Get Your Art On

If you read last week’s post, you’ll remember that for all my good intentions, I didn’t quite make it to the part about how you make your espresso drinks pretty. The rosetta is a hallmark of barista achievement, to be sure—not to say you can’t have a delicious drink that doesn’t look like a work of art, but aesthetics certainly contribute to the overall experience. (Full disclosure: the photo above is not my own work of art. I got it by searching Google images.)

I didn’t learn how to pour artfully until just a few years ago, when a previous employer paid for me to take a latte art class at the industry trade show Coffee Fest in Seattle. Coffee Fest was a wonderland for coffee nerds like me, with rows & rows of booths offering samples of anything & everything you could think of with a connection to the world of coffee & tea: cookies, candies, bottled drinks, even shots of espresso & free crafted-to-order beverages. And for a couple hours in the middle of that whirlwind Saturday, I got to hunker down in a room with about ten other eager baristas to learn about the coveted rosetta.

In order to accurately describe the process for you, I must return to the issue of milk. A few hints & rules of thumb:

1. Your milk should be fresh, as cold as possible, & ideally organic, from local, grass-fed cows. It’s a good idea to keep your clean stainless milk pitchers in the fridge (or even freezer) when they’re not in use: super-cold milk means you’ll have as long as possible to manipulate the steaming process without scalding the liquid. (All you fans of “extra-hot” lattes out there, I don’t know how you do it. Your tongues must be made of asbestos. And your poor taste buds! Sorry.)

2. Never re-steam milk. Measure what you need carefully (or get really good at eyeballing) so you don’t steam more than necessary for the drink at hand. If you end up with extra, mix up a little hot cocoa or a steamer & offer it to that hungry-looking chap over there in the corner. Or your spouse. I don’t care who gets it. You could even keep a stash in the fridge & use it when you make pancakes. But don’t re-heat it for my latte.

3. If you can, steam your milk & pull your shots at the same time. I know, last week I said to steam your milk first, but once you get in the barista groove, the simultaneous coordination is worth the effort. Assembling the drink right away means that the milk will stay all nice & creamy throughout; it won’t settle out into pure liquid on the bottom & pure airy foam on the top (unless you want a dry cappuccino, in which case this separation is ideal). You want the thick, velvety consistency of melted ice cream that is essential for successful latte art pouring.

Okay. Now I can tell you how to pour the rosetta. Or I can try. I promise I’ll give it my best effort.

So you have your fresh shots, which have been pulled just seconds ago into a fairly low, wide mug.

You have your steamed milk, just barely off the steam wand (or if it’s been sitting a few seconds while the shots finished, give it a gentle stir to re-incorporate the air throughout). It should look like the image on the right: no bubbles!

Start pouring—slowly—at the edge of the cup, from a few inches above. I’m right handed, so I hold the cup in my left hand & the pitcher in my right. As though the cup were a clock face, think of the handle as 6:00. Pour to 3:00. (To add some confusion just for fun, the photos below are obviously not from my perspective, though that is me making the drink. I suppose you could turn your computer upside down or stand on your head if that helps.)

When the cup is about half full, drop the pitcher down to just above the surface of the liquid. You should see a circle of white forming at the center. Keep pouring slowly & steadily, & move the spout to the middle of the drink. 

Next comes the tricky part:

Ever so subtly, move your wrist back & forth. I mean subtly, people—someone standing a few feet away shouldn’t be able to see the wiggle. This action is what creates the striations or petals. The subtler your wiggle, the finer the striations (or the skinnier the petals).

As you wiggle (as I write this, the word wiggle is starting to look & sound awfully silly), move the stream of milk back from the center to your original 3:00 spot. Once you reach the edge, carefully draw a straight line back through the center (from 3:00 to 9:00). This line creates the “stem” or the point of the rosetta.

Voila! There you have it, a beautifully-crafted drink that will draw oohs & ahhs all around.

Okay, so mine turned out a little lopsided today. But still, not too shabby.

Happy barista-ing,

Jennifer

Latte Art: it’s not just about the rosetta

(I know, I promised you Part 2 of the Fair Trade series. But never fear; it’s coming next week. Really. For now, you get to hear about another passion of mine: The Perfect Drink. Warning: this post is sort of long. I have a lot to say on this subject.)

I’ve been making espresso drinks for a lot of years now. Wherever I’ve worked, I seem to attract a reputation for putting together a mighty fine beverage whenever espresso & milk are involved (not to pat myself on the back or anything, but…okay, maybe a little). Over the years, I’ve picked up various methods for perfecting all the fussy minute elements of the process, from grinding/measuring/tamping to incorporating just the right amount of air into the milk as it heats up, resulting in a velvety-smooth surface without a bubble in sight. I’m telling you: while it may come easily to me now, the learning curve was steep. But with advisory counsel from regional corporate managers with annoyingly ridiculously high standards to café owners concerned that customers experience a delicious level of consistency in their beverages from day to day or barista to barista, I learned. And I’ve come to appreciate—perhaps even more than the fussiest boss I’ve ever had—a beautiful drink that tastes exactly the same every single time.

So how does it work? I thought you’d never ask.

There are several factors to be concerned about when it comes to consistent drink-crafting. Here are a few*:

(*If you’ve never been [or never plan to be] a barista, and/or if you’re not familiar with some of the terminology here, I apologize – this blog may be less interesting to you. But if you stick with it, you might learn a thing or two!)

1. Humidity. That’s right: the weather can turn all your efforts to naught. Coffee for espresso should be ground almost as finely as possible (not the finest setting—that’s reserved for Turkish). But when there’s more moisture in the air than usual, that fine grind might be a little too fine, since that moisture makes the grounds stick together even more, resulting in a shot that packs too tightly, pulls too slowly & ends up over-sharp & bitterly tart. A conscientious barista pays attention to how long the shots are taking & adjusts the grind (usually by rotating the neck of the grinder just above the burrs) accordingly.

2. Dose & Tamp. This is the part of the process that is actually missing from a lot of coffee bars. Not that it doesn’t happen—it just happens automatically. Some fancy-pants grinders do the dosing and tamping for you, & in a high-volume bar, that can be pretty handy. But the problem is that many baristas don’t learn how to dose or tamp properly. Here’s how:

Fill the portafilter with coffee so that it mounds just a little over the top. Holding the portafilter over your knock box, use your finger or the side of your hand to level off the coffee at the top edge of the portafilter, distributing the coffee evenly. Set the portafilter on a flat surface, ideally on a rubber mat. Gently drop your tamper down onto the grounds, then lift it out briefly & tap the front side of the portafilter with the back end of the tamper (to settle the grounds & fill in any air pockets). Back on the flat surface, replace the tamper in the portafilter, & push down with about 30-40 pounds of pressure. Too hard, and you’ll pack too tightly, ending up with the same problems as with a too-fine grind. Too light, and the water will rush through, not extracting enough flavor from the coffee as the shot pulls. Brush off any straggling grounds from the top edge of the portafilter (so you get a clean seal with the group head), and don’t waste any time getting it into the group to pull your shot.

Intelligentsia has a great video detailing this process, and it pretty closely matches my description above—check it out here. (My only complaint: the guy says “the reason is because.” Redundant! Come on, people.)

3. Timing. With every step, timing is important. The whole business should only take a minute or two, so each step happens quickly. The most common error I’ve seen is a delay between putting the portafilter in the group head and actually pulling the shot. That group head is HOT, friends--believe you me, I’ve been burned a few times—and it will burn your coffee before you even brew it. You want that hot water to start moving through your grounds immediately. Your shot should pull in 20-30 seconds. If your shot glasses fill up before that, it’s an indication of some inconsistency in one of the previous steps.

Keep in mind that once your shot is pulled, its quality starts diminishing immediately, so it should be used (drank or mixed) ASAP. A straight shot tastes different even after sitting out for as little as ten seconds. So if you’re making a latte (or something else with steamed milk), steam your milk first, then pull your shot. The milk will hold its temperature a lot longer than the espresso will hold its deliciousness.

With timing in mind, I suppose it would have made more sense for me to explain how to steam milk first, before rambling on educating you about the fine points of shot-pulling. Ah, well.

4. Steaming Milk. Notice it’s not just about heating the milk. Yes, the milk gets hot—but it also increases in volume, because we’re incorporating air into it. You’ve all heard this happen: the distinctive gurgle and whirr when a barista unleashes the power of the steam wand into a pitcher of milk. The success of this step is dependent upon the attention paid to what’s happening inside that pitcher. (I’ve seen many a barista set the pitcher on the espresso machine and walk away while it steams. This offends my quality-obsessed barista sensibilities to no end.) If the tip of the wand is too far down into the milk, not enough air (or even none at all) will be forced into the milk, and you’ll end up with zero foam. (To be fair, some customers prefer a “flat” latte—that means without foam.) If the tip is too close to the surface of the milk, too much air will come in (that’s when the process gets noisier than necessary) & you’ll have a pitcher full of giant air bubbles. Yuck.

The goal is for a small, steady stream of air to be pulled into the milk, & a whirlpool effect ensues. For a latte, the milk should increase by about a third. For a cappuccino, you want the milk to double in volume, so that stream of air should be a little wider. (Ideally, you won’t get any bubbles at all, but if you do, they can be “killed” by the whirlpool.) Many baristas use a thermometer to achieve an exact temperature (150-160 is average for a standard drink), but I’ve steamed enough milk that my palm knows when the milk is hot enough. (The sound of the steaming also gets a bit higher-pitched when the milk reaches about 160.) Use a stainless steel pitcher with a distinct pour-spout.

Commercial espresso machines obviously have a lot more oomph in their steam wands than you’ll get with most at-home versions. It’s possible to steam lovely milk at home—it’s trickier, but the methods are the same.

Okay, I’ve gone on far too long. And I haven’t even gotten to the part about how to make a pretty rosetta. It’ll have to wait: you’re surely exhausted by now. 

A friend suggested that I "sign" my blogs so you know who's talking. Good idea.

Cheers,

Jennifer

Seth and May CD Release Concert of "New Flower"

Seth and May will be releasing their new album, “New Flower”. 

Can you guess where their release show is going to be?... Higher Grounds of course! 

This album is particularly special to us at HG because the music was inspired by their tip to Ethiopia with On the Ground. This will be a dual purpose concert, both and release show and a benefit concert. Proceeds will go to On the Ground. OTG works to support farming communities around the world including the construction and funding of schools in Ethiopia, and water projects in Mexico. 

The release concert of "New Flower" will be taking place on October 28^th, here at Higher Grounds. To ensure your place (and to save some money) you may purchase your tickets ahead of time at Oryana or HG for $20. Otherwise, you can wing it and buy your tickets at the door for $25. The doors will open at 7pm and the music begins at 8pm. 

What could make this event more enticing? Well…… Michael Shimmin, Brennan Andes, Joshua Davis and special guest, Temesgen will also be joining us! 

Field to Cup: Going Beyond Fair Trade (part 1 of 3)

As a kid sitting at my grandparents’ kitchen table in rural Upper Michigan, I watched as my grandpa Sander filled his Corelle mug with a steamy, bitter blackness from the old Mr. Coffee. It might have been sitting on the burner for a few hours by that point, but once he stirred in a few spoonfuls of sugar and a healthy dose of half & half, it was a syrupy sweet concoction just right for dipping my Trenary Toast (transforming his morning beverage into a gloppy cinnamon slurry, although he never seemed to mind). I slurped up the soggy, delicious mess with glee. Breakfast with Grandpa stands out in my memory as my first taste of coffee, starting me down a path from which, I’m happy to say, I haven’t strayed: coffee has been a constant in my life ever since those first mornings. 

Over the years, I’ve soaked up more and more knowledge about this beverage I’ve been consuming for so long. I’ve learned the benefits of organic, shade-grown & fairly-traded beans, and I’ve worked for companies with various levels of commitment to those values. Now here I am at Higher Grounds, where the commitment goes even further. I’m learning that these things are important, certainly—essential, even—but they are not enough. Recently, “fair trade” has become more of a buzzword than anything else, and the fair trade movement has been co-opted. Several large companies who are anything but “fair” in many of their practices (a topic for another blog, perhaps) are corporatizing what was once truly a revolutionary movement and turning it into a brand, a trademark to be used for marketing and greater profits.

We at Higher Grounds support fair trade but not the organization that calls itself “Fair Trade USA”—an entity that used to share our values but now seems more interested in a quick buck. (It's their logo that you see to the right and on packaging pretty much everywhere these days--but not on Higher Grounds products.) We stand alongside the farmers who work hard to supply our product, and we stand adamantly against the corporations who’d prefer to profit in the name of that good work but not in solidarity with our coffee-growing friends around the world.  

Next week’s blog will define the symbols you will see on our products, representing our affiliation with and support of organizations working hard for equity and global justice, and I'll explain more about the controversy.

As a preview, here’s a quote from the Fair World Project (a great non-profit we do support) addressing Fair Trade USA’s divorce from the larger Fairtrade International:

“It is inconceivable that an organization [whose] organizational values include striving ‘to always act ethically and value relationships built on honesty, mutual respect and trust’ would advance a program without the knowledge or consent of the very producers it aims to support.”

And from The Latin American and Caribbean Network of Small Fair Trade Producers (CLAC), which represents democratically-organized small farmers:

“We [...] join the regret caused by the departure of FAIRTRADE USA and we express the fact that we cannot share its new vision of expansion, since it threatens the empowerment, development and self-management of small organized producers.”

At Higher Grounds, we certainly couldn’t agree more. And if Grandpa were around today, I'm willing to bet he'd raise his mug to that.

Brew Method Showdown: Filter v. Press

Well friends, it’s Tuesday again, and that means another post about quality. And the best way to ensure that you’re enjoying the highest-quality-possible coffee at home is to buy whole beans from a roaster you know and trust (Higher Grounds, of course!), and then grind them yourself just before brewing.

I asked for suggestions for blog topics last week, and I got my wish. Shelly from Boulder writes: “I'd like to read one about filtering as it relates to keeping the natural oils from the coffee beans. We mostly use a French press, but we also use a Cuisinart maker...problem is, that has a filter built into it, and I'd like to know if I'm losing those natural oils.”

Shel, thanks for the question. I’m sure you’re not the only one out there wondering; those sleek Cuisinart all-in-one grinder-brewer contraptions have gotten pretty popular. The short answer: yes. You’re losing those aromatic oils. But that’s not the worst thing in the world. Most people are used to the cleaner result produced by an automatic drip coffee maker, and you’re still getting the bulk of flavor from your beans (assuming you’re using fresh Arabica and grinding it at home). You might experience a different flavor profile (and definitely a different mouthfeel) with a filtered cup than you would using the same beans in a French press, but that’s not to say it’s an inferior flavor profile; those oils can be mighty pungent, overpowering more subtle nuances. Some filter-loving fools folks even tout the lower cholesterol levels of oil-free coffee. (Personally, I love cholesterol.) So never fear. There are certainly perks (pun intended! I love puns) to both methods. And there are several options when it comes to filters.

            1. standard paper filters (cone or basket)

             These are your basic run-of-the-mill coffee filters, the ones that have been around forever, the ones that your average church basement kitchen has 1000 of in backstock. The cheapest ones are bleached white with chlorine, and I’m sure I don’t need to work very hard to convince you not to use them (would you like some bleach with your breakfast?). Melitta, a household name for most paper filter buyers, boasts that their filters are bleached with oxygen, not chlorine – so if you’re going to use a paper filter, theirs are okay. Melitta also sells an unbleached version, for those of you who don’t mind your grounds going to town with brown. (I’m a poet; indulge me, okay?) Hemp and bamboo disposable/compostable ones are also out there.

          

  2. reusable cloth filters

A more environmentally-friendly version is made of fabric, which simply adds another step to your coffee-making process: rinse and re-use, easy peasy. One downside is that these don’t hold their shape all that well, so they can be a little fussy to use after a while. If you’re crafty like my sister, you can probably even make your own (just be sure to use an un-dyed, all-natural fiber like 100% cotton muslin). If you can sew even a little bit, check out this tutorial.

           

3. gold filters (& other sturdy, washable versions)

The priciest product up front is the gold filter, made by Swissgold and other companies. But considering their durability, these pretty little things pay for themselves rather quickly, and well, wouldn’t you like to have a little bling in your kitchen? Nylon and stainless steel versions are available too.

 

*** 

As for me, I drink French-pressed coffee at home every morning. I enjoy the ritual, and I don’t mind the little bit of extra clean up required (in case you were wondering, yes, you should take the plunger apart and wash it well after every use—those oils can build up and go rancid). Higher Grounds sells a schnazzy stainless steel version I'm currently coveting, though since I already have three different sizes of the standard Bodum, I can hardly justify another. But there are times when an automatic drip coffee maker is mighty convenient: measure, grind, mound it in the filter, press the button, and wait for the telltale gurgle. Whenever I hear it, I’m transported to my mother’s kitchen, where drip coffee is a constant presence. And considering that my mother’s kitchen is one of my favorite places on earth, I’ll take it.

The Good Word from Mexico: Chris visits Maya Vinic, September 2011

Visiting a trading partner thousands of miles from home can make you realize the progress you’ve made. That initial excitement of creating a relationship, gambling on it working, and then maintaining it over a number of years can lead to a sense of business as usual. A year comes and goes, prices are set, contracts are signed, coffee beans are collected and shipped, and a company has a product for another harvest season. We send fifteen cents above the price paid per pound back to the co-op in Chiapas each year to fund social projects, lead educational trips there to learn about indigenous rights, and work with the non-profit On the Ground (founded by Higher Grounds) to fund water projects. Yet even all of this great work can feel routine—until we’re given the opportunity to reflect.

I was just reminded how important long-term fair trade relationships are as I sat in Maya Vinic’s office in San Cristobal de Las Casas last week. The specialty-grade Arabica coffee beans from Maya Vinic were the first ever purchased by Higher Grounds. Chatting with Luis Alvarez, the office manager and long time advisor to Maya Vinic, I realized that we are approaching ten years of working together.

Every two years, Maya Vinic’s board of directors changes. As is customary in the cooperative structure, the general assembly votes on a board to oversee the day-to-day operations of the cooperative. In the case of Maya Vinic, these operations include an in-country roasting operation, a green bean export business, a coffee plant nursery, and soon, a cafe in San Cristobal. The volunteer Board of Directors spends endless hours each year working on everything from organic certification to interfacing with local indigenous groups wanting to use their space for gatherings. Each time the new board members are elected, I make it a point to sit down and chat with these six individuals, who represent more than 30 communities and nearly 500 members of the cooperative. One of these conversations happened last week:

“As many of you know, Higher Grounds and Maya Vinic have been growing up together,” I noted, glancing around the table at the new faces. “When Higher Grounds started, we were among the first to purchase coffee, with Cooperative Coffees [the importing cooperative of which Higher Grounds is part owner], from Maya Vinic. At the time we were babies. Now, together, we are entering our late childhood.”

Late childhood it truly is. This coming harvest will mark the 10th year that Higher Grounds has purchased coffee from Maya Vinic and the 10th year that Maya Vinic has exported their fair trade, organic beans. In 2002, when the first purchase was made and shipped, Higher Grounds was but an infant. We only had a few accounts but were fervent supporters of Maya Vinic, spending six weeks in the first year traveling to Chiapas, spending time with the cooperative and bringing a group of consumers down to meet them. At the time, Maya Vinic stored their coffee in a wooden shack in the former refugee camp of Acteal. The beans, nestled on top of wooden planks in the middle of the dirt-floor shack, were positioned centrally to avoid any rain or other moisture that might come in between the panels of the exterior wall. Farmers huddled together around an open fire to ward off the cold, discussing how to collect coffee and take it to trucks to be hauled off to the processing plant before it was shipped overseas.

Then, Maya Vinic rented office space in a house on the outskirts of San Cristobal. Two years before the first export, a woman from Tapauchula stole all of the year’s coffee from the co-op. The president at that time said, “We let her take it as she was recommended to us by a number of religious organizations; we assumed she was going to pay us.” She never did, leading to much desanimo in the co-op. In 2002, the farmers were still reeling from this theft. They had no infrastructure – no car, limited office, and no warehouse. Yet they worked hard and believed in the power of their cooperative as an organization to work for the betterment of all the farmers.

Since that time, and running parallel to the growth of Higher Grounds, the cooperative has built its infrastructure and excels as a small-scale growing cooperative on the international stage. Maya Vinic has weathered the storms, even with an organization built primarily by a group of farmers who do not have more than a sixth grade education, in a political climate where their struggle for indigenous rights and justice for the massacre at Acteal (which was the impetus to start the co-op) is continually undermined by the government that is supposed to represent them. Today, Maya Vinic has over 500 farmers in the co-op, all certified organic or in the transition to become organic, and they’ve partnered with many other organizations to help build their infrastructure. As a result of these strategic alliances and their ability to sell all of their premium organic beans to international buyers, they now operate a large storage and processing center, an office, a coffee plant nursery and organic training plot, and an in-country roasting facility.

Thanks to the 2010 social premium provided by Higher Grounds, this year Maya Vinic will own their very own restaurant. They are currently in discussions to start a tilapia fish farm to supply the restaurant with fresh fish. On the Ground is currently building a water system to bring fresh water to the residents of Acteal as part of their Chiapas Water Project.

For Higher Grounds, Maya Vinic represents the power of the cooperative structure and the building of long-term relationships. From the hard-working farmers who provide us with premium organic beans; to our friends at Cooperative Coffees who help us provide a fair price to the growers and import their coffees; to organizations such as Catholic Relief Services who have provided quality workshops and helped them start their very own coffee nursery; to Higher Grounds, forming long-term relationships and fostering solidarity with their indigenous rights cause; Maya Vinic represents what is possible when multiple stakeholders work together to create a more direct, fairly-trading relationship.

As we enter our 10th harvest with Maya Vinic, there is much more to do. As Luis and I discussed the distance Higher Grounds has traveled together with Maya Vinic and reminisced about the beginnings of both organizations, Luis looked up to a Higher Grounds poster on the wall we had given the co-op a few years ago and I had all but forgotten. “The best coffee comes from good friends,” he read with a smile. How true.

--Chris Treter