What is a Coffee Professional?

The Difference Between a Cupper and Other Coffee Professionals, and the Need for a Common Language

In December of 2015 I went to one of the Odorama events of Mediamatic. It was an evening dedicated to the vocabulary of fragrance. The whole evening was structured around the question of our sense of smell and why it is so difficult to find the words to capture what we experience. 

One of the most interesting talks was given by Ilja Croijmans, a linguist researching this very thing. Apparently Western languages are one aspect of making the act of aroma descriptors difficult. Just think about it, how many words to you know that are only dedicated to a smell?

In other languages around the globe, and specifically in some parts in Asia, there are words dedicated only to olfactory experiences; there are specific words to specific smells, and so constructs such as: 'smells like ...', are not necessary.

Ilja wanted to know if in Western society the fact that we find it difficult to describe smells is due to this lack of specific defining words, or if there is an other layer of explanation: do we simply not get enough practise?

To test this

The Genetic Diversity of Yeasts in Coffee Processing

Yeast. It's used for many, many things. Including fermentation in wine, cacao and coffee. It's the distinguishing element between grape juice and wine. It is part of the process of creating alcohol, but also has a huge influence on the flavour. Using starter cultures of yeast have been common in the wine industry for a very long time and this is one of the reasons all vineyard-yeast strains are so similar.

Coffee and cacao farmers do not use starter cultures, but often rely on their local surroundings. So interestingly enough, although the coffee tree is very homogeneous as most plants around the world share the same origin, the yeasts found in the green bean end product differ completely.

At least this is what Aimée Dudley of the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute and Justin Fay of the University of Washington found. They were even able to use DNA sequences of the yeast strains to determine origin. 

According to the researchers this diversity of coffee yeasts opens up the possibility to create new flavours of coffee, by using a yeast from a certain region, in the fermentation process in a different location. Who knows what this would taste like?

As a coffee cupper and q grader myself, this sounds very interesting. At the same time my mind immediately flew to one of the most thought provoking and inspiring Reco talks of Gothenburg on what lessons coffee can draw from the 'natural wine' movement.

Are starting yeasts and yeasts for sale really something we want to invest in? Or would we be stepping away from a product we love. If we start adding yeasts from the Panama Geisha from Esmeralda to all coffees from all over the world, we might in theory create more floral and perfumed coffees, but we might also be destroying local yeasts and culture that have been in use for centuries.

What do you guys think? Am I too conservative? 

New Coffee Favourites: the Autumn Edit 2015

The coffee scene is ever growing. New gadgets, new brew methods, theories and new coffees. These were my favourite discoveries this Autumn, not a lot this time, but although low in number, they are very highly loved.

1. new coffee

Kenya Ruiruiru. If you see it on a menu. Buy.It.Now. It came across my cupping table this fall, and without a doubt is the best Kenya I had this year, perhaps, yes most definitely, the best coffee no matter the origin. Filled with black currant, brambles, lime, dark chocolate and a lovely lingering dark chocolate and sweet bramble lemonade-like finish. And it has a creamy full body too.

2. podcast

This podcast from BBC Radio 4 Food Programme had me lost in thought for at least a week. Showcasing the book "Bitter: A Taste of the World's Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes" by Jennifer McLagan, the podcast talks about the taste bitter; how it is needed to create balance in great flavour and dining; and how it is disappearing from our (Western) kitchen.

It also brought back memories of articles I had read in the recent past. Namely Sprudge's "Bad Coffee: Why Do People Love it", where Lizzie Derksen tries to find an answer to why people like bad -bitter- coffee:

The light roasts so beloved by the new generation of artisan roasters not only result in higher caffeine content, but higher acidity levels as well, which perhaps do not always produce a reviving, solacing effect. Our filmmaker friend Dylan muses, “I think there’s an element, too, where bad coffee goes well with comfort food; it’s just something hot and bitter, a flavor combination thing.”

Plus, also the news article I read on Daily Coffee News on a Denver company developing a method to reduce the natural bitters in coffee with a mushroom-based fermentation technology.

Where are we going with bitter in coffee? Personally, I'm not a fan of a dark and bitter roast. But don't we really enjoy a good bitter -a great tannin bitter; a lovely dry black currant finish; a dark cacao note- in a great coffee? This might turn into a longer blog post in the future. 

3. new book

Probably the most anticipated book in coffeeland this year. The "Water for Coffee" book by three time UK barista champion and three time international finalist Maxwell Colonna Dashwood and 'Science guy' Christopher H. Hendon. 

Warning: it is really sciency, explaining the periodic table, nuclear fusion and more. For someone who dropped Chemistry at the first chance she got (and regretting that now) it is a challenge. But it's a good one.

4. new gadget

I bought a weather station from Ambient Weather. It's big, it shows everything in a glance and it comes in different colours. 

It gives me a quick overview of the humidity and baro pressure, on which I can adjust my sample roasting when necessary. It is extremely helpful, not only for the roasting, but also to see when I need to but some bowls of water out to get some moisture in the air. Especially now Winter is coming and the heating is flaring up.

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That were my Autumn favourites. Tell me yours! Follow this blog, or the facebook, google+ or other outlets to stay up to date on the Winter fav's.

New Coffee Favourites: the Summer Edit 2015

The coffee scene is ever growing. New gadgets, new brew methods, theories and new coffees. These were my favourite discoveries this summer.

1. new coffee

Within a couple of minutes roaming around Hamburg for a day this summer, I ran into Playground Coffee. Talk about coincidence. It was the best coffee we had during our German Coffee Crawl. 

We enjoyed this Tanzania beyond anything else we tried. It was sweet, juicy, fruity, fresh. And the packaging....beautiful. And a lot of fun to open up as well, with a surprise stamp placed on the inside of the box.

All coffees come in these beautifully designed packages, and you know what the Dutch say: "The eye wants something as well"...meaning that the way something looks might just be as important as what's on the inside. 

2. new gadget

Just on the corner of my cupping table at work, there is this one spot. This one spot is the place that brings on all the comments and critiques. 

Because of the lighting, all the coffees placed in this spot look just that tad bit darker roasted. They.Are.Not. To stop my co-workers being yelled at, by me, given that the lighting situation has proven difficult to solve, I bought a My Tonino. This little device can measure the roast colour of your ground roasted coffee. Great! As it is much more cheap than an Agtron and you only need 20 grams to measure roast degree. It does take some patience to calibrate.

3. something not coffee

 Dried hibiscus is not that easy to get your hands on, but if you can, do! It has been said to have certain health benefits, such as being beneficial for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and hypertension, however more importantly it is a gorgeous drink both visually and flavourwise.

Just drop some dried petals in a pitcher and add boiling water. The colour is this rich vibrant pink, while the taste is very bright and cranberry-like. Try adding some fresh mint for some sweet spice.

4. new brew method

Here we go again with the cold brew. But people, it's summer and it's hip. Deal with it. This Hario cold brew bottle was a gift bag gift at Re;Co symposium, which makes it even better of course. 

In the bottle, which is a new product by Hario, sits a very fine mazed filter which is closed off at the top, meaning that when your cold brew is done brewing, you can just start serving, without having to worry about sieving out the ground coffee first. Genius. Need a cold brew recipe? Check out my cold brew post.

5. new coffee cocktail recipe

And after you have brewed your cold brew in your Hario cold brew bottle, make a cocktail. This is a virgin cocktail, but if you need some alcohol in your life I suggest a nice, quality dry gin.

We have all seen, heard of and tried the tonic espresso, right? And you have either loved or hated it. Sometimes because an espresso can have quite a high tarty flavour, the combo does not work very well. A sweet and fruity espresso works best. Still it can be difficult to get right.

You know what's easy? Replace the espresso with cold brew. Brew a slightly more chocolaty and sweet cold brew, for example Brazil or a blended coffee, it may also be a little bit more dark roasted. Once your brew is done, create a 50/50 cold brew/tonic drink that will blow your mind away with refreshingness.

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That were my Summer favourites. Tell me yours! Follow this blog, or the facebook, google+ or other outlets to stay up to date on the Autumn fav's.

New Coffee Favourites: the Spring Edit 2015

The coffee scene is ever growing. New gadgets, new brew methods, theories and new coffees. These were my favourite discoveries this spring.

1. new coffee

Panama Geisha from the Hacienda Esmeralda is known for it's yearly auction of their best Panama Geisha lots. I had the honour and opportunity to roast and grade samples of this year's lots, through my job as quality coordinator at Trabocca. And this natural Bosque lot [Jamarillo region, 1670-1780 masl and harvested on March 2nd] stole my heart. Tropical fruits and florals, amazing body, great aftertaste. What else could you want? It ended up selling for $122.01 to "Linking coffee / NingboAncientCoffee寧波愛咖啡 / 羅錦銘". So yay for the small sample roast and the remnants of that sample enjoyed on the aeropress at home.

2. new gadget

So this was a rediscovery for me. I first found this  On Balance scale when, as a training manager for Coffeecompany, I was looking for scales to weigh espresso shots. Because were do you go for a 500x0.1G scale that does not break? Apparently you go to the other coffee shop. In an online smart shop I found an array of scales, even more precise than this one. But this one is sturdy and travels well. Which is exactly what you want for a chain of coffee bars, that works with temporary young baristas, who throw things around and where everything ends up in one messy drawer. 

With my job I travel a bit and I love to bring my aeropress brew kit, consisting of a porlex grinder, aeropress, small pitcher, coffee, filters and now this scale. It is precise, it does not break and it fits into the blue aeropress bag. Awesome!

3. something not coffee

Okay, so Buchu is not coffee. It's not tea. But it's a leaf, and you infuse it with water. And it's mindblowingly good. I discovered it through Mevrouw Cha,  who was kind enough to gift it to me. Buchu grows in South Africa and can only be harvested by licensed pickers, as it is quite rare. The Hottentots used Buchu for bladder and stomach problems, as well as to perfume their bodies. 

The taste? Fresh, with notes of pine leaves, mint and lemon. And it is absolutely delicious as a cold brew too.

4. new brew method

The Bodum pour-over was put into the portfolio of a large Dutch supermarket chain this year. Filter coffee is a big thing, the Bodum is not that expensive (under EU40), so why not? As I already owned a Chemex and did not want to splurge on something similar I left it in the store. Alas, it looks like the supermarket was a little to enthusiastic about the Dutch love for home filter brewing. Because just a few months later, these things ended up in the sales items for under 10 euros. And there he was, this snazzy yellow number.

It has the ease of a Chemex, meaning you have a pour-over device and carafe in one. The metal filter has the same shape as a clever dripper. But the holes are only in the mesh on the sides, and not in the bottom. The metal filter does mean you need a coarser grind, and so I would advice overdosing to compensate. It also means that you will have a more French Press-like profile, with a fuller body and some residue.

PS, it does not fit Chemex, or basically any other, filters, unless modified in some way.

5. new coffee cocktail recipe

Dear coffee lover, please do not hate me, but try this out. Because it is heaven. A cold brew coffee cocktail. A spring favourite that can carry very well into summer. 1/4 tawny port, 2/4 cold brew, 1/4 yellow Fernandez. The cold brew provides a chocolate fruitiness that is well balanced with the more acidic and sweet Fernandez, the port gives a little orangy tang. I used a three day steep cold brew of a Colombian Cauca coffee, but I expect any chocolaty cold brew will do. Now if you say, pause, wait, go back....a three day steep? Yes, I three day steep. Try it. It clears that foggy cold brew right up, and gives a much cleaner and brighter brew than a shorter steep. Once you tried that, try this cocktail.

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That were my Spring favourites. Tell me yours! Follow this blog, or the facebook, google+ or other outlets to stay up to date on the summer fav's.