Maxwell

The above statement is made quite often when discussing coffee.  Although not strictly untrue, it is also not reflective of the reality of the field. Each individual is entitled to like or dislike anything they taste (subjective - matter of taste).  But fields of specialism create and maintain a more specific criteria for quality based on wider input.  There is an accumulation of ideas and standards that are relative to that product, a framework for judgement (objective- tangible). It is however more complicated than this statement allows for.  I will attempt to navigate the grey areas and offer what I...

Is the price we charge for a cup of coffee a fair one? Not really. We have always been a bit partial to undercharging. However if what you’re looking at is perceived expectation and value of a “cup of coffee” then the idea of a fair and correct price becomes more complicated. This is a problem within speciality coffee that needs to be addressed on a larger scale.  To serve speciality coffee without compromise in a commercial environment costs much more money than the existing larger commercial approach.  Many people question the economic viability of pursuing speciality coffee full stop....

I touched on the relationship between speciality coffee and the addition of other ingredients in my “coffee as a cocktail post”, but one ingredient needs specific exploration. That ingredient is sugar. Sugar is seen around the globe as a natural addition to coffee and, for many people, it’s half of what constitutes an espresso. This is a well-earned association. My wife and I were driving back to England last week through Germany and we stopped off at a service station. Like many of the weary drivers, I needed a little pick me up. I bought myself a Segafredo espresso. It...

  Lately I have been asked a lot about blonding in espresso.  How do I feel about it? Well, I don’t feel much about it anymore other than that it’s a poor indicator of a shot’s quality.  A shot may taste good when it is cut off as the streams of espresso start to blond, but that is not why it is good.  It just so happens that the brew recipe that suits that coffee coincides with the visual appearance of blonding. When brewing espresso the first drops of liquid that pass through the bed of coffee and out of...

‘What does this cup of coffee taste like?’ To communicate about taste successfully it is essential to consider how flavours are most commonly perceived, bearing in mind the inherently variable nature of tasting and hopefully achieving the highest percentage of communication possible. Many variables will affect this exchange – genetics, mood, previous experience, last food or drink consumed and so forth and so on.  It can very easily seem like an unattainable goal and there is a temptation to leave the tasting up to each individual – making of each coffee what they will. A problem arises with the rarity...