Macchiatto Matthew's Blog

Over to Wordpress

2006-11-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

Wordpress beckoned...I heeded.

The blog will hence be located here, and will be updated about as frequently as ever.

Matthew

Novo Hache

2006-10-14T00:56:00.000-07:00

We at the Elysian Room have been eagerly anticipating this coffee ever since we got a small sample of it to brew at the Canadian Coffee and Tea Expo. At the time we were blown away by how sweet and jammy and amazing it was - in fact it has started its own thread on the forum that shall not be named. Now, after a looooong wait we have it! Within seconds of the boxes arriving, we dove in and brewed up some on the Clover. And it was amazing. The coffee starts with beautifully floral and fruity flavours, including some violet and strawberry notes. A soft body carries these to the almost red wine like finish. It is truly a great coffee, and so easy to drink. This is now one of my favourite coffees of all time - and one that I think everyone should come and try!

Matthew

Grinder Project

2006-09-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

So it's official - the secret forum has a study group up and running.

Among the many interesting topics is my lowly one on grinder heat. My basic question is whether the fact that most espresso grinders do heat up the grinds is a problem. Common wisdom says that it is, and some people (Schomer) have gone to great lengths to stop the grinds from getting hot. Now, I've worked on a couple of Robur's that have been spitting out fairly warm grinds, and have not (superficially) noticed a difference in the way the shots were running. With this project I hope to test this. As the study group was envisioned to enable continuous projects, mine has two parts. Part one (which will be submitted by the first deadline) involves me doing a bunch of research on why heating grinds could be bad. I think that I should be able to provide at least a qualitative but complete explanation of what higher temperatures do to both the grinds themselves, and possibly the espresso extracted from them. Part two will involve me doing taste tests of shots with grinds at different temps. Hopefully I can substantiate part one throught part two (although, by my calculations, it will require at least 15 pounds of espresso!!!).

Matthew

Barista Competitions

2006-07-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

So, the Western Regional Barista Competition was held in Vancouver last week, with Barret from Cafe Artigiano taking the top spot. Watching the competition got me to thinking about the problems with it. These have been discussed often but mostly center around the more technical aspects of the comp. The one thing that jumped out at me was the formality of the presentation. It didn't look fun, and there wasn't really any connection with the judges. One of the things that the comps have been critized for is the lack of connection to the actual cafe setting, and in the aspect of customer service, this disconnect is really apparent. In a sense, anytime you go into a cafe, you are a judge - of the service, quality of drinks, etc. But if you were treated like the judges are treated in competition, tips for baristas would probably be far and few between. I'm not talking about drink quality, because it is at a high level in comps, but rather the strained formality with which most competitors present themselves. I would like to see the baristas have more fun with their presentation, and open up to the judges a little more (Jay Caragay's performance at the USBC comes to mind). In this aspect, I think barista comps could borrow from bartending, where your tips are very much dependent on your interactions with customers or judges. Stephen tells me that Arthur has been doing this, and I would really like to see him compete. I think that adding some fun to the competitions would also draw more spectators in (something that was sorely lacking at the regionals).

Matthew

Espresso Aging

2006-07-08T00:24:00.000-07:00

Just a few thoughts:

In general, with single origin coffees that are prepared using say, a french press, a few days off the roast is ideal. You want that coffee really fresh. Coffee does develop as it ages, but often after day 5, it's gone (especially if not vacuum sealed). However, the common wisdom with an espresso blend is that it starts to get good at about day 5 (or so). Now, part of the reason has to do with mouthfeel. Really fresh espresso is still degassing at a fast rate, and when a shot is pulled, you get a frothy shot, with a lot of crema, but not necessarily much body. If you let the espresso degas a bit (even in vacuum sealed bags), the crema is much finer, and the actual liquid often has a much nicer body. The blend also develops in flavour as it ages, and this is the part that interests me. True, the mouthfeel of espresso is an important aspect, but are we sacrificing taste for body? It is hard to pull a good shot of fresh espresso, but couldn't it possibly be even better on day 3 than day 5? What about single origin espresso? Should we follow the rule for single origins or espresso? As you can see, I've got a lot of questions but not many answers.

Matthew

It's been awhile

2006-06-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know.

More than a month without a post. I could blame school, or work, or a combination of both. But really, I've just had a hard time sitting down and writing. So here goes...

Synesso!!!

The Elysian Room is now the proud owner of a brand new Synesso Cyncra 2 group. And it's niiiice. I've really enjoyed working on it these past few weeks, and have totally noticed an improvement in the shot quality. The mouthfeel is ridiculous!! So rich and creamy.

Clover 1s

That's right. We also have the brand new Clover 1s, making us the only place in the world with the Synesso/Clover 1s combo of amazing brewing devices. The 1s is also really nice, and addressed a bunch of issues with the prototype. The filter no longer has the screw in the middle, meaning that less grinds stick around from cup to cup. As well, the water stream is now a single stream, which is actually better for grind incorporation with less stirring. The single stream also results in better temperature stability. Good work, Zander et al. The 1s is great!

Coffees

A bunch of nice coffees have been through the Clover in the past month. We have the El Salvador Las Mandarinas which has been consistently sweet and smooth, and also the Tanzanian Peaberry which has some really nice milk chocolate/blackberry notes. We also had a Rwanda Musasa which was stellar a few weeks back. One really exciting coffee that is coming up is the Panama Esmeralda Special which fetched $50 a pound green at the Best of Panama Auction. We are offering only 12 cups of this coffee at $10 a cup, available only by pre order. It promises to be pretty special. The Esmeralda I had last year was stellar, and probably the best coffee I've ever had, so I am really excited about this!

Visiting Baristi

Stephen Morrissey (aka the flying thud) is a barista from Ireland here for the summer to work at Wicked. He's been into Elysian several times, and has even been included in a late night supper/drinking/latte art fest at Elysian. Go check out his work at Wicked, or his blog, or his flickr site.

I promise to actually post from now on.

Matthew

Drinking Temperature

2006-05-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

All experienced cuppers will taste coffee at multiple temperatures - often once while hot, and then several more times as the coffee cools. Tasting at different temperatures will often reveal new flavours, and also affect the overall impression of the coffee. I've been wondering about the physical basis of this for the past few days. There are a few possible reasons I can think of (with my limited science background). Just as the brewing temperature will determine which compounds are extracted, I think that the temperature at which the coffee is drunk will probably impact which compounds are perceived. My guess is that there are many compounds that can only be "tasted" while they are in a certain phase (gas/liquid/solid), and that phase transitions may be occurring as the coffee cools. In this case different combinations of compounds will lead to different tastes. Another guess is that temperature affects our ability to "taste". By taste, I am not necessarily referring to only taste bud sensing, but also to smell which we perceive as taste. Higher temperatures would lead to more aromatics being present which could account for coffee becoming duller and flatter at cooler temperatures. However, I have often found coffee becoming sweeter as it cools, and the acidity often becoming unbalanced. Perhaps the lack of aromatics causes us to notice more of the flavours being perceived by our taste buds. The increase in acidity is a thorny problem. Studies have shown that perceived acidity does not necessarily correlate with pH, and other merely astringent compounds can also be perceived as acidity.

Most coffees will have specific brew temperatures that make them taste good, and my guess is that certain coffees will taste better at certain drinking temperatures (which will probably also depend on brewing temperature). However, just as different roast treatments and brew temperatures reveal different facets of a coffee, drinking the coffee at different temperatures will reveal different characteristics. Different types of beer and wine are drunk at certain specific temperatures, and I think that the same could be done with different coffees, perhaps using double walled glasses to somewhat maintain the temperature.

Matthew

Coffee Cognoscenti

2006-05-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

It’s been a fun past week at Elysian. Zander Nosler (the Clover creator) came in, along with Anastasia Chovan, and they chatted with Alistair for a bit. The exciting part came when I got to make Zander a macchiato! Then, yesterday, Mark Prince came in to ogle the new Reg Barber tampers. I got to steam milk and make espresso for a macchiato, which Mark poured. In regards to the new Reg Barber tamper, opinion at the Elysian Room is somewhat mixed about it. It feels somewhat awkward in my hand, but that could just be because it is a new design. This is a picture geir took to compare a standard Reg with the new design. Geir also came in yesterday.

Matt from Elysian has a new digital camera, and consequently, a new flickr account with some really cool pictures.

Finally, a rosetta for you (I don't think I poured it, though!)

Matthew

Random Reviews

2006-04-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Exams are over, and I am back at work!!! It felt great getting back on the machine, especially considering I was wielding my new tamper made by Reg Barber. Every barista will tell you that there is nothing quite like the feel of a fresh tamper. I ordered the tamper while I was in Victoria, where I also went to a few of my favourite cafes. Unfortunately, my experiences were somewhat less than stellar. At Caffe Fantastico, the thing that saddened me the most was their tamper, a poor Reg Barber that was so beat up, I could have sworn the base was aluminum. Their grinders looked in need of repair as well. My americano was okay, but I hope that Fantastico realizes that passionate barista, which are one of the cornerstones of a successful cafe, will leave in droves when they have to work with crappy equipment. I also checked out Broadwalk Cafe, with its crazy Faema E61. It is a beautiful machine, totally old-school Italian, but I had my doubts about how the shots would pull. I needn't have worried. My americano was excellent, with some really nice floral notes. Finally, I checked out 2% Jazz, and Sam Jone's newest venture, Discovery Coffee. Both have Synessos, and there is a Clover at Discovery. All the espresso that I tasted at both locations was excellent (thanks, at 2%, to Jordan), and the cup of Yirg I had from the Clover was okay (maybe I've been spoiled by Intelly Yirg). However, their roast style leans towards the darker, which means that I wasn't getting a lot of origin flavour from the coffees I tried. Despite that, I recommend Discovery not only for its coffee, but also for its ambiance. Beautiful original wood floors, copies of Roast and Barista Magazine, and the Diedrich prominently positioned next to jute bags of green. A cool place for a coffee nerd.

Over at Artigiano, the new Clover sheet is up, with one amazing Brazil, and one that is not so amazing. The Brazil #3 CoE is probably the best coffee to come out of their Clover to date, with beautiful acidity and flavour. It almost reminds me of drinking a big fruity Shiraz. I definitely recommend it, and will probably go get a cup after writing this!

Matthew

Colombia CoE and Clover

2006-04-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

So the Colombian Cup of Excellence auction just finished, with the top coffee going for $12.05 a pound to Stumptown, Intelly, and the Maruyama group. I've been waiting expectantly for this auction ever since the winning farms were announced back in March, and was able to watch the last few minutes live online. On the heels of the crazy $50 a pound Brazil results, people had some high expectations for this auction, which obviously didn't really pan out. This, however, is a good thing. The Brazil auction had the one very expensive lot, with the rest somewhere around the 2.50-4 dollar mark. The Colombian auction had considerably more lots garner between 3 and 5 dollars. As Alistair pointed out on the über-secret forum, this auction actually raised more money for fewer bags of coffee. That is a great thing for the farmers.

Been playing around with the Clover and some obstinate coffee lately. We had some coffee that was not tasting that good at the standard time and temperature. So, we fooled around - temperature down by 3 degrees, time down by 3 seconds (purely coincidental). The amazing thing was the change in the coffee. Considerably better with new parameters. And it is so easy to change these parameters, which would not be that simple even with, say, a french press. I look forward to exploring different coffees in a similar manner in the future.

Matthew

Bar, Bovines, and Blogs

2006-04-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Several interesting things to report....

I've been working bar at Elysian these past five days, and it has been a blast. There is a different mentality towards espresso than at JJ, and I was in the process of adjusting over the course of the past days. However, when those shots are pulling nicely, they are really good. This batch of Hines? Elysian? is very creamy, with some intense chocolate and occasionally dried fruit notes (maybe like dried apricot, with some acidity). I've been getting pretty buzzed from continuous tasting.

I tasted a few different milks yesterday with Omar, a coworker. We tasted two organic and two non-organic milks. The Valley Pride organic had the most 'gamey' or wild taste, which, I suppose is more of an actual taste of milk. The Avalon organic was next in terms of this taste, with the two non-organic (Island Farms and Dairyland) being somewhat watery and similar in that they lacked much of a flavour. As I haven't yet tried them with espresso, I don't know whether that milk taste is a good thing or not. Perhaps the less flavourful milk allows the espresso to come through more? More experimentation!

Finally, JimSeven (aka James Hoffmann) listed me in his list of coffee blogs! Cool! Thanks James! Check out his blog if you don't already. You'll be amazed at how young he looks...

Matthew

Farewell JJ, Hello Elysian!

2006-03-31T09:53:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's been a while. My last day at JJ was almost two weeks ago, but I was waiting for pictures to post. Turns out, I didn't find any I wanted to use. Oh well. I have now worked a few shifts at the Elysian Room, and am enjoying it immensely. I haven't been allowed on the Linea yet, but I have got to play with the Clover. It is even cooler up close, and much cleaner than one would suppose. I suspect that it will indeed have an impact on the world of coffee. I've been tasting some pretty great coffees from it these past days, including a really nice Yirgacheffe from Intelligentsia.

Nick and I went on an impromptu nano cafe crawl yesterday. We first went to Prado for a few capps which were okay. The shots tasted like they had some harshness to them, though. Then we headed over to the Main St. location of JJ. I love that store. With the powerhouse team of Lucho and AJ behind the bar, you know that you're in for a good time. Lucho made us a couple of maccs. Wow. I wish I had my camera. Lucho can pour art like nobody. As well, even though he was using Espresso JJ (usually a bad thing), the maccs tasted really good, with none of the acrid acidity usually found in a Espresso JJ shot. Very impressive.

A recent forum thread on the ultra secret coffee forum is discussing how brew temp might affect soluble materials and taste in coffee. I actually did a little research into this last year, and it is really, really complicated. I did notice some definite trends, but my range of temperatures was huge (about 20 degrees), and my palate was non-existent. It would be interesting to try this again with the Clover over a much smaller temperature range, and with a few different coffees. Perhaps an after hours project at work??

Now that I am done school (but for finals), hopefully the post rate will go up. And so, I leave you with one last picture of JJ GI.

Matthew

Spouts

2006-03-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

No, not on portafilters. That debate is dead...

I'm taking about the spout on the milk pitcher. Nick has been astute enough to notice a considerable difference in latte art when poured from different pitchers. The difference is in the spout. It seems that the worst pitchers have wide spouts, whereas the better ones are narrower. So today, we tried to tweak the spouts on a few pitchers. The results were so-so, probably because I over tweaked. It seems that a pitcher with a longer, narrower spout is better, but that you can also go overboard. Having a pitcher with an extremely narrow spout just doesn't work. You get milk that travels too fast, and that also has a shear, with milk travelling slower on top, and fast milk at the narrowest part. I know this sounds weird, but it is kind of hard to explain (you kind of have to pour, and you'll get it). I wonder if anyone has experimented with spout sizes and shapes? For instance, is the standard triangular spout the best? What about a spout that curves to a narrower section? What about a spout that is completely narrow? Are different shaped spouts better for cappuccinos verses lattes (Nick thinks so! I agree)? It definitely bears some further work.

Matthew

Note: I played around with one of the pitchers today with a modified spout, and it definitely poured nicer art. You could totally feel the extra control you had, due to the narrower spout. Thinner leaves, with wider crema middles. Beautiful. I'll do more and post pictures later....

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

2006-03-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

I am in for a change. Today, I gave my two weeks notice to JJ Bean. I have been with the company for just over a year, but I have learned so much in my time there. They were basically my start in specialty coffee. It is a bittersweet time for me, because I will be leaving staff that has become like my family. However, I will be taking a job at The Elysian Room, which holds so much promise for the furthering of my knowledge in specialty coffee.

Matthew

A few photos

2006-02-22T19:46:00.000-08:00

Just a few photos for your enjoyment:

A unique apple heart latte poured by Mr. Nick from work.

A latte I poured in one of the 12 ounce for here cups at work.

A beautiful naked pour...it doesn't always look like this...

Synesso Fun!

2006-02-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

So, Wednesday morning was tons of fun. I brought Hines espresso, and an experimental blend from our Main St. store. Nick brought Kid O espresso from Intelligentsia. We also had Nero and a new and improved Palomino. I'll go through the espessos, and then mention some more thoughts on the machines.

Hines

The Hines was really fresh (only three days old). I should have probably gotten some earlier. Anyways, I found it a little lackluster, and less interesting than before, but that totally could have been the roast date. The most amazing thing about the Hines was the crema dripping from the (yes, I know) spouted portafilters. It was so amazingly thick and voluptous. We were running the Hines at 201-202.

Espresso Menno

It was getting on in age, but still was pretty good. There were less of the really floral, perfumy notes than before, but still, quite a nice espresso. I think it preferred a warmer temp, but I don't really remember.

Kid O

We were really excited to try the Kid O, as we had previously gotten great results from it at GI. Very different from Black Cat. No ashiness, some fruit - a really good milk espresso. For my tastes, a little too uninteresting for a straight shot.

Palomino

Wow. The Palomino is getting good again. Definitely need some higher temps for this espresso to bring out the great citrusy acidity. The acidity is not harsh, and is backed up with some nice chocolate. This is a great milk espresso - it shines in a little six ounce cap.

The Machine

One thing I totally noticed was the increase in mouthfeel. All of the espressos were definitely creamier and more full bodied on the Synesso. Nick and I tried a comparison test between the two groups, with one group hotter. I didn't really notice a lot, but my shot consistency is not great. I did notice improvements in some espressos compared to back at work, but there are so many differences between the Cyncra, and an old FB-70. The steam power on this machines is huge. It is definitely more powerful than the FB-70, and perhaps even the GB5. However, the standard tip is annoying. I wasn't able to get a nice whirpool going, so much as a churning action. Using the standard La Marzocco tip on the other steam wand, I could steam like a dream. Really sweet milk from this machine. Regarding preinfusion; Nick and I basically gave up on it. It didn't seem to make a huge difference in the cup. The smaller gicleurs were nice, though. I'll add to this post if I think of anything else.

Matthew

Synesso - First Thoughts

2006-02-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

It's here!!!

Or, well, in the JJ Bean training room at least. Today, I got to play on the Synesso Cyncra two-group for a few minutes. Nice machine. The GB5 is also in the training room (though not usable), and since I have used it, I was kind of comparing the two machines in my mind. First, the Cyncra. Great design. I love the way you pull a shot - shift the lever over just a smidge for preinfusion, then all the way to get full boiler pressure. I could totally see that working in a busy coffee shop. And the stay cool steamwands - great power, and I like the way you pull the lever to turn on steam. The machine I was using had the standard Cyncra tip on one of the steamwands, and the standard Marzocco tip on the other, and so I had a chance to steam with both. Didn't really form an opinion on which was better, although I may have gotten sweeter milk with the standard Cyncra tip. Maybe. Shot performance was nice. I didn't get a chance to play around with temp or preinfusion (going to on Wednesday), but the shots were noticeable sweeter, with more flavour characteristics. For instance, using the FB-70 at work, the flavours in the shots are not distinct, and kind of meld to one common flavour. With the Cyncra, the flavours were much more distinct, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your espresso blend. I can't wait till Wednesday, when Nick and I are going to go crazy with temp (Nero at 196, anyone?!).

Matthew

The Ups and Downs of Coffee

2006-02-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

The Downs

Suddenly this weekend and today, my shots have been all channelly. I don't think I've changed my technique at all, and my shots were nice and even with my dosing method last week. It started when we changed espresso blends on Saturday, but it has continued to today, with a different blend. It's really hard to diagnose the problem, especially because my channels are appearing in random locations - it doesn't seem to be a systematic thing. The only thing that changed was that the burrs were cleaned on Friday night. It doesn't make sense.

The Ups

I was fortunate enough to snag some Kenya Karagoto roasted by the amazing John Sanders (thanks Alistair!), and have been drinking it since Monday. Wow. That is an amazing coffee. The press I had Monday morning had the most amazing body, with magnificently citrusy Kenya acidity; grapefruit, lemon, orange. It finished with a beautiful caramel - toffee aftertaste, which lasted for at least forty minutes. I have never had the aftertaste of a press coffee stay that long. If you have the chance, go to the Elysian Room, and get the Kenya from the Clover. It may be life changing.

Matthew

Vancouver Mini Cafe Crawl

2006-01-31T14:31:00.000-08:00

As promised.

Nick and I met up at Caffe Artigiano (the Hornby St. location), and each ordered a Clover coffee. I had the El Salvador, and Nick had the Yirgacheffe. It is nice to see that Artigiano is now offering more than one choice on the Clover. The El Salvador was pretty much how I remembered, but maybe with less fruit, and more of a caramelly flavour. Very good, but not that exciting. The muffin I had there was really good, though.

Next we walked down to Cafe 'O' in Yaletown, where I had an espresso, and Nick, a cappuccino. Cafe 'O' usually has no customers, but this time, there were a few people in the cafe. A few reasons why: they have no drip, and no decaf (in Yaletown!!!). Anyways, my espresso was obviously from a slightly too fresh roast (really gassy), but apart from that, not bad. Quite a bit of dried fruit flavours, with maybe some chocolate. Nick said that his capp was good, but not exciting (side note: they use only organic milk! Kind of cool).

Already pretty caffeinated, Nick and I headed to Cito Caffe, just down the street. Both Cito and 'O' have Synessos, so you'd think that the quality level at both would be pretty high. This was definitely not the case at Cito, a beautifully designed store. Totally Yaletown, and obviously done by someone other than your average cafe owner. Again, a Synesso, and (according to Nick) Vivace beans. When we got our shots, they looked really pale, and really long. Tasting them reinforced the long conclusion - really watery, with none of the positive mouthfeel elements that you look for in a good shot. Overextracted taste, with a musty, rubbery aftertaste that didn't leave even with repeated swigs from the water glass. Nick thought that the beans were most likely really old, and the texture of the crema supported this. Argh. A Synesso and Vivace, and this is what you get. Depressing.

Our final destination was Prado on Commercial Drive. My third espresso in two hours was okay, and definitely tasted better than the shot at Cito. It was probably a smidge less interesting than the shot at 'O', most likely due to the fact that I don't really like Artigiano's espresso blend (I think that's what Prado is using). However, it didn't have any negatives that I could taste.

So, a recap. In order of preference we have Artigiano, 'O', Prado, and finally at the rock bottom, Cito. Artigiano is at the top mainly due to the ambience, and my past experiences there. Of the shots I tasted that day 'O''s was the best, and I like its interior decor. The shot at Prado matched the decor - very minimalist and not too exciting. Cito, I don't even want to think about.

Matthew

Victoria Trip

2006-01-30T23:37:00.000-08:00

So, I went to Victoria this past weekend for some relaxation (and coffee, of course!). What I didn't count on was the place I was planning on going to being closed on Sunday. Boo! Now, it is Victoria, so it wasn't totally unexpected. But still. Anyways, I ended up going to the Cook St. Village location of Caffe Fantastico. They were my first experience of specialty coffee. Knowing what I know now (very little), and having tasted the things I have (very few), I realize that there are things that could be improved. Now, I don't want to bash. The shot I had was pretty good. Having just completed a mini cafe crawl in Vancouver, I'd say it was very good. But it is at places like Fantastico where I'd like to see the bar being pushed. The company certainly has the talent to do it. I hope they will introduce other people to coffee that was just as great as I remember.

Just so you don't think I'm being hard on Fantastico, I will soon post the results of my mini cafe crawl. They don't reflect well on the state of coffee in Vancouver....

Matthew

Coffee Education

2006-01-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

When you are part of the specialty coffee industry, you sometimes think that everyone must be as aware of coffee as you are. After all, the people you often talk with are other people in the industry discussing the latest innovation in temperature stability, or the latest CoE competition (more on that later). However, sometimes you begin to realize how little people know about coffee. Today, I was learning about roasting at a store where the roaster was kind of in the front. A few customers kind of asked about it, and what we were doing, but most people ignored us. I think roasting is something that people don't even think about, or realize is so integral to great coffee. Back when I still frequented Starbucks (!), I seem to recall them having a little display of the stages of coffee roasting, from green to cinamon to final product. It kind of got you thinking about coffee as something more than a drink. It took work to get coffee to the stage where it could finally be consumed. I think this is the next thing consumers need to be educated about if coffee is no longer going to be a commodity. Yes, appreciation of the huge variety of varietals and proper brewing methods are important, but roasting deserves to be a part of that as well. I don't really know how this could be implemented (roaster open houses?), but the more people realize that coffee is a multifaceted beverage with so many steps from berry to beverage, the more they will begin to appreciate it as a something more than a commodity.

Matthew

Clover - Again!

2006-01-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

I have now had a chance to try coffee from the two Clovers currently in Vancouver. First, I went back to the Elysian Room. This time they were pouring an Indonesian. Now, the thing that Indonesians are famous for are body (the coffee, not the people!). But, to tell the truth, I had never gotten that. I haven't tried many, but they were all disappointments. So, I wasn't too excited about the cup. The first slurp changed that. The body in the cup was amazing! So thick, you felt you could eat it with a fork. But, unlike body in a fp, it wasn't because of silt or mud. The cup was super clean, but with this incredible olive-oil like body! I kid you not! It filled your mouth. The taste (which is important, too) was wonderful. However, when it came to taste, I must mention the Panama Carmen Estate roasted by the immensly talented John Sanders from Hines (whom I got to meet!). Some of the Panama from the Clover reminded me of the first time I had tasted the it, way back in the summer. The flavour, the mouthfeel, the aftertase - all wonderful and delicate, and not something I had tasted from the Carmen the second and subsequent times I'd had it (mostly in fp's). The difference between the two coffees is quite large, and the fact that the Clover was able to bring out the qualities in both is a testament to what it is capable of. The cup of El Salvador I had at Caffe Artigiano this morning again was amazing. Beautiful acidity, with a wonderful cocoa finish. Wow.

(I want a Clover)

Matthew

Clover and New Burrs

2006-01-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

The Clover

It has arrived!! There are now two Clovers in Vancouver - one at Caffe Artigiano, and one at the Elsyian Room. I checked out the one at the Elysian Room yesterday. Well. That is one nifty piece of machinery. However, it all depends on the taste, right? I had a cup of Clover coffee (I don't remember which coffee I was served), and, well, it was okay. Not jaw-dropping, not super amazing, but, then again, the coffee might not have been jaw-dropping. It was interesting. The thing that caught my attention was the mouthfeel - kind of between drip and french press (I haven't tried vac pot coffee, so I can't compare to that). Some silt at the bottom of the cup, but definitely cleaner than a fp. The cup was very soft, and the flavours were not distinct at all. But, like I said, it might have been the coffee. As well, Matt said that they were still adjusting the parameters, so that could have also been a factor. I look forward to trying Clover coffee again.

New Burrs!!!

Finally. The Robur, and the Malkhoning have new burrs. What a difference. The Malkhoning is quiet as a mouse - it practically purrs when grinding. And the Robur - WOW! The change is noticeable not only in grind quality, but also in speed, and definitely in the cup. The shot I had no longer had the harshness that had been so prevelant previously. There was a nice nuttyness that had been lacking, and also a much cleaner taste. As well, the shot had some sweetness - something I would have sworn was impossible to get with the machine we have. When someone tells you that something makes a difference in the cup, you don't always believe them (especially with my joke of a palate). However, I am convinced that sharp burrs make a difference in the cup - a difference that almost anyone would be able to taste.

Matthew

Version 2.0

2006-01-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

So, now that I've decided to make this blog all about coffee, I deleted my other posts and am starting afresh. It's an exciting time to be in coffee, what with the clover debuing, and the GS3 causing drool to abound. Vancouver is arguably one of the more exciting cities regarding coffee (apart from Portland, and Seattle), and I am lucky to be here and know of some of the key players in the Vancouver scene. Maybe they don't know me, but that's okay.

Anyways.

The Clover

I have not yet been to see the clover. That will probably happen soon. But it is soooo coool!!!! Finally a kind of automatic machine that makes amazing drip (for lack of a better word) coffee. In my strange future, I see clovers in every gas station, replacing those 'cappuccino machines' that now occupy every convenience store. I realize that the clover isn't as automatic as all that; that you still need to understand the fundamental ideas behind extraction. But this, in my opinion, is a good thing. It's like a synesso cyncra for brewed coffee. And it's about time.

Cold Espresso?

Espresso is always served hot, and as soon as possible. Demitasses are designed to retain as much heat as possible. But when cupping coffee, it's always a good idea to taste the coffee when it's hot, and also when it has cooled down a little. There might be changes in the flavour profile that are unexpected. But this is not done when tasting espresso. Now I know that you want to drink espresso as soon as possible after it has extracted, to be able to taste all those volatiles. But what about cooling espresso down, right after extraction? Would new flavour profiles be detected? Would the espresso be really crappy? I wonder...

Matthew