No milk or anything else in specialty coffee??

Lwowiak

Clever marketing ploy to boost sales, or simply the rantings of an egotistical know it all?

I was directed to this blog, and thought it might be worthy to gauge an Australian view.
Personally, I think it is a load of BS. His attitude is "my way or the highway". As someone with a little bit of experience in sales and psychology, my diagnosis is "your typical arrogant lawyer". Whilst this style of sales and marketing MAY have worked at one stage, today it tends to put people off. On the other hand , Fairfax media and the ABC have been very adept with this tactic.

What are your thoughts?

http://londiniumespresso.com/blog/speciality-coffee-the-elephant-in-the-room

"has anyone else noticed that whilst plenty of merchants are now offering speciality coffee, coupled with quite detailed educational pushes to show customers how it needs to be prepared to ensure it is enjoyed at its optimum, that there is no mention of one significant compromising factor: milk.

could that be because there are just too many customers who only ingest coffee if it is presented to them as a coffee flavoured milkshake, i.e. milk heavy, and the merchants have decided that in educating their customers they will omit this thorny issue from their curriculum?

so we see no hesitation in educating people in the impact that water has on the taste of a cup of coffee, but i dont think ive yet read a single sentence on the peril of adding milk to speciality coffee

i think it needs to be said; if you add milk to speciality coffee you are defeating the purpose.  i dont see why this statement is especially controversial, after all it is exactly the same for speciality tea; you don't add milk, its just a given.  but in the speciality coffee world we seem very hesitant to tackle the elephant in the room, which without a doubt is the consumer's addiction to coffee flavoured milkshakes, aka latte, flat white, cappuccino

so, if you want to experience speciality coffee, drop the milk.  and anything else you might be spiking it with

its a common denominator to any high quality goods - they are traded at a premium because the less expensive bulking additives have been removed.  it is no different with speciality coffee

so if you are in anyway serious about experiencing some of the nuanced tastes that you have seen on the coffee taste wheels that are popping up more frequently the very first step in educating your palete is to ditch the milk.  grimace with the change for 6 weeks, after which time your taste buds will have adjusted and you will then be in a position to start your journey into speciality coffee, having successfully lifted the smothering milk duvet out of your coffee first

if you are not prepared to ditch the milk i wouldnt give speciality coffee a second thought - the journey will simply be a disappointing waste of time and money

this is an especially difficult discussion in regions like the UK and New Zealand where dairy is deeply engrained in the culture; it is heavily represented in rural lifestyles, as an industry and income earner, and in a vast array of food items and beverages, both prepared and in home baked goods.  recipes from celebrity chefs and cooking programmes push dairy at every turn - its ubiquitous.  notwithstanding, speciality coffee is incompatiable with additives, the most common one being milk

hoist the cow from your cup today if you are serious about speciality coffee"

Brett H

Trite click-bait! I know a good number of very successful Lawyers and I can't imagine them writing something as anti-academic as this... on any subject.  "Clever marketing ploy to boost sales, or simply the rantings of an egotistical know it all"?  I'd say you're spot-on: both!  If there is a thoughtful mind writing such a piece and not a desperate focus-group the only conclusion we can draw is that they are trolling.  With a blog-post like that, one wonders if the stories of londium machines on the American forums are true.

askthecoffeeguy

what a load of old bollocks - I love my specialty coffee AND I love my lattes as well, and I dont view them as inseparable In fact I enjoy coffee just about any way I can take it which includes spyhon, pour over, and cold filter, as well as espresso and milk based coffees ok I get that specialty coffee is often roasted for filter and that filter roast is not usually suitable for espresso, but there's no reason (perhaps apart from prohibitive costs) that the same coffee cant be roasted for espresso as well - in fact Id rate some $120 per kg coffees that Ive had as a milk based latte to be some of my most memorable coffee experieces - and I can certainly taste and appreciate the difference between say a great single estate rawanda coffee served as a latte and a generic blend bring on the diversity I say! P

Brett H

Well said mate.  Last night I had a read through some of the londiniom threads including the australium, and the AndyS saga not to mention a good number of the positive posts out there about this machine.  I can't help but feel as though feeling we are reliving the Breville Double Boiler journey only with a much less-slick PR.  It's clearly a bollocks post to get people taking about londioms again.

askthecoffeeguy

on 1443071352:

Well said mate.  Last night I had a read through some of the londiniom threads including the australium, and the AndyS saga not to mention a good number of the positive posts out there about this machine.  I can't help but feel as though feeling we are reliving the Breville Double Boiler journey only with a much less-slick PR.  It's clearly a bollocks post to get people taking about londioms again.

I notice that they havent taken the steam wands off of their machines though!

Lwowiak

Every time I read through the passage, I try to understand the reasoning behind it. To put it simply, there is none. He just states that if you want to taste specialty coffee, then ditch the milk (and other additives). He has not defined specialty coffee in any way, nor has he given any reason as to why milk should not be added. His reference to milk shakes, obviously shows his lack of knowledge of the Australian market, and what the consumer seeks. He has not talked about a preparation method either. While lightly roasted coffees are not suitable for espresso, they are wonderful as pour over, syphon etc. Some blends are expertly crafted to shine in a flat white (latte, cappa), but are not the best as espresso. And yes, the blend can come from a mix of expensive "specialty coffee". The same goes for blends that are designed to be drunk as espresso, without milk. I fondly remember an Ethiopian Aricha (14 I think) that I bought from Seven Seeds a few years ago. I enjoyed it via syphon, plunger, espresso and latte. All were very nice. As a latte, it had a delicious strawberry flavour that everyone in my family thoroughly enjoyed. Next, he will probably say that the only true way to enjoy espresso, is via a lever. Well to be perfectly honest, some blends and SO's can actually taste better if prepared on a pump machine. There are too many variables in coffee. Looking at his site, I do not think that his range of roasted coffees, now (and in the past) are what you would classify as specialty, and if mixed with milk would be very disappointing. While on the topic of diluting espresso, I personally find the addition of hot water (eg a long black) to destroy and thin out the experience. Milk can enhance espresso, try it Reiss, you might like it, it may take a few weeks for your palette to adjust. And by the way, I mean the addition of artisan milk, produced by dairy farmers with an enormous amount of care.

Brett H

on 1443072067:

I notice that they havent taken the steam wands off of their machines though!

They'd sell even less of em if they did.  That's a pretty expensive Cremina if they did.  Doesn't it also have a hot-water tap???

Brett H

on 1443084287:

Every time I read through the passage, I try to understand the reasoning behind it. To put it simply, there is none. He just states that if you want to taste specialty coffee, then ditch the milk (and other additives). He has not defined specialty coffee in any way, nor has he given any reason as to why milk should not be added. His reference to milk shakes, obviously shows his lack of knowledge of the Australian market, and what the consumer seeks. He has not talked about a preparation method either. While lightly roasted coffees are not suitable for espresso, they are wonderful as pour over, syphon etc. Some blends are expertly crafted to shine in a flat white (latte, cappa), but are not the best as espresso. And yes, the blend can come from a mix of expensive "specialty coffee". The same goes for blends that are designed to be drunk as espresso, without milk. I fondly remember an Ethiopian Aricha (14 I think) that I bought from Seven Seeds a few years ago. I enjoyed it via syphon, plunger, espresso and latte. All were very nice. As a latte, it had a delicious strawberry flavour that everyone in my family thoroughly enjoyed. Next, he will probably say that the only true way to enjoy espresso, is via a lever. Well to be perfectly honest, some blends and SO's can actually taste better if prepared on a pump machine. There are too many variables in coffee. Looking at his site, I do not think that his range of roasted coffees, now (and in the past) are what you would classify as specialty, and if mixed with milk would be very disappointing. While on the topic of diluting espresso, I personally find the addition of hot water (eg a long black) to destroy and thin out the experience. Milk can enhance espresso, try it Reiss, you might like it, it may take a few weeks for your palette to adjust. And by the way, I mean the addition of artisan milk, produced by dairy farmers with an enormous amount of care.

See... Now this is a post worth reading.  Reasoned, thoughtful and not arrogantly provocative with minimal substantiation.  I keep coming back to 'click-bait' as the pejorative Modus Operandi for the post. I can't help but admire the guy for his pluck and candour but there's too little substance for him to be taken seriously.  I'd buy a machine from Fresh Coffee any day knowing that the class and dignity with which he operates, flows through his entire business to his loyal customers.  The other guys, not so much!

GeekKopi

I'm surprised in that blog that the OP didn't mention to ditch the water and just eat the bean green or pick the cherry straight from the tree and chew it. Water surely would affect the quality of the bean itself. [emoji41]

Brett H

on 1443088091:

I'm surprised in that blog that the OP didn't mention to ditch the water and just eat the bean green or pick the cherry straight from the tree and chew it. Water surely would affect the quality of the bean itself. [emoji41]

You've made me spit my wine.  Kudos GK, Kudos! 

GeekKopi

on 1443089753:

You've made me spit my wine.  Kudos GK, Kudos!

im on fire tonight. [emoji91]

LeroyC

I'm pretty sure the term 'specialty coffee' was coined in the States and simply meant anything that didn't come in a can from the supermarket. Is that not right?

Brett H

on 1443095866:

I'm pretty sure the term 'specialty coffee' was coined in the States and simply meant anything that didn't come in a can from the supermarket. Is that not right?

I think you're correct.  FWIW I've got some lovely Aussie beans currently and my Short Black yesterday arvo was wonderful.  Was it better the my flat white at lunch... Was it experientially more enlightened??  Was one viscerally challenging and the other swill?? Get a life! Perhaps this is the 'testing the waters' post for removal of the steam wand so tanked levers don't stall their thermosyphon.  I would argue that if you want full control and a visceral experience you've got to remove the spring from the lever, not the milk from the cup!

LeroyC

I haven't read all the Londinium threads online, but it certainly sounds like a valid conspiracy theory.

DoubleRistretto

on 1443135157:

FWIW I've got some lovely Aussie beans currently and my Short Black yesterday arvo was wonderful.  Was it better the my flat white at lunch... Was it experientially more enlightened??  Was one viscerally challenging and the other swill?? Get a life!

haha  :D

GeekKopi

on 1443135157:

I think you're correct.  FWIW I've got some lovely Aussie beans currently and my Short Black yesterday arvo was wonderful.  Was it better the my flat white at lunch... Was it experientially more enlightened??  Was one viscerally challenging and the other swill?? Get a life! Perhaps this is the 'testing the waters' post for removal of the steam wand so tanked levers don't stall their thermosyphon.  I would argue that if you want full control and a visceral experience you've got to remove the spring from the lever, not the milk from the cup!

taste this bean. Go on taste it. Put it in your mouth. Let your saliva extract its fruitiness.

Moon

Has the Coffee plant ever bean considered a 'weed' before some bright spark crushed and boiled up the beans to drink? I like how that Squirrel thing over in Indonesia eats the beans and poops them out to end up being 'gourmet' beans selling at astronomical prices. Those little critters certainly hit the jackpot - and can legitimately claim that the sun does shine out of their arses.  :angel:

Brett H

We know there are people out there who will do and say anything to make a buck.  Caged force-fed Civet cats that turn coffee cherries from average beans into astronmally priced beans possibly givesthe little critters cause to reconsider their lucky luminescent behinds!  There's snake-oil salesmen and women everywhere gentle reader.  Listen and read with educated scepticism!

askthecoffeeguy

on 1443152073:

We know there are people out there who will do and say anything to make a buck.  Caged force-fed Civet cats that turn coffee cherries from average beans into astronmally priced beans possibly givesthe little critters cause to reconsider their lucky luminescent behinds!  There's snake-oil salesmen and women everywhere gentle reader.  Listen and read with educated scepticism!

tried a few but never had a good one i guess it depends in part how the bean is processed - but having seen first hand the animals trapped in cages in bali living a miserable existence, I dont think I'll be partaking again any time soon!