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Coffee Academy
Processes that Define Quality
Characteristics of a good coffee
The Species
The first factor that must be taken into account to define the quality of coffee is its species, as there are differences between Arabica and Robusta species. Basically, it changes the taste, the aroma, the grain size, the price, and even the ability to stay awake. Therefore, it is no coincidence that 100% Arabica coffees are more expensive.
The finest Arabica, which presents a higher quality drink, has a greater aroma and flavor (and there are variations of aromas and flavors within this species). Robusta, on the other hand, is used in mixed blends with Arabica, in order to give the drink more body and reduce acidity. It also serves to offer a lower cost product and adjust the drink to the preference or custom of a certain class of consumers. Robusta beans are the most used for the production of soluble coffees,
Arabica or Robusta
Differences
The fruit of coffee is a cherry
The fruits of the same coffee tree ripen at different times, for this reason they must be hand-picked to obtain the best quality of specialty coffees.
Coffee and the Environment, Influence on grain
Like the great wines
As with wines, each region provides different environmental conditions for growth, such as: altitude, soil composition and climatic conditions (temperature, rainfall, sun exposure, humidity, etc.)
Ground
Altitude
Latitude
Rain
Sun
Secrets of a Good Coffee
Factors that influence taste
There are several factors that influence the taste of a good coffee. We work so that our customers get the best in each of these factors:
Coffee bean
Our coffee bean is 100% Arabica, classified as Specialty Coffee , with a score above 80, according to the ABIC or BSCA classification. All beans are traceable and sustainably sourced, recognized as the best from each farm, different species, which express aromas and flavors from the best regions of Brazil, all of this to have among the best coffees in the world, to compose your cup.
Roast Point
Roasting influences the flavor of the coffee. When preparing it, we make a careful assessment to define the preferred roasting point, which enhances the aromas and flavors in your cup, maximizing the sweetness and leaving a balanced dose of acidity and body.
Roast Degree
The lighter the roast, the more it accentuates the acidity, smoothness and aroma with less bitterness, leaving a lighter, fruity, citric and floral coffee. The darker the roast, the less acidity, the sweeter and more caramelly, flavors ranging from nuts, chocolate to the most intense and bitter flavor.
FROM GRAIN TO CUP
Quality Process
Plantations, The Beginning
Coffee plantations around the world are located mainly in Tropical Africa, Asia and America. These places have ideal climatic conditions, with temperatures ranging from 17 to 30 degrees Celsius and annual rainfall measuring between 1200 and 2000 millimeters. The coffee plantation requires soil rich in humus, nitrogen and potassium, and grows at an altitude of up to 2500 meters. The plants also need to be constantly watered and fertilized to ensure that they have all the nutrients responsible for their high quality.
The seeds usually sprout after 8 or 10 weeks after planting, and are immediately transferred to plastic containers, where they spend up to 12 months in greenhouses or places protected from direct sunlight, until they reach 30 centimeters. At that point, they are transferred to the actual plantation. This planting style is common in countries like Brazil, India and places in Central America, as they are places that have large open spaces, in which large machines and irrigation systems can be used.
The coffee plant starts to bear fruit after two or three years, and the number of times this happens depends a lot on the cultivation technique. In the intensive cultivation technique, the plants are exploited to give their maximum and last up to 15 years. On the other hand, in India, in extensive plantations, the plant can live up to 50 years.
The Flower of Coffee, Arabian Jasmine
The coffee flower is extremely interesting. Anyone who has had the opportunity to observe a coffee plantation in bloom knows that they have a very characteristic odor, reminiscent of jasmine flowers. For this reason, the plant used to be called “Arabian Jasmine” around the 17th century.
The most fascinating thing is that the flower can give some indications of how the quantity and quality of the harvest will be. In countries that produce a lot of coffee, as is the case of Brazil, this characteristic is very important to dictate the rules of price and market development. However, the flowers die relatively quickly and can only be pollinated for a few hours. Factors such as frost or excessive rain can also considerably reduce the number of flowers in a coffee plantation, as they are extremely sensitive.
The Harvest, Stripping and Picking
For the coffee to be of extremely high quality, it is necessary that only the fruits that are already completely ripe are harvested, since fruit beans that are still partially green or even those that are overripe compromise the final taste of the coffee. The different types of crop that can be used are:
Stripping
In the case of stripping, all fruits are removed from the branches, regardless of how ripe they are. This means that a second selection will have to be made after the end of the first process. Water is used to facilitate the separation process, since ripe and unripe fruits have different densities. There is manual and mechanical stripping. The mechanic is the most used in Brazil (in Paraná and São Paulo), because the plantations have to be straight, for the big machines to move between the plants. The branches are gently shaken by flexible paddles, adjusted to make only the ripest beans fall from the branches.
Picking
Picking is used, for example, in Central America, Kenya, Ethiopia, India and Brazil (Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Bahia due to the difficulty of the terrain), and consists of harvesters or pickers walking through the plants at regular intervals, picking up the fruits one by one and selecting those with the highest degree of ripeness. This method is expensive and time-consuming, but it delivers very high quality coffee.
Improvement, Grain Processing
The improvement is the whole process that comes after the harvest, until the roasting. It starts with grain processing. Processing needs to be done immediately after harvesting as the beans need to be extracted from the husk within a few hours or else they will start to ferment or even rot, giving the coffee an extremely unpleasant taste. Before extraction, then, the grains need to be separated from foreign objects such as small stones, leaves and sticks. This process can be done with the help of sieves or even air jets.
There are basically two systems to extract the grain:
The dry processing that gives rise to the so-called “natural coffee”, in which the cherries are left to dry in wide spaces, in a layer no larger than 3 centimeters. This layer has to be turned constantly (from 15 to 20 times a day), so that the process is uniform. After that, they are placed in mechanical dryers, which speed up the process.
Wet processing (which gives rise to so-called “washed coffee”, in which the cherries are placed in compartments, where the skin and part of the inner part of the cherry are removed. The seeds are then left to ferment for a few hours.
It is also important to emphasize a third method, widely used in Brazil, the peeling method, which is between wet and dry. Instead of letting the beans ferment, they are left in the sun to dry, without any other processing methods.
Regarding transport, depending on where the coffee goes, it has to face a long journey, often crossing oceans and going through several temperature variations to reach its destination.
Coffee is usually packaged in 60kg bags made from a natural material that allows the contents to breathe. All bags come with the weight, origin and port of shipment stamped and the coffees are stored in dry and well-ventilated places. The grains are then transported by sea, truck or rail and 95% of them arrive in Europe in large containers, which can be of the standard type or even refrigerated. It is extremely important that the grains are protected from rain, moisture and excessive cold and heat.
The Roast, Flavour and Aroma
Roasting is the most important part of the whole process, as it is only after the grain has been roasted that it shows the characteristics that distinguish it when it comes to drinking. During this process, chemical and physical reactions produce more than a thousand substances, each of which contributes in a certain way to the taste and aroma of coffee.
There are 3 stages in the roasting process: drying, which eliminates residual moisture from the grain, roasting itself and cooling. The weight of the bean decreases by about 16% during roasting and its volume increases by 60%. The sugars are caramelized and the water evaporates, causing a reaction between the sugar and the proteins, thus creating the pigment that gives the coffee its characteristic color, in addition to developing the aroma.
Coffee roasting is considered an art, as the final taste and aroma depend on the temperature curve used. Each type of roast follows a specific curve, for example, lower temperatures produce a coffee with a lighter color, not as bitter and with a pleasant acidity content; Higher temperatures, on the other hand, produce a darker, more bitter coffee with a more intense flavor.
The Grinding, Final touch
The extra fine grind
The extra fine grind of the coffee beans must be used in the preparation of Turkish coffee, as the coffee powder is not strained. This type of coffee is prepared in a Turkish pot (ibrik), where ground coffee beans are mixed with hot water and sugar. This is an exclusive type of grinding that makes it possible to extract a unique and original cup of coffee.
The fine grinding
The fine grinding of coffee beans should be used in espresso coffee machines as it makes it possible to prepare a full-bodied and creamy coffee, in the good Italian way. It is a type of grinding that is often used in the extraction of an espresso coffee, as the fine grains offer greater resistance to the passage of hot water, enhancing the flavors and aromas of the coffee. The ideal preparation time for an espresso coffee is 25 to 30 seconds and if the coffee takes more or less time to be extracted, it is necessary to adjust the grinding of the beans.
The medium grind
Medium grinding, as its name implies, is located between fine grinding and coarse grinding of coffee beans. This is a type of grinding that must be used in the preparation of coffee with a French press. By using ground coffee beans with a medium thickness, you will be able to prepare a smoother and more flavored coffee. The French press method forces hot water to come into contact with the ground coffee beans for a maximum period of 3 minutes and that time is enough for all the main characteristics of the coffee beans to be absorbed.
The coarse grinding
Coarsely ground coffee beans should be used to prepare a moka pot coffee. This grinding method allows the extraction of a tasty, strong and full-bodied coffee. Ground coffee beans are placed in the coffee filter, where the water rises and absorbs all the main aromas and flavors of a particular type of coffee.
The Extraction, Preparation Methods
Flavor extraction rate
Larger (coarse) grind sizes need more water contact time to extract the best flavor. Smaller (finer) grind sizes require less contact time to extract the best flavor. In general, we use a coarser grind for longer brew times (4-8 minutes) and a finer grind for shorter brew times (1-4 minutes).
Water flow rate
A coarse grind allows water to pass through quickly. A fine grind slows down the flow of water.
How to perceive grinding
An effective way to communicate and assess grind size is how it feels to the touch. Take a sample of ground coffee and rub it between your thumb and fingers. The coffee is ground into particle sizes ranging from something akin to kosher sea salt for a coarse grind, sand for a medium grind, and powdered sugar for a fine grind.
How to prove
Ultimately, it all comes down to taste. Taste is very subjective. Assuming all other essential manufacturing variables are on the line, simply ask: Is the beverage tasting bitter, astringent, or too strong? Adjust coarser grind next time. Does the drink taste weak, watery, flat or sour? Adjust finer grind next time. Small tweaks make big differences. Keep fine tuning at first, then keep tweaking to find the sweet spot.
A GOOD COFFEE
Attributes of a Perfect Coffee
Fragrance
Aromas and Flavors
As with wine, it is possible to detect certain special notes, which can even be categorized. In the context of coffee, probably the best known classification of its smells is in the Aromas and Flavors Wheel, which was created exclusively for the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), according to the various data researched by the team of the renowned French aromaist Jean Lenoir.
The group took into account the aromas and flavors of plants and ready-to-drink beverages from around the world. With that, a first fundamental division of aromas was reached, pointing out three categories: aromas that have an enzymatic nature, those of caramelization of sugars and those that have dry distillation. It is considered that the fragrance can already be verified in the dried coffee powder, but the definitive aroma, as well as the most decisive flavor that coffee offers, must be experienced from the finished beverage.
Light – Floral, Fruity and Herbal
The group of enzymatic balms represents aromas with more volatile notes that come from fermentative or enzymatic processes that are formed during the final phase of fruit maturation or just before drying the beans. These reactions produce some types of alcohols and other substances that, when the drink is ready, leave aromas in the environment that may cause floral, fruity and herbal remnants.
Medium - Caramelized, Nuts and Cereals
This group of aromas presents medium volatility notes, which are reached during the coffee roasting process. As a result, they provide caramel, nutty or cereal aspects.
Intense – Woody and Chocolatey
These are aromas with notes of lesser volatility, resulting from the coffee roasting process in its most intense or final phase, and with that they can give rise to more woody, peppery or chocolatey (cocoa) aromas.
Texture and Body
Smooth or Full-bodied
A simple way to understand what coffee “body” is: when you taste it, and it tastes like water, your coffee probably doesn't have enough body. The perfect coffee should have just the right balance of viscosity and weight, and it should roll on your tongue like velvet. If it leaves your tongue and you feel like you haven't had a drink, you're probably unlucky with your coffee.
The full-bodied presence that coffee brings in the mouth is characterized by two factors: roasting and extraction.
A full-bodied coffee will be thick and dense. A lighter, smoother coffee will be more fluid.
Balance and Taste
Acidity, Sweetness and Bitterness
A high-quality coffee must balance acidity, sweetness and bitterness in a single gulp, with a smooth, complex and nuanced flavor. Some main features are:
Acidity is characterized by the solution of an organic acid present in coffee. It is a desirable, strong and pleasant flavor, present in several fruits (such as oranges, pineapples, apples), but it cannot be confused with a very acidic vegetable or cupric taste.
Bitterness is a primary taste, characterized by the solution of caffeine, quinine and some other alkaloids. This taste is considered desirable to a certain extent, and is affected by the degree of roasting more intensely during caramelization.
Sweetness is the basic flavor, characterized by sucrose or fructose solutions, which are commonly associated with aromas such as fruity, chocolatey or caramelized. It is generally used to describe coffees that are free of external flavors. Even the most acidic and strong coffees can be delicious and refreshing if there is a balanced mix with sweetness.
Sourness describes an excess of unpleasant flavor (such as vinegar or acetic acid), and is often related to the aroma of brewed coffee. Tasters have to be careful not to confuse this term with acidity (which is generally considered a desirable taste in coffee).
ACID
Light and volatile. Acid yes, sour never, like vinegar and acetic acid.
BALANCED
It can be sweeter or more caramelized, depending on the point of development of the roast.
BITTER
With a bitter chocolate and cocoa flavor, always determined by the degree of roasting.
COFFEE ESSENCE
The 5 Senses
The 5 Senses
All that Coffee can Offer
Coffee inspires different sensations. It is one of the few drinks that manages to combine sensory and intellectual pleasure and makes us enter a world of memories and feelings. No wonder many describe coffee as a drink that plays a lot with our 5 senses.
Smell
In some stages we can feel the fragrance of the coffee, the main one being during roasting. This moment releases a characteristic aroma that makes visiting some coffee shops a real experience.
The second stage is during coffee grinding, exposing the coffee to oxygenation, which releases the essence and characteristic perfume of the drink. For this reason, it is recommended to consume the product within seven days after grinding. For the coffee aroma to be felt in the best possible way in the third stage, extraction, it must be at 80ºC. Some research also claims that aroma has a powerful effect on brain regions that regulate feelings of pleasure, attention and motivation.
Taste
The ideal temperature for tasting is approximately 65ºC. It is necessary not to add sugar so as not to change the taste, as the perfect espresso has a balance between sweet, bitter and acidic.
A barista, for example, can develop a taste through experimentation and diversification of coffees, often having to taste lower quality coffees to expand his knowledge.
Tact
Added to the aroma, the “body” distinguishes espresso coffee from any other preparation, offering a pleasant sensation of creaminess and velvety smoothness.
Each coffee has a characteristic creaminess that mixes with aromas and the vision of the drink.
Hearing
They usually compare espresso coffee to a piece of music, made up of aromatic notes.
By concentrating on the sensation of harmony provided by coffee, it is possible to listen, with each person identifying a different tone.
Vision
The recognition of a perfect espresso is immediate. The cup frames the cream, revealing a layer in hazelnut tones, with fine reddish stripes.
If the crema is dark with white pieces, something is wrong, or the extraction time was too long, the coffee was ground too fine, the temperature or pressure was too high. In contrast, the perfect espresso has a clear and consistent crema.
We can also see the mixture of coffee and milk, white lines interspersed with black, different tones, carefully designed art, like the signature of the best baristas, the “ late art ”.