Have you experienced fluctuations in the quality of raw beans in your baking experience?

For professional baristas, please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

Many people report that it is difficult to buy cheap practice beans, and it is no wonder that cheap beans are mostly classified as commercial beans. At present, [so-called boutique coffee] is popular, and under vigorous promotion, [so-called commercial beans] are naturally reviled. It seems that the use of [so-called commercial beans] is not very honorable.

However, in view of the output quality of the so-called boutique coffee self-baking industry, it seems that the output quality is not so satisfactory. It is common that mines are everywhere, making people doubt the value of high-priced beans.

Of course, high-priced boutique beans naturally have their own value and reasons, but not everyone will bake them high enough. It can only be said that there are still a small number of people who have the ability to bake high-priced beans. It is out of proportion to the popularity of fine coffee on the table.

The biggest reason for this comes from the low baking skills, which comes from the unstable quality of raw beans. The quality of raw beans here is unstable, not only the unstable quality of a single raw bean, but also the insufficient baking quantity in a single producing area, and the raw beans in another producing area are replaced before grasping the local characteristics of the producing area. It is common to see dozens of raw beans in a single month. There are only a few kinds that can be supplied normally. The amount of baked beans in a single producing area is insufficient, so that it is not enough to establish a stable baking quality, resulting in the instability of baking quality. That is, constantly changing the bean list, is the source of quality instability. The stability of baking quality requires a great deal of baking experience.

What is the taste of raw beans in a single producing area? It can't be known by baking a few pots. It must be used for a long time for 5-10 years. With the change of each season, it can be baked to a sufficient amount before it can be detected slowly. And how much is enough? If according to my experience, there must be at least one bag per month, more than 100 pots, after 12 months of a year, 5 years and 60 months of long-term experience in order to gradually grasp the so-called characteristics of the production area.

Why is it taking so long? Because the beans are different from year to year, the preservation conditions are different, and the baking methods are constantly improving. With the continuous improvement of cooking techniques and taste ability, it is impossible to have a stable quality in the process of continuous progress, and we must wait until one day we can integrate it into a sense of sudden penetration before we can begin to grasp the secret of it.

The experience of this period will take at least 10 years. Why? You can get a clue from the long-term fluctuation of coffee prices. The fluctuation of the price of raw beans is about a cycle of 10-15 years. In addition to artificial hype and supply demand, it is closely related to the situation of the place of origin. The price is high when the quantity decreases, and the price is low when the quantity increases. The quantity increment subtracts the influence price. The change of quality is also related to output. The fruit of a good harvest is sweet, on the contrary, when the harvest is bad, the quality is not ideal.

Let me give you an example. Yejia Sheffield G2, known as perfume coffee, began to disappear in 2003 and slowly returned to its basic taste after 2010, but it is still a long way from the word "perfume". What happened in Ethiopia in the past decade? Civil War, Great drought, Great Famine, changes in the quality and sales system of raw beans.

Another example is geisha, where all bidders should be aware that the quality and taste is declining year by year.

The taste is not always the same, the sense of taste is not always the same, it is always changing.

When will you join your own baking camp? Has your experience of baking beans experienced such fluctuations?