Flavour stability of filter coffee

We've all been there, sat in a pub, had a great lunch / dinner and then ordered a filter coffee only to find that it tastes as bitter as hell and smells burnt.

Who's at fault here, the pub or the coffee roaster?

Well we've put our filter coffee to the test, we brewed 60g of Kenya and Colombian coffee with about 1.5 litres of water in a Bravilor Mondo 2 filter coffee machine. We then tasted the coffee every 15 minutes to see how the flavour of the beverage held up.

1. Freshly brewed - Pleasant light taste, the brightness of the Kenya shining through

2. After 15 minutes - No discernible change in the coffee flavour

3. After 30 minutes - Some of the bright notes starting to get lost. A slightly heavier coffee taste is coming through. Still quite drinkable

4. After 45 minutes - The darker notes are starting to become more prominent, however still drinkable and a good colour when milk is added.

5. After 60 minutes - Hint of a smoky flavour coming through, the lightness of the original brew has now gone, however still an acceptable beverage and retaining a good colour when milk is added.

6. After 85 minutes - Smoky taste becoming more pronounced, still drinkable and still looking fine when milk is added.

7. After 100 minutes - A very discernible burnt taste is now coming through to back up the aromatic change. Surprisingly the colour when milk is added remains good, and the milk (particularly Jersey Yellow) masks and lot of the damage.

8. After 115 minutes - Not much change to the last commentary

9. After 175 minutes - A caramel burnt flavour has now appeared.

The time-scale we used for our test would be typical for an outlet on a quiet day and highlights how important it is to be aware of demand in a food service environment. It's very easy to get a reputation for inconsistent drinks and drive customers away.

My final comment would be a pat on the back to Bravilor whose machine we used. The hot plate although gradually stewing the coffee was doing so at a much slower rate than I thought it might. The engineers have clearly got their holding temperatures set about right which is pleasing to us roasters.

Party Time!

So who would you invite to a fictitious dinner party, if you could choose from both the living and the dead? I was recently asked this question by the local Jersey Evening Post and the following are my thoughts. I fear it does date me though!

Bjorn Borg – A boyhood tennis hero of mine. When he eventually lost to John McEnroe I was devastated. He never returned to Wimbledon and retired a year or two later. Only as I’ve grown older have I appreciated the fleeting nature of success and how when opportunity comes you have to grab it with both hands. The famous poem by Rudyard Kipling found at Wimbledon …. “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same….you’ll be a man my son” should be taught to every child.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta – I always remember reading her obituary and in particular the fact that all she left was the dress she wore and the bowl from which she ate. She was someone who gave her life to those who have nothing, was known by world leaders and did everything she could to help the helpless. What drives such a person?

Margaret Thatcher – She single-handedly put the “Great” back into Great Britain after the decline and decay of the 1970’s. In Jersey we have been fortunate never to have had queues outside the job centre, the ubiquitous UB40 form. We do well as a society to remember such times and that success isn’t guaranteed Yet by the end of her time the electorate couldn’t wait to get rid of her. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie….gone, gone, gone still ring in my disbelieving ears.

Sir John Harvey-Jones – A man who presided over the now crumbling ICI. In charge of a company that was the first at the time to make £1 billion in profit. Yet it’s his help to small business in his subsequent television career that brought him to my attention. His common sense approach and sense of humour always impressed me.

Shirley Bassey – I’ve always liked her as an entertainer, however it was her recent appearance at Glastonbury that got her on my list. Real star quality, what a gift it is to light up peoples lives even if for only an hour. You don’t see “Star quality” written on too many CV’s!

Bob Dylan – An amazing song writer who caught the mood of a generation. My younger son has just started playing the guitar, and one of the songs he is learning to play is “Blowin in the wind”. He loves it, surely the sign of a great song writer when you can transcend generations with your music.

There are so many it seems almost unfair to choose just six.

Grinder trouble

I sometimes think that equipment failure on coffee machines is a bit like London buses; nothing significant happens for months, and then along come three at once.

In the past couple of weeks I've experienced a number of grinder problems, the major ones being blunt blades and settings that have changed markedly from one day to the next.

Grinder discs wear out, fact! - This means that all food service outlets should have in place a programme to monitor the performance of their grinders, whether it's a case of calling in people like me or routinely changing them after a certain period of time based on the volume of sales. Grinders past their "sell by" date do horrific damage to great coffee. Rather than "cutting" the beans, they tend to simply crush them. It may not sound significant, but boy does the taste in the cup tell the story.

In an effort to break down the bean, worn out grinders use a lot of energy. That energy comes out in the form of heat and can raise the temperature of the coffee so much that it burns the coffee. The other major impact is on the flow of the water through the coffee. The range of particle sizes produced by a set of worn out blades is so great that you could spend a lifetime trying to get the water to flow through the coffee correctly but never achieve success. The moral of the story, set up a monitoring programme.

The second issue, that of wildly mis-set grinders usually comes about when someone is over-scrupulous with their cleaning routine . The button that holds the discs in position accidentally gets pushed thereby releasing the blades which in turn "unscrew" leaving you with "chips" of coffee beans. This has happened to me twice in the last 4 days. The problem is easily rectified by resetting the discs to their correct position and then marking the set position so that it can easily be re calibrated if necessary.

It's actually quite an eyeopener for many of my customers to see the impact that an incorrectly set grinder can have on the taste of their coffee, and proves the old adage that you learn more by things going wrong than you ever do when everything goes right.

“Economic and Strategic challenges: Is Jersey capable of being rescued?” - A response to a speech recently given by Senator Stuart Syvret

It’s probably somewhat ironic to be writing this response to Senator Syvret’s speech some 36,000 feet up in the air in a plane somewhere between Los Angeles and London. However such is the nature of this global world in which we live that my organisation’s long term survival relies on me knowing what is happening some 6,000 miles away from my home market.

I have at least assuaged some of my guilt by paying U$6.00 to an organisation called Trees of the Future (http://www.plant-trees.org/main.htm) that will go some way towards my journey being at least partially carbon neutral. Is this something we could offer to those who fly into our Islands?

That aside, what Senator Syvret had to say at the Chamber luncheon should be very seriously reflected upon by our society.

We are extremely fortunate to live in a temperate climate, with full employment and none of the uncertainties faced by many of our fellow human beings around the globe. That fortune though brings responsibilities. Responsibilities we too easily ignore when faced with the certainties of a strong economy and excellent public services.

It has always struck me as somewhat hypocritical in my industry (coffee) that we expect the countries from which we buy our products to be environmentally considerate when we blithely throw away tons of packaging material on a daily basis with sustainability being the last thing on our mind.

So when are we going to wake up and smell the coffee? If Senator Syvret is right Armageddon is just around the corner and we’re sleepwalking straight into it.

Surely it’s therefore about time Jersey, with her vast financial resources took matters into her own hands.

Energy security has to be a matter of huge strategic importance in a world already thinking past the days of cheap oil.

I’ve asked the question before but without answer, when will our planning authorities demand that all new builds have a rain water harvesting capability as a standard building requirement?

When will the use of solar panels also become part of a new build, or subsidies offered to encourage retro-fitting. When will the infrastructure be put in place by Government to encourage the use of electric vehicles?

Why aren’t businesses encouraged through grants to seek out more energy efficient methods of production?

There is so much that needs to be done and still we can barely organise the separation of household waste.

As Senator Syvret says “an entire paradigm shift is required” – not tomorrow or the day after, but today, or will it be a case of looking in our grand-children’s eyes and saying “if only…………..”?

Third wave or just new truths?

For those of you who didn’t even know that there had been a first wave let me explain.

In the very trendiest Barista parlance there have apparently been 3 “coffee waves”. The first took place in the “old days” – that’s around 20 years ago. In those days coffee simply came from a country, whether it was Colombia, Brazil, Kenya etc. By naming the country of origin this was deemed to be “specialty coffee”.

The second wave probably started around 10 years ago with the idea that within a country there were growing regions that could be differentiated – Ethiopia, one of my personal favorites instead of simply having “Djimah” coffee, a blend of various regions, now had Sidamo, Harrar and Yirgacheffe and we coffee roasters started to recognize the significant differences in flavor that each region produced.

So we come to the “third wave”, where regions have given way to individual farms – Ethical trading and fair prices paid for great quality. Baristas in some cases having a relationship with the farmer who has grown the coffee they use.

It seems quite extraordinary that such a change should take place in such a short period of time, but isn’t this the case with so many aspects of modern life – old “truths” replaced by modern “truths”.

But as a customer of mine asked me the other day; Who David is driving this change? I don’t have customers banging on my door demanding to know the name of the farmer whose coffee I just served!

So what is going on here?

I believe that we are witnessing the fallout of Globalization; the rapid dissemination of information through the Internet and a media desperate for news 24/7.

20 years ago the old “truths” held sway. Jobs were for life, international companies didn’t have to worry about exploitation – an age of innocence. The birth of the computer changed all that; the old certainties were swept away – now it’s survival of the fittest.

Middle aged bank tellers were replaced by ATMs along with so many in their position, their experience counting for nothing only cost in the world of the bean counter.

So a younger more transient and questioning workforce has emerged. No longer shackled by that old fashioned term “loyalty” – Not shackled by history, the past, only by the certainty that the only rule is that there are no rules.

A new “truth” has resulted, a more humanitarian one – a meeting of equals. In coffee a sense of unity, equity; your dedication deserves my dedication. In a room in Los Angeles at the SCAA conference the question was put, “but surely this is simply evolution?” – I believe that it’s more like revolution, a revolution of a youth seeking new “truths” because the old truths have been shown to be “lies”.

Optimising coffee taste

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!

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!

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.

Sunday Trading - We can be different!

Re: Public Consultation – Draft Legislation Paper – Draft Shops (Regulation of Opening and Deliveries) (Jersey) Law 200-

Because this issue runs to the heart of our society it is necessary to look at it in a wider context, that of social and family cohesion.

A Unicef report (“An overview of child well-being in rich countries”) published in February this year placed British children at the bottom of the league of the 21 most developed nations, branding them the least well looked after, the worst behaved and the least happy.

David Cameron commented – “ social breakdown is like a gun aimed at Britain. If we don’t do something soon, the whole community will take the bullet”

Community leaders in the UK and Europe continually use the words “Social and family cohesion”.

Everyone talks a lot about the importance of the family unit but, precious little constructive work appears to be being done to stop what appears to be the inevitable.

Here in Jersey there are immense financial pressures put on families and they break down into two areas.

The first is the cost of living on Jersey. Housing costs in particular mean that in many cases both parents have to work to generate sufficient income to pay the mortgage, but at what social cost?

How can it be healthy for our society when family members barely get an opportunity to talk to each other? What then would be the impact of deregulating Sunday trading, another day, another opportunity lost to the family to communicate with each other.

Simple pleasures like watching a son play football, a daughter playing netball, that sense of a time shared together; “Quality time” all lost because due to competition pressures as their employer now has to open on Sunday to survive.

The second area is a much deeper one that runs through our society; a culture that puts money, performance, competition and consumerism at its heart. A society that thinks that if you sweep the streets you are a failure, yet our society needs such individuals as much as we need Doctors.

Deregulation of Sunday trading only feeds the habit of consumerism; an ethos based on owning things that says that the more things you have the more people will respect you. This attitude is corrosive and a legacy we don’t want to leave to our children.

There has to be a rethink, a reorientation of the values of our society and Jersey sitting at the crossroads has an opportunity here to take I believe a moral stance for the benefit of our Island society.

We can be different to the UK and we should be proud of that fact. Surely that is why people visit this Island, not to shop!

The dumbing down of making great coffee

In my previous blog I bemoaned the lack of demand for training on how to make great coffee in the food service industry.

Having further reflected on this point it's absolutely criminal because it perpetuates the downward spiral of de-skilling staff by bringing in more automation (bean to cup machines) to theoretically deliver a more consistent cup of coffee. Rubbish!

I recently went on site where a "bean to cup" coffee machine had been installed. As a coffee roaster I couldn't make one change to the settings, I was totally reliant on the engineer with his programming key. Our reputation is on the line and yet I can't do a damn thing to change things around even if I believe an adjustment is required.

Yet coffee and milk are both organic products. Their features change on a day to day basis which in turn requires the machine to be constantly monitored but how do you do this if none of the staff even have the first inkling as to what a great cup of coffee should look or taste like?!

So whatever happened to Empowerment? The buzzword used by all management consultatants? You know giving staff the information and training to be able to make informed decisions which in turn actually makes it worthwhile for them to turn up on a Monday morning?

If the Nespresso's, Lavazza's, Senseo's of this world have their way all the coffee we drink will end up being determined by some technician in an annonymous laboratory developing a 20 page spec sheet on what a strong espresso should taste like.

Why bother having different brands when the man from Nespresso knows what you'll like already?

As our lives become ever busier aren't we loosing site of what is important in life? That part of the enjoyment of living is the food and drink we consume. Preparing it, understanding its little nuances, where it comes from? Have we become so sad that we rely on boffins in labs to determine what we will enjoy?

So please all you Baristas in the food service industry, demand more knowledge from your suppliers. It will not only make your job more rewarding , but you'll also bring a smile to the face of your customer.

Training, and why it's vital to survival in business

A key part of our business is the training we provide to our Food Service customers. We provide it for free, yet many of our customers choose not to take up our offer usually with the statement that "our people know what they're doing so don't worry". The problem is I do!

I've been in the coffee industry for nearly 20 years now and not only have training techniques changed significantly in that period so have customer expectations. The sad part is that the staff who make the coffees are usually some of the lowest paid and well you know when you're churning out coffee after coffee and you're not valued you're really not going to pay that much attention to the quality of what you serving. There's that text you've got to send to your mate about tonights gig etc.

So how can business owners / managers change this attitude? Well business owners and managers have to change, they have to start to invest in their staff, but how many small business operators really do? "It's a waste of time, the turnover of staff in the industry's so big anyway"

Well if you treat people like Monkeys they'll act like Monkeys and in the end the business owner will be the biggest Monkey when the business doesn't make the returns expected.

That's why training staff is absolutely vital in this day and age where competition is so fierce. Committed people will do a better job, customers will be happier and come back for more, and guess what the bottom line will look healthier.

I can only speak for coffee, but like so many jobs I'm sure, it may sound simple to do in theory, but very difficult to do with a high level of consistency and excellence in practice.

Is the machine at the correct operating temperature? Did I overheat or underheat the milk? Why is the water racing through the coffee? The questions are endless, but if no one tells you the answers how do you have a cat in hells chance of delivering great coffees?

The most frustrating part for me as a roaster is the lack of respect this attitude of non-training shows to the people who have put a great deal of effort into the manufacture of the product. All the way from the grower, to the processor, to the roaster care will be taken only to be destroyed as it makes its final journey into the cup.

The moral is train, train and train again. You'll make a lot of people very happy!

My Fair Trade's cheaper than yours!

Sustainable practices are the only way forward if our planet is to survive as a hospitable place for future generations.

With "Fair Trade fortnight" now upon us, those goods that attract Fair Trade certification are being heavily promoted to make us all reflect on just where our food comes from and to think about whether producers are getting a fair price.

It therefore irritates me immensely when I see on the Supermarket shelf that there is 20% off Fair Trade products to temp the consumer the buy x brand rather than y brand. We find ourselves in the midst of a bun fight over market share. Tell me then what's the difference between this kind of activity and Nestle putting 10% free extra coffee in a jar, or the ubiquitous B.O.G.O.F. (buy one get one free)? There is none, it's simply large corporations riding on the back of feel good publicity and using it to "buy" market share. Where are the ethics in that? I think that it's cynical expolitation of the lowest type.

I conclude with a reminder that the "Fair Trade" certification programme is just one of many ethical programmes, each of which do a great job in their attempts to provide a sustainable future.

Rainforest Alliance, Utz Kapeh and the Ethical Tea partnership are all third party certifiers who guarantee that both environmental and economic sustainable practices are implemented at origin. Just because your farm doesn't form part of a co-operative doesn't mean that you automatically carry out unsustainable practices, one of the great dangers of using the emotive words "Fair Trade" and looking no further.

Bean to cup coffee machines - The battle between the engineer and the coffee connoisseur in the food service industry

I have just returned from a holiday in mainland Europe and couldn't help noticing that everywhere you look the "Bean to cup" coffee machine seems to dominate in the Hotel, Cafe and Bar environments.

I have to say that I struggled to get a decent cup of coffee from any of these machines despite the huge amounts of technology involved. (We're talking about machines costing in excess of £8,000 each). Why the difficulty?

Well I can only go on my experiences here in Jersey where these machines have become so complex that unless a trained engineer is standing next to me I (as a coffee roaster) have no way of being able to adjust the output of the machine.

The engineer knows a lot about the machine's capabilities, but (on the whole) very little about what a great cup of coffee tastes like. This is incredibly frustrating for the roaster who may well go to a huge amount of effort to build a blend or buy a particular coffee only to see all his or her hard work destroyed because the coffee machine has not been set up appropriately.

Coffee being an organic product changes depending upon a myriad of conditions. If the operator can no longer make those tiny adjustments how is it possible to deliver truly great consistent coffee?

So please rocket scientist coffee machine manufacturers think about us humble roasters and come up with some much easier control systems that allow us to deliver that much sought after great cup of coffee.

Bio-energy coming soon from a farm near you!

Human activity is causing global warming. We now all have environmental footprints, we’ve discovered “food miles” and carbon neutral activities, which is all fine but what are we going to do about it?

The challenge for all Governments when it comes to implementing a “green” strategy is that talk is cheap. They can preach about the merits of collecting cans / newspapers / using fewer plastic bags, but in order to make a real impact I believe the private sector has to be able to make money out of green activities.

The Eco-Active event recently held at the RJHA buildings in Trinity focused attention on a number of local businesses all of whom in their different ways are trying to get us to see the error of our ways.

The business that stood out for me though goes by the name of Farmfuels. Their product, that of selling wood pellets and wood pellet stoves seems fairly unremarkable at first sight, however its implications for Jersey are immense.

They are looking at growing a crop called “Miscanthus grass”. This is recognised as a Bio-energy crop; that is it is grown primarily for fuel. Given the current state of the agriculture industry on Jersey, a new crop will help hard pressed farmers if there is sufficient interest shown.

Upon harvesting, the crop is dried, shredded, and finally compressed into fuel pellets or heat logs.

The Islands demand for power is huge. We import over 3,000 tons of coal every year, a significant amount of Gas and Oil and demand / output of electricity has grown by 25% in the last decade. Isn’t it time we looked in our own backyard to give us more energy security, especially if it’s green energy security?

The clever bit though is getting people to change the habits of a lifetime. Deputy De Faye has recently talked about a “green tax” which probably sent a shudder down the spine of the business community. Of course the absolute opposite is happening in southern Ireland where a grant of Euro 1,100 is being given to anyone installing a pellet burning stove / boiler, which is seen as carbon neutral.

The burner falls under the Greener Homes Scheme Registered Product list and is surely a great incentive to encourage people to switch from traditional sources of fuel.

Wouldn’t it be great if planning on top of demanding rainwater harvesting systems as standard in all new builds, also incentivised people to choose a green solution for their hot water and central heating requirements and gave them money to do so?

Finally five suggestions to help save the planet –

1. Think before you print off that email – is it really necessary?

2. Keep a supply of A4 used paper by the printer, because if you really did need to print off that email you could at least use used paper.

3. Switch off the charger for your mobile ‘phone at the wall when you’re not using it for charging. It consumes electricity when left on but not in use.

4. Do you need to print all documents in finest quality? Why not try changing the default on your printer to print in draft. You’ll save a lot of cartridges.

5. Next time the person behind the counter asks you if you would like a bag for your two or three purchases, say no if it’s practicable.

"Shout about how great you are"

Chef John Benson-Smith wrote a great article in the local Jersey Evening post on Saturday 27th of January in which he castigates local suppliers for not shouting loud enough about the quality of their produce.

He came to the Island some 8 months ago to open the Boathouse Restauant in St. Aubin. Not knowing who the local suppliers were he found that instead of people banging on his door, he found that it was "like trying to crack the code for entering a secret society". What he has discovered is that "Jersey produce is a darn sight tastier than the fantastic produce from the UK".

If I look at my organisation. We now supply coffee and tea to two Michelin starred restaurants, namely The Ocean at the Atlantic Hotel, and Bohemia, part of The Club and Spar Hotel, as well as many other of the finest dining establishments on the Island. How many other regional roasters can boast this accomplishment? So why don't we shout about this achievement?

Well I think it's because on Jersey, people's expectations are so high. We have an incredible number of restaurants on an Island that is only 9 miles x 5 miles. The competition for a limited audience is immense and only the best survive. That means suppliers have to be on their mettle. It's no good being ordinary, you have to be extraordinary. Reputation in a small community is everything if you are to succeed, and the result is that Jersey has many great small businesses. But because they are small there are no great marketing campaigns, a lot that happens is word of mouth. I can therefore completly understand Mr. Benson-Smith's frustration.

But this leads me on to a much bigger criticism of how Jersey produce is marketed outside of the Island. I have a particular gripe as a coffee roaster.

Whilst Genuine Jersey is fine for local growers, my business isn't entitled to be a part of the party which is ridiculous! Anyone who roasts coffee will know that no matter where it comes from it is the roaster who ultimately will make or break the coffee. In the same way that clay to make pots comes from all over the world, yet it is the skill of the potter who determines whether it will turn out to be a great pot.

Nowhere was this more apparent to me than when I visited SIAL in Paris last December. This is an exhibition at which countries and regions from around the world showcase their produce. As usual Jersey was nowhere to be seen. The UK had a stand, Latvia had a stand, Tuscany had a stand, as did many other regions within Europe, and yes they even had coffee from these regions. So what the hell are we doing wrong in Jersey?

It transpires that the criteria to be on a stand from the UK is that you have to "add value" to that product within the UK, such as roast and pack coffee. At last! common sense prevailing.

Given we have an Economic development department deparate to grow our Economy wouldn't it make sense if they paid a lot more attention to the potential export opportunites that local businesses like mine can provide? Export earnings = economic growth!

Come on Economic Development, sort it out, we're doing great things here, and as Mr. Benson- Smith says "it's time Jersey stood up and shouted about why its produce is as good as it is, rather than letting it remain a delicious secret"

Jura Impressa J5 - One Hip Coffee Machine!

The latest bean to cup coffee machine from the Swiss company Jura has just arrived in our store and what a sleek looking coffee machine it is, a vision in White and Chrome.

Having brought out the C5 series to compete in the £500 - £600 price bracket, this machine appears to be attempting to fill the gap between the F90 (with its touch screen operation) and the top end Z5.

The machine is about 2 cm narrower than the Z5, however is the same depth. To accommodate this narrowing, the water tank has been reduced in size to decent 2.1 litres.

Machine operation is very simple, the fully automated cappuccino system found on the Z5 which I believe results in other buttons being made redundant has been abandoned in favour of making the coffee and milk separately. An auto-frothing device for the milk comes as standard as the traditional steam wand of earlier models is consigned to history. I'm not sure about this, but more about that later.

Let us get on with the important bit, making a cup of coffee!

The bean hopper is located as usual at the back of the machine, however a new device has now appeared entitled "Aroma protection". I hate to say it but as a coffee roaster I don't see how a plastic device with holes in it can stop flavour loss of coffee beans, maybe I missed something.

Ania felt that this device was impractical (there's a woman speaking!), and simply gets in the way without really doing anything (that's men for you!).

On the positive side the J5 has been fitted with a bean detector a feature from the Z5, which informs the user that they are low on beans.

If you choose to use pre-ground coffee, this hopper is located just in front of the grinder hopper. I say this because it took us a minute or two to find it. The manual isn't very clear, and because the lid is designed into the shape of the machine wasn't easy to spot. Once again Ania came to the rescue, it's probably Polish intuition!

The bit I do like is the programming of these machines. Jura have found a very simple system that allows a huge number of permutations. I have seen so many modern day coffee machines that need a manual to get you through the programming that in the end you give up. This is not the case with Jura. Once you understand the logic, and it is very logical you can change settings to your hearts content.

At last, the coffee. We chose to make an espresso and found that the water was running through the coffee very slowly. A simple adjustment to the grinder setting (a knob found on the top of the machine) soon saw the machine producing an excellent espresso.

I now move onto the milk. Now I'm sure this is a very British thing, and this is why I bemoan the loss of the traditional steam wand.

First of all I will say that creating steam is simple and straightforward and quick. Two button presses and you're ready.

The auto-frother is also very effective. This technology has come a long way in a very short time. By adjusting the settings on the auto-frother you can get either foam or steam milk (no bubbles).

The frothing bit I have no problems with and you get a terrific cappuccino, but the steamed milk for me is a problem. The problem is that the milk is drawn through the auto-frother so quickly that it barely has time to heat up the milk. Anyone with a smattering of Physics will know what I mean, the laws of thermodynamics.

The problem is that in the UK market, lattes are very popular a reflection of our appreciation of things American (I think that's a good thing!). Now a latte needs HOT! steamed milk, something the auto-frother is incapable of delivering no matter how much you fiddle around with it.

We were so concerned with this that we turned to the manual for help. Interestingly in the manual, they make no claim to delivering hot milk. They use the term "warm" milk. Very accurate, but why?

The simple solution surely is to supply an adaptor for the steam arm that allows you to steam milk to your hearts content. When you look in the neat little storage area on the top of the machine what do you find, an attachment for the steam arm that allows you to deliver more water! In the British market, we're all used to boiling a kettle for teas because we know of the limitations of a coffee machine (that's no disrespect to Jura, simply a fact in the UK market)

So please Jura, I know we're only an Island of 55 million people, but please can you put back our optional steam wand and get rid of the extending water spout, and we promise never complain again!

That's the only issue I have with this modern wonder of technology and I hope the message gets through to the boffins at Jura HQ.

Other than that we can't stop ourselves from stroking this machine everytime we go past, well the boys can't!

Jersey milk (from the Island of Jersey) - Excellence in your coffee cup

A new year and a new test!

This time we at Coopers have been trying out the different types of milk readily available in the local Supermarkets and their impact on the taste of our coffee.

I had hoped to replicate the tabular format in my blog, but I'm such a luddite that I'm afraid its coming out as a list - However don't let this detract from the results!

Results of a tasting of different Jersey Dairy products in coffee carried out by Cooper & Co. on January 16th 2007

Coffee maker: French Press or Cafetière
Coffee type: Medium roasted Brazil Daterra Sunrise
Quantity of coffee used: Approx. 50g

We wanted to establish the impact of different levels of fat content on the flavour of the drink.

We used: Fresh Milk, Long life milk (UHT) and finally Cream
A desert spoon of liquid was added to each drink to ensure consistency

To understand the list, it goes as follows: Milk type, colour of drink following the addition of the milk, and finally our tasting notes.

Fresh Milk

Fresh Blue milk
(1.8% fat content)
Darkish in colour
This type of coffee maker produces a thinner style of coffee, and the Blue milk with its low fat content doesn’t do anything to enhance the flavour or sense of wateriness in the mouth

Fresh Green milk
(3% fat content)
Medium dark in colour
Slightly thicker mouth feel, with the acidity of the coffee dampened down

Fresh Yellow milk
(6% fat content)
Medium brown in colour. Some fat globules floating on the surface
Outstanding! – We all agreed that the texture in the mouth, and the way in which the flavour of the coffee was mellowed made this a wonderful drink.

Long life milk

Orange pack
(0.3% fat content)
Very dark
Sadly, quite unpleasant. The wateriness I talked about earlier is even more pronounced. If anything this milk actually increases the sense of bitterness in the mouth.

Blue pack
Currently out of stock

Yellow pack
Light brown, with noticeable globules of fat appearing on the surface of the drink
Very good - Not quite as good in the mouth as its fresh equivalent, but still really compliments the coffee taste experience.

Cream

Whipping Cream
Light brown, with as you would expect a lot of floating fat globules
Good flavour, however the cream is starting to overwhelm the coffee flavour. The two yellow milk tests certainly came through a lot better.

Double cream
Very light brown appearance. Cream struggling to dissolve into the coffee
Totally overwhelms the coffee. The only thing we could taste was the cream.

So in conclusion we believe that all coffee should use the highest fat content fresh milk (yellow) to deliver the most enjoyable cup of French Press (Cafetiere) coffee.

Isn't it infuriating that in this day and age when we are so obsessed with our levels of fat intake that we are actually spoiling our enjoyment of a great beverage.

Next week we here at Coopers will throw caution to the wind and use only Jersey fresh Yellow milk in all our drink offerings - No compromise!

Tourism Brochures - you've got to laugh!

Those in the Tourism industry will know that the latest glossy magazines namely "Jersey Holiday Guide" and "Pure Jersey" have recently been dispatched and are in the process of hitting the door mats (people do still have door mats don't they?) of what they hope will be potential visitors to this beautiful Island.

Now I don't know who is responsible for designing these things , but I would suggest it looks very much like a committee, oh dear!

Not being au fait with the Hotel grading system I have to tread a little carefully, however I would suggest that not a great deal of imagination has gone into the layout of the Accommodation page in the "pure Jersey" brochure.

Lets start with the "Graded Hotels" - 4*, 3*, 2* 1*, so far so good, but hey what's this we've gone back up to 5*, and then 4* again. Eulah Country House Hotel should therefore by rights be at the top of the page?

But no, if you cross reference the "Jersey Holiday Guide" advertisers list on page 112, Eulah Country house appears under "Guest Accomodation!" ah, so that's why it's not at the top of the pJ guide, but then shouldn't they appear under the pJ heading of "Guest accomodation?

La Haule manor too seem to have got trapped in this nether world as well? Didn't anybody bother to proof read this?

But of course we all know (?) the diamond grading system has been done away with, well everybody apart from the Jh guide. The Lavender Villas application must have got lost in the post! Well the Jh's post, but not you'll be pleased to hear the pJ's post!

It also appears that even the advertisers are confused. Condor Breaks.com on p.52 of pJ tells us that both Mayfair and Metropole are 2* Hotels. Didn't anyone tell them that the Metropole is now 3*? I'm not quite sure what happened to the poor old Mayfair. I have a suspicion that they too are reclassified as 3*, but still appear in the 2* section. Then again I could be wrong, couldn't I?

I could go on, as a potential visitor to this Island went on to me about these brochures, but I'd probably loose the will to live!

I have tried to be humourous in this Blog, because at the end of the day we all make mistakes. What I find though really infuriating is that this industry is really under pressure at the present time and it is vital that a professional image is conveyed to potential visitors.

A business has been hired to produce this brochure for I'm sure a considerable amount of money, surely we (the people of Jersey) are entitled to expect something better than what on the face of it appear to be schoolboy errors going out to potential customers.

Coffee tasting on BBC Radio Jersey

Your chance to hear Lynsey Beahan talking to me about coffee on her Saturday morning programme between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. on 6th January.

We did a whirlwind tasting of coffees from around the world, I'll leave it to Lynsey to give you her thoughts and impressions, but I hope that if you are a coffee lover you'll learn something about an amazing industry. Where the 3rd world meets the first world.

Post Christmas Espresso machine issues

Well you've bought that espresso machine that you've always wanted but it appears to be doing one or two odd things that don't seem to be covered in the manual!

Well you'll be pleased to hear that you're not alone as the post Christmas dust settles.

The most common problem appears to be inadvertantly getting an airlock in the boiler of the machine. This is usually the result of the water tank running dry. The result is that no matter how much water you put in the tank the machine is unable to pump any water through the system.

The solution couldn't be easier:

1. Switch off the machine
2. Place a cup under the steam wand and open the valve
3. Switch on the machine
4. Press or switch to "on" the button /knob that usually drives the water through the coffee. After a few seconds the water should start to come through the steam wand.
5. Close the steam valve and move the cup to under the "group head" (that's where the coffee group handle is placed). Water should now start to pour through the group head.
6. Turn off the pump and wait for the machine to heat up.

Problem solved!

The second issue has been one of the coffee apparently being cold despite a good extraction having been achieved.

In the UK at this time that's usually the result of using a cold cup.

If you warm up your machine properly before making the coffee, why not leave the cup under the group handle and run the warming water into it. Tip away the water and hey presto you have one warmed cup!

The final issue has been making a Latte.

The problem is that all the attachments fitted to steam wands these days are designed to make frothing the milk easy. That of course is based on the assumption that you want to make a Cappuccino. But a Latte only requires steamed milk and you really don't want to start microwaving it, otherwise what is the point of buying a fancy machine.

This is one issue that is challenging and I do think that machine manufacturers should look at their design criteria. Solutions have been found on machines that cost £500 +, but what happened to the £100 + machines given the technology is so simple?

My suggestion is to heat the milk using the steam wand in the normal way. You need the milk to be around 10 degrees hotter for a Latte than for a Cappuccino.

Once you've heated the milk to the desired temperature, tap the container on the counter top. This will have the effect of separating out the liquid from the foam within the container.

Next get a spoon and use it to hold back the foam as you pour the milk into your coffee cup. The liquid milk should pour out easily from under the foam. The limitation is the fact that you are left with a lot of unwanted foam hence my plea to manufacturers.

That sums up the main issues we've seen so far. I'll post any additional tips as they come in.

Happy New Year!