coffee school

the other evening i went to coffee school.

that's right, coffee school.

where i was taught how to make a proper decent coffee.

this was the equipment i used

it was very interesting being on this side of the machine.

i swear i didn't know how much care and attention goes into making

a double espresso... it was like a science lesson.

this is a detail of the grinder

the grinding of the beans makes all the difference and we spent

quite a while getting the grind just right for a 30 second pour.

this is one of the little jugs of espresso that we made while setting the machine

this is where we need scratch and sniff technology on this blog

grrr ! i don't even know what this thing is called

but you know what it is right ?

you pour the ground coffee into it, then tamp it.

the tamp is very, very important in the making of a coffee.

here's a double espresso i made when the machine was calibrated

this was one of the ( too ) many coffees i had to drink during the 2 hour lesson

more espressos were passed between the four of us to sample

which seemed like such a good idea at the time

we were taught how to make a nude espresso... or was it naked ?

it's where the water passes straight through the coffee and is a test that

the tamp has been done correctly

ideally the coffee should pour right through the centre 

and into the glass

this was one of my efforts

not bad...  nice streaks on the coffee too

you've no idea how much coffee we were getting through...

making it and drinking it... but unfortunately not ever throwing it away.

chris is seen here teaching us how to make a flat white

easy ? i don't think so

my first effort wasn't bad, but i poured in too much milk and it spilled all

over the place. my second attempt though...

... was a pretty good attempt at a heart.

a little off centre i know, but i think it's a good effort.

my first flat white...

excellent ! the heart stayed all the way down

damn it tasted very nice indeed.

i love coffee !

this next shot shows only a small number of the coffees 4 of us necked back

during the two hour course. 

drinking all the coffees seemed like a great idea at the time...

... at 5am though, having not got off to sleep yet, it seemed like it wasn't

such a great idea after all.

as a postscript, the next day i woke up at 7am having had less than 2 hours sleep.

i woke up feeling refreshed and all full of life. 

could i face my usual coffee in the morning though ?... no i couldn't.

in fact the day after coffee school was the first day i can remember in years and years

that i didn't have a coffee all day.

i'm writing this two days after coffee school and i still can't face having a coffee.

i very much recommend going to the coffee school. 

it is a real eye opener and helps you appreciate just how tricky it is to make

a good cup of coffee.

i would not however, recommend you drink every coffee you make during the course.

many thanks to chris and tim at the department of coffee and social affairs for this.


www.coffeesmithscollective.co.uk/coffeeschool/