Coffee Thread

[GrayVon]

Couldn't find a Coffee Thread so I figured I'd start one, so sebby would have a place to Shine unlike any other ...

Also, I was chatting with a girl the other day, a self-proclaimed coffee snob, and she was mentioning a coffee she got from Italy that was the best she ever had. I was looking to maybe impress her with my connections and unfounded knowledge, but thought better of it and instead just nodded politly and let her Rave on.

The though in my mind now is that it would be neat to get a hold of some really good coffee and present it to her, just to show I was listening, but no clue as to what to get or where to get it. I mean, I'm happy with starbucks, I wouldn't at this time be able to tell the difference between a 8 sec pull or a 11 sec pull, or could I tell if the bean was over roasted or too moist ...

You can see now why I come to the Seb, DoO's personal Coffee Conisiour!

[Zyco]

Everybody knows the best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup

[Ashin]

Well you mention 8 sec and 11 sec pulls.. are you talking about coffee or espresso here? By the way, very few people could tell the difference between those two pulls; both are way too short. =)

[GrayVon]

Well you mention 8 sec and 11 sec pulls.. are you talking about coffee or espresso here? By the way, very few people could tell the difference between those two pulls; both are way too short. =)

Argh .. You too Ash?

why? what does a longer pull do other then make it stronger? and does the pull time depened on the bean used?

Explain you Opinons, so that I might learn ...

[pyroglyphix]

Argh .. You too Ash?

why? what does a longer pull do other then make it stronger? and does the pull time depened on the bean used?

Explain you Opinons, so that I might learn ...

Mmmmmm......stronger....

I used to start every morning with a double shot of espresso followed by a mocha.

[Ashin]

Well you mention 8 sec and 11 sec pulls.. are you talking about coffee or espresso here? By the way, very few people could tell the difference between those two pulls; both are way too short. =)

Argh .. You too Ash?

why? what does a longer pull do other then make it stronger? and does the pull time depened on the bean used?

Explain you Opinons, so that I might learn ...[/quote:280vysrj]

O_O

In this case not so much opinion, as chemistry. =)

Brewing coffee is about extraction. Many substances in the roasted coffee bean are soluable in water. Some taste pleasant. Others do not. Others have no flavor. If you want to confirm, you can eat a coffee bean. You will notice it is not entirely pleasant.

Proper extraction, then, is the art of getting as much of the good stuff that we can from the coffee bean, and leaving as much of the bad stuff behind as possible. It is a delicate balancing act.

Now, with regards to espresso, there are several variables involved. One is the temperature of the water. If the water is too hot, the most delicate of the aromatics within the bean are destroyed. If the water is too cold, there just isn't enough action going on, and we don't get much of the good stuff out. Some debate here.. but the general idea is that boiling water is too hot, and anything below 190 degrees is too cold.

Next is the pump pressure applied to force the water through the coffee bed within the brewing chamber. This has a more subtle effect and takes too many paragraphs to describe properly so we will skip this one.

Next is the corseness of the grind setting used. This is what relates directly to your question. When an espresso shot completes itself in only 10-15 seconds, what's typically happening is that the grind uses is not fine enough. The result is that the water is able to shoot right through the coffee bed, which is not what you want. You want the coffee to be fine enough so that the water really has to struggle and "work" to get through it. That's what causes much of the magic to happen with espresso.

A 10 second shot is terribly underdevloped. Crema will be pale, thin, almost nonexistent. "Green" or sour notes are present. Body is weak and thin. You are basically drinking muddy water, not espresso. None of the nuance or richness of flavors can develop in such a short period of time, with such a coarse grind.

((Advanced segment of lesson:

There IS a style of pulling "short" shots, known as ristretto (restricted) in Italy. The concept here is to make the grind VERY fine, and use less liquid (think: 1/2 or 3/4 of a shot instead of a full one). Note, however, that even in ristretto style, the ideal of 20-25 seconds is still obeyed. The shot itself is smaller, because there is less liquid, but the time to complete is still the same.))

Unfortunately the average American has not had good espresso. They therefore assume that espresso is, by its nature, bitter and unpleasant, or that it must be roasted so dark as to taste burnt or charcoal-like. This of course is not true.

In practical terms, what happens at most cafes and restaurants, where staff does not understand espresso brewing, is that, over time, the grind setting will become more and more coarse. This happens as the blades begin to wear down, but more often, it is a deliberate act on the part of the staff, who do not understand why they should wait 25 seconds for an espresso when they could make it come out in 10.

Its not just that it isn't as "strong", but rather that none of the good things from espresso have happened yet.. really it isn't espresso yet.. doesn't deserve the title. In less subjective terms: the unique qualities of espresso come from an emulsification of the essential oils within the coffee bean. With a 10 second shot, those things haven't happened yet.

I suppose technically you could call a raw egg, a cup of milk, and two cups of flour "cake".. but most of us agree that it isn't a cake until it has been baked in an oven. The same is true here.

[GrayVon]

ooooo

Now that was good stuff, and made sense. I so would like to find a place that one could go and sample and learn.

*sits back, ready for leason two*

[Golgi]

*cough*GreenTea*cough*