Instant Cappuccino February 21, 2008

I have recently come across a new line of “coffee”; instant capuccino, Instant mocha and Instant espresso. You just add hot water, stir like mad and hey presto- you are left with a tepid looking drink similar in appearance to Milo.

I personally find this pretty disturbing as it’s simply leading customers into thinking they’re purchasing something they’re not. Cappuccino is 1/3 Espresso, 1/3 Steamed milk and 1/3 foamed milk. Espresso is a process pushing steam through coffee at a high pressure. How this can be packed into a sachet, I do not know!

Whilst doing this the people producing the so called “coffee” like to make it worse with slogans such as “enjoy coffehouse coffee at home”. I”d personally beware of any magical, instant coffee drinks. In order to try and imitate the flavor, they probably include ingredients like hydrogenated oils and possibly even high-fructose corn syrup – ingredients not conducive to a long and healthy life. What’s more, it simply isn’t coffee for that matter.

The Truth About Starbucks February 20, 2008

5 truths about Starbucks.

1. Starbucks pay minimum wages and their “baristas” go through very little if any barista training.
2. They tamp way too hard. Ask for a double espresso and you’ll realize how sour and bitter it is. (This is why people put so much crap in their coffee at Starbucks, they need to cover the taste. E.g a “Venti Iced Mocha skim, extra chocolate”)
3. They don’t know the difference between a Latte and a Cappuccino.
4. They are a franchise who only care about making money. Starbucks lost their alleigence to the industry years ago. Nowadays it’s all about putting in more Vietnamese Robusta to increase profits.
5. They don’t know what they’re selling. One time I ordered a double Espresso and when the manager brought it to me he said “here’s your double EXPRESSO”.

I’ve decided to write this after having the worst double espresso in my life! Who would have thought that it would come from Starbucks? Next time you want some coffee and you’re out, DON’T go to Starbucks.

The moka Pot February 20, 2008

Pure elegance in itself. In my opinion there’s little more full fulling than seeing that golden liquid fountain out of that metal pillar. Now, you all probably think I’ve gone crazy or something, but the Moka pot is really that beautiful. This method of brewing coffee is popular in Italian households as the beverage produced is espresso. The drink produced is espresso because steam is forced through compact coffee. If you don’t already have a moka pot you can get them from Whitards or failing that they’ll make you pay a lot more at a department store.

Once dismatled, fill the bottom of the Moka pot with cold water, this water should be as pure as possible so I would recommend filtering it. Then put the middle compartment into the bottom compartment as shown below.

Now fill the middle compartment with ground coffee. This coffee should be finely ground because it’s espresso that’s being made. The fact that it’s finely ground increases its surface area which means that more flavors will be extracted, this is nescessary because the extraction time is quite small in comparison with other brewing methods.

Now flatten down the coffee so it’s quite compact, this is known in the business as “tamping”, now run your finger around the rim of the middle compartment to take away all the excess coffee grounds. The top compartment should now be screwed on. It’s importantly to do it VERY tightly or else coffee and water will leak out.

Now place the Moka pot on the hob and put the heat onto a medium temperature. Now simply wait, and you will see something beautiful.

Now enjoy what in my opinion is a perfect breakfast. It’s an infusion of French and Italian culture. Simply beautiful

Chocoshock Revisited February 19, 2008

My brothers friend had a go at making some choco-shock, this time with Galaxy and GROUND Illy Espresso coffee. The main difference this time, being that the coffee is ground. At first I was very skeptical as to how it would all turn out, I just didn’t think ground coffee would be any good.

This time, the “coarsest” setting on the grinder was used, next time I’d like to use an espresso grind.

Overall this is certainly an improvement on the first batch. This could possibly take years to perfect, but it’s certainly getting better.

Grinding February 5, 2008

Here I am back on the blogroll after a month or so, writing about grinding. This christmas I managed to recieve enough money to purchase a Burr grinder. There are many different brewing methods for coffee and for each brew method their is a different grind which is appropriate.

Turkish coffee requires very very very fine grinds, and in my opinion it’s not possible to get this fine grind on an everyday coffee grinder be it home or commercial. You will need  Degirmen, this will grind up the coffe fine enough. It will be almost powderlike. Espresso is only extracted for around 30 seconds therefore the surface area of the grinds must be relatively big. This means grinding up the beans quite fine. I wouldn’t go for the finest setting on the grinder but almost the finest. Dripped coffee should be medium ground. Pressed coffee should be in my opinion ground in between the medium and coarse. The grinds need to be coarse because they’re sitting in the pot for between 3 and 5 minuites.

It’s important to remember that grinding the coffe too fine will result in a bitter brew whilst coffee ground to coarse will result in a weak brew, so it’s important to find a happy medium. At the end of the day it’s upto you to find which suits your taste buds the most, but the journey of experimentation should be nevertheless enjoyable. Remember if you’rte going to bother with a grinder make sure it’s a Burr one of it’s simply not worth it. The grinds need to be of equal and uniform size. This can simply be not archieved without a Burr grinder. Also, it’s important to know that if you’re grinder has a plastic been compartment, it’s important not to put in all the beens at once. As cool as it may look the beens will be damaged by the light.