Let’s face it, we New Zealanders are a bit boastful of our ‘coffee culture’ – sniffing at the horrors of American coffee chain stores or the slop we find in London.
But FoodHub discovered to our chagrin that the world gold standard for coffee is issued by none other than the American-based Coffee Quality Institute. Gravity coffee’s brewmaster, Stu Hargie is the only Kiwi with the prestigious Q licence for graders. That means he knows the taste of a good bean, or roast, but also that he really cares about the sustainability of high quality coffee production and the lives of the farming families who grow it. Stu also happens to be a qualified world barista and world brewers’ cup judge, coaching last year’s winner of the Asia-Pacific Barista of the Year Aymon McQuade.
So we knew we were going to learn heaps when we joined the winners of the FoodHub Gravity masterclass to sniff, swish and spit our way through coffees from around the world. Stu showed us videos of the farmers, how beans are grown and processed, all part of Gravity’s Walk with the Grower programme. He’s particularly proud of the healthcare, housing and education provided for families working at their biggest estate in El Salvador. Green beans arrive in New Zealand mere weeks after they’ve been picked, for Stu’s team to roast and blend.
Coffee aroma perception has a language – and a romance – much like wine. Beans from each country of origin in the Africas, Americas or Asia have distinct flavour profiles - from flowery, citrus or fruity to earthy, caramelly or nutty. Add in various strengths of roasting (Kiwis are getting used to a lighter roast ) and then the blends (of roast strengths and origin) and we were beginning to understand why coffee is such a complex art.
Stu is keen that we wean ourselves of the strong espresso method of brewing coffee and learn to taste different notes in a coffee. When we ‘cupped’ the same coffee blend we could see how the chemex method (a paper filter inside a drip cone) was fruitier than a siphon brew (a fabulous contraption of glass jug and flask , a groovy version of that seventies dinner-party percolator), both less rich than a standard plunger.
Cup perfection;
- Grind beans only as you need them, as the aromas start to dissipate immediately.
- If you can find one, use a burr grinder (the old hand-held ones are fine), rather than a bladed spice grinder to crush the beans rather than slice them.
- Boil the water, then allow it to cool to around 92.5 degrees before pouring over the coffee.
- Whatever the brewing method, allow 60 g of coffee per litre of water – yes, measure accurately as if you were baking.
- Let the coffee steep for 4 minutes for best flavour – not too weak, but too soon for the bitter notes of the bean to extract.
- Drink and savour.
