A beginners guide to making coffee

I've been making espresso for about a year now but the quest to make a consistently excellent  cup of coffee is only a wee bit closer; I'm not sure if the quest for the Holy Grail would be more simple. How so? Well.....there are so many variables that need to be just right, but very few of these are constants......gahhh!

A good shot!

So.... what's involved?

A Brief Introduction


Espresso is an Italian word with a number of meanings but in the context of coffee it is fast or rapid. Espresso coffee is produced by passing water through coffee grinds at a high pressure. Other methods of producing a cup coffee such as using a cafetiere or stove top pot are quite forgiving and the quality of the bean is not as important. I'll use these methods if I need to buy beans locally; I've yet to find a good source in the Manchester area !!!

The espresso method results in a highly concentrated flavour which will pick out complex notes such as citrus or chocolate depending on the bean. Coffee is quite a volatile commodity though, affected considerably by how it is stored and any slight imperfection in bean quality or espresso brewing method will also concentrate flavours that are less desirable.

Coffee is a seed which comes from the berry of the shrub Rubiaceae of the genus Coffea, which grows in cool mountainous areas in the equatorial belt.  There are two main species: arabica and robusta which are used with the former being of higher quality but the latter having a higher caffeine content and adding important flavours to some espresso blends.

My Machine

My machine is the very stylish La Pavoni, Stradivarius. Beautiful Italian design, mainly chrome with the base the shape of the famous violin and the lever the shape of the bow. In a world of modernity this machine is way behind.... a simple boiler, thermostat, pressure controlled by hand and very little else. Nothing much to go wrong, which is good, because its engineered in Italy (the cool green thermostat light has gone wrong). 

I love this machine.....it feels great in the hand, it looks good and it occasionally produces a wonderful cup of coffee, and about 80% of the time, pretty good stuff, that is after the first shot which is invariably not hot enough and the first 10 ml tends to be watery.

My Pavoni

On balance, compared with a Rancillo, the Pavoni is way behind......but to get some semblance of consistency with it takes an understanding of process that isn't required with a semi- or automatic machine. The process is nearly as important for me....and it looks brill!!!!

The Taste

What many people don't realise is that coffee is a commodity and producing an excellent cup of espresso is equally as complex as making fine wine. Its quality depending on bean type, growing area and conditions, storage, transport etc... and thats even before the roasting process. At the bottom of the taste scale we have our Nescafe freezedried instants made from poor quality robusta beans up to single estate Jamaican Blue Mountain, grown high up in the mountains in a cool and wet climate. Fortunately, the best coffee is much cheaper than fine wine, but the best Blue Mountain is about £140.00 a kg (I go through about 300 g of coffee a week) so its not always a bargain. 

If you're not familiar with what good coffee tastes like, I suggest you have a wee road trip and find the nearest Kiwi cafe..... After a  trip to Tuscany, and specifically Lucca which is famous for its espresso, I was so underwhelmed....overly roasted, slightly bitter and bog standard beans with poor storage methods! Rather, two places in Edinburgh stand out:

Artisan Roast in Broughton Street: Rather than describe this place in detail, have a look at their website : http://artisanroast.co.uk/. Artisans indeed and people with a true appreciation of fine coffee. Whenever I'm in my home city, I'll buy a kg of their beans..... with a roasted on date, which is essential for a decent cup. Pretty strong, kick-ass acidic espresso with a lovely deep crema.

Inside Artisan courtesy of Amy Taylor 

Wellington Coffee in George Street: although they don't roast their own (they use square mile roasters in London: http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/), they make slightly smoother lighter espresso than Artisan, great acidity, good crema and when you get a good shot, it'll be close to the best in the UK ( I once had a very average shot though). Great latte too.

Wellington Coffee courtesy of Amy Taylor

Now, once you've habituated your taste-buds, I dare you to go to Starbucks!! I'm probably being a snob, but I find it funny seeing the typical customer, slightly trendy, a tad bohemian and quite frankly deluded! Quality product?? Maybe 10 years ago but now...??? I've been told they use approx 8g of coffee per shot, 50% below optimal. I don't know if this is true but taste would suggest that this is the case: usually scorched and somewhat bitter. They sell such a high volume so its impossible to keep machinery immaculate....old bitter grinds are caught up with the new shot. In my experience, an average independent coffee shop will almost always be better. Of course, I'm a slightly leftie foodie with disdain for large multi-nationals chains so maybe I'm slightly bias. Anyway, after trying proper coffee, I'd be surprised if you used such a den of disaster again!

The Bean

This is not some Kirkland euphemism! The selection of an appropriate bean is critical to the end outcome. If you are using a cafetiere or a stove top then bean selection is less important because the less impurities are extracted in the brewing process. Also, most semi - or automatics are more forgiving but the Pavoni seems to highlight any imperfection in bean/blend/roast quality.

Mass produced beans can be ok but generally they may have been roasted many months in advance and loose their flavour. They also cater for the mass market i.e. ordinary inoffensive taste. Good quality beans will cost about double the price of the average bag on the supermarket shelf but it is far more likely that it has been ethically produced.

Artisan's Jansoon bean blend is the best I have managed to purchase so far. It's quite a light roast: very important in my eyes as it produces a richer acidic less bitter taste. It'll also cope with a widish range of water temperature as its difficult to keep the Pavoni within around +/- 1.5 degrees C of optimal temperature. I think it may be more recognised in Oz or NZ that darker roasted coffees produce a much less subtle taste, which many of us in the UK associate with strength, This isn't the case though. If you wanna taste for yourself, compare something like Magnus Maximus Coffee or Grumpy Mule with Jansoon and you'll notice a real difference. Saying that, you may prefer a more "kick ass" taste and the two former beans are produced by good ethical roasters.

Beans from Artisan

One of the best things about Artisan is that they roast their beans very regularly and date all their bags. The best shot will be pulled about 7 days after roasting and thereafter the quality of the bean will deteriorate. The best way to store coffee is in some type of vacuum as this deterioration occurs through oxidation. Better still, just use the coffee up within a week. Contrary to popular belief, the freezer isn't the best place for storage as moisture will impact on quality.

Making a Shot

I used the example of making the perfect shot of coffee in my Ph.D. viva to demonstrate how I understood the research process. There are no short cuts: you need to develop a good understanding of the underpinning principles, learn how to use the equipment reliably and then use an iterative process to work out what works best. As you become more experienced, dealing with different types of beans or a new machine becomes easier.

• Grinding- Buying pre-ground coffee is a no no! The whole grind is exposed to O2 for a prolonged duration, even if it's stored in a fancy bag. Flavour deteriorates  after a few minutes exposed to air so grinding should be done just before pulling a shot.  A good burr grinder is important to ensure a good even consistent grind. Cheaper grinders produce an uneven grind which results in a much poorer taste. I use an Ascaso.....maybe not the best but good enough for the Pavoni. The size of grind is very important, depending on the bean type and atmospheric pressure. Even if you get this spot on and subsequently get the tamping pressure wrong you may end up with a crappy coffee,

      

Ascaso I-MINI Coffee Grinder 

• Dosing- depending on the bean, about 13-15g of coffee is required. Its worth measuring with digital scales until you get the hang of this.
• Tamping- or compressing the coffee in the portafilter is the next stage of the process. If your tamp pressure is too low, the coffee water will flow through the coffee too quickly and the taste will be shallow and weak; conversely, if it is too great you will need biceps of steel to pull a shot and the end product will end up bitter and syrupy. Tamp pressure needs to be even as the water will take the path of least resistance when pulling a shot and if one side of the portafilter is less compressed than the other, all the water will flow through the coffee only at one side.

www.chrisking.com

• Pulling the shot- Coffee is impacted on by the temperature of the water and its pretty difficult to maintain a good consistent temperature with the Pavoni. Its just a case of trial and error here. For some reason, the temp is always too low on the first shot leading to wasted coffee. No way round this I'm afraid. The Pavoni is a lever machine so the user must apply the appropraite pressure here. Best results result from a pull of around 20-25 seconds which will only occur if temperature, tamp pressure and grind are spot on. This should result in 30 ml of lovely coffee with a decent crema. Easy peasy!

So there we go. A very brief overview of making good espresso the Kirkland way!