Category Archives: Coffee

Coffee has delicate nuances and tasting notes similar to the differences between wines. Raw green beans can be purchased washed or natural. This processing stage has a huge effect on tasting notes. Washed coffees are usually picked younger and carefully cleaned. Naturals are left on the plant for longer so you get more variety in ripeness to the beans which adds highlights and wild flavours.

As with wines, you really need to taste coffees side by side to detect the subtle differences between them. Comparing the tastes of different coffees develops your awareness of taste. If you have only ever drunk filtered drip coffee from a pot, that taste is “coffee” to you. Try attending some cuppings and develop your own idea of what “a good coffee” means to you.

Like wine, you want to drink the coffee at the peak of development. Unlike wine nuances which develop over years, roasted coffee beans develop to their peak over days. You do need to wait a few days after roasting to let the carbon dioxide (a byproduct of roasting) diffuse from the beans.

When a great year comes along in wine, it can be enjoyed for years. When a coffee region has a great year, it’s only at its best for a few months. That’s good and bad. No yearning for months or years at the cellar door, eyeballing those bottles of Muscat you bottled last month. Roast, wait a few days and enjoy. Coffee is very Zen.

The beans, the grind and the coffeemaker are the trinity of an outstanding cup of Java. Which coffee-maker is the question of the day? I talked to a couple of well-respected baristas on Granville Island in Vancouver to find out their fave.

The surprise winner is the Bodum French coffee press.

Baristas at the Agro Cafe on Granville Island in Vancouver use an 8-cup Bodum coffee press when their $10,000 Clover Coffee Machine breaks down. James, the owner of another coffee shop on Vancouver Island sang the praises of the Bodum, too. So why is the Bodum so well respected.

The coffee the French press produces is heavier and densely flavored due to the sediment and oils present. The oils give subtle aroma and notes to the flavor. If you take your coffee with milk or cream and sugar you won’t notice the difference as much, Try sipping a little coffee black to see the difference in flavor All of which are eliminated by paper filters.

The paper filter in a drip coffee makers catches more of the oils and sediment destroying the subtle aromatic notes that distinguish one coffee from another. Instead you get a muddy and flat-tasting brew.

Flavor aside, the advantages of the Bodum are its portability and simplicity, It slips easily into a back-pack on trips and doesn’t require any electricity. To my eye, there is even an elegance to the design,

Bodum offers several sizes from 12 ounces to 32 ounces. And an incredible variety of different models differentiated only by ornamental casings. All of the internals and even the glass beakers are seem exactly the same. So let your either your budget or aesthetic sense drive your choice.

The 17 oz. or 32 oz. are my sizes of choice. The 12 ounce size is cute, but a little hard to clean and with good coffee who can only drink 12 ounces. I like the glass beaker despite its break-ability, I don’t trust my health with those clear shatter-proof plastic knock-offs!

James Miyazuki has owned and operated a coffee shop for more than 5 years in Vancouver. I interviewed him about how to brew better coffee. Here are the tips he gave me;

Treat your coffee beans like vegetables

Most people think of coffee beans like dried foods such as spaghetti or dried fruit. Instead James said it’s better to think of them as fresh produce or dairy products. Would you keep lettuce in your fridge for two weeks and expect it to taste good. He recommends only buying enough beans for a couple of weeks and sealing the container carefully to keep out air.

Don’t skimp on the beans

At his shop James brews each cup individually. He uses 1 ounce of coffee for every 12 ounce cup of java.

Blends

James buys blended beans – a nixture of Guatemalan, Brazillian and Costa Rican, He says if you’re looking for the perfect bean, it not out there. By blending complementary beans that mix different floral tones, acidity and mellowness you can create the perfect blend of beans.

Dirty is better

James always throws away the first couple of cups of coffee in the morning. Why? The machine is too clean.

Grind you beans as little as possible

According to James the grind has a huge impact on taste. Too many of his customers over-grind their beans into a fine dust. This brings out odd tastes in the means.

Which coffee machine is best?

The coffee machine is much less important than the quality of the beans and the grind. He estimates that 80% of the taste depends on the quality of the beans and the right grind. Only 20% on the machine. Spend your money on top beans and a good grinder.