Make Something Beautiful

As each year passes, the accessibility of information increases while at the same time there is an equal increase in bad information. Much of this bad information comes from a lack of expertise and skill with a healthy dose of sloppiness. An audience of watchers and viewers comprised of people with even less expertise makes them perfect for advancing bad information. There is an overabundance of poor technique and flat out wrong information permeating throughout the coffee industry. There is no beauty in bad information. Bad information leads to an ugly tasting cup of coffee.

Siphon coffee brewing is near and dear to me. I'm pretty good at it - not that articles, awards, and acknowledgement from peers means anything, but... it does. There's not a lot of siphon brewing going on out there compared to other forms of coffee brewing, and most of it is being done wrong. A video from the World Siphon Brewing Championships was sent to me and it was disturbingly bad. It was no surprise when the person who sent it was told "the coffee is terrible". I have also seen countless badly executed cups from a certain company's "Reserve Bar," and it's the perpetuation of bad information and poorly executed coffees that continues... and that is bad.

Here are some screenshots from a recent video of a "professional demonstration". I did my best to conceal the identity of the subject, but it is what it is.

The first thing that clearly illustrates this barista's lack of expertise is something that I can't show because it didn't happen. Fresh grinding. I have no idea when the coffee was ground, but it certainly was not ground immediately before brewing as there was a lot of lead time and no coffee grinding. Any time before the video started would have been too long. This shows a lack of care in one of the most essential steps for any coffee brewing and even more important for a demonstration of craft-brewed coffee. Unprofessional.

This first picture below shows the water ascended into the top flask of the siphon. This is a clear indication of lack of understanding of the most basic coffee brewing principles. The next picture will show why.

The horror! The horror! If you are a coffee professional and are not cringing at this, maybe you should rethink your profession.

Here's the issue: Think about every other coffee brewing technique you know. The water meets the coffee. The coffee does not meet water. Pour over/Drip - coffee grounds in a cone, water poured over coffee grounds. French Press - coffee grounds go into the press pot and water is poured in. And the principle holds true for espresso - coffee grounds go in the portafilter and the water comes down to meet them. This is a basic nuts and bolts explanation: The importance of pre-wetting and even, controlled saturation allow for the water to penetrate and work its way past the surface of the cellular walls and bring out the oils out from within the tiny cellular structure of the coffee.Having all the grounds hit the water at once do not allow for any gradual or even pre-wetting and the immediate exposure to the full temperature of the water causes only the oils from the outermost cells to "pulse" out while essentially sealing the other flavorful oils within the deeper cellular structure. So in a nutshell, If you don't have proper order of technique, ... "water meets coffee," then because of what happens to the oil and because of what doesn't happen to the oil you create both off flavors and an incompleteness of flavors... not so much in intensity, but very much so in terms of nuance and dynamics.

In this next picture there are two problems that I notice one of which goes back to the beginning. And if you start with bad technique then you are likely to finish with bad technique.

The first problem: Look at the top of the siphon, at the haphazard mess of grounds there. No even dome. No real dome at all. So no stirring immediately after brewing which compromises the extraction that occurs during the draw down.

The second problem: look at how much coffee was brewed in the siphon. Just because you can put that much liquid in does not mean you should. In order to maximize the flavor extraction in a siphon brewed coffee, it's about understanding how each element contributes to the cup and then balancing all of those elements together to get the proper result. Due to the correlation of particle size, extraction rate, and draw down time, the ideal water level for a "3 cup" siphon is about the middle of the bulb which is approximately the "2 cup" mark.

It takes time to develop expertise. Those who have some level of expertise never seem to be satisfied with the status quo -- which is why they were able to achieve a notable level of skill in the first place. Whatever your craft or discipline happens to be, don't be blinded by fancy words, strong personalities or great branding. It's a combination of laziness and not caring that leads to the dissemination and acceptance of bad information. Take the time to use your mind to assess, to understand, and to know the difference between good and faulty information.

For a correct demonstration of siphon coffee brewing watch my appearance on FOX 13 from Memorial Day 2017.

 

Whether it's brewing coffee or life in general, don't be sloppy when you can make something beautiful.

Understand the Process

Process is important. “Understand the process,” I say. But what does that entail? Is “process” simply a set of steps you follow to accomplish a task correctly – In this case brewing coffee?

Yes.

So, we're done then?

No, we're not. Because as straightforward as it should be, to everyone's dismay (not really) there are few professionals who get it right. What are they not doing right and WHY are they not doing it right?

Let's start with: What is the process?

In a nutshell: Start with properly roasted, quality, fresh, (whole) coffee beans. Understand correct dosing (coffee:water ratio) and particle size. Use correct dosing for chosen brewing method. Grind fresh with a good, adjustable burr grinder. Use water within (generally) specific TDS parameters. And brew! Then taste and adjust until it's just right. All of these steps are taken in order to produce a specific result – excellent coffee.

Now let's work through these “simple” things and see where the problems are.

Quality coffee – Now there are cupping scores and tasting notes in respect to the green coffee. So, as a coffee roaster it's simple to get your hands on quality beans. And I would suppose that most coffee shops who are making a claim of craft, artisanal, or “Third Wave” coffee are, in fact, sourcing quality green.

Properly roasted – Here is where we need to take a closer look. Because as I have often said, the higher the quality of your green, the more complexity within that specific lot, the more skill it takes to roast it.

So, what does “highly skilled” as a roaster mean? Is it about experience and dedication? Is it about talent?

I think if I had to list these factors it would be: talent, dedication, and experience. And when I talk about dedication, I think you can use the word “dedication” as a more serious sounding replacement for the word “passion”. You can't be dedicated to a thing without loving or enjoying that thing. And the dedication isn't simply to the craft. It's a dedication to the result of the craft, which is excellent coffee. With dedication and experience, you can always be above average to really, really good. But in my experience, without some inherent skill, aptitude or talent for the craft, you will never be exceptional.

So the first weakening of the process is with the roasting? What is the talent level of your roaster? How many hours of work have they put in? How many varietals from how many regions have they roasted? And how many years have they been doing it? Whether YOU are the roaster or your shop does the roasting, or you bring in your beans from somewhere – in which case you have to ask all these questions about their roaster – the likelihood is perhaps your coffee program isn't on as solid a ground as you were led to believe or that you are leading others to believe.

Now, I could really stop there, because the roasting of the coffee is probably the most important step in the coffee making process.

But let's assume the roasting is spot on.

Correct dosing is a known thing, so there's really no excuse for getting that wrong Look up “Gold Cup” standards or SCA brewing standards. Coffee science doesn't change.

Grind size is a generally known thing that you specifically tune to your coffee and your taste.

The same can be said for water chemistry.

Brewing technique? That takes a bit of skill. It takes some practice. And of course the goal again... excellent coffee.

So the reasons for not executing excellent coffee?

Either you don't know how. Or you don't care to know how. Often it's both.

If you care about the prestige of sourcing excellent coffees, but don't take the time to make sure you have a highly experienced roaster who can create sweetness and dynamic complexity and balance and mouthfeel in your coffee – then what?

Well, what happens is if the fundamentals of your coffee program are not rock solid, the smaller details, like brewing parameters or water chemistry are going to be an afterthought as well.

Or do you try to unknowingly take short cuts? You have a refractometer of some sort, you measure TDS to perfection... you dial in temperatures precisely, and what you do is end up chasing numbers instead of following flavor.

Great coffee, excellent coffee, exceptional coffee is not the result of following a set of numbers.

Exceptional coffee is the result of understanding the process with the end goal of a delicious cup of coffee. This means fundamentals of brewing and this means following the flavor.

It's really simple. Everyone should be able to do it.

You should be able to do it. So why aren't you?

John talks coffee #10 - espresso, coffee, and roasting.

Take one part of your craft and use it as a base of knowledge to make other aspects shine.

John talks coffee #9 - The value add (Arthur's question)

I address they mysteries of pricing your product. How do you add value to what you are doing?

John talks coffee #8 What are you hiding

Are you hiding flavors with your brewing method?

John talks coffee #7 Yes to Flavor, No to Cold Brew

Why we don't do cold brew. Fact.

John talks coffee #6 - espresso texture starts with roasting !

Espresso is about mouthfeel, texture, and flavor. And it should be delicious!

John talks coffee #5 - espresso building insights

Know your craft!

John talks coffee #4 - Tasting - Understand Why

The reason you taste and adjust, is not simply to make it better. It's to understand why the new version tastes different than the old version. Don't just ask why, know why!

John talks coffee #3 - Knowledge of Craft

Understand the coffees that you are using, understand how they work at various roast levels and different profiles. The more you understand how the depth and breadth of your coffee, the more you will understand - and create a great espresso.

John talks coffee #2 - Light Roasting and Lemons

Light roasting is about developing sweetness and structure. to support the flavors.

John talks coffee #1 - care about what you do!

Care about what you do! It makes a difference.

Mindset

When I first started to explore the world of Specialty Coffee in the early 2000's, and we started visiting the places everyone considered to be the best roasters, coffee shops, and purveyors of espresso, I was delighted, and fascinated. And through it all, I had one mindset.
 

Whatever they were doing, whatever level of sublime tastiness they had achieved, whatever level of mastery they were showing in their craft -- whatever it was had already been done. That meant it was possible. And because I knew it was possible, and that someone had already been doing it at that level, then that was my minimum standard.

My minimum standard, my starting point for coffee excellence was measured by what the best of the best were doing. And until what I was doing was on par, or better than what they were doing, it never saw the light of day. Whether it was learning how to roast or understanding that siphon brewing has everything to do with philosophy first, technique second.

There's always someone who will be doing something great. And to whoever you are, I applaud your genius. Thank you for showing me that, now I'm going to do it better.

That's my mindset.

Being an Artisan: the truth is in the cup

I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming support I've received regarding my thoughts on “The Ethics of Being an Artisan”. But there's an obvious part of that we have yet to discuss...

Words like “specialty, artisan, craft,” and the oh so popular “third wave” are thrown about too loosely. There is a moment where adopting certain language and terminology advances a specific set of ideals or standards within the industry. But as it is for most industries, once these words are adopted, they have little truth to them beyond carefully crafted marketing.

There are those within the coffee industry with an astounding level of knowledge when it comes to coffee science and specific minutiae in regards to the chemical breakdown during the entire roasting and brewing process. So how does one illustrate and differentiate between the concepts of Theory vs. Practice compared to Practice vs. Execution? Utilizing mellifluous phrases and dropping a bit of scientific jargon sounds impressive – maybe you can conduct seminars, and impress a number of industry folk, but are you an artisan?

Being at the top of your craft is not a statement about experience or knowledge, nor is it an indication of your passion or a reflection of the quality of ingredients you source. It is a statement about execution. Scientific sounding speeches and clever marketing cannot hide poorly executed coffee. What you deliver in the cup tells a story about what you do and what it took you to get there...but it's only the beginning.


Article on LinkedIn

The Ethics of Being an Artisan

I posed the following in an Instagram post, but I will explore it further here.

Fact: Ground coffee begins losing flavors and aromatics immediately after grinding and with every passing second.

So... what's the value of pre-ground coffee? Tick. Tick. Tick.

Let's think about this. If you are an artisan (craft, small-batch, third wave, progressive, high-end, etc.) coffee shop and you sell your coffee for $30 lb, you certainly can't charge the same for pre-ground coffee. [Now, of course this is hypothetical because we all know there aren't any high-end coffee shops that sell pre-ground coffee.]

The value of the pre-ground coffee would decline by the hour, by the minute, by the second. What are we looking at? Thirty hours? Thirty minutes? Thirty seconds until the relative value of that coffee is zero? Remember, the baseline is the whole bean, so you are not comparing it to other coffees, you are comparing it to itself. If you are selling single origin, small farm coffee for the reasons a coffee shop or roaster sells that quality of product, then by all measures, isn't the value approaching zero as soon as the bag lands on the shelf? Even if it were ground on the spot, the relative value would essentially be zero when it reached the customer's home.

It's your job as a seller of artisan goods to educate your customers, it's not on the customer to come to you already educated. Selling high-end ingredients assumes that you are not trying to sell to everyone, but rather you welcome everyone who is looking for something better.

The science is clear. It comes down to words many are afraid to use, and fewer actually embody. Ethics. Principles. Do you have them or not? Once you ask to be recognized as being at a higher standard, you have to operate at - and be held to - a higher standard. And as a practical matter, since everything you are brewing is by the cup, why would you have bulk grinders anyway?

I originally posted this article on LinkedIn 

Espresso Blending: Insights and Innovation

Coffee is roasted. Coffee has an initial “de-gassing” and then coffee is ready to consume. That's the basics in layman's terms.

Here are some thoughts I have been exploring:

Different coffees are ready after a different amount of days, and furthermore, different coffees (in terms of realized flavor extraction) age differently. That being the case, it would make sense to construct your espresso blends to reflect this. So if you have a Sumatran coffee that takes 5 days to degas and a Guatemalan that takes 2 days, and an Ethiopian that takes 1 day, then if you roasted the Sumatra on Sunday, you would roast the Guatemala on Wednesday, and the Ethiopia on Thursday. By doing this, all the coffees are “ready” at the same time.

The second factor would be the longevity of said coffees flavor nuances. Now we know about coffee being good for X days from roasting, but in terms of realized flavor extraction of various beans at different roast profiles there is a window of useability for espresso that may or may not correlate with the specifics we find for brewed coffee. Yes, it may be a plus or minus shift of a day or two, so it is worth considering.

This is not detailed by any means, but it's something to get you to think a little bit. As a practice, it's certainly not a a simplistic one. You need to consider other factors, like: Does the flavor intensify over the useable time, and then drop off like a Dry Processed Ethiopian or does it peak from days 6-10 like a Central American coffee? What about percentages in a blend? How does roast level affect flavor nuance and stability? Then you correlate those factors to the initial degassing time and come up with a new set of variables. This is a simplistic look at some of the little discussed factors involved with maximizing the flavor potential in your espresso, and it is something I would suggest thinking about if you want to improve your craft. 

If you think about these kinds of things when you are roasting and blending, and would like to have a discussion, share your thoughts with me @ caffedbolla AT Yahoo DOT com.

Happy roasting!

Single Origin Espresso: How to create a multidimensional experience

Crafting a great single origin espresso should be approached the same was as you would in creating any other delicious espresso. Separate roasts. Separate profiles. Separate flavors. And then a wonderful espresso.

  

Espresso is not a tiny cup of coffee. It should not feel like a “tiny cup of coffee”when you drink it. Espresso has a density, intensity, and viscosity (mouthfeel). Whether it's floral and light stone fruit or dense chocolate and dark berry, espresso should still have a definite mouthfeel and density. Properly roasted and executed espresso has a density that supports and balances the clarity. Creating density enhances the clarity, it does not take away from it. Espresso that is thin and bright without the proper amount of sweetness and texture is simply an unbalanced espresso. Bracing flavor notes are not progressive, they are merely a sign of an underdeveloped or improperly developed roast.

Every coffee (probably) can be used in espresso, but not every coffee can be used as espresso. Sometimes the flavors developed in a particular coffee are too intense as an espresso. But those same notes will often be a wonderful supporting note or highlight if the proper balance is achieved in a simple two or three bean blend.

Ok. That's all fine and dandy, but how does one properly execute a single origin espresso?

There are a handful of coffees that are amazing out of the gate single origin, single roast espresso. Many of these can be improved by profile layering, but it's really not necessary. That being said, the issues are rarely with the coffee, rather they are a result of poor execution of said coffee as a single origin espresso.

When a coffee has great flavors at City, City+, Full City, and Full City+, why ignore that potential complexity by utilizing a single roast? Multiple layers of flavor and an unmistakeable textural mouthfeel are what makes an espresso come alive.

It's not always about choosing light and medium or light and dark. Sometimes, it is about small differences within a certain darkness (City+ for example) of roast, but differing profiles. One roast might be more nut forward, one more fruit forward, and one more balanced. Not only should you think like a skilled chef or a world-class mixologist and weave layers within layers, you should take the same time to develop your craft as they did to develop theirs.

You can choose simplicity or complexity, but even within simplicity, there are supporting areas of sweet, savory or umami that give dimension to the espresso. To truly understand the flavor potential you need to explore the range of possibilities at your fingertips. There are as many ways to construct your espresso with a single bean as there are with two or three. Simplicity is not about taking shortcuts, simplicity is a focused exploration of what's in front of you.

caffe d'bolla is twelve - Thank You!

Twelve years ago, Yiching and I officially opened our doors at caffe d'bolla. As all new businesses, we used a combination of determination and ingenuity to get everything off the ground. From traveling to trade shows, listening to as many presentations as we could, and taking furious notes to filling a trailer with all of our equipment – including a full size commercial refrigerator we squeezed through a hole in the drywall that would be a future door, turned on its side and rolled it on pipes before setting it in place, to working into the wee hours of the night so we could get everything right.

We spent every day in our shop together, taking turns running errands or having something to eat. We learned about the continuous discovery that is espresso, and latte art (which Yiching has always been better at), and I learned the craft of roasting so I could share something wonderful with our customers.

 Over the years, our hours have changed a little, and we have done a couple of remodels to the store, but one thing that has never changed is how much we love our shop and seeing smiles on customer's faces as they take their first sip. And although you may not see Yiching in the shop [much these days], she continues to bake our treats daily - from muffins to her perfect brownies, and she maintains our online presence (especially all the good pictures), and coordinates our overseas ordering and imports. This is all because more than two and a half years ago, our son Alex was born, and after an early introduction to coffee and espresso, he is now busy at home with Yiching learning all the things a curious and energetic boy should.


As the years go by, I know that Alex will learn how to pull the perfect espresso and brew siphon coffee to our standards. Maybe it will be you (yes, YOU) who tastes his first drink. Stay tuned for our celebratory "Thank You!" It's going to be another fantastic year!

The Americano: the barometer for judging any coffee shop or espresso bar

An artisan coffee shop or espresso bar should be able execute an exceptional Americano.  And if not, can they execute anything properly?

You think it would just be all about the espresso, and it is -- to a point. I've known top-notch places that have great espresso, and fail miserably when it comes time to make an Americano. A failed Americano is the result of either improperly roasted espresso, under or over-extracted espresso, bad drink building basics, non-caring barista (it's not a sexy drink), non-caring ownership, or all the above. The Americano is a foundation drink. There are no excuses for poor execution.

The Americano, the quicker, fresher alternative to batch-brewed coffee is a drink that should be easy to execute, and reveals what standards a coffee shop or espresso bar actually has as compared to those that they claim to have. The recipe is simple: espresso brewed directly into the hot water, which is already residing in the cup.

“What about espresso first, and then add water?” No.

“Or maybe pull shots into shot glasses or some funky pitcher looking thingamajig and then pour over the water?” Again, that would be a “No.”

But for the Americano to work, your water should never be hotter than your espresso. Water temperature, relative to brew temperature, altitude, etc. should be as low as 170 F (77 C) or less (ours is at 162  F) for the best results. Once the espresso exits the group head, it has already dropped several degrees by the time it hits the water. Another thing is -  your espresso, and the resultant Americano needs to have body and texture. The proper amount of lipids and oils are necessary for good crema density, texture, and mouthfeel. Without them, result is the same as a weakly brewed cup of coffee. A thin, watery, espresso-like concoction is not an Americano. It's just a bad drink.

There are many new places that have come about in recent years - both in our fair city, and across the globe, and the Americano, much like the Emperor's new clothes, reveals all -- and it isn't pretty.

So for all you current and prospective shop owners, barista, and coffee-beverage lovers of all types – If you can't make a tasty Americano, an honest to goodness “That's good!” Americano, then you might want to examine everything you are doing. Yep, it's that important.

caffe d'bolla. Gesha. Siphon.

After brewing somewhere north of ten thousand cups of coffee on the siphon, it's rare that I come across a coffee that separates itself so far from the others that the words “excellent,” “outstanding,” or “superb” simply do not communicate the brilliance of the coffee. This is one such coffee.

This is a Gesha from Acatenango in Guatemala. It is one of the two most complex coffees I have ever tasted. The other, a Gesha from the heralded Finca Esmeralda in Panama. Both are coffees that I roasted. These are two iterations of the same magical cultivar with differences arising from terroir and microclimate. With the Panama, and now, some five thousand or so cups later with the Guatemala, all I can say is “wow!”

Let me start by saying that this is not about experiencing one sensational coffee. It's like experiencing three distinctly different sensational coffees in one cup.

Once your coffee is poured, you will want to wait a good nine minutes to begin your journey. The first part of the cup greets you with complex floral notes from hibiscus, jasmine, rose, and lavender. A touch of peach blossom tea makes an appearance, and all the floral notes are interspersed with flavors of pomelo, pink grapefruit, and mandarin. A different set of flavor combinations in every sip, with a buttery mouthfeel elevating the experience.

A great siphon coffee, especially the Gesha, is about pacing. After an additional five to eight minutes of cooling, a juicy fruit punch and ripe berry note emerges for a few sips, with a silky essence caressing your tongue like an passionate lover, and leaving you with a warm, satisfied smile.

After another five minutes to eight minutes -- being wiser to opt for the latter, sweet cream and berries linger on your palate with a touch of assam tea and a hint of lemon-honey. And a hint of cocoa lingers on your palate if you wait for it. A little more patience, and you will be rewarded with the comforting essence of warm butterscotch sweetness in the final sips.

This is a journey worth savoring, and should take you thirty-five to forty-five minutes once the coffee touches your cup. Use your time well, and you will be rewarded.

The Acatenango Gesha will be offered on siphon starting on April 12^th for about two weeks. We will offer an additional run before the end of May.