by David Schomer

Often during my twenty years spent in hot pursuit of this elusive espresso, I have come back to the words of Piero Bambi, the owner of LaMarzocco espresso machines: ‘In espresso we are trying to preserve the fragrance through the brewing process’. And really, isn’t that what anyone wants from coffee, to taste as good as it smells?  But to achieve this is to control several complex factors from the green bean selection, roasting, and blending to the sensuous performance art of brewing and pouring. Let’s follow our barista as she performs her graceful dance to lure this delicate beauty into a cup. It starts when she (we are tagging along with Linda Cleckler) hits the button on the grinder. Heavy conical upper burrs pull the beans down, compressing them until they shatter into smaller fragments to enter the flat burrs, to be sheared into the final grind…  
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Seventeen grams of the fluff exits the edges of the flat burrs and drops into a chute along the sides of the grinding head. A whirling brass paddle smashes into the coffee, whisking it on a furious circular journey at about 450 rpm until it is forced out a square portal to tumble into the dosing hopper. After grinding, this is the first real assault on our sweet coffee – the impeller smashing it into lumps, bruising the lipids and destroying a little of the fragrance. 

Linda begins flapping the vestigial Italian dosing lever and in little pie-shaped chambers the coffee advances towards an aperture in the floor of the hopper to drop into her coffee basket. For the Italians, one pull on the lever gives a single shot, two pulls delivers a double dose of ground coffee. I describe it as a vestige because we grind only by the cup and achieve portion measurement with a timer. The Italian dosing hopper is also somewhat of an air and coffee mixing machine, and oxidation claims a bit more flavor. But these flavors do not go quietly into that good night: oxidation, literally the bonding of an oxygen molecule on the molecular structure of the aromatic compound, creates a sour/astringent flavor, and aggressively degrades the sugars and aromatic oils in the cup. Because of the short, pressurized percolation cycle of around 25 seconds, the final consistency of the ground coffee is critical to achieve crema, and preserve the full amount of fragrance the bean has to offer.

 The flat burrs shear the bean into a complex consistency that looks like snowflakes under a microscope. To accomplish this the flat burrs must remain very sharp and require changing every 500 pounds. The goal of the grind is to achieve the highest surface area of exposed aromatic oils, lipids and sugars to be transported quickly by the brewing water into your cup. The rapid percolation cycle and pressure are the unique characteristics of the espresso method that allow us to preserve the most delicate fragrance through the brewing process. With such a short brewing cycle, the grinder is the critical machine to preserve the highest percentage of the fragrance per gram of coffee used. However, the espresso machine is ultimately responsible for the integrity of that fragrance – in other words how closely the flavor resembles the fragrance.

Linda, of course has infinite capacity to destroy the coffee as she doses, packs and locks the porta-filter into the group head of the machine. Or, with finesse and skill (which is the case here), she can be the maestro that brings the entire symphony together. A great barista takes years to master the nuance of temperature control, particle distribution and packing, the espresso flow rate and the cleaning regime to make a distinctively superior espresso. She is in her fourteenth year as a pro barista.

In Trieste, Sergio Michael of Illy Caffe told me they consider the ‘miscela, mano e macchina’ or the blend, the barista and the machine, as equally balanced  factors to create (or destroy) a fine espresso. It was during my visit to Illy in 1989 that I truly fell in love with the sweet Northern Italian espresso roast, a roast simply referred to at Illy Caffe as “normale”. So, before she hits the brewing switch let’s talk about the roasting of coffee for espresso.

The picture shows three roasts with the darkest being found in Naples, located in the southern half of Italy. The medium roast is representative of coffee found in Florence and the Central Italian style, and the Northern Italian roast might be found in a typical espresso bar in Milan. 

Roasting is a Maillard reaction (so named after the French chemist Luis-Camille Maillard, credited with classifying this class of reactions in 1912) and produces CO2, caramelized sugars and heat in the final stages.  Darker roasts than the Naples example in my opinion are outside of our consideration for the caffe espresso method. The carbonization of sugars makes a pronounced bitterness in the espresso in very dark roasts. Again we go back to the simple essence – just smell the coffee and it is very apparent what its flavor potential is (if it smells like burnt rubber perhaps it is not so sweet).

The Italian lore acknowledges that as you travel south the roast deepens from Northern Italian and begins to become darker in color. As the final color becomes darker, acidity decreases, while bitterness increases in the final cup. I would add a corollary to that maxim: the darker that you roast the more consistency that can be achieved in the flavor of the espresso. The most difficult roast to brew consistently is of course, the sweetest, fresh Northern Italian roast. Darker roasts are achieved by stopping the roasting process at a higher temperature where complex sugars and aromatic oils carbonize. If you go very dark, 100% of the fragrance has burned up and these molecules are very stable. This results in an easily repeatable, but fantastically bitter espresso coffee in the cup (hmmm… I suppose, if we added enough milk and sugar…)!

I have chosen the Northern Italian style for Vivace because it is roasted just to the peak of caramelized sugar content, and quickly cooled. (Forceful cooling is essential or the beans will continue roasting without added heat and left unchecked can actually result in the coffee catching fire in the roaster). But the sweet roast demands the very highest attention from the barista and roaster because of the very high concentration of sugars and aromatic oils, which are the fragrant molecules that are the most volatile. The fragrance is an earthy caramel with a slight toast/leather note and traces of dark chocolate and blueberry.

Oxidation, incorrect brewing water temperature, an incorrect flow rate or a dirty machine are going to cause the most noticeable deterioration in this style of roast compared to Central or Southern Italian roasts. For the restaurant owner I recommend the Central Italian degree of roasting as a good compromise between sweetness and volatility. The sweet roast will drive you and your staff nuts… I promise. Once roasted, coffee should be stored in a cool dark place and is best on days four through eight after roasting. Any artisan roaster worth considering will put the roasting date on the package.

Back to Linda, and our perfectly ground, dosed, and packed fresh coffee, as she turns on the brewing switch in the espresso machine. Her action opens a solenoid valve and turns on a rotary pump at the same time. Water held at 203 degrees F. surges against a 0.6mm carburetor jet placed inside the water line right above the group head. The machine engineers have chosen the faintly suggestive term “gigueler orifice” to refer to this important restrictor in the flow of water to the coffee. The purpose of this is to create a chamber between the tiny pin point, madly shooting hot water, and the surface of the coffee bed. This pre-infuses the coffee with brewing water because it takes between one and two seconds before the chamber between the coffee bed and the jet fills, and the coffee feels the full pressure. The gradual build up of pressure prevents pressurized water from fragmenting the top of the coffee, and loosens up the flavors in the top layer of the packed coffee. The whole cycle takes about two seconds.

Linda has started steaming the milk, first stretching to add air, then submerging the steam tip and locking into her whirlpool to create the chiffon texture. In seconds two through eight, the water rapidly percolates evenly through the cake under 125 pounds of force. Inside the pressurized chamber, caramelized sugars, lipids, and hundreds of varieties of fragrant molecules are trapped in dense foam – the crema, and quickly transported into your cup. The speed, and the cradling of the volatile oils in the crema, is responsible for the espresso method offering a flavor/aroma experience that has the highest fidelity to the true fragrance of the roast.  Longer saturation methods, such as French Press or Clover, will never preserve the finest flavors the coffee has within it.

During seconds eight through twenty three, the beautiful red-brown crema oozes into the cup. The total volume of our shot, made from 17 grams of coffee, is less than two ounces. The shot is usually brewed into the porcelain cup it will be served in to avoid losing crema by transferring from a shot glass into a cup. Linda turns off the pump. If her milk is not ready to pour she adds a bit of “saver milk” to preserve the crema. Crema is a polyphasic, colloidal foam according to Dr. Petracco of Illy Caffe. Polyphasic, because it is changing very rapidly in your cup, colloidal because there are particles suspended in liquid, and foam of course is gas suspended in liquid. Within moments of brewing the dissipating crema can release much of the more noble flavors and begins to lose the satin-like mouth feel.  

It is carbon dioxide that makes the foam in espresso (remember your Maillard reaction). The particles in espresso are tiny bean fragments and microscopic droplets of the oils. These are the real tasty bits. The aromatic oils are too numerous and fragile to measure. The latest attempts by Italian chemists put the number of distinct compounds between 250 and 800; for a complete analysis I recommend the ‘Chemistry of Quality’ by Andrej Illy). When perfectly fresh, the crema creates a downy-silk mouth feel and harbors the sugars and aromatic oils for just a moment, to be savored before burning up through exposure to air. After the aromatic oils, sugars and gas, crema is also composed of water. It is worthwhile to step back and consider water. 

In Seattle, our water usually has around 50 parts per million (ppm) of total dissolved solids (TDS) You can think of TDS as mineral content, also referred to as hardness. Seattle, with fresh mountain run-off as a water source has very soft water. A little more hardness, right around 150 ppm of TDS, will give espresso, or brewed coffee, more depth of flavor and a deeper development of distinct varietal flavors, such as dark chocolate and blueberry notes present in a fine Ethiopian Harrar. This ‘tuned’ water will also remove a persistent, slight metallic note in the coffee. This water also has a very similar effect on the finest maccha. Maccha is green tea made only from the highest grade, shade grown ‘baby’ tea leaves, and is prepared with a whisk in a very strong concentration. Espresso can be compared to Macccha for its body and mouth feel combined with a very concentrated flavor.

The Persistence of Crema

One great joke on Vivace has emerged from our twenty years of efforts to perfect caffe espresso: the more caramelized sugars we preserved through brewing, the more fragile and delicate our crema became. It seems that sugars have a damaging effect on surfactant molecules responsible for foam. Crema used to last much longer on top of the shot than it does now.  I would welcome collaboration with a food scientist to explore this problem. Linda is finished steaming just as the shot is ready. This timing gives us what we call high definition foam for very sharp latte art. For best mouth-feel we steam first and swirl the pitcher as the shot comes out. The milk will take on sheen like white chrome and the mouth feel takes on a more velvety texture. She is ready to pour.

She pours with total focus. Starting out she tilts the cup and positions her pitcher right on the rim of the cup. She pours close to the surface of the coffee and with a slow flow rate of milk from the pitcher.  The idea is not to disturb the crema in the beginning of the pour. When the cup is about half way full she pulls the pitcher back, always pouring, and it sways like the head of the cobra looking to strike. Then, she strikes…sweeping the pitcher back towards the surface of the coffee she also begins pouring milk faster. The pouring speed combined with the sudden motion creates a current within the cup that speeds to the back and splits, sending the flow back along each side of the cup towards her hand.

Into this current she casts ribbons of milk with a gentle undulation of the pitcher. The white ribbons flow to the back of the cup and are swept back up each side towards her hand. With great artistry she creates the shapes she desires and then when the cup is full the flow rate of the milk is reduced to create a pencil point. This is the “scribe” used to draw the stem, or the split in the heart. At best the latte art captures the flow of milk and espresso combining in a still image. They are beautifully impermanent; the instant it is poured the foam begins to coalesce, slowly losing mouth-feel and sheen… Hopefully the customer enjoys it at its peak.  Then, the dance begins again.

Author David Schomer is the co-owner of Seattle’s Espresso Vivace.  For more info. please visit www.espressovivace.com

By Christopher Short

Coffee aficionados love to discuss the elements that make for their perfect cup. Factors often mentioned are their favorite brand of coffee beans, the proportion of arabica to robusta beans, the type of roast and single versus double boiler espresso machines, just to name a few. Interestingly, one issue only occasionally considered is that of water quality. This is odd given that water constitutes 95% of an espresso.

The reason it is not top of the list is probably because few really know what attributes they should be looking for in water and they generally have little choice in the matter. For most of us, it just arrives, normally out of the tap. The reason we should be concerned about water quality is that it does affect the taste of your coffee and it has a significant effect on brewing equipment performance and reliability in many regions.

Water could be referred to as ‘the universal solvent’. It will dissolve almost anything to some degree. As rain falls to earth it takes up airborne gases like car and truck exhaust fumes and industry air pollution. This is why the air smells so fresh after a good rain. Once on the ground the water soaks in, dissolving naturally occurring calcium, magnesium, iron and other elements as well as ground pollution. In addition, water collects particulate matter (commonly called dirt!) that will not dissolve but is carried in suspension.

To improve water quality, public water authorities treat the water to remove most of the dirt particles and to disinfect it. The most common way to disinfect water is through the addition of chlorine, which will inevitably alter the taste of the coffee. Installation of appropriate water filters will remove the chlorine from the water and will ensure that any dirt particles are removed. Some people prefer to use rainwater in their home espresso machines. It is imperative to use a water filter before filling the water tank to remove the dirt particles and, if the correct filter is used, the dissolved air pollution.

Another issue involving water is that of water ‘hardness’ – that is, the content of calcium and magnesium in the water. Higher levels constitute harder water. The reason water gets hard is by the percolation of ground water through calcium and magnesium-laden soils. Water hardness is not removed by filtration and has no health effects. In fact, many bottled mineral waters are exceptionally hard. It is interesting that espresso made from hard water tastes better. The reason is that flavour extraction from ground beans increases with harder water. However, there is a limit – beyond 90 parts per million (ppm) of calcium carbonate, flavour extraction does not increase. This would be fine except that hard water (150ppm and above) causes significant build up of calcium scale in coffee brewing equipment. A way of avoiding this is to use a water softener, which replaces the calcium content with sodium. This is why water softeners must occasionally be regenerated with sodium chloride (common salt), which is the source of the sodium.

Softening water will reduce the problem of hard water scale build up in the machine but it will, to a degree, alter the taste of the coffee. Alternatively, the use of unsoftened (but still filtered) water will enhance the taste but necessitate occasional descaling of the machine. Non-carbonated spring or mineral water can be used effectively in home espresso machines with water tanks. These waters are generally of moderate hardness and are filtered, providing good quality water for espresso.

In summary, for better tasting coffee, moderately hard water is fine but ensure it is filtered and that you descale your machine occasionally.

Christopher Short is Managing Director of Adelaide-based cleaning products company, Cafetto.

But there is an art to making an espresso and all its variations. Even that simple long black demands respect for the espresso machine, and attention to the packing of the ground coffee beans. Without that ‘rat’s tail’ spiralling into the demitasse, your coffee is going to be sub-standard.

Seven steps to the perfect home espresso

Step 1 – Select your favourite coffee blend. You can either use pre-ground coffee or grind your own just before you make your espresso. If you are using pre-ground, make sure it is freshly opened and espresso blend [not filter]. If you prefer, as we do, to grind your own, make sure it is finely ground.

Ensure your espresso equipment is clean and hot, this includes the filter holder and filter basket, where your coffee grounds go. Preheat your cups – espresso cups should be approx 60ml capacity, cappuccino cups about 200ml capacity.

Step 2 – Place coffee grounds into the filter basket using a spoon or preferably a coffee scoop. You must place the right amount of coffee in the basket in order to get a good, strong espresso – one scoop in the smaller (one cup) basket; two scoops in the bigger basket (two cup) one.

Step 3 – Level the coffee in the basket and tamp (compress) the grounds. This will slow the flow of the water through the coffee, so that it can pick up all the flavour (oils & aromas) from the grounds. Check your machine instruction guide as to how hard or soft you should tamp.

Step 4 – Ensure the rim of the filter holder is clean before inserting it into the machine. Activate the water to flush  out any grounds from the inside of the machine.

Step 5 – Insert the filter holder into the machine. Immediately place warm cups underneath and start the flow of water through the coffee. The extracted coffee should pour in a fine stream (the proverbial ‘rat’s tail’).

Step 6 – The result should be 30ml of espresso (in around 25 seconds) with a 2mm golden, hazelnut-coloured crema on top. (The crema is an important indicator of the quality of your espresso.) and…Taste! 

Note: If you get little crema, make sure your coffee is fresh for a start. Try again making sure you have the right amount of coffee, the right tamping pressure and that your machine has been properly warmed up. You may need to experiment with different grinds (particle sizes) – remember you typically need a very fine grind for espresso coffee. As a general rule with domestic espresso machines, make your espresso before preparing the milk.

Step 7 – Steaming your milk. Place fresh, cold milk in a small stainless steel jug (fill between a third and one half of the jug). Activate the steam button so that your espresso machine increases in temperature to produce steam. Once the ‘Ready’ light on your machine goes on, turn the steam on and off to expel any water.

Place the tip of the spout just (about half a centimetre) under the surface of the milk and positioned near the centre of the jug. Turn on the steam wand to full power. You should see and hear air being drawn into the milk, creating a whirlpool effect, making it foamy. When the milk reaches 65°C turn off the steam and wipe the steam wand clean.

Pour the steamed milk to produce the drink of your choice and enjoy!

World Latte Art Champion, Jack Hanna, speaks to us and shows off his talent as well as sharing a few tips for creating latte art.

Young, focussed and confident; these are all words that could be used to describe Sydney’s Jack Hanna, World Latte Art Champion 2007. But there are two words that best sum him up – driven and talented. At only 21 years of age, Jack’s journey to World Champion has been swift and decisive. “When I really get into something, I want to be the best that I can be, otherwise I feel I am wasting my time”, explains Jack.Jack started out behind a machine at the beginning of 2004, for some holiday money after finishing high school. A friend was working for a Gloria Jean’s café and they needed a helping hand, so Jack agreed to pitch in. Within a few weeks he was producing perfectly textured milk and experimenting with latte art. Showing natural talent, he wanted to learn more about coffee. Jack soon moved across the road to work at another café where he met Aldo of Di Lorenzo Coffee. Aldo was just starting out at that time and was able to spend a bit of time giving Jack a few pointers when he delivered coffee to the café. Jack credits this time as the true beginning of his “pursuit for coffee perfection”, as he describes it. “I really got into trying to replicate the perfect espresso every time. There are so many variables and changes that you have to manage and that is always challenging and, the more I learnt, the more I realised I didn’t know”. He recalls saying to Aldo at the time, “Aldo, you just watch, by next year I am going to be top 10 in Australia”.

By 18, Jack had already set up his own graphic design company and was completing a marketing course and attending design school but his passion for coffee was really beginning to take hold. Jack was spending a lot of time researching, experimenting and making contact with people in the coffee industry, both in Australia and overseas. Interestingly, after reading an issue of Crema Magazine, Jack was inspired to contact  Campos Coffee, well-known for it’s quality coffee and top baristas, and did some work with them before closing up the design company and heading for Canada.
Jack had heard of a café in Vancouver, called ‘Caffe Artigiano’, which specialised in latte art, and decided to make contact. Owned by brothers Sammy and Vince Piccolo,  Sammy has been the Canadian Barista Champion from 2003-2006 and silver and bronze medallist at the 2004 & 2005 World Barista Champs respectively; Jack packed his bags when Sammy invited him to come to Vancouver to train. This experience was a fantastic environment for creativity, experimentation and the pursuit of perfection and Jack was to stay for a year before heading home to Sydney to focus on the Australian Barista Champs in 2005. Going it alone, armed only with a Robur grinder and a drive to succeed, Jack would even often pay cafes to use their machines in order to train out of hours. Remembering his words to Aldo, Jack did indeed achieve his goal as he came 5^th in the NSW heats behind the 4 barista’s who went on to take out 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th place at the Australian Barista Championships that year.

Jack was confident in his natural talent for latte art and decided to focus on winning the Australian Championships in 2006. As Jack explains, “with ego put aside, I was sure that I was one of the better latte artists in the world and I wanted to prove that to myself”. He did, of course, go on to win and headed off to Belgium in May of this year to compete on the world stage. In competition, baristas have to make 6 coffees in 8 minutes – free-pouring 2 identical latte or cappuccino designs, 2 identical macchiato designs and the final 2 with a ‘signature design’. Jack not only won with his signature design but, in a very impressive display of talent, Jack poured identical rosettas behind his back. Jack perfected this skill in Canada and, to Jack’s knowledge, no one else can do this in Australia.

So, what lies ahead for Jack Hanna? Essentially he sees himself as a business person rather than a barista and has started his own coffee consultancy, providing training for franchises and big business. Jack is also working on releasing a new line of products and is looking to develop a range of coffee blends further into the future. “This has opened a door for me and has been a great opportunity to set goals for the future” – challenging himself to improve the coffee experience in Australia. “In particular I want to educate people who haven’t experienced the specialty side of coffee”.

Born in the Province of Yunnan in China, famous for it’s tea, Jack laughs as he tells of the irony that his mother worked as an international exporter for the Yunnan Tea Company. “I have certainly had to battle with the misconception – what does an Asian kid know about coffee? – but that is changing now”. As Jack continues to achieve his goals with definite determination, passion and a focus on the future there is no doubt that he will make his mark as one of the leading figures in the coffee industry, in Australia and overseas.

Jack’s tips for creating latte art

• Start with a good shot of espresso with a rich crema.
• Work hard to master the art of texturing the milk – You should maintain a soft hissing sound as the steam creates the silky micro-foam by introducing air into the milk in small micro quantities, not in big cavitations of bubbles.
• Full cream milk is easiest to work with.
• A bell-shaped jug is best for a beginner as it helps to promote the whirlpool effect which is an essential part of texturing the milk (but as you gain experience, any shaped jug should be fine).
• The ideal milk temperature, purely for pouring latte art, is at about 50-55 degrees (but the final coffee might not be warm enough as a drink) – good for practicing but not for serving.
• A bowl-like cup with a round bottom is best. A flat bottom cup doesn’t allow the milk to float as well.
• Pour the milk into the cup, rolling the milk through the espresso in smooth circular motions to soften the surface of the crema. This way it becomes more combined with the milk – one creamy body rather than 2 separate entities – and the milk can cut up through the crema once it is time to focus on pouring the design.
• When pouring a rosetta, use a smooth side-to-side wiggling motion to bring a  wave of milk to the top, then draw the milk back through the centre to create the leaves.
• When pouring a heart, slowly pour the milk onto the crema with a small forward pushing motion so that it forms a blob on the surface, then draw back through the centre, ending with a slender tail.

So what makes a great creative drink? No doubt, it requires an understanding of espresso and the ability to start with a great shot of espresso.  But it also requires an understanding of the different ingredients and how they combine, as well as the way they compliment the espresso. And lastly, there’s the almost intangible factor of harmony or what I call ‘balance in the cup’.

Honey Affogato

(From the Italian ‘to drown’ – ie the ice cream or gelato ‘drowning’ in the espresso). The original affogato was made with fior di latte or milk-flavoured gelato. The Honey Affogato, a variant on the original, brings with it not only a new flavour, but also an extra textural dimension in the form of honeycomb. Note: with the Affogato, it’s important to prepare all the elements before extracting your espresso.

Line the inside rim of a parfait glass with sufficient honey that it begins to run down the inside of the glass. Add a large ball of honey-gelato to the bottom of the glass and pour over a double espresso and sprinkle the top with crushed honeycomb. Serve with a spoon.

Espressoda

This is a drink I’ve recently created and I especially like it because it makes a crisp, clean summer drink which provides a refreshing alternative to milk-based iced coffee.

Prepare a double espresso in a separate glass (approx. 60 ml) and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to chill. In the meantime, make a sugar syrup of equal parts white sugar and water (ie: 500g sugar to 500ml water) and bring to boil.  [Optional: if desired, infuse syrup with cinnamon, vanilla pod, or spice of your choice]. Add this to a squirter bottle and place in the fridge to cool.

Fill a tall glass to 2/3rds with crushed ice, pour in the chilled double espresso and sugar syrup to taste (say around 30 mls). Top with soda water and stir. Optional: garnish with a twist of lemon.

Espresso Martini

There are different versions, but this is one of my favourite ways to prepare this classic drink.

Chill a double espresso in the freezer for 10-15 minutes; fill a martini glass with ice to chill. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, pour in 25ml of quality vodka, 15ml Crème de Cacao (white or dark), 25 ml of sugar syrup (see “espressoda’ for preparation). Add chilled double espresso, shake vigorously and pour. Grate dark chocolate over the top and replace olive with Ferrero Rocher.

Caffe Nocciola

One of my most decadent creations, characterized by a rich complexity of flavour and texture.

Whisk a tub of double cream and a tablespoon of honey together (be careful not to over-whip and turn into butter!). Roast a handful of hazelnuts in oven, cool, then crush. Heat Nutella in microwave until runny (approx. 40-50 secs).

Lay a tablespoon of liquid Nutella into a martini glass, pour over a freshly-extracted double espresso, spoon in a small dollop of honey-infused double-cream over the espresso, sprinkle with crushed, roasted hazelnuts. Best served with cantuccini biscuits to scoop through mixture and gather up combined ingredients.

Creating your own creative coffees is fun, but requires trial and error. When thinking of a signature drink, I like to start with the end in mind, often coming up with a theme of what I want to achieve (ie: ‘Summer’ – light and refreshing). Remember that a signature drink will probably appeal to more than just your sense of taste – in fact to my mind, it’s often only the sense of sound that you do not appeal to! Enjoy experimenting.

Naked coffee, or a naked group handle (sometimes also known as a bottomless portafilter) is a traditional group handle that has had the bottom cut out of it, so that the base of the filter basket containing freshly ground coffee is directly exposed.

Because of this distinct modification, the extraction process can be observed as the coffee liquid passes straight from the bottom of the filter basket into a cup.

It has no spouts and no chamber of any sort to catch the brewing coffee or direct it in any way, so that the person using is able to pay greater attention to the coffee they are trying to extract. By observing coffee extraction directly from the filter into the cup, the user can scrutinise the effectiveness and subtleties of their tamping, the extent of their distribution of ground coffee and their dosing methods. The liquid that falls from a naked handle can assist you to fine tune aspects of espresso coffee that in any other circumstance you would have to take an educated guess via the taste of the coffee, or the limited colour and shape analysis as the coffee liquid pours from the spouts.

Origin of Naked Coffee

As far as can be established the first published pictures and experiments of naked portafilters were put on the SCAA barista online discussion forum by Chris Davidson and some of his colleagues in Seattle, Washington around 2004. It started as a curious experiment to see what extraction would do and look like without the traditional spouts, but it has turned into somewhat of an international revolution in relation to understanding the more subtle aspects of espresso extraction. Naked fever caught on rapidly, and it is now widely accepted as an excellent tool of analysis and training beyond basic barista skills.

Colour and Shape

The colour and shape of an espresso extraction is always a great diagnostic tool even with traditional methods. The colour of an espresso can tell you about the taste, timing and intensity of the extraction. It can indicate freshness and age of a coffee. All this through the two thin pours that each extend from the double handle spouts.

A naked handle allows greater visual exposure to the pour and therefore analysis of the colour and shape of the extraction. This can tell you about the distribution of the ground coffee within the basket, about the quality of your tamp and how evenly the water has disseminated across your dose.  Taking into consideration the settings of your espresso machine are correct -the temperature is between 90 – 93′C, the pump pressure is good at around 8 -9 bar and the dispersion screen and showers are clean, following are a few common indicators that you might otherwise not realise from a traditional extraction process.

• An even, golden brown or red crema with some slight darker staining or striping indicates a good even extraction. The shape of this pour will start with all the tiny holes fill with thick coffee liquid simultaneously, slowly joining together right in the middle of the filter. After 10 or so seconds this pour comes together to create what resembles a twister or tornado of coffee falling from the centre of the basket. Blonding of the extraction should occur around the 25 – 28 second timeframe from activation of the pump which indicates it’s time to switch off.
• Blonde patches around the sides or to one side of the pour (usually the right where you tap the side of the basket) – but an otherwise healthy looking extraction, indicates that tapping the edges or too much collapsing of the coffee has occurred. This means you have shaken the compression of the ground coffee dose too much and created air or channel patches. Reduce your taps or collapsing and continue to dose and tamp as before focussing on a tight compression without any pits or pockets.
• Dark intense colour or striping in the pour indicates an over-extraction or overexpansion of the coffee within the filter. Your coffee extraction does not resemble the twister. Instead it resembles several globbing dark lumps falling from all over the base of the filter or very slowly from the middle. This is an indication that either you have too much coffee in the basket or the grind is too fine. As long as there is no tilt to the twister falling from the basket or patchy colour then your distribution and tamp are fine, just your grind and dose need adjusting.
• A completely golden blonde or blonde extraction tells you that your pour is too fast – the grind is too coarse or you require more coffee to be dosed. The other sure fire indicator of a quick extraction is that the coffee will spit at you – you literally get sprayed with coffee mist in various directions as there is not enough resistance offered by the ground coffee to the water passing through it.
• If either your tamp or distribution of ground coffee is uneven the water can create channels, therefore unevenly extracting the coffee. The shape of the ‘twister’ will pull towards one side of the basket and be darker on one side, blonde on the other.  Some holes might even appear on the base of the filter that never fill with liquid. To rectify such patches you must concentrate on a very flat tamp and a more methodical sweep or distribution of the ground coffee prior to tamping, so that when compressed the density of the ground coffee is consistent right throughout the filter. The focus must be particularly where the blonde patch occurs – as this indicates the area where there is not enough coffee or a tilt in the tamp towards the lower end, allowing more water to flow with less resistance.

The kind of extraction that occur in patches on the bottom of the filter as the coffee pours is the fundamental key to the naked handle. These are indicators that would otherwise perhaps be disguised with better parts of the extraction as they combine in a traditional spout, diluting their intensity. Using traditional handles someone might overlook such subtle aspects and not create espresso coffee quite as well as they could.

From this kind of information any one can make minute adjustments to their dose, tamp and distribution to improve their coffee extraction taking the quality and consistency of their pour to the next level.

In the everyday environment particularly at a retail level, it is a brave tool to use. Apart from using double the amount of coffee that is the accepted standard for a regular coffee, the mess that can be created and scrutiny applied to each coffee would be intensified. The true value of the naked handle lies as a training tool. At any level, from home barista to world champion, it helps to reinforce the absolute complexity of espresso coffee, how subtle changes greatly affect the quality and taste of every pour. The coffee is truly exposed and naked – and because of this it just keeps on tasting better.

I am very lucky that in my work as an educator I often get the opportunity to associate with people already active in the coffee industry, as well as people who are so enthusiastic about coffee that they are setting up a mini espresso bar at home. Unfortunately for both of these groups they often overlook or misunderstand the importance of the grinder in the whole equation of making a cup of coffee.

The grinder is arguably the most fundamental piece of equipment in any coffee brewing situation. Why? Grinders allow for the freshest coffee possible in brewing, as well as controlling the extraction of flavour and soluble materials from the beans.

True freshness in coffee can only be achieved by ‘grinding on demand’ – grind what you need immediately before you use it. The grinder intricately controls the rate at which coffee and water come together to create the magic elixir in any brewing method – plunger, filter, stovetop or espresso. The milling of coffee beans between two blades allows for the breakdown of cell walls and for hot water to mix with the soluble materials in coffee. The reason that the grinder is so important in this mix is it controls the individual size of each coffee particle, and thus, how much time and surface area are exposed to the hot water. The scale of grind [commonly referred to as coarse to fine] is usually reflective of the amount of time coffee and water are meant to be in contact.

For a plunger, where coffee and water are in contact for 3-4 minutes, the grind should be coarse. For a filter or stovetop espresso, the water and coffee are in contact for 1-2 minutes, the grind is usually medium. For espresso, where the coffee and water are in contact only for 20-30 seconds, the grind is even finer, but you also need to take into consideration the other variables of dose, tamp and environment. Ground coffee is very sensitive to weather – particularly to heat and humidity and may swell, expand or shrink in as little as 10 minutes from when it is ground to when it is used. This means that a barista – either at home or in a commercial environment – needs to constantly and vigilantly observe and adjust a grinder up to 10 times a day. It also means that the barista needs to understand how all these variables interact for every coffee that is extracted.

It is not necessarily easy to learn about grinders and grinding coffee in relation to espresso, which is why I believe in many commercial environments some coffee companies choose not to educate their customers on how to use a grinder. It takes many sessions, practical demonstrations and then practice on the part of the student to really understand.

Instead, café operators are taught not to touch the grinder, and that someone will come and visit every so often to ‘fix it’ for them. The result of this in terms of espresso brewing is a less than satisfactory cup and missed potential for a business, unless a sales rep is prepared to show up 10 times a day to observe and adjust the grinder!

In the home espresso and more generally, the home coffee brewing environment, a lack of education and understanding about the importance of grind and freshness has led to the trend of people buying pre-ground coffee in large quantities and putting it in the fridge or freezer. For home espresso users this usually leads to frustration that they cannot achieve what they usually get from a good café, or that their plunger or filter coffee isn’t quite right.

I often get asked by people when buying espresso equipment for home, what kind of machine is best in any give price range. The first thing I suggest is that no matter how they brew their coffee, if they’re serious enough to invest in machinery for home, then a good grinder is also a must. Otherwise too much is left to chance, and you’ll end up resenting your equipment – or even worse – leave it sitting at the top of the cupboard!

In the case of commercial coffee supply – unless a coffee supplier is willing to invest time and effort in showing a café operator how important a grinder is and furthermore how to use, adjust and understand it, then you’re better off looking elsewhere if you want a good cup of coffee.

Emily Oak is Senior Coffee Trainer at the Sydney Coffee Academy at Ryde TAFE and an industry consultant. Since 2004 she has held the positionof Hemisphere Coordinator for the Asia Pacific region for the WBC. Visit www.freshground.com.au