http://www.bangespresso.com.au We never tire of watching the perfect espresso extraction; rich and caramel brown, flowing like warm honey and finishing in the cup with a thick crema. Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:12:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Part of the joy of making espresso is the interaction between the barista and the bean. Tamping by hand is one such way a barista can ‘stamp their authority’ on their coffee so to speak. At Bang, we use a specially designed coffee tamper to exert around 10 kilograms of perfectly straight downward pressure onto the ground coffee. This process compacts the ground coffee evenly ensuring that there is no ‘path of least resistance’ for the brewing water to pass through ensuring an even and full-flavoured espresso extraction. Given that a barista at a good cafe will potentially make hundreds of coffees a day, tamping becomes a consistent and almost mechanical action. There are many variables in any given day that will require some action be taken by the barista to ensure the quality of each espresso extraction. A consistent tamp enables the barista to concentrate on grinder adjustment to address these variables, confident in the knowledge that his or her tamping pressure is always spot on. http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/151 Often considered a four-letter word amongst Baristas and patrons alike, decaf has had a bad rap for a long time. For the most part, its poor reputation has been deserved however this is slowly changing. For a while now there has been a chemical-free method to remove the caffeine from the green beans. This method originated in Switzerland in the 1930’s and is aptly called ‘The Swiss-Water Decaffeination Process’. In a nutshell, the process goes like this... A batch of green (unroasted) beans is soaked in hot water, releasing caffeine. When all the caffeine and coffee solids are released into the water, the beans are discarded and the water is passed through a carbon filter that traps caffeine but lets the coffee solids pass through. The resulting solution, called "flavour-charged" water is then put into a similar filtration device, and new coffee beans are added. Since the flavour-charged water cannot remove any of the coffee solids from the new beans, only the caffeine is released. The process repeats, filtering out all the caffeine until the beans are 99.9% caffeine free. These beans are removed and dried, and manage to retain most if not all of their flavour and smell. In fact the only change in flavour is due to the absence of the caffeine which has a natural bitter flavour. Decaffeinated beans do present a slight challenge to the roaster. Because of the saturation process they go through, they arrive at the roastery slightly darkened meaning the master roaster can’t necessarily rely on the darkening of the bean as an indicator of roast readiness. Luckily, there are many other indicators available to ensure that the decaffeinated beans are roasted to an ideal flavour point. When the freshly roasted decaffeinated beans arrive at the cafe it is imperative that they are subjected to exactly the same rigorous measures used on regular coffee – freshly ground, properly tamped and extracted.  There is therefore no reason why a good quality decaffeinated coffee should taste inferior to any other good quality coffee.  In fact, at Bang we go a couple of steps further. Our decaf has undergone a Mountain-Water decaffeination process which is identical in process to the Swiss-Water method but uses natural mountain spring water. In addition, our decaf is grown organically and is Rainforest Alliance certified, no wonder we’re so proud of it. http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/143 The Inaugural Cairns Regional Barista Competition will be held this year at the Cairns Show from the 15th to the 17th of July. This is a huge deal for the talented Baristas of Cairns as it will be fully endorsed by the Australasian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA) and adjudicated by a certified World Barista Championship judge. Like any competition environment, a barista competition allows its competitors to showcase their passion, skill and attention to detail. It provides an opportunity for skilled baristas to be recognised amongst their peers, customers and industry professionals for all the hard work and dedication they put into their craft. The competition will be adjudicated by four sensory judges, two technical judges and overseen by one head judge. Competitors will be required to make and serve the panel of sensory judges four single espressos, four single cappuccinos and four single specialty drinks of their own creation (espresso-based and alcohol-free). These twelve drinks have to be professionally served within a fifteen minute timeframe. Each second over-time will incur a disastrous 1 point penalty. Each of the four sensory judges will be evaluating the taste, texture, temperature and presentation of each of the beverages. They will also be assessing the competitor on their overall knowledge of the drinks they are serving, their creativity, professionalism, and their attention to detail.  Added to that, the two technical judges will be hovering about throughout the whole 15 minute presentation grading the competitor on their cleanliness, workstation management, coffee and milk wastage, general hygiene, espresso extraction time, as well as all of the other critical espresso extraction and milk texturing techniques. Everything the competitor does in this fifteen minutes is of critical importance, as points are won or lost through every action no matter how minor each may seem. An interesting point to keep in mind though is that the judging criteria is only based on what a good barista should be doing every day for every coffee they make at the cafe in which they work. So whether you are passionate about coffee or just enjoy seeing people performing at their best, support Cairns local baristas at this year’s inaugural competition. Not only will you learn a little bit more about the humble bean and the industry it supports, you will get to know the people behind the coffee machine and witness the passion and enthusiasm they exude that is as much a part of your daily coffee as the rich espresso and velvety milk. And who knows, maybe Australia will be barracking for a Cairns local at the 2010 World Barista Championships? [1] [1] http://www.bangespresso.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Barista-Competition-Cairns.jpg http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/130 Get in touch! We'd love to meet you Come see us at: Shop 8, The Bolands Centre 14 Spence St Cairns email: askus@bangespresso.com.au [1] phone: 07 4051 7770 Open 6.30am - 5pm Monday to Friday Saturday 7am - 4pm [1] http://www.bangespresso.com.aumailto:askus@bangespresso.com.au http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/19 Roasting coffee at first seems deceptively easy. Pop some raw, green beans into an oven and in a little while, take them out all brown and roasted. In fact, roasting coffee is a developing science and far more complex than it first appears. The aim of a Master Roaster is to produce coffee that has been roasted to an ideal flavour point. This is a point at which the flavour has developed sufficiently to create a complex balance of body and intensity with a bittersweet chocolaty character. It’s a tricky undertaking and requires that the roaster taste the coffee constantly. Too light a roast and the coffee will taste grassy and hemp-like. Too dark and it begins to lose its natural sweetness as the sugars are caramelized. If it is roasted even darker still, it actually turns the natural wood-fibre in the beans (cellulose) into charcoal. This results in a charred, ashy and very unpleasant espresso. In order to achieve their aim, and after much testing and tasting, a roaster will set in place a roast profile which is essentially a graph of temperature in relation to time. A typical profile may have the roaster choosing to start the roast cycle with less heat and increasing the heat towards the end of the cycle, this process is called ramping. It sounds simple enough however there are a couple of critical factors to consider in order to produce the desired result. Firstly, there is a relationship between the air temperature in the oven and the increasing temperature of the beans. The roaster, therefore, needs to decide at what point to start ramping as well as how long to maintain the ramping. Secondly, every coffee will vary in density and moisture content which will affect how the green coffee develops in the roaster. All in all there are many factors to be considered in producing a high quality roast and many advances in technology and tools available to the Master Roaster in order to help them achieve this. However in the end it is the passion of the Master Roaster, their experimental spirit, their scientific knowledge and their undying commitment to learning all that they can about their craft that results in a truly exceptional roast time and time again. http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/158 The smooth, sweet and syrupy elixir that we know as espresso is actually the end result of a long and complex journey from crop to cup. There are two main species of coffee tree – Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is grown in higher altitude regions and makes up about 70% of the worlds production, while the under-rated Robusta is more commonly used as a booster for some espresso blends or for making instant coffee. It is the cherries from these trees that provide the stepping off point for our journey. When the cherries are ripe (ie; a deep red colour, soft and fleshy), they are harvested – usually by hand - and then sorted to ensure unripe or poor quality cherries are discarded. After harvesting there are a number of steps that need to occur before the bean is ready for grinding. The first is ‘processing’ – where the outer layers of the cherry (the skin and the flesh) are removed. The way that these outer layers are removed greatly affects the flavour of the bean as the sugars can be either transferred into or out of the bean. There are two main processing methods - dry processing and wet processing. Dry processing is the more traditional method where the cherries are dried in the sun on platform beds or, alternatively, in mechanical driers. This process intensifies the sugars in the bean which adds to its body and flavour. For this reason, dry processed beans are more commonly used for espresso. In all, there are four layers that need to be removed – the skin (a thick red or burgundy layer), the flesh (a soft, fleshy layer similar to that of a grape), the parchment (a hard husk that protects the bean) and the silverskin (the flaky outer layer of the bean which is usually removed when the coffee expands during the final roasting process). After processing, the beans are dried and stored in their parchment ready for shipping. The next determinant of flavour, aroma, and body is the blending of different origins and the method of roasting. An expert Master Roaster will take into account the country of origin, the locality of the individual farm and the method of processing to determine the roast profile that will most successfully extract the full flavour of the bean. This is both a science and an art and the next leg on the journey of the bean. http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/164 One of the great things about our job is that we never tire of watching the perfect espresso extraction – rich and caramel brown, flowing like warm honey and finishing in the cup with a thick crema that is slow to dissipate. There are a number of equally important elements that go into perfecting that extraction, two of which are bean selection and the freshness of the roast. A well constructed blend will manage to showcase the natural sweetness of the beans whilst delivering warm savoury overtones. It should have good body with a silky mouth-feel and a pleasant lingering aftertaste. As far as freshness goes, oxygen is arguably the biggest single factor in the degradation of a roasted bean. Whole roasted beans will start to go stale within 3 hours of exposure to oxygen while ground coffee will take as little as five minutes. At Bang we grind on demand for each and every individual coffee. http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/189 Did we mention that the Bang team had a training session with world barista championship judge Emily Oak? Click on the image below to find out more... [1] [1] http://www.bangespresso.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Article-March-14-2009.jpg http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/115 ...with a vision to eventually be recognised as the most professional, most skilled, most consistent and most respected provider of specialty coffee in Australia. http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/3 We're always happy to hear that people have enjoyed themselves at Bang Espresso. Click on the image below to read the Cairns Eye review... [1] [1] http://www.bangespresso.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Cairns-Eye-Review-Feb-09.jpg http://www.bangespresso.com.au/archives/108