We have recently concluded a coffee-hopping trip [including the erstwhile capital of modern world espresso - Seattle] and we now firmly believe that Melbourne takes its place – not just as Australia’s but pretty much the world’s, coffee capital – and as you’ve probably guessed, we don’t make that sort of statement lightly!

However, coffee has got to such a stage in Melbourne, that there may not be much further you can go with espresso. The ‘third wave’ in coffee has seen more emphasis on brewing with different methods – syphon, pour-over, chemex, french press and clover – to the extent that some roasts are optimised for these brewing methods & may actually not be quite so good for espresso… a quandary that probably no other city in Australia may be experiencing.

This leads us to a second point, this review was done on the basis of espresso coffee. Many of Melbourne’s top cafes & espresso bars are actively experimenting with the delicate intricacies of single origin coffees, which can be best explored by non-espresso brewing methods – syphon being foremost amongst these – hence perhaps, the absence of a couple of the better known ‘big names’ in this review… of course, the ultimate is both – great choice in syphon and the perfect espresso!!

.

1. Proud Mary
172 Oxford Street
Collingwood

Still relatively new on the scene, and rated no. 5 in our Best Cafes of Melbourne last year, Nolan Hirte and the team at Proud Mary have continued to push the boundaries and the results are stunning. With their custom-made, 6-group Synesso purring like a stretch-limo on the counter, Proud Mary is full-throttle coffee at its very best. Now roasting off-site, they offer their own blends (in addition to 5 Senses) and single origins available from the Synesso but for the more fastidious coffee-connoisseur, or
those wanting to audition their taste-buds, Nolan also roasts more exclusive coffees especially for the syphon bar, clover and other slow brew methods.

Whilst one of the earliest protagonists of the 3rd wave, Nolan continues to maintain a strong focus on offering single origins and blends optimised for espresso as well as exploring nuanced roasting for alternative brewing. The Kenyan ‘Gethumbwini’ Peaberry was the show-stopper with a luscious citrus acidity, blackcurrant notes and a creamy mouthfeel… distinctive and delicious.

When it comes to commitment in everything they do and an enthusiasm to share their knowledge, Proud Mary gets the number 1 podium spot from us and exceeds the already lofty benchmark for coffee excellence in Melbourne.

.

2. Dukes Coffee Roasters
169 Chapel Street
Windsor

There is a certain element of fate when it comes to opening up a new business, especially a cafe in the already over-caffeinated Melbourne. For owner Peter Frangoulis, Dukes is one of those places that was simply ‘meant to be’; originally the cafe was to be located at the Duke and Orr dock at South Wharf, giving rise to the name ‘Dukes’. Although securing the location fell through, Peter had already become attached to the name and so, launching forth in search of premises, as fate would have it they landed in Windsor, up the road from the Duke of Windsor Hotel and across the road from Duke Street.

Using only single estate or co-op beans, roasting is in-house with a 15kg Joper. They also roast smaller batches (on a US Roaster Corp 1lb sample roaster) which are used for filter coffees, Syphon and French Press. Their house espresso maintains a base of Brazilian natural processed coffee; when we visited it was blended with a high grade Kenyan, a single estate El Salvador and an Indonesian from Aceh – with a deliciously sweet choc-nut flavour and notes of caramel and spice, it packed a punch with a creamy finish leaving us wanting more; the Ethiopian Guji offered the aroma of jellybeans that gave way to flavours of tropical fruit and apricot acidity. The name was perhaps an omen – that it was meant to be – that was 2 years ago and today Dukes Coffee Roasters is a buzzing showcase of great coffee.

.

3. Axil Coffee Roasters
322 Burwood Road
Hawthorn

In botanical terms, the axil of a plant is the point at which a leaf or stem springs out of the branch from which it grows. Perhaps, this also symbolises David Makin’s development and growth from the fold that is the Melbourne coffee scene. David (ex Australian Barista Champion and silver medalist in the 2008 World Barista Championships) along with his partner Zoe Delany, also a noted barista, have recently opened a showcase cafe at the roastery site on busy Burwood Road in Hawthorn.

Not one for hiding his light under the metaphorical bushel, David is often the one to greet you as you enter the cavernous warehouse cafe space – it’s bold, vast and strikingly decorated in black, definitely a statement by design. The botanical reference continues as the spacious seating area is separated from the ordering counter by a suspended trestle holding terracotta potted ferns. The single origin Tanzanian impressed the most – offering aromas of marzipan and almond, there was citrus acidity on first sip, with a delicious creamy mid-palate, good acidity at back of mouth and a nice silky finish. This is a hot house for coffee excellence and they demonstrate their passion for espresso with outstanding coffee and great service, and their almost
unheard-of leap directly to no. 3 position in Melbourne’s Best Cafes.

.

4. Dead Man Espresso
35 Market Street
South Melbourne

Warm and inviting, with large windows and a stylish timber decor, this funky cafe seems somewhat at odds with its name. ‘Dead Man’ I’m told, is a reference to the gold rush times of the 1850’s when this area of South Melbourne was a dangerous place with men being murdered for their spoils. It is perhaps a reflection of the current dynamism of the Melbourne coffee scene that these guys, having only been open a little over a year, have already lost their tag of ‘new kids on the block’. With a little help from their friends [including chef Nitish Kissoondhery], owners Luke Mutton and his wife Kylie Mackinlay are using their considerable collective experience and putting it into a well crafted combination of food, ambience and of course, coffee.

Both former baristi, they have maintained a close association with Mark Dundon from St Ali days, so it’s not surprising that the coffee here is roasted by Seven Seeds. At the time of our visit, their house blend was comprised of Brazilian Fazenda Do Sertao pulped natural yellow bourbon, Fazenda Ambiental natural bourbon and a Colombian microlot Los Idaos – lovely almond tones with a caramel sweetness and a long chocolate finish.

We’d say it’s ‘to die for’ but we suspect they may be hoping you want to come back!

.

5. Monk Bodhi Dharma
202 Carlisle Street
Balaclava

By repute, Bodhi Dharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century and is traditionally credited as the leading patriarch and transmitter of Zen, and if it wasn’t for the banging tunes coming from the Bose speakers you could be forgiven
for thinking that you’d entered into a temple – the contented cogniscenti happily gaze into their lattes, quietly contemplating the ‘god shot’ required to produce such an ethereal beverage.

Dark timbers and cosy tables further reinforce this image, as do the long haired, bearded baristi, circling silently behind the coffee machines – who are surely the prophets of the modern era. Certainly, it almost takes a pilgrimage just to find the place, hidden away as it is among the confines of a disused alley, but the faithful few are rewarded for their efforts with superbly crafted coffee, roasted mostly in-house.

We tried the Nicaruagan Cup of Excellence offering a nose of roasted figs, the palate syrupy with lemon and sour cherry flavours predominating. The house blend was rich and creamy with a nose of almonds, dates and sweet flavours of sticky date pudding on the palate. Zen and the art of coffee roasting.

.

Our sincere thanks to our judges: Andreas Martinu, Patrick Sloane, Kris Wood & Mel Caia; for more on methodology & judges’ backgrounds go to the Forum

Cafe Customers – is your favourite local cafe participating? If not, ask them why they haven’t signed up yet? For a list of participating cafes visit the StreetSmart website www.streetsmartaustralia.org/findcafe

Cafe Owners – Why sign up your cafe? For lots of good reasons, for example …..

• you’ll be helping people who desperately need your support

• it’s local – your donations will support people in your suburb or region

• you’ll be helping to tackle homelessness and build stronger communities

• it’s a unique activity– something to talk about and connect to with your customers and staff

• it brings in potential customers to familiarise themselves thereby encouraging repeat business

• your business will be promoted through partner databases, media and PR coverage

• what goes around…. comes around – feel the karma!

Go on – this is important – go to www.streetsmartaustralia.org/cafesmart_signup and get involved

.

.

The original De Clieu was a french naval officer who is celebrated for his claim to have introduced coffee to the French colonies of the Western Hemisphere in the 1720s. According to l’Année littéraire of 1774, he arranged to transport a coffee plant (or perhaps several) from the greenhouses of the Jardin Royal des Plantes [which had originally been given to the French King from Holland] to Martinique in 1720.

The story goes that water was rationed on the voyage and De Clieu was so dedicated to his mission that he shared his ration with the seedlings. The story may be apocryphal, but most sources do in fact credit De Clieu with the introduction of coffee to Martinique & thence the Caribbean.

But enough of history – De Clieu is a funky spot where everyone seems to hang out in black jeans [& black jackets, shoes or whatever] but this belies its class – it’s trendy, but it also serves good coffee and very good food.

The menu reveals an elegant simplicity as would be expected from the kitchen of Steven Carr (previously of the Healesville Hotel) and offers a slightly exotic take on otherwise prosaic items – our Pork Neck Roti [sweet roasted pork neck on a spring onion roti, with a fried egg and hoisin-flavoured BBQ sauce] was exquisite.

And the coffee – we had one shot which was excellent and one which was [only] good, which given the general state of espresso coffee, is still very good overall! Definitely recommended.

De Clieu
187 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy
(03) 9416 4661

By now I guess you have heard the term ‘third wave’ in coffee. It refers to a worldwide movement whereby specialty coffee roasters and boutique cafes are devoting their efforts to exploring the pure flavour of the single origin coffee and it’s something that the coffee industry and its consumers in Australia have embraced. The movement is also about innovation and patience which is seeing brewing systems like the Clover, Siphon and temperature controlled espresso machines such as the Synesso and Slayer becoming commonplace in our cafe strips. We are also seeing the green bean standard raised with access to Cup of Excellence, micro-lots, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and roasters creating direct routes to the farms. One such country I believe has always been able to deliver coffee to the standard we are demanding today is Papua New Guinea.

The coffee history in PNG is a rather typical colonial story as it is recorded that in the early 1800’s the Germans where the first to introduce coffee to PNG. Much of their plantations were experimental at best with bits and bobs trickling to Australia for consumption, but by the late 1930s their efforts to capitalize on PNG’s unique growing conditions took off and their reputation as a coffee growing country started to gain momentum.

Much of PNG’s coffee today is grown from large estate plantations or in what is called ‘coffee gardens’. This was an initiative that started in the 1950’s where tiny farms from 20 to 500 trees are run by indigenous families, village-based business groups or individuals that practice organic farming methods. This is all organised by the Coffee Industry Corporation for harvesting, processing and export; amazingly, this accounts for around 70% of the country’s coffee production.
I find for consistency and quality you cannot go past the Carpenters Estate’s Sigri AA (you might have seen the bag with the bright red bird of paradise on it) established in the 1950’s from the typica variety that originates from Jamacia Blue Mountain. It’s located in the Waghi Valley in the Western Highlands and grown at around 1550 meters above sea level and I believe this coffee represents modern Papua New Guinea. The Estate is all about the environment and community, advocating shade grown plantations, wildlife conservation and aiding in schooling and medical facilities. Something I have always loved about this coffee is that it is so consistent – something you should expect with an AA standard. It has a deep jade like appearance, is amazingly even and is practically free of defects. In the cup there is a little fermented fruit on the nose but it’s not a bad thing, the acidity is a little high – similar to a red wine – the body is quite thick, smooth and sweet. I find a little bit of smokey allspice notes along with a floral touch in the finish. Overall it’s a rather bright, sweet cup and I have had this in the Clover, plunger, stove top and as an espresso, and find the intensity in the flavour does not disappoint; as a milk base beverage it highlights the allspice notes making it very sweet and desert-like.

The Coffee
Origin: Papua New Guinea, Sigri AA
Location: Western Highlands
Estate: Carpenters
Plant type: Typica
Process: Washed

Cup Profile
Fragrance/Aroma: Fermented fruit, red wine
Flavour: Smokey allspice, floral
Aftertaste: Clean
Acidity: High
Body: Thick and smooth

10 Llankelly Place
Potts Point NSW 2011

In a great little space in one of the buzziest and trendiest parts of Surry hills, Anakin from Toby’s Estate has created a real gem. A natural café spot, Anakin has taken this space over from Coffee, Tea or me, and created a café that is a true coffee lover’s hangout. And what a hang-out it is – with great food and tables on to the street, it’s the perfect place to watch the passing bustle of humanity on cosmopolitan Crown street.

But it’s the coffee that the aficionados come for – the house blend combining a wet and a dry processed Ethiopian, a Java and a Brazil – sweet on the tip of the tongue, with an earthy middle palate and a hint of saltiness on the back palate. Delicious.

536 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010

T: (02) 9332 3191

Sydney is no exception to this and boasts a number of truly world-class cafes. Many of our reviewers have travelled, or even lived in Europe and their reviews attest to the increasing dominance of antipodean coffee on the world scene; let no-one doubt – these cafes are at the peak of their game and are of a world class standard.

So it is with pleasure that we bring you Crema Magazine’s Best Cafes of Sydney for 2011…

The first thing to note is that there seems to have been a ‘changing of the guard’ in the upper echelons of the Sydney specialty coffee scene. Whilst the more established players are still pumping out excellent coffee, the ‘quiet achievers’ and a couple of ‘new kids on the block’ have been pushing the limits even further and have proven themselves worthy of higher accolades.

Although many offer food,  that is not their primary purpose – they’re listed here because our reviewers believe they are at the top in the business of espresso coffee in Sydney; they are, with one exception, not really cafes but ‘espresso bars’ and whether they serve food or not, is ancillary to their mission.

.

1.           Coffee Alchemy

24 Addison Road
Marrickville
Tel: (02) 9516 1997

In spite of its unprepossessing exterior, it’s amazing the number of coffee cogniscenti that flock to this little coffee haven in the light-industrial precinct of Marrickville on a Saturday morning.

The unassuming brick exterior hides an amazing little corner box comprising one of Sydney’s best boutique coffee gems. Coffee Alchemy doesn’t offer food at all  – they only do coffee – a blend, at least 3 single estate espressos each day,  4 or more single estate filter coffees and later in the week cold drip coffee and shakeratos [sparkling cold coffee].

This variety is founded on a bedrock of deep coffee knowledge – Hazel de los Reyes grew up with coffee trees all around her in the Philippines and was Australian Barista Champion in 2005 and what she doesn’t know about coffee isn’t worth knowing. She has passed this passion and enthusiasm on the her team and they are constantly pushing and trying new things, and for those less knowledgeable, they are always happy to share.

Note: this is a haven for coffee purists and on that note, be aware this is a tiny space, often with customers.jostling for room. In the words of one of our reviewers, possibly ‘the most authentic specialty coffee place in Australia’.

.

.

2.       Mecca

67 King Street [corner of York]
Sydney CBD
Tel: (02) 9299 8828

Voted  no. 1 in our 2009 review for many reasons, not least of which was [and still is] their ability to bring great coffee to a ridiculous number of people, but also the professionalism of the team.

Although on a busy street-front location, the buzz of sated coffee aficionados at the outside tables is such that you soon forget the traffic passing nearby; and in any case, there are stools inside to hide away from the bustle outdoors and marvel at the beautiful MISTRAL espresso machine taking pride of place inside.

The team at Mecca have a wealth of coffee knowledge, which in spite of the busy city location, they are usually quite happy to share, when they have a spare moment!  Feel free to ask for different coffee options – for instance siphon, served on demand – and they are one of the few places in Australia which offers Clover coffee.

A cafe with a busy and buzzy inner-city vibe. The coffee quality at Mecca does vary, but only from good to amazing!

.

.

.

3.       The Source

6/914 Military Road
Mosman
Tel: (02) 9969 1368

In our 2010 feature, we rated Russell Beard’s The Source as best ‘up-and-coming’ and there’s no doubt this promise has been fulfilled… amongst the beamers and botox of suburban Mosman , this shrine to Sydney coffee deservedly claims its place in our official Top Five.

Russell and the team offer up consistently excellent coffee [including Clover] and despite the cafe often being filled to the brim with patrons, they still roast on site, choosing to maintain complete control over the coffee process from bean to cup rather than succumbing to the desire to fit more people in –  a ‘less is more’ approach in stark contrast to the otherwise dollar-driven backdrop of Mosman. The beauty of this, of course, is that on most days customers can interact with the roasting process whilst drinking some of those very same blends and origins. The staff are friendly, yet extremely professional and although coffee is their main business, the food is equally as impressive.  A coffee haven such as this is a rare find on Sydney’s North Shore.

.

.

4.   White Horse

2/137 Flora Street
Sutherland

Sutherland is not the first destination you might think of when searching for top-quality espresso, but these guys are a shining light in Sydney’s southern suburbs.

Their La Marzocco Linea espresso machine belies their location on a rather bland suburban street, but the inside space is city-chic – shiny and modern with white marble.  As for coffee credentials, Dom [the owner] is an ex NSW Barista Champ and has recently opened White Horse after working in Tokyo for two years, helping Paul Bassett [World Barista Champ 2003] launch his Espresso enterprise there.

White Horse currently uses coffee roasted by Mecca and they will soon commission their own roaster. If you’re looking for great coffee in the southern suburbs, these guys nail it time after time.

.

.

.

.

.

5.       Le Monde

83 Foveaux Street
Surry Hills
Tel: (02) 9211 3568

Rated highly by several other reviews for their food, Le Monde has been recently concentrating on their coffee as well , and it shows.  Located on Surry Hills’ busy Foveaux Street, and often better known by taxi drivers and the local fashionistas from neighouring Kippax St, LeMonde has reinvented itself with a new chef [Chris, formerly of Oscillate Wildly in Newtown] and more recently, a new emphasis on coffee.

They have been truly transformed, right down to the shiny Synesso sitting nobly on the bench and like most of Sydney’s top [coffee] cafes, Le Monde also has brewed coffee available by Clover & offers single estate espresso.

One of the few foodie cafes in Sydney that also knows how to do coffee. Excellent.

Our sincere thanks go to our panel of judges who devoted their time and expertise. It was not an easy task – in the words of one of our reviewers, “any of these cafes could be Sydney’s No.1 on any day – it was very difficult to separate them”! Our judges were, Emily Oak, Scottie Callaghan, Paul Golding, Aaron Lucas

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…  
To comment on this, or any other articles, click here for the Crema Magazine Forum

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

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!