Everything you wanted to know about coffee (but were afraid to ask your hipster barista) part 1

New on the block – the “magic” at Proud Mary. Check out part two of this post.

It’s complicated now ordering a coffee. No sooner do you think you have a grip on all the current vogue brewing methods and another one lands on the scene.
In my case the latest ones to enter my vocabulary it’s the Trifecta (coming soon) and the Magic (see definitions below).

No longer are the options just espresso-based but there a plethora of new methods appearing mainly designed to express the taste of single origin beans in addition to a new generation of blends, that are lighter roasted and younger when drunk.

The difference over the old-style dark and Italian-style roasts is that the coffee has fewer bitter notes and a lot more acid, sometimes to the point of curdling milk (or more often soy) in the milk-style drinks.

Here’s an update to keep you hip with the coffee scene.

I won’t even address grinders, frequency of cleaning them and bean roasts in this post.

Part 1 Espresso based coffees (Part 2 -other methods coming soon)

Latte – the art means something

Espresso
Designed to be knocked back rather than sat over, it means translated from Italian – made expressly for you. It should be syrupy and luscious, thick enough to almost chew with a golden “crema” – cream. If there is a lot of bitterness it probably has been over extracted. Generally about 7 grams of freshly ground coffee (a good barista with adjust the ground through the day as environmental conditions change) is extracted from the group head over about 25 to 30 seconds. This should produce about 30-35ml of aromatic, thick black liquid. If it’s thin or bitter the grind is probably wrong.

The best I’ve recently have had are at Padre in East Brunswick (ignore the “no bloggers” sign on the door), Proud Mary in Collingwood and Omar and the Marvellous Coffee Bird.

Double (or doppio) espresso
Exactly what it says it is – 14 grams of freshly ground coffee. The extraction is still for 25-30 seconds but it should produce about 60-70ml of the syrup topped with a golden “creme” – cream.

Long black
Sometimes baristas mix up a long blackened a double espresso. A long black is a double espresso with added hot water.

Ristretto
This is a restricted espresso. It uses the same 7g of freshly ground coffee as the espresso but is extracted for just 15 seconds instead of 25-30. It should be thicker than an espresso and purer in flavour with a similar crema.

Double ristretto
Double the ground coffee extracted for the same time as a regular ristretto – 15 seconds – to produce 30-35ml of syrupy gorgeousness.

Caffé coretto
An espresso with a splash of Grappa. Try at Cafe di Stasio in St Kilda. You know things are getting messy if you have one of these in front of you.

Macchiato
An espresso base with a small dollop of textured milk on top which “stains” – macchia in Italian – the beverage.

Double macchiato
A double espresso with a macchia – stain – of textured milk.

Cafe latte
Usually served in a glass, the cafe latte is thought to be an American invention which was popularised in Australia and is now making its way to Europe. It is a single shot of espresso topped with silky textured milk and 1-1.5cm of foam. The ratio of coffee to milk is usually 1:6. Because of the shape of the glass there is a less even mixing of the milk and coffee meaning it starts off creamy and ends thinner. The milk should be heated to about about 65C otherwise the sugars in it with change composition and it will lose it’s sweetness. Better a bit cold than overheated. A Soy milk shouldn’t be heated to about 55C strong latte simply has a double espresso shot.

Flat white. Good art is a sign of good coffee.

Flat white
Apart from being served in a cappuccino cup, the flat white is like a latte but contains less milk. The shape of the cup means the milk mixes with the espresso better bringing a more even creaminess to the texture. For a strong one simple upgrade to a double shot.

Magic
This comes is a small cup than a cappuccino cup making a magic ratio of 1:4 between the espresso and textured milk. Try at Proud Mary in Collingwood.

Three Quarter latte
In a latte glass but the same ratio as a Magic – 1:4 coffee to milk.

Piccollo
A small latte glass with a coffee to milk ratio of 1:3. A half latte.

Cappucino
Served in the cappuccino cup (natch), it has a similar amount of foam to a latte. Contrary to popular belief it is not always served sprinkled with cocoa powder.

Check out part two of this post.