1. Scales in drip trays

I’ve been going on about weighing espresso for a while, as have many others in the industry. This year we are going to see busy retail operations implement scales into drip trays for use with every drink. I also think this year a manufacturer of espresso machines will start to take this seriously and start R&D on building them in a standard.

2. C-market will peak, but won’t drop back too far

A lot of people are watching the C market, aware that it will have a frustrating impact on coffee quality as producers may have less incentive to pick/prep the highest quality when the prices are high for “ok” quality. There are certainly a number of factors at play in the high prices beyond the straight supply/demand relationship. Brazil’s entry into the C will probably have some effect, but I think we’re likely looking at small crops from places like Kenya and Colombia again which will help keep prices relatively high.

3. The WBC Prediction

This is going to be hard to quantify, but I think holding the WBC in a producing country will have a rejuvenating effect for those involved in the competition. I think it will be a great event and I hope people take full advantage of it being in a coffee producing country. Also I think the Scandinavians will be back in contention again.

4. A focus on service

We’ve had some focus on one cup brewing for a while now, and I don’t think the cycle is coming back round to espresso yet. I think there will more focus than before on the practical side of customer service in coffee. More discussion, some actual techniques and ideas being shared. The coffee industry will start to pay more attention to other industries. The winning routine at WBC will drive this idea home too.

5. More brewed coffee in the UK

I think that brewed coffee will continue to grow its market share. I say this without knowing what its current market share (if anyone has any data I’d love to see it.) Starbucks have long been the only chain in the UK to really do it properly. I think that the chains will join the independents in helping grow this market, though I think they’ll likely use it as a low cost, recession focused item whereas independents will be using it to produce higher value drinks.

Thoughts, comments and your predictions always very welcome in the comments!

So – how many coffees? In January I drank 126 cups, so on average a daily consumption of 4.¹

Below is a quick breakdown of my consumption, as well as an explanation of what was logged, and what wasn’t.

What counts as a cup?  With brewed coffee this is usually a 6-8oz cup.  With cappuccinos they were usually single shot, 5oz drinks.  Flat whites² were double shots.

I didn’t log any coffee I drank as part of a training or when tasting to dial in a grind setting.  I didn’t include coffees I cupped, or brewed little tasters off rather than drank a cup of.  These were coffees I drank all of because I wanted coffee.

Daily consumption:

You can sort of see the dip at weekends here, though Sundays can often turn into very caffeinated days as I live so close to so much good coffee!  The 27th was the record day with 8 cups.

Let’s break down the total consumption into individual drinks.  I probably should have logged any brewed coffee as just “brewed” rather than the farm, but for various reasons I didn’t.  All espressos, regardless of blend, are logged as a group.

So – I drank a lot of espresso.  In fact, despite how much I moan about it, 51.6% of the coffees I drink are espresso.  Which seems quite high, but probably not unusual in the coffee community.

I’m actually a little disappointed in myself that brewed coffee only made up about 22% of my coffee consumption.

Here are a quick breakdown of my espresso based drinks and brewed coffees:

I hope I can keep tracking it for the rest of the year – though it is easy to forget.  Thankfully it is easy to post to daytum from my phone, or via twitter as well as through the web interface.  I am recording enough data so I can then break down my consumption into different countries throughout the year and other stuff, which might be interesting.

I guess this probably seems quite low – as daily consumption goes – but I found it interesting nonetheless!  If anyone has any questions then do let me know!

1. Well, 4.06 on average, but 4 is neater I suppose!
2. sick as those of us in the UK may be of them

I wasn’t trying to recreate espresso with the little brewer – I just wanted to find a way to use it so it made clean, sweet and tasty coffee with no bitterness or astringency.  It took a while and I ended up grinding coarser than even I expected.  There aren’t a lot of good brewing guides around for stove top brewers – but credit to the Stumptown one for ideas and inspiriation.

I am aware that with these videocasts I am not reinventing the wheel – I don’t claim any great originality.  I just want to present methods that are easy and repeatable that have great results.

Let me know what you think:

Videocast #4 – Stove top/Moka Pot from James Hoffmann on Vimeo.

Music:  Half Asleep
by School of Seven Bells, from the record ‘Alpinisms’