Comments on: Who is to blame?

By: Mike Marquard

Mike Marquard — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:11:34 +0000

random idea…..what if we dropped the temperature of our espresso boilers significantly? Would this do the same thing as roasting a bit darker? Could we use the same roast, appreciate the same coffee in espresso as well as chemex? Are we being drastic enough? We talk a lot about temp/pressure profiling, but what have we found?

Sounds like I’ll be hopping on the GS/3 tomorrow afternoon…..

By: Kristy

Kristy — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:47:17 +0000

In the artisan coffee sphere at present, we are doing a great job of celebrating the purity and amazing quality of single origins, experimenting with and exhibitioning various varieties through a diverse specturm of brewing methods. Testing, recording, looking for patterns, creating proofs and process of elimination is all part of the emipirical method, and we can use this to a certain point ie. professional coffee cupping standards. Espresso is one of many brewing methods, a high pressure, extermely hot method which produces a concentrated brew, pulling out aspects of the bean you may not get from a another method. That’s all there is to it. A single origin, roasted and pulled well may taste great as espresso and it may not. Am I missing the point? Is there a struggle here I’m not savvy to? Fill me in.

By: tim dominick

tim dominick — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:35:24 +0000

I’m not much of a barista but roasting is my daily function. The approach to roasting will dictate the potential usefulness of a coffee as an espresso. That said, there are more than a fair share of coffees that will not turn heads in an espresso machine yet are quite suitable for a broad spectrum of brewing methods. It does not reduce the excellence of a coffee if it doesn’t work in an s/o espresso.

A fast turn after the drop and quick jump from first crack to a lighter finish with most washed Centrals will create a coffee that will be unbarabley acidic in an espresso. Slow everything down, mute the acidity and play up the mouthfeel and sweeteness. You can have a coffee with the same agtron number but how you arrived at that number can change the cup dramatically. Also, there is something to be said for the machine itself. It is no wonder that some companies with multiple roasters always choose machine “A” to roast their espresso. Perhaps it has more controls, better airflow, a different burner system or a thicker/thinner drum that gives the roaster an advantage.

Consider the idea that you can have a single origin espresso that is a composition of roast levels. No one is calling it a single-roast single-origin espresso so fuse the attributes of bright acidity and silky mouthfeel that you find from varying the approach to the roast. There is no “standard” here except self-imposed limitations. We can reduce everything, I suppose the absolute extreme is single orign one shrub from one farm picked on one day?

An El Salvador that was harvested in late 2009 and delivered last week is a totally different coffee than what you will find when you cup it in mid-july. The life cycle of a green coffee plays an important role in which attributes a roaster wants to feature. What makes a coffee special today might be it’s weakness in 3 months. Wait 6 months and you might find a coffee sings as an espresso yet disappoints as a syphon.

Finally, give the same lot to ten roasters and you’ll get eleven results. A barista has a toolbox of tweaks they can make to temperature, grind, pressure, extraction time etc; a roaster has quite a few ways to coax out attributes and honestly what happens in the roastery dictates the parameters a barista has to work with. If it is a square peg it will not fit in a round hole, so pull the chemex off the shelf and enjoy a beautiful cup. The espresso machine’s feelings will not be hurt.

By: thompson

thompson — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:01:59 +0000

I don’t really have any response to the original post because I think it’s a miss. If a coffee doesn’t work well as a SO espresso, I think nothing less of it. I also don’t assume I am the only person that could make it work a espresso; if I can’t maybe someone can. But if it is so difficult, why force it?
I would flip this on it’s head, and I will, since I don’t have espresso-centric frame:
Is it a failure of my tasting ability to say a balanced and “restrained” coffee is only good for espresso? Am I unfair to say, “you are pretty boring, mr. coffee, but maybe as espresso …”

By: Michael Phillips

Michael Phillips — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:19:28 +0000

So many points… First off, we have a very real El Salvador that just came in. Super fresh crop and it tastes amazing as espresso in my opinion… that however is not what I believe it was bought for, just a lucky side perk. Going off of my still fairly limited experience, I would say there is certainly a correlation between coffee that cups and scores well to coffee that pulls a great shot but it is hardly set in stone. For example, perhaps a coffee tastes amazing as a pour over but in the first attempts as espresso is mediocre. There is a chance that the barista could go back and work with the roaster, could play with adjusting pressure and temperature on their machine, swap baskets, try different ages of roast and work with 50 other variables finally managing to squeeze out a good shot… but there is no guarantee. To “blame” anything for a coffee not performing as an espresso is a bit silly. Just as some people have a knack for writing and others for medicine I believe some coffees do for espresso and some for drip. Granted, just as there are clever people who will be good at most anything they set to so are there clever coffees that perform however you brew them… but if they are not so agile then all the better to focus on what they do well. I think more so what needs to change is our somewhat narrow opinion of good espresso can be if just to let us push the boundaries of what we will try. The baristas in my shop over the last year have gotten to the point of throwing pretty much any standard drip roast into the grinder at least once or twice to see what they can get out of it. This compared to a few years ago when to pull shots of something that didnt have “espresso” written on the bag would have resulted in very strange looks from those around you. There are so many consumables that I love now which upon first encounter were simply to much, I am sure several profiles of espresso fit into this category. I look forward to educating my pallet enough to find my next version of really stinky cheese, very sour beer or over the top Kimchi.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:26:58 +0000

As a simple barista, I’m generally quite happy to trust the knowledge and judgement of my roaster when it comes to evaluating which coffees might work best either as espresso, or just as filter, or for both in some cases, at different roast profiles or blends …and then to do my best to get espresso profiled coffees working in the best possible way, once they get to me in the cafe setting (which is devilishly hard and complex enough as it is!).
And as a barista I feel my focus is towards espresso, and attempting to offer great espresso drinks …simply because people can quite easily brew great filter at home if they’ve got a grinder, whereas espresso and the milk drinks are not something the customer can replicate easily to the same standard.
Therefore, sometimes it is tempting (and fun) to see if a really great coffee can be brewed as great espresso …but if that coffee is just not going to work so well for the espresso method, or if too much of its beauty is going to be lost by the profiling or the method, I’m happy to respect and accept that it’s just best left away from the espresso machine. Although sometimes, even though some subtle characteristics of a coffee might be muted by the espresso process, a really great and exciting espresso can be crafted which still allows much of what’s great about a certain coffee in it to be allowed to shine …but just in a different light to the way it would as filter. But it would be unfair to force a coffee into espresso if it clearly doesn’t benefit from it at all. Again, for me, it would come down to communicating with, and trusting the judgement of someone much more highly skilled at this particular aspect of the chain from plant to cup. Naturally I try to gradually learn a little more, bit by bit, about all aspects of coffee, because it’s insanely interesting, and it helps me to better understand what I’m doing and producing in my role as a barista – but for the most part I’m not qualified, nor in a position, to undertake that initial assessment of each coffee’s different potentials.
Great filter is perhaps a much better, simpler, more gentle, more approachable and more sympathetic way to roast and brew many of the very best coffees, and I can well appreciate why the ever growing whisper is that it’s going to be the next big thing for us all, and that roasters especially are keen for this to happen… But I still think espresso has a particular magic, allure, immediacy and potential for beauty all of its own (albeit with appropriate coffees!), which has still not been fully realised by any means, and it would be a shame to move away from it too vigorously.
Hopefully neither baristas, brew methods, or coffees will be worthy of blame, if we all just continue to use our respective skills with the aim of producing better and better coffee.

By: Bea

Bea — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:08:34 +0000

“I don’t think many people who would read james hoffmans blog would say that starbucks is a strong influence in their tastes. ”

No, Starbucks is most definitely not an influence on our tastes, but it sure makes an incredible difference on our customers’ tastes. Australia’s coffee culture grew in a very different manner to the U.S. and UK, but the U.S. is still dominant in total consumption (by sheer size), and as a result, Starbucks has a direct and indirect influence/role on independent owners because in their clever marketing way, they have insinuated themselves into mainstream consumerism.

Totally agree that all brew methods, etc. need to be examined, enjoyed, and played with more thoroughly. I think the fact that coffee is being looked less as a commodity and more like an artisanal product, is one step in the right direction. We must remember that 80% of coffee will be freeze-dried instant horrible dreck that will be consumed without a care in the world.

Which leads me to an unusual question. In an age where Thai mangoes are airshipped around the world, and special Japanese grapes are sent to restaurants at 50 GBP per kg, why isn’t the fresh coffee fruit going through a similar distribution channel?

-b

By: kurt

kurt — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:17:40 +0000

James sounds more and more like a roaster, (as opposed to a barista). There also appears to be more comments coming from roasters.

I couldn’t agree more with the post. Didn’t strike me as an accusation or problem. More just a curious observation. In coffee the moving parts don’t always align the way we think they should and that’s okay. We accept things for what they are and appreciate them when the finer qualities shine and make accommodations for their shortcomings when they don’t.

At least I think that’s what James was saying. Which is nice. That’s what friends do.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:44:27 +0000

I don’t think many people who would read james hoffmans blog would say that starbucks is a strong influence in their tastes. But Perhaps in many quarters of the specialty industry, they were surrounded by starbucks their whole lives, so perhaps any negativity towards espresso has grown from this. As Australian, I’m incredibly espresso biased. I grew up drinking espresso. However the industry has grown on a strong independent scene there, not starbucks.

My main concern when replying to this article, has been the fact that there is an anti-espresso sentiment growing in the specialty industry, particularly in North America. This could be the fact that getting a decent espresso here had been a myth up until maybe 5-10 years ago. (i’m sure there was some little espresso bar in new york for the last 70 years pumping out amazing espresso, but thats negligible)

I am espresso biased! I admit it. But do i think it is the pinnacle of the coffee world. No. Being the pinnacle in any industry goes beyond the simple product. You could be a coffee shop with a syphon bar selling $200/lbs coffee but if the floor is dirty or the barista a douche then its not the pinnacle.

The pinnacle should be about understanding every facet of coffee, for every brew method, for every country of origin, for every varietal. And I think everyone would agree that we’re only just beginning the scratch the surface with regards to this. So my point has been that to write off espresso as a brewing method before we even fully understand it is incredibly premature. And again like i said earlier. If you’re selling 500 espresso coffees a day in your cafe, why would you want to have a mentality that is not good? Its what paying your rent.

Anyway I’m going to stop. I think I’ve said all I have to say.

By: bea

bea — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:30:30 +0000

I think the post is quite interesting when looking at it from say, a non-coffee geek point of viewm

I think there is a high emphasis on the relationship of coffee bean to espresso but why? Has starbucks inadvertently trained
Us to believe that the highest form of the drink lies in an espresso?

I understand that people are looking to brewed coffee as the ‘next new thing’ and as a result there
Is a backlash, as seen in a couple of posts above.

Why not view brewed coffee and espresso drinks as separate entities, and with each bean providing their
Own nuances and pros/cons to each type? As a pastry chef I’m constantly aware of the pro/cons of using any
Ingredient based on a specific prep method. Passionfruit for example is bright and cheery as a sorbet or curd, but bake it
Or turn into a caramel and it takes on incredibly musky tones. If I want bright while baking, I can’t bend the fruit to my wil

ultimately who is to blame? No one and everyone. Every bean should be embraced for its finest qualities, not be forced to be used in an all-purpose fashion.