Fine Coffee specialty coffee (1) Conceptual definition

When it comes to the word specialty coffee, it can be traced back to as early as 1974 in the last century, when Ms. Erna Knutsen of the United States first put forward the concept in "tea and coffee trade journal", that is, the Journal of Tea and Coffee Trade, to refer to those coffee beans growing in a special environment with unique aroma and flavor. As a coffee buyer of B.C. Ireland in San Francisco, Erna Knutsen is very dissatisfied with the current situation of neglecting the quality of raw coffee beans in the industry, and even some big roasters mix a large amount of Robesda beans in the comprehensive beans, so he put forward the concept of fine coffee to advocate the improvement of the quality of the industry.

Over the past 30 years, the concept of specialty coffee has been rapidly accepted by people, and the boutique coffee market has developed rapidly with the continuous increase of boutique coffee retailers and cafes. Boutique coffee market has become one of the fastest growing industries in the catering service industry, and its sales in the United States alone reached 12.5 billion US dollars in 2007. A survey of coffee consumption trends in 2008 released by the National Coffee Association in early 2008 shows that total coffee consumption is decreasing, but boutique coffee consumption is on the rise. The proportion of daily coffee consumption for adults has fallen from 57% last year to 55% this year, while the consumption of boutique coffee for adults over the age of 25 has increased from 14% to 17%.

Engaged in the coffee industry for three years, I have been drinking fine coffee and making fine coffee every day, and the understanding of fine coffee has gradually deepened. In fact, at the beginning, Erna Knutsen's definition of "fine coffee" has become narrow today. "Coffee beans with unique aroma and flavor grown in a special environment" should be called "boutique coffee raw beans", while the concept of "boutique coffee" includes the whole process from raw bean production, roasting, grinding and extraction to a cup of coffee, the "boutique" standard extends from crop to cup.

First of all, about the production of coffee beans.

Boutique coffee beans must be excellent varieties, such as the original bourbon species, mocha species and Tippica species. The coffee beans produced by these trees have unique aroma and flavor, which is far from that of other tree species, but the relative yield is low. In recent years, in order to pursue the ability of disease and insect resistance and increase the yield, there are many improved tree species, such as Kenya to promote a large number of high-yield rurial11 species, but the taste and quality are greatly reduced. Of course, you can't call it "boutique coffee".

The growing environment of boutique coffee beans also has its uniqueness. Generally grow at an altitude of 1500 meters or even more than 2000 meters above sea level, with appropriate precipitation, sunshine, temperature and soil conditions, some also have some special geographical environment, such as the alpine clouds in the blue mountain area, the free shade provided by Kona's afternoon "Flying Cloud", and the volcanic ash soil in Antigua, which provide conditions for the growth of boutique coffee.

The production of boutique coffee also requires the careful cultivation of coffee farmers from seedling to harvest. Among them, the picking of coffee fruits is particularly important, and many experts emphasize that "only ripe fruits are picked", because those immature and overripe fruits will affect the balance and stability of coffee flavor. therefore, fine coffee needs to be picked frequently and carefully during the harvest period.

The picked coffee fruit still needs to be processed in time. If it is not dealt with in time, the pulp of coffee will deteriorate and affect the taste of coffee beans. Generally speaking, if the water quality and time of the beans are not properly mastered during the fermentation process, the coffee beans will easily be infected with the sour taste of excessive fermentation, and the beans treated by the dry method should also be checked in time to prevent the coffee beans from being contaminated by wet ground and sundries. Processed beans should be dried in time, and the drying should also have a certain degree. Generally, the moisture content of processed beans is 11% 13%. Insufficient drying can easily make beans moldy, and excessive drying can easily affect the flavor of beans.

After processing, raw beans are generally preserved in the form of parchment with endocarp. The endocarp is removed before export, and then goes through a strict manual grading process to ensure uniform quality. Generally speaking, it takes more than a month to transport the raw beans from the producing country to the baker. in this process, the preservation of raw beans is also very important. proper temperature, humidity, protection from exposure and good ventilation are all necessary. otherwise, even the best quality raw beans are prone to problems and can not continue their "fine products".

(coffee Ming comes from boutique manor beans from world-famous coffee producing countries.)

(coffee Mingjia comes from kenyaAA selected coffee beans from gethumbwini Farm in thika, Kenya)

Affecting the taste of a cup of coffee, raw bean station accounts for 60%, baking accounts for 30%, and extraction accounts for 10%. So if the production and processing of raw beans are done, 60% of the boutique coffee has already taken shape. The next key factor in determining boutique coffee is roasting. Excellent bakers can analyze and judge the personality and taste characteristics of high-quality raw beans, so as to take proper baking to maximize their flavor, while improper baking will make the personality of fine raw beans completely or even destroy a pot of good beans. Baking technology is important, but even if a meticulous baker gets a fine raw bean, he has to hand-select it before and after baking to keep improving without missing a defective bean.

(coffee Ming's own baking)

(coffee Mingjia freshly roasted Ethiopian Yega Xuefei idido coffee beans)

90% of the quality of high-quality raw beans has been guaranteed after reasonable roasting, followed by coffee-making factors.

Freshness is a major factor affecting the taste of coffee. Of course, boutique coffee pays more attention to freshness, which is why some boutique coffee shops pursue their own baking. In general, the flavor of coffee is fully displayed 3 days after roasting, and fresh coffee with unique flavor can be enjoyed within two weeks if it is properly kept.

Different coffee extraction methods have different requirements for the grinding degree of coffee beans, the extraction water temperature and the ratio of coffee to water. For example, espresso requires very fine grinding, fast extraction (about 25 seconds), extremely high concentration (1:3 for coffee powder and water), while hand-brewed coffee requires relatively coarse grinding, longer extraction time (more than 1 minute), and relatively low concentration (coffee powder and water 1:15). Of course, different production methods have their own characteristics, but if the degree of grinding Improper timing of extraction will lead to insufficient or excessive extraction, which will destroy 90% of the boutique coffee beans in the cup.

(fresh coffee beans gush with rich foam when they are brewed.)

Throughout the above elements, the so-called boutique coffee should be a more comprehensive definition: excellent coffee species growing in a unique geographical environment, after careful production, processing and processing, through reasonable roasting, a cup of coffee with unique aroma and flavor obtained by proper grinding and extraction under the premise of freshness.

In addition, I believe that all high-quality things must be carefully taken care of, dedicated, boutique coffee is no exception. From the arduous planting of coffee farmers at first, to the rigorous baking operation of bakers, to the production of baristas, the process of coffee from crop to cup is actually through a dialogue with many hard-working hands and sincere hearts, leading to a road of fine coffee.

Next, according to the personal study in the coffee Ming family over the past three years, we will make a summary of the theory and baking extraction of fine coffee, in the hope that more coffee lovers will know about fine coffee. I also hope that China's boutique coffee market can develop faster and more mature.