Specialty Coee

in the Home
Michael McNeil Forbes

Friday 10 August 2012

 Outline
What is coee?

Tasting

Home Brewing Methods:

Immersion Methods
Filter Methods
Pressure Methods

Seattle Coee Tour and Equipment

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coee: Species
Coea Arabica (Arabica)
Most specialty coee is 100% arabica

Coea Canephora (Robusta)

More robust plant
Used in commodity coee (instant coee for example)
Higher caeine levels but inferior flavour
Occasionally added to espresso for crema stability

Others (rarely seen)

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coea Arabica
Many varietals
Think wine: Cabernet, Merlot, etc.

Flavour profile influence

Regions and varietals
Processing
wet vs dry, fermentation
Roasting
Brewing

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coea Arabica: Origins
Latin America
Bolivia, Brazil,
Columbia, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Mexico,
Panama...
Arabia and Africa:
Ethiopia, Kenya,
Rwanda, Tanzania...
Pacific
Hawaii, Indonesia, Java,
Papua New Guinea,
Sumatra...

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coea Arabica:
Sample Characteristics
Kenya:
Robust complex flavours, but not very balanced
very interesting, but generally not my preference
Ethopia:
Strong top notes (floral and citrus)
quite sensitive to brewing conditions
Central America (Costa Rica esp.)
Well balanced, clean
not as interesting, but balance can be stunning, esp. after a few sips

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coea Arabica:
Discussing Flavour
One of the most complex flavours
Over 800 aroma compounds

Flavour notes
caramel, chocolate, citrus, earthy, floral, fruity,
herbal, nutty (esp. espresso), etc.

I use musical analogies and mouth-feel

High notes (fruity, floral, sour)
Low notes (earthy, chocolate, bitter)
Where is my tongue stimulated?

Friday 10 August 2012

 Tasting Coee
Aroma Balance
Taste espresso immediately to savour Does it excite all parts of your tongue?
volatile components!
Mouthfeel
Flavour Smooth, gritty, clean
See scaa Coee Cuppers Handbook What parts of your tongue are
stimulated?
Acidity
High acidity good neat Aftertaste
Low acidity better with milk Is the coee clean or does it linger?

Friday 10 August 2012

 Storing Coee
(Roasted)
Coee degrades rapidly
Use ground coee within minutes
Use whole beans within weeks
Prevent oxidation
Air-tight bags (one-way valve to
release CO2)
No moisture
Long term storage?
Deep-freeze individual servings
Aging coee?
Occasionally a coee will age well (on

Friday 10 August 2012

 Home Roasting?
A reasonable option if

you dont have good local

roasters:
Green stores longer
Green beans cheaper

(~half ) than roasted

coee
Cons: Introduces one

more variable

Friday 10 August 2012

 What makes coee
good?
Many variables must be controlled

Better to ask...

Friday 10 August 2012

 What can make coee
bad?
Fruit quality

Under/over ripe cherries

Processing
Mold, fungi during fermation, poor storage, ...

Roasting
Burnt coee, uneven roast

Friday 10 August 2012

 What can make coee
bad?
Brewing:
Bad water
Chlorine, improper mineral content, bad taste...
Burnt beans (bad grinders)
Blade grinders can be bad for this
Under/over extraction
Brew time, inconsistent grind
Water temperature
Old coee

Friday 10 August 2012

 Brewing Methods

Friday 10 August 2012

 Immersion Methods
French Press

AeroPress

Clover

Clever Dripper

Turkish/Greek

Friday 10 August 2012

 French Press (Plunger)
Full immersion
Scalable
Variables:
Coee weight
Grind size
Water temperature
Brew time
Agitation

Friday 10 August 2012

 French Press (Plunger)
Pros Cons
Scalable Somewhat messy
Consistent Sediment (dirty)
Full immersion of coee
Full body (pick up bloom) Can masks subtle flavours

Friday 10 August 2012

 French Press Variations
Spoon o bloom

Filter after brew

Agitation

Friday 10 August 2012

 Clover
Temperature control
Metal filter
Full immersion
Variables:
Coee weight
Grind size
Water temperature
Brew time
Agitation

Friday 10 August 2012

 Clover
Pros Cons
Flavour clarity Expensive ($13000)
No masking by bloom No longer available: Starbucks owns
Consistency Lacks body
Temperature/brew time

Friday 10 August 2012

 AeroPress
Full immersion
Variables:
Coee weight
Grind size
Water temperature
Brew time
Agitation

Friday 10 August 2012

 AeroPress
Pros Cons
Consistent One cup at a time
Full immersion of coee Plastic?
Adjustable body
Inverted vs normal, metal vs paper
Easy to clean
Inexpensive
Portable

Friday 10 August 2012

 Turkish/Greek Coee
Full immersion
Variables:
Coee weight
Grind size
Water temperature
Brew time
Agitation
Very consistent at high

altitude

Friday 10 August 2012

 Pour-over Methods
Melita
Hario v60
Chemex
Clever Dripper
Hario Woodneck
Cloth filter

Friday 10 August 2012

 Pour-over (Hario v60)
Manually pour water
Variables:
Coee weight
Grind size
Water temperature
Brew time
Agitation
Pouring technique

Friday 10 August 2012

 Pour-over (Hario v60)
Pros Cons
Clean cup (no sediment) Inconsistent
Adjustable body Depends on pouring technique

Easy cleanup Uneven extraction

Top grounds under-extracted
Inexpensive
One cup at a time

Friday 10 August 2012

 Chemex
Custom filter
Very clean cup
Brew several cups
Beautiful glass design
Can get metal filters
Kaeologie, Coava Kone

Friday 10 August 2012

 Clever Coee Dripper
Full immersion
Variables:
Coee weight
Grind size
Water temperature
Brew time
Agitation

Friday 10 August 2012

 Clever Coee Dripper
Pros Cons
Consistent One cup at a time
Full immersion of coee Plastic?
Adjustable body
Easy to clean
Inexpensive
Portable

Friday 10 August 2012

 Pressure Extraction
Moka-pot

Vacuum pot (siphon)

Espresso

Friday 10 August 2012

 Moka-pot
(Bialetti Brika)
Stovetop Espresso
Not really espresso
Pressure (~2 bar)
Variables:
Grind size
Distribution
Cannot tamp, making even
distribution tricky
Great for cappuccino

Friday 10 August 2012

 Vacuum Pot (Siphon)
Immersion with filter
Vacuum draws water

through filter

Friday 10 August 2012

 Espresso
Espresso is a 45ml (1.5 ounces) beverage that is prepared
from 7-9 grams of coee through which clean water of
192f - 198f (88c - 92c) has been forced at 9-10 atmospheres
of pressure, where the grind of the coee has made the
brewing flow time approximately 22-28 seconds.

SCAA definition 2010

Friday 10 August 2012

 Espresso
Espresso = Pressure Aromatic components
not Expresso (speed)! Drink immediately!
Within 30s to 1min from extraction
Extracted at 9bar
Extracts oils Great espresso can be

nonwater-soluble components sweet (without sugar)!

Doppio Ristretto shots Usually a blend
Less cane than brewed coee Single Origin (so) shots becoming
popular.

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coee Cupping
Like wine tasting
Used to evaluate coee
Light roast to expose

defects and flavours

Standardized brewing

method

Friday 10 August 2012

 Seattle Cuppings
Stumptown on 12th
Every day at 3pm

Victrola on Pike
Wednesdays at 11am

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coee Resources: Web
coeegeek.com www.sweetmarias.com
Huge resource: equipment reviews, Equipment: grinders (incl. manual),
forums, discussions about all aspects brewers, roasters. Green beans:
of coee (home roasting specialists)

www.home-barista.com www.scaa.org
Forums about home roasting, etc. Specialty Coee Association of
America
www.coeeresearch.org
Good collection of articles about the Intelligentsia brew guides
science of coee
tehcoee.com
www.coeed.com Reviews of local baristas and shops
Forums

Friday 10 August 2012

 Coee Resources: Book
Michaele Weissman:

God in a Cup
Interesting story about the business of
3rd wave coee

Scott Rao:

Everything but Espresso

Great technical discussion of brewing

David Schomer:

Espresso coee: Professional

Techniques
Local pioneer of precision espresso

Friday 10 August 2012

 Acknowledgements
Unless otherwise stated, images used with permission

from Sweet Marias: www.sweetmarias.com

I have learned much of what I know from various

Seattle baristas, esp. from Zoka, Trabant, and Milstead

& Co.
Special thanks to Andrew Milstead for comments and

advice.

Friday 10 August 2012