There is such a fine line between the "perfect" cup of coffee and disaster that you could make a coffee roaster very paranoid.
When anything goes wrong with the taste of the coffee the first thing blamed is the coffee. "The guy roasting the coffee fell asleep on the job", or "he mixed up the coffees" or heaven forbid "he used an inferior coffee"
Yet most of the time in the food service industry it is usually wear and tear on the equipment, a setting change, or an attempt to push the envelope when it comes to serving an extra large coffee. In the last two or three weeks I've had the "pleasure" of enlightening individuals of the various issues mentioned above.
Case 1. - A worn out set of grinding discs -
This problem is evidenced by the fact that no matter how fine you grind the coffee you can't seem to slow the flow of the water down sufficiently to achieve a "crema" or anything that resembles a decent cup of coffee.
What is happening here is, rather than the coffee being "cut" by the grinder discs it is instead being crushed. Not only that a huge amount of energy is going into the crushing process which in turn heats up the coffee sufficiently to deliver a burnt taste. All in all pretty disastrous.
Change the blades and all your problems are solved. One suggestion I had for an equipment supplier was that when the annual insurance inspection is carried out on the coffee machine automatically change the grinder blades, £35 - £40 well spent.
Case 2. - Incorrectly set blades
This can happen as blades wear. Although in theory the grinder settings should be checked on a daily basis to adapt to various atmospheric conditions this rarely happens in the food service industry. However there should be some monitoring done of the time it takes to make a shot of espresso (between 20 and 30 seconds)
When you reach 10 seconds, as sure as eggs are eggs your customer is going to complain about the insipid watery taste of your coffee. The problem is the water has no time to pick up the flavour that delicately roasted coffee can provide. Solution review your grinder settings, if you're not sure, talk to your supplier, after all it's their coffee you're destroying!
Case 3. - Pushing the envelope
I was helping to set up a machine today, a "bean to cup" variety. Now the maximum amount of coffee this machine could grind was 9 grams, however the customer had a particularly large cup. So we tried to push more water through the coffee, add more milk, basically all the tricks known to man in an attempt to fill that cup with a satisfactory drink, but to no avail.
We started out with a beautifully balanced cup of coffee, and ended up with one of the harshest cups of coffee I have ever had the pleasure of drinking.
Simply put we were trying to get flavours out of the coffee that the average human being is never meant to taste, bitter, burnt, simply nasty as we attempted to fill this cup.
The moral of the story, watch how the colour of the water changes as it runs through the coffee. When you get to the point where the thick crema disappears and almost clear water starts to run through stop the machine, and then come back from there. Don't use the cup as the guide, use your eyes. If you can't increase the dose of ground coffee, reduce the cup size. You'll do everybody a great favour and hopefully enhance coffee sales.
There all you coffee roasters can rest easy, well until the next batch of coffee that seems to have a higher moisture content than usual!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Modern Air travel - My idea of hell!
I had the dubious pleasure of travelling from Jersey to Frankfurt the other day, an experience from which I am still recovering! Not because I was delayed, or missed a flight, no everything in that respect went perfectly well. No it was the endless security searches, being packed in like a farm animal, the soul-less automatic check in, the complete lack of a smile from either passenger, crew or anyone for that fact. What's happened? I always used to look forward to air travel, now I shudder at the thought, where did it all go wrong?
I analysed my experience trying to understand why I felt the way I did.
I went through 5 security checks - shoes off, belt off, jacket off, watch off, keys out, mobile 'phone out, all personal grooming liquids out and placed in a clear plastic bag. Then all put away or put on. In the case of Frankfurt airport twice within 10 minutes!
You show your passport / ticket endlessly
There are endless arguments about only being allowed to take one piece of luggage on the plane
You're permanently in a queue, whether to check-in or go through security
You used to at least have the pleasure of a smiling face when you checked in, now due to advances in technology you're better off checking in electronically because due to reduced staffing levels at the check-in desks the queues have become unbearable.
Seat space - Both airlines in their attempt to ensure maximum capacity stick each chair as close as possible, so that if you have the misfortune to be 6 foot tall (as I am) you are literally unable to move in your seat. No wonder deep veined thrombosis has become an issue in modern travel.
The charging levels for a simple hot drink are outrageous. Surely if a reasonable price were asked then more product would be sold, or is that just me?
Then when you get to the end of your journey, there is a mad rush to get off the aircraft, with not even a semblance of courtesy shown between passengers as people desperately switch on mobile phones in case they've missed something life threatening.
I found the whole experience crushing and demoralising. Is this the ultimate consequence of free market competition? Is this what we deserve if we don't want to pay a reasonable price for our air ticket? Is this the result of airlines trying to maximise returns for their shareholders and woe betide underperformers? I simply don't know
Asked the question is it better to travel than to arrive? My answer, neither, stay at home!
I analysed my experience trying to understand why I felt the way I did.
I went through 5 security checks - shoes off, belt off, jacket off, watch off, keys out, mobile 'phone out, all personal grooming liquids out and placed in a clear plastic bag. Then all put away or put on. In the case of Frankfurt airport twice within 10 minutes!
You show your passport / ticket endlessly
There are endless arguments about only being allowed to take one piece of luggage on the plane
You're permanently in a queue, whether to check-in or go through security
You used to at least have the pleasure of a smiling face when you checked in, now due to advances in technology you're better off checking in electronically because due to reduced staffing levels at the check-in desks the queues have become unbearable.
Seat space - Both airlines in their attempt to ensure maximum capacity stick each chair as close as possible, so that if you have the misfortune to be 6 foot tall (as I am) you are literally unable to move in your seat. No wonder deep veined thrombosis has become an issue in modern travel.
The charging levels for a simple hot drink are outrageous. Surely if a reasonable price were asked then more product would be sold, or is that just me?
Then when you get to the end of your journey, there is a mad rush to get off the aircraft, with not even a semblance of courtesy shown between passengers as people desperately switch on mobile phones in case they've missed something life threatening.
I found the whole experience crushing and demoralising. Is this the ultimate consequence of free market competition? Is this what we deserve if we don't want to pay a reasonable price for our air ticket? Is this the result of airlines trying to maximise returns for their shareholders and woe betide underperformers? I simply don't know
Asked the question is it better to travel than to arrive? My answer, neither, stay at home!
Monday, April 09, 2007
The Challenge of keeping Coffee fresh
Coffee like all organic products deteriorates rapidly in quality when exposed to air for any length of time. The challenge for my industry is how do we slow down this loss of flavour so that you the consumer end up with something that you can drink and enjoy?
On the supermarket shelf two techniques are used. The first is to use a high barrier packaging material. Appalling for the environment , but capable of delivering "shelf life". The second is to modify the atmosphere, whether by removing it altogether, thereby creating a "brick pack", or by changing the gas makeup within the bag, usually to a food grade nitrogen.
The problem is that you can theorise all day about what level of flavour degredation is acceptable, when actually there should be "zero tollerance" in this area if you really want to get the best out of your coffee.
But what do I mean by zero tollerance?
A number of roasters in the US use the term "born on" date which refers to the day on which the coffee was roasted. This at least gives the consumer some idea as to the freshess of the coffee. In theory the best flavour will come from coffee that has been roasted just before you purchase it, however I don't believe this to be the case. My experience is that coffee needs to "settle down" for around 24 hours after it has been roasted. This doesn't mean leaving it out in the open, but simply not using the coffee until it has "calmed down" after roasting. The only comparison I can make is with a good stew. Leave it 24 hours after cooking and all the flavours are so much more developed; well the same is the case with coffee.
So first tip is to buy coffee that has been roasted fairly recently, something of the order of 4 weeks ago should give pretty decent results as long as it has been stored properly over that period.
Buying whole beans and grinding the coffee yourself is the best approach, however some domestic grinders aren't particularly accurate when it comes to getting an even grind which in turn affects the taste of the coffee, particularly espresso based drinks. But that's a whole different blog.
The next important point is that when you get the coffee home and open the packet for the first time that you either reseal the bag taking care to remove as much air as possible, or decant it into a container from which you can remove the air much in the same way as wine is stored after opening the bottle. So called "hermetically sealed" containers simply don't work when it comes to retaining the flavour of the coffee. There's just too much air about.
Finally the coffee should be stored in a cool dry environment to stop the coffee oils evaporating. Once again there is huge debate over the definition of what is meant by "cool". Personally I have no problem storing coffee in the fridge, I know some of our customers store their whole beans in the freezer and grind from frozen. I guess the only danger with the fridge is that other flavours might get into the coffee. My response to that is that if you use a proper barrier storage material, you shouldn't experience any problems.
In summary then, be aware of how long ago the coffee has been roasted. Take great care over how you store it and finally consume it as soon as possible after opening the packet. I suggest a maximum of 10 days, however for espresso you will see a deterioration in the drink quality within 24 hours.
My suggestion, purchase little and often - if you have a speciality coffee shop in your area ask which coffee was the last one to be roasted, that way you should get great coffee every time.
On the supermarket shelf two techniques are used. The first is to use a high barrier packaging material. Appalling for the environment , but capable of delivering "shelf life". The second is to modify the atmosphere, whether by removing it altogether, thereby creating a "brick pack", or by changing the gas makeup within the bag, usually to a food grade nitrogen.
The problem is that you can theorise all day about what level of flavour degredation is acceptable, when actually there should be "zero tollerance" in this area if you really want to get the best out of your coffee.
But what do I mean by zero tollerance?
A number of roasters in the US use the term "born on" date which refers to the day on which the coffee was roasted. This at least gives the consumer some idea as to the freshess of the coffee. In theory the best flavour will come from coffee that has been roasted just before you purchase it, however I don't believe this to be the case. My experience is that coffee needs to "settle down" for around 24 hours after it has been roasted. This doesn't mean leaving it out in the open, but simply not using the coffee until it has "calmed down" after roasting. The only comparison I can make is with a good stew. Leave it 24 hours after cooking and all the flavours are so much more developed; well the same is the case with coffee.
So first tip is to buy coffee that has been roasted fairly recently, something of the order of 4 weeks ago should give pretty decent results as long as it has been stored properly over that period.
Buying whole beans and grinding the coffee yourself is the best approach, however some domestic grinders aren't particularly accurate when it comes to getting an even grind which in turn affects the taste of the coffee, particularly espresso based drinks. But that's a whole different blog.
The next important point is that when you get the coffee home and open the packet for the first time that you either reseal the bag taking care to remove as much air as possible, or decant it into a container from which you can remove the air much in the same way as wine is stored after opening the bottle. So called "hermetically sealed" containers simply don't work when it comes to retaining the flavour of the coffee. There's just too much air about.
Finally the coffee should be stored in a cool dry environment to stop the coffee oils evaporating. Once again there is huge debate over the definition of what is meant by "cool". Personally I have no problem storing coffee in the fridge, I know some of our customers store their whole beans in the freezer and grind from frozen. I guess the only danger with the fridge is that other flavours might get into the coffee. My response to that is that if you use a proper barrier storage material, you shouldn't experience any problems.
In summary then, be aware of how long ago the coffee has been roasted. Take great care over how you store it and finally consume it as soon as possible after opening the packet. I suggest a maximum of 10 days, however for espresso you will see a deterioration in the drink quality within 24 hours.
My suggestion, purchase little and often - if you have a speciality coffee shop in your area ask which coffee was the last one to be roasted, that way you should get great coffee every time.
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