Cup & Refract with your Roaster: Jeremy Challender video
I found it very revealing to watch the video (see below) of Jeremy Challender telling the story of him and his colleagues struggling for years to begin to understand how their roasters influence the taste and extraction rate of their coffee.
He explains how the VSTlabs refractometer enabled them to measure the extraction rate and this possibility pushed them on a course to see how a different water quality could improve their extractions. Then they moved to bigger burr grinders to see how much that would help get better coffee in the cup. And they tried all sorts of fashionable tamper shapes. Still, their coffee proved to be under extracted, time and time again.
They tried, as many have done years ago, updosing, up to a triple dose for a single espresso to get that boost in taste at the cost of even more severely under extracted coffee. Today, no one at the 'cutting edge' of specialty coffee plays with these high doses anymore.
Eventually they figured out that some roasts work better. Very dark beans may give a "desired" value of extraction when measuring the Total Dissolved Solids but in most current specialty coffee places baristas avoid these roasty, smoky ash aromas associated with very dark roasts.
Many baristas today look at the Nordic Approach in coffee, a Scandinavian tradition of using light roasts that are still fully developed.
Challender found a way to use cupping to evaluate coffees offered by their favorite roasters, with a free app called CuppingLab on his iPhone to grade the coffees and decide which coffee source works best for the desired taste and extraction in their business.
It gradually became clear to him that there is a measurable variance in the roast profile of roasters. The "same" beans will behave different on a new shipment and it was noticeable when the head roaster of a roasting company went on vacation and someone else took over.
To me, it was a surprise to see how even highly experienced baristas know very little about roasting and when the coffee in the cup disappoints them, they first look at the "magic" of their espresso machine (temperature profiles, pressure profiles), the water conditioning system, the grinder, their recipe, possible distribution errors revealed by using a naked portafilter.
For most baristas the roaster and his roastery remain a mystery.
Challender explained a few things he knows about roasting but that was little more than the difference between baked and roasted, and how beans somehow 'pop' and grow twice as big (it's actually more like 40-45% gain in size, with 10-15% loss in weight).
Challender says that many baristas will profit from knowing more about roasting, cupping and using the refractometer.
He does not mention a helpful device like the Tonino to check roast color. He also does not specify how different water conditioning systems or different grinders affected taste and extraction but I'm grateful for him being so open, giving the audience a look inside the mindset of a barista.
Challender mentioned the Q-Grader course a few times, an excellent way to become a certified expert at cupping. At 2000 UK Pounds it is an expensive course, though, and probably too expensive for baristas who typically make little money. Those who take the course can move on to become green coffee buyers and travel the world.
He provides a very useful way for baristas to communicate in an efficient manner with their roasters, providing feedback to them so they will know which roast profile of what day has worked best for a specific customer. His hints for a simple consistent cupping routine using the new app also empower baristas to make it easier for them to select which coffees to buy.
He explains how the VSTlabs refractometer enabled them to measure the extraction rate and this possibility pushed them on a course to see how a different water quality could improve their extractions. Then they moved to bigger burr grinders to see how much that would help get better coffee in the cup. And they tried all sorts of fashionable tamper shapes. Still, their coffee proved to be under extracted, time and time again.
They tried, as many have done years ago, updosing, up to a triple dose for a single espresso to get that boost in taste at the cost of even more severely under extracted coffee. Today, no one at the 'cutting edge' of specialty coffee plays with these high doses anymore.
Eventually they figured out that some roasts work better. Very dark beans may give a "desired" value of extraction when measuring the Total Dissolved Solids but in most current specialty coffee places baristas avoid these roasty, smoky ash aromas associated with very dark roasts.
Many baristas today look at the Nordic Approach in coffee, a Scandinavian tradition of using light roasts that are still fully developed.
Challender found a way to use cupping to evaluate coffees offered by their favorite roasters, with a free app called CuppingLab on his iPhone to grade the coffees and decide which coffee source works best for the desired taste and extraction in their business.
It gradually became clear to him that there is a measurable variance in the roast profile of roasters. The "same" beans will behave different on a new shipment and it was noticeable when the head roaster of a roasting company went on vacation and someone else took over.
To me, it was a surprise to see how even highly experienced baristas know very little about roasting and when the coffee in the cup disappoints them, they first look at the "magic" of their espresso machine (temperature profiles, pressure profiles), the water conditioning system, the grinder, their recipe, possible distribution errors revealed by using a naked portafilter.
For most baristas the roaster and his roastery remain a mystery.
Challender explained a few things he knows about roasting but that was little more than the difference between baked and roasted, and how beans somehow 'pop' and grow twice as big (it's actually more like 40-45% gain in size, with 10-15% loss in weight).
Challender says that many baristas will profit from knowing more about roasting, cupping and using the refractometer.
He does not mention a helpful device like the Tonino to check roast color. He also does not specify how different water conditioning systems or different grinders affected taste and extraction but I'm grateful for him being so open, giving the audience a look inside the mindset of a barista.
Challender mentioned the Q-Grader course a few times, an excellent way to become a certified expert at cupping. At 2000 UK Pounds it is an expensive course, though, and probably too expensive for baristas who typically make little money. Those who take the course can move on to become green coffee buyers and travel the world.
He provides a very useful way for baristas to communicate in an efficient manner with their roasters, providing feedback to them so they will know which roast profile of what day has worked best for a specific customer. His hints for a simple consistent cupping routine using the new app also empower baristas to make it easier for them to select which coffees to buy.
Reacties