Today I presented a small class on espresso and espresso based drinks with an emphasis on preparing these drinks at home. A nicely sized group was in attendance, large enough for interesting participation to develop and small enough to provide individual support. This went fairly well and I hope that everybody was able to take something away from it.
While I cannot repeat the demonstration here, I can go over what was covered. The presentation can be broken down into three parts. In the first part, I covered the basic ingredients: espresso and milk. In the second part, I demonstrated the production of three basic drinks, the cappuccino, the latté, and the mocha and explained a couple variations. In the third part, I answered any questions from those in attendance.
The explaination of espresso started out with a demonstration of espresso preparation. For this, I used the overfill, level, tamp method. At this point, I explained the grind and tamp I was using. Once an espresso was produced, I explained the importance of producing the correct volume of coffee (1 to 1.5 ounces per shot) in the correct amount of time (I prefer to hit 20 seconds, though 18 to 23 seconds is generally acceptable). The espresso was passed around while I explained the importance of crema. Crema is extremely important for a good espresso. It preserves chemicals responsible for the flavor and aroma of the coffee that would normally be destroyed on contact with water or air. I mentioned two common problems with crema, a white ring around the edge of the espresso and a hole in the middle of the crema and mentioned possible remedies.
The demonstration of milk steaming started with the removal of the frothing assistant. These devices, almost universally included with home espresso makers, work by mixing air with the steam produced. With a little practice, it is easy to control milk steaming without such a device, but it is impossible to obtain milk suitable for use in a mocha with one. I started by expanding the milk. This is done by keeping the steaming wand near the surface of the milk, lowering the pitcher as necessary to keep the wand near the ever rising surface of the milk. Once the volume of milk was doubled, I raised the milk pitcher to heat the milk to the correct temperature. It is important to expand the milk first and then bring it to the proper temperature.
With this, I produced a cappuccino, consisting of one third espresso, one third milk, and one third milk foam.
The next drink I demonstrated was a latté. For this, I made a hazelnut latté to demonstrate adding syrup to the cold milk. One ounce of syrup was used for a double latté. Syrup is added to cold milk partly so that it is mixed throughout the drink and partly because some flavors of some brands of syrup will denature heated milk. The main difference between a cappuccino and a latté is that a latté has less foam and more milk. For presentation purposes, I introduced another difference from the cappuccino in pouring the milk first and then adding the espresso in such a way that it floats between the milk and the foam. This is our standard latté preparation. I also explained latté art and why I do not approve of its use.
Finally, I demonstrated the production of a mocha. This is basically hot chocolate with espresso. Espresso was mixed with a chocolate powder (McSteven's creamy premium cocoa mix, the same that we use when a customer orders a mocha here), hot milk was added to this and the entire drink was mixed well. Whipped cream topped the drink.
The question segment was very good with questions ranging from the mechanics of home espresso makers to clarifications on certain techniques. Once espresso questions had been exhausted, there a few people asked for tips on the use of a French Press and why some people prefer to make coffee by that method.
If anybody who was in attendance is reading this, thank you once again for attending. Those who would like further information may wish to read some of the other information on this site, such as Home Espresso Savvy and The Art of Espresso Blending.
I also opened a new lot of decaffeinated Colombian which I will be cupping tomorrow with an eye toward discovering the correct roast to sell as decaffeinated Colombian and possibly also as decaffeinated French Roast as I have roasted all of the decaffeinated Brazil that I was using for that. This means that I will need to recheck both of the decaffeinated blends we sell.