Barista blogs

Hario Skerton Ceramic Coffee Mill

2012-04-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, it’s been too long!

So, the coffee treats have been flying my way and I wanted to tell you all about this Hario Skerton hand grinder.

It comes in a nice little box and is very self-explanatory to put together.

The course/fine adjustment is in place by a cog like mechanism so once you’ve learned where the cog sits for different grinds it’s merely a case of remembering how many ‘clicks’ are needed to change between them.

The grind holder is glass so this keeps static to a minimum/almost non-existent, which I believe is much tidier than the plastic holders available, which can leave the smaller grounds stuck to the side of the pot rather than in one heap.

The Burr system

The only problem with this hand grinder that I’ve discovered so far is the lack of bearing towards the bottom of the burr, This can cause an uneven grind when moving towards the mid to course grind settings. This problem has been noted many times before.

The courser the grind, the more inconsistency

Thankfully there are mods to install a lower bearing, but this involves buying extra parts/man hours in doing so. Video below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2_UEwPnrw

Apart from the set back of uneven courser grinds the Skerton does a good job in grinding, very easy to use and to clean.

Only having this grinder for a few days I will be re-visiting this and updating with future pros & cons

thanks for reading!

Twitter : @baristablogsuk

Contacting me

2012-04-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

as much as I love telling you all everything I do, I would love to hear from my viewers as well; comments, suggestions or requests.

so, you can contact me through the related media

twitter: @baristablogsuk

face book: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barista-Blogs/108864045912087

email: baristablogsuk@gmail.com

I look forward to it!

La Bottega Milanese

2012-03-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

La Bottega Milanese

"At La Bottega Milanese we are crazy passionate about what we do, and we want to show what a real Italian Espresso bar has to offer. Our plan is very simple, give the exact experience as if you stepped into a bar in Milan.

So what are you waiting for? Come and be Milanese!"

La Bottega Milanese has 2 espresso bars in Leeds, one on The Calls, and one in The Light shopping centre. Today i visited the Light bar.

Upon entering there was a fair few people sat down already enjoying their coffees/lunches and when i approached the counter I wish i hadn't of eaten before going, the food they had on display looked simply amazing, ranging from things for dinner to sweet snacks to enjoy with your drinks

The staff were all busy amongst themselves. the impression I got from them is that they all knew what they were doing, completely organised.

as usual, I ordered a flat white and a latte for my company, served as soon as possible.

Perfection in a cup is what was served up.

The Barista who served up took full control in creating my hot drinks, with total concentration.

The blend that La Bottega use is very nutty flavoured hitting your taste buds about midway through the taste lasting right up to the after taste.

If you find yourself next to either of these cafes, defiantly worth the visit.

if you should go, try the nutella espresso, it looks amazing!

Also VERY reasonably priced.

5/5

Their website can be found at : http://www.labottegamilanese.co.uk/

Twitter : @BottegaMilanese

and myself at : @baristablogsuk

eightpointnine.com

2012-03-21T16:09:00.001-07:00

eightpointnine.com

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long, but I'm back and raring to go once again, this time, not a cafe, but a website.

eightpointnine.com is a website that allows you to create your own blend of coffee and have it shipped to you, in your grind of choice (or full beans if you grind at home!)

Finding this website through them following me on twitter, I had to venture into them.

You can either create your own blend from scratch, or use their own grandcru blends which are updated weekly.

You start your journey by simply adjusting 2 sliders; flavour and body, then you can continue to personally name and discover what signature flavours your blend will hold when received

not so much a subscription service but you can adjust how often your coffee will be sent out to you, and even if you're not massively keen on them its easy enough to cancel.

one of the brilliant options in my opinion is that once you receive your blend, before they prepare and send out the next, you can simply return to the sliders to adjust how the next batch will be

I opted for a rich, sweet blend aptly named 'buzzy wake up' (if you don't want to name your coffee the website fills in a witty automatic name)

the coffee is delivered in a small enough package able to fit right through your letter box so no having to wait around to sign for packages, your coffee will be ready for you when you wake up(if your postman is early, if that ever still happens) or when you get home (like the rest of England)

each blend of coffee comes with a fancy taste card of: what percentage of beans your blend is, how it will taste, the key taste features and even a step by step on how to make the most of it.

(it even tells you who blended the coffee for you, thanks Paul!)

after doing a cupping test I really cannot wait to get this beauty into my moka pot tomorrow morning

Did I mention your first bags free?

I suggest all coffee lovers get involved with eightpoinynine if you only have a morning coffee or, like myself, completely fascinated by the stuff!

Keep it up eightpointnine, you're doing the coffee nation proud!

You can find eightpointnines press pack at : http://t.co/W43i03q

or there website can be found here : http://www.eightpointnine.com/

Twitter:

@eightpointnine - for them

@baristablogsuk - for me!

Laynes Espresso @ leeds

2012-01-24T11:23:00.001-08:00

Laynes Espresso @ Leeds City Center 24/01/2012

After hearing only good things about Laynes espresso I though it only right I go try them out myself. It’s a little espresso bar/café located on new station street, just behind the yates on boar lane

Upon entering there seemed to be 3 staff, including the manager(his name escapes me) and a customer sat by the window. My group decided on what we were having and were told the coffees would be brought over to us.

While beginning to drink the manager started talking to us and soon got into a very good conversation about coffee and that he used to carry out audits for part of the company I work for, and that he used to work a long side the man who carried out my head barista training.

The Coffee

Heavenly, is the only word to describe the flat whites I had. Yes, I enjoyed the first so much I had to have another.

It is obvious Laynes take their word very seriously, which I love to see in a standalone coffee shop. They use specialty beans, which change every so often, and if you like the ones used that much, you can buy some for home use!

They also hold coffee evenings for teaching everyday Joes how proper coffee is made( I also plan on going to one of these is the near future)

Over all 4 drinks were ordered in my group and each was as flawless as the previous, all with super detailed latte art.

I have to say, Laynes will be my new coffee house of choice, and if you are in Leeds for the day, passing through daily for the work commute, or just in the neighborhood I strongly advise you to go get a coffee from them.

5/5 indefinitely

you can hook me up at @baristablogsuk as usual, or sign up to the blog by inputting your email address up top!

Beans, Beans, there're good for your heart?

2012-01-23T13:17:00.001-08:00

As everyone should know, coffee is everywhere in the world. With it being such a huge market almost every major customer based company either have, or are implementing coffee sales into their business, be it traditional espresso machines & grinders, bean to cup, or even a simple drip filter.

This post will focus on how the coffee gets from A to B, tree to you.

The history of coffee

There is a lot of folk law and rumor around where and when coffee originated, although most story’s date back to around the 17^th-century at either Ethiopia, or Yemen.

Coffee grows at its best between the tropics of cancer & Capricorn, this area is known as the “coffee belt”

From seedling, coffee plants take around 5-10 years to start baring fruit, known as the cherry and can continue to produce fruit for 10-20 years after. When fully-grown plants can reach heights of 5-10m

The Beans

Coffee is well known and loved for its caffeine content, which in the wild acts as the coffee plant’s natural pesticide.

There are 2 main types of coffee beans; Arabica and Robusta. There are others however, including Libercia & Excelsa. But here I will focus on the main 2.

Arabica

Coffea Arabica grows at heights of between 1970-6500 ft., a lot higher than the Robusta variety, this is due to its caffeine content. Usually between 1-1.5%, around half that of the Robusta. Its basic flavors can be: light, delicate, acidic, aromatic and sweet.

Due to the high altitudes of the growth of Arabica, getting the beans from the plant proves to be more difficult than the Robusta extraction. Having to be picked, or stripped by hand and then transferred to the processing location. Because of the flavorings and the extraction process, Arabica is widely known as a premium bean.

Robusta

Or canephora grows at a lower level, between 650-1970 ft., which makes it a lot easier to extract. Robusta can still be hand picked but is usually left to machinery.

Caffeine content between 2-4% with basic flavors including: chocolaty, earthy, full bodies, not very aromatic and robust

Processing the cherry

Once the coffee cherries are picked they then have to be extracted, this can be either the wet , or the dry process.

Wet

In the wet process, the ripe coffee cherries are immersed into water where any left floating are removed as defective. The remaining cherries are then pressed by machine against a perforated surface allowing the seed, and some pulp to pass through. After this is removed from the machine, the beans are left to dry to around 10% moisture content, usually by sun drying or machine drying. The end result of the wet process leaves behind a “washed coffee bean”.

Dry

The dry process happens by ripe cherries being placed on a surface of land. The process takes about 2 weeks, and the cherries must be raked while drying to avoid mildew. Dry processing produces coffee with less acidity and more body compared to the wet process, this is due to the coffee bean, or seed absorbing some of the characteristics of the bean while drying. Once dried to the specific level the beans are then placed into a machine, which breaks away the mucilage from the bean.

Roasting

Once the beans have been extracted from the cherries they then have to be roasted!

Coffee beans are originally a greenish-yellow color until we roast them!

Coffee beans are also usually transported before roasting, as once roasted the beans begin to lose their freshness.

The first stage in roasting is endothermic. The green beans are slowly dried to become yellowish and the beans begin to smell like toast, or popcorn.

The second stage, usually called the first crack happens at around 205 degrees Celsius (400 f). During this step the beans can in crease in size by 100%, becomes a light brown color and experiences a weight loss of around 5%.

In the next stage, temperature is increased to around 220 Celsius, the color changes from a light to a medium brown and a further weight loss of around 13% occurs.

In second step is followed by a short endothermic period, which is followed by another exothermic step called the second crack. This crack takes place between 225-230 Celsius. And the roast color is defined and medium- dark brown. The second crack is much quicker sounding and the beans take on an oily sheen.

Once roasted they are ready to either blend, or send out to retailers!

this is what I have so far, please feel free to leave a comment or hit me up @baristablogsuk if I've missed anything or you would like to know more.

Coffee Duran @ Leeds City Center

2012-01-23T10:21:00.001-08:00

Untitled Document

Coffee Duran @ Leeds city center, 22/01/2012

So while I was at work I decided I fancied some dinner out of the unit, so I decided to go here for the food, as the previous time I had coffee there it was pretty poor.

The Location.

Coffee Duran is located near Leeds city market, just across the road from the York Street Co-op.

Upon entering I was greeted by a very friendly Italian accented man, which I presume is the manager. After being talked though what was on the menu for the lunch period I decided that the bacon pasta and meatballs (they both had fancy Italian names, but I cant remember them) sounded pretty tasty, which it was!

The Coffee

Being called Coffee Duran, I was surprised to see aspects of the creation of coffee being missed, especially if the man serving me was the manager. The group arm was removed, the old puck disposed of, new coffee put into it, tamped and straight into the shower, no flushing.

The milk was prepared in a belly jug, as I could see there was no spout jug to be used. The steam wand was not purged either before or after the steaming of the milk. And after he had finished it gave it a rather heavy coat of chocolate sprinkles, which I have never seen on latte preparation before.

As stated before I like my drinks not to hot as I like to enjoy them straight away but the latte was hot, I mean really hot!

When it was ready to drink and I had removed the half bar of chocolate sprinkles from it(which wasn’t asked for, from me or the barista) I began to drink. The foam was more of cappuccino standard, due to the belly jug being used, but the coffee blend used was quite nice.

It had an over all light aroma both smell and initial taste. From what I take the blend used is either 100% Arabica will a strong body or they have a high/low Arabica/Robusta split.

In either case I would definitely say columbium beans were used, the initial taste was very light and fragrant which quickly turned into a good strong nutty flavor, which stayed with me even after I had finished my coffee.

The overall experience of Coffee Duran is that it’s an ok place to go, if your looking for a place to go for a quick lunch then this is the place, great food and not to bad for prices.

Coffee wise it could be better, if all procedures were followed correctly it would have made for a much more enjoyable cup.

Over all I give Coffee Rand 4/5.

But because of the strange preparations and lack of detail in the drink creation I award the coffee an unfortunate 2/5.

As usual you can catch me on twitter : @baristablogsuk for quick updates or any questions you may have. And feel free to subscribe to the blog up top!

Costa Coffee @ Chippenham High Street

2012-01-10T13:20:00.001-08:00

Costa Coffee @ Chippenham High Street 10/01/2012.

Costa Background.

*Costa Coffee operates 1175 outlets in the United Kingdom as of January 2011, making it the largest British chain in terms of stores. Internationally it operates 442 stores throughout the world in 28 countries.""
Costa Coffee is a multi nations coffeehouse company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of Whitbread. It is the largest coffeehouse chain in the United Kingdom and second-largest in the world (behind Starbucks).
Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by the Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. It was acquired by Whitbread in 1995, since when it has grown to over 1,700 stores across 28 countries.*
(Wikipedia, 10/01/2012)

The Store.

On entering the store, as per any other costa outlets I have visited, it had wonderful looking displays, a nice amount of tables and chairs inside for the room they had, as well as a couple of tables outside for the smokers/nice weather (when it happens). I have no gripe with how costa stores look, in fact I really like the rustic feel their cafes have.

The Service.

As a whole the outlet wasn't particularly busy, there was a few customers before my group, but the wait time was acceptable. We were served in a very up front manner, with my group ordering a flat white, not to hot (I like to be able to drink my drink straight away) a regular latte extra hot and an americano.
The woman serving us then relayed our order to the barista creating drinks in a simple, yet dull tone, our drinks were prepared almost instantly.
While the drinks were being prepared I took notice of the coffee seeming to extract almost instantly on one of the shots and the barista was not purging the steam wand before steaming the milk. Other than the slight mishaps, the routine of the barista was spot on.
On creating the drinks the americano was simple and done correctly, the flat white was given a small, yet very pleasing rosetta on top, and the latte was a glass of steamed milk, with the shots thrown on, topped up with more milk.
When praising the latte art on the flat white the only response we got was a sarcastic smile and a grunted "mmm".

It does make me question how they can take pride in the presentation of one drink but not another?

The Coffee

Upon starting to drink the flat white which I requested to be not to hot it resembled molten lava and the taste can only be described as horrific.
When measured correctly I really enjoy the costa blend, but either on this visit their machines were not set up correctly, or were using REALLY old beans. With the flat white being my drink of choice I have become accounted with how they taste from the various coffee shops I visit.
The initial taste of the short espresso was over powerfully strong with the after taste similar to sucking on a coffee soaked lemon, which stayed in my mouth for more than 20 seconds after taking a sip.
The latte wasn't a lot to write home about either, the milk:coffee ratio was all wrong, hardly tasting any coffee so it was quite difficult to decipher how the coffee was extracted, and frankly just resembled drinking a cup of hot milk.

Overview

The overview that I have of costa at the moment is very hit or miss, they either get it right, or very wrong.
Over all visit score 2/10, 3 lost on the coffee and 5 on the poor customer service.

Scott Lambert.
Twitter: @baristablogsuk -- for the quick, real time reviews & coffee tips.
*Costa Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Coffee