Week 10: Summary

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwiD7l-zYnxPamZTZTNKYmVJUkU

Coffee and I

        After eight weeks of blog sharing, I've shared some basic knowledge about coffee to you guys. 
This week, my blog post will be a bit different. I'm going to tell you what coffee means to me ,   the goals I want to achieve, and my dream - being a WBC champion.

       Six months ago , I began to study this attractive drink , and it had influenced me a lot before long. It has become a daily routine that I make myself a cup of black coffee every morning, every moment when I have free time.  Moreover , as I pass through some places and see the word "coffee" on somethings, they always make me pause to take a look at them.   Walking into a bookstore, I often find the corner where the books about coffee located , and read them . There are so many things that generate my passions about coffee.
  
     I also participated in  the seminar that Berg Wu, the 2016 World Barista Championship winner, shared his journey of becoming the first Taiwanese who won the competition , I learned that the key point is not missing every tiny part of coffee brewing.  Last weekend , I went to the Taiwan International Coffee Expo, where every well-known companies exhibited their product.  It did broaden my horizons and I realized how small I am in the world of coffee. 

    Every now and then, I visit coffee shops, ordering a cup of black pour over coffee and chatting with the owners when they're not busy.  I learned a great deal from their experiences of running shops. 

   Recently, I've decided to turn my interest into a business .  I've started to sell coffee beans to my parents' friends this summer .  Now, I'm going to do it bigger , establishing my own brand.  Besides, I'll keep learning, cumulativing my strength.  One day, I will probably win the WBC , just as Berg did.    

                          
   
  

The trademark of my brand , designed by a friend of mine.
 "59" is the house number of my home . 

Roast

       For me , Coffee roasting is the most difficult but the most interesting process.   To learn roasting well , we need not only knowledge but lots of experiences. For instance, to get a professional Batista license , it required everyone to roast more than 800 times . This week , I am going to tell you that coffee roasting is more than putting beans in the machine , it's a process of several chemical changes.

We can separate the process by the temperature .

source

1. Under 160 ℃

During this period of time , the beans absorb heat , lose about 10% of water , and the color shifts to yellow when the temperature is near 160~165℃

2. 160~190℃

 .  Beans are usually heated up about 10℃ per minutes. In these three minutes , it need more heat source to enhance the Maillard reaction (梅鈉反應) and the Cancellation reaction (焦糖化反應).  We'll see the beans turn into the color of light brown .

3. Around 200℃

     "First Crack " will happen at this time ,  the obvious "first crack sound " means that the moisture of the beans are being evaporated and we'll see the size of them getting larger .  If we want the light-roasted coffee with more fruity flavors , roasting usually end after 45 seconds to 2 minutes of first crack.

4. Around 220℃

Second crack , the sound represents the structure of coffee starting to collapse. Not only the color will become black but the oil will appear , making the beans looks shiny .  The well-known Mandheling and the other Italian coffee are often roasted to this degree. All of the coffee shouldn't be roasted after 2 minutes of second cracks , or they'll get carbonized, even combust. 

In fact , the words above is just the basic  knowledge above . To master  roasting , experiences play an important part . Because the weather , the temperature , the humidity at the moment we roast matter a lot. 

Next week , I'll give a brief introduction of each degrees of roasting .

Coffee Brewing II

      After introducing three famous methods to brew a cup of coffee, I'll keep showing more different kinds of ways. The approaches of making coffee that I'm going to introduce are more special.

1. Aeropress
    I've bought a set of Aeropress coffee maker months ago . The slogan of this product is ' Quick and easy,  the best coffee maker I've ever owned .' Indeed, after a few times of experiences, it did worth the compliment. Just need less than 5 minutes and press the coffee into the cup, we can enjoy the completed-brewed coffee with balanced flavors.

2. Clever Dripper
   Clever Dripper makes producing coffee more easily. All we need to do is to pour water in it and soak with coffee for 3 minutes, and a fantastic cup of coffee is done. The advantage of it is that it standardizes every cup because not  special skill is needed.  The shop that the 2016 World Barista Championship winner - Berg Wu runs  uses this tool as well!

Coffee Brewing

This week's topic is about the process from coffee beans to a cup of beverage ready to be served.

Before brewing coffee, we should choose the appropriate type of grind . From course to fine , a tiny change will make a big difference to the coffee we drink . This is what we should be aware of.
Next , I will introduce several ways to brew coffee.

1.Pour Over Coffee
      This is the method that I'm good at.  Pouring  85C to 95C hot water with the swan neck kettle(細口壺), we can see the coffee drip into the pot slowly.  This method allows us to enjoy the original flavors of coffee, and it takes a lot of skills to make it perfect . I'm still learning about it.

The Pour Over Coffee Equipment in my house 

2.Espresso
       Most of the coffee shops brew coffee in this way because espresso machine can quickly make a shot of coffee by forcing steam under the 9 atm pressure. What's more, the famous Cappuccino , Macchiato, and Latte are all espresso-based coffee.

3. Syphon
     Every time when I am making coffee with Syphon, it seems that I'm performing a incredible show because the flare , the coffee , and the Syphon pot build a fabulous picture. The video below will show you how the Syphon works.  

   

Different Places, Different Tastes

       As the topic shown above, I'm going to introduce several places that produce coffee.
Let's start with Asia.

Asia
     Vietnam and Indonesia are the most productive countries in Asia. However, the coffee in Vietnam is not pretty good because of its location and poor hygiene, so they're ofter sold to some big enterprise at a lower price. On the contrary, Indonesia has one of the most well-known coffee -Mandheling, the strong after taste of it has gained lots of popularity in Taiwan.



Africa
     There are many countries in Africa produced coffee with distinctive aromas and tastes, such as Ethiopia, Kenya.  Among them , the state in Ethiopia called Yirgacheffe is my favorite one . Once you drink it , the fruity smell will impress you definitely .


Latin America
      Panama, Brazil, Colombia ,Costa Rica...... , the perfect climate and location make Latin America be the great place to plant coffee.  For example, the best coffee ever, Geisha, is an original variety in Panama. This aromatic coffee has taken the champion for years. What's more, Costa Rica also makes itself more famous by its many kinds of honey production.




Next time if you see a variety of coffee on the menu ,  I suggest that you try different kinds and find the your favorite one!!!

About the Flavor of Coffee

          How do we know whether the cup of coffee is good or not.  It all depends on what kinds of flavor it owns. Generally, there are two biggest part of the flavors-- 'aromas' and 'tastes'. I'll give a brief introductions of them .

Tastes : sour, sweet, bitter, and salt

         We will find the tastes of coffee after sipping it.  It's worth to be mentioned that according to the 2015 WCE (世界烘豆大賽 ) champion-賴昱權, all of these tastes all have a good one and the bad one . Take 'sour' for example,  the one that makes us feeling comfortable called 'acidity',  and the other called 'sour'.  Besides, the good bitter will leave a distinguished body, lingering in our mouth for a long time . However, the bad one is just like the night when we stayed up late to finish the homework.

By the way, I'll show you guys more the difference between excellent and inferior coffee next week. 

Aromas :enzymatic,sugar browning,dry distillation

    We can smell the aromas of coffee before and after brewing it, and they are divided into lots of categories. Generally, the light and medium roasted coffee will have big part of  flowery(wet process) or fruity(dry process) aromas. As for dark roasted coffee , the aromas of chocolate and nut are pretty obvious.

Coffee Flavor Wheel
source

Coffee Production

     To make fragrant coffee beans ,There is a crucial process between planting and roasting--Production,which is aim to clear all the pulp or fruit , and only leave seeds,so that we can do the next step.

    Three common forms of processing: wet process, dry process , and semi-dry process

each methods can have significant effects on the development of coffee's flavor.

1.Dry process(日曬法):

     Dry process is the oldest fashion of processing. The clean cherry is cleaned at first , then put on the tables or layers to dry itself under the blazing sun . By this method, beans will develop a much more 'fruit aroma (果香)' then the others. In my opinion , it is the best choice to if we want to enjoy variable of flavors.

Dry process coffee pods on the beds

   

2.Semi-dry process(半水洗法):

      Semi-dry process is often used in Indonesia and Brazil. In this process, farmers remove the outer skin from the cherries mechanically with locally built pulping machine. The well-known Mandheling(曼特寧) coffee is produced by this way. 

    In recent years,semi-dry process develops more kinds. For instance, honey processing is another one that impressed me a lot. It gives coffee a stronger body with enhanced sweetness and round acidity.

Most of the pulp removed – semi-dry process. The “mucilage(黏液)” remains.    

3.Wet process(水洗法):  
    The most common used method, not only does it save much more time than dry process , but it also need less human to finish the job. Moreover, wet process can enhance the 'flower aroma' and generate more awesome acidity of coffee.

The Wet Method

The Coffee Tree and the Raw Coffee Bean

    As the topic showed above, I am going to talk about the basic process of coffee drink--trees. To begin with, here is my own experience: I have planted about ten coffee trees several years ago. Under the sun's nourishing and my care for years.It will take approximately 3 to 4 years for the newly planted coffee trees to bear fruit from blooming. The fruit, called the coffee cherry, turned a bright , deep red when it was ripe and ready to be harvested,finally it became the useful beans that impressed me with it's fabulous taste.

The mature coffee cherries

The coffee trees flower before they bear fruit 

From green to deep red , this is the process of the beans growing up

Let's talk about the varieties of coffee trees next:

       There are two biggest species -- Arabica(阿拉比卡) and Robusta(羅布斯塔) , they account for most of the coffee beans in the market. However, on top of them, Geisha, an original variety in Panama, is worth noticing. Geisha has won the best coffee bean title for years because of its high complexity and incredible aroma . Besides ,it is called "the most expensive coffee on earth" . One pound of it costs more than 4000 NT dollars.   I'll share my feeling about sipping Geisha one day!!

Coffee Variety Tree

 

 

Coffee in my life

      Putting a cup of bean into the grinder, then the coffee starting to fill the room with fantastic aroma, I enjoy this kind of slow and leisurely lifestyle in this fast-paced city. For me , coffee is more than just coffee. This summer vacation, I embarked on studying everything about this drink which has been regarded as a thing to stay themselves awake.

The coffee bean grinder in my dorm room ,(Now I usually use the electronic one haha)

     As a country kid from Nantou, planting is in my DNA. About three years ago, I put the first coffee tree onto my grandma’s farm. Watching the coffee cherries flourishing under the blazing sun and in the fresh air,” this is what I like!!”, I thought at that time. Since then, coffee has become an important part of my life.

Little cute frog on the leaf of my coffee tree

    In 2016 summer,I learned another skill of being a barista—roasting coffee. It acquired more scientific knowledge and experiences to display the best aroma and taste of coffee. Moreover, I often visit well-known shop and chat with their owner , listening to them sharing what they encountered as they were running the shop. Besides, I also participated in the seminar that the 2016 World Barista Championship winner- Berg Wu attended as well, learning a lot from it.

Berg Wu-sharing his feeling and tactics during the contest 

   This semester, I’m going to show you guys all I know about coffee from planting, roasting, to make a great cup of coffee.

Let's have a cup of coffee and have fun !!!

  Welcome to the incredible coffee journey with Howard!!!!