ask the coffee guy

end of year considerations

2011-12-26T15:47:00.001-08:00

well... its been a monster year - anyone who says cafes arent hard work hasnt worked in a busy one! between work and family its damn exhausting most of the time and its definitely a labour of love as profits are pretty negligible - but then again we're on a continuous growth curve - so if we can maintain the current momentum I'll be happy

last week of trade was our busiest of the year - averaging 80 meals and 200 coffees a day during the week which is both a great joy and a great way to pay the bills before the holiday break!

year highlights are numerous but being shortlisted by the Age to be in the running for top ten cafes (based on points listing in the Melbourne Magazine about a month ago) - gave us the spur and the impetus to really take our coffee to the next level - withy a focus on staff training and increased documentation - but also provided the drive to run with some really lovely coffees - so recently we've had no less than 3 cup of excellences coffees running concurrently, as well as the marvellous el salvador adia battle selection which really takes coffee to a whole new previously unimagined level

not to mention the wonderful coffee crafted by our top roaster - Joshua Bailey (who roasted most of the above mentioned coffees - I di manage to roast some myself!) - I'm particularly proud of the work we've done together on the Sweet Maria's blend - which I'm sure I'm biased but i think its top gear mate!

PNG Sigri, Nicaragua Diamond, Brazil Sao Paulo, and Honduras St Finca Marta - make up the Sweet Maria's blend in its current incarnation - and I would describe the resulting flavour profile as nothing short of 'Burgundian' - which is a wine term that I am very reluctant to apply to coffe for obvious reasons but in this case I think we've created something special that merits this kind of praise and consideration - still ... I'll let you be the judge - certainly coffee sales have been good and are on the up and up so it hopefully bodes well for a good start to the new year

Well... my wife reminds me that we're about to embark on a road trip for a month and I'm supposed to be packing so I suppose I had better be doing that will update a little latter on down the road!

Thanks for a great year peoples!

2011-11-24T23:58:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, not a bad wrap in The Age Melbourne Magazine today - these figures maen that Foxy Brown is potentially in the running for Melbourne's top ten coffee destinations - according to The Age

Vote with your feet peoples!

Honduras Luis Alphonzo Hernandez - Farm Aguas Dulces, San Luis Planes, Santa Barbara Cup of Eccellece Lt 14

2011-11-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

well the response to our current Honduras Cup of Excellence Coffee - lt 14 has been excellent, and has seen us move a lot of this product in a relatively short space of time

It's a lighter roast with a slow roast profile which is excellent for aging - and I found myself drinking this wonderful coffee both at home ans at work every day for seven days post roast, although,I found myself thinking,

"Wow... the nose is really tight and the profile's not really giving much away - I sure hope it improves with age"

So naturally I was reluctant to promote the product at work until it had a little age on it - so I resisted doing so - and then, WHAM! Eight days post roast this coffee really leapt out at me - both as a pour-over,and as an espresso based coffee - and I couldn't believe how much it had changed, if not overnight, then at least since I first began tasting it

I know it sounds a bit like floury 'wine speak,' but I began thinking about this coffee pretty early on in terms of a fine red wine, which has been made to last - not in terms of palate structure - but in terms of the nose being quite closed, and not giving much away in its early stages of life

I was quietly confident that it would open up and present better with age - although you can never be absolutely certain, but open up it did in its quiet magnificence, as the early herbaceous notes and malolactic acid structure gave way to ripe strawberries, and subtle tannins

Anyway, it all sounds a bit flouncy, but the main point that I aim trying to get across is that coffee is often touted as 'the new wine,' but in reality very few coffees IMHO live up to this epithet

In this instance however the Honduras Aguas Ducles lt 14 Cup of Excellence lived up to and exceeded all expectations, displaying characteristics and character traits similar to the wine making and aging process - but the main thing is that it tastes great - especially as a filter coffee that has been allowed to cool down to room temperature

It's what we used to refer to when I was in the wine industry as GPM

(Good Piss Mate)

where too from here?

2011-09-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a two and a half week sojourn up North - to Byron bay (where among other things I have been consulting and conducting barista training for a cafe I helped to set up 12 months ago) - and from the Sunshine Coast - we my little family and I were mainly visiting relatives and spending valuable beach time - but we still managed to fit a trip to Brisbane in, where we visited the delightful and astounding Dandelion and Driftwood cafe! Brisbane has come a long way with regard to quality coffee in recent times - and there is IMHO no finer example than D7D - with its (when we visited at least) two espresso blends, five single origins, four coffees available for pourover / syphon etc, and cold drip filter coffee available. Plus the store, located at Shop 1, 45 Gerler Rd, Hendra, 4011 - looks abd feels great, as you would expect from Peter and Penny Wolf (ex Veneziano Coffee)

Coffee in Byron has come a long way as well, but with few exceptions I still found that most (of the eight cafes that I visited while I as there) cafes still employ 'out dated' methods of making coffee, including not wiping group handles out properly before dosing, or purging the group head prior to extraction to eliminate built up solids, both of which result in 'dirty' flavours in the cup... oh well... could prove to be a good hunting ground for our eventual move into the area in several years time (watch this space)

Had some lovely coffee on the Sunshine Coast too, most notably from The Good Bean Espresso Bar in Mooloolaba, who interestingly feature the multiple boiler version of my own coffee machine - the much lauded BFC Synchro, and Clandestino Coffee Roasters in Noosaville - who roast on site and who offer a similar array of coffees to D&D above - in terms of what they have on offer - I had a lovely flat white made from one of their blends, and a fantastic espresso made from single origin Nicaragua - yum on both counts!

Whilst at Foxy Brown we haven't exactly been resting on our laurels either - as we welcome our new head chef, Aysha (from New Zealand) on board - Aysha has only recently returned from a lengthy cheffing stint in the UK - and she brings a wealth of talent and experience with her

And of course our coffee is constantly changing based upon seasonal available ingredients - but that's the subject for another entry - so I'll leave that for another time - see ya!

latte art boot camp!

2010-11-30T03:04:00.001-08:00

what's hot at the fox?

2010-11-29T22:06:00.000-08:00

What's Hot at Foxy?

Well... we are, apparently - having received a spate of positive publicity, which never goes astray
Also, we do not rest on our laurels, as we're constantly revising and refining what we do - so the food menu has had a few tweeks recently, in include a few more savoury items, to make it more 'lunch like' - and items such as the Foxy Fritters, which features gluten free zucchini fritters, served on a bed of avocado mash, served with a poached egg, and a side of feta optional = have been a smash hit
Also, we say a sad farewell to Head Chef Sophie, as she branches further abroad, and welcome back to Daniella - who is back in the kitchen and back from her tarvels
And of course we're constantly sourcing seasonally available fresh produce for our coffees, and to this extend our "Foxy Espresso Blend" has recently been modded to include some Sumatran Mandheling, Honduras Finca Santa Marta, Columbian Aesoeni, and PNG Okapa
And the old favourite Honduras / PNG combination has been revamped of recent times, with new materials being sourced from new (to us) estates, and re-braned as our "Sweet Maria's Blend" - back, you could say, by popular demand
But the thing I'm most excited about at the moment is our Filter Coffee, made on the Clever Coffee Dripper - we've created a purpose built work station to house the apparatus and al the associated paraphernalia, and I've ordered a truck load of exotic coffees from around the world, which I'm roasting myself very selectively for this unique application
And whilst I admit that Filter Coffee is not for everyone - there are some jaded palates out there who profess that espresso is the Chardonnay of the coffee world, and they're after a more subtle and refined taste experience, which showcases the terroir of the individual estate grown and single origin coffees - and its all about the Indian Monsoon Malabar for me at the moment, which to me at least tastes like a blend between a young Pinot Meunier, and an aged Arneis...
But then again I'm apt to wax lyrical and not adverse to a little purple prose when it comes to describing coffees - a throwback to my days as a sommelier perhaps?
After a bit of a mid winter lull business is booming (on weekends at least) - and I'm looking forward to a substantial break at the end of the year with my family, and I've been consulting for a new cafe development in Byron Bay - and I'm heading up there for opening celebrations next week!

when social networking goes wrong

2010-11-29T21:12:00.000-08:00

Now it wasn't my original intention to offend but there's only so much a guy can take and I pride myself on knowing all my regulars and the coffees that they drink so I was genuinely concerned when this guy (who apparently is a regular he just doesn't (unlike me) wave a red flag every time he comes in, so he wasn't immediately obvious to me

Also I've been logging myself in on each visit of recent to see if I could bump the guy off or at least get a feel for how he's tracking - also i'd bumped him off as mayor a few times previously only to find that he'd reemerged next day

So I thought to myself - wow this guys here more often than me and still I don't recognise him - which is not to say its impossible just unusual is all

hell... i cant be expected to know every customer who walks through the door - in fact it would be impossible to do so - but I am naturally curious by nature - so when an anomaly pops up I usually want to investigate it - its part of what makes me so good at what I do, I'm always questioning always looking for a better way of doing things

So I dont want to blow this out of all proportion except to use this example as a cautious warning as to the joys and perils of on-line navigations, and to show that it aint always going to be a happy ending...

What happens next is anyone's guess - anyone up for coffee?

ACg

roast plus...

2010-06-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

out and about in Melbourne coffee town!

2010-05-31T23:50:00.001-07:00

The image says it all, really...

FTR _ all of these images were taken on my Iphone using Hipstomatic....lovely app that!

Espresso, St ALi - lovely citrus zip on the finish...

Cold Syphon @ Outpost - its the biz!

Mistral @ Dukes Coffee Roasters (Dukes of Windsor?)

Pla @ Outpost - if there's a better front of house person in Melbourne they had better put their hand up right now!

Ahhh... The age old question... Seven Seeds Vs BBB... for my money its BBB phenomenal attention to detail and coffee to die for!

More of the above @ BBB

The incomparable Auction Rooms in North Melbourne - where great coffee is made finer by excellent imbibing surrounds...

wheel of fortune at Market Lane Coffee Roasters...

its all about the process at market lane...

nice, er, stack!

well, as you can no doubt tell, I've been busy recently frequenting Melbourne's finest cafes in search of the illusive perfect coffee. Does it exist? Who can tell? Its certainly subjective anyway, but here are some images of a few of my favourites. Above is a Flat white from Proud Mary, in all its fineness...

Here's an image of a naked light bulb at Monk Bhodi Dharma in East St Kilda - and yes, they have damn fine coffee!

Atomica in Brunswick Street - no coffee journey would be complete without it...

Some green beans at the Mailing Room

Brief respite at Atomica from drinking 15 coffees in one day!

coffee n stuff

2010-05-02T04:44:00.001-07:00

Wow! Can it have been so long since I blogged last?

So much has happened in so (seemingly) little time! So its about time I set the record straight (or at least updated it!)

Firstly and perhaps most importantly we've tweaked our espresso blend for the umpteenth time - and I'm really happy with the coffee we're producing at the moment

And that's saying something as I'm a bit of a perfectionist - so I'm not generally happy unless I feel that we've accomplished our goals in certain areas

But here in one avenue that I'm definitely proud of! I've been working closely with our master roaster, Joshua Bailey of Bailey Coffee, in Errol Street, North Melbourne, and his soon to be opened warehouse project: Provost Works, in the street of the same name (you heard it here first folks)

ANd we've been experimenting with and running with around a dz single origin coffees at the cafe, in addition to our espresso blend - and I must say it makes my work life interesting and keeps me motivated always having fresh, new, and exciting coffees to play with!

And having spent many years of my working life as a sommelier, I feel that I have a pretty good palate when it comes to accessing coffees, and to me it takes a good palate and a clear vision of the flavour profile that you want to create, when it comes to creating an espresso blend

For me I was pretty happy with the blend that we had been using, but I felt that it needed some cinnamon / spice flavours combined with raisin toast flavours on the mid palate - and adding some El Salvador El San Molino washed arabica orange bourbon to the mix - really helped to bring out the flavours that I was looking for

And as an added bonus the blend drinks exceptionally well incredibly young - say four days post roast - which is far from ideal when it comes to ageing coffee (I personally prefer our coffees 11 days plus post roast as this best suits the roast profile), but is realistic from time to time when we get an unprecedented rush on coffee

Besides I would rather drink fresh coffee that's a bit too young (as long as its drinking well and not just all bubbles) than stale crap that's been sitting on the shelf or warehoused for too long - any day of the week!

So we arrived at the blend by a variety of methods - but not least of all by mixing ingredients together 'on the fly' - when we're busy, and by tasting and evaluating as we go

Also, I like to watch how the coffee - or a combination of coffees - pours through the espresso machine, as this too provides an indication as to how its going to taste

When you know that the grind settings are right, and the coffee comes out all gooey and syrupy, with a nice dark brown / brick red colour - you can be pretty certain that you are onto a good thing, and the palate backs this up...

What else is new?

New staff of course! We've been getting busier and busier (as anyone who's been there on the weekend will soon attest - today we had folks cueing at the door, waiting to get in!) - which means more staff to cater for more customers

ANd I'm loving the vibe of the place when its packed to the rafters and the food and coffees are coming out smoothly

It becomes kind of elemental when you find yourself hitting your stride, and everything just seems to fall into place

Which is not to say that mistakes don't happen and that folks don't complain from time to time - they most definitely do! But its the mark of any establishment - how you cope under pressure and how well you can service customers when things don't go according to plan

Besides which we've been trading for an incredible seven months now - and I think its taken us easily that long to get our procedures in order, and our systems in place. And this is always an ongoing process as staff change from time to time, and the roster changes constantly - so you're always in theory at least working out new dynamics

Looking forward to a few changes around the place - still waiting on a second POS terminal to relieve congestion behind the counter (how long can it take!) - and we've got some great artworks on the way as soon as we get the picture rails up!

Changes to the menu have been implemented - well... it was more like building some of the popular daily specials into the menu structure, really, and more changes are currently afoot... but you'll have to keep coming in to find out what they are...

ANd our new and impressive range of organic and gluten free cakes and our muffins (all of which are baked in-house) have been selling like, well... hot cakes!

This autumn weather is great for business (as long as we're not rained out) - as coffee and cake sales have been going off in the afternoon

We've also recently cracked a few milestones: 300 coffee per day days on the weekend and around 150 coffee sales per day (on a good day) during the week - these were the targets that I set for the store upon opening - so now its time to raise the bar higher!

ANd while we're at it - how come Friday's are so busy? Its's like people are saving up all their coffee credits until the end of the working week!

just in: koffee kosmo coretto coffee roaster (beta version)!

2009-12-23T04:21:00.000-08:00

Ok...so it might not look like much at first glance but I have it on very good authority that this 'home built' coretto coffee roaster is capable of producing very good coffee indeed

First impressions out of the box are that it is well built using first rate and sturdy materials - and it came well packed too - which is just as well as I managed to catch a glance inside the back of the courier truck and everything was all akimbo!

Still... the driver went out of his way to deliver to me at home as opposed to my cafe (which is now closed for a couple of weeks over the break) - which I amvery grateful for...

So... out of the box..

Bearing in mind that this unit is a 'pre release' prototype - a work in progress if you will - I'm going to rate it as if it were the real thing - ready to be released to the Australian public, and presumably the world at large!

Now this may seem a tad unfair as I am one of only twenty select few to be putting this machine through its paces prior to commercial release - so I'm going to be a bit harsher than is perhaps necessary considering the machine is in the 'pre-production' and final stages of development

The product itself is the end result of a lot of hard work on the part of Paul aka "Koffee Kosmo" from the Crema and CoffeeSnobs websites, in collaboration with Bazzari Bezzera as the Australian agent and distributors...

First off the machine itself as mentioned was well packed albeit with the 'o ring' for the heating element packed upside down for safe storage - but annoyingly no mention of this in the instructions anywhere?

Anyway... it didn't take rocket science to figure out how to pop same off and to position it the right way! Although while we're at it an appropriately sized Allen key in the packaging to do the job wouldn't have gone astray, and one of the screws for fastening same had fallen off and was located in the bottom of the box

The actual instructions themselves that accompanied the machine are very limited - and I take it that the end user is assumed to already has a firm handle on the home-roasting process - which, thankfully, I do

So a bit of playing around and a few minutes later the machine is assembled and ready to go - and its a very straight forward assembly!

Except of course to a technophobe like me - who couldn't figure out how to keep the machine running without keeping my finger down on the manual on / off switch on the back of the heating element!

Still, one quick post on the CS website and I'm up and running in minutes - how's that for service!

Turns out you need to lock the handle in place to keep the element and the timer running - sort of a fail-safe safety mechanism!

Can't say I've done much roasting at home recently what with having two kids under five years of age and having recently opened a new cafe - but I do have at least 20kg of green beans on hand just waiting for me to say the word!

And considering that I'm going camping with around 100 mates over the new year's period - and that I traditionally provide both the coffee machine and the home roast coffee that goes with that - I suppose I had better get roasting!

Just waiting for the temperature to drop from the dreaded 38C that it was today (its still 31C at midnight as I write!) - which is NOT ideal conditions for roasting!

Still... time is short and life is sweet and there is no time like the present for giving it a whirl - so maybe I'll whack on the aircon and get cracking!

Watch this space...

'new' azkoyen bravo compact two group!

2009-12-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

Well... it was inevitable really - it had to happen - Foxy is just too darned busy especially on the weekends to run with a single machine!

So given the space limitations I've installed a second, compact two group, to manage the flow and to help with takeaway coffees etc, on the weekends, but also for busy service times during the week - it means that floor staff can prep their own teas / chai etc - which is one less thing for the barista to have to concentrate on, leaving the guy (or girl!) behind the machine to focus on what they do best!

Also, given the way that we craft our coffees (i.e. one at a time or 3 max pouring at once from a double ristretto base) - having the additional two groups should enable us to get the coffees out quicker when the pressure is on! In theory as well a second barista could be working this machine which will be a god send on Saturday and Sunday mornings around 10.30am - when the place fills to capacity in around half an hour!

The machine itself is probably around four years old, as it has the new volumetric touchpads and wiring and seams in reasonable condition - save for the fact that it has been garaged for awhile so the water in the tank was in need of a good purge - we've drained the tank around a dz times until the steam from the steam wand smells 'sweet'

If necessary we will descale the boiler but I'm hoping it doesn't have to come to that as that means taking the machine off site...

I've certainly used higher-speck'd machines before but the thing I love about the Azkoyen is that they are solidly built and made to last!

I really enjoyed pulling shots on my old Expobar G10 multiple boiler machine - and I loved the automated pre-infusion on the G10 but the machine itself did not seem well equipped to sustain the punishment of the 800 or more coffees that we were pulling per day at my old joint! (Although admittedly the workload was split between several machines)

Still, Joshua Bailey, my roaster and machine tech extraordinare, is a whizz at getting the most out of coffee equipment, and I'm hoping that by the time we whack some oversized Synesso baskets on the Azkoyen, combined with tweaking the boiler capacity - we should end up with pretty decent coffee from this machine!

Watch this space for further updates!

tables and chairs n other stuff!

2009-12-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

well... after our first decent sized group booking went well during the week - where we maximized the use of the rear courtyard by putting an additional long table out there - we decided to leave the table (which had been previously left inside servicing the communal room at the back of the restaurant) out there permanently!

thus creating a vacancy where it had been! So once again it was off to the Salvation Army superstore in Abbotsford for me - where I picked up a collapsable ten seater table which (I was told) retailed in the latest Ikea catalogue for around a grand!

combine this with ten 'new' (think 1970's original dining room furniture) padded ad wooden chairs - all loaded into the back and on top of my faithful station wagon - and what you have is some seriously increased seating capacity!

the Murray River red gum picnic table which adorns the back yard is also a recent purchase - and this table comfortable seats around ten people - so that means that we have effectively increased our seating capacity by around 20pax - or around 30 per cent - in the last week!

this led to a bumper trade today (Saturday) with just about every seat in the house full all morning and over lunch (thank goodness the weather held) - and Alicia and I crafting some wicked coffees on the coffee machine!

was well pleased today not only with how well but how swiftly the coffees came out today - which in itself is no mean feet as we use a double ristretto as the basis for all our shots and given the setup we can run such shots for 50sec or more - meaning that at present we can only craft three coffees at a time, and that these coffees can take up to three minutes combined just to pour from the machine!

Try telling that to the customer - the don't want to know!

anyway - we were all over it today like white on rice - which hasn't stopped me from investing in a new two group compact espresso machine - which I hope to have installed by the end of the week

this will seriously bring our capacity up and give us added fire power and flexibility especially on the weekends - when we need it most

it also frees up the second barista to pull shots and craft their own milk if they need to do so - rather than just waiting on their buddy to do so - exciting times indeed!

Peace Out - Pat x

evaporative cooling the order of the day!

2009-12-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I'm in aircon heaven! Actually to be technically correct its evaporative cooling heaven - which is very different from aircon. On Tuesday we had a new system installed which is basically a massive vented (brown, of course) box which goes on the roof, and four vents inserted in the ceiling - one for the barista, two for the chefs (one each!) and one for the customers!

Well... that's only partially true as you want to have your vents close together as this aids circulation, and having them near to the heat source means that they soak up the heat and expel it out the door!

I kid you not! Water is passed over some giant sponges in the box on the roof, then an industrial fan pushes that water cooled air through the building - the way to go is to have a door open at either end of our long space to create a current of air that runs through the building - which effectively gathers the heat generated from the oven, coffee machine, body heat etc, and rushes it out the door - this only work well in the Southern States if Australia - as we mostly have an intense dry heat - and is less effective in areas of high humidity

Even so on humid days we just cut the water to create a current of air which is way better than no circulation at all and heat building up

But the really good news is that its great for coffee as it produces a moisture rich environment which the beans love - they soak up the moisture in the air instead of drying out - and this is then captured in the cup as dark and rich (but hopefully not over extracted) flavours that retain more of the good oils from the bean!

It also means that we can run our shots for longer which leads to longer (say 20sec) pre-infusion before the shot runs, and 50sec to a minute extractions - without blonding or scolding the coffee - are not unusual

Its great for producing espresso and espresso based coffee!

And just as rewarding is the fact that its no longer 45C plus in the kitchen and behind the coffee machine on those sweltering Melbourne summer (and late spring - thank climate change for that one oh ye of little faith) days!

Cool climate conditions is cool staff and cool coffee - gotta be lovin that!

ACg

the week that was...

2009-11-29T02:24:00.000-08:00

started with a favourable mention in The Age on Tuesday - then things got crazy from there on in! People coming from all over - Eltham, Geelong, and ever Wheeler's Hill - I kid you not!

Man the place was jumping this weekend - with Saturday being especially busy - what we really needed was an extra pair of hands to polish cutlery etc... The additional cutlery and plates that I bought for the weekend piggy-backing on the positive publicity in the press were accidentally delivered to my old cafe and I'd promised to pick my daughter up early from kindergarten - so there was no way I could go back to work to sort it out - and sure enough we were short of cutlery and plates, cups and saucers etc for much of the day on Saturday, and customer service suffered somewhat as a result

Thankfully though the mad rush only lasted for an hour on Sat and we were just really busy for the rest of the weekend!

Sunday was almost as good as Sat takings wise but the patronage was spread out over the entire day - so we were always busy and never rushed - which I far prefer to being slammed!

Oh well... preparing now for a coffee class that I'm conducting on Tuesday for all front of house staff, as I want to make sure that we are all speaking the same language when it comes to our understanding of how the coffee is crafted, what its individual characteristics are, and how we share this with our customers!

Cheers,

ACg

foxy photos

2009-11-28T07:46:00.001-08:00

Foxy logos!

Foxy staff feasting!

Foxy madness! Lis going crazy on the iced coffees and Collette - well... what can I say... she's just crazy!

foxy brown espresso - the new kid in town!

2009-11-28T07:24:00.000-08:00

Well folks sorry I haven't had much to say recently - too busy opening and running my new cafe!

We're located at 31 South Crescent, Westgarth (all right... most folks cant find Westgarth on the map so try Northcote instead!), Victoria, 3070

We're right on the corner of Mason Street and South Crescent and located in a residential area opposite the train tracks on the Hurstbridge Train line - exactly half way in between Westgarth and Dennis Train Stations - or less than five minutes from the city by train so there's no excuses for not coming!

To cut a long story short we've been going gang busters - a few technical hitches and some staff training issues not withstanding!

Had a write up in The Age newspaper on Tuesday and business (which was busy to start off with) is up 30 per cent since then - with today (well... its yesterday already) being absolutely packed to the rafters!

Between 10.30 and 11.30am this (yesterday already!) morning 60pax (plus takeaways) walked through the door and we were slammed - so apologies to anyone who came and waited 20 minutes for their coffee - but it was the only time that folks waited so long all day!

I'll endeavour to get some pics up of the joint, and to draw your attention to the great publicity that we've had already - but I'm not making any promises just yet as to when - as most of the time I'm working my a*** off!

My wife says that she is officially a 'cafe widow' meaning that she hardly sees me any more... and the other day I heard one of my kids saying: "Mummy... who is that strange man sleeping in your bed?"

I hope for all our sakes that she was talking about me!

We went through 7kg of coffee yesterday - which is definitely a record, and we would have done more had we greater seating capacity

Speaking of which new banquette seating is on the way, which should dramatically increase the seating capacity, and we have front and rear courtyards to accommodate the 'rug rats' (children in Aussie parlance)

Free wireless internet is also up and running, and boy, oh boy - am I looking foprward to the evaporative cooling ducted aircon going in on Tuesday!

I've got a fab team of staff - in the kitchen and front of house - I feel truely blessed! ANd for some reason that includes a bunch of kiwis!

Not surprising really considering that I am an expat myself - and giving the average New Zealander's (well... I speak for Wellington really, not that other unspeakable city!) coffee credentials!

We're running with a custome build BFC Synchro - designed in Melbourne and built in Italy! The machine features masive oversised 600ml heat exchangers in the boiler dedicated to each group head, and 2ml flow restrictors at each heat exchanger - which slows the flow rate to the group head down to a trickle - producing amazing extended extractions: thin 30mls from 50secs with a 20sec pre-infusion and you are in the ballpark!

ANyway - the place is jumping, and I'm eating into my nap time (no NOT while I'm working! I tend to doo all my admin b/w one and three in the morning!) - so it's laters from me!

Will keep you postered!

CHeers, Askthecoffeeguy

foxy brown opening date sunday 27th september!

2009-09-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

its true its true still lots to do but never fear the opening day is near and soon upon us when the cry for quality espresso wont be the last gasp it will abound and resound around westgarth!!!

Ridiculously long shots...

2009-07-31T08:15:00.001-07:00

Being pulling ridiculously long shots on my BFC - I mean 50sec double pours into a single cup - its ridiculous!

But whether its the oversized heat exchangers, or the flow restrictors, or a combination of both - I dunno!

But the coffee seems to hold ist consistency without blonding - and without burning - and that can only be a good thing!

We're wielding 20gm baskets for the single handle, and some of the espressos I've been pulling are out of this world!

Looking forward top being open proper and blowing people away with the coffee quality. I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I think its fair to say that there aren't too many operators in my neck of the woods at least not within walking distance anyway of the cafe - who have the same coffee obsessive focus - whether this translates to additional sales or repeat patronage is yet to be determined

But I'm quietly confident that an espresso based revolution is underway and happening South-side!

Stay tuned for further progress!

coffee consequences

2009-07-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well... we get there eventually! cafe's still not open but we're making some werious progree now - floor is done and heavy duty equipment is on the way including three door under-bar fridge, purpose built coolroom, and new six burner gas oven!

I'm also replacing my display fridge for one which is more functional: same specs but better shape and design to let more light into the space

We pulled apart the coffee machine today to have a good look at the steam production - as I have not been that impressed with how its been functioning

Noticed a longer than usual copper pipe feeding from the back and lower than expected of the boiler so we dropped water volume and boiler pressure to compensate

Also installed a nifty lever switch for steam production both for ease of use and to restrict flow - which seemed to do the trick nicely

Combine this with some dead sexy bell-bottomed milk jugs from Bombara Water Supplies and we're cooking with gas!

Now I believe that we have all the coffee elements working in harmony: great coffee blend and some amazing single origin coffees combined with a lot more versatility in the milk production = one happy camper!

Had about a dozen folks wander in off the street today asking for coffee which had me chuffed! I obliged of course to a chorus of ohhs and ahhs - you gotta be happy about that!

Gunna get the cash register installed pronto so we can start charging these folks for coffee I mean I don't mind giving it away but you gotta draw the line somewhere

Really happy with the coffee production overall - we've pulled well iin exccess of 500 shots through the machine prior to opening, which makes me feel a lot more confident about the product that we serve

Now t nail the milk and to shore up supply of the biodynamic product that we will be using, and I'll be a happy camper

Opening date T-minus three weeks and counting...

Laters, P

some photos of my new coffee set up in my new cafe!

2009-06-02T04:53:00.001-07:00

some cell phone shots of my new cafe: Foxy Brown Espresso taken today with my new cabinets in place and my whizz bang bfc synchro coffee machine which was installed yesterday!

some cool images of the cafe!

2009-05-30T06:58:00.001-07:00

Following photos are of:
new coffee counters in Foxy, followed by the original and still working neon ice cream sign above the store, recent shot of my old cafe - Shanti Bhagwan, and me... looking like a dork!

Foxy Brown Espresso - the best damn brown in town!

2009-05-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well... it's been a while since a blogged last and probably for good reason! I've been building my new cafe (that's cafe number three for me folks - you can't say that I haven't been around the block a few times! from the ground up!

Actually, that's not quite true - we inherited an 'empty shell' of a space - albeit a beautiful and functional empty shell of a space - a long and narrow room with front and rear courtyard and sidewalk trading - off the beaten track so to speak - as the cafe used to be a milk bar (read corner store or 'dairy' for you naughty New Zealand readers!) - so fortunately we have sidewalk trading as well with approved seating for 25 pax outside and another 30 inside - which is pretty ideal really when you think about it!

There are no other cafes in the immediate vicinity (ok so there are a few only a couple pf 100m away but who's counting!) and the new joint is located opposite the train tracks and half way between a couple of bustling train stations!

I haven't measured the distance exactly but I would say that we're probably no more than 5km from the CBD which is pretty bloody amazing when you think of it!

Its been a big job bumping in from scratch as we've had to put in plumbing and electrical as well, with all cabinets purpose built and the rear courtyard landscaped from scratch, but my new coffee machine - a purpose built BFC Synchro imported specially from Italty and customised to my own specifications - is arriving tomorrow!

Very, very exciting!

Hopefully I'll get some images up in the next day or so to make it a bit more interesting for ya'll!

Cheers,

ACg

dear santa please put this under the tree for me...

2008-12-14T05:17:00.000-08:00

budding barista in the making!

2008-12-14T04:56:00.000-08:00

Is 2 1/2 too young to get into the coffee game?

I think not!

random coffee shots (from my phone that is!)

2008-12-05T05:22:00.001-08:00

Hidden barista cam strikes again at Caffeineatics in Collins Street, Melbourne!

Great coffee too...

Curious about this two group machine which I saw on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, the other day - not too sure about the specs but considering how much coffee I've been making at home recently, I'm starting to wonder if it's worthwhile upgrading to a two group!
(Actually, technically not sure that replacing my E61 lever Bezzera Domus Galatea with the above is strictly an 'up-grade' - at least not in so far as price is concerned!)

Hidden coffee cam - Single Origin

Yummy soy Piccolo from Single Origin in Sydney

Yummy (short) espresso from Single Origin in Sydney

Man did I need this coffee. I think the owners knew we were industry when two of us ordered nine coffees... not sure how but something managed to give us away...

Question? What's the difference between a short espresso and a ristretto?
AnsweR: About a dollar ninety five!

Not strictly coffee related but these are the loos in the cinema complex at the Como building in South Yarra

I thought that they were wort a mention as the building itself is relatively new, but the bathroom manages to capture some gothic charm

Not strictly coffee related but yummy nevertheless... This is a couple of kilos of honey and honey comb which had been growing in the wall in the side of my house

Didn't want to fumigate so I got the bees smoked out and relocated to a commercial hive, and managed to score some honey for my self in the process, which you can in fact add to coffee - see... I knew there was a tie-in there somewhere!

Here's a random shot of BBB taken a couple of weeks ago as I grabbed a coffee on the fly Noticed the other day though that the front window had been smashed in - what a stupid thing to do - and not much fun for the first staff member of the day to discover either, not to mention the unnecessary expense of having to replace the thing either

My joint got broken into a couple of weeks ago so I can sympathise with having to fork out for unnecessary costs for repairs. Still... it gave us an opportunity to beef up security, and now each staff member is issued with a sawn-off upon arrival...

My latest home roast made up of equal parts Ethiopian Limmu & Colombian Peaberry with a hint of Kenyan Fire Estate thrown in for good measure!
The image is a bit fuzzy but the coffee itself is a double ristretto base with only a tiny dollop of steamed milk on top - four days post roast and bloody delicious! I back-blended a small quantity of the Kenyan coffee through it, and it seems to provide added complexity, whilst at the same time drinking very well relatively early! I'm starting to get into the whole 'blend' (as opposed to single origin) thing, and I'm loving the fuller flavours that blending seems to bring out.

From memory I roasted (on my Gene Cafe home roaster) the Ethiopian and the Colombian both at 235C with 100C pre-heat, and 16min / 16.5 min roast times respectively - which surprised me really as I thought that the Limmu would go for longer than the Peaberry, but bang on 16min I saw the first puff of smoke, indicating that I had just reached second crack, so I pulled the roast

Yum. Bloody yum.

alia celebration blend

2008-11-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

Well... little Alia Rainbow was born on the 4th of November at 12.20am weighing in at a healthy 4.2kg - we had a home birth without complications, and a short 3 hour labor, and both mother and daughter are well and doing fine

So in Alia's honour I have created "Celebration Blend" which contains 50 / 50 Tanzanian 'Fire Estate' and Costa Rican 'Royal Tarruzu' AA - roasted for 17mins @ 235C on my gene cafe home roaster

And five days post roast the results are in the cup!

Thick and luscious crema which just pours and pours, with cinnamon, cardamom, and strawberry dominating the nose, and Persian Tart on the palate - complete with a lovely buttery texture, and firm, fleshy notes on the mid palate!

I could drink this coffee all day long, in fact, I do!

The caffeine content seems to be pretty gentle, it provides a pleasant buzziing sensation, but does not overwhelm, and high altitude coffee ensures low acidity, which is very gentle on the stomach

And the benefit of home roasting is that I know exactly when the coffee was roasted, so I know that I am consuming it in the 'sweet spot' window of opportunty, which for me is five to ten days post roast

Kind of makes it hard to go out for coffee though, which is probably just as well, as with a new child on board there is less demand to venture outdoors and more reasons to stay at home - makes sense when you think about it

Opps... baby is crying and its daddy's turn to comfort her so better go...

7gms

2008-09-10T04:42:00.001-07:00

soy piccolo before and after shots: before shot

after shot:

The Brunswick East Project

2008-09-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been here already then you owe it to yourself to go

Is it Melbourne's best coffee? No, perhaps not - it is as the name suggests a work in progress, but what these guys lack in experience they make up in dedication and enthusiasm, which seems to be missing from a lot of coffee establishments these days

Here the question seems to be about the possibility of what coffee can be, bearing in mind that coffee is and should be a constantly evolving project - rather than an attempt at laying down the law and saying: this is what coffee is!

The boys here are only too willing to open their doors and to let other budding baristi / roasters in to have a play on what can only be described as top of the range and state of art equipment

So venture in for yourself and see what it's all about - you may just be able to add to the espresso equation...

espresso coffee at the european

2008-09-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

I cant quite recall the circumstances that lead to this cup and saucer lying side by side, on by table in the back corner of the European, but I do recall that alcohol may have been a contributing factor. And while its true that there are 'fresher' products on the market than the coffee on offer here, there is no doubting that they make it well.

Not to everyones taste, and a bit 'ashy' on the palate - but still good coffee, better than many places are serving elsewhere

Inside Gerald's Silvia

2008-09-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is why you should never trust anyone other than a trained / skilled barista with your precious espresso machine. Gerald's housemate ran his Rancilio Silva dry and burned out the boiler and welded in heating element

So Gerald and I decided to pull it apart and get the boiler out so we could replace it ourselves - which we did - get the boiler out I mean. The replacement part is not so easy as worldwide demand for copper has meant that prices and parts are at a premium, and the boiler is on backorder.

Although, we did have a local distributor in Melbourne offer to replace the boiler for us at a cost that was almost equivalent to the purchase price of the machine - so we decided to do the job ourselves, now we're waiting on parts

All in all its been been a very worthwhile job pulling the machine apart, as I also now have an ageing Baby Gaggia, and a Eurolab all-in-one machine on my bench,waiting to be pulled apart, as I'm cannibalising the Eurolab to fix the Gaggia

Believe it or not you can actually but a Eurolab new for half the price of a replacement vibration pump for a machine

Wierd but true...

soy piccolo - a minor place

2008-09-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

I happen to think that this is the best coffee in Melbourne at the moment: soy piccolo from A Minor Place in Albion Street, Brunswick - using Atomica Dark Espresso Blend on a Synesso Cyncra machine. Not only great tasting coffee but total cool ambience, great service, and a fantastic total chilled vibe.

My No 1 pick for Melbourne espresso right now:

some snaps from st ali

2008-08-06T01:26:00.001-07:00

panoramic view of st ali

me pride and joy - where does she get those expressions from?

this is how good coffee (or baby chino) should make you feel
st ali hidden groin cam...

some images of the Auction Rooms - Errol Street, North Melbourne

2008-08-06T00:14:00.000-07:00

etched into my psyche

2008-07-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

doesn't surprise me really: everything else at Starbucks seems to be super-automated, so why not?

latte art machine

smoke em if ya got em...

2008-07-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

what to do with all those left over husks from roasting!

the caffeine test

2008-07-23T03:54:00.000-07:00

Increasingly caffeine plays a more and more important role in our lives, with ramifications not only for our own health, and that of our nearest and dearest, but our daily consumption has the ability to impact positively or otherwise on the entire planet

I strongly suggest that you take the following caffeine test to assess your level of addiction to this noxious weed, measure the carbon footprint that your consumption is having upon the world, and see how your daily consumption may impact upon the credit rating of third world countries in times to come:

Created by OnePlusYou

Columbian Peaberry & other pressing business...

2008-07-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well... its been awhile between roasts, which is not surprising really, since we've been 'between houses' for the last little while

Just moved from Hampton in Vic, AU to Coburg, on the other side of town - lovely little multi-cultural heart of Melbourne with a wonderful blend of middle-eastern, indian, greek, and italian sub-cultures all mingling harmoniously together

And every where you go there is coffee, coffee, coffee! Little coffee houses and cafes full of elderly men chain smoking and playing cards, just as they did when I last lived in this area (albeit briefly) some 22 yrs ago!

A walk down Sydney Road (no relation to the City of the same name) reveals a multitude of middle-eastern bakeries and cafes, all brimming with life and activity - not to mention the yummy smells that emanate from within...

Our new house is also located at about the half-way mark between Coffex and Genovese coffee houses, so on a good day, if the wind is blowing in the right direction, you can actually smell the coffee roasting from at least one of these coffee destinations

And the new Grinders roasting facility is also not too far away in Fairfield, which is a lovely little suburb located on the Yarra

Perhaps of greater interest to coffee aficionados, however, is the location of A Minor Place cafe, located just around the corner from me, on Albion St, and Small Block, on Lygon St, East Brunswick - both of which serve exceptional coffee

And just opened recently is Artisan Espresso, also located on Lygon Street (if my memory serves me well) - where Josh roasts his own out the back, and he has a Cynesso Syncra out front with guest baristi fronting the machine on the weekends

He's also open to coffee snobs bringing in their home roast to run it through the machine, which is a real boon for anyone who has not had the opportunity to work on one of these beauties...

Back to the home roasting: I just sampled my first batch of Columbian Peaberry, which at only 3 days post roast is pouring beautifully and exhibiting lovely lifted peach blossom and plum liquor aromas on the nose, which follow through on a smooth and creamy palate with bright acidity and good grippy tannins

I roasted these beans at 230C for 16.6mins - which is longer than I thought it would take to reach 2nd crack, given the small size of the beans, but the beans coloured up well, and they had only just entered 2nd crack when I pulled the roast

Well... the 2yr old is demanding attention, and the mother in law is on the phone, which means its time to go!

Cheers,

Pat

back to the drawing board

2008-04-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

well... I haven't been roasting as much as I'd like to recently mostly due to work commitments, so it comes as no surprise to me then to learn that some of my recent roasts have been, well, less-than-perfect

as a mater of fact I've been pulling my roasts early recently in an effort to avoid burning them, when in fact most needed a good couple of minutes longer to reach rolling second crack

this is what happens when you roast sporadically - you take your eye off the ball, then it takes some practice to get it all happening good again

I think I got it right with some Datera beans last night, though - I roasted these for 18mins at 235C, and they looked and smelled great when I pulled the roast

In fact, the whole house smelt amazing, and going to sleep with the alluring aroma of freshly roasted coffee lingering in the air is a fantasy dream come true for a died-in-the-wool barista / roaster like me!

I also popped my roasting temperature up marginally from the usual 230C to 235C about half way through the roast, as I noticed that the Gene Cafe was struggling a bit to maintain optimum temperature, probably due to the chilly 15C temp in my freezing kitchen!

So it's onward and upward with my roasts from here on in!

At least I've got a backlog of about 5kg of green beans to work through - being equal amounts of Columbian Peaberry, and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe; so that should keep me busy for awhile, and I should have plenty of time to get the roast profiles right for each of these, as i have plenty of product to work with

Will keep you posted on my progress...

On a bright and cheerful note: new store is going great guns and it was our busiest coffee day today and we kicked some serious butt! I suppose it helps that it was only about 12C outside - which means that everyone was drinking coffee or hot chocolate - and for some strange reason we are selling heaps more 16oz coffees here than any store that I have ever operated or worked in: I mean 7 or 8 large coffees in a row at a time?

What's going on with that?

I put it down to all those industrious education (teaching) students located in the adjacent building - what with their teaching rounds and classes all crammed together and all

We also got our large (1.5m diameter?) signage outside today, which I'm sure helps to attract some passing interest

I'm certain that the uni will say something about 'not approved signage' and 'not going through the proper channels' to put it up - which is why its up high and on hooks so we can bring it in at night!

Still... with the commercial rent that we're paying - you can't really blame a guy for advertising, can you?

Pat

so long and thanks for all the yirgacheffe!

2008-04-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well actually this blog should probably read: "Hello! And thanks for all the Yirgacheffe!"

As I made myself a double ristretto with some packaged Yemen Ismaili beans (long considered to be the premium Mocha coffee) yesterday - but the coffee was stale - and it left a bitter taste in my mouth!

So I thought I had better do something about this post haste, so I whipped out some Ethiopian Yirgacheffee beans which I'd roasted 6 days ago (at 230C for 15 min in my Gene Cafe home roaster. I pulled the roast at fist sign of second crack and rolling second crack became established about 2 1/2 min into the 'cooling down' cycle) - and whacked them in the Mazzer Major

How can I describe the taste sensation and still do it justice?

I took a good long sniff of my short-poured espresso and loved what I found there!

To me the Yirgie exhibited lovely lifted lemon-scented and floral aromas, with the predominant impression on the nose being that of lemon merange, crossed with a Portuguese custard tart!

Although my wife (who is a far better cook than I am but I'm still not bad and I'm particularly good with the seasoning) suggested that Pavlova was the predominant feature on the nose - and she should know as she has a wonderfully gifted palate for a non-coffee drinker (don't ask)

Whatever you want to call it - these wonderful citrus and custard characters followed through on the palate, and I could still taste the remnants of the coffee an hour or so later as we walked along Hampton beach

All in all the lovely Yirgie espresso completely obliterated my previous disappointing coffee experience - which is just as well... as we all know that a good coffee can make your day but a poor one can ruin it!

compak k10

2008-04-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

Well... it's finally here! My new Compak K10 WBC Silencio grinder (thanks to Chris from Talk coffee)

I can't begin to tell you how much these amazing grinders have revolutionized my coffee making technique!

The K10 purrs like a kitten when it is in motion, which makes a nice change from the loud 'ack, ack, ack' sound of some of the equipment I've worked on in the past!

An additional bonus is that the ergonomics of these machines are very smooth indeed. Whether you're making 80 or 800 coffees a day, the grinder has no problem keeping up - and its very smooth dosing action, and easy-to-use rocker switch (for on / off grind-on-demand), provide a fluid dosing motion which eases strain on wary limbs!

But pehaps best of all is that these grinders have a clean sweeping motion in the dosing chamber, and they produce a very even dose, regardless of how much coffee is in the chamber

This takes a lot of the guess work out of dosing, which is important especially when you're busy, it also means that there is much greater consistency in the coffees, which is important especially if there is more than one person working the machine

Remind me and I'll take some photo's and post them up

Although, it's almost pornographic how well this machine performs, and don't be surprised if you start dreaming of them at night after using one!

Pat

victorian barista championships

2008-03-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

well... yesterday was a great day for coffee if the finals of the Victorian Barista Championships are any indication, with a good turn-out by the public, great food and coffee served at the Beach House, and a fantastic performance from all of the finalists, with David Makin taking top honours again this year

Here's a few photos from the day:

David Seng's table set-up for the judges incorporating his 'apple' theme that featured in his signature drink:

Eager judges and contestants clamor for the results:

The deserving winners from l to r: david seng 3rd place, david makin, 1st place, sponsor, con from 7gms 2nd place

Beautiful LA Marzocco FB70 coffee machines (the red one would look good on my bench tp at home!)

victorian barista comp semi finals

2008-03-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

well wouldn't you know it... I bought my Olympus camera along on the day but left my sd card at home - so the following photos are from my phone: apologies about the quality!

Here's Con from 7gms demonstrating his passion!

Here he is again - man the guy is all focus!

David Makin - multiple award winning champion - I mean, the guy is a machine!

The judges hard at it!

I'll take my 'big' camera with me tomorrow and get some 'real' shots!

Pat

shanti bhagwan -urban chai temple!

2008-03-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well... its been a while since my last post for a number of reasons.

Firstly, my 'new' (read: less than 12 months old) Toshiba Tecra laptop died a vainglorious death - faulty hard drive

In the end it was faster and more convenient for me to pay for the repair of the laptop and for the information retrieval myself, rather than wait for weeks on end to get the job done through the 'official' repair channels

Oh well never mind too bad...

At least I've got a working machine again!

Secondly, as I've alluded to in previous posts and as the title of this thread suggests, I've opened my new cafe @ Melbourne Uni - and YES that IS the actual name of the of the cafe above and NO its not a joke!

Still going through a steep learning curve with the new coffee machine: an impressive 3 group Expobar G10 with multiple boilers: one large one just for steam and hot water usage, and a dedicated boiler for each group head offering excellent temperature stability, and the ability to 'dial in' the ideal temperature for each group head to complement the 'sweet spot' of which ever coffee you are using

In my case its a single origin Honduras Copan variety from Jasper coffee, and yes, true to form its both Fair Trade and organic...

New store looks great considering that we haven't had much to work with

Have brushed it up (read cleaned it up) quite a bit after the previous operators exited

Still waiting on finance to come through though, and am looking forward to embracing the renovation process to make the store functional, attractive, and uniquely my own

Managed to hire a wonderful new manager for the store within the first week of trading, so fingers crossed it all works out, and she lasts the distance... so far so good!

Had a very low key opening, and I plan on keeping it that way until such time as systems, procedures, and equipment are all in place

Still, we made 200 coffees last Thursday, which is great for our second week of trade, and I expect that number will continue to increase as we pick up our game a bit

So watch this space and I'll endeavor to keep you informed of our progress

Home roasting has necessarily been put on the back burner for now as other priorities assert themselves

Still... it is coming up to winter, and I've got 5kg of Yirgacheffe and Columbian Peaberry to work my way through

Uh oh... i can feel a roast coming on!

Cheers,

Pat

a couple of pics...

2008-01-31T19:42:00.000-08:00

notice the lovely colour change from green to a more generous yellow? This is when all the action starts to take place, and first crack is not too far away...

Here's a photo of my latest batch, which is 70 per cent Tanzanian Kilimanjaro and 30 per cent Guatemalan Cinco Estrellas - the colours in the photo don't really do it justice as the roast is much more even than it appears here...

Ostensibly this photo has little to do with coffee, but it's my munchky-moo, Kalani Moana, aged 21 months, helping me to sort the beans post roast - Kalani is so dedicated that she started polishing each bean individually!

eliminate the variables

2008-01-30T20:03:00.000-08:00

Well... I'm finally happy top say that after a fair amount of trail and error I appear to be on target and back on track in this mysterious and sometimes frustrating business of home roasting!

I decided to vary the mix a little by increasing the pre-heat temperature of my gene cafe, and by decreasing the roast temperature to 200C

But all this did was produce an uneven roast with some beans slightly toasty, and others slightly under-done, leaving a whole lot of messy chaff still clinging to the cooked beans

And when you're using Tanzanian Kilimanjaro beans to start off with - this can be a very expensive mistake!

All was not totally lost, actually, I hand massaged the beans to remove excess chaff, and I found that they came up much better as an espresso 8 days post-roast, as opposed to the standard 3-5 days which I'm used to

On a more positive note I've resorted to what works and I'm pretty much sticking to this formula from now on, and I've seen my most encouraging result to date with a new batch roast of Guatemalan Cinco Estrellas, which I roasted up today

Sticking to my previously successful formula of 180C pre-roast temperature, and a roast temp of 230C - I'm seeing much more even colouration, with less residual chaffing

I think this is slightly helped by marginally increasing the amount of green beans that I'm using which, I believe, adds to increased temperature stability during the roast

Now I know the Gene Cafe is designed for 300g of green beans each roast, which subsequently lose weight but increase in volume with roasting, but I've avoided weighing the beans and have instead opted for two even 1/2 scoops of beans with the measure provided

By increasing this amount to two slightly heaped spoons, however, I appear to have achieved better than previous results - which may or may not be a function of the Guatemalan beans that I have just started using.

I guess time will tell...

This is probably academic to a lot of folks but you can taste the difference in the cup big time, and to me that's what it's all about at the end of the day:

A fantastic product and a repeatable result that produces great tasting coffee time and time again.

The Guatemalan Cinco Estrellas beans were also quite a bit smaller than other beans I've been using, such as many of those from PNG, so I intervened in the roast time and stopped it short at 16min (as opposed to the 'standard' 17min which seems to work well with many larger beans) - as this is when second crack started to kick in.

Although it was two mins into the cooling down cycle that second crack kicked in good and proper; which is the lovely result that I am always looking for, as the beans tend to continue cooking during the cooling down cycle, so you want to manually stop the roast at first sign of second crack

I'll endeavor to upload some photos to give you'll a better look at what I'm talking about

I've also got some video footage that I'm reluctant to use because from memory I mis-pronounce the name of the beans during my commentary... but stuff it I think I'll up-load it anyway to see what it looks like!

you can not escape your destiny!

2008-01-26T05:23:00.001-08:00

On a recent trip to the Sunshine Coast I was surprised to find some of the black gold growing right there in the back of my parent-in-law's house in peaceful Diddillibah!

Apparently the plant is well established and has been there for around 30 years and it's still yielding a considerable crop.

When I asked the out-laws approximately how much fruit appears on the plant they replied easily a good couple of kilos per season - which is enough for a home roast in my books!

So I've asked them to hang onto the good stuff next time (apparently they had just disposed of a good deal of fruit which had dropped off) - and I see what I can do next time I'm up to erect a hasty corretto device.

Going off on a tangent a bit I was so generally disappointed with the coffee on the coast when I went out,( except for a few noteworthy exceptions) - as my previous blog no doubt makes clear - that I invested in one of those 6 cup Vittoria stove top devices that you see in the supermarket, not for the tiny sample of coffee that came with it (but I drank that too - what the hey...), but because it allowed me to make my own coffee when I wanted, where I wanted, just so long as there was an available element of some kind and a water supply nearby!

I was also pleased to hear that the outlaws thought my own home roast which I bought up from Melbourne in fair quantity to be 'superior’ to the esteemed Douwe Egberts - which is there tipple of choice.

This is strong praise indeed considering that they are Dutch...

this is what a $4 coffee looks like in qld

2008-01-25T00:38:00.000-08:00

I tentatively ordered a strong cap in Montville on the Sunshine coast, not because I usually drink caps but because I thought it would be harder to stuff it up.

So after parting with $3.50 of my hard earned dosh for the coffee, plus an extra $0.50 for the additional 'shot' - this is what I got! Hot insipid dishwater not fit for human consumption.

I left my coffee as you see it - largely untouched and unremarked upon even when the table was cleared, which is a bit on the nose when you're parting with four large.

Oh well... for this kind of money there's definitely room for improvement and room at the top of the coffee chain for those willing to give it a go

And I know that there are some good operators in Qld because I've visited a few - It's a bit of a walk down memory lane, drinking coffee in Qld, as most places still serve it the same way Melbournians were drinking coffee 20 yrs ago.

Good luck to them - it makes the good guys look gooder (is that a word?)

paradise found

2007-12-16T03:59:00.000-08:00

well... i tend to get there in the end! I know that I still have a long way to go in this whole home coffee roasting business, but it is encouraging to start seeing (and tasting) some reward for my efforts!

in an attempt to keep the out-laws happy for christmas i've roasted up some papua new guinea kimel plantation A for them, and after speaking to the fine fellows from veneziano coffee in abbotsford, i feel like i'm finally on track with my coffee roasting progress!

so this afternoon i roasted up a couple of batches, increasing my pre-heat temperature to 180C, and dropping my roasting temperature down marginally to 230C

i also decided to manually stop the roast as soon as second crack set in, to allow for the relatively slow cool-down process on the gene cafe, which takes 10min on average, during which time the initial temperature is still quite high for awhile, and the beans are still effectively 'cooking' until the temperature drops

anyway, i'm yet to try the end product, and the proof will be in the pudding, but i've included a few photos which i took from my ace new nokia n95, so lets have a look:

this is my newish gene cafe roaster in action. the roast has finished here as the cool down process has just completed

i'm much happier with this batch than my earlier offerings, as i'm learning to intervene in the roasting process a bit earlier, and to stop it short as soon as second crack sets in, to prevent it from over-roasting.

second crack is has a distinctive sound, like that of aluminum foil being crumpled, but it can be quite faint, so you have to watch out for it. i also keep an eye on colouration and smell, and tend to stop the roast when it smells and looks like it's ready

whereas first crack tends to be a lot noisier, more like popcorn popping!

here's a close up of the gene cafe in action.

and the photo at the top of the page is a close-up of the actually beans post-roast! very happy

well... my little family and i are off to qld on holiday tomorrow morning for a few weeks of rest and relaxation, so you may not hear from me for awhile, but feel free to keep those emails coming, and i will do my best to answer them

so until we meet again... take care and merry christmas!

ACG and family

the good oil

2007-12-14T22:19:00.000-08:00

Well thanks to the guys from Veneziano in Richmond I now have some Papua New Guinea Kimel plantation A, and some Guatemalan Cinco Estrellas green beans to play with at home.

The boys there even dipped into their 'reserve' supply of Tanzanian Kilimanjaro, which they have imported in small batches especially for boutique blends for the barista comps, and kindly allowed me to purchase a small quantity of green beans to experiment with.

Not sure if these are the same beans that I tried at BBB from St Ali, and it is doubtful that I can replicate the same roast profile at home, but if they are the same beans or anything like them - all I can say is: WOW!

The single origin Kilimanjaro coffee I had at BBB absolutely knocked my socks off, and if I recall rightly I remember thinking at the time that the coffee has a delicious aroma of 'almond slivers and frangipani' - very subtle and knockout flavours that I had not encountered in a coffee before.

My previous incarnation as a sommelier for many years at least equips me with a reasonable vocabulary to explore the enticing aromas of coffee, if not more than a little purple prose!

David (Wushoes?) at Veneziano, and one of the other roasters there, also gave me a few pointers about what to look for in my roast, as they too have a couple of gene cafe coffee roasters out the back for sample roasting.

Thanks for the heads-up, guys.

second crack

2007-12-11T19:02:00.001-08:00

well.. I'm nursing some excellent home brew (coffee that is) at the moment. Some Kenya AA and some Timor Leste A1 which I scored from coffee snobs as part of their starter pack. I must admit I sat on my green beans (not literally) for a couple of months before roasting them, mostly because I was too busy to give them a second thought, but partly because I was a bit apprehensive about roasting them, knowing that I had a steep learning curve ahead of me.

but it's that time of year again, and we decided to only give christmas presents this year that we'd made ourselves, partly to save some money, but mostly because we wanted to invest a little of ourselves in what we were giving.

so after a bit of trial and error with the peru segundus (a good batch to experiment upon given the irregularity in colour and size of the beans: the reason i'm sure that they were included in the starter pack) - where I over-roasted the first batch, and under-roasted the second, you start to get a feel for how it all works

i've got a gene cafe coffee roaster at home which allows you to roast around 300g of coffee at a time, which may not seem like much, but it's actually plenty when you consider how many variables you have to monitor at one time!

the good thing about this machine is that it rotates off access, so the beans are in constant motion, up and down and from side to side, meaning in theory at least that they should roast pretty evenly.

also, you can set the variables so that time and temperature can be individually monitored and adjusted, which is fantastic

so i roasted up quite a few batches, any of them back to back. and even though the gene cafe has its own built-in cooling system, which lasts for 10 min at the end of each individual roast, I felt that the machine was running hot enough to not have to keep pre-heating it to 150C, as I do for the first roast of the day

needless to say at our mates gathering christmas party the home roast went down a treat, and I ordered a bunch of one way seal zip log bags, and hand wrote my own labels, so the presentation was pretty good as well

but the big thing i am noticing is how much i'm enjoying freshly roasted coffee at home!

i'm giving it 3 days or more to allow the beans to degass after roasting, and the crema is unbelievable! much better than what i've been able to produce with less fresh coffee, which goes without saying i guess

at the moment i am experimenting with each batch by applying slightly different roasting times for the same beans. so one batch of the same beans might be roasted to just before second crack kicks in in full, and another might be left until just after, and another a little more after that, until the roast starts to smoke a bit, and the wonderful aroma of the aromatic oils permeates the room and the whole house!

its a good thing that I like the smell of coffee, coz it tends to linger. but my wife hardly touches the stuff, so I tend to be a bit conscious about when i roast so as not to gross her out

my 20 month old daughter is fascinated by the whole process, however, as i explain to her every step along the way

not sure if all that information is sinking in or not, but don't be surprised if we witness the emergence of a master roaster in about 15 yrs time!

Cheers,

ACG

gob-smackingly good espresso

2007-12-10T23:39:00.000-08:00

a bit about me...

2007-12-10T10:36:00.000-08:00

well... it's early days yet, and who knows where this is going? I certainly don't, so I guess it will be an interesting journey to see how it emerges. In a nutshell I am a coffee enthusiast, well, if the truth be told - a fanatic actually, with a passion for all things espresso.

I own a coffee shop here in Melbourne, and am in the process of opening a second one, so wish me luck! I'm a keen coffee roaster of coffee at home, and I'm an active contributor to a number, including the Crema discussion forum (link found below) - of which I am the moderator

I'm also a passionate home coffee enthusiast, and have owned a number of reasonable to semi-commercial home machines, and will happily answer any questions in relation to same - just as soon as I figure out how to do that!

Lastly, I'm an a Mac user, but just about all my complementary technology tools are PC friendly, so sometimes it takes me a while and a bit of know-how to figure things out. So I hope you will bear with me: I get there eventually

So please be a little patient as this site grows, and I'll try to keep it informative and interesting for you.

Cheers,

ACG