askthe coffeeguy wrote:
For me some of the things that Ive learned about coffee in the last year are: 1 Short pours are still a 'thing' Cant for the life of me imagine why anyone would only want to put 22ml of coffee in a cup, but, apparently this is still a 'thing' and taste tests at numerous ventures would seem to bear this out. Ok, I can understand in theory at least the idea behind setting up a 'tasting culture' in a coffee venue, where its possible to try a variety of coffees say a flat white, and an espresso, and a pour over, in which case I suppose it makes sense to cut the pours short so as not to max out the caffeine, and to encourage repeat sales. But to me this is just tantamount to dumbing down the palate, and if I wanted a coffee with the taste, strength, and consistency of dishwater, there are any number of places who provide this option already, so Im not sold on the need to 'showcase' it 2 Fine grind and down dosing I mean I know its supposed to work for lighter roasted blends and single origins, and I can see how this could be the case, but some baristas insist on applying this same maxim across the board for all coffees that they make (I mean if you're only putting 22ml in the cup does it even matter how much coffee that you're using?) - but it doesnt work with dark(er) roasts or in hot climates when the oils are starting to come to the surface of the bean more quickly that their 'cooler' counterparts - slowing the whole shebang down to draw out the extraction may work with lighter roasts in cool or air conditioned climates, but its not as effective (IMHO) for darker roasts, and by darker I don't necessarily mean that you've hit second crack already, just that its got more colour on it than some of the grape coloured beans that pass for roast coffee in some places (but I digress). Slowing down the extraction to concentrate the flavours then cutting the pout short just seems counterintuitive and like double handling to me 3 Timed and weighted shots are not a substitute for flavour Whilst I agree that these are important diagnostic tools to me they work best to help identify the 'sweet spot' of how and where a coffee is pouring at its best, this sweet spot then provides a reference spot for the coffee to revolve around, with only minor adjustments necessary to improve pouring times, and their impact on flavour etc Sometimes keeping an eye on the diagnostics, however, seems to takes precedence over tasting the coffee itself, and when that happens the result in the cup can suffer 4 Coffee roasted just past green Melbourne seems to have gotten over this some time ago by temperature dropping at the end of first crack, and the 'coasting' to increase the flavour development of the bean without necessarily having to go too much darker in the roast, but other regional areas seem to have been a bit slow on the uptake, as sour fruit and overly 'biscuit' like flavours still seem to be the norm - cant say Im a big fan 5 Its nice to be surprised sometimes As a bit of a coffee snob Im prone to being quite judgmental when it comes to coffee out, but hey, sometimes when you need a cup of Joe, what are you going to do? A few times recently Ive been very pleasantly surprised by places where Ive had great coffee which would usually slip beneath my coffee radar - so its good to go out on a limb sometimes and this is where magic can happen 6 I still like to roast my own Usually I get it right, sometimes it goes terribly wrong, but sometimes I get a really exceptional result, and when this happens I log it and try to repeat it 7 Knowledge is king And finally I dont for a moment imagine that I know it all if anything its far from it - and its through tasting and testing, trial and error, and through informative discussion boards like this one that my knowledge increases incrementally each day! What do others think? Any new revelations in the last 12 months? Pat
Ah great input Pat! Thanks for chiming in, I love hearing other people's insights! 1. Yeah I have noticed that, the tendency to pull only double ristrettos for all drinks in a few cafes.. I actually love them, even if it's a miniscule amount, it forces me to really hone in and be immersed in it, as fleeting as it is. Really rivets you in the present, and can help relieve the tendency/attachment to want more and more. But that's me haha! I honestly don't understand though how it can be used for all coffees they rotate through though, and I don't think it suits all beans. That's what confuses me! But I know what you mean about dumbing down the palette yeah.. 2. Ah that's really interesting, I'll take all that on board! I haven't seen that trend yet, but I remember at one MICE, I was speaking to one guy at a stand and he was ADAMANT and even preacher-like about using lower doses and finer grind. Even called those who updosed stupid! I couldn't take him seriously, but I took on board what was useful. It was just bizarre how worked up he got about this haha. And I didn't actually realise about using lower doses for lighter roasts (and its vice-versa).. I wonder why that is? I'll have to experiment with that! 3. Yes! Absolutely 😃 4. Hehe yeah it's a strange thing.. seems to be swung to an extreme, and the coffee is just so underdeveloped. I really love the trend of going lighter, but only if it's to explore the full potential of the bean and optimise and bring out its best flavours. I actually don't mind a bit of sourness, I mean, some fruits are naturally sour and that's their prime characteristic, but when it's unbearable it just ain't pleasant.. 5. Yeah it's nice when that happens! Especially if it's a brand/roaster that's not known it's easy to dismiss, but yeah I've definitely been surprised.. to be honest I still check out a few things before I make the call (like a checklist haha): - whether the group handle is locked in or just sitting on the drip tray - steam wand covered in old milk or clean - if they have a doser grinder, if it's full to the brink even when they're quiet - a big one: barista technique and care. Oh and of course to make sure the barista has a beard, tattoos, and maybe glasses! 6. Yeah same, it's such a cool thing to explore, and I just think how much has gone into just the green bean getting to this point, it's nice to prepare it for the rest of the journey 🙂 7. Booyeah [emoji106]
