Master Barista Tells How To Make A Good Coffee

Master Barista Tells How To Make A Good Coffee

Who really needs a barista if you have a good coffee machine to deliver the goods? You wouldn't ask this question after a session with Master Barista Fritz Storm, who was in the city brewing up (I want to say a storm!) brilliant cups of coffee at Le Meridien on Wednesday evening. He'll convince you that making a great cup of coffee isn't as easy as pressing a button.


To explain the nuances of good coffee, Storm took us right to the beginning of the coffee-making process. "As many as 5,000 beans make a kilo of coffee," revealed the former world champion. "This means that someone needs to physically handpick 2,500 ripe beans just to make that one pack of coffee."

The most important part of making good coffee is sourcing the right beans or the right blend of beans. This is something you can pick up at a good store. But Storm has a few guidelines on picking up the right coffee. "Make sure it has been packed as recently as possible," he said. This is because the longer the beans lie in a packet or tin the more flavour they start to lose. And anything that has been packaged more than three months ago is a no-no.

Once you've brought your "good" coffee home, don't labour under the illusion that you'll open it and then save it for special occasions. Once the packet is open, the coffee will slowly but steadily lose its flavour. So make sure you consume the coffee as soon as possible. It is probably also a good idea to start purchasing smaller packs.

And definitely invest in a good coffee grinder when you get yourself a fancy coffee machine. Storm believes that people usually scrounge on the grinder, but that, he said, is probably more important than even the coffee machine.

"I want my cappuccino steaming hot" is what you probably tell the barista at your local coffee spot. And with that stinging hot liquid that is almost at a boil, you've just managed to ruin your coffee. "A cup of cappuccino should only be around 60 degrees," explained Storm.

Heating the milk too much, he added, kills a lot of essential proteins in it and also alters its taste, which could further kill some of the subtler flavours of the coffee beans. He also recommends the use of whole milk to get a nice creamy cappuccino.

"Even the water you use to brew your coffee is very important," Storm said, "Your espresso, after all, does mainly consist of water." He warned against the use of hard water, especially tap water, because the minerals in it may not only affect how your coffee tastes, but also eventually ruin your machine.

What, then, is the point of having a barista? Let's just put it in Storm's words and say, "A good barista can make the coffee taste only as good as it is and no better, but a bad barista can ruin a great coffee in under a couple of minutes."

MASTER BARISTA, HOW DOES YOUR COFFEE BREW BEST?

It's always flattering having one's work written about, especially if you're a writer yourself.
Online coffee journal http://www.roaste.com picked up my story and gave it a little writeup

MASTER BARISTA, HOW DOES YOUR COFFEE BREW BEST?

Posted by ROASTeCoffeeBuzz

It seems as if in every continent, we see interviews with baristas in which each is asked his or her secrets of good coffee. This week, India Today wants to know, so writer Angad B. Sodhi asked Master Barista Fritz Storm for his coffee brewing advice. In short, the barista stresses that making a great cup of coffee is more involved than just pressing a button.

He starts at the very beginning, with the fact that 2500 ripe beans give their all to make up a kilo pack of coffee. The beginning is also the most important step on the way to a perfect cup; the right beans set the foundation. To be the most right, they should have been packed very recently; anything over three months in the bag has lost too much flavor. He recommends using the coffee and not saving it for occasions. It’s better to buy it in small lots than to let it age too much.

To Storm, the coffee grinder is very important (It’s assumed we are grinding the whole beans ourselves.) He does not agree that one should buy a cheap grinder in order to have more to spend on the coffeemaker, but feels just the opposite.

Temperature is another important factor. Almost boiling water can ruin coffee, and extremely hot milk for your cappuccino is another no-no. It should be at about 60 degrees, because too much heat kills the essential proteins in milk and changes the taste, while possibly destroying some of the subtler flavors of the beans. Of course, since most milk, except the hard–to-get raw variety, has already been heated during the pasteurization process, it basically has already been ruined. If you’ve ever tasted raw milk, you know how it’s supposed to taste, and how much better such a cappuccino could be….but we digress.

Water is another very critical factor in good coffee. If at all possible, don’t use tap water, especially if your local water is hard. Hard water includes more minerals, which, while being more healthful, are harmful to coffee because they affect taste while potentially ruining the coffeemaker. That’s why the best coffee makers come with their own built-in water filter.

What Storm didn’t say was that it’s still even better to filter your own water from the tap. Aside from minerals, chlorine in the water can greatly affect taste in the cup. While most simple water filters take care of the chlorine, fluoride is a harder culprit to filter out, requiring more pricey filters. But if in general your filtered tap water tastes good by itself, the coffee will greatly benefit.

Storm was asked why anyone needs a barista at all if they can get good fresh coffee beans and use good water. But he maintains there is a need, because a good barista can make the coffee taste the best with what he has, but a bad barista can take good ingredients and ruin a great coffee within a few minutes.