Coffee, for many, is part of a daily routine, whether that routine includes a pot of Folgers at home, or a cup of Starbucks on the drive to work. For the devout, local coffee shops are the only way to go, and Leo at Cafe Corazon can demonstrate why.
Today he opened up the shop to a handful (okay, two handfuls) of "students" interested in learning more about the process involved in a good cup o' joe. All 10 students—at least half of them connected with Creative Fresno—were seated along the left; a table on the right was stocked with the necessary tools for the tasting.
The first pour was the Tanzanian, which was described as "spicy" and "chocolaty." The second pour was from a Brazilian bean, which Leo let brew in the French press for precisely four minutes. For the third tasting—espresso—everyone gathered behind the bar to see Leo's process from grind to pour. He topped the second round of espresso off with milk, sending each of us off with a warm latte and a 1/4 pound of beans.
Leo knows his stuff, and came prepared with his thoughts organized on paper. He touched on just about every part of the process:
- Getting to know your bean
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Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee; supposedly, it was discovered by a flock of goats.
There are two types of coffee plant: Arabica and Robusta. Robusta does not require the high altitudes that Arabica does, yet yields twice the fruit and twice the caffeine; it's also bitter, and produces a noticeable head of crema when brewed as espresso. Leo credits the spread of "fru-fru" drinks to the undesirable flavor of Robusta beans.
- Water
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Obviously, water is a major factor in a good cup of coffee. Leo claims that only the most discerning palettes can distinguish any flavors that come from water, and recommends only a regular filtration system.
When brewing coffee, he suggests bringing the water to a boil, then removing it from the heat and counting to 20 before pouring it over the beans. The optimal temperature for brewing is 195-200° Fahrenheit. Too hot, and one risks double-brewing the coffee.
- Grinders
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For coffee drinkers in a hurry, beans can be ground fine and left to breathe for about two minutes before brewing; for a better cup of coffee, Leo recommends a coarser grind, and letting the beans sit for a few minutes longer.
When it comes to grinders, consistency is key; powder results in bitterness.
Whirly blades (usually made of metal) are bad, flat bur grinders are good—again, it's about consistency. Grinders at the grocery store perform okay, but may not be cleaned of oils and powder often enough.
- Roasting
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Leo described early experiments in roasting beans, which included a popcorn popper (he claims that, despite being difficult to work with, such machines offer the next best roast to the equipment he uses).
Evidently, darker roasts are often used to mask a lower grade bean, as the "roasting" flavor overpowers crop inconsistencies.
- Storage
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All oils eventually spoil, and coffee beans contain oil (Robusta more than Arabica); thus, coffee beans can turn rancid.
Freshly roasted beans release CO2 and must breathe before they can be sealed.
Freezing can preserve the beans, if it's necessary, but Leo's advice is to only buy the beans needed for a week or so at a time.
One of the participants reflected on a time when coffee tasted horrible, asking, "What ruined coffee in the United States?" Leo pointed to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, where only Robusta plants can be grown due to altitude.
And there was more—again, Leo knows his stuff. He talked about different methods for brewing, the ideal ratio of coffee to water, sipping etiquette (slurping is preferred when cupping), and decaffeinating processes. For the full scoop, talk to Leo about his next tasting.
First, I want to say thank
First, I want to say thank you to all that attended. It went well considering it was my first time giving a presentation of that nature. I learned a lot as well.
I just wanted to expand and clear up a few items from your post.
Robusta
True, Robusta has twice the caffeine, yields twice as much, grows twice as fast and for all it’s worth tastes like complete crap. It has such a high oil content that it is often used to “boost” espresso blends for crema and caffeine. The trade the roaster is making when using this bean is the addition of the crappy flavor from it. How might one combat this? Well, add a bunch of sweet stuff to it and change if from a straight espresso experience to a sweet mocha experience. This also makes those super dark roasts palatable. I’ll go on more on roast levels later.
Water
True, I do think not a whole lot of people can tell the differences between types of filtration of water. I also know that many people will still taste off flavors from poor water quality. Often times when people start using filtered water they will notice when someone makes them a coffee with unfiltered water. This is one of the steps towards refining your coffee palate.
Water that is too hot will actually scorch the coffee grounds. You will get a bitter flavor or any number of off flavors that will leave you kind of making faces at what you are drinking. You’ll think it’s the beans, when it’s the water that is too hot.
Grinders
This is another great subject. Your note on two minutes seems to be a kind of consolidation of a few things I was going over.
The note on two minutes was in reference to how long to brew your coffee with respect to how fine your grind is in a French Press. With a finer grind you can, in theory, brew your coffee faster so you don’t have to wait as long for it to brew. There isn’t a whole lot you can manipulate with regards to drip brewing. For a French press the standard is a fairly coarse grind. This keeps the particulate matter/powder from passing the metal screen and forming that wonderful sludge at the bottom of your cup. With a coarse grind you’ll want to give the grounds time to brew, about four minutes depending on your liking.
For the coffee particle size you want consistency so you can have a great cup of coffee you can count on. The more even all the particles of coffee are the more consistent your cup of coffee will be. Like the note on the finer grind equating to a quicker brew, if you have a mix of fine powder and larger particles in the same brew you end up with some of the coffee getting over brewed and some if it under brewed. You can see where having that consistent particle size matters.
It’s a skill to get a good grind with a blade grinder, but it can be done. The step up from that is a flat burr grinder, which tends to be more affordable than the step up from that, a conical burr grinder. One of the cheaper conical burr grinders in production runs about $300.00. The cheapest flat burr runs in the neighborhood of $40.00. Things to look for in flat burr grinders are the types of metal in the burrs. A good one with carbon steel or even ceramic burrs will run $100.00+. The only sacrifice in going with the cheaper flat burr is that they burrs tend to not last as long. In time your cup quality will degrade due to increased fine particles that you have been looking to avoid.
Grocery store grinders use the higher quality conical burrs. There are a couple problems with its use. One is that you would be buying their beans. Who knows how long those beans have been there. Probably longer than one week that’s for sure, and who knows how long they were in a warehouse before that. If you see oil on the bean you have already compromised quality. Namely it takes a while for the oil in the bean to migrate out from the center, this is most definitely a sign of old beans. The other trade is that they have been roasted so dark the oils have come out right from the roaster. I could go on. Main thing is that the inside of that grinder is now coated with all those old rancid oils. That rancidity gets passed onto the beans you just ground with their grinder. This makes a poor cup of coffee to put it lightly.
Roast
Great notes on roasting that are on point. One thing is certain; there is an association with dark roasts and strength, or caffeine content. This is a common misconception. In particular there are 2 separate facts. Caffeine content does not increase with darkness of roast. In other words, dark roasts do not equal more caffeine. In fact, if one wanted to really get a buzz you could chew on some un-roasted green beans. It would taste awful but hey, you’d get a good dose of caffeine. The other, strength is a function of DTS, or Total Dissolved Solids. The more actual coffee that is dissolved into your hot water, the stronger it will be. It seems that people associate that harsh burnt flavor with some kind of reward via caffeine or strength. The reality is that that charred flavor has basically overridden the natural flavors of the bean and it’s native land. I roast the beans based on flavors that are brought out through the mallaird reaction. The mallaird reaction is a process of turning the starches in the cellulose structure of the bean into sugars via caramelization. There is very little starch in the coffee but it is there and it’s what’s behind the brown color. If you have ever tasted sautéed onions or carrots that were browned and gotten that sweet flavor, you know what the mallaird reaction is. That is also where I tend to find the most flavor when roasting my coffee beans. Go very far past a good brown, even as far as dark brown, and you end up with a lot more of the charred flavor in place of that bean character I’m trying so hard to bring out. Let’s pretend and say I’m buying cheap crappy beans, or Robusta beans even, how do you think I might cover up those less than ideal flavors of those low quality beans? Hmmmmmm Can you say French or Espresso Roast? Don’t get me wrong, those are still flavors and they can be appreciated. For myself however, I like to taste more than char, and I like to taste all those different nuances that beans from around the world offer when they are not over roasted.
Storage
Good points on storage. Time is the enemy. Freshness reigns supreme. You don’t go to a nice restaurant and ask for week old salad or soup, coffee is no different. This is where Café Corazón raises the bar again in Fresno. I roast our beans to insure quality control and freshness. The beans on our shelves are rarely more than a couple days out of the roaster, and that’s how we like it. That’s how we are spoiling Fresno. Time and again people comment on how there is no equal that they have ever had in town. This is for the most part due to fresh product.
On that note is where I like to recommend not purchasing more than you will use in one week, maybe two. This will insure you freshness and high quality in every cup.
Since we are located next to the Immigration Department, we often serve people from Europe and around the world. Nearly every time we do serve a world traveler, we get comments on how they have been around the states and have not tasted a coffee that is our equal. I set standards that are hard to meet for a reason. I want Café Corazón to offer the best, without compromise.
I’ll stop there for now and come back again to finish up on proper ratios and different brew methods. You might look for my blog on fresnofamous.com. Better yet, come by the coffee house and talk to me or Liz and get to know coffee like you have never known coffee before.
Regards,
Diablo
a.k.a. Leo Rios, Proprietor/Roaster, Café Corazón
Leo, you're full of
Leo, you're full of knowledge. Thanks for clearing up a few things, and for expanding on others.
For those who haven't stopped by Cafe Corazon, I was back in yesterday for a delicious cup of the Tazanian Pea Berry (?) Check it out!