]>Fresh off the Singapore National Barista Championship held in late January, comes Cafe Asia – Southeast Asia's biggest coffee and tea exposition. This event brings together the coffee and tea communities, and the likeminded folk within the hospitality industry. It was sight to behold with all the various high end and innovative equipment on show.
Café Asia was also host to two main events for the Singapore Coffee Community, the Singapore Latte Art Competition and the inaugural Singapore Brewers Cup.
Even through it was the very first ever Brewers Cup, the level of competition and quality of coffee on show was impressive to say the least. Not only was there a variety of ninety plus coffee and brew devices on showcase, but the each competitor brought with them a very professional presence with a touch of their own individualistic flair. Andrea Tan from A.R.C Coffee blew us away with a brilliant performance belying her young age with a very tasty coffee to boot.
Our very own Lucky Salvador brought his A-Game to the table as he used a Kalita Wave, running the a natural processed La Pastora, Costa Rica from Mainor Esquival's mill. Lucky created an amazing cup which packed a punch, with a very polished and personable performance which helped him claim 3rd place in the Brewer's Cup.
In the Latte Art Competition, Jervis Tan of Kinsmen Coffee came out tops with his clean lines and symmetry; with a signature pour of a peacock comprising of all latte art techniques on show. Credit goes out to Nijo Neo from Common Man Coffee for giving his all in what was a very skilled group of competitors in the 1st round.
We would like to again send out our congratulations to the winners, Andrea Tan of A.R.C Coffee (Singapore Brewers Cup) and Jervis Tan of Kinsmen Coffee (Singapore Latte Art Championship) the best of luck at the World Championships held later in Gothenburg, Sweden.
OFFICIAL WINNERS
Singapore Brewers Cup
1st: Andrea Tan from A.R.C Coffee
2nd: Hidayat from Gentleman's Coffee
3rd: Lucky Salvador from Common Man Coffee Roasters
Singapore Latte Art Competition
1st: Jervis Tan from Kinsmen Coffee
2nd: Joefel Manlod from House of Robert Timm's
3rd: Shyan Wei from A.R.C Coffee
Although it has been over a month now since Singapore held their 2015 Nation Barista Championships, it is never too late to celebrate the success of all the competitors and raise a glass (really a coffee cup) to the growing specialty coffee industry in Singapore.
Back in January, under the towering formation of the Marina Bay Sands, 16 dedicated Baristas took center stage. Each competitor undoubtedly spent months in preparation for his or her 15 minutes in the spotlight. Within these months, a specific coffee or coffees were meticulously chosen to be best represented by this competitor. With hours upon hours of routine rehearsal and revisions to one’s speech, there is no quicker way for a Barista to gain invaluable knowledge & experience then to have the fortitude to compete (no offenses to those Scott Rao fans out there).
This dedication and growth curve was easily on display for the two days of competition. With an inspiringly large audience that helped to cheer on the first day of great performances, each competitor were equally scrutinized by calibrated judges in an effort to find the top 6 challengers for the final day. Being fortunate to help judge the past two Singapore National Barista Championships (SNBC), it was easy to see the caliber of performances increase to a level on par with industry power houses such as Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. This first day of competition brought great excitement to the Common Man Team, as Xin Loke made it into the top 6 finalists in hopes of recapturing her crown.
The following day an even bigger supportive and passionate crowd filled the void of the convention halls, in-which they stood witness to Singapore’s top Baristas battle out the finals. Each competitor held nothing back in an effort to be crowned the 2015 SNBC champion. With amazing coffees on display (often from Central America or East Africa) and the previous day’s jitters gone, each of the competitors routines were a formidable attempt to take the crown. In the end, after the suspense of a careful judges deliberation, John Ryan Ting (a veteran of a previous win in early 2000s and recently a WBC judge) brought all his experience to the table to find a second victory. With tears in our eyes due to the loss of our own, our hats were off in celebration of John’s worthy win.
Congratulations to John Ting and to all the competitors who courageously put their skills on display in an effort to continually push our industry forward. We at Common Man will no doubt continue to support such events, in joint effort with our industry colleagues, to help inspire and challenge passionate coffee folks to elevate their knowledge and experience through competition.
Now with your coffee cup held high, here’s to 2016 SNBC!
For more information on upcoming World Coffee Events in Singapore and a transparent look at the point spread between the top 6 competitors of this years 2015 SNBC please view Singapore Coffee.
]]>With a blog that’s been around as long as this one, we’ve managed to cover a lot of topics. However, given how quickly the world of coffee changes, we figured it was time to revisit one of the most basic (and important) concepts in espresso: the brew ratio.
Simply put, the brew ratio is the relationship between the amount of dry coffee used (the dose) and the amount of coffee extracted (the yield). This relationship is usually expressed in a dose:yield fashion, so a ratio of 1:2 means that for every gram of dry coffee, we will extract two grams of espresso. Another, less common, way to express a brew ratio is the dose as a percentage of the yield. So, a 1:2 ratio can also be called a 50% ratio. If it’s not obvious already, you’ll need a scale to follow along with this article! The good news is a 0.1g scale can be fairly cheap and will lead to a big improvement in your espresso and brewed coffee. It’s one of those low investment - big reward type situations, so just get one!
Ok, so why is the brew ratio so important? You can probably guess that the amount of water used to brew the coffee is going to have a big impact on the strength of the coffee. A shorter shot, or lower ratio, is going to have a more intense taste. But the brew ratio is also going to have an impact on the amount of extraction, as well as the nature of the flavours extracted. To see for yourself, just brew up three different coffees: a 1:1 shot, a 1:2 shot and a 1:3 shot. To keep this a bit more “scientific,” you’ll want to keep the brew times the same by adjusting the grind setting. So, what do you think? How does the brew ratio affect the balance of flavours? What about the body? Do you have a favourite? Do you want to try a ratio in between two of them?
Now, I didn’t come up with those three ratios off the top of my head. They correspond roughly to the words Ristretto, Normale and Lungo; with Ristretto being the shortest and Lungo being the longest. The specific usage of these words is (of course) debatable, but we don’t need to get bogged down in that. To my mind, these terms have become a useful shorthand, whilst the specificity of the brew ratio gives us more understanding, and allows us to learn more about how espresso production really works.
You might have noticed that I haven’t said anything specific about how you should make a coffee. That’s because I want you to discover it for yourself! There are many ways to brew a good cup of coffee, not just one, and the parameters should be changed to suit the needs of the coffee, equipment, water and the tastes of the consumer. That said, here are some general guidelines. If in doubt, start with a 1:2 ratio. I won’t use the words “industry standard” as I don’t want an inbox full of angry emails, but it is a good, simple, starting point. From feeding hundreds of espressos to students at the academy, I’ve found the majority of them prefer coffee in the 1:1.5 - 1:2.5 range, although this is far from scientific. A really short shot is going to give you a lot of body and intensity. However, with more water you’ll tend to get more clarity of flavour, as well as finding it easier to “fully” extract the coffee. For most people, it’s about finding a balance between these two. You can also ask the barista at your favourite café how they brew their coffee. Most of them will chat forever once you get them started!
For Newbies
If all of this is totally new to you, here’s what you should do. Firstly, buy an Acaia scale. Then go to your machine and brew a coffee the exact way you have always done, except this time weigh your dose and yield, and time the shot from the moment you switch it on. Now write these numbers down. This is your first brew recipe! If you pull a shot of the same coffee, to these parameters, it should taste roughly the same. Now you can start playing around with different ratios and shot times, safe in the knowledge that you can always come back to your original recipe if you need to. The best way to go about it is to change one thing at a time, and then compare the results. I’ve found that by simply paying attention to these numbers and their effects, people’s coffee will start getting better.
This article was originally published on the Five Senses Coffee website: Brew Ratios in Espresso.
]]>It is easy to forget, for a native speaker, that the lingo of coffee can be complex and confusing. Try explaining to a freshly arrived tourist that they can’t just order “a coffee”, before leading them through the Byzantine laws and sub-clauses of the modern coffee menu, if you need to be reminded. Furthermore, each café is free to make their own decisions about what these different coffee words mean, and the common definitions shift over time and from place to place. In this article I won’t be diving into the history of these drinks, or attempting to explain how we got where we are now. Instead, I’ll aim to provide a practical guide to the state of the specialty menu as it is now, and what it might look like in the future.
Espresso/Short Black
The simplest drink to prepare, an espresso is a single shot of coffee, usually served in a small demitasse cup. The term short black is used interchangeably with espresso, although I have heard of people adding extra hot water when a short black is ordered. Recently, cafes have started to experiment with the cups the espresso is served in. An espresso served in a wider cup or glass allows more aroma to reach the drinker, whilst serving the espresso in a room-temperature, or even chilled, cup will drop the temperature of the coffee faster and create a different sensory experience.
Long Black/Americano
The long black is usually a double espresso, poured over hot water. The espresso is traditionally poured directly on to the water, although this is primarily for aesthetic reasons (to keep the crema intact,) and you could make an argument that it tastes better all mixed in. The ratio of coffee to water varies, but I think somewhere in the 1:1 to 1:2 range tastes delicious. It is really important to get the temperature of the water right. Just like your milk coffees, long blacks should be at a drinkable temperature when first prepared, I don’t want to burn my tongue anymore!
© Image provided with permission by Emily Bartlett. All rights reserved by photographer
Flat Whites/Lattes/Cappuccinos
Let’s get this out of the way: they’re basically all the same. While that might hurt to hear, it’s the truth. We’ll talk about why soon, but first let’s look at the “differences.” flat whites, lattes and capps are generally comprised of a single shot of espresso, topped up with steamed milk, served in a cup 150ml-200ml in size, although your mileage may vary. In most cases, lattes will be served in a slightly larger glass, while the capp and flat white are in the same ceramic cup. The cappuccino (usually) gets a dusting of chocolate powder too. The last difference is in the foam level, with the flat white sitting at around 1/2cm of foam, the latte at 1cm and the capp at 1.5cm, but again, this will vary wildly between cafes and baristas.
So, all three of these drinks boil down to espresso mixed with about the same amount of milk. Granted, the amount of foam will affect both the textural experience and strength of the drink (more foam equals less milk equals more strength.)The difference is often minimal, however and anyway, is there a “best” amount of foam? What amount of foam is the most delicious? I want that one.
Macchiato
You’ve probably heard that Macchiato means “stained” in Italian, and this is true. At its simplest, a macchiato is a single espresso with a small amount of milk and a “stain” or “spot” of foam on top of the coffee. Of course, it’s not really so simple, there are actually many variations on this drink, which seems to fluctuate wildly according to location. Some common varieties are the “short macc topped up,” which is a single espresso in a demitasse topped up with milk; the “long macc traditional,” which is a double espresso in a latte glass with a dash of milk and foam; and the “long macc topped up,” which is the same drink, topped up.
Piccolo Latte
Piccolos are lattes made with less milk. They’re either identical to a short macc topped up, or in their own, slightly larger than an espresso cup but smaller than a latte glass, cup.
Babycinos
A babyccino order can be an irritation to many baristas, however a perfectly made babyccino can be a thing of beauty, and bring a lot of joy to our smallest customers. The babycino should be almost entirely foam because babies get enough milk in their day to day. The foam should be dense and at a cool temperature, with a light dusting of chocolate. Syrup in the bottom is cheating and can lead to sugar-related meltdowns later in the day.
The problem with modern menus is that they provide lots of drink options, with little in the way of meaningful choice. Drinks that may have been historically different (big, milky lattes; cappuccinos with mountains of foam; small, dense flat whites) have been homogenised into drinks that are more delicious, but fundamentally the same. I believe the coffee menu should be designed actively, not just by serving what everyone else serves, but with a focus on engaging your customers’ minds and palates. One approach is to pare the menu back to the basics, and offer a minimum of drinks that are all delicious and show your coffee at its best, for example just offering black and white coffee instead of an endless list. Although this is not a new idea, it’s one that hasn’t caught on as big as it could have. Another approach is to add drinks that are meaningfully different. Adding signature-drink/cocktail-type concoctions to the menu is something people are already playing with, and it’s a fun way to experiment with new flavour experiences. We’re already offering different coffees, could we extend this to offering different espresso styles on the same menu? And while I’m asking for stuff, can we get more espresso tonics please? They’re delicious.
The counter-argument to all this is that customers like having this arbitrary choice, that they enjoy the ritual of their morning cup of coffee and will be upset if some upstart barista tries to get in their way. People tend to project their personality onto their favourite drink and derive satisfaction from that. In fact, drink choices can help to define a person’s personality, both internally and externally. Maybe they like being a serious “long macc drinker,” or a happy-go-lucky “latte lover.” And that tradition is truly valuable and not something to be thrown away lightly. Not every café needs to be challenging the status quo, but every café owner should be thinking about it, and considering how they’d like to present their product. Change has to be made with a light touch, and excellent service is the only way to smooth out the bumps in the road. We can create new traditions, perhaps more meaningful ones, or maybe we’re ok with the old ones?
This article was originally published on the Five Senses Coffee website: The espresso menu explained.
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