Caffé

Welcome to Caffé. The goal of this blog is to gather and share information, tips, about coffee sourcing, equipment, roasting, pouring, tasting etc. I am a barista living in Ashland, OR working for Case Coffee Roasters. I have been a barista for about five years and have been exposed to third wave coffee since high school, however I have only worked for specialty coffee companies for the past two years. Enjoy and I hope more and more people can love and appreciate the beauty that coffee has to offer.

[nelsoncaffe]

It's happening! @case_coffee_roasters @rileymcadoo @rgarciaflores @ericloeffler

[nelsoncaffe]

A Major In Coffee? UC Davis Might Be Brewing One Up

The California university is already famous for its wine and beer programs. Coffee seemed like a natural next step. Its new Coffee Center aims to break down the science behind the perfect cup of joe.

[ludmillatyihorova]

Gourmet Coffee after dinner

-flavored paper filter (the paper soaked in berries-pulp) -yirgacheffe in the mill Sweet aromas with spicy notes and berry flavors 

[nelsoncaffe]

I think I'm gonna have to try this my aeropress :)

[ludmillatyihorova]

Distribution techniques: -begin by slightly over-dosing the PF so that you have a small mound of coffee on top-

Chicago Chop Use the back of a butter knife or a similar coffee tool to ’chop’ across the coffee bed in a single direction and then repeat in the perpendicular direction. Scrape across the basket to level the grounds, tamp and insert.

Schomer’s NSEW Using your finger or coffee tool to push the grinds in a North / South and then East / West direction, swiping off any excess in the last move.

Stockfleth’s Move Place the PF head close to your body, around your midsection. Your left arm holding the PF should now be in an almost right angle position, away from the body, with your elbow pointing outwards. Making a fake gun with your right hand, turning it flat and positioning your thumb on the rim of the PF closest to the right lug, with your index finger on top of the coffee bed. Both elbows should be pointing out in. The motion is one that brings your elbows to your sides, your wrists together and runs your thumb along the rim of the PF and then over the left lug to centre the grinds. All this while using the index finger in a circular motion on top of the coffee bed, and then finishing with a swipe.

Shyndel Method Rest your index and middle finger on the PF in a V shape and complete a light sweep in a circular motion. Repeat the motion again and you should be left with some grinds in between your two fingers, swipe both fingers off to the side, levelling the grounds.

Weiss Distribution Technique (WDT) For WDT you need a small funnel and a bamboo skewer. Place your funnel into your empty portafilter and grind into it. Stir the coffee in the funnel vigorously, breaking up any clumps and collapsing any air pockets in the grounds. Remove the funnel and level off the basket.

[nelsoncaffe]

Watch them grounds!

[coffeewithkevin]

As I have accumulated multiple coffee brewing devices I have started to keep a notebook of some ideal recipes. (It’s much cleaner than random post it’s all over the kitchen) This brewing guide from regular coffee does a great job. Love the simple design.

[pressinggrounds]

This is an amazing resource!

[pressinggrounds]

Getting an espresso machine can be pretty intense. It could be as intense as picking what kind of cheap, five dollar espresso machine you want at your local thrift store (believe me, we have all been there). Or it could be as intense as finding that penny stuck under the cushions of your...

[yourcoffeeguru]

[bplusphoto-blog]

From seed to cup!

[thatgauravkid]

Learn Your Coffee Grind Settings

This isn’t 100% accurate, and grind setting vary a lot from person to person, but it gives you some idea. 

[crema-cream]

Good to keep in mind!

[creativemornings]

This coffee animation by a member of our Atlanta team, Brent Clouse. Keep ‘em coming.

[ludmillatyihorova]

History of the Cafetiere / French Press

1. The first patent for a cafetiere was filed by two Frenchmen, Mayer and Delforge, in 1852. Their design was very simple, a metal coffee pot fitted with a moveable metal filter attached to a rod. The problem with this was that they couldn’t be manufactured with enough precision for the filter to fit snugly into the pot. There was a gap between the filter and the pot, so some coffee grounds could escape around the sides of the filter.

2. The next significant patent for a cafetiere was lodged by an Italian named Attilio Calimani, in 1929. Calimani sought to improve filtration by adding flexible packing around the edge of the filter to form a seal with the side. Calimani proposed that this packing could be made from various materials including a helical spring or rubber.

3. Calimani’s idea of using a helical spring was improved further by another Italian, Bruno Cassol, in 1935. He stated that the helical spring be covered by the gauze part of the filter.

4. In 1958 Faliero Bondanini, was granted a patent for his version of the cafetiere. Instead of a helical spring, Bondanini’s version employed flexible metal fins to push against the sides of the pot.

[nelsoncaffe]

Killer!

[nelsoncaffe]

Guatemala! #elMontañez #casecoffee @case_coffee_roasters @ericloeffler @rileymcadoo @rgarciaflores

[nelsoncaffe]

Pride and joy

[nelsoncaffe]

Remodeling madness! @case_coffee_roasters @ericloeffler @rileymcadoo

[nelsoncaffe]

Here is the video to accompany the previous blog post about Kalita Wave brewing! Enjoy! It is going to be very boring unless you enjoy brewing coffee like a nerd, like myself. :D

[nelsoncaffe]

Kalita Wave Series Dripper

Have you ever heard of the Kalita? What is Kalita? Now you will know! It's time to brew some coffee!!!

The company Kalita was established in Tokyo, Japan in 1958. It is now a family-owned company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The company manufactures paper filters, professional and domestic coffee preparation tools.*

                         *information courtesy of http://kalita-usa.com/about.html

The specific brew method we will be using is the Kalita Wave Series Dripper #185 Glass Dripper (http://kalita-usa.com/wave_series.html).

Here is what we did:

My fellow barista (Eric Loeffler: Quality Assurance/ Sales Director at Case Coffee Roasters) and I decided to make two cups of coffee using the Kalita dripper. We used Case Coffee Roasters' Guatemala 'La Patrona' and the Ethiopia 'Kochere'. 

Our goal is to expand our knowledge of brew methods. We frequently make Chemex here at Case Coffee Roasters as our pour-over option for customers, therefore we have a lot of experience with this brew method. The Kalita however is uncharted territory for myself but not for Eric which is why I asked him to expose me to the new method of brewing. 

What do we know about Chemex?

By using the Chemex we are able to create a wonderfully balanced cup of coffee, delicate yet full of body. In addition to the big body, we are able to create a very clean cup of coffee due to the tightly woven paper filter used in the brewing process. 

Our hypothesis with the Kalita is that we will be able to showcase more complexity from the coffee solely because of the nature of the brewing method. The depth of the coffee bed (while brewing) is less than 1 inch high, unlike the Chemex which can range depending on the partical size, speed of pour and agitation on the barista's part during the extraction. A lower coffee bed during the extraction can result in a bigger body coffee, even somewhat astringent. 

Before brewing with the Kalita dripper I thought the body might be very big and perhaps overpower the complexity of the coffee because of the nature of the brew method. Let's see what happened...

OUR PARAMETERS FOR BREW TEST #1 

The brew: 24g whole beans of the Guatemala 'La Patrona' and 340g of water

Bloom: 40g of water, the crust was broken at roughly 35sec into the extraction. 

Grind: #14 on a Virtuoso (slightly coarser than we would grind for a 12oz cup using the Chemex)

Total extraction time:  3:15secs.

Aroma: All spice, caramelized brown sugar

Tasting note: Silky, velvety body, spicy finish, hint of effervescent feeling on the tongue towards the finish, lingering milk chocolate quality.  

What happened? What did we experience? What did we change to improve the extraction for brew test #2? 

One of the first things we noticed was the complexity in this cup of coffee. There was a wonderful body apparent in the coffee as well as complex tasting notes and neither was compromised for the other. Thus, very well balanced. 

OUR PARAMETERS FOR BREW TEST #2

The brew: 24.5g whole beans of the Ethopia 'Kochere' (We up dosed the coffee instead of making the particle size smaller. Our thought was it would bring more sweetness to the Ethipian coffee. Coarser + higher dosage = brighter complexity, without compromising body.)

Bloom: 40g of water, the crust was broken at 35sec into the extraction.

Grind: #14 on a Virtuoso 

Total extraction time: 3:15secs. 

Aroma: Jasmine, green tea, ripe strawberries

Tasting notes: Effervescent green tea quality, bright strawberry acidity, jasmine, lingering milk chocolate. (up dosing gave us a sweeter extractions than the first, more acidity was apparent)

SO WHAT DID WE FIND? 

We found that the Kalita showcases the wonderful complexities of these coffees. Whereas in the Chemex, of course complexity is apparent, however the complexity of the coffees was not at all masked by the body. In the Kalita we found there was a very well balanced body to acidity ratio. The best of both worlds. 

VIDEOS: 

There will be a video posted shortly after this post. This video is very boring to watch unless you are a coffee nerd. They showcase brewing techinique. If this does not interest you... I would recommend not watching. :D Also, Here is a video from Nicholas Cho on Kalita Wave coffee brewing. 

http://vimeo.com/42382657

Thanks for checking out this post. If you are interested in any of the coffee or the equipment we used check out these links below! (Case Coffee Roasters is unfortunately out of the Guatemala 'La Patrona' but they do have an awesome Guatemala 'La Montañez' that I highly recommend!)

http://casecoffeeroasters.com/store/coffee

http://kalita-usa.com/

https://www.baratza.com/conical-burr-grinders/virtuoso-grinder/

[bungalowclassic]

[nelsoncaffe]

This just a taste of what is to come!

I am currently working on a Kalita brewing method tutorial. It should be blogged by tomorrow morning at the latest!