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About Coffee
About Coffee
Tips to Fine Espresso - how to recognize a true barista
If you're making your own espresso at home, more power to you. The following are standards to expect from any baristi selling you an espresso drink. If you're buying it, expect the best!
- Shots of espresso must be served immediately after pulling. If not consumed straight, then shots must be immediately mixed with milk while the crema remains in the shot. This allows the coffee oils and sugars to bond to the fat in milk producing the desired flavor of a latte.
- Shots of espresso should be extracted between 18-24 seconds.
- A great shot of espresso has a tall thick crema (honey-caramel colored foam) on top of a thin layer of black liquid. Be leery of a barista who pulls shots into a metal pitcher. If he can't see the espresso while it is being pulled, he's guessing of it's quality. A good barista is doing more than pushing a button. He's evaluating each shot making slight changes throughout the day to maintain consistent shots with superior flavor and body.
- An espresso shot should not have an off-white foam cap on top. This is overextracted coffee, bitter in taste.
- Properly steamed milk has a rich smooth texture sweet to the taste. There should be no visible bubbles in your milk when first served.
- Milk is not simply heated to temperature, but expanded in the steaming process. If your barista plunges the milk under the steam wand and walks away, find another espresso stand.
- Overheated milk will taste scorched and obscure the flavor of the coffee.
- Judge the quality of espresso by it's after taste. Straight espresso should have a lasting pleasant flavor on the pallet. Not all espresso is bitter! Great espresso taste as good as coffee smells.
Tips on caring for whole bean coffee
- Do not store in freezer or refrigerator
- Transfer beans from original bag to airtight ceramic container.
- Store at room temperature and away from sunlight.
- Aim to brew coffee that tastes as good as it smells. Learn to gage freshness by the way whole beans smell.
Tips to improve your cup of Joe
- Buy small quantities frequently. Only purchase an amount you can consume within 2 weeks; one week is best.
- Don't assume the beans you're buying were roasted recently (preferably within 5-7 days). Find a retailer who can tell you the date your beans were roasted. Your local super market, likely can not.
- Store in airtight container at room temperature. Do not put whole beans in the freezer unless you intend to store them for an extended period of time (I.e. 3 weeks). Do not take beans in and out of freezer as temperature changes induce condensation on the surface of beans. The culprits of stale coffee are light, air, heat and moisture.
- Grind your beans just before brewing. The more surface area exposed to air, the faster coffee will stale. Hence, whole bean coffee stays fresh longer. Too finely ground coffee will result in a bitter flavor. Too coarse of a grind will result in brown water lacking of flavor. A bur grinder is most preferred producing consistent granules of ground coffee of similar size. The blade grinders are more likely to produce granules of various sizes resulting in overextracting the smallest grinds and underextracting the larger grinds.
- Use the right amount of coffee of the roast you most prefer. Don't make stronger coffee by increasing the amount of coffee per pot. Instead, change roasts to accommodate your taste. The industry standard for brewed coffee is 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 oz of water.
- Use fresh water. Filtered or even bottled water will improve your coffee. If not convinced at least consider using bottled water for brewing coffee for house guests.
- Brewing temperature of water should be between 195 degrees F to 200 degrees F. Too hot of water will burn your coffee. Too cold of coffee will not extract the full flavor of the beans.
- Don't buy flavored whole beans. There are a complete assortment of terrific syrups that can be added to coffee after brewing. These produce a better cup and come in unlimited variety of flavors.
Health Benefits of Coffee
Yes, there are health benefits of coffee consumption. Of course, anything in excess seems to be universally "bad" for you. Moderation is the key and this applies to coffee as well.
- Studies show a reduced risk of colon cancer (by 25%), gallstones (by 45%), cirrhosis of the liver (by 80%) and Parkinson's Disease (by 50-80%) associated with coffee consumption (2-4 cups per day). (ref Harvard School of Public Health study at the Mayo Clinic)
- Caffeine in coffee prevents cholesterol from crystallizing, cuts fat storage by increasing energy expenditure, reduces the fluid absorption that precedes gallstone formation, increases bile flow through the gallbladder.
- Coffee consumption can quell an asthma or allergy attack in the absence of medications.
- Caffeine in coffee increases metabolism.
- Reduce rate of heart disease. (ref BBC report based on Scottish study)
- Enhanced performance in abilities requiring sustained attention.
- Enhanced mental alertness and improved mental processes. (ref University of Bristol study)
- French researchers reported that caffeine has no affect on the area of the brain involved with addiction at doses of one to three cups of coffee per day. (ref Astrid Nehlig, Ph.D., of the French National Health and Medical Research Institute)
- Research has shown that there are four times the amount of anti-oxidants in coffee than in green tea.
- Research shows that coffee is an excellent anti-depressant.
- A 1984 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Report rejected coffee/ caffeine as a risk factor for osteoporosis.
© 2008 by the Richmond Beach Coffee Company. All rights reserved.
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