Simple Tips That Will Make You An Exotic Barista

Coffee is one of the world’s favorite drinks, it is very similar to tea in that almost every country has a variety or local way they prefer their coffee grown, roasted, brewed and consumed.

Many people in the western world are surprised to learn that coffee is not a standard flavor as coffee beans can vary considerably from different farms and different regions. Those who like to drink their coffee black will have more of an appreciation of this than those who like to use milk, cream and sweeteners.

Some basic coffee facts

• Black Coffee contains virtually no calories.
• Although call a coffee bean, coffee is not a bean or legume, it is a member of the Fabaceae family of trees. Coffee is made by roasting and grinding the.
• Coffee reaches its peak flavor about 6 to 24 hours after being roasted then, after 6 days it begins to lose flavor as it oils oxidize and for best flavor should be consumed within a month of roasting.
• Ground coffee is best used straight away or within 6 hours of grinding.
• Store dried unroasted beans in brown paper bags so they can breathe in a dry cool place.
• Roast the beans in the oven at 180C for 20 minutes to heat them, then finish them in a pan on a hot fire where they have to reach 475 to 500C at which stage they will crack and then they should be removed and allowed to cool naturally, The longer they take to cool because of their high oil content the more they cook and the darker the roast.
• Store freshly roasted beans in an air thigh jar with but do not seal for 2 hours as they will give off CO2, then seal and grind just before using.
• If you cannot get fresh or dried beans buy freshly roasted un-ground beans.
• When grinding beans it is best to use a manual hand grinder or if you use a lot of coffee use an automatic electric burr grinder costing about $150. Blade grinders give an inconsistent grind size so can cause over extraction.

Making Your Coffee

• Measure your coffee by weight for best results. An ideal ratio is one part of coffee to twenty parts of water (1 to 20) 50ml of hot water to 7.5g of ground coffee.
• The best water temperature is between 90C (195F) and 96C (205F) most coffee machines do not reach this temperature so do not properly brew the coffee, but do not heat over 97C as you can burn the coffee.
• Make your coffee by pouring boiling water over it in a coffee pot and allow it to brew a few minutes.
• It is best to use spring water, but not heavily mineralized water as the minerals will stop the coffee being extracted properly.

The best coffee is made “just how you like it” but if you are new to drinking black coffee, then a lot of experimentation is in order before you have experienced enough coffee to become a true Barista, but learning how is a very enjoyable pass time.