Becoming a specialty coffee connoisseur

[pseudobrit]

An excellent primer.

View attachment coffee.pdf

 

[Scepticalscribe]

ziggy, I am frankly outclassed in coffee knowledge by some who have already posted (such as PB) - but to reiterate/expand upon:

1. Start simple. Try decent varieties of different roasts (eg light, medium, dark) - though drip machines, french presses and the like. Move slowly, and try to understand the importance of freshness, timing, portions and methadology.

2. Move on to Espresso. Repeat.

Step one is significantly cheaper - but both will be fun.

That is well put and very do-able. Enjoying coffee is not rocket science, and the quality of what is available has really improved over the past two decades; (twenty years ago both the UK and Ireland were pretty dire for coffee outside some specialist places, but have really improved; then, central and eastern Europe had a brief love affair with instant coffee - they thought it was somehow cooler as it came from the west - in the 1990s after the Wall came down).

Oh, and try to avoid politics where coffee is concerned. Yes, like every other commodity, it is valuable, and hence a desirable resource. However, student boycotts (or, sometimes, worse, support) can sometimes backfire. When I was in college, the canteen coffee was vile, most coffee shops served disgusting brews, and we all agitated against American Imperialism and other injustices. Our weapon of choice was the boycott (invented in Ireland, in the 19th century, both word and weapon). Anyway, in defiance of American imperialism in the 1980s, our Students Union (mandated of course) decided to support the Sandinista Government in Nicaragua by buying vast quantities of their coffee and serving it on campus. I must confess that I have never quite tasted anything quite so vile. Mare'e milk in Kyrgyzstan came close, but didn't actually match it for sheer ghastly awfulness. It meant that while I may have retained a slight sympathy for the principle of elected governance in Nicaragua, (and the accompanying principle of non-interference on the part of the US), it took me over two decades to even sip a cup of Nicaraguan coffee again, despite the strong urging of left-leaning friends.

(We also boycotted Israeli oranges - on account of the political situation in Palestine, and South African oranges, because of apartheid, worthy causes all, but were then left with no oranges whatsoever, a bit of a bummer in the sun-deprived, bleak and dark reaches of north west Europe in winter).

Back on thread, I have bought a lot of coffee over the years from impressive organisations such as Fairtrade (they guarantee an agreed set price to the producers), and wholly support the idea of such enterprises. However, as with the Sandanista regime, I reluctantly concede that not all of the Fairtrade coffee is excellent; some of it is really good, but some is rather bland. You have to work that out for yourself. These days, even when I support such registered aid/charity organisations by buying coffee, I find that I want the coffee to be top-class as well.
Cheers.

 

[pseudobrit]

Back on thread, I have bought a lot of coffee over the years from impressive organisations such as Fairtrade (they guarantee an agreed set price to the producers), and wholly support the idea of such enterprises. However, as with the Sandanista regime, I reluctantly concede that not all of the Fairtrade coffee is excellent; some of it is really good, but some is rather bland. You have to work that out for yourself. These days, even when I support such registered aid/charity organisations by buying coffee, I find that I want the coffee to be top-class as well.
Cheers.

One of the top ten coffees I've ever had was from Las Hermanas, a Nicaraguan women's co-op.

 

[euanmackie]

espresso: small, intense drink, sold in single or double shot

Americano: cup of hot water then add the esspresso, therefore you get the crema layer

Latte: 2 shots milk not foamy. Poured in such a way the crema layer stays, this is the basics of latte art.

Capuccino: imagin the cup half full of a latte then foam topped up. A real Barista will mix wet&dry(smooth and foamy)milk together to keep the crema layer.

Macchiato: basicaly a extreamly small latte or cap. Know as either a wet or a dry macchiato.

Mocha: a latte made with chocolate running thru the drink

Ristretto, to fully understand this you need to learn coffee, basicaly there are 3 parts to espresso. Sweet,body,sour . A risstretto uses the first 2 parts.

Con pana, espresso toped with whipped cream, nice and sweet.

Qubiter. A drink hardly known but you add sugar to the coffee in the portafilta and pull an espresso thru, a nice sweet then bitter drink.

And I don't mean to be rude but american coffee is majourly diffrent to European coffee. I have an Italian mate who is my partner in the uk Barista championships. I hope this is still easy to understand. I could go into loads more detail...

I'm 17 too!

Sorry for the bad spelling...

 

[OutThere]

Wow, I feel really dumb now...

So, let me see if I have a few short basics down right...

If I go to a coffee shop and I get a cup of "Espresso," that's going to a coffee drink made with any type of bean wanted, that's made by putting hot water through fine-ground coffee powder?

The key distinction is that it's made by forcing very hot water (200º-210ºF) through finely ground coffee. The pressure is what makes espresso different from normal coffee.

An Espresso Americano is the same type of drink, only half water, half espresso?

Essentially. The portion of water can vary to taste.

A long black is like that, but is water with two shots of Espresso added (not the other way around)?

A short black is the same, except one shot?

I've never had anyone order either, but I gather it's not much different than an Americano

Ristretto...*thinks* with a Ristretto, you make the coffee come in contact with the water for a shorter period of time? (Some further explanation would be helpful)...

Generally:
Single = 1.5oz espresso
Double = 3oz espresso
Ristretto = <1oz espresso

Usually it will be made by simply stopping a standard shot short, but it can (rarely) be made by grinding the coffee more finely. Basically the goal is to capture the most essence (oils, flavors, etc) from the coffee in the least amount of water to make it as strong as possible.

And a caffé Latté is Espresso with milk, without the froth like cappucino has? And the milk is always steamed?

Always steamed, yes. A latte can have a little bit of frothed milk on top for decoration (look up 'latte art')

When I started serving coffee in addition to hands on training we had to watch a training video called "The Art of Espresso" (or something like that I think), which had lots of specifics and background. You might be able to get your hands on that. Wikipedia also has a lot of information.

 

[ZiggyPastorius]

Alright, well, thanks again for the all the advice.

That coffee.pdf document is really interesting. I'm working on reading through it at the moment. Some of it's above my level o_o

Anyways, so I decided today I'd go and have a shot of Espresso. I started with a single shot, and it was dark roast. I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be looking for, as I'm kind of an amateur. I started out by smelling it and then taking little drinks to get an idea for the flavour. To me, it was just...coffee. There were taste differences: it was stronger, a bit grittier, and it kind of burnt my throat a little. I guess these are characteristics of Espresso versus regular coffee...Anyways, I've never been a fan of straight black, but it surprisingly wasn't that bad. I couldn't say truthfully I enjoyed it more than say, a latté, but it wasn't bad. Biggest problem is I'm not really sure what I should be looking for in terms of comparison for flavours and such. I'm sure once I get out of this tiny town, I'll get a better idea, but, yeah. I'm starting to get a hang of the concepts behind the different drinks, what they really are, et cetera, but it's just basics. I obviously don't know how to make them yet, so I'm a leg behind there...Anyways, just thought I'd share.

 

[Abstract]

Yes, an espresso is just that, while other espresso-based coffees include an espresso shot diluted with either milk or water. A short black is just espresso, and you'd expect an espresso shot to be stronger.

Personally, I don't think you should go into town just to try different coffees. This will be a very expensive hobby if you do so. Just buy them day by day, and when you get a chance. Over time, you will have tried a lot of different coffees, and you'll know which types taste better to you, and which cafés.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Bring your water to 200-205°, stir, steep for four minutes, press and serve. Mmm.

Looks good, except I steep my pressed coffee for 3 minutes not 4. Then again I use a fair amount of grounds per 8oz. of water. The point about using just-less-than-boiling water is important. Oh, and I do pour, stir, steep, stir, press.

 

[pseudobrit]

Looks good, except I steep my pressed coffee for 3 minutes not 4. Then again I use a fair amount of grounds per 8oz. of water.

It really depends on your bean and roast. I try to standardize the volume of grounds and water and vary my brewing times. A proper extraction might take as long as 8 minutes to get the desired notes out of the grind. You just have to experiment a little with each pound you buy.

The point about using just-less-than-boiling water is important. Oh, and I do pour, stir, steep, stir, press.

You can also try pouring just enough water to momentarily cover the grounds, making a bit of a mud, before filling the pot the rest of the way. Supposedly this lets the grounds bloom.

 

[dmr727]

This is a good thread. I drink garbage from all over the US, Canada, and Mexico - sometimes Costa Rica. In other words, I wouldn't know good coffee if it smacked me over the head - I currently drink anything.