Preparing a Coffee like a Master Barista
Have you ever wondered why the same coffee brand might taste differently from different outlets? If yes, we have the answer here for you! A perfect coffee lies on several factors, it’s not only about the coffee brand. You can have one of the most expensive brands but coffee would still taste bad. A good coffee depends on several factors such as:
Coffee Freshness
Your beans’ greatest enemies are air, moisture, heat, and light.
To preserve your beans’ fresh roasted flavor as long as possible, store them in an opaque, air-tight container at room temperature. Coffee beans can be beautiful, but avoid clear canisters which will allow light to compromise the taste of your coffee.
Keep your beans in a dark and cool location. A cabinet near the oven is often too warm, and so is a spot on the kitchen counter that gets strong afternoon sun.
Water
The major consideration concerning water for coffee brewing is softness. The Specialty Coffee Association’s water standards give an ideal target as water with the following characteristics: no odour or colour; zero chlorine; a pH of 7.0; alkalinity of 40 ppm; and calcium hardness of 50-175 ppm CaCO3. We will not bore you into the tehnicalities of it, but all you need to know is that the ideal water for brewing coffee is clean, soft and free of chlorine.
Barista
If you are using coffee beans you definetly need some experience or training in order to prepare a good quality cup of coffee. If not, capsules and pods are the best option for you. A barista would know technacilities about tamping pressure, extraction time, gr per espresso, ground coffee texture etc.
Tempreature at Extraction
Different coffee blends use different tempreature at extraction. A blend which is higher in arabica requires a higher tempreature in order to extract all the amazing flavours found in the arabica bean whilst a blend which is higher in robusta requires a lower tempreature since we do not wish to have all the Robusta bean flavours in the cup.
Cleanliness of the Coffee Machine
A good barista would know this instantly! The secret behind a nice cup of coffee is the cleanliness of the coffee machine. A dirty coffee machine will give you the taste of carbonised (burnt) coffee. In simple terms it’s like using the same pan to fry eggs over and over again without washing it! A coffee machine needs to be regularly back washed and porta filters need to be cleaned daily depends on the usage. We usually recommend Puly caff to our clients.
