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Holly shakes his head. He knows plenty about coffee, but wishes he knew more - and recognizes that there is still a vast amount of knowledge waiting for him to discover. He doesn't say it, but you can tell that Holly thinks this willingness to rush into the coffee business, without wanting or caring to know anything about coffee, is a dangerous thing - particularly dangerous to the goals of the SCAA, of which Holly is administrative director. The whole point is to serve good coffee, not repeat mistakes from the past that result from a lack of coffee knowledge.
Coffee, to state the obvious, is a complex beverage. But too many coffee retailers, coffeehouses, cafes, and restaurants, who are brewing up pot after pot, aren't grasping this obvious fact. They're buying good coffee, spending plenty of money on equipment, and have enough repeat business to warrant a feeling of a job well done, yet they're sabotaging the whole effort by brewing coffee that is just okay, better than a cup of instant but nothing that couldn't be dramatically better with just a little more knowledge and some practical adjustments.
To be fair, many retailers are unaware of proper brewing procedures through no fault of their own. For years, people have been led to believe that 2.5 oz. or less of coffee will make an acceptable 64 oz. pot of coffee. It won't. The SCAA recommends using a minimum of 3 1/4 oz., and up to 4 1/4 oz., of coffee to 64 oz. of water in order to achieve a good pot of coffee. How much coffee to use in ratio to water is merely one example of the many areas about which people are commonly misinformed. The amount, 2.5 oz., seems to be popular largely because the emphasis in the last 20 years has been on keeping costs low and increasing yields. "Use less, save money" advertising campaigns from the late 1970s and 1980s were commonplace. Because of that conditioning of the market, many people resist their supplier's suggestion to use more coffee per brew, assuming it to just be a pitch to get them to use more, buy more. Yet if they would listen and put these helpful tips into practice, they would find that the dramatic improvement in beverage flavor would lead to increased sales. Many retailers just don't realize that quality can be greatly improved through minor adjustments in their brewing practices.
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That's why the SCAA has introduced a new effort aimed at improving the brewing practices of all coffee establishments: The Golden Cup Program. Those who brew in accordance with the SCAA's brewing standards promulgated by the program are eligible for the award, and can get a good-looking plaque for in-store display and consumer recognition. Those stores that don't yet brew what the SCAA deems to be a "golden cup" will, nonetheless (through the process of trying to obtain the award), learn how to brew a significantly better pot of coffee and brew it consistently. This is a win-win situation, where overall sales can increase at all levels with the improvement of the coffee beverages sold.
What's in a Cup?
While acknowledging that there are subjective factors at work in distinguishing what makes a good cup ofcoffee, Holly says that there are some absolutes - some measurable factors that can be controlled to consistently achieve a relatively excellent brew. In the 1950s and the 1960s, a great deal of scientific research was done by the Coffee Brewing Institute of the Pan-American Coffee Bureau. The SCAA's standards are based on this research, as well as that of the Norwegian Coffee Brewing Institute.
These entities found that much of how we perceive the quality, the "deliciousness" if you will, of a cup of coffee comes down to, technically speaking, a favorable combination of strength and extraction.
Strength is discussed technically as the concentration of soluble components in the beverage. In other words, strength, as Karalynn McDermott said in a presentation at the 1996 SCAA show, is a measure of the concentration of soluble components "expressed as a percentage, comparing the amount of coffee flavor material to the amount of water in the final beverage." There is a range of brew strength that has been determined to be most desirable or pleasing to most people. That range of solubles concentration is between 1.0-1.5%.
Ideally, coffee is between 98.5% and 99% water. The balance would be the extracted elements from the coffee beans (soluble concentration) which makes up the beverage's strength. Less than 1% is too weak. More than 1.5% is generally too strong for most people. However, as Carl Staub, of Agtron Inc., developer of the Agtron/SCAA Brewing Analysis Kit - which is used to test brewing systems applying for the Golden Cup award - says, "Beverage strength is really a personal preference. In specialty coffee, we've identified a target range, but it wouldn't be wrong to like your coffee stronger or weaker." He adds that it's a different story with extraction levels.
Extraction "is a measure of the solubles yield," according to McDermott. "It is also expressed as a percentage, comparing the amount of coffee flavoring materials in the beverage to the amount of coffee grounds used to prepare the beverage," she said in her presentation. Essentially, it is how much material from the grounds ends up being extracted into the water. For the solubles yield, 18-22% is the target range. Lower than 18% of the extractable particles in a coffee bean extracted will result in the grassy, peanut-like flavors inherent with underextraction. More than 22% is overextracted and will cause undesirable astringent or bitter flavors to present themselves.
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Strength and extraction are vital in defining what a cup of coffee is. The whole point of brewing coffee is to extract some (but definitely not all) of the elements from the coffee beans into the water, and ending up with a desired strength or concentration of those elements that is pleasing to the palate.
Where the ranges of optimum strength and optimum extraction intersect is known as 'optimum balance.' Through brewing analysis, an SCAA certified brewing technician can tell if this optimum balance is being achieved. If so, and if other critical brewing criteria are met, a Golden Cup Award will be presented. If not, however, the applicant is still in luck. The Golden Cup program is designed to improve brewing practices, not to punish those who don't meet the SCAA's standards. The idea is to help retailers achieve those standards. So, rather than fail, a retailer who doesn't yet achieve Golden Cup status as determined by brewing analysis simply makes adjustments in their brewing practices (such as using a different grind or more coffee or better water) in order to achieve the optimum balance of strength and extraction. When they do achieve it, they are granted the award. Even if they don't receive the award, they will, almost without exception, be brewing better coffee than they were before the analysis, which will please them and their customers.
Inspecting the Elements
There are numerous factors in the brewing process that affect the balance of strength and extraction, and that otherwise affect the quality of the brewed beverage. Each is critical and is looked at by the technicians conducting the on-site brew analysis for those operations hoping to receive the Golden Cup Award. It's helpful to look at each one individually. Note that most of the information from this section is largely based on that found in the Coffee Brewing Handbook (CBH), first edition, written by executive director of the SCAA, Ted Lingle, and from Carl Staub's directions for using the Agtron/SCAA brewing analysis kit, which is comprised of the tools the inspecting technicians use in their analysis. Furthermore, the original science from which these materials derive was done by Earl E. Lockhart, Ph.D., who was a professor of Food Science at M.I.T. and scientific director of the Coffee Brewing Institute from 1952-1964.
Currently, there are 150 technicians who have been trained by the SCAA's scientific wing, the Specialty Coffee Institute. They record information about the particular brewing program being tested. They first note what coffee blend is being tested, the SCAA/Agtron Tile number for the roast classification, and the grind measurement. They also take note of the type of brewing equipment (urn, shuttle system, etc.), the manufacturer, and the size (in fluid ounces and gallons). They then begin the objective evaluation, which is essentially an on-site soluble solids test (there is also a subjective evaluation).
Water Quality
The first measurement taken in the objective analysis is that of the total dissolved solids in the water used to brew tile coffee. It seems like a no-brainer, but many a cup of coffee could taste dramatically better with just a little more attention paid to the water being used to brew it. Comprising 98.5-99.0% of the final beverage, water is critical to the final flavor. The best tasting coffee will be brewed from water that has between 50-100 ppm of total dissolved solids (TDS). For the Golden Cup Award, one of the two most critical factors is the net amount of TDS in the final brewed beverage (its strength). That optimum is between 1,150 ppm (or 1.15% by weight basis) and 1,350 ppm (or 1.35% by weight basis). The amount of TDS present in the water to begin with is recorded and later subtracted from the gross TDS of the brewed beverage to determine its net TDS (or true strength).
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"This guy called me up the other day and said he's planning to open a coffee store. He's been looking at some locations and wants to be up and running in three months," says Don Holly, with a slight smile that he gives to those who are familiar with this all-too-common scenario. "He doesn't know anything about coffee, but he's been told by others in the business, and therefore understands, that he doesn't really need to know much of anything about coffee. He's asking me which seminars at the SCAA show are essential, and which ones he call skip."Holly shakes his head. He knows plenty about coffee, but wishes he knew more - and recognizes that there is still a vast amount of knowledge waiting for him to discover. He doesn't say it, but you can tell that Holly thinks this willingness to rush into the coffee business, without wanting or caring to know anything about coffee, is a dangerous thing - particularly dangerous to the goals of the SCAA, of which Holly is administrative director. The whole point is to serve good coffee, not repeat mistakes from the past that result from a lack of coffee knowledge.
Coffee, to state the obvious, is a complex beverage. But too many coffee retailers, coffeehouses, cafes, and restaurants, who are brewing up pot after pot, aren't grasping this obvious fact. They're buying good coffee, spending plenty of money on equipment, and have enough repeat business to warrant a feeling of a job well done, yet they're sabotaging the whole effort by brewing coffee that is just okay, better than a cup of instant but nothing that couldn't be dramatically better with just a little more knowledge and some practical adjustments.
To be fair, many retailers are unaware of proper brewing procedures through no fault of their own. For years, people have been led to believe that 2.5 oz. or less of coffee will make an acceptable 64 oz. pot of coffee. It won't. The SCAA recommends using a minimum of 3 1/4 oz., and up to 4 1/4 oz., of coffee to 64 oz. of water in order to achieve a good pot of coffee. How much coffee to use in ratio to water is merely one example of the many areas about which people are commonly misinformed. The amount, 2.5 oz., seems to be popular largely because the emphasis in the last 20 years has been on keeping costs low and increasing yields. "Use less, save money" advertising campaigns from the late 1970s and 1980s were commonplace. Because of that conditioning of the market, many people resist their supplier's suggestion to use more coffee per brew, assuming it to just be a pitch to get them to use more, buy more. Yet if they would listen and put these helpful tips into practice, they would find that the dramatic improvement in beverage flavor would lead to increased sales. Many retailers just don't realize that quality can be greatly improved through minor adjustments in their brewing practices.
That's why the SCAA has introduced a new effort aimed at improving the brewing practices of all coffee establishments: The Golden Cup Program. Those who brew in accordance with the SCAA's brewing standards promulgated by the program are eligible for the award, and can get a good-looking plaque for in-store display and consumer recognition. Those stores that don't yet brew what the SCAA deems to be a "golden cup" will, nonetheless (through the process of trying to obtain the award), learn how to brew a significantly better pot of coffee and brew it consistently. This is a win-win situation, where overall sales can increase at all levels with the improvement of the coffee beverages sold.
What's in a Cup?
While acknowledging that there are subjective factors at work in distinguishing what makes a good cup ofcoffee, Holly says that there are some absolutes - some measurable factors that can be controlled to consistently achieve a relatively excellent brew. In the 1950s and the 1960s, a great deal of scientific research was done by the Coffee Brewing Institute of the Pan-American Coffee Bureau. The SCAA's standards are based on this research, as well as that of the Norwegian Coffee Brewing Institute.
These entities found that much of how we perceive the quality, the "deliciousness" if you will, of a cup of coffee comes down to, technically speaking, a favorable combination of strength and extraction.
Strength is discussed technically as the concentration of soluble components in the beverage. In other words, strength, as Karalynn McDermott said in a presentation at the 1996 SCAA show, is a measure of the concentration of soluble components "expressed as a percentage, comparing the amount of coffee flavor material to the amount of water in the final beverage." There is a range of brew strength that has been determined to be most desirable or pleasing to most people. That range of solubles concentration is between 1.0-1.5%.
Ideally, coffee is between 98.5% and 99% water. The balance would be the extracted elements from the coffee beans (soluble concentration) which makes up the beverage's strength. Less than 1% is too weak. More than 1.5% is generally too strong for most people. However, as Carl Staub, of Agtron Inc., developer of the Agtron/SCAA Brewing Analysis Kit - which is used to test brewing systems applying for the Golden Cup award - says, "Beverage strength is really a personal preference. In specialty coffee, we've identified a target range, but it wouldn't be wrong to like your coffee stronger or weaker." He adds that it's a different story with extraction levels.
Extraction "is a measure of the solubles yield," according to McDermott. "It is also expressed as a percentage, comparing the amount of coffee flavoring materials in the beverage to the amount of coffee grounds used to prepare the beverage," she said in her presentation. Essentially, it is how much material from the grounds ends up being extracted into the water. For the solubles yield, 18-22% is the target range. Lower than 18% of the extractable particles in a coffee bean extracted will result in the grassy, peanut-like flavors inherent with underextraction. More than 22% is overextracted and will cause undesirable astringent or bitter flavors to present themselves.
Strength and extraction are vital in defining what a cup of coffee is. The whole point of brewing coffee is to extract some (but definitely not all) of the elements from the coffee beans into the water, and ending up with a desired strength or concentration of those elements that is pleasing to the palate.
Where the ranges of optimum strength and optimum extraction intersect is known as 'optimum balance.' Through brewing analysis, an SCAA certified brewing technician can tell if this optimum balance is being achieved. If so, and if other critical brewing criteria are met, a Golden Cup Award will be presented. If not, however, the applicant is still in luck. The Golden Cup program is designed to improve brewing practices, not to punish those who don't meet the SCAA's standards. The idea is to help retailers achieve those standards. So, rather than fail, a retailer who doesn't yet achieve Golden Cup status as determined by brewing analysis simply makes adjustments in their brewing practices (such as using a different grind or more coffee or better water) in order to achieve the optimum balance of strength and extraction. When they do achieve it, they are granted the award. Even if they don't receive the award, they will, almost without exception, be brewing better coffee than they were before the analysis, which will please them and their customers.
Inspecting the Elements
There are numerous factors in the brewing process that affect the balance of strength and extraction, and that otherwise affect the quality of the brewed beverage. Each is critical and is looked at by the technicians conducting the on-site brew analysis for those operations hoping to receive the Golden Cup Award. It's helpful to look at each one individually. Note that most of the information from this section is largely based on that found in the Coffee Brewing Handbook (CBH), first edition, written by executive director of the SCAA, Ted Lingle, and from Carl Staub's directions for using the Agtron/SCAA brewing analysis kit, which is comprised of the tools the inspecting technicians use in their analysis. Furthermore, the original science from which these materials derive was done by Earl E. Lockhart, Ph.D., who was a professor of Food Science at M.I.T. and scientific director of the Coffee Brewing Institute from 1952-1964.
Currently, there are 150 technicians who have been trained by the SCAA's scientific wing, the Specialty Coffee Institute. They record information about the particular brewing program being tested. They first note what coffee blend is being tested, the SCAA/Agtron Tile number for the roast classification, and the grind measurement. They also take note of the type of brewing equipment (urn, shuttle system, etc.), the manufacturer, and the size (in fluid ounces and gallons). They then begin the objective evaluation, which is essentially an on-site soluble solids test (there is also a subjective evaluation).
Water Quality
The first measurement taken in the objective analysis is that of the total dissolved solids in the water used to brew tile coffee. It seems like a no-brainer, but many a cup of coffee could taste dramatically better with just a little more attention paid to the water being used to brew it. Comprising 98.5-99.0% of the final beverage, water is critical to the final flavor. The best tasting coffee will be brewed from water that has between 50-100 ppm of total dissolved solids (TDS). For the Golden Cup Award, one of the two most critical factors is the net amount of TDS in the final brewed beverage (its strength). That optimum is between 1,150 ppm (or 1.15% by weight basis) and 1,350 ppm (or 1.35% by weight basis). The amount of TDS present in the water to begin with is recorded and later subtracted from the gross TDS of the brewed beverage to determine its net TDS (or true strength).
General brewing principles suggest that the water used for brewing should also be free of any taste, odor, or visible matter. Chlorine should be filtered out along with excess minerals. The water should be free of iron, which will give the brew a very unappetizing greenish hue. While not specifically tested for in the Golden Cup Program, these considerations are important for obtaining the best tasting brew possible, and problems here can affect the achievement of optimum balance sought.
The pH measurement of the water is also noted, because an out- of-balance pH measurement can also hinder achievement of the optimum balance of strength and extraction. The pH balance of a given water supply may be hard to change. It is helpful, however, to know what the water's pH is and what effect it may have on the brew, so that compensations can be made in other areas such as using more or less coffee or adjusting the grind. A pH of 7.0 is neutral, neither acidic nor alkaline, and is the optimum pH measurement for water. A change in pH of 0.1 is detectable by the palates of most people. Below 7.0 (6.9, for example), it is acidic (the lower the number, the more acidic it is) and will increase the solubility of the compounds in the coffee grounds. Above 7.0, it is alkaline and will form salts that reduce the fine acidity sought in some specialty coffees.
Brewing Recipe
The next item inspected is the recipe, the ratio of coffee grounds to water. One of the most important and often easiest ways to improve the taste of brewed coffee is to be sure you're using the proper brewing recipe. The guidelines set forth in the CBH are 9-11 gm. of coffee per six fluid ounces of water. For the ever-popular 64 oz. pot, as mentioned above, 3 1/4-4 1/4 oz. is the prescribed range. For the large urn brewers, one pound of coffee should be used with 2-2 1/2 gallons of water. An applicant for the Golden Cup Award who does not brew within this coffee to water ratio is not eligible for the award. "If the other brewing points are applied even to a non-eligible ratio, though," says Ted Lingle, "the coffee will still be greatly improved."
Using the appropriate amount of coffee grounds can prove to be a challenge in some brewing equipment. The practice of using less and less coffee to save on costs became so entrenched over the years since the original Golden Cup Program ended that most commercial brewing machines don't have filter baskets large enough to hold the proper amount of grounds without creating some spillover, particularly when the coffee is fresh. The SCAA is working with brewing equipment manufacturers to remedy this situation where it occurs. In the meantime, there are many who believe that better tasting coffee is worth the slight inconvenience of wiping a few grounds off the side of a filter basket.
For the inspector, the brewing recipe is critical in determining whether the optimum balance of strength and extraction is achieved. It provides two of the four variables in the equation. By using a chart and plotting the amount of coffee grounds, amount of water, and net TDS of the beverage, the soluble yield or extraction can be determined.
To get a Total Dissolved Solids reading of between 1,150 ppm and 1,350 ppm using a low drop weight such as 2 1/2 oz. for a 64 oz. brew, the coffee is going to have to be severely overextracted, creating unwanted bitter tastes. Using an amount well higher than the range is going to produce an underdeveloped brew at a desirable strength. Again, it's a balance of strength and extraction that is the art of brewing. This means careful measuring to ensure the use of the right amount of coffee for the amount of water used to brew.
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Measuring the TDS
Next, the technician measures the amount of total dissolved solids in the brewed beverage. He does this with the Brew Strength Meter, a device in the Agtron/SCAA Brewing Analysis Kit. This reading will include all dissolved solids that were originally in the water and those that were extracted from the coffee grounds and introduced into the beverage. This measurement is recorded and the total dissolved solids from the water (which was measured earlier) are subtracted to arrive at the net total of dissolved solids which represent the actual beverage strength. The target for this reading is 1,150 ppm to 1,350 ppm.
Figuring the Soluble Yield
With three variables recorded (strength in TDS, amount of coffee, and amount of water), the fourth variable, the soluble yield/soluble extraction, can be easily figured using the Coffee Brewing Control Chart as described above.
Troubleshooting
There are many factors in the brewing process that are looked at by the technicians that will affect the outcome of the brewed beverage and how it charts on the Coffee Brewing Control Chart.
Temperature
The first is brewing temperature. This is largely dictated by the brewing equipment and the altitude. Brewing temperature should be between 195 [degrees] F and 205 [degrees] F. This is critical. The flavor of coffee is made up of numerous chemica
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