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To get this look,
this feel, and
this flavor,
you have to
use 
At $ 8.48 /lb
plus S&H,
espresso of this quality is a real bargain (min. order 10 lbs)
Click here to Download
brochure: |
Free Shipping
Orders for 100 lbs, or more, of Malabar Gold Supreme will be shipped to any commercial address in the Continental United States free of shipping cost. |
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Consider
as an additional Espresso in Your Cafe
The best way to test this espresso is to order the minimum quantity of 10 lbs and offer it in your cafe as an additional espresso. This way, your customers have a way to sample this unique espresso in addition to whatever may be offered in your cafe on a daily basis.
Malabar Gold Supreme is such a unique espresso blend that it is very different from anything you may be offering.
You will have to call us at 650-366-5453 to place your first order. Once your account is set up, you can place your subsequent orders via e-mail. |
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Most Espresso in North America is not Espresso at all
An overwhelming majority, 90 to 95 per cent, of what is made and sold as espresso in North America, whether it is consumed straight or in milk based drinks, is not espresso at all. It is ordinary coffee made with an expensive espresso machine.
There are several reasons for this sad state of affairs:
1. Most coffee shop and espresso bar owners do not appreciate the difference................ 2. Most baristi working behind the counter are not properly trained; ..................
3. Most blends offered in North America are not really blended for espresso; rather they are blended as if for brewed coffee, and then roasted dark and oily; indicating that the roaster believes that it is the dark roasting that makes it an espresso blend.
4. Most espresso machines in North America are configured for production speed.......................
5. Most grinders are purchased on the basis of price ................
note: the highlighted item above will be discussed in more detail in the article below
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Most Blends in North America are not Really Created for Espresso
The so-called third wave espresso bars are serving a better quality espresso than almost ninety percent of all coffee shops in North America. This is mostly because the barista skills employed in those bars are vastly superior to those in a majority of espresso joints operating in this part of the world. Much of this improvement has come from slowing down the pour from the 14 seconds practiced by the chains, who are focused more on speed of service than on espresso quality, to the more appropriate 30 seconds.
But the quality and composition of the espresso blends used in those bars are not that much better, with a few spectacular exceptions. This is where the next major step in quality improvement has to come from. Most of these blends are assembled by roasters who had to learn their craft on the job. As I had written before, there is not a college program, a good vocational school. or even a decent text book on roasting coffee, leave alone blending for espresso.
Feeling that the term "espresso" has been hijacked by people outside of Italy to mean everything but their beloved "espresso," the Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano has prescribed the exact procedure for making that beverage. In order to be able to call a beverage espresso Italiano one has to use a certified blend of coffees, in addition to other requirements.
There is a long list of issues I have with the espresso blends that are commonly available in North America. My principal complaints, Seven Cardinal Sins of Espresso Blending, are about the following:
1. Selecting Beans Based on Cupping Data: In the first issue of this newsletter, I had explained that it is the emulsification of oils in ground coffee that transforms strong brewed coffee into an espresso and results in a completely different beverage whose measurable physical properties and taste characteristics are distinctively different from those of coffee.
If you subscribe to that idea, does it make sense if the roaster is selecting the various beans for their role in the espresso blend based on "cupping data?" In the cupping process one brings ground coffee into physical contact with hot water at atmospheric pressure and results in the extraction of mostly soluble components of ground coffee. In other words, one brews coffee by steeping. What good does it do to know exactly how that bean behaves in brewed coffee? If one wishes to learn how that bean behaves in an espresso blend, one needs to make espresso shots with it.
2. Producing Blends That Are High in Acidity: In analyzing the difference between a shot of espresso and a cup of brewed coffee in the first issue of this espresso information series, we noted that espresso would be 6 times stronger than brewed coffee. It turns out, that as the concentration of coffee goes up linearly, the perceived acidity goes up much faster. As a result, the acidity one can tolerate, let alone enjoy, in an espresso is a lot less than in brewed coffee. Thus, high acidity in an espresso is a definite No, No!!
Many consider high acidity in brewed coffee as a virtue. I have no particular problem with that. However, that cannot be carried over directly to espresso. The use of high acid beans from Central America and Africa in an espresso blend has to be highly restricted.
3. Overlooking the Significance of Crema: Crema is the single most important indicator of espresso quality. It is the first indication that oils in ground coffee have been emulsified, a pre-requisite for the strong coffee to transform itself into an espresso. Crema also represents the unique mechanism in espresso to capture the aroma molecules, that are released during extraction, and hold them in the cup; instead of allowing them to simply escape into the room, which is what happens in the case of brewed coffee.
Crema is actually a collection of tiny bubbles with a film of oil on the outside and the aroma of coffee captured within. Both the quantity of crema produced and its persistence (how long it lasts) are important in determining espresso quality. As the espresso is consumed, crema bubbles should survive the turbulence and reach the back of the mouth. They will then burst to release the coffee aroma that will ultimately reach the nasal cavity to which the back of the mouth is connected. The aroma thus reaching one's nose contributes to the ultimate enjoyment of the beverage.
4. Believing that an Espresso Blend HAS to be Dark Roasted: I am not saying that an espresso blend should not be dark roasted. I know and like several espresso blends that are dark roasted. That is very different from someone believing that if it is not dark roasted it cannot be an espresso blend.
It is very possible that this belief came about because the typical North American espresso blend, consisting of mostly Central American coffees, produced an espresso that was way too acidic to be enjoyable. The only way to bring down the acidity of an otherwise highly acidic blend is to dark roast it. Therefore, many roasters probably came to look at medium roasted espresso beans to be producing highly acidic espresso that they were not even inclined to try it.
Many exceptional espresso blends are actually medium roasted, to "full city," which to us is the darkest you can roast before the freshly roasted beans begin to oil. This way the beans in those blends retain their varietal characteristics rather than displaying the monotone of caramelized sugars if they were dark roasted.
5. Creating Espresso Blend with too Many Different Beans: A typical North American espresso blend contains five different beans, some six and some as many as nine beans. Except as a marketing gimmick, the nine bean espresso blend is meaningless since no one can discern the effect of the last bean of the ninth coffee in the blend.
There are serious problems with shot-to-shot-variations using a blend that contains more than three or four beans in it. Let us look at this in some detail:
It takes about 112 beans to produce a double shot of espresso. Technically, in making this double shot, one is selecting 112 beans at random from a blend that is made up of several different beans. Imagine a blend in which one particular coffee makes up 30% of it. This implies that on the average, there should be 34 beans of that coffee present in making the double shot of espresso. Suppose you are willing to tolerate a 10% variation in the number of that particular coffee bean. Thereby you will accept as low as 31 beans or as high as 37 beans of that coffee in the double shot. Statistical calculations indicate that it will happen only 57% of the time; in the other 43% of the shots, that coffee will be present in numbers outside the 31 to 37 bean range. That is not a comforting thought if shot-to-shot-variation is high in your priority.
In a three bean blend, on the average, each coffee would make up about 33% of the blend. If one coffee is a larger component of the blend, another coffee has to be reduced to compensate. If a coffee that is 30% of the blend becomes an issue with respect to the shot-to-shot variation, as shown in the above paragraph, consider how complicated the issue becomes if a coffee makes up only 10% of the blend!!
6. Embracing Seasonality as if it is a Virtue: Many roasters claim that their espresso reflects the seasonality of the beans that make up their blend. They then go on to describe how coffee is an agricultural product and one should expect variations in the product from crop to crop, as though this is a newly discovered phenomenon.
Professional coffee blenders have traditionally considered it their responsibility to blend these crop to crop variations away and make the espresso taste the same today as it did yesterday, and taste the same tomorrow as it did today. That is real hard work and requires skill and patience, and takes years of training and practice to perfect.
Those who hide behind seasonality simply do not understand espresso or blending. It is in fact an open admission of their inability. It is also a real insult to the intelligence of the consuming public.
It is bad enough if one uses the same set of coffees from year to year in the same ratios without any adjustments for crop variations. Some do not even use the same set of coffees; they just use whatever coffees happen to be available. The only thing that is constant is the name of the blend and any resemblance of its taste today to that of yesterday is purely accidental. If you search the Internet, you will see that some popular espresso is in its ninth incarnation.
7. Promoting Single Origin Espresso to Avoid Blending Altogether: Creating a quality espresso blend is really hard and is beyond the reach of many that call themselves coffee roasters. Out of nearly 4,000 organizations roasting coffee in North America, only a handful of them have succeeded in creating a masterful espresso blend. Others are trying to convert their shortcomings to their own marketing advantage.
As I wrote before, In the context of espresso Italiano, a single origin espresso is absolute heresy. To the Italian way of thinking, it is anything but an espresso. One has to think of espresso as just another way of making coffee to consider single origin espresso as an acceptable option. It may be fine for someone looking for a change, or someone who is adventurous enough to accept whatever results, but not good enough for a cafe that is in the business of fulfilling people's expectations.
That is not to say that a cafe should not experiment with single origin espresso as a second or third offering, perhaps on a rotating basis. This way customers would have a chance to experience as espresso a coffee whose flavors they happen to love as brewed coffee.
For a detailed description of blending for Italian espresso, see the two part article I had written for Roast Magazine a couple of years ago. You may download Part I and Part II |
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