[I_Am_Experienced] Coffee - A small slice of discovery.

Roasting - Flavour & aroma!

All of the flavour and aroma that we enjoy in coffee is created by the roasting process.
Green coffee beans are heated to between 180ºC and 240ºC for 8 to 15  minutes,  depending on the degree of roast required. The heating process precipitates the release of caffeol, or coffee oil, the essence of coffee that we enjoy in the cup.

Roasting is one part art, one part science, and several parts judgment. Too much heat and the beans are roasted too dark and too much caffeol is burnt; not enough and the caffeol is not precipitated. In industrial quantities, the process is carefully controlled, but in smaller quantities, it is down to individual judgement. The higher the roast, the more uniform the resulting flavour.

Flavour: the distinctive quality of a particular food

Aroma: a distintive and typically pleasant smell

 (The image is from http://www.sauvieislandcoffee.com/roasting.html)

How good a cup of espresso?

Good espresso is expensive to make because in order to extract the greatest amount of flavour from the coffee, a high level of pressure is required and thus a high specification machine. 

Yet when making espresso, it is important not to over-extract the coffee, which means the machine should be switched off sooner, rather than later. While the coffee is still coming out as a golden brown liquid, it is perfect. This liquid is the crema, that lies on top of the black coffee underneath. The crema will disappear a few minutes after the coffee is made, but in those few minutes it will tell you everything about the quality of the espresso. Too light, or too thick or too thin: all mean that the espresso is sub standard.

 (The image is from http://whipup.net/2006/06/21/flickr-ing-espresso-art/)

How good a cup of cappuccino?

Espresso is the foundation of cappuccino; it is the coffee upon which a luxuriant structure of frothed milk is ladled and poured.

It is essential that the cups are warm when the milk is poured in or the froth will deflate. They are normally stored upsidedown on top of the espresso machine. The combination of frothed and steamed milk is then poured and ladled onto the coffee in the cup, gently as though folding it in. The small amount of remaining milk is also poured in to realize the perfect cappuccino.

Forthed: formed by a rising or overflowing mass of small bubbles

(The image is from http://boncafevn.com/eng/recipes.html)

[The information is from http://www.ico.org/]