Repack Espresso

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Join us at @specialtycoffee.home in Frome this Friday for our launch party, including coffee, craft beer, coffee cocktails and more coffee😀 From 7.30 until we’ve drunk everything! (at Specialty Coffee Home) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqsLe8cB21t/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=t2p6vkpmkzqo

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The Aeropress is easily the simplest way to make great tasting coffee at home. Here we’re using it inverted with a @gardellicoffees Black Diamond Costa Rican coffee. The result is a fruit driven, light coffee with great complexity. For further instructions check out our YouTube channel - link in bio. (at Specialty Coffee Home) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqPhX-4hMEJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r5yhugiypy0x

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A new beginning

It’s been quite a while since we last posted, as Repack Espresso has been no more for a couple of years now.

But out of its dying embers has come a new business - still in the field of coffee, but this time bringing the world’s best specialty coffee roasters to home users around the world.

This new venture is called www.specialtycoffeehome.com and offers coffee from award winning roasters, such as Gardelli, Colonna and The Cupping Room.

Check out our site now. If you’re a coffee shop and want to order multiple bags, please drop us a line for wholesale pricing.

JP

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Espresso baskets and their effects on extraction. A little article by me for Perfect Daily Grind comparing IMS and VST baskets (link in bio). #espressoextraction #vst #ims #specialtycoffee #espresso #kvdw #ek43

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Gorgeous @colonnacoffee Cyanika on espresso at the moment. Using the #EK43 and a long extraction it tastes of peanut butter with a sweet honeyed finish in milk.

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Bath, Chains and How We Can Establish an Independent Centre

A few times each month someone who’s not local to Bath will call into Repack having been recommended to visit us by coffee-focused friends or baristas in their regular haunts. More often than not, they’ll be staying in the area for a few days and will ask for advice on things to see and do in the city. In some ways, this is a fairly simple request to fulfil: Bath is a beautiful city with fine architecture, great coffee shops and interesting attractions. However, an issue soon arises when the question of the location of cool and exciting places to shop and eat is raised. This is because the answer is that there are exceedingly few.

Rather depressingly, what Bath has in droves are chains. Scores of them. And all the same chains that you’ll find in most cities in the UK. 

Now, you may argue that this is an insurmountable, country-wide issue and not one that is confined to Bath alone. But that is to ignore the fact that the city’s closest neighbour - Bristol - has a thriving independent sector, with new and interesting businesses opening on a regular basis.

Whilst it is true that Bristol is a significantly larger city, with many times the resident population to support such businesses, we should not underestimate the sheer volume of tourists that Bath attracts each year, which greatly increases its potential. After all, do these tourists really want to purchase the same clothes in H&M and the same chicken meal in Nando’s as they can in their home town? I believe not.

The problem, then, appears to be a lack of willingness on the part of landlords, and particularly the council, which owns great swathes of the retail centre, to allow independent businesses to operate. This is not only due to unrealistic rents (a recent debate on Twitter on this subject highlighted the fact that rents in Bath are up to three times higher than locations of the same size and with similar footfall in other cities), but also an unwillingness to utilise pop-ups and short leases in retail spaces that have been empty for significant periods of time. It often seems that the council, in particular, would rather have a building unused for years, until it is eventually leased by a multi-national, than let small businesses take advantage of the space in the meantime for proof of concept activities. 

Addressing these issues with the council’s approach to retail in Bath is something of a long term project, though. What I’m more interested in is solutions for the short and medium term.

And that’s where the idea of a shared space for a range of complementary retail units comes in. My initial thinking is that this would be comprised primarily of highly focused food and drink offerings - think the antithesis of the 200 menu items restaurant - and a small selection of interesting non-food retailers. So, we’re talking speciality coffee, an artisan bakery, perhaps a wood fired pizza place, natural wine, craft beer and some informal fine dining in the style of Industry Standard in Berlin or Kettle Black in Melbourne. All in one space, with enough presence and critical mass to draw in both locals and tourists.

This last point is critical to the rationale for a shared space - rents are too high, in locations with sufficient footfall, for most independent businesses to operate profitably, but where rents are suitably low, footfall is also low. Co-locating spreads the rental burden, and, if promoted effectively, attracts a greater number of potential customers than the individual businesses would in a standalone environment. This, in turn, enables the space to be located in a less expensive part of the city, further reducing costs. 

Bath doesn’t have an abundance of suitable locations for such a project, but they do exist, and the obstacles to making this concept work are certainly not insurmountable.

Right now I’m seeking interested parties, be they businesses, potential businesses, investors or individuals who wish to provide support. Let’s make this happen!

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I was doing some training with a customer today on a very different machine from our @kvdwespressonisticworks Mirage. After using other espresso machines, it always strikes me how gentle the ramp up of pressure on our Mirage is in comparison. This makes it very forgiving, even on very dense coffees that can be hard to extract fully.

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A Coffee Research Journal? - Thinking Aloud

Before I worked in speciality coffee, I had fallen into a career (of sorts) in the university sector. One of the constant, albeit somewhat repetitive, parts of my various jobs during this time was teaching new undergraduates about the joys of referencing (’no, you can’t make unsupported statements’ and ‘yes, you do need to reference if you paraphrase another person’s ideas’). At some point during each session, I’d inevitably mention academic journals - those arcane publications often referenced slightly irrelevantly by students as a way of shoehorning some up to date research, no matter how tenuous, into their essays.

With a few notable exceptions (Messrs Colonna-Dashwood and Hendon being examples) the speciality coffee industry isn’t big on referencing, or even disseminating its research in a targeted manner. A few years ago this would have seemed like a ridiculous assertion; after all, who, other than multinational roasters, and the odd medical scientist, was conducting any research on coffee at all? Today, however, we are seeing the scientific method being applied to many of the processes of coffee production, roasting and brewing, with varying degrees of rigour.

What is lacking, though, in my view, is a central point through which research on coffee can be disseminated and debated. Sure, there are forums that carry out these functions to some extent, but they are hampered by a lack of expert oversight, resulting in many threads descending to Godwin’s Law level discussion.*

What I propose, then, is something akin to the aforementioned academic journals, albeit free from the ‘sell your research back to you’ model that blights the largest most commercial publications.

The journal would operate as a central repository for research into the production, roasting and brewing of coffee. There would need to be some sort of peer reviewing process to maintain the quality of papers published, but this needn’t be onerous. I’d envisage the tone to sit somewhere towards the more readable end of research papers; although I would still expect scientific rigour, the primary notion of dissemination of knowledge throughout the coffee community would necessarily dictate the presentation of ideas and research that could be understood by non-scientists.

This is by no means an impossible task; Socratic Coffee has been producing a range of research papers in exactly the proposed style for some time now and should be applauded for its work.

As stated in the title, this is only a thought piece, and I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.

*Godwin’s Law states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1″

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Choosing an Espresso Machine

Here’s an article I’ve written for Perfect Daily Grind on choosing an espresso machine:

http://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2016/01/8-steps-to-purchasing-the-perfect-espresso-machine/

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Grinders and Taste - Part 2

In my last post I discussed how grinders influence the taste of coffees and how I was looking for more clarity from my espressos. My original thought was that reducing the proportion of fines produced by the grinder would help to achieve this. Whilst I’m still considering the implications of this, a recent experience with a new espresso has led me to consider other possible directions.

The coffee in question was a Finca Lerida natural from Panama, roasted by Colonna Coffee (the first part of the name being a give-away as to whose roastery this is!) This was roasted in very small batches on an innovative infra-red roaster produced in Korea by Stronghold.

As soon as I started dialling in this espresso, I knew that it was going to be different from much of what I’d brewed in the last couple of years. There was tremendous complexity, clarity and balance from the off, and, although it displayed the sweet, fruity, slightly boozy qualities of a natural coffee, it didn’t have any of the dirtiness or muddiness that so often taint natural coffees when tasted as pure espresso. The closest coffee taste-wise was the small amount of Costa Rican espresso I sourced from Canada’s Transcend earlier in the year (and which was used by Ben Put to claim third place in the 2015 WBC).

So, what does this tell us? Before we consider this it’s worth noting that I didn’t deviate from my usual dialling in approach, other than, on Maxwell’s advice, to pull it a little longer than I typically do (15 in 37 out, rather than, say 15 in 34 out), and I did end up with quite a slow pour (42 seconds on average). Furthermore, I was using the same equipment as ever, and not using a dramatically finer grind setting than I have done in the past. The difference, then, was the coffee itself.

Now, Lerida is situated at significant altitude (1600-1800 metres) so produces quite large, dense beans that, although quite difficult to extract, provide tremendous body, even at fairly light roast levels. Add in high QC levels at the farm, and a perfect roast profile and you have the recipe for a truly great espresso, as long as it’s pulled correctly.

Over the next few months I’ll be running quite a few high end espressos from Colonna  Coffee, so I will be interested to see if they all produce the same degrees of clarity and complexity as the Lerida. It may be that a combination of top end beans and the roast profiles developed by Maxwell just work extremely well with my water chemistry and equipment. I’ll make sure this is all documented here.

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Mugs and fridge magnets.

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We now have @colonnacoffee Rwanda filter on clever dripper. Silky texture, ripe peaches and nectarines. Super juicy. (at Repack Espresso)

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Grinders and Taste

I remember many years ago talking to someone in the coffee industry who referred to the ‘taste’ of a grinder. At the time I dismissed this notion as wishful thinking; as long as the grinder didn’t overheat the grounds and allowed adjustment sufficient for espresso, I thought, the end results would be fairly similar irrespective of the model being used.

I’ve come to realise, though, that different grinders have very specific tastes. I’m guessing that this is primarily related to their particle distribution; that is to say, the range of sizes of particles produced at a grind size suitable for a given espresso recipe.

As an example, a few days ago I tasted an espresso that I’ve been running in the shop for a week or so (a Burundi from Round Hill) from both my machine/grinder combo and that of Small St Espresso in Bristol. They tasted totally different - both very good, but I would have struggled to identify them as the same coffee if tasted totally blind.

On my grinder (Anfim Super Caimano with titanium burrs) the espresso is quite viscous, despite being pulled at a relatively long 2.2/1 brew ratio, and it displays  marzipan and caramel flavours, with nicely balanced sweetness and acidity.

The Small St version has a slightly silkier texture and the flavours are lighter and more fruity. The brew ratio is shorter (1.6/1) but it tasted well extracted. It also seemed to have a little more clarity, despite being run shorter (higher strength coffees often make it harder for us to perceive individual flavours).

Of course, there are multifarious other factors affecting taste than grinders that are different - machines, filtration, basket size, brew ratio - but I’ve noticed that there are overriding qualities inherent in the grinder used - in this case the Mythos One - that remain, irrespective of these elements. A couple of espressos that I tried at Prufrock recently also had the same clarity and lightness, and were made using the same grinder.

The EK43 displays similar qualities, but the shots are usually pulled long, as this seems to be the only way to achieve tasty extractions. The Mythos, in comparison, provides clarity even at lower extraction yields and higher brew strengths, although it lacks a little in complexity versus the EK.

Now, I’m guessing here, as I haven’t seen a grind distribution chart for the Mythos (Socratic Coffee are working on one, I believe), but I strongly suspect that the Mythos produces a lower proportion of fines than the Super Caimano.  

Fines add body to a shot, but they also extract at a higher yield than the bigger particles that make up the majority of the coffee puck. So, if you’re aiming for an extraction yield of, say, 20%, it’s likely that the fines are extracting at 25%+.

I like my espressos to extract relatively high, as this is where, I feel, they taste the sweetest and most complex. So, I’m grinding quite fine and running the shot beyond a 2:1 brew ratio. However, this does mean that I’m also extracting the fines at an even higher yield, and it is these particles that I believe are providing the viscous quality, but are also reducing the clarity somewhat.

The next step will be to sieve the grounds prior to extraction and remove all particles smaller than 150 microns. If clarity is improved then we’ll know that fines are probably the culprit.

Stay tuned for the results...

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Coffees of the Year (or Two)

In the days when the weekly British music press was still in existence, an annual feature of both Melody Maker and NME was the top 100 albums of the year.

Leaving aside debates about how a quantitative ranking system can be applied to an aesthetic item, these pieces made for interesting, albeit inherently frustrating, reads. Witness, for example, the perversity and contrariness of NME, which chose Sugar’s Copper Blue as its 1992 album of the year, instead of Nirvana’s opus magnus, Never Mind. The former is, of course, an excellent album, but few critics today, I think, would argue that it is the greatest work of that year.

Judging and comparing coffees is fraught with difficulties, but, as I have mentioned in this blog before, there are objective measurements that we can use, so it is not directly analogous to the process of ranking pieces of art or musical works.

So, here are my top coffees of 2014/15, chosen for their complexity and balance.

1) Transcend Coffee - El Pilon - Costa Rica

I was extremely fortunate to get hold of a small amount of this espresso, which Ben Put used in the 2015 World Barista Championship to finish third overall.

I’ve nearly always been disappointed with the roast profiles used by North American roasters, but this one, from Canada’s Transcend, was absolutely spot on. There was a lovely interplay of tropical fruits - mango, guava and pineapple - but what stood out most was the finish. Like a great Claret, the taste lingered in the mouth for what seemed like minutes.

2) Notes - Gaitana - Colombia

This was another WBC coffee; in this case the one used by Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood to win the UKBC and reach the final six in the world championship.

Colombian coffees can sometimes have acidity levels that are difficult to control. Thankfully this one was roasted to perfection by Notes’ Candice Madison, who managed to perfectly develop the coffee, making it easy to fully extract a balanced espresso, where the acidity is offset by sweetness and complexity.

3) Coffee Collective - Hacienda La Esmerelda - Panama

This may seem like a rather obvious choice, but my list would be incomplete without its inclusion.

I’m often asked whether Esmerelda justifies its significant expense. The answer is that in purely economic terms it isn’t twice as good as other geishas that are half the price, just as, say, a La Tour Claret from a great year isn’t twice or three times as good as the same wine from a lesser vintage.

 However, Esmerelda still stands as the pinnacle of coffee, with a silky texture that few can match. In fact, this texture is sonething that sets Esmerelda apart, making it almost cru classé Claret-like.

4) Round Hill - Kiriani AB - Kenya

We usually run at least one Round Hill coffee in the shop, and I’m always impressed with them. The Kiriani had all of the elegance of a Kenyan espresso, but with the flavours turned up to 11. Interestingly, all of the ABs and AAs from Kenya that I have tasted this year have been superb.

5) Square Mile - Bifdu Gudina - Ethiopia

I sampled this coffee at the London Coffee Festival, and it was the stand-out filter. I promptly ordered a batch and it became one of our best selling filter coffees. Made with an Aeropress at 60g/litre it showed blackcurrant notes with a finely detailed floral finish.

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Milk - The Overlooked Factor - Part 3

Before I start, I should probably preempt any groaning by promising that this is my last post about milk (at least for the time being...)

In my previous article I discussed my intention to test how espresso pulled three different ways - ristretto, cut short and run the same as straight espresso - produced different results in milk. The idea was to reach a conclusion on whether we should be treating milk drinks, which make up the majority of sales, differently to pure espresso shots.

Unfortunately, my experiment didn’t result in much usable data. The first problem was that, even with the shot pulled 30% shorter, the taste of the 4oz milk drink was barely affected. It took a drop to 16g in/20g out before the shorter shots tasted identifiably different in blind tests.

Once we’d changed the brew ratio to reflect this, we started again. This led to the second issue, which was that there was no clear preference amongst those in the sample group. The only constant was a preference for the normal shot or the ristretto, with few liking the standard shot stopped short.

Although we didn’t measure extraction yields, I strongly suspect that the latter had the lowest extraction, which suggests that there is a point at which under extraction, which can allow a subtle espresso to better cut through milk, imparts a negative flavour on the beverage.

Interestingly, the milk drink that was most often picked as the sweetest was the one made with a standard espresso. Traditionally ristrettos have been regarded as the sweetest espressos, as the sugars are extracted early in the brewing process, and are, therefore, proportionally higher when the espresso is shorter, as the sugar to liquid ratio is higher. However, more recently a link between higher extraction yields and sweetness has been noticed, which may help to explain why the piccolo with the longer, more fully extracted shot was regarded as the sweetest.

Of course, the sample group for this experiment was fairly small, and we only used one type of  bean; it is perfectly possible that different beans would yield a more conclusive result.

For now, though, I will be pulling my milk based drinks at the same brew ratio as straight espresso, as my personal feeling is that these tasted best in the experiment. I am, however, open to change if the evidence points me in a different direction in future.

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Made up some #coldbrew for cold brew gin and tonics this evening, using a gorgeous Round Hill red honey Finca Gloria. (at Repack Espresso)