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The
Gourmet Coffee Experience: Tips for Bringing
the Specialty Shop to Your Home ~
by Laura Baich
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A
small blackboard on a wooden easel outside Espresso Royale
Caffé in Bloomington, Ind., entices passersby to sample
the coffee of the day. Inside, a mint-green, oversized couch
and plush red velvet chairs invite them to stay.
Millions of Americans regularly visit café’s like Espresso
Royale. According to Gary Goldstein, a spokesman for the
National Coffee Association (NCA), 28 million Americans
drink gourmet coffee daily. And among the 164 million Americans
who drink coffee (daily or occasionally), 127 million of
those are occasional gourmet coffee drinkers. |
Author and coffee expert Kenneth Davids argues in his book,
“Coffee,” that no matter where you are, you should only
enjoy coffee the gourmet way. “Coffee is a sensual experience
as well as a wake-up pill, and if it is drunk at all, it
should be drunk well and deliberately, rather than swilled
half cold out of Styrofoam cups while we work. Enjoying
good coffee may not save the world, but it certainly won’t
hurt.” How do gourmet coffee lovers like Davids enjoy
coffee-shop quality without spending up to $4 a cup? Coffee
experts say that with the right equipment and technique,
it is possible to bring the specialty coffee store into
the convenience of your own home.
Home Roasting:
For a fresh and flavorful brew, try home roasting. The process
is quick and simple, and the end result is a great cup of
coffee. Mike Ferguson, the Marketing Communications Director
for the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA),
recommends that people who want to try home roasting should
consult either Sweet
Maria’s, a home coffee roasting supplier and member
of the SCAA, or Davids’ book, “Home Roasting,” which,
according to Ferguson, is “the definitive work on home
roasting. I can’t imagine any question that couldn’t be
answered with these two resources.”
Davids’ book outlines a few basics for home roasting. First,
the beans must be roasted at a temperature between 460 F
and 530 F. Second, the beans or the air surrounding them
need to keep moving to prevent uneven roasting or scorching.
Finally, the roasting must be stopped at the proper time
and the beans cooled immediately.
“Home Roasting” and Sweet Maria’s both explain different
methods of home roasting, including oven, skillet, stove-top
and air popcorn popper roasting, as well as the use of home
roasting appliances. Both sources recommend beginners use
the air popping method because of its simplicity.
Teresa Leslie, a resident of Orlando, Fla., who just recently
began roasting, learned the process by studying postings
from other home roasters on Sweet Maria’s and similar Web
sites. Because of all the good advice she gleaned from the
Web, she encountered no problems during the first time she
roasted coffee at home using the air popping method. “I
think it’s very easy. … Just from hearing so many people
talk about first crack, second crack, timing of roasts,
I was able to do it just fine right away. One batch (1/2
cup of green beans) takes about six minutes and voila, all
done.”
Long-time coffee roaster and West Bend, Wis., resident Chris
Beck agrees that air poppers are good investments for beginners.
For those considering purchasing a home roaster for their
first attempt, Beck recommends the Hearthware Precision
or the Fresh Roast.
Grinding:
Grinding is the next step in enjoying home-roasted beans.
“Grinding is the biggest thing you can do to bring better
flavor to your cup at home. Regardless of where you get
the beans or what quality beans you get … you’re still going
to have better coffee flavor if you grind at home,” says
Chuck Macklin, former owner of Cappuccino’s, in Bloomington,
Ind.
In general, coffee should be ground as finely as possible
without causing it to clog the holes of the brewer or to
destroy all of the essential oils. Finely ground coffee
allows more contact between the coffee and hot water, therefore
releasing the essential oils quickly and more thoroughly.
Two exceptions to this grinding rule, however, occur in
the cases of espresso and French press brewing. Espresso
needs to be ground finer than other coffees, but a coarser
grind is recommended for the French press.
There are two basic classes of grinders: hand and electric.
Hand grinders are generally less expensive than electric
ones, but according to Davids’ book Coffee, the cheapest
versions of hand grinders don’t always produce grinds that
are fine enough for many coffee brewers. If you need finely
ground coffee, a more expensive hand grinder or an electric
grinder is the better choice. The prices and distributors
of more than 40 different kinds of grinders for home use
can be found at Coffee
Guide’s Website.
Leslie, who has ground her own coffee for many years, uses
a Braun burr grinder at home and finds the process very
easy. “You just set [the machine] on whatever grind you
want, coarse or fine grind, and then it’s just a matter
of how many beans you want ground. The longer you let it
grind, the more ground beans you have, as it grinds them
all the same way.”
Brewing:
Brewing is subject to personal taste and desired ritual.
“We’re seeing a lot more people who are interested in
the ritual, whether it’s an automatic coffee maker that
they brew the same way, the same amount of water every day,”
says Macklin, who enjoys the process of making coffee in
his Chemex coffee maker.
“I like to brew it. I like to boil the water manually.
I like to grind the beans. I like to put them into the little
cone-shaped filter paper, and I like to pour it in there.
I like to see the water make the coffee burst with the gas
that it gives off. I like all of those things that are the
ritual for me.”
In addition to the pleasurable aspect of making coffee,
Beck gives practical advice to consumers about how to get
the most out of home brewing. “Take the average auto-drip
coffee maker and throw it out. Ninety-five percent of them
don’t get to the proper (195 to 200 degrees) temperature
to brew a good pot of coffee. The Bunn, some of the Braun
and Krups models and the Technivorm Clubline are a few that
do get hot enough. Still, a cheap Melitta filter cone and
a thermos will brew just as good. Or, for the ultimate,
use a vac pot. Great coffee every time.”
Leslie agrees with Beck that the drip method is not the
best way to enjoy coffee. “You miss out on a lot of the
flavor with drip because of the paper filter. It filters
all the fats and oils out, and you know those are the things
that make anything taste good.”
Espresso:
In order to have good espresso experience at home, consumers
will need to invest in a quality espresso machine. Dorey
knows this from experience. “I had a cheap machine that
I used at home, but I didn’t like the way the espresso turned
out. I think if you’re going to buy an espresso machine,
you need to get a good one.”
While it is possible to do home roasting for less than $20,
espresso lovers will have to spend hundreds of dollars on
equipment. Macklin thinks, however, that coffee aficionados
may not be turned off by the potentially high price tag.
“To people who value the coffee experience at home, price
is of very little importance. You either afford it or you
don’t. And if you afford it, then you want to do it well.”
According to the Coffee
Crew Website, you can purchase a good espresso machine
for less than $500. For consumers who aren’t quite sure
what kind of machine to buy, this Web site reviews machines
used by its own staff members in their homes.
While practicing professional techniques at home may enhance
the quality of coffee for consumers, it will never quite
replace the social aspect of the coffee shop experience.
“[One] role of the coffeehouse is rooted in the fundamental
need for community,” says Ferguson. “It is difficult
to imagine coffeehouses becoming less popular in a time
of national unity.” So enjoy the best gourmet coffee
at home, but don’t forget to visit the shop where you first
discovered it.
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