How to do creative coffee blending? World champion baristas and bartenders teach experience!

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In a broad sense, Cocktail refers to all alcoholic beverages. The basic elements are nothing more than spirits, sugar, water, bitterness and various flavor sources. The materials seem simple, but if they are disassembled one by one, every ingredient is worth pondering carefully.

Among them, coffee blending is very interesting. Coffee and spirits are independent drinks, each with ever-changing flavors, so is coffee or spirits the protagonist of coffee blending? How to squeeze the concentration ratio of coffee to wine to produce a taste-balanced, delicate and bright work?

In order to solve the doubt, NOM Magazine invited Berg, the world champion barista and co-founder of Simple Kaffa, and Nick, the world champion and founder of the Bar Mood bar of the world's top wine blending contest (World Class), to hold tasting lectures to reinterpret the classic blend "Irish Coffee" (Irish Coffee), and each designed a creative coffee blend to decipher the logic of the flavor mix from a completely different perspective.

▲ from left to right: Wu Yingxian, Wu Zelin

Baristas and bartenders have very different starting points?

The trend of boutique coffee has swept the world for more than 20 years. From varieties, manors and treatments in producing areas to roasting and extraction, there are so many variables that can be adjusted. Whether the finished product is thick and full or refreshing and fragrant is in the hands of bean bakers and baristas. As a result, Wu Zelin, who not only baked beans but also stood there, said, "when you look at coffee blending, you will think about how to present the flavor that coffee is trying to show in coffee blending." "this is not an easy task, because the flavor of fine coffee is already delicate and difficult to detect, and the taste of spirits or other ingredients is often much stronger, so he never holds the proportion of base liquor too high.

Interestingly, the bartender's way of thinking is completely different. "for bartenders, any blending must highlight the flavor of the base liquor." But at the same time, we can not ignore the flavor and aroma of coffee itself, and finally achieve a balance between the two. "he said," it is still necessary to make the guests feel like drinking alcohol. He added with a smile.

But what is the exact proportion? Take Irish coffee as an example, "when I took part in the World Coffee blending Competition, I chose a rose summer, which has a very elegant floral flavor." Wu Zelin said that the cup is 240 milliliters, the hand-brewed coffee is 180 milliliters, the whisky is only 20-25 milliliters, and the rest is whipped cream and sugar, which is equivalent to only about 10 percent of the base wine. Wu Yingxian responded with interest: "Yes!" I am different, usually I will add more than 40 milliliters of base wine, coffee will generally maintain at least 2.5-3 times, so the whole cup capacity is not the same. "as for the choice of base wine, we will talk about it next. In addition, he also mentioned the restrictions on making coffee in bars: perhaps because of the myth that you can't sleep when drinking coffee at night, coffee mixing has always been rare, so some bars do not necessarily have brewing equipment. Even if there are," when the store is crowded with a large number of customers and orders different drinks at the same time, it may take five minutes to make coffee and then mix drinks, which can be completed in that time. He said that inconsistent efficiency has become a realistic consideration, and the compromise is usually extracted on the same day and then cooled by ice, and then sealed and used to maintain a certain quality.

There is no absolute who is the protagonist, coffee or wine.

Although bartenders and baristas have their own insistence, there is no certainty about who is the "protagonist" of wine or coffee. "if they are precious, rare and delicate coffee beans, of course they will take coffee as the main axis. The point is to respect the material. "said Wu Yingxian.

And coffee is the same. "sometimes you have to think from another angle. When you make coffee, you usually avoid excessive or insufficient extraction, but when you make coffee, you often deliberately do so, such as making coffee with particularly high acidity, and then match it with suitable spirits and seasonings to achieve a balance of sour, sweet and bitter. In coffee blending, coffee is not the only protagonist, but a kind of material. "We also understand the spirit of wine blending, as Wu Ying-hsien said," spirits are not easy to drink, so it is necessary to make them. In other words, there are no bad products, just see how you fill the flavor and create a good product. "although each of them has a different starting point, the ultimate goal is this.

What is a good finished product?

"A good mixed drink must have a clear main axis and a layered flavor balance. "said Wu Yingxian.

Returning to the source of creation, both he and Wu Zelin will first set an abstract theme, which is usually a feeling. "my words will first have a picture, whether it is forest, low alcohol or carnival at night. The same is true of Wu Zelin. for example, when participating in the competition, he chose the flower-scented geisha coffee with the "feeling of being in the garden" as the main axis. Once the theme is decided, other ingredients are used to set off, and the creation is naturally organic.

In addition, mixed drinks and coffee can not be without the sour, sweet, bitter golden triangle, but "each ingredient taste emergence stage is different, so there is a pre -, medium, and aftertaste." Therefore, the key point is to prevent the ingredients from competing with each other, but to perform their respective duties in the front, middle and back stages. Wu Ying-hsien says, however, how to lay it out depends on the tongue. "the flavor cannot be measured by an instrument, so you must try the taste. It depends on experience. At the same time, he said, he also mentioned that everyone will inevitably have different opinions and can only do their best.

Remember, however, that when stacking flavors, you must stick to the core theme so as not to become different. When making creative drinks, Wu Zelin will review his works in terms of aroma, taste and aftertaste, avoiding the addition of ingredients that are not helpful to the performance of the main axis. "sometimes less is more. Wu Ying-hsien concludes that some people will add six or seven ingredients at a time, but in the end they can't drink them with a sense of hierarchy, so they lose their meaning.

Disassemble the element, how to play?

So specifically, how can various blending elements be played? Creativity is based on classics. Taking Irish coffee as an example, Shuangwu puts forward all kinds of possibilities in the basic composition of coffee, whisky, sugar and whipped cream.

Coffee beans should be roasted with thick deep roasting or shallow roasting with high acidity, and should they be extracted by concentrated water, hand washing or siphon? Does Irish Whiskey's brand want Jameson or Bushmills, old style or not, is the flavor delicate or rich? Do you want to use white granulated sugar, second sand, black sugar, honey or homemade flavor syrup for sweet taste? Also, do you want to add sugar to the whipped cream or smoke the whipped cream? "before taking part in the competition, we mixed two Irish teams by ourselves. Wu Zelin said that after listening to this, Wu Yingxian said sympathetically, "I think it really depends on how careful you are. "

Even in the blending techniques are different, "in the case of Ireland, you can decide whether to follow the traditional lighting and burning sugar, and it is like another classic mixed espresso martini, which combines coffee with wine by shaking. And make a beautiful layer of foam; at this time, the type and quantity of ice selected will be different, the amount of melting water, temperature and foam will be different. "Wu Yingxian explained. Let's just say that the devil is in the details.

No matter how you look at coffee blending, coffee and spirits can actually be regarded as a source of flavor, through proportion and flavor stacking, the ultimate goal is to show a clear main axis. In fact, this is the principle followed by any drink and cuisine, isn't it?

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