Espresso 101

What is Espresso?

Espresso is a concentrated brew of coffee. Both flavor and caffeine are intensified in a 1.5oz to 3oz. "shot" of coffee. A shot of espresso contains about as much caffeine as a regular cup of coffee. This concentrated brew can be enjoyed on it's own or mixed with milk in either a cappucino or latte.

Typically, espresso beans are a dark roast coffee, but really any coffee can go through the espresso brewing process. Espresso brewing starts with a very finely ground coffee that is packed into a "group handle". Espresso machines force very hot water at high pressure through the packed coffee grinds and extract the flavors and oils.

There is a lot that goes into pulling a good shot of espresso. The grind must be adjusted regularly through out the day because air temperature and moisture can effect the quality of the shot pulled from the espresso. Packing the shot too tightly can cause bitter espresso, and too light can cause a watery shot.

When grind and packing are performed correctly it should take about 27 seconds for the espresso machine to force the water through the espresso. At the Leaf and Bean we time all of our shots to be sure that only correct length shots are served. If the water flows too quickly it is watery, and if it is too slow it will be bitter.

Another way to tell the quality of an espresso shot is the texture and color of crema. Crema is the caramel brown cream at the top of the shot where all the flavor is held. A good shot will have thick, rich crema.

We make use of bottomless group handles which allow more crema to flow directly into your cup rather than through spouts.

Where Coffee Comes From

There are two main types of coffee plants. Arabica and Robusta.

Arabica beans are responsible for most gourmet coffees and are grown high in the mountians. They require very specific conditions to survive. Preferably temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees, even rainfall of 6" a month, high humidity, diffused light and moderate wind.

Robusta beans are much heartier and can thrive in varied conditions. They have a higher yeild per tree and thus are much cheaper to grow and buy. The beans however, have a poorer flavor but are still commonly used in grocery store blends.

Coffee trees take five or six years to produce thier first beans from the time they are planted. After flowering, cherries form in the blossoms and are picked once they turn cherry red. Inside each coffee cherry is two beans. If there is only one bean inside it is called a peaberry and it is reserved for special blends because it holds more flavor than a usual bean. The average coffee tree produces only one pound of coffee a year.

After the cherries are picked they under go what is called wet processing. The beans are soaked in water to remove the cherry flesh from the bean, then allowed to sit in the water and ferment for 24 to 48 hours. During this time, the acidic flavor of the coffee is developed. After fermentation, the rest of the pulp is washed away and the beans are spread out to dry either in the sun or a wood or gas powered dryer.

Coffee is shipped around the world to roasters in it's green form. When coffee is roasted locally, the flavor is fresher. During the roasting process, the beans are tumbled with hot air much like a popcorn popper. The roasting begins when the temperature inside the bean reaches 392 degrees farenheit. Roasting causes caramelization as the heat breaks down the startches of the bean into simple sugars that change the bean color to brown. New oils develope in the bean such as caffeol which is responsible for the smell and flavor of coffee.

Coffee Flavor By Region

Coffee is grown along what is known as the Coffee belt which spans along the equator roughly contained within the Tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn. These areas of coffee growth offer moderate sunshine and rain and steady temperatures around 70 degrees Farenheight.

Within the coffee belt are different coffee growing regions known for the flavors and characteristics of their coffees.

By knowing the three main coffee regions and their coffee characteristics, you will be able to select which single origin coffees you will prefer.

Latin America
These coffees are known for their light body, simplicity and sharp acidity. Typically, they are thought of as having bright flavor and a crisp, clean finish.

Some coffees from this region you may like to try include: Columbian Supremo, Brazil Vista Allegre, Costa Rican Tarrazu, Guatemala Antigua and Nicaragua Segovia

Africa/Arabia
Some of the most distinctive coffees in the world are grown in this region. They have a dry wine-like acidity with chocolate and fruit undertones often acompanied by intense aroma and rustic flavor.

Some coffees from this region you may like to try include: Ethiopian Harrar, Kenya AA, Tanzanian Peaberry

Asia/Pasific
While coffees from this region are few, they are known for their intense richness, full body, long finish, and earthy flavor and gentle acidity.

Some coffees from this region you may like to try include: Sumatra Mandheling, Mocha Java, and Papua New Guinnea

What are the Kinds of Coffee?

Single Origin Coffee
Single Origin coffees refer to those beans originating from a single growing region. Coffee, much like wine, takes on the flavor attributes and characteristics that shape the plant variety growing in that region. Altitude and soil acidity give these coffees the unique flavors found only in these unblended coffees.

Blends
Blends are combinations of coffee beans collected from a number of different origins. The goal of blending is to create a coffee that uses the collective attributes of it's single origins to compliment one another and ultimately result in a superior quality cup of coffee. Another advantage of blending is that a coffee retailer can create a signature taste available only in their shops. Often times, the percentage of each single origin going into a blend is kept secret by the roaster. Blending is an art that requires a roaster to know intimately the flavors and attributes of each coffee used in the blending process.

Dark Roasts
Depending on the roast of the bean, coffees will be labeled light, cinnamon, medium, high, city, full city, French, or Italian roast. Full City, French and Italian are considered dark roasts. French and Italian roast have nothing to do with these countries, they are simply the name of the style of roasting. Dark Roasts are generally smoother because of their lower fiber content and slightly sugary flavor. Longer roasting times destroy oils and fibers which create some of the stronger, bitter flavor found in lighter roasts. Roasting also decreases the amount of caffeine found in Dark Roasts.

Flavored Coffee
Flavored coffees are usually light roasted coffees that have been coated with a high concentration of flavor extracts. The extracts are allowed 24 hours to soak into the beans before they are bagged. Extracts do not add calories or fat to the beans, and the beans are ground and brewed just like regular coffee. We have over 50 variety of flavored coffees available at the leaf and bean. Jamaican Me Crazy is our most popular flavor and is infused with Jamaican rum and cinnamon extracts.

Estate Coffee
Estate coffee is grown, harvested and packaged all from a single plantation or estate. It is never blended with coffee from another farm and is a pure reflection of the farms product. Some popular Estate coffees you can find at the Leaf and Bean are Ethiopian Harrar, Kenya AA, and Tanzanian Peaberry.

Decaf Coffee
You may hear a lot of people say they dont like the taste of decaf coffee, or that they are allergic to it. What they are tasteing, or having a reaction to, is not the lack of caffeine but the presence of chemicals used to decaffinate the product they are drinking. Many decaffination processes use chemical solvents like methylene chloride. At the Leaf and Bean, our coffee is decaffinated by a process called Swiss Water. The SWISS WATER® Process uses only water when removing caffeine, producing water processed decaf coffee. There is no left over chemical residue to flavor the coffee or cause an allergic reaction. Our teas at the Leaf and Bean are also decaffinated by this same process.

The History of Coffee

Coffee had it's start in Ethiopia, where in 800 A.D., a goatherd named Kaldi noticed his herd exhibiting unusual energy after grazing on berries from a coffee bush. Kaldi tried some of the coffee cherries for himself and discovered its energizing effects.

Nearby monks who witnessed Kaldi and his goats, picked some of the berries for themselves and found that eating them made them more alert to their connection with god.

Beans were first put through the roasting and brewing process around 1000 A.D. in Arabia. The beverage made from soaking the beans in hot water was called qahwa, a truncation of qahhwat al-bun which translates to wine of the bean. Consumption of alcohol as a beverage was prohibited by tradition in Islam and coffee was provided as an alternative. From Arabia, the coffee brew was spread where ever the Islam religion went. The coffee trade was kept strictly under Arabian control by parching or boiling the beans before export, making them infertile for planting. This lock on the industry was held strong until the 1600s when an Indian pilgrim left Mecca with unparched beans strapped to his belly with a cloth. His smuggled beans began agricultural expansion all over India, Africa, and eventually European Colonies.

Introduction to the European Colonies started with a Turkish trader that brought the black drink to a merchant of Venice in 1615. From there the drink spread across Europe, but trading the beans was not enough, they wanted control of the market from the production level.

The Dutch were the first to bring a coffee plant to Europe. In 1696 they were the first to start a European owned coffee estate in the Indonesian colony of Java. Some refer to coffee from Java as the "most coffee of coffees". Today the port still produces it's fine quality coffee and you can try some of it at the Leaf and Bean as Mocha Java, a single origin coffee.

In 1714, the Dutch bestowed a coffee tree gift on Louis XIV to be grown in the Royal Botanical Garden. A naval officer, Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu requested clippings from the king's tree to transport to Martinique where he was stationed. He envisioned Martinique becoming the rich coffee port that Java had become. The clippings were denied, and as a result, Babriel Mathieu raided the Jardin des Plantes and made off with the coffee plant. He transported the coffee plant by boat back to Martinique. The crossing was full of problems stemming from jealous passengers trying to get a piece of the plant for themselves. In addition to threats on board, Pirates nearly captured the the ship, and a storm nearly sank it. At one point rations on board became scarce and a large portion of the fresh water was set aside to sustain the plant.

Once safely on shore in Martinique, the plant grew strong under armed guard and over 50 years sprouted 18 million trees and started the coffee industry of Latin America.

It was Brazil, however, that brought the drink from indulgence to every day. The coffee industry of Brazil got it's start from a Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Palheta who was sent to French Guiana who plied the Governor's wife into giving him a bouquet of flowers with coffee seedlings hidden inside.

With the spread to Brazil, what is known as the "Coffee Belt" was completed. The coffee belt follows the equator around the globe highlighting the mountainous warm areas that produce the worlds coffee.