Coffee 101 (Part 2) by Eric Lim of Conlins Coffee
Recently, bloggers were invited to have an afternoon coffee chat with the coffee guru himself, Eric Lim, Vice President of Conlins Coffee , at Alessi store located in BGC.
I've already had the opportunity to meet him for his Coffee 101 just last year I think.
You can view my post about it here : Coffee 101 by Conlins Coffee Academy.
Conlins Coffee is Philippine based coffee roaster that specializes in providing world class Premium Luxury Coffee.
They also serve as the exclusive Sales and Service company for Jura Espresso Machines from Switzerland and WMF Coffee Machines from Germany for Philippines.
They do a lot of business to business and are the distributors of Hario equipment and Alessi in the country.
So, let me first ask you this -- Which coffee fits you?
This was Sir Eric's question for us during the talk.
I prefer mine as sweet. I like my coffee sweet with a right hint of bitterness. Why? Too much caffeine easily gets me feeling nauseous.
How we like our coffee is very unique to each person. Some may say sweet like me, some prefer it creamy, others like it chocolate-y, some chose black.
There are so many different descriptions and options for coffee nowadays. But what do they really mean to us?
We often hear people say specialty, premium or gourmet. What is it really?
Not all coffees are created equally as what Sir Eric mentioned to us. Each person has a personal preference and Coffee is subjective no matter whom you are talking to.
This is maybe why Conlins Coffee is here for us to experience different coffees, origins and brewing methods and from there we can determine which Coffee speaks to us.
Before diving in to the coffee land, here's a more scientific side to understand coffee a little bit more.
Of course, Coffee comes from a tree.
Naturally, it is a fruit.
When it gets harvested, typically it is bright and red and usually comes from a Coffee cherry. Coffee cherries are handpicked and sorted one by one and takes a lot of time and effort. Coffees that are locally made are not handpicked at all. What they do is that they grab everything in one go and sell it out, This is however not quality coffee at all.
So for the basic anatomy of a Coffee cherry, you'll find 2 seeds inside a coffee cherry.
There's the fruity layer and once you remove the layer, the parchment can be seen. Inside the parchment is a green bean.
The slide shows a very ripe coffee cherry which is very bright and red and juicy.
When the coffee cherry is being dried, the sugars on the coating will sink in towards the seed inside. Just like drying out a raisin. When the raisin dries out, you are stuck with a very sweet, all sugary content. That is why raisins are bad for diabetics because it is basically all sugar in there.
So once again, here's the difference between the Arabica Beans and Robusta Beans.
On the local level, Robusta is what they consider as low elevation coffees that usually found in Batangas and Cavite. Robusta has a big market because it is usually used in instant coffee. They have higher caffeine content but their flavors and aromas aren't that developed.
Whereas the Arabica Beans is high elevation and usually found in Benguet, Sagada, Bukidnon.
Robusta is not as developed because of its growth. Low elevation means more access to sunlight and it's easier to grow and very rapidly. Because it grows really fast, the flavors don't develop well.
The Arabica on the other hand has harder access to sunlight because of high elevation and usually in colder places, thus, slower development. These beans are more flavorful but less caffeine.
So how coffee works?
This is a quick fact on how broad the process really is from getting that cup of coffee you'll have the next time.
First, you'll start with the growing, then you'll have the farmers who'll pick it. After picking, it goes to processing. You can either do Dry Processing or Wet processing.
Dry Processing is very traditional. With the "Dry" process, they let it dry under the sun on the street and arrange them after.While with the "Wet" process, they'll wash the cherries first, bring it to the processing plant to remove the pulp, let it sit in it's juices ( fermentation ) , wash, then dry.
Regardless of process they will go through, once it's dry, the coffee beans will always be available.
It will goes through milling and then polish it and then roasting, packaging, goes to consumers and voila! You have your coffee.
You see, your cup of coffee has gone through so many stages and finding the right coffee for you is a long journey indeed.
For the roast degree part, once you have your green beans after 8 minutes, you'll get a much lighter taste and can be called a light roast or cinnamon roast.
For 12 minutes, you'll have the medium light and 14 minutes, you'll have the medium brown.
After 16 minutes, you'll get medium dark. 17 minutes, dark. 18 minutes, very dark.
When you have darker roast, it does not mean that you have a stronger cup of coffee but only a lot of bitterness. A lot of companies would opt for a dark roast because they are not confident for the quality of their green beans. There, now you know.
Here's a quick review about the Growing Region of Coffee:
Typically, Coffee from Africa is more fruity, berry-like with sweet tones like the Red Cherries Ethiopia.
Coffee from the Guatemala , Costa Rica side usually tastes like floral or tea-like. Like the Brazil.
Coffee from Asia is a little bit more earthy and woody because of the climate we have. A little bit heavy-bodied and falls more on our palates.
FACT : Difference between Fragrance and Aroma is that Fragrance is for the dry smell and Aroma is on the wet part.
Conlins Coffee also launched the Artisans Line that is a coffee blend. Bluenotes on the other hand is coffee when you want to taste the world.
Bluenotes is a special selection of premium coffee beans from the best varieties of Arabica. Exclusive to Conlins, it is the only brand of 100% single origin premium coffee beans available that is locally roasted.
Carefully roasted to perfection by the skillful hands of Conlins master roasters, Bluenotes' unequalled freshness, purity and quality is not an opinion, it's a guarantee that you can taste and experience from yourself.
Created by hand by true artists, Artisans master roasters have crafted coffee blends, focusing not only on the needs and wants of the end user, but also focusing on how the coffee is prepared.
After that enlightening coffee workshop, Mr.Conlins gave us the V60 unit which is actually a very nice simple coffee machine and very useful. I'm still trying to learn the correct way in pouring the water to coffee.
The one big hole on the bottom center has actually a big role in achieving a great taste in your coffee. This is all about the pour speed and dependent on how fast you pour.
The longer the water is in contact with the ground coffee, the more caffeine and bitterness you going to get. The faster the water is in contact, the lighter it tastes and not bitter at all.
So, what to look for in your next coffee cup?
Acidity is the top most to look for.
When you have specialty coffee, you think of what acidity does it remind you of. You can find it in specific types of coffee.
Body
How your coffee falls on you palate.
For example -- instant coffee. It has a light body to it. It is basically powder that you constitute with water. The benchmark for body is always water. It can be creamy or milky,thick or syrupy.
Espresso will have a heavier body compared to a hand-pour or french press.
But it all boils down to your own preference.
Aroma
The smell.
Flavor
This is typically the balance of all these. When you taste a certain coffee, what do you get out of it?
Do you taste chocolate, caramel or furits or teas?
Finish
This is after you drink your coffee. If it's a smooth finish, it goes down really easily. If the coffee has a little bit astringent, it stays longer on your throat. There's also coffee that is initially smooth but eventually stays to your throat.
So there.
I still like my coffee sweet and not bitter at all. Maybe I should drink hot chocolate instead huh?LOL
As what I've mentioned in my previous post, making your own specialty coffee at home is not as difficult as they were before. Just pick out the perfect bag of great beans and eventually it will become an obsession.
If not, start looking for a coffee shop that does exactly like that.
By having a habit of drinking coffee less the sugar and cream, benefits will arise like you're less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia plus less prone to certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes. ( Source : WEBmd )
I've already had the opportunity to meet him for his Coffee 101 just last year I think.
You can view my post about it here : Coffee 101 by Conlins Coffee Academy.
They served us these yummy cookies made with Progiotti Cookie Cutter Set by Alessi. Too cute for me to eat though so I brought 3 of these home instead.
They also serve as the exclusive Sales and Service company for Jura Espresso Machines from Switzerland and WMF Coffee Machines from Germany for Philippines.
They do a lot of business to business and are the distributors of Hario equipment and Alessi in the country.
This was Sir Eric's question for us during the talk.
I prefer mine as sweet. I like my coffee sweet with a right hint of bitterness. Why? Too much caffeine easily gets me feeling nauseous.
How we like our coffee is very unique to each person. Some may say sweet like me, some prefer it creamy, others like it chocolate-y, some chose black.
There are so many different descriptions and options for coffee nowadays. But what do they really mean to us?
We often hear people say specialty, premium or gourmet. What is it really?
Not all coffees are created equally as what Sir Eric mentioned to us. Each person has a personal preference and Coffee is subjective no matter whom you are talking to.
This is maybe why Conlins Coffee is here for us to experience different coffees, origins and brewing methods and from there we can determine which Coffee speaks to us.
Before diving in to the coffee land, here's a more scientific side to understand coffee a little bit more.
When it gets harvested, typically it is bright and red and usually comes from a Coffee cherry. Coffee cherries are handpicked and sorted one by one and takes a lot of time and effort. Coffees that are locally made are not handpicked at all. What they do is that they grab everything in one go and sell it out, This is however not quality coffee at all.
So for the basic anatomy of a Coffee cherry, you'll find 2 seeds inside a coffee cherry.
There's the fruity layer and once you remove the layer, the parchment can be seen. Inside the parchment is a green bean.
When the coffee cherry is being dried, the sugars on the coating will sink in towards the seed inside. Just like drying out a raisin. When the raisin dries out, you are stuck with a very sweet, all sugary content. That is why raisins are bad for diabetics because it is basically all sugar in there.
So once again, here's the difference between the Arabica Beans and Robusta Beans.
On the local level, Robusta is what they consider as low elevation coffees that usually found in Batangas and Cavite. Robusta has a big market because it is usually used in instant coffee. They have higher caffeine content but their flavors and aromas aren't that developed.
Whereas the Arabica Beans is high elevation and usually found in Benguet, Sagada, Bukidnon.
The Arabica on the other hand has harder access to sunlight because of high elevation and usually in colder places, thus, slower development. These beans are more flavorful but less caffeine.
So how coffee works?
This is a quick fact on how broad the process really is from getting that cup of coffee you'll have the next time.
Dry Processing is very traditional. With the "Dry" process, they let it dry under the sun on the street and arrange them after.While with the "Wet" process, they'll wash the cherries first, bring it to the processing plant to remove the pulp, let it sit in it's juices ( fermentation ) , wash, then dry.
Regardless of process they will go through, once it's dry, the coffee beans will always be available.
It will goes through milling and then polish it and then roasting, packaging, goes to consumers and voila! You have your coffee.
You see, your cup of coffee has gone through so many stages and finding the right coffee for you is a long journey indeed.
For the roast degree part, once you have your green beans after 8 minutes, you'll get a much lighter taste and can be called a light roast or cinnamon roast.
For 12 minutes, you'll have the medium light and 14 minutes, you'll have the medium brown.
After 16 minutes, you'll get medium dark. 17 minutes, dark. 18 minutes, very dark.
When you have darker roast, it does not mean that you have a stronger cup of coffee but only a lot of bitterness. A lot of companies would opt for a dark roast because they are not confident for the quality of their green beans. There, now you know.
Typically, Coffee from Africa is more fruity, berry-like with sweet tones like the Red Cherries Ethiopia.
Coffee from the Guatemala , Costa Rica side usually tastes like floral or tea-like. Like the Brazil.
Coffee from Asia is a little bit more earthy and woody because of the climate we have. A little bit heavy-bodied and falls more on our palates.
FACT : Difference between Fragrance and Aroma is that Fragrance is for the dry smell and Aroma is on the wet part.
After that enlightening coffee workshop, Mr.Conlins gave us the V60 unit which is actually a very nice simple coffee machine and very useful. I'm still trying to learn the correct way in pouring the water to coffee.
The one big hole on the bottom center has actually a big role in achieving a great taste in your coffee. This is all about the pour speed and dependent on how fast you pour.
The longer the water is in contact with the ground coffee, the more caffeine and bitterness you going to get. The faster the water is in contact, the lighter it tastes and not bitter at all.
Acidity is the top most to look for.
When you have specialty coffee, you think of what acidity does it remind you of. You can find it in specific types of coffee.
Body
How your coffee falls on you palate.
For example -- instant coffee. It has a light body to it. It is basically powder that you constitute with water. The benchmark for body is always water. It can be creamy or milky,thick or syrupy.
Espresso will have a heavier body compared to a hand-pour or french press.
But it all boils down to your own preference.
Aroma
The smell.
Flavor
This is typically the balance of all these. When you taste a certain coffee, what do you get out of it?
Do you taste chocolate, caramel or furits or teas?
Finish
This is after you drink your coffee. If it's a smooth finish, it goes down really easily. If the coffee has a little bit astringent, it stays longer on your throat. There's also coffee that is initially smooth but eventually stays to your throat.
So there.
I still like my coffee sweet and not bitter at all. Maybe I should drink hot chocolate instead huh?LOL
If not, start looking for a coffee shop that does exactly like that.
By having a habit of drinking coffee less the sugar and cream, benefits will arise like you're less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia plus less prone to certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes. ( Source : WEBmd )
Greetings. This is really wonderful post.
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