The world Barista Championship 2011 will be held in Bogotá, the country’s capital, early next month. I would like to share some information about someone that is involved in the local coffee shop business as well as the training side; someone that is more in contact with local environment and trends. I met with Julio, the master trainer of the Colombian Barista School with 7 years of experience, who provided me with facts about the current challenges and opportunities for developing this career in Colombia.
He organized a short session of espresso shots and provided some tips to improve this beverage made with only Colombian coffee. Julio started telling me about the difficulties to find good local coffees. “We know where to find specialty coffees around the country but getting them out of the farm or specific region may imply a high investment that most of the time we are not able to afford. There is not a system in place that could provide an easy and cheap way to buy small quantities of special green beans to prepare our blends.”Moreover, bringing green coffee from other Latin American countries or East Africa is still a dream.
He added, “Finding a broker within Colombia that is willing to sell a variety of specialty coffees in small quantities is rare.” Customer education is a big constraint—some national programs are in place to promote consumption of high quality coffee but a lot of work is still to be done. He emphasized that Colombian drinking culture has changed in the past years but has not embraced the espresso culture yet as a whole and unique concept of preparation. He adds, “We are a more traditional brewing and drinking culture” called “Tinto.”
In the Colombian coffee school we want to contribute to the increase of consumption of good coffee, and there are a lot of opportunities for growth; one way is to push this continuing education out, including members, staff, and visitors, such as growers as well as national and international students.
Julio provided the following tips to prepare or extract a good shot from a single Colombian origin:
“Start checking the cleanness of your workplace. The grinder chamber should be empty and ready to use with fresh coffee (De-gas roasted coffee for 48 hours to 72 hours at least). All the equipment must be fine-tuned. Check the equipment conditions periodically.”
A good shot, with only Colombian coffee, should be described as clean and smooth on the palate, balanced with sweet notes and a great body; in addition, the espresso should bring the flavors out of the beans. Grind size should feel less coarse than salt texture. Checking this stage is a key part of the process: if the grind is too fine the shot should taste astringent with bitter notes; too coarse and the beverage may taste flat and boring. Julio added, “With dark roast I grind more fine and with lighter roast a little coarser.”
More tips:
• Do not forget to purge your grinder
• Rinse then clean out the portafilter with a rag
• Check the temperatures of the machine
• Use 18 to 22 grs of Colombian coffee
• Use tamper #58 if available
• Tamped pressure on coffee should vary depending on grind texture and extraction time
• The shot should start 4 to 6 second after activation of the machine
• The extraction should finish after 22 to 23 seconds
• Drink your final shot in two or three sips
• Prepare at least two similar shots to compare the consistency of the process
• Analyze the puck quality to find inconsistency
• Enjoy your own shots
