3rd wave was a trendy term created to describe aspects relating to trace-ability and preparation of coffee that showcased the very best that could be developed from the roasting and brewing of the bean.
In other words, it was a more involved life cycle from crop to cup - sourcing high grade specialty green beans, roasting the beans to defined and controlled profiles, typically as Single Origin and then brewing the coffee using any number of methods that best suited the character in the bean and the way it was roasted, e.g. lighter roasts for filter, drip, syphon, etc. and medium roasts for espresso.
3rd wave generally refers to more focused and individual approach to a coffee bean - rather than throwing the beans into a blend and then roasting it dark for espresso.
Truth is, the style of coffee articulated as 3rd wave had been around a lot longer, but in a commercial and general consumer sense, it was not widely marketed as such.
A by-product of 3rd wave coffee has been the explosion in number of small specialty coffee roasters - sometimes working in tiny factories or a little shop roaster sitting in the corner of a cafe to add an authentic, individual emphasis on "locally fresh roasted".
The other side-effect of the 3rd wave growth has been the rise in prominence (and profile) of "artisan" style coffees and coffee roasters. In other words, these small shop roasting facilities are defining themselves as true craftsmen (and craft ladies) of the bean.
Yes, of course, it's simple - just plonk a shiny little roasting machine in the corner, hang up a few signs, wear some funky clothes, tattoos, beards, dreadlocks, loud music and presto you can call yourself a Master Roaster and Artisan because your coffee is "hand roasted" to perfection.
The reality is somewhat different. It is true that Artisan roasters might be able to experiment more because their systems are not controlled or managed to any tight specifications, however, many of these artisan roasters are in fact highly inexperienced and just do not have the "hours" under their belt required to call themselves true artisans or master roasters.
Hand roasting is prone to errors - it is very difficult to manage consistency and quality as roasting requires a lot of concentration - you simply cannot be distracted - something that occurs so easily when people are watching or asking questions.
Roasting by olfactory senses may provide an interesting theater that attracts those with romantic notions believing that nothing compares to sight, sound and smell, but I'm afraid that if you are relying upon your senses in order to roast the facts are YOUR RUNNING WELL BEHIND in the management of your roast and it is already out of control.
You see, all roasting equipment experiences variable stages of thermal lag. When you start to spot a problem, or deviation, it's too late. By the time you make a correction or adjustment, then it takes considerable time for either heat to build up or to dissipate. It's certainly never instant like cooking on a gas stove in your kitchen. Thermal mass is a big factor in managing roasting profiles.
Many Artisan roasters are using only a basic time and temp log as their guide, however, this is insufficient to adequately manage the roasting of a coffee batch......it just shows what took place.
At Carlini Coffee Company, all 3 of our best in class roasting platforms have fully automated profile systems installed. We have deployed the best available technology to achieve our quality and consistency objectives.
Computers that control the roaster to defined profiles will always perform more reliably and faster than humans. We rarely hand roast anything - in fact it's less than 1% of our volume and it is only undertaken when a customer may have specifically requested a non-standard item or it's new coffee that we are gauging it's suitability. The intelligence built into our coffee roasting profiler uses analytical engines to manage roast batch duration.
To supplement the technology in our commercial roasting plants, we have developed analytical systems that mark and score roasted coffee control samples so the feedback loop is completed back to the original recipe and batch - a true optimization process.
]]>And my favourite question .........."is it OK to store the coffee in the fridge ?, I've been doing that for years........".
Oxygen, Heat, Light and Moisture - not necessarily in any order.
Containers used for coffee storage should be preferably non-absorbent, e.g. metal and ceramic are the best, followed by glass and certain plastics, although many plastics in use today can absorb the aromatics, but it's OK for a short time, e.g. say up to 2 weeks.
Away from heat, light and changing temperatures. We like the bottom of a pantry or a cupboard that kept relative constant in temperate, a cool area that stays between 15 -25 degrees is best, particularly if you live north of Melbourne.
Never place coffee in the fridge - fridges have all sorts of moist vapours and aromas that are transferred into coffee. The act of taking a coffee container out of the fridge and placing it on the kitchen bench for just a few minutes will cause small micro-beads of moisture to develop on coffee - more so in ground coffee (100 times worse).
BTW - I still have raging arguments with my Father as he insists the coffee tastes better when stored in the fridge - sometimes it's very hard to bite your tongue.
Well, back in 2008 we ran tests over a 10-month period with 10x 250g packs of coffee. These packs were heat-sealed in the same way you receive your packs from coffee suppliers and the packs were not opened - but placed fresh in the freezer within a week from the Roast Date.
Each month, we removed a pack from the freezer, allowed the pack to thaw over 10 hours and then opened, poured into a grinder and made espresso shots.
Basically, we didn't enjoy the coffee - even Month 1 and 2 coffee packs were not that nice. By the time we got to Month 6, it was not a task we were particularly enjoying. Yes, we could get crema from the espresso shots by setting the grinder quite fine, but the aromatics were almost gone and flavour was quite flat. Bear in mind, we are used to super-fresh premium coffee, so anything else is always going to be a struggle.
Our view is DO NOT freeze coffee - use it or give it away.
A topic of furious debate amongst all coffee experts - and of course those that are not experts but have strong opinions.
Although we typically place a 90 day Best Before advice on our packs, we believe coffee should be used within 45 days of receiving the packs. Ideally, this should be within 30 days.
There are quite a few people out there spruiking that coffee is useless after 14 days - that bit of information is utter nonsense.
Most coffees we roast take around 7 - 14 days post-roast to properly develop. In fact, I prefer the coffee when it's about Day 16.
We keep control samples from every batch of coffee and I regularly open up coffee that is 35 days old and can pull amazing shots with the beans.
Hope this information has been useful in providing guidelines that help you enjoy your coffee.
]]>Grinding coffee - it smells wonderful, nothing in the world like it.
Grinding the beans is the single most important task to achieve a perfect coffee.
So easy to get wrong. Rarely is it right, particularly when attempting a shot on an espresso coffee machine. Always just a fraction too fine or too coarse.
Even the pro baristas can struggle to get the grind correct - always fiddling and adjusting the grind.
Some brewing or extraction methods are more forgiving than the science required for great espresso extraction. Plungers, percolators, drip filters, etc. can still make a decent coffee if the grind is close to the required setting, but Mr Espresso is quite a temperamental beast.
I'll be honest here and say I hate pre-ground coffee. It goes stale so quickly - faster than you think.
Even the most sophisticated packaging systems with nitrogen-flush technology can't save you when you pre-ground coffee.
Good baristas know that even when they are working in cafes with big commercial doser grinders and whole beans, almost all these commercial grinders have auto-stop sensors and will always try to pre-fill the doser chamber with ground coffee and if the grinder is sitting there idle for 15-60 minutes, the coffee is going stale.
So, now you might be outraged that ground coffee is going stale in an hour. Well, yes that's what happens.......it starts to lose the flavour and aromatics within 15 minutes of grinding.
It's so important to check the grind and extraction when you open a new bag of beans. Chances are, your grinder will not be set correctly and may need a fine adjustment.
Coffee beans in a sealed bag will have been sitting at a different pressure and temperature than the beans that have just run through your grinder's bean hopper
Another reason you need to check the grinder when opening a new bag is because the beans may be different. You might be surprised to learn that coffee beans vary considerably in hardness. Brazil's and Colombians are very soft whilst the high-grown central Americans like Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El-Salvador, etc. and some Ethiopians are very hard beans. The roast levels and general freshness of the coffee beans also affect the grind setting.
All these factors mean you need to keep constantly monitoring the grinder setting to ensure it is optimal for your coffee extraction. Cafe baristas will often adjust the grinder 3 or 4 times a day based on how the temperature changes or the way in which beans and the espresso machine are performing.
Never pre-grind to store the coffee. Grind on demand only.
Don't be afraid to waste the espresso shot if the grind was not correct - it will result in a poor tasting coffee and basically ruin your day ! Make another one.
The rule that an espresso needs to be extracted for 25 seconds is only a guide and will depend upon your equipment. Most domestic low-end grinders and espresso machines cannot achieve this, so don't wreck your equipment by grinding so fine and extracting for too long that the you have burnt the shot and too long means blonding in the shot pulls through heaps of bitterness Sometimes a great espresso can be pulled in 15 seconds.
Ensure you dose and tamp correctly - getting either of these wrong can mean you are endlessly adjusting your grinder and rarely getting a great shot. Be consistent - same dose (weight in grams) and same pressure applied to the tamping process. We prefer a single tamp applied, rather than multiple tamps that can over-compact the ground coffee in the portafilter.
If you are shopping for a grinder - look for a doser-less. Doser grinders are only good for cafes serving multiple customers simultaneously.
Buy the best grinder you can afford and if it means your budget for a shiny stainless coffee machine is reduced, then put most of your $$ into the grinder and less into the machine. A great grinder teamed with an average machine will always out-perform a poor grinder teamed with a top-end expensive machine.
Don't use a spice grinder.
Don't double-grind coffee.
Clean your grinder regularly - coffee oils build up on the burrs and chutes.
]]>Opening a new bag of beans, even when they are from the same roast date, batch and origin or blend name can also result in grinder adjustment as the beans will have been suspended inside the bag at a different pressure and oxygen level compared to sitting in the grinder hopper.
You see, the process of grinder adjustment is never ending. People who never touch the grinder adjustment are missing out on wonderful coffee.
As coffee ages, it will require finer grind adjustment.
For our customers who may purchase different packs of coffee, you will absolutely need to adjust your grinder to suit the best extraction for espresso. Other brew methods are more forgiving, e.g. plunger, perc, filter drip and to some extent stovetop are less sensitive to grind setting but just like espresso you will need to ensure you dose accurately.
As an example, Indonesians such as Sumatran, Java, etc. and soft South American coffees such as Brazils, Peru, Colombians, etc. can respond better with finer grind settings. Harder beans from high-grown Central America and Ethiopians may require you to open the grind up a little coarser to achieve the perfect espresso extraction.
We strongly recommend you continuously monitor the performance of your grinder via the grind setting so that you can enjoy coffee at it's best.
]]>Generally, this primarily relates to products that are grown and processed locally in Australia and in most cases there will be an Australian Certified Organic (ACO) symbol appearing on the packaging.
When it comes to coffee beans, the majority of the green (or raw) coffee beans are grown and processed (removal of cherry fruit from seed bean) at origin outside of Australia - typically in regions such as Southern and Central America, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, some Pacific islands near the equator and African countries.
In these cases, the certification is performed by an approved local country authority or external inspectors visiting farms and reviewing the processing and verifying records, or in the case of many Central and Southern American countries it may have the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) stamp of approval marked on the coffee bag or sack used for transporting the raw coffee beans.
It is important to bear in mind that a USDA stamp does not mean a product automatically achieves or complies with the Australian Certified Organic requirements.
We firmly believe in complete transparency when dealing with our customers. In this regard we roast Organic coffees that have been certified at origin only - primarily FAIRTRADE coffees that are double certified Organic.
We do not sell or package any products with labels stating ACO certification.
You may well ask why the double certified FAIRTRARE and Organic ?
Many years ago a mix of non-Organic FAIRTRADE and double-certified coffee was imported into Australia by the coffee brokers. Over the last 4 - 5 years, the demand for non-Organic FAIRTRADE diminished and thus brokers literally stopped or limited their buying and importing on the non-Organic FAIRTRADE coffee beans to the point where it is extremely difficult to source a non-Organic FAIRTRADE coffee.
]]>Gone are the days of coffee being packed and shipped in paper bags or in sealed containers that had no method of allowing the carbon dioxide to escape naturally.
There are a few marketing "solutions" on some packaging formats that may not entirely live up to expectations.
For example, you may have seen the solid ground "bricks" in the supermarket.
These have been created by first allowing the coffee to "stale" from it's peak levels so that CO2 emission is reduced and minimal. Once that state has been achieved, the "not so fresh" coffee is filled into a tight fitting pack, a nitrogen flush is applied to remove oxygen and it is proposed that the coffee can no longer "stale".
Whether this concept is true, or a good marketing story is one that the scientist can debate. Is there some truth in the theory that removing oxygen slows down oxygenation and therefore stalls the staling process ?
We know by what's in the cup ? I am yet to open one of those ground supermarket bricks and have it come out tasting better than fresh ground, fresh bean coffee - you do the test !
Cans. How do they do it.......ground coffee, no oxygen, limited CO2, is it really fresh ?
We believe the food-grade, foil-lined poly bag combined with a 1-way valve is still the most cost efficient and effective packaging solution. When you fill it with fresh premium beans and consume the coffee within 45 of purchasing, you have a winning solution.
]]>The reality is coffee is extremely complex. At each stage in the lifecycle from farmers tending to crops, processing the harvested cherries, transport and storage of green beans and then what the roaster does in his equipment and finally the distribution and extraction (brewing) of the finished product for consumption.
At each stage, there are considerable risks and issues associated with the handling of coffee that can result in a reduction of the end-cup quality. Generally speaking, the higher risks of poor cup are at the brewing and roasting stage.
Farmers are becoming more informed of improved practices that can yield them higher prices for better quality raw green coffee beans. The standard continues to rise with the growing markets size and demands for specialty coffee.
We continue to see the market for lower-grade coffees contracting (usually supplied to providers servicing the instant and supermarket grade coffees).
Harvesting and processing coffee cherries play an important part in determining bean quality. As with many agricultural products, coffee is subject to nature and all it's variances as the coffee trees bloom from flowering into cherries that ripen.
Coffee is grown at high altitudes and in many countries the majority of the cherries are harvested by hand which means there are risks of under-ripe, over-ripe, pest-ravaged and other less than ideal cherries from being collected by pickers to "fill the sack". Pickers traditionally get paid per sack, so the incentive in some areas for selecting high-quality cherries is less of a driver for quality than filling the sack.
The grading of the coffees at the Co-ops and processing stations is the next area where quality can be enhanced. Co-Ops and processing plants still practice the skill of blending - taking excellent coffees and mixing them with average in order to meet grade requirements. However, some farms are taking control of their processing by ensuring less blending and preserving the integrity of the harvested crop.
Processing is one area where the coffee quality can be either improved or destroyed. Unfortunately, processing techniques vary from region to region and the discipline and controls are better in some countries than others. For example - Costa Rican and some Central American farmers exercise absolute control over the processing methods - protecting the beans from the risk of adverse weather and avoiding ferment taints from poorly prepared coffees.
Sumatra is an origin that uses a unique process called wet-hulling. This process creates coffees of exceptional body and low acid, but run the risk of ferment taints such as mould developing that can destroy an otherwise fine coffee bean.
Processing methods such as unwashed, sundried, triple-picked can develop intensely sweet coffee beans. Ethiopia is famous for practicing some of the best unwashed, dry processed coffee beans.
Once the beans have been processed, the handling of the coffee needs to be carefully managed. Storage facilities at origin can be very basic and rudimentary - sometimes just a simple tin shed. Packing the beans into grain-pro bags or vac-seal foil can be expensive at origin, but the benefits of having coffee beans that are stored in a package that reduces the impact of fumes and other toxins from being absorbed by the green beans leads to a higher quality bean. We purchase as many coffees as we can in grain-pro bags. We would like to make it a universal policy of only purchasing grain-pro bagged greens, but the reality today is that some origins and farms simply cannot provide this method. As at April 2012, approx. 35-40% of our coffees we purchase are shipped in grain-pro and we see this ratio increasing as the demand forces the suppliers to provide this at origin.
Sometimes coffee is stuck in export sheds for months on end, awaiting buyers contracts, shipping vessels or port availability. As an example, some of our favourite coffee beans from PNG are from the Mount Hagan area. There is only 1 road from the highlands down to the distribution highway and this road gets washed out from heavy rains every year. Other countries like Uganda are land-locked, which means that need to have their coffee transported through another country in order to load onto a ship.
Containers get extremely hot and coffee sweats inside. This reduces the quality of the bean by the time it reaches the importer and roaster.
Roasters select green beans based on a number of personal choices. Sometimes it is budget driven, trying to keep a blend within a certain price band so that other cost structures such as marketing, equipment and contract selling prices can be maintained.
Other times, it can be a desired taste, e.g. trying to compensate for a change in a new crop coffee that bring a blend back in line with a required specification.
Ultimately, roasters make these choices. At any time, there may be in excess of 200 different coffee beans available to Australian roasters from the major brokers.
Once a bean has been selected, whether it is roasted individually or mixed into a blend, the roaster needs to fully understand the capability of the bean. Some beans respond better at lighter roast levels, whilst other coffee beans will work better at darker levels. If a blend has many different beans, it is then important to ensure the selected bean works well with the others. Not all beans can be blended successfully together - there are acid, fruit, etc. considerations. I've blended beans in the past only to find out the hard way - they clash.
When it comes to roasting, every roaster thinks he is skilled and special. There is such a broad variation in the quality of roasting equipment to the extent that the Australian market has a lot of small roasting companies employing cheap roasting equipment that generate inconsistent results. It is a controversial statement to declare, but it's honest. I used to have a cheap Turkish roaster and whilst some of the batches it produced were great, there were many so-so and some that were downright horrendous.
Some Australian roasters using old or low-cost equipment also believe that by plugging in a cheap digital multimeter and logging the roast progress (monitor) on a laptop is called profiling. Nope, this is just watching and recording the action, it does nothing to compensate or target consistency. Profiling is controlling the heat (energy source), airflow and other parameters to ensure the required roast cycle follows a pre-defined path.
When sophisticated roasting equipment is used by skilled roasters with quality beans, the results are predictable and superb. We roast around 150+ batches a week and the deviation is less than a few seconds between each batch. So close is this tolerance it really comes down to ambient conditions. More importantly, we constantly cup the control samples - looking for defects or opportunities for improvements.
A common story we hear from customers calling our business is......"We used to buy brand X, but lately the coffee is not good and we just don't enjoy it". The answer to this situation is likely to be one of two possibilities - Brand X are buying green coffees that are inferior or the roaster (and blender) has not been able to create a roast profile or blend that develops the best from their beans.
Consistency is important in coffee. The largest variations we see in our coffees is in the Single Origins. As we are dealing with just 1 bean, it is subject to some minor deviations from bag to bag - particularly the dry-processed coffees such as Ethiopians that have that "wild" character.
It's been said many times before on the internet, but we have to say it again. All the work of the farmer, the processor, the transporter, the roaster, the distribution, etc. can all come undone if the coffee is not brewed or extracted correctly. Under and over-extraction are common issues affecting the flavour of coffee. Incorrect grind, dose and exposure to heat and pressure can cause taints.
Unfortunately, the consumer drinking the cup of coffee blames the coffee brand. Reality is that great beans, perfectly prepared will be destroyed in the hands of the unskilled barista.
Coffee flavour is an oil that required precise heat and pressure to extract. If these variables are not right for the particular brew method, then anything less than ideal is possible.
]]>In this article we take a look at the current debate about mycotoxin in coffee and how it's managed within the industry.
Over the last 12 months we have seen a dramatic increase in number of people enquiring about coffee that is low in mycotoxin (or mycotoxin-free).
We can only assume these requests are motivated by individuals who are highly focused on their personal health.
Unfortunately, greedy marketers will find a way to exhort plenty of premium margin by labeling their coffee low in mycotoxins and therefore superior over other suppliers coffee.
Just like the Kopi Lewak and other coffee fads that are ridiculously priced, I don't like to see consumer duped or ripped off, so here is my take on the situation.
Before we start delving into the detail, it is important to declare upfront that I am not a chemist, doctor or scientist - just an engineer and a realist. So, the obvious disclaimers apply - the article may contain technical errors, however the intent is to balance theory with the practical realities of what occurs in the various supply chains.
What is mycotoxin.
According to Wiki, mycotoxin is group of fungus/mould that colonizes in food crops or food products including animals and in certain conditions it can survive reactions from temperature extremes (hot or cold) and digestion.
Of the nine major types of mould species, the one we will focus on is the Ochratoxin A, or OTA as it most closely relates to the type found in beverages and vine grown plants such as coffee trees, etc.
If you read and understood the effects of mycotoxin, it may scare you enough to instantly give up coffee and live a caffeine-free existence. However, as with any information it needs to be taken on balance and in perspective and if you lived by the same rules for other food and beverages, your life would be very difficult as you would need to eliminate many commons products.
Some of the Self-Help Medical or Nutrition websites offer basic guides to help reduce the level of mycotoxins when consuming coffee. Unfortunately, I think these guides have a tendency to be ultra idealistic and in many respects they border on factual error running the risk of misleading consumers.
Let's take a look at some of the published recommendations for reducing mycotoxin levels in coffee:-
Drink coffee that has been made via wet processing. mycotoxins often form during the drying process, wet beans are much less likely to contain them than dry bean
I'm not convinced of this statement being entirely correct. There are 2 primary methods of processing coffee - wet (washed) and dry (sundried), with a few variations to these methods such a wet-hulled (Indonesia), semi-washed, honeyed, etc. In Australia, washed arabica coffees tend to be quite popular and used by many specialty roasters, but the dry processed coffees which are common in Brazil are still used in high proportions. I'm not a coffee broker, so I can't report on the split of washed versus dry, but if I look at our own purchasing records, the ratio is about 60% washed, 40% dry. As we buy a plenty of small, exotic microlots, our figures could be slightly skewed.
Where I take some exception to the statement is that one method is not safer than the other - it comes down to the care and attention applied by the farmer or the processing Co-Op. If they employ good practices and have the appropriate levels of infrastructure, there can be no reason why one method is safer than the other.
Putting on the practical realist hat, you need to understand that most coffee is grown in 3rd world countries, at extremely high altitudes where there is limited water, utilities (power) and infrastructure (weatherproof warehouses, milling equipment, cleaning supplies, etc.). Coffee is a very labor-intensive product, subjected to weather patterns and as such the resultant end quality is determined by the skill and resources of the farmer.
Let's explore some of the risks associated with wet-processing. This method requires a considerable amount of water. As you can expect, at high altitudes it can be very difficult to capture and store water as it likes to run downhill very fast. With many farms not having much in the way of power or equipment, managing water can be a constant challenge - in some cases they are forced to manually cart water.
What if low water quality is used for processing, e.g. recycled, etc. does this raise the risk of taints or accelerate the growth of fungus or mould spores ?
What if the processing of the washed coffee was not handled correctly - this can occur in many stages from filters, soaking too long in the tanks or poor techniques used to dry the coffee (drainage).
Do not drink decaffeinated coffee. Caffeine actually protects coffee beans from the growth of mould and can prevent large amounts of mycotoxins from growing.
As I am not a scientist or chemist, I can't address this issue specifically - but the statement in inconclusive.
What is not explained here is that the coffee beans used to generate decaf coffee are standard, traditional raw coffee that is subsequently processed through a decaffeination method, so the mycotoxin level of the decaf would have been a pre-existing condition.
One would think that the decaf processed via water method includes lots and lots of water washing, therefore the effect of this water "cleaning" may in fact be more important than the levels of caffeine in the bean - one for the scientist I'm afraid, as you won't expect Swiss Water or Mountain Water to come out with statements other than defending their systems.
Are they saying that removing caffeine increases the risk of mycotoxins developing - is this referring to something that may occur in the period between decaffeination and consumption, e.g. the storage of the raw decaf coffee prior to roasting ?
There are 2 types of decaffeination - chemical and the patented water types (Swiss Water or Mountain Water). Using the chemical-free processes as an example, there is no evidence to indicate that mycotoxin levels have changed as the manufacturers of the finished raw coffee product do not publish this information.
Choose arabica beans over robusta beans. Though robusta varieties do have higher levels of caffeine, they also contain more mycotoxins.
I will leave this one to the scientist or the robusta zealots to argue for or against.
Consider the environment in which your beans are grown. Because mould is less apt to grow at higher elevations, buying beans that have been harvested in the mountains of Central America is a great way to decrease the amount of toxins in your coffee.
The mountains of Central America are not the only destination where high altitude arabica is grown. Again, this is another example of a "guide's" incomplete and very limited advice.
Whilst just about every origin is generally capable of preparing superb, high quality coffee, they are also equally capable of generating low quality coffee - and it happens at various altitudes.
Stay away from blends. Though blended coffees may taste good, there really is no way of telling where the different bean varieties have come from. Try to stick to single estate products rather than the major brand names.
This one is a red-rag to a bull for me - obviously written by a person lacking experience and understanding of all things coffee - based upon the flawed assumption that knowing an origin means you can be safer in terms of your decision making. What a load of utter rubbish.
Blending is performed to assist roasters in achieving consistency goals. Conspiracy theories abound about how roasters only blend to save money, using the cheapest and nastiest coffees they can source and mixing in small quantities of good stuff to keep the flavour respectable - this is just more junk information perpetuated by selfish skinflints assuming everyone is trying to save or make more money than they can.
Here is the way it works....
95% of coffee drinkers become accustomed to a coffee and they want, expect and even demand the same product day after day, month after month, year after year. When it changes, they cry foul and think someone is trying to "save money".
Of course, there are those cherished brave souls on a journey of discovery that are prepared to embrace something new, but in general, production of roasted coffee needs to comply to some basic forms of specification - just like in any industry, there is a buyer and a seller who need to agree on transaction terms - for coffee these are typically consistency and quality, something only blends can deliver over periods of time.
Reality is the coffee industry is in chaotic states of flux.
Just like the wine industry, coffee is subjected to the growing conditions of mother nature and the factors of supply and demand, however in the wine industry the consumers celebrate the diversity of each year's vintage whereas in coffee this is essentially deemed a "bad" thing.
Every single week I have a challenge relating to sourcing raw coffee. As I type this article on a Sunday afternoon in early Jan 2013, I have shortages in 3 of my biggest volume origins that I am sweating on will be resolved in the coming 3 - 4 days.
Coffee does not taste the same year round - it's a fact. Blending is intended to minimize or smooth out the issues relating to variable supply and seasonal influences from growing conditions and more importantly to provide added character and dynamic by fusing together complimentary beans. Many single origins are one-dimensional and may not satisfy the consumer.
We are one of Australia's largest suppliers of roasted premium Single Origin coffees - it's our specialty and we use those exact quality single origins in our blends - so the advice about staying away from blends because you don't know the origins is just a paranoid rant.
Roasters are not going to reveal intimate details of what's in their blends - why should they ? For us, it can take years to perfect a blend - that's a lot of intellectual property locked up in the formula. With the Australian coffee industry being super competitive, who wants to give one of the other 500 companies a free ride.
Raw coffee stored for long periods in warehouses develop higher OTA levels
Roasters don't like holding large quantities of raw coffee.
It consumes physical space and requires the outlay of considerable capital affecting their cash flow. Supplies of raw coffee are inconsistent and therefore roasters are forced to take actions such as forward contracting and storing raw coffees in order to guarantee supply.
Mould and fungus can develop in raw coffee storage, particularly in warm and humid environments or if there is poor ventilation. Roasters typically wish to protect or preserve their investment in raw materials, so they will take measures to improve the storage of their precious greens.
We believe that storage of coffee at origin and transportation of coffee from origin to the port of destination are higher risk factors of OTA development. 99.9% of the coffee is moved around the world in standard shipping containers without cooling or ventilation. If you have ever opened up a container that has been sitting in the sun at 30 degrees C, you would have been shocked at the high temperature inside the container.
Many of the coffee growing origins suffer port congestion. Countries such as Tanzania and other African origins are land-locked and raw coffee can sit in basic tin sheds sweating for months at a time awaiting movement. These are the conditions where OTA is likely to be an issue, yet it is not tested or measured by farmers, Co-Operatives, exporters or importers.
One of the world's 4th largest origins (and a producer of some of the world's best arabica), Ethiopia, is renown for having transportation issues that affect supply out of the country. PNG is another origin where there are limited roads that can get washed out in heavy rainfalls, affected supply.
How we see the mycotoxin situation at the moment
Barely a day passes where some new report will state that a food or human behaviour can be potentially dangerous to your health.
Consumers can be easily spooked by such claims.
Management of mycotoxin is effectively an oxymoron at this time as there are no controls or records being processed from the farm to the cup. The two basic measurements performed on raw coffee are the moisture levels and relative bean density. Moisture levels are a critical factor used by export and import brokers in negotiating quality and price contracts.
Some coffee growing countries have groups, or Associations, focused on improving the quality of the products produced by their farmers through education and training. Some of these groups are also participating in various studies that include the testing and control of mycotoxin levels.
Australia is now regarded as having one of the highest standard espresso coffee preparations in the world. What naturally occurs from this competitive domestic coffee environment is increased demand for higher and higher grades of coffee.
With the growth of specialty coffee and single estate sourcing, the industry still lacks vital tools and processes required to manage mycotoxin reporting.
We simply cannot contact our local Australian coffee brokers and order a bag of low-mycotoxin raw coffee, nor can we ask to see the origin records of the mycotoxin reading when the coffee was exported and compare it to the current mycotoxin result. Sometimes, it can be very difficult just to get a simple moisture or bean density reading.
As a realist, I would like to see the discussion about mycotoxin continue, but it needs practical input from the industry to temper the sometimes extreme commentary that can emerge on issues relating to personal health.
Reality is that the fungus associated with mycotoxins is present in every coffee bean (wet, dry or hulled methods) and there is currently NO reliable and easy method available for measurement of mycotoxin levels, nor do the brokers have readings or records available on the lots they sell relating to mycotoxin levels - therefore everyone is "flying blind".
]]>It has been an interesting journey over the last 15 years in our mission to create a range of quality Nespresso* compatible capsules for the Australian market.
We have been working in the single-serve coffee portion control market for more than 12 years and naturally we have developed very useful knowledge for what it really takes to make a quality consumable product like a capsule or pod.
We will continue to support the ESE POD market with our premium coffees and see our developments in the capsule segment as a natural extension of that market.
Right from the outset, we wanted to control all aspects of quality in the production and management of capsules.
Specifically, we defined our key control points in the areas of green bean coffee sourcing, fully controlled computer profile roasting of coffee beans, expert handling of the process involved with converting the roasted coffee beans to capsules and the ultimate storage of the finished product - everything in the supply chain had to be exact and exceeding our quality philosophy.
Our capsules are a precision engineered product - the tolerances in every step of the process are extensively managed.
Originally, we wanted to build our own conversion plant so that we had full control over all the grind, fill and seal variables that are so critical in the espresso extraction procedure.
However, with risks around patent infringements still unresolved, we decided that it was best to find a professional and reliable partner who shared our same desire for product excellence - a partner we can trust to grind the coffee perfectly, pack the exact dosage and perform all the required Q&A testing so that we can be confident our capsule delivers upon the promise of a rewarding cup and is consistent with our extensive range of quality coffees.
We then looked at importing capsule from outside of Australia - which is how the existing market operates today.
This would have relegated our product into a simplistic, basic, low-grade, mediocre, "me-too" clone the same as everybody else and presented us with continuous supply and quality risks without the ability to differentiate, optimize or improve.
You now have coffee capsule choices
We are pleased to announce we have created a quality Nespresso-compatible capsule using premium grade specialty coffees, roasted fresh in Melbourne on our best-in-class plant, snap-sealed to lock in the freshness and converted into capsule format by an Australian-based company.
That's right - a locally produced capsule fully managed with a quality plan controlling the end-to-end process from the coffee farmer to the moment your carton arrives at your door.
Coffee capsule drinkers deserve better - so we have responded with our offer of a locally produced and engineered capsule to compete against the myriad of imported clones that flood the coffee capsule market.
Why are our coffee capsules different ?
Imported capsules are at least 2+ months (and more likely up to 6 months) old having traveled in a boiler-house container for many weeks, degrading the quality of the finished product.
Have you every opened a container that has been sitting in tropical or the Australian sun for days or weeks ?
Yes, it can get up to 65 degrees inside a container and heat is the enemy of fresh coffee.
Our Nespresso-compatible coffee capsule are packed into sleeves of 12 individual capsules to seal in the freshness.
When you open a sleeve of capsules, we advise you to store the remaining capsules in an air-tight container.
The capsules itself consists of a material that is manufactured in Europe and has been successfully used for many years and many billions of capsules around the world.
Our Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules contain around 5 - 5.2g of premium grade ground coffee.
The reason we say "around" is due to the fact we use different types of arabica coffees that may actually dose slightly higher, e.g. 5.1 or 5.2g depending upon the flow rate of the coffee extraction, bean density, etc.
The specific grind of a particular coffee used in our capsule has been strictly engineered by our partners at the capsule conversion company and fully tested during the packaging process to provide the precise level of extraction quality - fine enough so the coffee oils are released without being too fine to clog machines and result in capsule brew failures.
But capsules are not strong enough...
Let's have a discussion about coffee strength which is really about dosage and extraction efficiency.
Coffee drinkers are a varied group - some like it strong, some like it rich, others like it smooth and creamy. No single coffee will please everyone and in fact it is hard to create a coffee that pleases most.
The standard for Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules is to hold around 5g of ground coffee per coffee capsule.
For the average Australian coffee drinker, this is generally insufficient and you cannot try to up the dosage, to say 7g, due to the design of the brewing system for Espresso-compatible capsule machines.
There are fixed dimensions and you risk incorrect brew results or capsule brew failures - so it's unfortunately necessary to stay within the strict parameters for the design of the coffee capsule equipment.
If you visit a typical cafe in Australia and order a medium coffee such as the popular milk-based espresso beverages like a flat-white, cappuccino or latte - then chances are you are likely to have a coffee prepared with around 14 to 20 grams of coffee, depending upon the cafe, the barista and the coffee they are using.
Some cafes operating in volume turnover environments perform what is commonly referred to as "split shots" (double filter basket with two spouts pouring into 2 cups at the same time).
Split shots tend to be weaker and lack body, flavor and complexity when large amounts of milk are added to make up the flat-white, cappuccino or latte.
Whereas your typically specialty coffee cafe may do what is referred to as a double-ristretto espresso shot that provides for the entire 16 - 20g to pour into a single cup, cutting the shot at around 30ml.
This creates an full-flavored, rich and sweet coffee that is likely to retain it's character and complexity when milk is added.
The ratio of milk to espresso is a very important factor.
Running a capsule shot longer, or pressing the button more than once for the same capsule is not going to make the coffee much stronger in flavor.
Many people try this technique in the hope of gaining more from the capsule, but it is not recommended because it can introduce bitter taints, reduce body and increase the volume of water to coffee oils - thinning.
You can only extract a certain amount of oil (flavor) from a dosage of coffee. As the oil is reducing, you will notice the pour is blonding and the coffee is thinning and becoming watery.
Running the shot too long will cause taints such as bitterness as the oils will have been extracted and the remaining grounds are increasingly hot and burning.
Selecting higher grades of coffees to be used in capsule is not the simple answer to improving or increasing the level of coffee flavor.
Higher grade coffees tend to be more delicate, cleaner and sweeter which may translate to a weaker capsule experience compared to the rough, dirty, robusta laden coffees in most of the imported coffee capsules.
If we look at what occurs in our specialty cafes, the baristas tend to dose more coffee to generate the required flavor - but of course you cannot do this in a fixed dosage system such as Nespresso-compatible capsules.
We have spent a lot of time designing coffees to be used in our mycuppa.com.au Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules. The selection process involves a lot of testing.
Our coffee capsules are not stronger because they contain higher quality coffee beans. Our capsules are cleaner and sweeter tasting that when combined with the freshness factor we managed closely, can result in a more rewarding coffee capsule experience.
Will the capsules work in all types of capsule machines ?
Our capsules are compatible with machines using the authentic and authorized Nespresso U, Latissama, Citiz and Pixie systems.
Our capsules are NOT compatible with Nespresso commercial machines (fully automatic), Miele capsule machines, Krups Models F893, F896, F897, Lavazza Blue, MAP, Aldi Expressi,
When can I purchase Nespresso compatible coffee capsules
* Nespresso is a trademark owned by Societe Des Products Nestle SA and is used in our documents, articles and listings in a descriptive capacity only. We are not affiliated with, support or endorsed by Nespresso (Societe Des Products Nestle SA). Our intent is to define a purpose that our capsules are compatible with and operate successfully in capsule machines that use licensed Nespresso technology.
]]>2. I like strong coffee, can I make 2 large cappuccinos from your ESE coffee pod ?
Unfortunately, we cannot always provide clear answers to these questions.
Firstly, we will tackle the challenge of coffee capsule and ESE coffee pod compatibility.
The purpose of this dicussion is not to draw up a list of machines that support ESE coffee pods, but we note why there is a difference between ESE coffee pods and capsules.
There are literally hundreds of brands and models of equipment in the market (new and old) with many of these equipment manufacturers tend to be very careful (perhaps bordering upon deceptive) in releasing the CLEAR and CONSISE details of what consumables can be supported or used on their systems.
We know of a few companies that sell their machines with literature stating simple "POD compatible".
Unless your machine specifications explicitly declare the words ESE or Easy Serving Espresso (E.S.E) compatible, then you are best served to contact your equipment maker directly - don't rely upon POD supplier websites to answer your queries - they may have the information wrong and ultimately they just want to sell pods !
Closed versus Open Systems
The perfect dream product for any manufacturer is one that is popular, uses their proprietary consumables (or restricted complementary components) and has a long lifecycle.
This is the most profitable outcome for a designer and manufacturer. Apple have mastered this concept exceptionally.
A proprietary (or closed) system can offer performance, reliability and function but it comes at a premium to comparable open systems.
Having worked in the technology industry for 30 years, I have personally experienced the transformation from large (and expensive) proprietary mainframe and mini-computer systems into low-cost, powerful, open systems and now the ubiquitous mobile device is rapidly taking over as our preferred platform of choice.
The IT industry is a classic example of how proprietary systems have ultimately faded through the evolution of cheaper open systems - there are a few notable exclusions of course - Apple and to a less extent Microsoft, but despite the billions of $$ in their war-chests, there are already storm clouds on the horizon for both Microsoft and Apple.
When it comes to single serve portion control coffee, capsules are the equivalent of a closed system whilst ESE coffee pods are open.
Capsules are designed in various forms (shape, size, materials, dosage, extraction methods, etc.) and need to be specifically matched, or compatible with the machine, device or appliance used to brew or extract the coffee.
The "closed" design of capsules and can be considered similar to how you manage or operate your printers, e.g. inkjet or toner.
It is important to use the right consumables, else the results will not be suitable, it can be messy or even worse - there are increased risks of damage to your equipment.
"Closed system" coffee capsules are essentially marketed the same way as inkjet and laser printers. Flog the device/appliance/machine for a very attractive price, or in many cases below cost, in order to "seed" the market with an army of machines forcing owners to return and purchase your consumables sold at higher margins - in other words this is simply portfolio pricing at work.
ESE coffee pods are an international, open standard. It is not "owned" by a corporation. These standards govern the size, shape and expected extraction results of ESE coffee pods.
Manufacturers of ESE coffee pod machines have been slow to embrace the "appliance" concept - design of low cost devices that can be distributed via the white goods stores.
Traditionally, the ESE coffee pod manufacturers have been focused on the European markets and stuck in the mindset for many years building strong, reliable ESE coffee pod machines having components leveraged from "commercial" espresso machine construction - heavy brass, copper, etc.
This created an opportunity for the cheap capsule machines to take a large slice of the market.
In Australia, we have seen Breville and Sunbeam grow their footprints in espresso coffee. Their focus has been too narrow and they allowed Nespresso systems to build considerable market share. We understand Sunbeam and Breville are considering dedicated ESE coffee POD machines to compete with Nespresso, but in my mind they have missed the boat to some degree.
In Australia, the instant coffee segment continues to shrink at considerable rates and the natural transition for many instant drinkers is either capsules or ESE coffee PODs. Many have been lured to capsules and then left a little disappointed by the experience, the cost or the inconvenience of having to source capsules from limited suppliers.
What about the flavor (strength)
In the second part of our discussion, we dissect the issue of dosage and how it relates to what actually happens in practice within the Australia coffee scene.
Generally, capsules (regardless of vendor) have around 4.5g to 5.5g per serve compared to ESE coffee pods containing 7g to 7.8g per serve.
ESE coffee pods are also available in 10g and 14g portion control sizes.
These larger dosage ESE coffee pods are typically used in commercial situations like fast food outlets or where there is a distinct limitation on available barista skills.
14g ESE coffee pods have been around for a long time whilst the new 10g ESE coffee pods are emerging as a viable standard intended to balance the demands for stronger coffee flavor with a reasonable cost per serve.
Australian coffee drinkers prefer rich, smooth, creamy milk-based coffees in large cups or mugs. In contrast, Europeans have a higher proportion of short-black drinkers in small cups.
Australians also demand sweet, non-bitter coffees that do not require sweetening with added sugar.
As a nation of 95% milk-based espresso, the addition of milk to the coffee alters the "flavor" balance and in many respects it dilutes and weakens the beverage.
The term "cut through milk" is an over-used saying that very few people actually understand and unfortunately it can be incorrectly applied when rating or ranking coffees.
In Europe, the solution to the low dosage coffee extraction problem is simple - they just use "rougher" coffees with more "bite" and add higher proportions of robusta than the Australians palate are generally accustomed to consuming.
This method of preparing "rough, sharp coffee with bite" might suit Europe as they can easily operate on price-sensitive, lower-quality metrics, but in Australia we have a taste-sensitive market. Alas, these cheap, "sharp" ESE coffee pods and capsules are still being imported into Australia in volumes and sold to consumers as a "premium" experience.
As a side note, the whole "arabica versus robusta" debate is a much maligned topic and unfortunately there are hundreds of thousands of ill-informed, technically incorrect articles and posts circulating the internet from the last 20 years of espresso coffee evolution - most of it centred around the alleged paranoia that roasters substitute cheap robusta to make more profit.
The plain and simple facts are there can will always be a place for robusta and arabica in the coffee world. Currently, robusta prices have rallied up high over the last 6 months meaning the price differentials between quality robusta and arabica are minimal, however, the competition to produce great coffee is so intense that compromises are becoming increasingly impossible, thus the decisions made by roasters are always around making the best product for the customer, rather than the cheapest product.
Now, back to the discussion on flavor.
Most of the larger and successful cafes in Australia use a double-shot basket on their commercial multi-group espresso machines to make a standard coffee - irrespective of whether it's an 8oz (small), 12oz (medium) or 16oz (large) takeaway - except when they are extremely busy and need to pump out volume. No doubt, there are people out there who will argue with me about it and debate dosage and extraction times.
A few years ago, the practice of running a double shot split across 2-cups was more common (and is still the norm in many average or down-scale establishments that don't know any better), however, with every physical location now saturated with an over-supply of coffee outlets, the competitive nature means cafes must offer more "bang for the buck" when it comes to coffee.
This has given rise to the increased popularity of the "double ristretto" style of espresso extraction.
A double-ristretto extraction provides a high dosage of coffee with a shot that is cut a bit shorter during the execution of the extraction, e.g. instead of allowing the shot to run for 25 - 30 seconds, the barista may cut the shot at say 15 seconds.
This technique captures the predominant intensity of sweetness and body. When a shot runs longer and begins to blonde (as is the case for many unskilled baristas), the contents of the extraction become increasingly watery and bitter.
Therefore, if you have the successful cafes using 16, 18 or even 21 gram baskets for your milk-based espresso (latte, flat white, macchiato, cappuccino, etc.), then it becomes difficult, or impossible to compare that coffee experience to a 7g POD extraction.
What we are trying to demonstrate here is a 16g cafe coffee is not the same as a 7g ESE pod or a 5g capsule.
In designing the coffees used in our mycuppa ESE Pods, we are trying to pack more coffee intensity into a 100% arabica blend so that it can at least deliver a drinkable cup from the 7g POD. We actually prepare our mycuppa ESE coffee pods with 7.8g coffee.
We use our premium high-grade Kenyan and Central American arabica with a deliberately "tuned" acid balance given the majority of Australian coffee drinkers add milk to their espresso.
Does Packaging make a difference ?
Absolutely.
Capsules are generally available in either plastic (clone) or aluminium (genuine).
We know from many years experience with our coffee bean and ground packs of the need for effective barrier protection.
Coffee is a fresh food and it's literally impossible to suspend the oxygenation (or deterioration) of the coffee as it ages. There are fancy methods such as nitrogen flush that exhaust oxygen and therefore limiting the CO2 effects, but these are really only intended for coffee products are destined for very long shelf life, such as the Italians who seem persistent on placing a ridiculous Best Before date of 2 years on their coffees.
Different metalized films used in barrier protection perform with various results. Plastics, regardless of the density are very poor choices when it comes to packaging coffee.
We have seen the emergence of clone capsules hitting the market in an attempt to bring the price of capsules down. Competition on these "closed systems" is a great thing, however, we are seeing many of the clone capsules being manufactured using the plastic method instead of aluminium.
Plastic will not provide an effective barrier compared to aluminium and most of the plastic capsules can not be recycled in the same way as aluminium capsules. We are aware of a bio-degradable plastic capsule being recently released, however, we have no anecdotal evidence on the performance of the barrier technology used to preserve the flavor and essence of the coffee.
If we consider our own experiments with bio-degradable coffee bean packaging, we found that the beans had lost considerable character over a 4 - 6 week period and were clearly not comparable to the packs of traditional metalized foil-lined coffee bags.
In our view, bio-degradable coffee packaging is only intended for short transit periods, e.g. from retailer to customer, e.g. a few days, etc. and not to be used for longer term storage due to the rapid staling effect.
ESE coffee pods are manufactured in a controlled environment using two thin films of bio-degradable filter papers that can be composted. Each ESE coffee pod is individually wrapped in foil packaging, providing effective barrier protection against staling.
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