Coffee, How do you decide?

Emma_MW

Hi there Guys

There have been some interesting topics started here.I think this could bring you all out.

I would like to know what decides whether a coffee is good or bad and how you rate them. As in your own personal choice, is it the freshness & blend of the roast or a guarantee of such or is it the pre packaged (Name) brands that are imported. Does it have to contain Robusta or do you prefer 100% Arabica. What it the perfect age of beans?

There are many points to cover here, yet it may say somthing more about yourselves. You opinon that is!!

Bring it on M X :-/

ristretto

Not a hard one.

Emma_MW

So you prefer canned coffee, I do find this interesting. That has been roasted months ago. The barista is not an issue in this. It is presuming everything is going to be made well. So ?

ristretto

The barista is the issue and really the only issue.  Your argument suggests that the petrol Michael Schumacher uses is more important than his driving skill.  How is that he wins in every car he drives, certainly not the petrol, or the car it is him just like it is the barista. Apart from estate coffee which very rarely sees the light of day most coffees come from the same areas/brokers/companies therefore the differentiator is the person making it. Further how is that a great coffee can be turned into swill by an inexperienced person.  Your argument suggests that the coffee is all that is important. Ristretto  8)

caf_fiend

Emma, Yeah right made well like that happens everywhere you go.

Emma_MW

So let me get this!! It does not matter about the roaster or the skill that has gone into acheving the perfect blend, cupping selecting the green beans ect. Because only the barista counts! This opinon is to my mind very narrow. Look outside the square you live in. Is all coffee bad in Australia? By the way you talk it is. Why dont you just roast your own in a popcorn machine or on a tray in the oven. Sounds like it don't matter either way.. There are over 900 variables in the taste & aroma of coffee. Is all this the barista!!. There is more than one way to use coffee you know.. Still wondering Emma X

caf_fiend

At the medium to top end of the roasting market there is almost no difference.

Emma_MW

I guess its down to who gives away the most umbrellas & Machinery. It still does not answer the question. What does it for you guys? What turns you on? Taste profile ect. I am a barista with nearly eight years experince now. Are you saying coffee is just coffee, has it become that commoditized in Austraila? There is in my eyes a difference in taste profiles, freshness being an issue, but not only that the way each roasters blend will react to different machinery ,brew times, temperature ect.Styles of roast different origins, is it just much of a muchness? Surely not, it that anything to be passionate about? Still not convinced Emma :-/

Unknown

Well guys it goes like this, every step in a chain matters, from the rain, soil, species, grower, roaster, etc etc barista, drinker. As per usual the weakest link is the one that shows through the most. Even the best barista cant make Nest.... come good. So calm down and have another drink. Miro

So let me get this!! It does not matter about the roaster or the skill that has gone into acheving the perfect blend, cupping selecting the green beans ect. Because only the barista counts! This opinon is to my mind very narrow. Look outside the square you live in. Is all coffee bad in Australia? By the way you talk it is. Why dont you just roast your own in a popcorn machine or on a tray in the oven. Sounds like it don't matter either way.. There are over 900 variables in the taste & aroma of coffee. Is all this the barista!!. There is more than one way to use coffee you know.. Still wondering Emma X

Unknown

25% coffee 25% equipment 50% Barista thats the usual breakdown   ;D BUT u cant make a bad coffee taste g00d....no matter what u do but a bad Barista certainly make a g00d coffee taste bad (probably not a Barista then  :P) Personally I dont go for any specific brand of coffee...the only criteria I have is that it MUST be roasted here in Australia taste profiles are a personal thing...much like wine some like red & some like white

Unknown

The taste of coffee is not an absolute but varies with the interaction to the drinker and the surroundings. Nestle tests consumer reactions by changing the lighting under which the coffee is served and the flavour changes. An even bigger problem is that the human palate changes with regards to whatever has been consumed recently. The taste in the mouth is the interaction of the saliva with the taste of the coffee and if you have been eating anchovies or salted peanuts then the coffee will have reduced or no flavour because the saliva is too salty. Try it.  Additionally the flavour of the same coffee drunk one cup after another is different because the palate is changed. Tasting is very complicated. My simple test is - does it taste like coffee and do you like it ? Yes, yes - it is a good coffee. There are thousands of good coffees in the world. If the barista smiles does that make it a better coffee than if the barista scowls ??? Ian Bersten

ristretto

Finally some sanity.  Don't forget coffee is a natural substance that has hot water exposed to it in some form, lets not get too technical. Ian thanks for the dose of pragmatism. Ristretto  8)