Three reasons why your cup of coffee tastes bitter
Bitterness can begin with brewing
Have you ever had a cup of coffee that tasted bitter?
Chances are that as long as you are buying quality coffee, the bitterness was ‘created’ by your coffee-making technique.
A lot of research has gone in to what is responsible for reports of bitterness among some coffee drinkers.
According to Thomas Hofmann, a professor of food chemistry and molecular sensory science at the Technical University of Munich, while many people blame caffeine for coffee’s bitterness it really only accounts for 15 percent of the experience.
How many cups do you get from a bag of Baristador coffee?
The espresso evangelist, the auditor & the experiment
There are two common questions I get asked when people start considering making good coffee at home or in the office.
The first is: How many cups of coffee do I get from a bag?
The second is: How much does it cost to use gourmet quality coffee at home or at work?
To answer this question conclusively, I employed an auditor to oversee me counting out espresso shot-sized scoops of coffee from one bag of Baristador Benchmark Blend B70 (video is below).
How many cups?
The first question is hard to answer precisely because we all have different preferences, different scoops and different coffee equipment.
For a long time I was wasting coffee by double-dosing my espresso machine (for extra oomph!) when all along I could have enjoyed the same ‘oomph’ with a single dose, given I was only producing a single shot. Continue reading
Why is the second cup of coffee better?
Have you ever noticed that the first espresso from your home coffee machine does not taste as good as the second one?
Baristas have known for a long time that you don’t drink the first cups from the machine each day.
If you watch an experienced barista prepare for a day of coffee making you will see them ‘waste’ numerous espresso shots.
Why do they do this? Continue reading
Do you get the barista look when making coffee at home?
This is an example of the 'barista look'
I just caught myself slipping into a ‘barista look’ while whipping up an espresso at home.
You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?
Take a closer look at the baristas next time you have coffee at a proper, espresso-making cafe. Continue reading
We have some coffee storms to navigate
Sailing into the coffee storm - photo:anolden
There is a strong chance we may all have to cut back on coffee consumption for a while.
This is because there have been some terrible disasters in many of the world’s major coffee producing regions and not only have stocks been lost but prices for remaining coffee stocks are going through the roof.
I am back at the helm after a summer of recreating the Barisador website in a system called WordPress and it is good timing because we are entering a phase where I will need to be liaising constantly with my suppliers to maintain supply and pricing. Continue reading
Coffee Ban: No Baristador sales to people using dripolators
No sale of Baristador coffee if you use a dripolator
If you use any drip method for making coffee, I’m afraid I cannot allow you buy Baristador Coffee. Let me explain.
Drip coffee making, such as through the method in the image here, is quite simply the worst method of making coffee using coffee grounds. It is on par with instant coffee for vulgarity and diabolical flavour.
I have long known this but it was brought home to me quite recently when a group of small business owners taking part in one of my online marketing workshops, convinced me to bring some Baristador coffee in for them to try, having heard me talk about it during the workshop and seen me making little espressos with my Handpresso.
Against my better judgement, I gave in and venue caterers prepared the coffee in the drip coffee machines for our breaks. Continue reading
Syrup in your coffee: Is it good or evil?
Received a great question this week from Craig Basford, an IT guru I know from South Australia. The first reading of his question gave me pause for thought because it appeared to offer to compelling arguments wrapped into one. But as you will see, It didn’t take too long to become sure of my position, once the words started flowing. He wrote:
As a passionate coffee person I have a question for you in regard to Gloria Jean’s etc who flavour coffee with syrups etc. Are you against them because they are ‘bastardising’ the coffee flavours OR are you for them because they introduce people to coffee who may not otherwise take an interest?
This does present as a curly one because it contrasts my love and zeal for pure, single shot, espresso, against my inclination towards wanting to help people care about the version of coffee they sip or slurp. Continue reading
7 free iPad wallpaper images from Baristador Coffee
This post is a little departure from the usual content I share because I had a few moments to play with my camera and some coffee beans today.
It only follows that the next logical step would be to share some of the spoils with you for iPad wallpaper, or other tablet device for that matter.
You will find these files are all 1024×1024 pixels, which should work well no matter which way you spin your iPad. If you click on the image you want, it should take you to my Flickr account where you can download the full-size file.
If you already have an iPad, just tap the image and wait for the Save Image box.
Oh, I should also point out these are free for your personal use and if you share them online, the only thing I require is that you provide a link back to baristador.com.
Here they are:
Is that enough coffee for you?
Some people need that extra dose of coffee in the morning. Will this do? Continue reading
What is the easiest and cheapest way for parents with babies and toddlers to make good coffee at home?
Making coffee easily and cheaply (Photo: Malina)
I met Rachel from Bucklepodz recently at one of my small business web 2.0 workshops and she has fired an interesting question at me from the point-of-view of parents of babies and toddlers regarding the easiest and most inexpensive way to make good coffee at home.
I started answering her question on the Baristador Facebook Page but decided it demanded a longer answer for future reference, so here goes.
Firstly, we need to define “good coffee”. I will always argue that good coffee starts with fresh, quality beans, professionally roasted and then made using a device that is efficient in extracting the coffee oils and flavour from the beans in a pleasing way. For me, it is my very simple, home espresso machine which espresses the coffee beautifully in a fully manual operation, allowing me to adjust my technique when the grind is different or I am using one of my many different blends.
However, in all honesty, I am not sure that I would be persevering with this method if I had sole responsibility for a clingy baby or demanding toddler, or both, at once! So this means we look back down the scale from perfect espresso to next best method, and so on. Continue reading
How can I improve my coffee experience?
How to make a plunger coffee using Baristador
I got this question from an old friend on Facebook today: I currently drink shop coffee and use a plunger. What should I do to enhance my coffee enjoyment? I thought the answer might be worth sharing here on the Baristador blog.
Ant, where do I begin? One of the main reasons I created Baristador was to combat the perpetual disappointment I experienced when drinking coffee bought from shops (continental delis, supermarkets, etc) because it was always cheap, astringent beans that were already staling because they were roasted and ground and packed half a world away, spent months in transit, and then goodness knows how long in the supply chain of the store. Plus shelf time in hot/cold, etc.
Cafes are not always better because most owners use the cheapest beans they can get away with and many baristas relish milk-based drinks and have little idea how to prepare a self-contained shot of perfect espresso.
There are always exceptions of course.
Finally, buying beans loose can be better, provided you know how fresh they are.
Coffee making method
Before answering your question, I must also state that my bias is towards rich, almost oily, espresso, just one simple shot with lovely crema, drunk without milk or sugar. This simply can’t be achieved with a plunger because there is no pressure to espress the water through the beans to extract the oils, etc.
I compensate for this when forced to plunge by overdosing my plungerto saturate the contents with plenty of coffee. The method I was taught was: Continue reading
