Tried my hand at making some espresso ice cream, but used lactose-free milk so a friend could have some. Didn’t turn out so well. I blame the lactose-free milk. The consistency turned out to be something equivalent to wet sand. The taste was good, but I’m using real cream and milk next time.
At least I know how to make edible wet sand now. It could be useful some day?
It looked promising…
Filed under: Books
Glass, Paper, Beans: Revelations on the Nature and Value of Ordinary Things by Leah Hager Cohen. Cohen takes these three ”things” from her table at a coffee shop and offers glimpses of three individual lives while adding bits of information concerning the history of glass, paper, and coffee.
There’s nothing new concerning coffee, it’s a basic history lesson and journey to origin in Mexico, but it’s a book, and I’ll read it (already have actually). Cohen makes a point to write that glass, paper, and beans could easily be anything else she takes for granted in a day, so the purpose isn’t really to focus on those three, but rather the fact that there’s a story behind them, behind everything, and it’s disappointing that in a world where we feel like information flows freely, we’ve lost the ability to easily trace where so much of the things in our lives begin.
I think everyone who’s even had a slightly elevated interest in coffee at one point or another in their lives has picked up The Devil’s Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee by Stewart Lee Allen.
Feeling left out, I picked it up and gave it a go, and like the other reviews I read, I too did not like the last chapter where the author takes a cross-country trip in search of the best of the worst. That chapter wasn’t terribly focused on coffee in the US, but rather caffeine as a drug, making coffee sound like an epidemic that’s about to send us all into delusional states of hyperactivity. I was surprised by this turn, as it didn’t seem like a fitting end nor complimenting to the previous chapters of overseas travel and history. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s a perfect end, and I just don’t like the angle he took on coffee in the US.
And with a passion for coffee, an accompanying passion for food develops, or grows in my case, so I’ve picked up various tales of the kitchen life. Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits, Heat by Bill Buford, Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, and Hotel Bemelmans by Ludwig Bemelmans. All enjoyable and recommended. There’s a couple others you can see in the photo: Pour Your Heart into It (a good history on the giant), Don’t Try This at Home (nice, quick reading of short stories from various chefs), and The Divine Comedy (see, I have other interests).
Considering the amount of effort we take to properly seal and store beans, I’m wondering why that same amount of care isn’t used in hoppers?
We know that light is a catalyst for the degradation of coffee, and to toss them into a clear hopper seems silly. The high-traffic stores needn’t worry about this as much as the slower places, but it’s still time left exposed. Just make the hopper black. And don’t worry about not knowing how much is left in the hopper (since you obviously can’t see the beans now), because something could be created to turn on or beep when near empty. Maybe a sensor that monitors the hopper’s weight.
The air-tight problem is a bit more complicated. Maybe not the lid, but the bottom of the hopper certainly. I’m not an engineer by any stretch of the imagination, so I’m not even going to attempt to offer a solution, but I can’t imagine that something couldn’t be created to seal a hopper when not in use, either manually or automatically.
It just strikes me as odd that we’ve made such ridiculous (good ridiculous) advancements over equally anal aspects in this espresso game but ignore this. Have I missed something?
“The carboxyatractyloglycosides are decarboxylated quantitatively and the so generated atractylogolycosides are degraded about 50% under ‘normal’ roasting conditions (Bradbury, 2001).”
That’s my favorite sentence in Espresso Coffee. No, I don’t really understand it, but that’s the point. Coffee isn’t simple, and it’ll take a lifetime to comprehend. I did read the entire book, never skipping a page, and for that, I’m proud. The thing is dense.
I plan to purchase my own copy, so I can reference chapters and sub-chapters from time to time, which will more than justify the price. That and the fact that it pushes me to consider many, many aspects of coffee that I might not normally consider.
It’s worth looking through. My next book is All About Coffee. It’ll be read for its historical points.
Filed under: Books
So I finally got my hands on Illy and Viani’s book “Espresso Coffee” (thanks Peter) and must admit that this thing is dense. It’s quite the textbook, but I look forward to giving it a go. It will certainly give the espresso geek in me a run through. Once I finish, and I do mean to finish, I’ll post a thought or two. In the meantime, here’s an Amazon link to the book for anyone not familiar: Espresso Coffee. The book’s smaller than I imagined. For such a high price, I just thought it would be bigger (8.6 x 5.7 x 1 inches).
Filed under: Latte Art
I won’t normally post my latte art just because I think it’s no good, but this one I’m a bit proud of. It could be better though. They can always be better.
Just reading passed blog entries from James Hoffmann, the 2007 World Barista Champion, and found this:
October 23rd, 2004 by kingseven
Spent some time in the ICO library digging through some old texts with some very unusual recipes. A few were in french so I need to get them translated. There are also a few good ideas for signature drinks. Those I don’t use I will probably send in to Grind Magazine or something.
The library are willing to have me back any time – which is nice. I never realised there are so many periodicals written on coffee. Saves me subscribing to Fresh Cup anyway!
Starting to practise in earnest for competition today. Trying to work out times and the like. I haven’t done it before for fear that I am too rubbish!”
Self-doubt to undeniable recognition.
Edit: As James pointed out in his comment, he has since moved his blog to jimseven.com, so for anyone looking for recent entries, go there – it’s quite enjoyable to read.
Filed under: Black Sheep Coffee Cafe, Kopplin's Coffee, St. Paul, Trip, Twin Cities
The short version – Black Sheep Coffee Cafe and Kopplin’s Coffee are great.
The long version – Three years ago, St. Paul (and Minneapolis for that matter) had no exceptional coffee destinations. The coffee landscape was more suburban strip mall than metropolitan trendsetter. It was Caribou Coffee, Starbucks, and Dunn Brothers - the coffee equivalent of Anthony Bourdain’s restaurant-culture ridiculing phrase: ”TGI McFunster’s.” A rambling chorus of questions always came to mind when I looked at the area: where were the coffee fanatics? why was no one crying for something better? did no one care about rich espresso and velvety capps? how could this be? I bemoaned (yes, bemoaned) the coffee desert that was the Twin Cities.
But it’s different now. There are two coffee shops that need, and deserve, mentioning. Opening up within six months of each other and both less than a few years old, Black Sheep Coffee Cafe and Kopplin’s Coffee (located in South St. Paul and St. Paul respectively) have brought knowledge and passion to the Twin Cities masses.
I visited them on a recent day trip. Over did it with the espresso (ten shots, plus a little milk, in roughly 1.5 hours on an empty stomach. Either I’m a die-hard espresso geek or an idiot), but I’m fine after a recovery period and can still think fondly of the time spent in their company.
Peter Middlecamp (Black Sheep Coffee Cafe) graciously took time out of his day to make several drinks including his signature drink that he made at the USBC 2007 Finals. He was a first time competitor and is one to watch in the upcoming years, so to have the opportunity to drink his espresso, cappuccinos, and lattes was a treat. He has two espresso blends: one for milk drinks, one for straight espressos. They both taste fantastic. The Espresso Reserve from Paradise Roasters is quite acidic, but imagine green apple acidic, not lemon. So good, and honestly, one of the best shots I’ve ever had.
I would be happy if St. Paul only had Black Sheep, but there’s also Kopplin’s - a place that takes its origin coffees very serious. They have two Clover machines, which says they’re more passionate about origin coffee than you’ll ever be. But that doesn’t mean you should feel intimidated or can’t appreciate what they offer.
Yet, even with those machines displayed prominently at the front of the bar, I resisted their allure. I wasn’t there for Clover coffee. I was on an espresso binge and went with a cappuccino and a single. The cappuccino was nice and creamy, and while I drank it, the barista (I’m ashamed to say I’ve forgotten his name) pulled several shots, adjusting the grind until he found it just right, before offering me my espresso. It was worth the effort, and anyone who is willing to dump shots in order to give the best pull possible has garnered my attention and appreciation for a long time.
I also visited A Fine Grind on a friend’s recommendation, but I realized that Friend was trying to hurt me when I took five steps into AFG and saw a fully-automatic espresso machine. I called an end to the day right there.
Visit Black Sheep and Kopplin’s people of the Twin Cities, because if on my next return I hear that business could be better, I’ll be severely disappointed in all of you.
Filed under: Espresso
For many years, I wondered how coffee could smell so good, so alluring, yet taste like filtered dirt. It just didn’t make sense, but it was what it was, and I left it at that. I therefore never touched the stuff…until a few years ago when I spent some time in Seattle. I avoided the coffee scene for many months, but as my departure date neared, I imagined the regret I would have for not trying coffee, and more specifically espresso, in a city where my chances of getting good coffee had to be high. I wanted to give coffee one last opportunity to deliver on its aromatic promise.
At Zoka, they have an espresso blend, Espresso Paladino, that “possesses a balance of creamy, honeyed body and fine acidity in the finish. The resulting crema is flecked with caramel and cocoa flavors…” And when I tried my eight ounce latte, I found a ridiculously smooth taste that proved to me that coffee (espresso) can taste as good as the beans smell. If done right, that is. And to do it right is a terribly difficult thing to do, (which might explain why 95 - 97 percent of coffee shops cannot produce anything good. Espresso preperation is part science and part culinary art, and both require true dedication.)
David Schomer, Owner of Espresso Vivace, has studied and toiled with espresso for decades, and he’s still working hard every day, because he knows that the more he understands, the less he understands. Understood? It’s a world that gets larger with each step, and thankfully, David isn’t alone. There are people in the coffee industry who have made it their life’s pursuit to create espresso that doesn’t send the drinker recoiling in fright. Search out these people and their shops, and you will be rewarded.
I will return to Seattle for a week in November, and this time, I will visit coffee shops every day, attempting to further my education on espresso and enjoying what the city has to offer.
Filed under: Espresso
A few weeks ago, I went to Madison, Wisconsin and stopped at a number of cafes to try their espresso. I got to four of the many, many shops in the area, ordering a single espresso at each.
But before I pass judgement, let me say that this was a Sunday afternoon, so maybe their best baristas weren’t working, or they were but they were jaded because they were working a weekend and wanted me to feel their pain. Although, the girl at Espresso Royale seemed happy enough, so who knows?
Whatever the case, the espresso was simply bad. At all of the places. I was able to get each espresso in a ceramic cup, not paper, but still, what was held in that ceramic was a pale, thinned crema barely holding itself together on top of a watery brew. And if that wasn’t enough, the single shot espressos were all three to four ounces in size, and I didn’t have the heart to leave a barely touched espresso on the table, so I sat and drank and drank and…
What was nice was that each espresso did get progressively better as we moved from shop to shop, or my standards were lowered to make me feel as though the trip wasn’t a complete failure, but we’ll pretend that wasn’t the case.
The best shot on this lazy Sunday afternoon came from Etes Vous Prets, or EVP on Mineral Point Road. But it was still a far cry from the double Sonnie pulled me at Metropolis in Chicago a few months prior. That was tasty.
