Reg Barber C-Ripple Tamber base Evaluation

Over the weekend I went up to Great Northern Roasting Company
in Traverse City Michigan with Jim Saborio of Comet Coffee. It was a huge adventure...

It was massive amounts of fun...

There was a Latte Art throw down and somehow I managed to win...

The prize was this Reg Barber C-Ripple Tamper...

It's basically a tamper with a ripple in the base so that it makes a ripple in the coffee. (Look at the pictures if you're confused...)

I wasn't really sure what it was supposed to do, and to tell you the truth I was pretty skeptical of it. It screamed gimmick to me.

I took it over the the Ugly Mug Cafe in Ypsilanti MI and pulled a shot with it... It tasted really good. Really sweet, very little bitters, but still a good body. I talked to Zak Rye a little about it. He told me that it was supposed to create a surface on the coffee that is more permeable so that coffee is extracted more evenly.
I was still really skeptical. It seemed like this couldn't really do much of anything.

I took it over to Morgan and York and did a Side by Side comparison with their staff. They noticed the same thing I did. The shot tasted noticeably sweeter and less bitter with the C-Ripple.

I wasn't convinced so I took it over to the Common Cup and pulled some shots on their Machine with it. In a side by side comparison the shots with the C-Ripple were once again sweeter and less bitter.

I figured it must be a placebo effect.

Today I brought it back to the Ugly Mug for Miro to try. He pulled to shots exactly the same except for the tamper and gave them to me in a blind test. It was clear as day to me which one was the C-Ripple. The shot was sweeter, less bitter, and had a much nicer finish. It passed the blind test with flying colors.

I have now tried the Tamper with 4 other tampers in side by side comparison. With 4 different espresso blends, on three different machines. Each time I have gotten the same results.

I have to concede that I was wrong. The Reg Barber C-Ripple makes a sweeter shot. It actually works!

Wow! Pick one up. It's worth it.

-Billy Kangas

Kaffeost - A Coffee Cheese

Last night I was at my friend Charlie's house and he had this weird cheese I had never seen before. It was called Brun-Uusto. We were going to try it, but we had a bunch of other cheese and tea, and we never got to it...

... the funny thing is I came into the Ugly Mug (in Ypsilanti, MI) and a customer had dropped off that same cheese. He said it was dipped in coffee in some places.

It felt like fate was calling me to try this cheese. But I wanted to give it justice. Miro was sure there was some way of preparing it beyond simply dipping it. In short the cheese deserved some research, and I'm glad I looked into it!

It turns out it is known more commonly as Leipäjuusto, and is a Finnish cheese (Go FINS!) but the coffee part is a Swedish invention. The Finnish folks apparently find this treatment of their cheese heretical.

I decided to go against my Finnish heritage and try the cheese in coffee... (sorry guys)

First I cut the cheese into 1 cm cubes... (About 6 of them)
Then I Put them in a cup and poured some fresh drip (I used an Ethiopian Sidamo) over it.
Then I let it sit for a few minutes.

Soon after I poured the coffee Oils began to rise to the surface of the coffee. They had a big effect on the taste of the coffee! It was not too good.

I will say It might be good with a different blend. The Ethiopian has some very strong berry notes that clashed with the cheese quite a bit. I think an Indian coffee, or a Mexican, might work well, but that's just a thought I have not tried either. I also am going to see if making it in an americano or perhaps in a mocha pot is any different.

I decided it was time to try the cheese itself.... I stuck a fork into the coffee and pulled out a cube. It looked quite a bit different after being steeped. It was actually quite tasty. I gave Miro a taste too, and he also liked it, although he agreed it didn't do much for the coffee flavor!

If anyone knows of a coffee that works well with this let me know!

Note: the cheese was originally made from Reindeer Milk!! If anyone knows how to get their mits on this variety let me know!

Creating Espresso part II: Dosing

Note: Sorry for the delay on this one. I’ve had a lot happen.

In our last adventure we learned about beans and grinding! If you missed out please check out the post for January 31, 2008 at http://billykangas.blogspot.com/2008/01/creating-espresso-pt-1.html

The next step for making the mind blowing paradigm shifting explosion of coffee goodness that is espresso is called dosing. In the world of coffee there are two ways you can over-dose. One is of course the obvious caffeine overdose which is not pleasant in any way. The other is one way in which you can fill your porta-filter with coffee! This one can be quite amazing! Are we ready to learn about DOSING!!! I hope so.

A definition

Dosing: In the espresso process, the action of delivering ground coffee to the porta-filter and it’s even distribution before packing. (David C. Schomer)

In most shops today you go into you will see two ways people dose. The first is what you will see at major chains and that’s button pushing. Someone will push a button and a machine will grind dose and pull a shot. This is a super-automatic dosing method and it has no real way for a barista to interact with it in real time. The other major dosing method you will see is using a using the grinder level. A barista might fill the lower part of grinder with ground coffee and dose it using the lever as drinks are ordered. This I will call Bad Dosing. Dosing in this manor will ensure your coffee will not taste fresh. Coffee should be ground seconds, not minutes, before brewing, and certainly not hours!

Grind just enough coffee for what you are making!

If you are in a shop that doesn’t turn on the grinder when you order a drink but just clicks the grinder twice, RUN. Run as fast as you can you may want to knock over some things on your way out in order to impede the coffee from pursuing you further.

What you want to do it turn the grinder out and click the lever as it grinds into a clean dry porta-filter. The way I make coffee, and this is mostly a mater of taste, is to fill up the filter to the very top with coffee. Then I tap the portafilter lightly one or two times on the counter or the edge of the grinder (NOT ON THE SPOUTS) this is how you up-dose, or “overdose.” The reason I do this is because it helps the shot taste sweeter.



Coffee expands when it comes in contact with water. The sugars are extracted earlier in the process. By overdosing you allow the coffee to extract at a regular rate early on, but the extraction slows in the middle of the brewing process because the coffee has expanded and creates a denser mass for the water to penetrate. Another benefit of up-dosing is it allows for a slightly longer extraction time because there is more coffee being extracted by a consistent amount water and heat.

The cardinal rule: Do what tastes best. Every coffee wants to be pulled in it's own special way. Spend some time with a bean and find out how it likes it.

Next Time we will talk about Distribution, and if there’s time… Packing!

Basic recipes and drinks vol I

So now that we're learning all about coffee I thought it would be nice to take a break and go over some basic drinks with you! Try them all out! ENJOY!

Creating Espresso pt 1

Making a cup of espresso is generally referred to as “pulling a shot.” Being able to pull a good shot is one of the most challenging, but also the most rewarding ways of enjoying a cup of coffee. As I’ve mentioned before Espresso can be very temperamental. The smallest changes in any of the factors that influence a shot can have a drastic effect on the taste. A barista must be vigilant at all times to what is going on with their coffee in relationship to the world around them, and their own technique.

What is good technique?
Well as we talked about before creating espresso involves grinding, dosing, and tamping the beans (see what is espresso). We’ll first talk about these three amazing steps!

First I am going to assume you are working in a café environment with professional tools. There are subtle differences in some of the techniques for consumers. If you decide to try some of this at home much of it will transfer, but not all.

First the Beans
The first thing you will want to do is make sure you have beans! Espresso beans are not some special kind of coffee. You can use any kind of coffee bean to make espresso. The reason certain coffee is labeled as espresso is because it has been specially blended with different coffees to make a fuller more balanced shot then what you would get with a coffee from a single source, or “single origin” as people often put it. No coffee is perfect. In theory by blending different coffees a roaster is able to craft a blend that highlights the best part of each bean in a way that compliments the best part of another.

Make sure your beans are fresh. The best time to brew a bean is generally around 3 days after it’s been roasted, although sometimes you may find a bean that pulls best after only resting 2 days. No rules with coffee are set in stone. You will not want to drink coffee that is over 2 weeks old. By this time it has gotten stale. A shot pulled with old espresso will be runny and with have an unpleasant taste. You might also notice a sensation similar to that of bile resting in your throat. In short old coffee is gross. Don’t use it!


Once you have beans put them in the “hopper” which is a container on the top of the grinder used to house the beans before they are ground. Make sure the hopper is open allowing the beans to flow into the grinder. There is a slider at the bottom of the hopper which you can pull out to open the hopper.

Grinding

You are now ready to grind the beans. The fist thing you will want to do is clear out all the old grounds that might be left from a previous drink. You can do this by pushing the lever on the bottom of the machine toward you this will cause all the old grounds to come out the bottom of the grinder. Now you can grind new beans.

There will be an on off switch/knob on your grinder. Hit this and grind just enough coffee for the drink you are making. Every coffee you use will like being pulled a certain way, which may be very different then another bean. Make sure you are familiar with how the particular bean likes to be pulled. Grind just enough to make what you need.

You will need to make sure the “grind settings” are set right. A shot should be pulling at between 20 and 30 seconds in most cases. Every coffee will want to be pulled at a time specific for it so make sure your grind matches your bean. To adjust the “grind” first look for a lever near the top of the grinder near the hopper. It will be attached to a adjustable disc. You can adjust this disc to change the burr distance in the grinder. This will effect how “fine” or “coarse” your grind is. Look for arrows on the disc to tell you which way to adjust.

The finer a grind is the smaller the grounds will be, and the slower the shot will pull. Think about it like pouring water through sand verses through pebbles. If your shots are pulling to fast try making the grind finer this will hopefully get things where you want them. The reverse is also true. A shot that is pulling to slowly may need to be ground coarser.

As humidity changes your grind must change too. The more humid your environment the coarser your grind has to be. A higher moister in the coffee makes it more adhesive and resistant to water flow. If there a change in the weather while you’re working you will need to be checking the grind more frequently.

to be continued...

What is Espresso?

A little history lesson
The story of espresso as we know it began with a coffee break. It didn’t start as an attempt to raise the bar of quality but to boost the bottom line of profits. In Italy at the dawn of the twentieth century a factory owner named Luigi Bezzera was quite displeased by the amount of time his employees were spending in non-productive folderol during coffee breaks waiting for their cups to brew. Luigi developed a system that would produce an awful cup of the stuff faster.

These machines used water and steam to push coffee out quick.The only problem was the stuff was bitter as sin. Fortunately for us Luigi “bottom line” Bezzera knew a profit when he saw it and sold the patent to the machine to a man named Desiderio Pavoni in 1905. Pavoni began to experiment with his new contraption and discovered you could create a palatable cup of coffee if you used water that was 195 degrees Fahrenheit, with 8 to 9 bars of pressure. These are the standards that shape the way we brew today.

So seriously what is the stuff!!

Espresso is a form of coffee that is brewed at high pressure with hot water producing a more concentrated form of coffee then a “cup of drip” that you find at most American diners and kitchens. The word espresso in Italian can mean at least two things according to David C. Schomer. It can mean “being fast and rapid,” but can also mean something prepared “especially for you.” Café Espresso is then coffee that is produced quickly in individual servings.

How to make it
Making espresso well is an art form, and must be taken very seriously if someone wants to produce a cup that brings out the best in a coffee. A barista (someone who prepares espresso drinks) must control how finely the coffee is ground to the slightest degree, the amount of coffee used to fractions of a gram, and the length of time the coffee is extracted. They must be able to adjust these settings on the fly as humidity, temperature, machine idiosyncrasies, and other factors change. As technology improves a barista is now able to control the pressure and temperature more accurately and easily and must be able to adjust how they brew around these factors as well.

We will go into greater detail about all of these things in the future, but for now remember the four cardinal rules of making a great cup:


1. Grind it fresh. If possible grind your coffee right before you brew it.
2. Make sure the grind is right. A grind can be very finicky make sure you’re using a grind that best suits the coffee and the environment you are brewing in.
3. Put the right amount in. This is called “dosing” and the slightest change in how much coffee you use can make the difference between an amazing cup and an appalling cup.
4. Pack it right. This step is so important. It deals with how you put the coffee in the “portafilter” (the basket in which coffe is placed). We’ll talk about how and how not to do this later.

What is Coffee?

It all started with a goat. At least that’s how the legend goes. A herder in Eastern Ethiopia noticed members of the herd had an extra bounce to their step. The goats had been doing what goats do best, eating whatever they find. And what they found were coffee cherries. Soon the goats were prancing around like the cast of Riverdance, and the herder decided to try some too. The rest is history, and a very interesting history at that.

Today coffee is the world’s most popular stimulant. In America alone 400 million cups are consumed every day. It is the second most valuable traded commodity, beaten out by oil, which takes the number one spot. Coffee plants have been cultivated in every hemisphere, from countries as far apart as Guatemala and Papua New Guinea, and in regions, and cultures as diverse as the ways coffee is used. You can drink it hot or cold. It flavors ice creams, liquors, granola bars, and candy. You can even get coffee scented perfume.

It has become the livelihood of some of the poorest people, a status symbol for many of the richest, and an essential part of the lives of many of the people in between. Coffee has taken the heart of the world. I know it’s taken mine.
You can have coffee in so many ways that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with all the innovations involved with creating it, and all the fascinating compositions coffee geeks are coming up with all the time. As we go along our journey together we’ll learn all sorts of fun ways to add a little zing to your cup, or if you just want a straight forward cup we’ll talk about the best ways to brew coffee, and the techniques we can use to make every cup a success.

Coffee as a plant
Coffee comes from a plant, and we make coffee from the coffee “beans” this plant produces. These beans are ground up and water mixed in through a variety of ways. In the process creates the coffee beverages we know and love. The coffee “bean” is actually the seed of coffee plants. There are many varieties of coffee plants out there all in the overarching genus of coffea.

The two most common species of coffee plant are coffea arabica which makes Arabica Coffee and coffea canephora which makes Robusta Coffee. These two species make up the vast majority of coffee on the market today. Arabica Coffee is generally considered to make a better quality cup of coffee then Robusta Coffee, which is cheaper to produce, has higher caffeine content, and is used by many places in espresso blends to help crème (we’ll get to what that is later) form in the espresso. Many coffee shops today use coffee from both plants; however there are also many places that stick to Arabica. It might be a good idea to ask what kind of coffee you are being served. Once while I was in HungaryI found a shop that had two separate menus based around both plants.