Coffee cultivation, coffee roasting, coffee quality < >
Who knows a good coffee? How do you define good coffee? What is the difference between an industrial roasted coffee and a small roaster?
Yes, tastes are different, that may be true. However, good coffee has the following attributes:
1. high-quality raw material (preferably Arabica, which does not mean, however, that
Robusta must be inferior)
2. gentle drum roasting process
3. freshly roasted coffee beans
4. the right equipment or the right preparation
Here are the explanations to the above-mentioned key points:
Re 1: High-quality green coffee has its price. Depending on whether the coffee is harvested by machine or by hand, as in Colombia, the purchase price of the coffee varies. Likewise, whether it is coffee from organic cultivation, coffee of a certain cultivation area or only a certain coffee finca.
High-quality Arabica beans bear designations such as SHG (strictly high grown), SHB (strictly hard bean), Excelso or Supremo (designation of Colombian beans by their size). You will hardly find this information on supermarket coffee.
2: The gentle drum roasting process causes the bitter substances to slowly come to the surface of the beans and they also disappear. Depending on the bean, this process takes between 15 and 20 minutes at a temperature of around 200° Celsius. By releasing water and oils, the bean loses between 12 and 17% of its weight, but increases in size by up to two thirds. The coffee industry uses two methods to compensate for the loss in weight: The first is steam cooling. Here, more water is added than is necessary. On the other hand, maltodextrin (a type of sugar used as a dietary supplement) and caramel are added to compensate for burn-in losses. Both increase the weight and are a deception of the end customer! Fully automatic coffee machine manufacturers, such as Jura, explicitly warn against using this bean as it can destroy the machine's grinding mechanism.
Re 3: As Prof. Leopold Edelbauer from the Vienna Coffee Institute demands, all coffee packages should be marked with the roasting date. If at the present time (June 2012) there is a package on the shelf with the inscription: "At least durable until December 2012", you can only guess how old the coffee is at Christmas. 12 months, or already 18 months? Despite food safe PET/PE packaging, the bean loses its aroma and taste.
Re 4: In many cases, you will receive tasting packages from the small roaster you trust, where the suitable preparation method is also explained. Try coffee from the Italian mocha or pour your coffee in the filter. It is guaranteed to make (almost) no mistakes with fresh coffee. A small 1x1 such as this is helpful:
The human being: everyone operates a coffee machine (espresso machine) differently
The machine: Here the choice is inexhaustible. From the inexpensive mocha pot to the professional gastro equipment or the fully automatic machine, good results can be achieved.
Grinding: This varies from appliance to appliance and depends on the type of preparation.
The grinder: In order to consume the coffee as freshly as possible, you should grind it shortly before processing. Hand grinders or so-called direct grinders are suitable for this purpose.
Information on the perfect espresso
Coffee quantity: approx. 7g
Water temperature: 90°C
Pressure on the grinding material in the sieve carrier: approx. 20 kg (can be measured with a bathroom scale)
Water pressure of the machine: approx. 9 bar
Throughput time through the sieve carrier: 25 seconds
Volume in the cup: 30 millilitres
The differences between industrial roasting and small roasting are summarized:
Industry
The coffee industry uses less high-quality Arabica beans, mixes them with inexpensive Robustabohnen, which serve as fillers, and roasts them together. The roasting is carried out in a hot air roaster (aerothermal roasting). The roasting temperature is 450°C and lasts about 2.5 minutes. This is called short-term roasting.
Small roaster
Use the highest quality Arabica beans, roast them individually and mix them together after roasting to make a delicious coffee. Gentle drum roasting from approx. 180°C, 15 - 20 minutes. Thus the caffeic acid decomposes almost completely and stomach problems and heartburn are no longer an issue with these roasts.
Packaging
Of course the lover of good coffee will only buy whole beans, grind them himself and prepare them according to his wishes. Coffee in vacuum packaging can be stored for a long time without any additional loss of aroma. Part of the aroma, however, is extracted by this type of packaging.
The subject of coffee can be considered a science. The "normal consumer" will generally be well served with coffee from large companies such as Tchibo, Dallmayr etc. Gourmets are more likely to choose high-quality coffee and roasts. For this there are small roasting plants which fulfil all wishes of quality.
You can also attend seminars in which you can learn about the perfect preparation of coffee, as well as the varieties, countries of origin, cultivation, harvest and processing. We also offer such a basic barista seminar.
