INGREDIENTS
SERVES 1
12 g/2 heaped teaspoons cascara
500 g (500 ml/17 fl. oz) water heated to 90°C/194°F
Brew cascara in a teapot, French press or even straight into a suitable jug/pitcher, as long as you have a tea strainer to filter it with. Stick to a brew ratio of 24 g/¾ oz: 1 litre/1¾ pints.
BUTTER COFFEE
As the developed world trips over itself to renounce the high-carbohydrate diet, we seem to be finding ourselves test subjects in an ever-expanding range of new-age fat- and proteinbased meal options. And at the head of the charge is that one-time scapegoat for all things evil: butter. So it stands to reason that someone should mix butter with coffee, as if their proximity to one another on the breakfast table weren’t reason enough already.
Before you reach for any old block of butter though, you should know this first: The colour of your butter can be attributed to the diet of the cow that produced it. Studies show that carotenoids, such as beta-carotene – the stuff that gives carrots their colour – are also present in butter produced by grass-fed cows. Carotenoids are known for their antioxidant effects, so the hue of your butter can give some indication as to what the cow was fed on and the carotenoid content of your butter, darker apparently being better.
Sound wrong? Hey, let’s not forget that butter is made from milk/cream and we’re not so shy about mixing that with our morning brew. Actually, now that I think about it, what we are doing here is re-engineering a latte by blending milk fats into a black coffee.
Of course, fat and water don’t mix very well, so some jiggery-pokery may be required. Butter is an emulsion of fat and water, where the water phase (approximately 15 per cent) is trapped within a continuous phase of liquid fat and crystallized fat grains. In normal circumstances, adding butter to coffee causes it to split as the fat network breaks down. Blending briefly helps stabilize the mixture for a short time, but in my recipes I’ve used soy lecithin, which engineers a true emulsion of butter fat and coffee that will not split and will have a smoother, less greasy texture.
If the recipe below isn’t your cup of tea, how about coffee in your butter? It might sound strange, but all the wonderful roasty characteristics of coffee can supercharge the natural nuttiness of clarified brown butter and do a wonderful dance with the brown of a joint of beef or even a burger – it works a treat on toast, too. The recipe is simple: Mix 750 g/1⅔ lbs clarified butter with 250 g (250 ml/8 ½ fl. oz of hot filter coffee (brewed to your own specifications) then leave it to set harden in the fridge where it will keep indefinitely.
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2
300 g (300 ml/10 fl. oz) black coffee (naturally processed coffee [see page 30], or anything with earthy chocolate characteristics works well)
1.5 g/6 pinches soy lecithin
30 g/2 tablespoons butter (from grass-fed cows)
Combine one-third of the hot coffee with the lecithin using a stick blender (or whisk in a bowl). Blend on a fast setting for 20 seconds, then add the butter and blend for another 20 seconds. Slowly pour the remainder of the coffee in while still blending; it should take another 20 seconds. Sweeten if you like, then serve.
ICED COFFEE
All of us have an opinion on what temperature our coffee should be served at. For most, a sensible degree of heat in a filter coffee is just fine. A bit of temperature assists with the volatilization of aromatics in the mouth. Some people aren’t content that their drink is hot enough unless a layer of flesh is stripped from their soft palate. Some, like me, may prefer their coffee slightly cooler, allowing acidity to drop off slightly and body to thicken.
Genuinely cold black coffee, though? That is perhaps a stretch for even for the most experimental among us. But in recent years icing up a filter brew has become all the rage when the sun is shining. While the cynic in me sees the iced coffee trend as an essential hot-weather earner for panicked café operators, iced coffee at its best offers a refreshing, low-calorie beverage, with all the delicious characteristics of the coffee that you love.
It does taste a bit different, however. The colder our tongues get, the harder it is to detect its sweetness. This phenomenon explains is why ice cream is such a delight straight from the freezer, but nauseatingly sweet once it has melted. It also explains why iced coffee has a more pronounced bitterness and less sweetness to back it up – lending itself well to lighter roasted coffee, where we find that as the sweetness drops off, a clean and crisp ‘bite’ is its replacement.
In terms of brewing technique I would recommend using a paper filter or Aeropress and brewing directly onto ice. Ice adds another variable to the mix, and an important one at that. As your brewed coffee hits the ice, the ice will do what it does so well, and begin to melt. Now, the melt is something that needs consideration before you brew, since the coffee will become diluted and weaker over time. I’ve heard much discussion on the ratio of ice to brewing water in the past, but in my opinion it is a moot point. The amount of ice you use makes little difference, since unless it is an inordinately small amount, it is highly unlikely that it will melt in its entirety. Also, the melting action of the ice will drop off significantly once the coffee is chilled to near 0°C/32°F. In an ideal world, we would calculate the precise amount of meltage expected before constructing the drink, but this is difficult as it depends on a number of factors: temperature of the ice, temperature of vessel holding the ice, level of insulation provided by the vessel, and whether the coffee/ice mixture is stirred or not.
My approach requires some forward planning, but ultimately results in a consistent drink every single time. You see, the only guaranteed way to overcome the uncertainties of dilution from ice is to chill the coffee with more coffee. By using coffee ice cubes to cool down your coffee, you can have the best of both worlds, chilling and preserving the strength of the beverage at the same time! Oh, and if you’re going to the trouble of making coffee ice cubes, be sure to try them with your favourite whiskies, rums and Tequilas!
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 1
420 g (420 ml/14 fl. oz) black coffee (brewed with a paper filter [see pages 128–9) or an Aeropress [see pages 134–7])
1 Decant the coffee into ice-cube trays.
2 Cover the trays and allow to cool, then place in the freezer for at least 12 hours.
3 Repeat step 1, scaling the recipe up to the desired quantity, but bearing in mind that the size of the finished drink will increase by at least 50 per cent as the ice melts.
4 Measure 100 g/3½ oz of coffee ice-cubes for every 100 g (100 ml/3½ fl oz) of hot-brewed coffee that you have made.
5 Add the ice cubes to the brewed coffee, then stir for 60 seconds to chill.
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APPENDIX
COFFEE-PRODUCING COUNTRIES
Over one-third of all the world’s countries produce coffee and most of them sit within the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Each country produces its own style of coffee, and many have individual regional traits too. Some countries will experience one harvest a year and others two; some have long drawn out seasons, which means they harvest for most of the year round. Over the following pages you will find a brief synopsis of the operations of 40 coffee-producing countries (some of which do not feature on the map opposite, because they fail to reach the commercial criteria listed below, but are still worthy of an honourable mention.)
THE COFFEE BELT
The map opposite includes the countries that are currently producing coffee on a commercial scale (measured as over one thousand 60-kg/130-lb bags a year). Nations are ranked based on their total annual production of green coffee at the time of writing, but the exact standings are prone to shifting as the year’s crops come in. The map is also colour coded, indicating whether Arabica, Robusta, or both species are commercially grown in that specific country. Countries that produce both species tend to favour Arabica, however.
COUNTRIES BY PRODUCTION
1 Brazil
2 Vie
tnam
3 Colombia
4 Indonesia
5 Ethiopia
6 India
7 Honduras
8 Peru
9 Uganda
10 Mexico
11 Guatemala
12 Ivory Coast
13 Malaysia
14 Costa Rica
15 Nicaragua
16 Tanzania
17 Thailand
18 Papua New Guinea
19 Kenya
20 El Salvador
21 Venezuela
22 Madagascar
23 Cameroon
24 The Philippines
25 Laos
26 Ecuador
27 Dominican Republic
28 Haiti
29 Rwanda
30 Democratic Republic of Congo
31 Burundi
32 Guinea
33 Togo
34 Yemen
35 Bolivia
36 Cuba
37 Panama
38 Sierra Leone
39 USA(Hawaii)
40 Nigeria
41 Angola
42 Ghana
43 Malawi
44 Jamaica
45 Central African Republic
46 Liberia
AFRICA
BURUNDI
Since Burundi is beginning to compete seriously in the speciality coffee arena, it is easy to forget that most of its inhabitants live in relative poverty; in 2013 the country was ranked second in the Global Hunger Index. Coffee is grown throughout Burundi, one of the smallest countries in Africa, and business is focused on 150 or so centralized washing stations. A large number of these are owned by the government (although this is starting to change) and they process the coffee from many, sometimes hundreds, of small, family-run farms. In the past this has raised concern about the ease of traceability, but the authorities are now alert to this and are taking steps to improve the flow of information from farm to roaster. As in neighbouring Rwanda, the bacterial disease known as ‘potato defect’ has caused enormous disruption in the past but now seems to be coming under control. Expect flavours similar to those found in Rwanda.
ETHIOPIA
Seen by many as the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is today perhaps the most exciting producing country in the world. It provides some fantastic coffees from a pot of thousands of natural heirloom mutations of the typica variety. Coffee character can range from floral and peachy to sweetly citric, chocolate, Assam tea and heady wild berries. It is certainly worth looking out for coffees from the Harrar region (especially those that have been naturally processed) and the awesome washed coffees of the Yirgacheffe region in the south.
KENYA
Kenya’s chief export is tea, which accounts for 21 per cent of the country’s total export revenue – almost four times the export income from coffee. What Kenyan coffee lacks in quantity, however, it undoubtedly makes up in quality. It was Kenyan coffee that was responsible for one of my first coffee epiphanies – of which there have been many – and it continues to amaze me to this day. Famed for its juicy red-and-black-fruit acidic characteristics, Kenyan coffee is grown mostly on either large estates or smallholdings in the central and western regions, and tends to consist of washed typica hybrids such as SL–28, SL–34 and K7 varieties.
MALAWI
Malawi grows a wide range of coffee varieties, including catimor and the famed geisha, which are at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of quality. This confusion of identity is a reminder that coffee production is very much in its adolescence in Malawi, one of the smallest producing countries in the world. Considering the diversity of the regions and varieties, however, we may expect to see some wonderful Malawian coffees in the future.
RWANDA
Rwanda has been forced to overcome some terrible events and disasters over the years, not least the genocide of 1994, which claimed the lives of nearly 10 per cent of the entire population. Coffee became a big part of Rwanda’s recovery, leading to the emergence of some truly stunning bourbon and Mibirizi (a Rwandan mutation of bourbon) varieties. The cream of the crop has ripe-fleshy-fruit qualities … but keep an eye out for the notorious Rwandan ‘potato defect’, caused by a type of bacteria that attacks the coffee cherry.
TANZANIA
As Tanzania shares its borders with every major African coffee-producing country except Ethiopia, it should go without saying that country’s own terroir and climate are also perfect for producing coffee. In the north-west of Tanzania, near Lake Victoria, there is widespread robusta production, which makes up around 25–30 per cent of the country’s total output. In the east, bordering Kenya, we find estates on the volcanic highlands surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro producing some very interesting juicy arabica coffees from largely bourbon, Kent and typica varieties.
Ethiopian women sorting coffee beans by hand at the Bagersh coffee factory in Addis Ababa. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy.
UGANDA
Uganda is the second-biggest coffee-producing country in Africa after Ethiopia. On the face of it, this seems surprising since high-quality Ugandan coffees are difficult to find. The explanation is that Uganda produces mostly robusta coffee, which is indigenous to the country; it is, in fact, the world’s second-biggest robusta exporter after Vietnam. In addition to the typically African high-grown, juicy, washed arabicas, in the west of the country we find some heavier, naturally processed coffees (see page 29) known colloquially as ‘drugars’. Washed coffees are called ‘wugars’.
ZAMBIA
Zambia is a relative newcomer to the world of coffee, and especially to speciality coffee, having only established a commercial platform for coffee in the past 50 years. The implementation of modern practices can therefore be taken for granted, especially on the larger estates, which account for the lion’s share of coffee exports. Zambia can best be described as ‘one to watch’. Expect to find fresh fruity acidity in the best examples.
ZIMBABWE
Unlike most producing nations in Africa, Zimbabwe has seen a dramatic decline in coffee production. Annual output has fallen from 15,000 tonnes in the late 1980s to just 500 tonnes in 2013. Production dropped significantly in 2000, when black militants loyal to President Robert Mugabe stormed the farms of white Zimbabwean nationals and seized them. Lots of coffee land was lost in the process and afterwards the international community shunned the idea of buying from the new farmers. The European Union has put forward plans to inject capital into the industry in the hope of reviving it, but there are concerns that many of the coffee plantations are in the eastern highlands on contested land, which the European Union is reluctant to invest in.
Peru is producing almost twice the coffee it did 10 years ago, as this coffee shop in Ollantaytambo would no doubt attest to.
Coffee accounts for only 2.5% of Brazil’s exports; 100 years ago, around the time this advertisement was published, it was closer to 50%.
THE AMERICAS
BOLIVIA
Bolivia has produced some great coffees in recent years, but the future of this relatively small player looks uncertain as annual production declines. The decline is due partly to the difficulty of transporting crops across the often challenging terrain and partly to the fact that Bolivia is landlocked, meaning that exports generally pass through the ports of Peru. The more lucrative prospects associated with the cultivation of coca (the plant from which cocaine is manufactured) represent another significant threat to Bolivian’s already vulnerable coffee industry.
BRAZIL
The world’s largest producer since the mid-19th century, Brazil is so closely associated with coffee that the country’s very name is almost synonymous with the product. Frank Sinatra was correct when he sang ‘They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil’. Export of coffee is worth more than £4 billion/$6.2 billion a year to Brazil and the Brazilians have become exceptionally efficient at growing it. Coffee farming is almost entirely mechanized, with a ‘pick now, sort later’ approach, and as such the diffe
rence in quality is quite broad. Around 80 per cent of production, which takes place mostly in the southeastern regions of the country, consists of arabica varieties, and higher-quality examples can be traced to an individual farm (fazenda). It is difficult to narrow down flavours from an operation on this scale, but for me it is the buttery, milk-chocolate, nutty, low-acidity examples that keep me coming back.
COLOMBIA
Colombia is an excellent example of how regionality can affect coffee character. The long strip of producing regions that tracks the north-to-south slice of the Andes gives rise to a broad range of arabica styles, from cleanly acidic through to nutty, chocolatey and tropical. In the past, traceability has been an issue, but there have recently been more and more examples of direct trade, and with direct trade come some exceptionally tasty coffees, especially from the southern Nariño region and the central Tolima area. Colombian coffees remain one of the more sought-after and more expensive options in the marketplace.
COSTA RICA
Costa Rica is usually my first port of call when I am welcoming someone into the world of speciality coffee. Robusta was made illegal by the Costa Rica government in 1989, which speaks volumes about this country’s commitment to high-quality, high-value coffee. A craft-centred revolution has occurred by which small growers, or collections of growers, have invested in their own wet-milling equipment, allowing them greater control over the processing of their coffee; while roasters enjoy exceptional traceability of product to a particular farm, and in some cases an individual slope, or side, of that farm. Micro-mills have also spawned the range of honey-processing options (see page 31) that the country has become famous for. The diverse range of styles to be found in Costa Rica is certainly worth taking time to explore. Expect to see balanced sweetness in the washed coffees and more funky earthiness in the honey-processed and natural examples.
The Curious Barista's Guide to Coffee Page 20