RealityEquation

∗ Coffee 101: An Introduction to the Art

I remember when my brother got into coffee. It’s strange; before then, I wouldn’t think you could “get into” coffee any more than you could pineapple juice. And yet there he was, talking to me about how the word “mocha”, popularized by Starbucks, is actually derived from a port in Yemen with the same name. The beans from that region apparently had chocolate aftertaste, which explains the present association of the word with chocolate.

Coffee culture has been growing in Kathmandu, and although consumers are now much more aware of the humble cappuccino, cafe latte and the espresso, it’s a little less obvious that the first coffee drinkers were the Ethiopians, Yemenis and Turks, whose brewing methods were as simple as putting roasted beans in boiling water. The beverage then spread to the fashionable connoisseurs in Italy where most of the drinks with which we’re familiar developed and where the modern culture centered on cafes and coffee grew. But as it were, coffee goes much deeper.

There are two species of the coffee plant that are grown in huge amounts worldwide: Arabica, which grows only in specific environments and is more sensitive to the elements (which makes it, economically speaking, scarcer and pricier) and Robusta, which grows in more places and even harsher environments but is considered ‘inferior’ because it’s more bitter and has a higher caffeine content. These plants produce berries (see photo above, by DEMOSH), which need to be picked and fermented to get to the bean and roasted either at home or a commercial roaster before you can do anything useful with it.

Coffee has hundreds of chemicals and a lot of these chemicals change their properties at the high temperatures (around 200°C) in which they’re roasted: acids and caffeine weaken, the bean grows in size (losing density) and produces other oils that contribute to the flavour. For how long and to which temperature a bean is roasted determines its grade, from lighter roasts that are less intense but more sour, to darker ones that have more complex profiles and are full-bodied.

Now that the beans are roasted (and of the dark brown colour that you’re familiar with; see before and after in photo, right, by cgfan), there’s one more crucial step before you get to have it as a drink: the grinding. The type of beverage you make should also depend on the level of grind: try pulling a shot of espresso with coarse grounds and you’re in for a disaster; for that purpose, you want the beans to be smothered to dust as fine as possible. Home blade grinders also work for the coarser grounds to use with the French press, the Moka pot or a Vac pot but to use for espresso, the granddaddy of so many recipes, you’ll need a special burr grinder, which is usually very expensive (so you’re better off getting pre-ground coffee).

Once you have the grounds, there’s so much that can be done depending on the equipment you have and your level of motivation. It’s an exciting world that spans the disciplines of economics, chemistry, art, culture and you, as a consumer, deserve to know more about the coffee you drink so you can fully enjoy the privilege.