Espresso Course, Day One

I just returned home from a fabulous evening spent in a coffee shop called Kaffeine, located near Oxford Circus in London. I was there for their ‘espresso course’; a two-part class designed to teach coffee fanatics all about espresso and the art of making espresso-based drinks.

Taking notes like a good student.

The shop itself is modern and industrial with exposed brick walls, wooden bench-style seating and metal fixtures. There is a surprising abundance of seating which, given the space, is something of a marvel. Their website anticipates this shop’s dedication to good coffee. For the curious and truly discerning they have listed their espresso machine, grinder, bean supplier, milk supplier, barista criteria…you get the picture. These people take their product seriously, and it’s all done out of love.

I was one of three people taking the course; Florence, a footwear designer and regular in the shop and Claire, a current employee looking to up her skills behind the machine, were my fellow students. Catherine was our instructor; a native Australian, her first barista job was ten years ago. Girl got some cred.

Day one was all about espresso itself…where does it come from? How do you store it? How does it get from plant to your cup? Coffee, as most people know, is a plant that sprouts cherries. The cherries each have two seeds inside, which we know as coffee beans. These cherries have to be hand picked because they ripen at different rates. After they are picked and the beans extracted, they are processed by the farmer one of three ways (washed, dried or semi-washed). The bean can taste completely different depending on what process a particular farmer uses.

They are then sent off to a roaster, where the majority of the flavor is determined. The roaster is responsible for the acidity and sweetness of the bean. The longer a bean is roasted the darker the roast it has, and the bitterer (apparently that’s a word, so Spell-check says) it becomes. If a bean is a light roast the flavors are still contained within the bean, which means it will eventually end up in your cup. I’ve always favored dark roasts, but I’m starting to reconsider my loyalties…

Examples of BAD espresso. It was pretty sick nasty.

And so the coffee makes its way to the consumer. What should you look for when buying? Get as specific as possible with origins…countries don’t tell you much, the area’s just too big a scope. Look for individual farmers; the good roasters will be able to tell you. Also look for the (apparently) all-important roast date. Catherine said she wouldn’t use coffee more than a month past its roast date, so I would follow her lead (remember the ten-years of barista work thing?)

In terms of storage, get a dry, airtight container and keep it away from direct heat and light. Don’t store it in the fridge; the condensation that appears when you take it out could affect the beans. If you can, grind the beans as you need them (that means buying whole beans at the store). Catherine compared buying pre-ground coffee to buying a bottle of wine, having it uncorked at the store and then waiting a week to drink it. I’m sure that analogy carries considerably more weight for people who drink more wine that I do.

The counter of Kaffeine.

After the ‘teach’ part of the course we got to ‘do’. After watching Catherine go through the process several times, Florence, Claire and I got to pull our own espresso shots. You’ve got to get your dose (the coffee) in your portafilter (the handle thingy you put the coffee in), tamp it (press it down firmly and evenly), flush the machine (to get rid of any excess coffee), then lock in the portafilter. Ideally, the flow will become a single line relatively quickly (the whole process takes about 30 seconds). You’ve got to cut off the flow at the right moment; overextract and you’ll end up with a bitter, oily espresso, while underextacting will leave you with a watery, sour one.

I can now appreciate the time, practice and patience that goes in to becoming a highly skilled barista. You think you can do what they do? Let me assure you that you are utterly and completely mistaken. All in all the evening was spectacular. Subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at Starbucks abounded, I learned a ton and got to laugh with people who love coffee as much as I do. To top it all off, I realized how much I don’t know about coffee…and how much I want to learn all I can.

I encourage you to look up coffee shops in your area, and ask if they ever hold espresso courses. You’ll learn a slew of things you never knew and meet people who have similar interests to you. There are worse ways to spend an evening.

I made two of those :)

Check out Kaffeine’s website here: http://www.kaffeine.co.uk/