A brief introduction to the introduction to Coffee roasting, the complete Book of Coffee self-baking

When the author published the first edition of this book in 1996, roasting coffee beans at home was something that only tireless coffee addicts would do. At that time, roasting coffee beans was a very difficult thing to master, and roasters had to work hard to find a way to roast coffee beans to a moderate brown.

Today, it is still not easy for individuals to roast coffee beans at home, but at least they must have sufficient background knowledge to help us explore this dark field. Now, people who want to roast coffee at home no longer need to knock and assemble homemade bean baking utensils, nor do they have to stir the coffee beans in the pan all the time; at least ten new household bean baking devices have quietly entered the market, and some coffee equipment stores are stepping into the market. Today, people who bake their own coffee beans at home no longer need to fight alone and talk to coffee beans alone (although a few of us still insist on doing so for health reasons), and there are many websites and chat rooms set up specifically for this ethnic group. let our enthusiasm for roasting coffee beans at home can resonate more.

However, roasting coffee beans at home is something that only a few people with strong enthusiasm can do, who start baking coffee beans themselves, which in turn arouses greater curiosity to explore a long list of underlying principles.

Baking coffee beans can be as simple as this: once you know what you're doing, the difficulty of "baking coffee beans at home" is between "boiling eggs" and "making great spaghetti sauce". In that case, why are there no more Dode people to play with their own hands? Why can't baking coffee beans at home be as common as baking cakes, snacks, making spaghetti and popcorn?

First of all, most people don't know how much coffee brewed from freshly roasted coffee beans can brighten people's eyes, which is different from the stale coffee they usually drink. But in a different place, almost everyone knows how delicious freshly baked bread is, and almost no one disagrees with their popcorn at home, which tastes like a big package of corn chewing rubber. However, the aroma of coffee beans drifting from the bean dryer has long been a yellow flower in most people's minds, and it is difficult to remember.

The second reason is that people don't know how simple and fun it is to bake coffee beans at home. Before advertising and convenience food became popular, it was almost a national movement.

Lettuce grows from the store?

I remember working as an instructor at a children's summer camp. One day, when I was hiking in the wild, I asked the children to eat a kind of edible wild vegetable (called "miner's lettuce" by Californians), but many children refused. The reason is that the wild vegetable leaves come from the soil, and there are many bugs on it. When I pointed out the fact that they had all eaten lettuce, which also grew from the soil, and had experienced the stage of being full of insects, one little girl retorted, "No!" Lettuce doesn't grow from the soil at all, it grows from the store! "

In the United States in the middle of the 20th century, most people thought that "coffee" was a brown grain that came out of a jar, rather than that coffee beans were made through several simple steps after drying the fruit from a tree. In the 20th century, a similar situation occurred in other food manufacturers. Where on earth did the coffee come from? The true face of its "source" is that coffee, like other agricultural products, has been processed by humans by drying, roasting, grinding, etc., but it has been replaced by some market-oriented alternative words, such as: "coffee" is a brown granule produced by a well-known large company using complex machines.... no, no, no.

Of course, in this era of brand image (about the 1960s), some of them, who were originally pure consumers, also began to engage in reverse movements such as cooking, making (brewing) wine, baking cakes and so on. In the world of coffee, the representative activity of reverse movement is the "boutique coffee movement" (Specialty-Coffee Movement). The main idea of the campaign is to revive the coffee culture of the 19th century-selling only freshly roasted coffee beans in bulk, and encouraging coffee lovers to buy unground beans as much as possible and grind them into powdered coffee before brewing. Because in today's United States, it is very rare to find a delicious lover who buys unground coffee beans and does not grind them before brewing.

There is no doubt that carefully roasted unground whole coffee beans have an absolutely overwhelming advantage in terms of delicious strength over the coffee formula sold in the supermarket. So, as long as you haven't experienced the taste adventure of boutique coffee, I suggest you start like this:

1. First buy the whole unground coffee beans from the local boutique cafe.

two。 Practice making a cup of coffee with proper grinding thickness and brewing.

3. Learn to experience the rich taste and the pleasure it brings to you.

However, for enthusiastic coffee enthusiasts to learn more about coffee beans for greater personal satisfaction, the next step is to start baking coffee beans at home.

Nostalgia, balcony, and smoke when baking beans

In the history of coffee, people in almost all coffee drinking areas roasted coffee beans by themselves. Even in the United States, the driving force of convenience food, the sale of pre-roasted coffee beans did not become widespread until the end of the 19th century; as for Italy in the Mediterranean region, it was still in the custom of roasting coffee beans by themselves until the end of World War II. People in the Middle East and East Africa still have the tradition of baking their own coffee-a lengthy round-the-stove ceremony combined with a complete process of fresh roasting, brewing and drinking.

In the museum, you can also see many unique household bean baking utensils. In the United States in the 19th century, you might be able to buy a hollow spherical cast iron bean dryer to match the most fashionable log texture heater, and the spherical bean dryer happens to fit into one of the stoves.

Some countries still have the normal habit of roasting their own coffee beans in the first half of the 20th century, and for people in these countries, "roasting coffee beans" is a ceremony full of nostalgia. For example, the Italian writer and performing artist Eduardo Philippe (Eduardo De Filippo) recalled his childhood experience of roasting coffee beans in Naples in Mariarosa Schiaffino's Coffee time (temporary translation) "Le Ore Del Coffe":

That was in 1980. In the streets and alleys of Naples, a very special ceremony is going on in the first hour of the morning, which is indispensable for both poorer families and affluent coffee gluttons. it's called the Coffee Bean roasting ceremony. Buying coffee and roasting raw beans home can save more money, and the only price you have to pay is personal baking skills and patience. Roast a certain amount of coffee beans every week (or every two weeks). The amount of roasted beans depends on the requirements of each family and the economic situation.

But these rituals are not done out of thin air, so every day anywhere in the neighborhood, there is a mother or grandfather sitting on his balcony shaking baked beans (Abbrustulaturo).

Now I should give a good description of this device that may only appear in memory for most Neapolitans today: this is a circular metal drum with a length of about 30cm and a diameter of about 15cm. In one section of the drum protrudes a long thin rod, and at the other end is a crank that is shaken by hand, and the coffee beans are poured in through a small opening in the side of the drum, which is firmly locked with a small hook; at the bottom of the equipment is a rectangular steel box, in which is the hot spot of hot charcoal. There is a groove at each end of the iron box, which happens to hold the thin rod and crank at both ends of the drum, so that the drum can be fixed in the upper room of the charcoal fire; when the drum is placed on the iron box, it can be baked.

By the way, why did you mention the balcony in particular? That's because in such a baking process, the roasted coffee beans must be greasy, so the smoke produced by baking in an airtight space may be unbearable, but there will be no such trouble if you bake outdoors, and because of the outdoor air circulation, the smell of baking will become a source of joy for the whole street!

Shaking the crank by hand allows the coffee beans in the drum to roll up and down the hot wall until they are almost roasted. Sometimes you have to remove the drum from the fire, shake it a few times, listen to the sound of coffee beans, and casually check the weight of coffee beans, because roasted coffee beans become lighter, but that's not enough. it is also necessary to observe the appearance and color of coffee beans from the small openings on both sides of the drum, if they have been baked to the extent of what we call "monk robes." You must quickly remove the drum from the fire, pour the baked beans into a large platter or pottery pan, and stir carefully with a large wooden spoon until the coffee beans are completely cooled and stirred each time. The smoke emitted by the roasting of coffee beans pervades the air, emitting a delicious, rich, unstoppable fragrance.

For me, who always struggles to get up and wants to stay in bed for more than one time before going to school, this seductive smell (it can still penetrate my closed window!) Will make me immediately full of vitality, happy to start a new day. That is, in the period when I was not allowed to start drinking coffee, coffee was already my wake-up call every day and the symbol of every brand new day.

The aroma of roasted fresh coffee beans is one of the best in the world. When I was grooming, wolfing down breakfast, walking down the stairs. Always following me like a shadow. Walking on the street, the smell becomes less strong. But it can still be clearly noticed by ears: on the way from home to school, chatter will be heard from every household, and street vendors may shout, "Ah!" It smells good! How wonderful! "

On the way, you may hear a scrawny-looking old lady ask a young girl with braided hair, "have you made coffee today?" The little girl would reply, "of course, we bake coffee beans every two weeks. Grandpa is a very picky person, so he insists on baking coffee beans himself." Or on the balcony of an elegant apartment, you may see a servant, dressed in a yellow-black striped jacket like a wasp, with a glossy beard, chatting to the beautiful maid in the apartment next door and saying, "I may have to leave you for a while." I should go get the coffee beans out of the stove. " The maid would reply, "of course." I also have to bake coffee beans every Saturday. This job is really a big responsibility! "

Another thing that often happens is that whenever I am about to step into the school gate, I always hear the praise of "ah -" from a nearby shoe store. Looking at it, it turned out that the shoemaker had to sip a cup of coffee before he started work. His "ah -" compliment is really a very appropriate adjective, in which joy, satisfaction, joy, and even a sense of surprise and surprise can be heard. At the moment, I secretly decided in my heart: when I grow up and admit it, I must personally discover some of the feelings brought by coffee!

Reasons for roasting coffee beans by yourself

So for those of us who didn't smell the aroma of roasted coffee beans when we were young, or those of us who lived in newly developed areas of the western United States and remembered only Pepsi and Maxwell instant coffee, what's the reason to bake coffee beans at home? Baking your own coffee beans is a simple thing, but it is also a forgotten art. So why are we working so hard on baking? Here are some of the most important reasons:

Freshness and best flavor: stale bread is not like stale coffee, the former cannot be eaten if it is not fresh, while the latter can still be drunk even if it has changed, and some people even enjoy it! But in the world of coffee, in just a few days, the taste will be very different! Freshly roasted coffee beans within one or two days from the roasting date, the brewed coffee will have an explosive taste with a strong aroma, which seems to reverberate in the human nervous system, constantly swinging in the brain like Aura (the aerial dancer in Greek art). The Aftertaste of coffee brewed with real freshly roasted beans can immerse you in the beauty of the coffee throughout the morning, but if the beans are roasted for a week or so, the aftertaste may only last for a few minutes. The reason for the constant surprises of the shoemaker described in Eduardo Philip's article must be attributed in part to the coffee he drinks, the fresh coffee beans that his grandfather himself bakes on the balcony every week, not the half-flavoured coffee beans bought from the supermarket.

The flavor of coffee beans is the best on the first day after baking, after which the flavor of coffee beans will decay brutally and rapidly. Because after baking, the coffee bean itself will release carbon dioxide to prevent the attack of oxidation, but after the emission of carbon dioxide, the meticulous coffee flavor oil will be oxidized and stale. So for coffee addicts, the sharing smell of freshly roasted coffee beans is undoubtedly the biggest reason they choose to bake coffee beans themselves.

Understandably, if the coffee beans are baked in the store after an appointment, or if the roasting location is very close, you may be able to buy fairly fresh coffee beans, but due to the rapid expansion of regional and national boutique coffee chains, the coffee beans they use may have been roasted thousands of miles away, and I don't know how many days have passed in your hands! However, the coffee beans sold in these boutique cafes are not completely useless, at least they are more fresh than pre-ground coffee powder or canned coffee powder, but definitely not as fresh as their own coffee baked in the kitchen at home!

Personal satisfaction: roasting coffee beans at home can give us a sense of hands-on satisfaction, because we grow up in a pure consumerist society, once we can do it ourselves, unravel the mysteries of the mysterious process of roasting coffee beans (in fact, we have been deceived for a long time), it is a thing that has not achieved much. Roasting coffee beans at home is an art, which may be said to be non-mainstream, but it is an art that can make people very successful.

Saving money: obviously, this factor is more important to some people than others. The raw coffee beans you need to bake coffee beans at home can save you about 25% to 50% of your expenses, depending on how you buy them and where you buy them. You can find the rules for buying raw coffee beans in the "related Resources" section.

Become a coffee connoisseur: to really understand a coffee bean, you must bake it yourself! In addition, once you start baking coffee beans at home, it is possible to develop a personal "raw bean collection". Unroasted raw coffee beans are less uncertain in preservation. If stored for one to two years and then baked, the flavor will be a little different, but it still tastes interesting, and even if it is roasted for a few more years, it is still drinkable. As long as you use the right way to store some coffee beans, some coffee beans will perform even better after aging. Therefore, you can store a few of your favorite coffee beans and choose which ones to bake one day according to your mood or visitors' taste preferences. For the idea of "Raw Bean Collection", you can find a discussion on the same topic on pages 126-127 of this book.

The right to boast: imagine if you roasted Guatemala Huehuetenaego coffee beans in Guatemala and Sumatra Lintong coffee beans in Sumatra in the kitchen of your home, giving off an exciting but pleasant smoke. When your friend comes to your house for dinner with a bag of roasted homemade coffee beans bought from a street cafe. The author does not want to say any more about this kind of thing, after all, the behavior of flattery and boasting is not worth encouraging, the previous body, just to let you feel this picture!

Romantic feelings: finally, do-it-yourself roasting coffee beans can give you a better understanding of the dramatic evolution of caffeine and its romantic feelings. Although the author has boasted about the coffee industry for more than 20 years from semi-professional to professional identity, but feeling romantic feelings still belongs to the stage of Huangkou children. The romance of coffee is that when a bunch of stiff, tasteless gray-green seeds suddenly magically turn into an aromatic medium that we flock to, and become a topic of chat after tea and wine.

You can bake coffee beans as long as you can read.

So much has been said before, in fact, to sum up, it is a simple concept: you can do it, too! Even if you may not be able to find a job in a professional coffee baking test (because the professional roasting test must also take into account the factors of accuracy, stability and quality). But as long as you can understand what is written in this book, you can make good and even amazing baked beans at home. Mr. Jabez Burns (the greatest baking technology developer in American history) once said, "of all the coffee I've ever had, the best cups are made from beans baked in a household popcorn cooker."

Awaken the Spirit of Flavor-- the Chemical change and dramatic Evolution of "Baking"

What happens when coffee beans are "roasted"?

In fact, no one can answer this question very accurately. One of the mysterious characteristics of coffee beans is that their aromatic compounds are very complex. at present, it is known that there are about 700mur850 substances related to flavor in roasted coffee beans. the actual number of substances varies depending on the subject of each experiment and the species of the sample beans, so we can only speculate on the number of substances. It may also have something to do with the geographical conditions of the producing area and the treatment methods of drying and later stage.

Of course, this figure does not include other ingredients that have nothing to do with flavor. About 2000 ingredients have been identified in raw coffee beans of the Arabica species (Coffea Arabica).

This daunting amount of matter makes it natural for Fadu to become the most "complex" thing in daily food and drink. The number of flavor compounds like wine is not as large as that of coffee beans, while vanilla has only about 150 flavor composition positions (this data is provided by professional chemists). Vanilla is also one of the most complex natural condiments. To this day, some "coffee-flavored" food and beverage condiments are extracted directly from roasted beans, rather than by artificial chemical synthesis. This is also due to the "high complexity" characteristics of coffee bean components that are difficult to replicate.

But one thing we can be sure of is that the 700mur850 flavor components in Arabica coffee beans will not show any "fragrance" if they are not "baked". Therefore, "baking" is a necessary action to awaken the spirit of coffee and raw bean flavor.

Rough denial says that "baking" has the following purposes:

1. Take the excess water out of the coffee beans.

two。 The coffee beans are dried and the xylem is expanded, so that the coffee beans can have more vents and the total weight of the coffee beans is reduced by 14% and 20%.

3. Start a continuous process of converting sugar into carbon dioxide gas, which does not stop immediately after baking and continues until the coffee beans are stale.

4. Take away some volatile substances, and a small portion of caffeine will also be taken away.

5. Some of the sugars in coffee beans are converted into caramel, and some of the ingredients are converted into substances that we become "flavor oils". Flavor oils are very small units and easily destroyed, but the ingredients that make up this compound do not look so delicious, such as aldehydes (Aldehydes), ketones (Ketones), lipids (Esters), Acetic Acid (acetic acid), Butyric Acid (butyric acid), (Caleric Acid) and so on.

Coffee is actually made up of caramelized sugar, combined with flavor oils and other components (such as bitter factor Trigonelline, quinic acid and nicotinic acid, etc.), plus about 1% caffeine, a drink that is so complex and mysterious that drinkers all over the world are so happy to drink.

Some of the ingredients of roasted coffee beans are converted into protective caramelized sugar and flavor oils, which are hidden in the loose pores of xylem (if in more deeply roasted coffee beans, some of the flavor oils are forced to be brought to the surface of the coffee beans, making the appearance of the deep-roasted coffee beans always look oily). Carbon dioxide is also emitted from the inside of the coffee beans, a process called "Degassing", which helps protect flavor oils from oxidation (of course, when carbon dioxide emissions stop, flavor oils are quickly oxidized and stale). Vacuum cans, nitrogen-filled bags and so on are artificial preservation containers to protect coffee bean flavor oil from oxidation. When the naturally formed protective measures of coffee beans fail because of grinding, the carbon dioxide gas will dissipate more quickly!

The dramatic evolution of the various stages of baking

What I just mentioned is something that happens inside the coffee beans, so what will happen in the appearance?

A few minutes before the coffee beans are heated in the baking room, we don't see much change in appearance, when the coffee beans are still grayish green and there is no sound. After a while, the coffee beans gradually turn yellow and smell like sacks, followed by steam that smells like toast or shells.

Finally, between the second and 15th minutes of the start of baking (the length of time will be related to the amount of baked beans and the strength of baking firepower), the neat smell becomes heavier and more like coffee, and the "First Crackle/crack/Popping" sound of coffee beans will be heard in a moment!

This phenomenon, which we call the "first explosion", means that the internal composition of the coffee bean really begins to change, that is, the "pyrolysis" begins, when the sugar inside the coffee bean begins to "Caramelize", and the water originally locked in the coffee bean begins to evaporate along with the carbon dioxide gas, also because of this process. Will cause "the first explosion" this small internal drastic change. At this stage, the static water in the coffee beans turns into gradually greasy baking smoke, which continues to thicken.

After the stage of the first explosion, according to accurate measurements, the energy generated by the zigzag shape of the coffee bean is 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 175 degrees Celsius from the starting point of the first explosion pyrolysis, about 435 degrees Fahrenheit / 225 degrees Celsius for roasting to moderate roasting (Medium Roast), and about 475 degrees Fahrenheit / 245 degrees Celsius for very deep roasting (Very Dark Roast).

The deeper the roasting of coffee beans, the deeper the coloring. The main reason for this phenomenon is caramelization and the thermal transformation of some acidic substances. Roasting can be stopped at any point after the pyrolysis begins: at first, the appearance of the coffee bean is very light brown; at the end of the roasting, the appearance of the coffee bean becomes very dark brown, so deep that it is close to black. For people with a more sensitive sense of smell, the smell of baking smoke also changes slightly as the baking pattern deepens.

When the appearance of the coffee bean is close to medium brown, the relatively blurred sound of the first burst gradually fades until there is no burst at all. After that, the coffee beans are further heated to a deeper roasting mode, and the second violent burst begins, called the "second burst" (Second Crackle). It is speculated that the cause of the second explosion is that more volatile substances rush out quickly, resulting in the rupture of the xylem structure of coffee beans; when the second explosion becomes denser and denser, the baking smoke becomes thicker and thicker, and the appearance of coffee beans is darker and smells more pungent. Beans are bigger!

There are three ways to determine the degree of baking:

1. It is judged by the change in the smell of "baking smoke": this is a method of baking depth control that was more widely adopted in the 19th century.

two。 Judged by the "temperature change" inside the coffee bean: this method is most commonly used in today's more advanced bean dryers.

3. By the coffee bean "appearance coloring degree" to judge: this needs to rely on empirical judgment, or rely on a sophisticated machine to assist judgment.

Judging the baking depth visually is probably the most approachable way right now, and it's also the easiest way for people who bake coffee bags at home. On the other hand, large-scale commercial bean dryers tend to use the way to detect internal temperature changes in coffee beans, and gradually more and more small-scale cafes are also moving towards this trend because of the use of professional bean dryers. Compared with these two methods, judging the evolution of the baking stage by the change of smell has become a forgotten skill, and only a handful of bakers have adopted this method, which requires professional training. Most small cafes in the early 20th century trained roasters in this way.

The same batch of coffee beans (that is, coffee beans with the same harvest time and post-processing period) are roasted by two different roasters, qualified to roast coffee beans to a similar degree of coloring or baking depth, and the taste may be roughly similar; in other words, the flavor change of coffee beans is mainly attributed to roasting. That's why the flavors of the two handfuls of coffee beans at the same baking depth are so similar, rather than the two completely different flavors. However, if different baking utensils, different baking methods and different baking concepts are used, it is a different matter.

Some roasters tend to bake coffee beans slowly at lower temperatures, others tend to bake coffee beans quickly at higher temperatures, and some roasters increase the baking temperature several times according to different baking stages. after the moisture in the caffeine bean is removed more fully, the temperature is increased to turn on the pyrolysis. Thanks to a variety of roasting methods and roasting appliances (each with the support of believers), the world of boutique coffee has flourished in so many ways.

Evolution from spoon to airflow baking

Evolution history of baking utensils

When human beings found that coffee seeds have a special attractive flavor, it is the beginning of coffee history. This time is to transform coffee beans from being used as medicinal herbs only in East Africa and southern Arabia into one of the most popular drinks in the world, second only to oil in terms of trading volume.

Some skeptics believe that coffee beans become the second most traded goods in the world because of their caffeine content, not because of their attractive flavors (because the flavor of coffee beans must be properly roasted to show). But the flaw in this argument is clear. If caffeine alone gives coffee beans such a status, then there are also other plants that contain caffeine, refreshing and make people feel very comfortable, such as tea, Yerba Mate (), a South American holly plant called ilex paraguarensis. People in Argentina and other places drink seven times more Yabama tea than coffee. Is also one of the plants containing caffeine), cocoa beans, beans (Coca), the leaves are refined coca! (raw materials), and other less well-known crops with the same effect, why are the trading volumes of these crops far lower than those of coffee beans?

In addition, coffee flavor condiment (non-caffeinated) is also the most important taste in food processing, such as candy, cake, fudge, etc., coffee flavor is an indispensable part. Even for people who are sensitive to caffeine, most people prefer decaffeinated coffee to other non-caffeinated alternative drinks.

The aforementioned points are sufficient to prove that the rich aroma of roasted coffee beans is absolutely related to its popularity. On the other hand, there is a lot of evidence that people have to go through a period of adaptation before they can gradually experience the original pleasure of tasting coffee. For example, few children naturally like the taste of coffee from an early age, and since human beings began to drink coffee, they have always had the habit of adding other things. The earliest record is that some people add cardamom and other spices to their coffee. This tendency has evolved into Flavored Coffee in modern times. And a variety of drinks with added syrup, decorations and milk mixed with espresso.

Another greater possibility is that the aroma characteristics of roasted coffee beans, coupled with the irritating taste, are intertwined with the result of human lingering. At some point, people began to talk about the thrill of coffee and made a direct association with the deep-roasted aftertaste, and combined the two into social situations, so there were peripherals related to coffee drinks. Then, people connect the morning impression, cordial service, conversation with the coffee bar and other elements with the cafe, thus creating "coffee is not only coffee", but also represents a kind of excitement, taste, social ritual. To add complexity and richness to the coffee

Use coffee leaves to make tea and coffee pulp seasoning

Today, we can only imagine how coffee was consumed before the 16th century, but with some historical records, we can still learn a thing or two from the communities where coffee was originally produced in Africa.

For example, in the tribes of Ethiopia, people use the leaves of coffee trees to make tea for drinking; in addition, there are other records, some areas will directly chew the whole sun-dried coffee fruit, take the pulp to make cakes, soak the tea in water, crush the ripe pulp and add it to the beverage, or directly wrap the sticky coffee seeds in animal fat to eat together.

If we experience the taste of coffee in these ways, it should be difficult to believe that this crop will be the most popular beverage choice in the world today. Moreover, there are actually signs that coffee has been successfully marketed around the world over the past two centuries, in part because people's understanding of coffee crops has been improving for a long time. There is also the ever-changing baking technology (which, by reasoning, should be the main reason for making coffee drinks tastier and more attractive).

Unveil the mystery of coffee allusions

Who first thought of roasting the seeds of coffee trees? And why?

There is no doubt that we will never get the real answer to these two questions. Like other most famous foods in the world, coffee is very vague in the early history of human civilization and the source of its products. We must reason from the scattered handwritten references from the 15th and 16th centuries in the Middle East in order to have a rough idea of the cause of Guzhong.

Europeans first drank coffee in coffee shops in Syria, Egypt, Turkey and other places in the 16th century, and saw coffee bean seeds for the first time on mountain terraces in the southernmost Yemen region of the Arabian Peninsula. The more he was accompanied at that time, the botanist Linnaeus began to name and classify all kinds of flowers and plants in this new century, where coffee trees were classified as "Coffea Arabica".

Arabica coffee beans have been the only commercial tree for centuries and are still the mainstream of the world coffee trade. However, according to Linaius' hypothesis, the origin of coffee trees, lung disease in the Arabian Peninsula, but from the highland forests of central Ethiopia, was not confirmed by the Western scientific community until the middle of the 20th century. In every corner of a certain axis, Asia, Madagascar and other tropical regions, there are more than 100 wild coffee species that can be identified by classification, and only about 30 coffee species have been planted by people, most of which are planted on a small scale. One of them is called the Coffea Canephora, also known as the Robusta Coffea Robusta, which has also begun to play a major competitor to the Arabica species in commercial transactions and human fame.

No one really knows where and when Karabica's coffee beans were first planted artificially. Some historians speculate that coffee trees were first planted in Yemen; but more favorable evidence suggests that Isabia, the origin of coffee verified in botany, recorded the deliberate planting of coffee trees around 575 A.D. when it was brought to the southern Arabian Peninsula, it was already an agricultural crop.

In addition, no one is sure what is the definition of the earliest "cup of hot coffee" that people drink. As far as we know, coffee beans are seeds in small grains, a thin layer of flesh and sweet fruit. The earliest cup of "hot coffee" is not to extract the seeds of coffee beans at all, but is more likely to roast the shell of the coffee fruit a little bit and then throw it directly into boiling water to make "hot coffee"! To this day, hot drinks made in this way are still widely consumed in the Yemen area, known locally as "Qishr" (also spelled as Kishr, Kisher, and many other different spellings), and in Europe as "Coffee Sultan" (also spelled as Coffee Sultana). It is also possible that the dried fruit is roasted with the seeds, crushed and boiled in boiling water. The dried pulp shell is very sweet and contains caffeine, so any drink made from coffee pulp shell tastes sweet and has the refreshing effect of caffeine.

A question worth pondering: what makes someone from Syria, Persia or Turkey think of roasting coffee seeds at a high enough temperature so that the so-called "Pyrolysis" can be effectively carried out to fully present the most reliable flavor oil (Flavor oils) in coffee beans? This background is undoubtedly the biggest reason for the success of coffee cultural value construction!

There are all kinds of theories about the source of coffee, from the poetic ones of wasteful imagination to some far-fetched and plausible ones. According to Islamic legend, a man named Sheik Omar was banished to the Arabian wasteland around 1260. In order to stop the hunger, he tried to cook the coffee seeds directly into soup to eat, but it tasted bitter, so later he roasted the seeds and then used them to make soup.

There is another theory: when farmers in Yemen or Ethiopia went to cook with coffee branches as firewood, they discovered the value of coffee seeds because of this process. This theory often appeared in literary works at the beginning of the 20th century and has a strong storytelling nature, but it is different from a historical point of view.

Ian Bersten assumes in his provocative historical book, "Coffee rises, Tea sinks" (temporary translation) "Coffee Floats,Tea Sinks", this is a simple accident. One day, someone accidentally found that using a lightly roasted coffee pulp shell to cook a "machine luxury" drink tastes higher than the original cooking method, because it was made the same way later, and all the coffee seeds were roasted. Ian Berstein reasoned more boldly: the southern Arabian Peninsula in the 16th century belonged to the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and at that time, in order to make good use of coffee seeds that had no use before, they vigorously promoted the roasting of coffee seeds to make "luxury" drinks together.

Obviously, the Ottoman Turkish Empire was the initiator of the spread of coffee quoting habits and coffee making technology, coupled with the expanding territory of the empire at that time, indirectly promoted the exchange of coffee drinking culture and commercial transactions. Berstein further pointed out that the first area where there was a real "Roasted Coffee" was in Syria. Because Syrians, especially those in Damascus, were the first to develop metal utensils specifically used to bake coffee beans, which can produce higher baking temperatures than the traditional clay baking equipment used by the Yemens.

In addition, Berstein also believes that the smell produced by baking soot, which appears only at the beginning of pyrolysis, is a fascinating smell, even better than the taste of coffee, which may make someone enjoy it. The reason for constantly baking coffee seeds. And this kind of person knows after playing for a long time that the coffee seeds must be roasted to a high temperature before the smell will come out, and the "extravagant" drinks made from roasted coffee seeds will have a fruit-like smell.

So far, there is no way to confirm the authenticity of all these inferences. There are many records in human history that people roasted some live nuts long before humans began to bake coffee seeds, which, on the one hand, improve the taste of food, on the other hand, they are easier to digest. Maybe roasting coffee seeds is simply someone who wants to do the same. Another possibility is that maybe some people who are roasting and making "machine luxury" beverage materials accidentally leave for too long and let coffee seeds with peel shells bake for too long and come back to cook with this raw material that has been roasted for too long. Only to get an unexpected surprise.

In any case, at least we can be sure that there is the word "roasted coffee beans" in Syria or Turkey around 1550. Yes. At the beginning of words, roasting coffee beans has not only become a worldwide cultural fashion, but also the beginning of vigorous business transactions.

Baking ceremony

The early "baking" in the Arab region was a simple program, and although we do not have enough historical data to reproduce the baking program, it should be roughly similar to the baking program still used in the Arab region today. Another European historian, William Uilliam Palgrave, wrote "A Journey to the Arab Middle East" and "Narrative of a Year's Journey Through Central and Eastern Arabia" in 1863. There is a passage like this:

…… Without hesitation, Soverin began to prepare to bake coffee beans. It took him about five minutes to start a fire with a hairdryer and adjust the position of the charcoal fire to the most suitable place to generate enough heat. Then he took out an old cloth bag tied with rope from the next niche. After lifting the rope, pour out three or four handfuls of unbaked coffee raw beans (all with a pulp shell), and then visit the raw beans on a large straw plate. Carefully pick out blackened coffee seeds and other foreign objects (usually mixed with such strange things in the same batch of coffee cherries they buy). After careful cleaning, he poured the raw coffee beans into a large iron spoon with a handle, then moved the spoon to the mouth of the fire, using a hair dryer to stabilize the firepower and repeatedly stirring the coffee beans in the spoon until it cracked, the color turned red, and white smoke came out. Finally, carefully remove the tablespoon from the fire before the coffee beans turn into black charcoal, and then cool the coffee beans on a straw platter in an incorrect ancient Turkish or European way.

In the situation in the Arabian Peninsula, the processes of baking, crushing, brewing and drinking coffee are all carried out in a leisurely gathering. The two steps of baking and brewing are carried out on the same fire. The coffee beans are roasted with a previously flat metal rod. After cooling, the roasted beans are thrown into a mortar and crushed into a coarse powder. Then brew the coffee in boiling water, usually with some cardamom or saffron, filtered again, and then poured into the cup. Drink directly without sugar.

There are many versions of similar coffee rituals, which can be found in East Africa and the Middle East, among them from Ethiopia and Eritrea, a region bordering the Red Sea in northeastern Africa. Immigrants, formerly an Italian colony and now an independent province of Ethiopia, introduced one of the ritual versions to the United States because similar devices can be found in the kitchens or living rooms of some suburban families in the United States.

From Brown to Black: a New way of drinking Coffee

If you pay a little attention, you will find that in Pargrave's description, the Arabs roasted the coffee beans to a light brown color depth. It is recorded in the early historical materials before about 1600 AD that a completely different method of making coffee was developed in Turkey, Syria and Egypt. They bake the coffee beans to a very deep, near-black degree, grind them into a very fine powder with a grindstone or metal grinder that grinds the leaves, boil the powder, add sugar and then quote it, but without adding any spices and without filtering. Because when drinking this sweet cup of coffee, you will also drink the fine coffee powder floating on the liquid surface; in addition, the drink is poured into a cup smaller than the cup used by Arabs.

The reasons for the different roasting patterns, brewing methods and drinking methods are unknown, but it can be seen that as long as the coffee beans are roasted deeper, it is easier to grind them into fine powder, while the lighter roasted coffee beans win relatively much, so it is not easy to grind them into fine powder. In addition, sugar originating in India is also widely grown in the Middle East, and this easily accessible crop is used to suppress the bitterness of deep-roasted coffee and enhance the sweetness of the coffee. So far, new technological inventions (bean grinders with metal grinding leaves) and a new deep baking mode, coupled with the convenience of sucrose, have created this new way of drinking coffee-Turkish coffee.

Why is it called "Turkish" instead of "Egiptian" or "syrian"? This is because the Europeans were first introduced into central Europe through the northern part of Ottoman, and then from the Balkans and Werner. Early Europeans followed the Turkish drinking method by roasting coffee beans to a very deep level. boil to tons of water and add sugar to drink.

Coffee goes through all over the world

From the 17th century to the early 18th century, the habit of drinking coffee spread from Europe, from the west to the whole of Europe, and eastward to India and present-day Indonesia. As for coffee as a growing crop, the Islamists brought the seeds from Yemen to India, and then Europe introduced the seeds to Ceylon and Java. Seeds were brought from Java to indoor botanical gardens in Amsterdam and Paris, and then to the Caribbean and South America to become cash crops. in a short period of a few decades, millions of coffee trees were planted in large quantities in the garden, becoming a money-making tool for farm owners and businessmen. It is also the spiritual source of many philosophers and thinkers who gather in cafes in London, Paris, Verna and other places.

Coffee was a brand-new commercial cash crop in the global trade of the 17th and 18th centuries. in the global trade commodities at that time, there was always a weight-dependent partnership with sugar, both of which were sister cash crops from the tropics. They are very close partners in coffee shops all over the world and in every cup of coffee. However, coffee trees are recognized as far less destructive to nature and harvesting than sugar, so coffee trees must grow under other higher shades, instead of opening up fields on a large scale like sugar cane to destroy the original ecological environment; on the other hand, self-employed farmers who grow coffee trees can still have better money income, while sugar cane farmers are not so lucky!

However, the coffee industry has brought another kind of global irony. It has become a symbol of oppression and liberation. In the tropics, coffee has developed into a social and economical profit-making tool, and it is a very outstanding money-making crop, but it is also based on squeezing the labor of the black people. at the same time, it has become one of the main reasons for the European enlightenment and the French and American political revolutions. At that time, coffee and coffee shops were inextricably linked to major cultural and political changes on a certain level.

In addition, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Europeans discovered the second important companion of coffee-milk. For example, the latte (Caffe Latte) made from favorite hot milk and espresso comes from Werner. In 1683, Werner was surrounded by Turks. When the Turkish army withdrew from Werner, they left some coffee beans, which were brought by a man named Franz Kolschitzky to open Werner's first coffee shop. In order to keep the Werner away from the habit of drinking warm beer for breakfast, he had to change the coffee and not drink it in the Turkish way, so he developed a new kind of coffee with milk.

Werner changed the Turkish habit of drinking with dregs to filtering out coffee grounds and adding milk, which quickly spread throughout Europe. At this point, the distinction between drinking methods became more obvious: Europeans in the 17th century drank Turkish coffee with suspended coffee grounds and sugar, while Europeans in the 18th century filtered out the coffee grounds and added milk to drink. It also corresponds to the differences in drinking habits between the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Catholic regions of Europe. In terms of distance: Europeans secretly or in Italy tend to filter dregs and add milk, while in the Balkans (still part of the Ottoman Turkish territory until the 19th century), most people still prefer to drink coffee in the Turkish way.

Use technologically improved ruts to bake coffee beans

Although the drinking and planting methods of coffee developed dramatically in the 17th and 18th centuries, progress in roasting was very poor. The most common method of roasting at that time was to follow the Middle Eastern way of simple roasting: put the raw coffee beans in an iron pan, then bake them on the fire and continue to stir until the coffee beans turned brown. In addition, there are some relatively complex materials, such as a metal cylinder or a hollow ball in which raw coffee beans can be filled, and then hang them in the upper room of the fire to bake, with a hand stirring device to stir the coffee beans inside. These devices can bake several pounds of coffee beans at a time and are often used in coffee shops or small baking retailers; they also come in smaller sizes and can be used for general household use and roasting small quantities of coffee beans in your own fireplace. The illustration below is an illustration and description of such a device, and you can also see a sample diagram of this baking device on pages 48-58.

More difficult questions to answer

For example: where did Europeans and Americans roast coffee beans in the 17th and 18th centuries? Do they all bake coffee beans at home or buy roasted coffee beans from the store? Compared with the way it is roasted now, what was the taste of coffee then?

Only the first two clues can answer these three questions: at that time, people's coffee beans were baked by servants at home and bought from the store. For people at that time, baking coffee beans was not as difficult as other cooking chores, as in Europe, the job was usually left to older children at home.

So are they baking well or not? How do the coffee beans taste like this? Just imagine: with an iron pot, uneven vitality, and baked by children, it is not difficult to foresee that such baking quality cannot guarantee a stable performance, and charred coffee is produced from time to time. At that time, perhaps the coffee beans bought from stores will be more stable, but there are not many stores that can bake well.

What is certain, however, is that at that time, people drank coffee beans baked by themselves or baked in stores, even freshly roasted; compared with today's instant coffee or cheap canned coffee powder, these ancient home-baked coffee performed slightly better.

Relationship between baking mode and geography

In the past, roast depths varied widely from place to place, much like modern regional taste preferences, such as the very dark Turkish coffee consumed in much of Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. For example, a seventeenth-century pamphlet on home-roasting advice states,"Take as many green coffee beans as you like, drop them into a deep fryer, move them to the charcoal fire, and continue to argue about the beans in the fryer until they are nearly black."

However, there are special cases, such as in the northern half of Europe such as Germany, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, where the baking habits are lighter than those in other parts of Europe that prefer Turkish baking. This difference was also evident in the New Colonies: North America, where the northern half of Europe was colonized, tended to have a lighter baking pattern, while Latin America, where the southern half was colonized, preferred a darker baking pattern.

Another week's talk also reveals why people in northern Europe are abandoning Turkish-style deep-roasted drinking in favor of lighter roasted coffee beans: This shift in taste dates from the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century, when Europeans began to drink new filtered drinks, and some believe that this shift in taste preferences may have been related to the Nordic drinking of light drinks such as tea and beer, which explains why the Nordic people later developed such a different way in baking and brewing.

The Arabian Peninsula and parts of East Africa are still traditionally served and are still roasted in a lighter form, brewed with spices but without added sugar.

industrial Revolution era

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, most people in Europe and America lived in the countryside and worked as farmers; however, towards the end of the nineteenth century, more and more people moved to urban life and the form of work changed into industry and services. In the early nineteenth century, people lived in a closed tradition; in 1999, people had a more open career, and their lives were closely related to newspapers and advertising. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were only simple machines and tools, and most of the energy came from renewable water and wind power; by the end of the nineteenth century, there were many complex machines closely connected to people's lives, and most of the energy used came from coal and oil.

Coffee beans also changed with this changing trend: at the beginning of the nineteenth century, coffee beans were roasted at home or purchased in shops and coffee houses using relatively simple roasting equipment; by the end of the nineteenth century, more and more city dwellers were buying coffee beans roasted in large, complex roasters, and even branded coffee beans.

However, after the word, there are very large differences in the degree of development in different places. Areas such as the United States have always been in the lead, replacing home roasting with roasted coffee beans or ground coffee; Germany and the British Empire followed closely; but other industrialized countries such as France and Italy maintained older, smaller roasting traditions.

On page 36 of this book, one of the earliest branded coffee bean flyers was included, designed to attract people who roasted coffee beans at home to buy their roasted packaged brand coffee beans. Similar advertisements appear more frequently as Europeans and Americans gradually move to work farther and farther away from home. In working-class households, women worked outside the home just as much as men, and by the end of the nineteenth century, wealthier families, which had entrusted the task of roasting coffee beans to domestic servants, were forced to do it themselves to enjoy fresh coffee beans roasted at home. In this advertisement, it is not difficult to see why more and more people prefer to spend a little more money to buy roasted coffee beans, because it is really too convenient!

This new trend of buying county bread and coffee beans from shopkeepers was also driven by a mysterious force behind the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when buying roasted coffee beans was a clean modern world, and when roasting coffee beans at home was considered dirty, clumsy, sloppy, old-fashioned, and the kind of thing ignorant rednecks would do.

Pursuit of quality stability

With advertising and branding, the next most important thing is to have a stable, reliable product. When a consumer comes home with a nice package of ripe coffee beans, he wants them to taste as good as the ones he bought the week before. At this time, the new form of coffee roaster is also based on quality stability as the main demand, not only for the quality of coffee beans, but also in the roasting stage stability has improved a lot.

There are many levels of concern for stabilizing green coffee bean quality. The international trade in coffee beans has become more organized and refined with the development of terminology and classification of coffee beans, so it has become very convenient to trade coffee beans. The coffee producing countries adopted very complex grading standards, and the art of blending beans began to develop (professionals began to understand how to juggle beans from different harvest seasons and different regions, in this way maintaining quality stability and material costs).

At the same time, the coffee industry in the United States developed a set of trading terms that mainly refer to roasting depth and roasting mode: Cinnamon, Light, Medium, High, City, Full City, Dark, Heavy. Different enterprise systems usually only adopt a certain baking mode, which is convenient to maintain the stability of the product afterwards.

Klutz: The Baking Technology of the Nineteenth Century

Is it the changing trend of technology or social change that drives technology to change? There is no clear answer to this question. But what we do know for sure is that both have been moving in tandem, transforming nineteenth-century coffee-roasting from a large-scale, privately run operation into a large-scale, entrepreneurial one using advertising and mass marketing techniques. The stability of the roasting pattern of branded coffee beans must be achieved through more precise roasting technology.

During the Industrial Revolution, all sorts of novel inventions kept appearing, and some diligent enterprises aimed to develop the same machine to make every kind of coffee drink needed in the 19th century, from roasting to brewing, on the same machine. Patent applications for all kinds of new coffee brewers, bean grinders, and dryers kept arriving at patent offices in industrialized countries, and although only a few of these patents had a significant impact, these patents had contributed greatly to the evolution of baking technology in this era.

During this period, beans were still roasted in cylindrical or spherical roasting equipment, but these equipment became larger and larger, transforming from small roasting equipment used in homes or small cafes to large roasting factories. For your reference, page 35 contains a drawing of the interior of a baking factory in the United States in the mid-19th century.

Baking drums of this era were mechanically driven, initially steam powered, but by the end of the 19th century they were electrically powered. The fire source was also changed from burning firewood and coal to burning natural gas. At the end of the 19th century, there was also a dispute between "direct gas roasting" and "indirect gas roasting". The former allowed gas and flame to enter the roasting chamber directly into contact with coffee beans, while the latter did not allow gas and flame to enter the roasting chamber directly. Instead, the flame heated the roasting chamber, and the hot air was indirectly introduced into the roasting chamber through a blower.

Two further technological innovations followed: (1) precise temperature control/timing; and (2) uniform roasting, so that each coffee bean was roasted uniformly.

Let's look at the first innovation about time control. As the roasting drum of the bean dryer and the roasting ball became larger and larger, and the batch roasting volume became larger and larger, it became more and more difficult to cool the coffee beans, because after the coffee beans left the roasting environment, the beans still contained heat and could continue to roast (this phenomenon is called "self-roasting").

In the early 19th century, the solution to making coffee beans more stable was simply to "pour the beans out of the roaster faster and easier." Roasters such as the Carter Pull-Out on page 35 are designed with this concept in mind, and their selling point is that the roasting drum can be pulled out of the fire quickly and the coffee beans can be poured out very easily. However, it can also be observed from the picture that the poured coffee beans still need to be manually stirred to accelerate the cooling, both of which can effectively reduce the temperature of the coffee bean surface and take away the smoke released by the freshly roasted coffee beans.

Another innovation in the late 19th century addressed the technical problem of how to make baking more uniform. In the early 19th century, most roaster drums or roasters were simple hollow roasters in which coffee beans were packed together and not easily "shifted", so some beans at the bottom continued to be heated and eventually burned, while those at the top were not easily heated. In addition, the oil spilled from the roasted coffee beans forms an oil film on the inner surface of the roasting chamber, which often sticks the coffee beans to a certain position in the metal roasting chamber.

Also in the mid-19th century, mixing blades or blades were added to the baking chamber to improve the uniformity of baking. By 1864, Jabez Burns, a leading American roaster, had solved the problem of "lower beans"(short for pouring and cooling coffee beans after roasting). The company designed two sets of spiral blades fixed inside the roasting chamber to rotate the beans up and down in the roasting chamber. After roasting, the operator only needs to open the opening of the roasting chamber, and the beans inside will be pushed out automatically and poured into the cooling tray.

But by the end of the 19th century, more efficient ways of improving baking uniformity had emerged. In order to assist in the uniformity of heating, in addition to the direct heat source generally applied to the surface of the roasting chamber, a fan or blower is used to send hot air to the interior of the roasting chamber. The role of this hot air is to properly cool the coffee beans (in this place,"properly cooling the coffee beans" actually does not reduce the temperature hormone of the coffee beans inside, but uses the principle of air convection to avoid the coffee beans in the roasting drum from smoldering, which is a way to avoid a sharp rise in temperature). During roasting, the beans are constantly stirred by the blades, and the hot air flow continues in the roasting chamber, which means that the beans come into contact with the hot air more frequently than with the metal walls of the roasting chamber. This configuration improves roasting stability and roasting speed per batch. In addition, for the heating part, the original design of heating only under the baking drum is changed to make the whole baking drum heated uniformly. This design is to change the original one-layer baking drum wall surface into an inner and outer two-layer baking drum, and introduce the heated air outside the baking drum into the circulation between the two layers of wall surfaces.

In summary, the basic construction of a typical drum dryer must include the following:

1. Homogeneous heat source of gas.

2. Accurate and fast design.

3. Blade design inside the baking drum.

4. A blower that draws heated air into the baking chamber to stabilize the temperature rise.

5. A cooling fan that blows cool air at room temperature under the cooling tray.

These basic features are still the main function of most small drum dryers today, and you can find diagrams and descriptions of the roaster on pages 60-61.

Of course, in addition to this basic configuration, there are many other basic configuration versions, such as some turn of the century era of the bean dryer also moved the gas source inside the baking drum. Most modern large-scale system bean drying equipment will be equipped with a water mist cooling device, so that each batch of roasted coffee beans can quickly cool down, this cooling method is called "water mist cooling method"(Water Quenching), in addition to the book mentioned "Air cooling method"(Air Quenching) Another effective cooling method.

Although there have been so many changes over the decades, some of the bean dryer structures have remained unchanged for decades, and old bean dryer mechanisms continue to be used today, such as in Japan, Brazil, and some parts of the United States, where wood or charcoal-fired bean dryers continue to be used. Customers in these places are particularly interested in the carbon-fired, smoky aroma layers of this slow-baked bean dryer.

However, today's drum dryers are still based on indirect heating and the use of blowers to introduce hot air. Only the largest drying plants are not built with such drying mechanisms.

20th Century Innovative Baking Technology: Baking with Pure Hot Air Flow

Surely, how could there not be innovative baking technology in this era of the twentieth century? In the mid-20th century, two major milestones in the evolution of baking technology from direct and indirect fire to hot air.

In 1934, the Gabe Burns Company developed a prototype of the Thermalo bean dryer, which applied little heat to the walls of the roasting drum, leaving a strong heat to roar through the roasting chamber as the main heating medium. This arrangement allows us to roast coffee beans at a lower air temperature because the fast-moving air carries away the gases produced during roasting and improves the efficiency with which coffee beans are heated. Advocates of the innovative technology have this line of reasoning: "The lower air temperature combined with the relatively fast-moving gases burns less flavor oil, so the beans roasted with this technology have better aroma performance."

In addition, in the 1930s, there was a completely abandoned roasting drum structure, but still retain a strong hot air flow while roasting and stirring coffee beans first appeared, this type of air-flow type of bean dryer works in a way very similar to today's domestic hot air popcorn machine: hot air flow can also make coffee beans tumbling and roasting purposes. The term "airstream" comes from the fact that coffee beans churn inside the roasting chamber as if they were a fluid when this type of dryer works. The principle of the air-flow dryer is similar to that of Gabes Burns 'Thermalo: the accelerated flow of hot air makes the baking temperature relatively low, and the batch baking time is shorter. In theory, this method of baking takes less flavor fat.

In the United States today, the most widely used design of the air-flow bean dryer was developed by Michael Sivetz, a technician and author who had a profound influence on the American coffee industry. The air-flow dryer developed by Mr. Sivitz works on the principle that a strong hot air flow from below blows upward, and the coffee beans are blown up along the vertical wall of the roasting chamber, and then fall down like a waterfall. In this way, they are continuously stirred to achieve uniform roasting. You can see a picture of one of the Sivitz bean dryers and related instructions on page 55 of this book.

Over the past 50 years, many other airflow roasters of different designs have been developed and gradually become popular on the market, some of which are only a slight change from the patented design of 50 years ago (the design in which the hot air blowing from the bottom of the roasting chamber into the roasting chamber blows the coffee beans upward and finally falls naturally along the walls of the roasting chamber). Others, such as the Roller Roaster designed by Australian Ian Burstein and the System 90 Centrifugal, Packed-bed Roaster by Gabes Burns, are excellent baking collimators that take their line baking concept to heart. There are also some models that show the "airflow roasting process" as a gimmick. You can see the coffee beans tumbling upward in the glass roasting room, which can attract customers 'attention and make them interested in understanding the relationship between roasting technology and taste. These new small shops use airflow roasting machines to simplify the construction of the bean dryer, and the operation process is also automated as much as possible.

Electrothermal baking technology

It was only at the end of the 19th century that "electricity" was used to drive the rollers of traditional drum dryers as well as blowers and cooling fans, but at that time it could not be effectively used as a source of heat for large-scale baking. Any chef knows that the rate at which electricity is converted into heat is much lower than that at which gas is converted into heat; in addition, the price of gas is much cheaper than electricity. From these two aspects alone, gas fire has always been the preferred heat source for bean baking machines in large bean baking factories or cafes.

However, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were many kinds of electric baking machines for small cafes, and today, electric baking heat sources have been widely used in various small-scale bean roasting devices.

Infrared and microwave baking science

The use of electromagnetic waves or radiation to bake coffee beans has been proved to be feasible in many ways.

Infrared is a kind of radiation, its wavelength is generally longer than visible light, but it is shorter than that of microwave. Infrared is mainly used in outdoor coffee bar heaters and household heating. Type heaters and other devices for similar purposes.

The first bean dryer using infrared as a heat source was first introduced in the 1950s, and one of the leading companies in the US market, Diedrich, is a coffee shop roaster that specializes in infrared heat sources. The main structure of this kind of bean baking machine is very similar to the traditional drum baking machine, the heat source is also outside the baking drum, and there is also a blower blowing gentle hot gas into the baking drum, the only biggest difference is that the heat source is mainly the radiant heat produced by gas fire heating a ceramic plate, while the metal heat converter uses part of the radiant heat to heat the air that is about to be introduced into the baking drum. The host of the Divik bean roaster believes that this design can use energy more efficiently, the air pollution rate is lower, and the taste of roasted coffee beans is clearer (Clean).

Using microwave as a baking heat source is recognized as a very difficult technology, but now one day a genius has found a way to use microwave to bake coffee pockets! The first system in the world to use microwave to effectively bake coffee bags is called Microwave roasting (Wave Roast), which will probably be available when the revised edition of this book is published. this is a device designed to roast coffee beans on a small scale, mainly to make microwave ovens, a common household appliance in the United States, an additional use for roasting coffee beans. Please see the introduction on pages 168-170 of this book.

Endless baking: continuous roaster

For large baking companies, time is really equal to money. When roasting, the two procedures of unloading the roasted coffee beans and resurrecting the green beans are very time-consuming. Based on the economic factor of "time", another baking technology of the 20th century, the continuous roaster (Continuous Roaster), emerged. As long as this kind of roaster is not turned off, it will automatically repeat "feed bean-bake-lower bean-feed bean-bake bean-lower bean." The process.

In the construction of the continuous baking machine, the baking drum part of the traditional drum baking machine is elongated, and there was once a group of spiral blade parts. When the baking drum rotates, this screw-like blade transports coffee beans from one section of the baking drum to another in a slow, unidirectional stirring manner, with circulating hot air at the front of the baking drum and circulating cold air at the back. The travel time of coffee beans inside the baking drum is calculated, so as soon as the raw coffee beans enter the beans, they will first come into contact with the hot air area, and after the baking is completed, it will be transferred to the cold air area, and a roasting leak will stop here. Now there are many continuous roasters designed based on this principle, which are mainly used by large commercial coffee bean roasting institutions. See the pictures and related instructions on page 58 of this book.

The principle of air flow baking is also applied to the design of continuous roaster. The hot air in these continuous roasters can both bake and stir a large number of coffee beans. as soon as the coffee beans are roasted, they can wither onto the cooling block, and the baking block can be roasted for the next batch without interruption.

After completing a batch of baking, the traditional bean roaster must wait for the fuselage to cool completely before baking the next batch. This machine is now collectively referred to as the "batch roaster" (Batch Roaster), which is used to distinguish it from the design of the continuous roaster. Most boutique roasters still choose to use this roaster to bake coffee beans, because if you simply bake a handful of Kenya coffee beans in the morning, a handful of Sumatran coffee beans at noon, and a batch of Italian concentrated formula beans in the afternoon, then using a continuous roaster is simply a cow knife for cutting chickens, which is not necessary. But for large commercial roasters, as long as they add a conveyor belt to a continuous roaster, they can continue to produce similar formula coffee beans, which is very much in line with the economic considerations of such companies.

Silver skin and baking smoke

Some baking technologies in the 19th and 20th centuries had little to do with taste and basic architecture, but instead focused on safety and environmental considerations.

The problem of silver skin produced by baking was first discussed. When raw coffee beans enter the baking machine, their surfaces more or less adhere to some of the innermost fine, dry skin, commonly known as "Silver Skin". Once baked, the silver skins detach from the surface of the coffee beans and are left outside the baking room with the flow of air, but they can also be dangerous, causing fires if they fall near the source of fire; in addition, flying silver skins are also quite disturbing.

As mentioned earlier, in the 19th century, exhaust fans were first used in bean dryers to blow hot air into the baking drum. The application later developed into a "Cyclone", a large, hollow, cylindrical object that is usually set at the back of the baking room. After the hot air is extracted from the baking room, it enters the position of the separator with the silver skin. At this time, the hot air rotates in the dust separator, and the silver skin falls here, removing the hot air from the silver skin and baking smoke to continue to transmit upward. On the other hand, the silver skin is sunk to the bottom of the dust separator and collected for easy cleaning.

In the 20th century, the persistent smell of smoke from baking and the pollution it might cause became the main topic of discussion. At this time, a "rear smoke burner" (Afterburner) and a "catalyst conversion device" (Catalytic Devices) are developed to effectively remove most of the pollution sources in the baking smoke, and the treated hot air will be recycled to the baking drum for reuse, thus reducing a small portion of fuel consumption.

Monitor bakers: by nose and eyes

The use of hand-stirred bean baking appliances has always been the mainstream in small-scale baking, and the construction of this kind of baking apparatus is nothing more than the Naples hand drum baking machine described by Eduardo Phillips in the first chapter.

Traditional bakers rely on visual observation (to see the change in the color of coffee beans), hearing (the popping sound of coffee beans), and sense of smell (different baking stable electricity produces different baking odors). They use a device called a "Trier" to check the coloring of roasted coffee beans, usually with a hole in the front of the roaster drum to hold the sample stick. By judging the external viewing chromaticity of sampled coffee beans to determine the time to stop baking, the process of judging chromaticity must be carried out under a fixed light source, and the roaster must have enough experience. The work of adjusting the temperature of the baking room must also rely on the tested work, we must find a set of general baking mode, and adjust the baking according to the flavor defects of some specific coffee beans.

For traditional roasters, they always hold a stereotyped view of coffee roasting, believing that roasting is an art that must be taught through experience, which is increasingly pure through memory blocks and various senses.

Science is quietly integrated into art.

What people think is the most important "artistic sense" and "sensory judgment" are gradually replaced by "science" and "tools". In other words, the "memory" on which people were originally based on baking was gradually replaced by objective, collective "data" and "charts".

The evolution of baking described in the previous paragraph has been created by the invention of many tools and control instruments. The first is a simple device that can be flanked to an approximate internal coffee bean temperature, often referred to as a "thermocouple thermometer" (Thermocouples) or "temperature probe" (Heat probe). This is an electronic thermometer whose sensing tip can be placed inside the baking chamber and buried in the rolling coffee bean heap. Although the air temperature (Air temperature) in the baking room is different from the coffee bean temperature (Bean temperature), the coffee bean stack seems to be able to completely isolate the air temperature in the baking room, so the temperature measured by the probe will not be affected by the air temperature in the baking room. The approximate coffee bean stack temperature value is transmitted to the display outside the bean dryer.

Once the chemical reaction of the coffee bean begins (that is, the "pyrolysis", that is, the first explosion), the temperature of the coffee bean pile on both sides becomes more and more valuable, allowing the roaster to clearly judge the current baking depth. you can probably imagine this picture: when the turkey is almost cooked, the small thermometer inserted in the muscle will pop up. Similarly, the temperature of the coffee bean pile we measured can also reveal the extent to which the coffee beans are roasted at the moment. Therefore, the thermometer can replace the human eye, allowing the baker to decide when to drop the bean according to the "temperature" rather than the "visual coloring", or to adjust the temperature of the baking room according to the temperature value read. You can also refer to a general chart of "coffee bean roasting temperature / baking depth" on pages 80-81 of this book. On these state-of-the-art bean roasters, there are even tools that automatically start the cooling program when coffee beans reach a set baking temperature.

The second important control instrument combines the invention of the internal temperature monitoring of the baking chamber and the supply of the heat source to automatically monitor the supply of the heat source so that the temperature in the baking chamber is always at the predicted temperature value. This invention is not always in line with the actual needs, because when the coffee beans reach the time of pyrolysis, they will begin to emit heat on their own, and if the external heat source still maintains the original firepower at this time, the heat emitted by the coffee beans will instantly increase the temperature of the baking room, and sometimes it may reach the temperature point of the beans at once. According to the rule of thumb of baking, this uncontrollable sudden rise in temperature can lead to prematurely reaching the temperature point of the lower bean, burning too much aroma, and creating a decline in the structure of coffee beans.

The third instrument is the near Infrared Spectrophotometer (Near-Infrared Spectrophotometer), which is collectively known as "Agtron", named after the inventor of the benevolent instrument and the name of the company. It can measure a certain wavelength color or electromagnetic wave that is invisible to the human eye, which accurately corresponds to the roasting depth of coffee beans. In addition, the instrument is not affected by light or shade, nor is it dragged down by human factors, such as being in a bad mood while talking too much. The near-infrared spectrophotometer can not only accurately and stably measure the energy in that narrow band, but also convert the measured energy into data for reference. In this way, even two bakers who are very far away can compare the differences in the baking process with the data read by this instrument.

The long-standing perception of coffee beans tells us that the denser / higher the moisture content of coffee beans, the longer it takes to achieve a preset baking pattern, while the lighter / lighter dry coffee beans take relatively less time. Today's technological development has combined the bean roaster with precision instruments that can read the coffee bean density. According to the coffee bean density data obtained by this digital system, the roaster temperature and other variables are set before roasting. The traditional coffee bean machine can only be adjusted roughly based on the roaster's past experience of baking a coffee bean.

The last development is the control of convective hot air / gas flow in the baking chamber, which has been very accurately controlled by some of the latest baking equipment. In the traditional drum-type bean dryer, the range of air flow in the baking room can always be adjusted through the control of the "Damper", just like the method of adjusting the convection in the fireplace in European and American families, but the traditional bean dryer is still a rough control of the variable, not quantifiable and precise control.

As a result, today's systematic bean dryer has four to five quantifiable factors that can be controlled by the baker:

1. The moisture content and density of the coffee bean itself.

two。 Baking room temperature.

3. Coffee bean pile temperature.

4. Accurate measurement of the degree of coloration of baked beans (Agtron).

5. Flow control of convective hot air in baking chamber. Only a few models have this kind of control.

Then take into account some of the more careful welcome variables, such as external room temperature, altitude, atmospheric pressure, the baking curve drawn by these four or five quantifiable variables, as well as the roasting process of coffee beans and the timing machine. Use objective measurement data to record, instead of using ear, nose, eye experience to record illegal. With the increasing popularity of computer applications, bakers can easily change the temperature and other factors in the baking room to create other combinations of baking patterns, and even increase or decrease the baking time one second at a time, so that subtle taste differences can be more accurately adjusted. This evolution is called "Profile Roasting". Using digital baking, some old beans or coffee beans with a more hollow taste may add a little more complexity, while coffee beans with more rough edges or higher acidity can also become warmer and sweeter.

Taste is supreme: we won't know until we taste it.

Maybe you are very patient to follow the steps mentioned above, or you simply skip the direct operation, and no matter which of the two you are, you will find that the application of these instruments can evolve from a baking method that used to rely entirely on the baker's own intuitive system (memory and sensory nerve conduction) to more complex but more accurate data baking.

But the only sensory organ that cannot be replaced by an instrument is Taste, because at a time when we are completely using systematic data-based baking, bakers (formerly collectively referred to as Roaster, now increasingly called Roastmaster) still have to taste each batch of coffee and adjust the previous baking data according to personal preferences and baking rules. So far, from different baking curves to produce a variety of coffee flavor, will continue to bring us amazing taste, but also increase the cultural connotation and appreciation value of coffee. And "baking" may continue to develop in parallel with science and technology in the form of "art".

The Social Evolution of Coffee roasting: renewed attention to quality

All in all, let's look back at the social evolution of coffee roasting and then see the amazing evolution of the twentieth century.

Although pre-baked coffee beans / pre-ground coffee powder marketed by brands were very popular in industrialized European and American countries in the first half of the 20th century, the tradition of fresh baking at home persisted. In southern Europe, until the 1960s, many people still baked their daily coffee beans at home; even in the United States, some small baked cafes survived in urban neighborhoods.

After the 1960s, a wave of pursuit of convenience and standardization took off. Branded coffee beans were the main commodity in the urbanized world around the 1960s. At this time, there are not only pre-roasted coffee beans, pre-ground coffee powder, and even instant coffee powder cooked for you in advance. As far as I can remember, in the two most famous coffee producing areas in the world that I visited in the 1970s, I found that the coffee drinks served in the cafes and restaurants in these two areas were only instant coffee. At that time, most Americans and Europeans (now called pure consumers) had almost forgotten that coffee beans could be roasted at home, or even that coffee beans could be bought and ground at home. The impression of "coffee" on people at that time (even in dreams) was probably limited to the round bottles and cans, or the familiar logo patterns on the sides of the bottles and cans.

The simple process of self-baking coffee beans at home has become a lost art at this time, with only a few departmentalists in a handful of commercial bakeries, or in a few closed suburban societies where consumption is a consideration (neither because of habit nor because of tradition).

Because the price of canned coffee is not high, and can enjoy the taste of coffee, canned coffee became the most popular commodity at that time. And because at that time various manufacturers took canned coffee as the main price-cutting competitive commodity, although it had colorful and gorgeous packaging, the quality could be expected to decline very seriously. At the end of World War II, canned coffee, which used to taste rich, was very empty and stale in the 1960s.

During this period, it is said that, as the author mentioned in the first chapter, the history of coffee roasting has entered a new stage, in a coffee market full of disposable and convenient, but at the expense of quality and mainstream changes, there are a small number of small self-roasting cafes based on the United States and other industrialized countries at that time, coffee quality was gradually ignored by consumers, so they formed an organization to revive coffee quality.

This revival movement is called the Fine Coffee campaign (Specialty-Coffee Movement). So by the end of the 20th century, coffee roasting and sales changed to its original form: people bought coffee beans in bulk and ground their own coffee before brewing it. Perhaps the United States, the country that led the world to convenient consumption of coffee, will lead the world back to the less convenient but guaranteed quality of the past.

From a tasty small group to a shopping mall

However, at this time, there is a reverse trend, and another form of "standardization" seems to be becoming more and more popular. The boutique coffee movement that began in the 1960s was mainly for small roasters to provide customers with the freshest coffee beans possible. But during this period, boutique coffee has gradually moved from a small group of delicacies to the shopping malls of the community. In addition, these small roasting cafes have witnessed a lot of money, expanding some small neighborhood cafes into behavioral cafes, and some even issuing shares to expand into national or international chains.

Today, the boutique cafe near your home may be one of the branches of a 50-store chain of cafes. There are also more framing examples of international chains such as Starbucks, which have thousands of coffee shop chains around the world. Starbucks companies always buy high-quality coffee beans, but they send them to large coffee roasting plants for baking and then distribute them to retail channels around the world with a large enterprise system.

The style and uniqueness of a small cafe

In many ways, Starbucks combines the idealism of "quality considerations" in the boutique coffee movement, as well as strong corporate strength and discipline. But Starbucks doesn't represent the whole coffee world! At least in the 21 century, Starbucks lacked the style and uniqueness of general regional cafes, which roasted and sold coffee that they thought was the best, providing neighbors with more choices and surprises.

For those who really love coffee, maybe it's time to leave canned coffee and large chain coffee rolls! We should all enjoy the fresh coffee that people enjoyed before the advent of brand coffee chain cafes and advertising signs. it's actually very simple to meet this requirement. We just need to bake coffee beans ourselves.

The picture shows the evolution history of the bean dryer (picture outline)

The picture shows the evolution history of the bean dryer (picture outline)

Household baking utensils

At the beginning of the history of coffee, there were only household bean baking utensils in the world. These bean baking utensils were standard accessories in ordinary people's kitchens until the early 20th century.

Sixteenth century: Iraqi baking pans

This simple construction tool mainly moves the pot to a heat source on a small fire or coal fire and is supported by a two-legged stand on a long handle. The bottom of the pot is perforated and caffeine beans are stirred with a spoon on the side during baking. According to coffee historian William Ukers, this type of baking utensils were used in Iraq in the 16th century.

Eighteenth century: American stove bean dryer

These three devices are the most typical bean baking utensils used in American families in the 17th and 18th century, in which two round-bottomed pans with feet are called "Spiders". On the other hand, the long-handle cylindrical bean dryer at the bottom is the predecessor of most coffee shops and commercial bean dryers. At one end of the cylinder, the pointed part is used to insert a hole in the fireplace to fix the position of the cylinder. After that, it is convenient for the baker (at that time, it should be the servant or child of the family to rotate and operate the equipment. At the back of the cylinder, there is a sliding cover design, that is, into the mouth of beans.

Circa 1860: American furnace roaster

These bean baking devices are designed to be placed on an open stove (whether burned with wood or less coal). In the mid-18th century, this kind of bean baking device was only used by the high consumer class. Families that were once less well-off or less popular still use the usual iron long-handle frying pan to bake coffee beans, which can also be used to cook other foods.

Early 19th century: Italian alcohol lamp-style bean dryer

The glass cylinder of the bean roaster, which can be used as a display on the table, makes it easy for operators to observe changes in the color of coffee beans during roasting. The device relies on alcohol lamps to provide heat.

Early 20th century: electric household bean dryers in Europe

The heat source of this bean dryer, which can be operated on a general table, is provided by an electric heating element located in the bottom base. Although the practice of baking at home declined at the beginning of the 20th century, such household bean roasters are still on sale in Europe and Japan.

1980s: household electric heating air-flow bean baking machine

This small appliance is an intelligent crystallization of the principle of air-flow baking, which is elegant and easy to use, and because the development of this principle has revived the trend of roasting coffee beans at home. This kind of machine works as follows:

There is a blast of hot air blowing upward at the base of the machine, while roasting and stirring the coffee beans in the narrow baking chamber, which is the "neck" part of the machine in the picture. The "head" position at the top of the machine, its function is to separate the silver skin from the air and collect it so as not to fly around. The machine in the picture is called "Aroma Roast" and was introduced by Melitta Corporation from Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Early 21 century: household electric heating air flow bean dryer

At the turn of the 21 century, many small household air-flow bean dryers appeared one after another, and these forms of home air-flow bean dryers have made some improvements to the shortcomings of Aroma Roast bean dryers. The Fresh R Europe ast bean dryer in the picture is the benchmark of all these household air-flow bean dryers, and most of the other models are inseparable from this structural design:

1. The heater and fan in the base at the bottom of the base blow the heated air to the upper room baking room.

two。 The baking room is made of transparent glass, which is easy to see.

3. Hot air can simultaneously bake and stir coffee beans in the bakery.

4. There is a silver collection device in the shape of a hat at the top of the baking room.

5. A timing knob can automatically turn off the power of the heater, but keep the fan running and blow cold air at room temperature into the baking chamber for cooling.

Early 21 century: convection heat type bean dryer

The Zach&Dani's Gourmet Coffee Roaster ingenuously designed an effective device to filter out the baking soot, finding another way out for the biggest problem of the home bean baking machine. The structure of this bean baking machine is as follows:

1. There is a spiral blender in the center of the baking room, which can stir the coffee beans inside.

two。 The hot air blown by the base does not need to be too strong, which is different from the general air-flow bean dryer, which is only responsible for baking function and not stirring, so the overall baking time will be prolonged. By prolonging the baking time and weakening the airflow intensity, the baking dust can be reduced.

3. In the case next to the glass baking chamber is the catalyst converter, which can filter out the baking soot emitted from the baking chamber very efficiently.

Bean dryers for cafes

Coffee shop bean dryers, retail bean dryers, and small bean dryers are all medium to small bean dryers, which are often used in coffee shops during wartime. Before the early 20th century, most of their coffee beans were made by bean roasters in such cafes, as long as they were not baked at home, but by the early 1950s, large baking plants and pre-ground packaged coffee beans were popular. By the end of the 20th century, when coffee shops were making a comeback with bean roasters, consumers in the United States and other industrialized countries rediscovered the joy of carefully roasted fresh coffee beans.

Eighteenth century: bean dryers used in American cafes

This bean roaster was probably used in the cafe at that time. This bean dryer is an improved version of the bean dryer for household cylindrical fireplaces in the 17th and 18th centuries. it is also a very simple structural design. The whole bean dryer must be placed in the fireplace and placed on the residual fire, while turning the cylinder by hand.

Eighteenth century: bean dryers used in British cafes

The bean dryer in the picture has two more improvements to the design of the fireplace bean dryer:

1. The bean dryer itself has a built-in heating source, and coal can be burned at the bottom of the drum to provide heat energy.

two。 A cover is added to the drum of the bean dryer, so that the heat energy inside the drum can be distributed more evenly.

1862: bean dryers in cafes in the United States

The design, first made in 1862 by E.J.Hyde of Philadelphia, was a typical design of a bean dryer in an advanced caf é in the mid-19th century. This bean roaster is designed to pull the baking drum out of the fire to facilitate the cooling of the roasted coffee beans. In addition, a mixing blade is designed inside the drum, which can promote the rolling transposition of coffee beans when rotating the drum. In this era, the heat source of the bean dryer is still built-in coal fire at the bottom of the drum, and the drum is still rocked by hand.

1890s: French gas fire bean baking machine

According to coffee historian William William Ukers, the world's first patented gas coffee roaster was first seen in France in 1877. Until today, roasted coffee beans from gas sources are still the mainstream all over the world. The Watts-fire bean roaster in the picture was patented by M.Postulart in 1888. The baking chamber was still spherical in part. At that time, Germany, Britain and the United States had already taken guns to the round-shaped bakery. France is the only country that is still loyal to the spherical bakery. The roasted coffee beans are poured out of the spherical baking chamber by the principle of gravity and entered into the lower drum cooler through a loophole. After cooling, they are poured directly into the bottom drawer.

1907: bean dryers are used in German cafes

In the picture of this Perfekt bean dryer made in Germany in the early 20th century, the pulley drive belt on the left side of the outside of the machine is the structure that drives the rotation of the drum, and it is also through some gear structures (which can only be seen clearly from the right side of the bottom) to indirectly drive the mixing blades in the cooling plate. The function of the stirring blade is to stir the coffee beans and improve the cooling efficiency.

The heat source of this bean baking machine is gas fire, and there is an exhaust pump at the base of the machine, driven by a belt on the left side of the outside of the machine, which blows heated air into the baking drum to circulate, thus ensuring a more uniform baking result. and effectively shorten the batch baking time, not as time-consuming as the old bean baking machine which only relied on heat conduction. This hot air stream also plays the role of bringing out the baking smoke and silver skin (a layer of film attached to raw coffee beans); finally, there is also an exhaust pump blowing fresh cold air at the bottom of the empty cooling plate, which works with the mixing blades in the cooling plate, the cooling efficiency is greatly improved.

In such a bean roaster, the tool to detect the baking depth is to make a small hole in the front of the roaster and insert a long "Trier". The sampling rod can go deep into the coffee bean pile in the baking process to obtain a small number of coffee bean samples. The coloring depth of these samples is the basis for the roaster to judge the timing of the beans. Once the roaster decides it is time to drop the beans, the roaster can pull up a lever and press it. Open the bean mouth, and the roasted coffee beans can be poured out to the cooling plate.

Although there were new electronic devices and many improvements in roasting technology in the 20th century, this bean roaster and other similar machines remained the mainstream of small-scale coffee roasting throughout the 20th century.

Early 20th century: bean dryers for German-made small cafes

In Germany and other European countries in the 1920 and 1930s, streamlined, space-free bean dryers like the one pictured here are often displayed by cafes on the front door or windowsill, and attract the attention of passers-by with the smell of baking. The working principle of this bean baking machine is almost identical to that of the aforementioned machine.

1980s: bean dryer for airflow cafes (internal section)

The air-flow bean roaster heats the coffee beans with the same hot air flow and stirs the coffee beans at the same time (let the coffee beans move in the way of gas). In the air-flow baking model designed by American Mike Siewicz, the heated hot air is blown from bottom to top through the sieve at the bottom of the baking chamber, which can drive the coffee beans up along the wall of the baking chamber and fall down at the top. Then there is a fountain cycle over and over again, and the position of the temperature probe part of the thermocouple thermometer can roughly measure the temperature of the coffee bean pile in the baking room. it is easy for the roaster to judge the timing of the beans according to the temperature point rather than the apparent chromaticity. The roasted coffee beans will be directed to another separate cooling chamber and cooled with cold air at room temperature.

In the past 50 years, there have been many other types of air-flow bean dryers, whose basic structure and working principle are more or less the same, only when coffee beans are stirred in the hot air flow mode. many air-flow bean dryers have added bean viewing windows or changed to use glass tubes as baking rooms, adding some interest to the originally ordinary foreign trade. On the other hand, the small air-flow bean baking machine even brings the automatic control technology into the baking control, so that the bean baking machine can be guided by electronic devices after the thermocouple thermometer reaches the preset target temperature value. automatically cut off the power to the heating part of the baking.

Large-scale industrial bean dryer

After the American Civil War, coffee beans sold in packaging on the display shelves of major cafe systems were first introduced. By the end of World War II, the mainstream commodity in the North American coffee market was pre-roasted beans / pre-ground coffee powder produced by large roasting plants, and this kind of high-volume roasting technology, which demands centralization and standardization, was called "coffee bean roasting plant" (Roasting Factory/Plant) or "commercial bean roaster" (Commercial Roaster). In the middle of the 19th century, large roasting plants in the late 19th century were just enlarged versions of bean roasters used in cafes, but at the end of the 19th century, the first "continuous bean roaster" (Continuous Roaster) was developed, which could roast coffee beans one batch after another without stopping.

1848: British industrial bean dryer

The large bean dryer in the picture is called "Dakin bean dryer". This is aimed at the improved type of American "Carter pull-out bean roaster" (Carter Pull-Out) introduced on page 35. The drum driving force of this bean roaster is the same as Carter's bean baking machine, which is driven by steam pulley, and the baking room is completely wrapped in a brick fireplace. But the Dakin bean roaster is different, the first is that there is a second layer of metal shell on the outside of the baking drum to block direct heat, and the second is that the "pull-out" design is more elegant and beautiful than the Yangchun design of the Carter bean baking machine.

1864: a small industrial bean dryer in the United States

Jabez Bures launched this continuous bean roaster with "double helix blades" (Double-screw) in the drum in 1864, which allows the coffee beans in the roasting drum to move forward and backward. This initiative not only makes the distribution of coffee beans inside the drum more uniform and stable, but more importantly, the next bean mouth is opened. It can also efficiently push the roasted coffee beans (the beans at the front of the drum) out of the mouth of the beans. In the 20th century, most drum baking machines used a design like this, which made the bean program faster. At this time, the outside of the baking drum is still covered by a brick fireplace, and the driving force is still steam.

End of 19th century: French bean dryer for gas and fire industry

The new coffee bean roasting technology, which uses gas as the heating source, was developed in the decades at the end of the 19th century. The lower bean mouth of the legal machine in the picture is located directly below the drum and the coffee beans are pulled by natural gravity into the cooling plate.

At the end of the 19th century: gas-fired continuous bean dryer in Germany

The Thurmer bean dryer developed in Germany in 1893 is probably the first gas-fired continuous bean dryer in the world. In the long baking drum, there is a set of spiral blade design, which can guide the coffee beans in roasting to move in an one-way way. when the coffee beans reach the end of the drum, they are already baked, so, in such a bean roaster, raw coffee beans can be continuously poured into for continuous baking. It is also a very practical design concept that this principle is applied to the "batch dryer" (Batch Roaster) and the bean dryers used in cafes in the past. The Thurmer bean roaster also introduced the concept of Fast Roasting (a batch within three to four minutes), which was immediately welcomed by large-scale baking companies, but so far, the quality of fast-baked coffee beans is still controversial.

End of the 20th century: continuous bean dryer (internal section)

The section view shows the latest continuous bean baking mechanism, which can see through the internal structure of the baking drum. The heat source of baking is provided by the strong heated air flow on the left side of the baking drum, which is blown to the right through the drum, and the baked caffeine beans are transported to the end of the drum and cooled by a stream of cold air and water mist. Today, however, more and more large continuous bean roasters use air flow baking, which is not far from the air flow roaster (Sivetz Shop Roaster) in the Siviz cafe introduced on page 55 (only a bit large): when a batch of coffee beans are roasted in hot air, they are sent to another tank for cooling. Then pour a new batch of raw coffee beans into the baking room to continue the next batch of baking process, repeating this cycle over and over again, so that it can be called "continuous baking".

From cinnamon baking to coke

The most important factor affecting the taste of coffee is roasting. In the case of the same raw coffee bean, at different degrees of baking, it may taste full of grass, or it may produce a hollow baking taste, or a sour, bright, or dry taste; sometimes it will bake a full consistency, or a delicious, round, bitter-to-sweet taste, or even a charred taste. The appearance of roasted coffee beans changes from a dry light brown to a dark brown with more and more oil on the surface, and finally to a completely black and glossy degree.

The process of color change in the appearance of coffee beans is now the basis for people to discuss "roasting coloration". The author prefers to call it "Roast Styles", because even if the same coffee bean has the same appearance, the middle baking interval (which refers to the preparation of several important temperature points in coffee roasting) is simply classified as the dehydration period before the first explosion-the first explosion period-the second explosion period-the second explosion intensive period. In the general small household bean baking machine, there are few that can control the baking interval time without any modification. At present, only Hottop and the latest Hearthware I-Roast have a more advanced design for the baking interval) different preparation will bake out different flavor characteristics. For example, when a coffee bean is roasted to a moderate color by slow roasting and the same coffee bean is baked to the same color by fast baking, there will be some differences in taste between the two batches of coffee beans. In addition, some people call the baking process "Degree of roast" or "Degree of processing". Although this term is more accurate, it is a bit difficult to understand. In this book, the author will uniformly use the word "Roast styles".

The change of preference of traditional baking mode

Like many other things associated with cultural differences, in the past, there was a special preference for coffee bean roasting, but this phenomenon is becoming less and less obvious nowadays. As for the reasons why people prefer a particular baking model, it probably has something to do with the time they live in and the area where they live. Regional comparisons can be made on this theme: the usual roasting mode of coffee beans in Turkey is deeper than that in Saudi Arabia; the roasting in southern Italy is deeper than that in northern Italy; it is also deeper in France than in central France; in the United States, the northwest is deeper than New England (northeast); and Northern California is deeper than Southern California and New Orleans is deeper than Atlanta.

Because of the traditional preference for a particular roasting mode of coffee beans in different regions, in the contemporary American coffee industry, a special roasting mode is often referred to by the name of the region. For example, New England baking represents shallow baking, American baking represents moderate baking, Viennese baking represents a lighter depth in deep baking, French baking represents deeper baking than Viennese, Italian baking represents deeper baking than French baking. Oh, and so on. The origin and details of the baking depth will be explained later in this chapter. It will also be briefly described in the chart on pages 80 to 81, which also contains other baking-related information. However, due to the development of globalization and the prosperity of the media, the preference for the baking model that used to be separated by regions has become more and more blurred. In other words, at a roaster anywhere in North America, you can find all the coffee beans roasted in different roasting modes. The original American roasted coffee beans (medium brown roasted color with bright and dry taste) were gradually replaced by coffee beans that tasted more exciting and darker, while coffee drinks without milk foam were also replaced by cappuccino and lattes with milk foam levels.

Which baking mode is the best?

Because of the cultural and regional differences mentioned earlier, it is difficult to draw a conclusion on this topic. But for those who sell coffee beans, the "best" is the one with the highest sales. Most bakers have their own long-term philosophy of baking and bean blending. They are very competent professionals in this field, but no one dares to be sure which baking method is the "best baking method" at the scientific and objective level, because no baking method can really shake the boulder of cultural and regional preferences. Who dares to say arbitrarily to a coffee drinker from Normandy, France (most people in this area tend to drink dark black coffee with a mild charred flavor): "because medium-roasted coffee contains more flavor oils, so it must be the best to drink." Even if you tell him so, the friend from Normandy would rather have a cup of coffee with a scorched taste.

One of the greatest pleasures of roasting coffee beans at home is that you can discover the best baking mode for yourself through different experiences. But the biggest problem with baking at home is that even if a batch of very good coffee beans are baked today, it will be very difficult to recreate the flavor in this baking mode next time. However, if you take a more systematic coffee roasting step, then the stability of each batch may be improved, but roasting at home is itself a romantic and adventurous thing, if you want to pursue "pure flavor consistency." you might as well go directly to your own baking cafe to buy freshly roasted coffee beans.

Recognized inappropriate baking mode

There are some clear rules to follow to bake a good batch of coffee beans, but the definition of inappropriate flavor is universal. Under too light roasting, the internal temperature of the coffee beans does not exceed 390 degrees Fahrenheit / 200 degrees Celsius, while the exterior color is only light brown, and the flavor oil has not yet begun to develop. At this time, the coffee beans are brewed. The result is a cup of coffee full of fishy smell, sour and no aroma. Under too deep roasting, the internal temperature of coffee beans rises to more than 480 degrees Fahrenheit / 250 degrees Celsius, the appearance is black or black, most of the flavor oils are volatilized at high temperature, and the woody parts of coffee beans are roasted into coke. if you take this kind of coffee beans to brew, you will get a cup of coffee with thin viscosity and obvious charred taste. It is similar to commercial coffee beans (commercial coffee beans refer to coffee enterprises that follow the chain system).

In addition, other generally recognized bad baking modes are to bake coffee beans at relatively low temperatures for a long time, or to bake coffee beans deep inside. Fortunately, most of the current bean roasters specially designed for roasting coffee beans can avoid these tragedies, but if you use difficult equipment to bake, you must pay attention! For details, please see the baking equipment selection and operation process recommendations in Chapter 5.

As long as you avoid these extreme baking results, there is a lot of room for you to travel, and even what kind of baking method is the best? We still have to go back to the level of culture and personal preferences!

The origin of baking pattern nomenclature

At present, the naming method mainly comes from two sources: one is the general preference of national drinkers' baking mode: Ruyi baking, French baking and so on. One is the naming rules developed by coffee professionals in the United States from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

The origin of these two names is still vague to some extent, so now there is a more objective way to interpret the baking mode, which is to use an instrument to read the color degree of coffee powder in the form of numbers.

Regional baking pattern name

First of all, let's quickly click on the names of these common baking patterns, which are all due to the preferences of regional drinkers, and can often be seen on the bags you buy.

The shallowest roasting is New England baking, which is almost decided in the North American coffee market; at present, what is still leading the mainstream in the United States is a baking mode that is similar to medium baking, and there was no name to replace the watch in the past. but now let's call it American baking. Coffee beans that are deeper than American roasting usually have sporadic coffee oil on the surface, which is called Viennese roasting or light French roasting; French roasting represents moderate deep roasting, with more coffee oil on the surface; Italian roasting, Spanish roasting, continental roasting or New Orleans roasting have a deeper color and more coffee oil. Deep French baking is called deep French baking, which is very close to black and dark brown, also known as Spanish baking, Turkish baking and Napoli baking, which is common in northwestern France. Recently, there is a term called "Espresso roasting". Its baking depth is probably between Italian baking and French roasting, which is most common in northern Italy. It has a moderate dark brown appearance and is covered with a thin layer of coffee oil.

The author collates these names into a summary as follows:

. New England baking (New England): light brown, dried bean noodles.

. American baking (American): medium brown, dried bean noodles.

. Viennese roasting (Viennese): medium dark brown with scattered drops of coffee oil on the bean noodles.

. French roasting (French): moderate dark brown bean noodles with a thin layer of coffee oil.

Espresso roasting: dark brown, depending on the degree of baking, the bean surface may have only a thin layer of coffee oil, or a thick layer of coffee oil.

. Italian baking (Italian): dark brown close to black with shiny bean noodles. Most bakers bake as deep as they can.

. Deep French baking (Dark French) or Spanish baking (Spanish): extremely dark brown that quickly turns black and is too greasy.

Traditional American defined baking pattern name

Another is the naming rule of baking patterns that has been used in the United States since the 19th century, roughly in the following order:

. Cinnamon baking (Cinnamon): very light brown.

. Shallow baking (Light): the shallowest degree of American baking.

. Medium baking (Medium).

. Medium height baking (Medium High): American baking reaches this landing point for the longest time.

. Urban high baking (City high): it falls a little deeper than American baking.

. Deep City Baking (Full City): deeper than the former, bean noodles sometimes have a few drops of coffee oil.

. Dark baking (Dark): dark brown, bright bean noodles, similar to the degree of Espresso baking or French baking (French) in the regional classification.

. Heavy baking (Heavy) is very dark brown with bright bean noodles, similar to Italian baking.

Among the many names, the only one that can still be seen so far is the name Deep City Bake, a baking model that is a little deeper than American baking in the middle of the 20th century.

Using numbers to make up for the lack of traditional baking pattern classification: caramelization degree classification and SCAA color code discrimination system

After looking at the first two categories of baking pattern taxonomy, do you feel confused? Yes, in order to solve the problems caused by both, the American Fine Coffee Association (SCAA,Specialty Coffee Association of America) has specially developed a set of auxiliary tools that allow us to judge the degree of baking coloring with more accurate instruments.

In this set of aids, there are eight references, no names, only numbers, which accurately correspond to eight well-designed baking depth color codes. The method of interpretation is to grind a sample coffee bean into powder by fine grinding and pour it into a special shallow pan before it can be fed into a measuring instrument loaded with a chemical index or caramelization measurement benchmark to begin comparison with the color code, and the depth of these sample coffee beans will be classified to the nearest "caramelization degree" (Agtron). The numerical range of the caramelization degree for the color code is # 95 (the lightest baking depth), # 85 (this shallow baking depth), and up to # 25 (generally the deepest baking depth).

Of course, having a "near-infrared spectrophotometer" that can accurately read the color of coffee powder on a special platter costs nearly $70, 000 to $20, 000.

However, the current SCAA developed caramelization degree discrimination method, its special words in fact and no communication between consumers, when consumers buy a packet of coffee beans, packaging bags do not see the so-called "caramelization" degree logo. Coffee books are almost silent on the subject. But the charts on pages 80 - 81 link caramelization levels to our usual baking patterns and depths. But it must be emphasized here that SCAA developed this caramelization degree system intended to be completely separate from traditional baking patterns and to serve as a basis for a more objective discussion of baking depth.

In the back cover of the manual attached to this system, there are four-color printed color charts for reference, but please note that these color charts are sometimes inaccurate due to different factors, such as printing misalignment and blurring, printing ink just enough, using color code when the light source error, chromatic aberration, and even what to eat for lunch will affect the accuracy of the color chart. So technically, all of these factors make the color chart useless. In other words, you don't need to compare the color chart to a handful of coffee beans because it's meaningless. This color chart is attached to the manual just to let you know that this tool exists, but we don't really have a chance to use it.

You can find information about this caramelization/color chart system in the Related Resources section, by the way, the main developer of this system is Carl Staub, the head of Agtron and a very innovative scientist.

Words related to "taste"

There was a time when using language as a tool to describe how something tasted often left us speechless. But coffee professionals can use mutually intelligible words-such as flavors of foods and beverages they encounter in everyday life-to help describe what they taste in coffee. The use of such words will facilitate a more precise classification and differentiation of coffee flavors.

Here is a brief introduction to green coffee beans and the flavor words we can feel under different roasting modes; I will not mention those words that are too technical or sensory evaluation in cup testing, but only mention the most important and widely used flavor defects that describe cup performance, and the defective flavor words that may be produced by improper processing of green coffee beans at various stages, such as overfermentation flavor, moldy flavor, sack flavor, etc. I also don't skip some simple flavor words that are self-evident, such as rich, floral, smooth, creamy, and other similar words.

The first three flavor terms are almost universal, and are mentioned all over the world when evaluating coffee bean characteristics: acidity, consistency (usually called alcohol or taste in Chinese), and wet aroma (Aroma). These are the most basic words for evaluating coffee bean flavor. Without these three words, you can't start evaluating coffee bean flavor. The following three words are relatively less common, and there may be different nouns for different professional cup tests in different regions. Flavour-related words are increasing, and I hope it will help to integrate old flavor descriptions with new ones borrowed from red wine and other tasting terms.

Acidity/Acidy: One of the most important items in coffee tasting, and often the most misunderstood word. Coffee acidity is not acidic or sour in pH, but describes a lively, bright flavor performance, which is somewhat similar to the dry feeling in wine evaluation. Coffee beans lack acidity, which means they have no vitality and taste empty and boring. Acidity has many different characteristics, which are the main basis for distinguishing coffee beans from different origins, such as coffee beans from Yemen and coffee beans from East Africa (such as Kenya and Zimbabwe). The deeper you roast a coffee bean, the less acidic it is; but a green coffee bean, which is inherently high in acidity, will show more sharpness and pungency when roasted deeper.

Viscosity/Mouthfeel: Viscosity refers to the weight of the coffee solution to the mouth; while taste refers to the texture of the coffee solution to the mouth, such as the following words: yellow cream, sandy, oily, smooth, thin, watery thin, non-oily, or astringent. Viscosity is actually a feeling, although it is related to the amount of solid particles dissolved in water, but it is more difficult to use "quantitative" way to distinguish the degree.

Roast a coffee bean to a medium brown or dark brown roast point, and the consistency of the cup will also increase, and the taste will be more round and fatty. However, if the coffee beans are roasted to a deeper degree, such as Spanish roasting or French deep roasting, the consistency will decrease and the taste will become fat-free and gritty.

Aroma: Although this word seems easy to understand, when it comes to the performance of wet aroma, it cannot be discussed without the depth of baking. At very light roasting depths, wet aromas are completely undeveloped, while at medium to medium roasting depths, wet aromas reach their peak, but at very deep roasting depths, wet aromas tend to be pure and weak. For professional coffee tasters or cup testers, coffee wet aroma performance differences, sometimes more obvious than taste in the mouth, easy to distinguish.

Complexity: This is another easy to understand and useful word. A coffee bean with a high degree of complexity, its acidity and sweetness and other strong flavors blend and match very skillfully. Often we don't experience the full flavor of coffee in the first place; it emerges layer by layer rather than all at once. There is no doubt that complexity now peaks in the range of "medium roast-medium deep roast-normal Espresso deep roast", but the complexity performance of the last is somewhat different from that of the medium roast because the complexity elements that make up the two have changed slightly. Most of the formulas on the market blend coffee beans to increase the complexity of the performance.

Depth/Dimension: Depth refers to the strength and length of the finish that drives the coffee flavor. This word is ambiguous and a bit subjective, but this performance can only be known by cup test comparison when many coffee beans are tested side by side at the same time. You will find that among the many coffee beans, there will always be one or two that have a very deep, hot aftertaste, while most of the other coffee beans are only expressed in the upper palate and dissipate before the aftertaste.

Origin Distinction/Varietal Distinction/Varintal and Character: These words usually appear only when they are tested by professional cupping procedures. Roast all coffee beans to a fairly close cup light roast and taste them in a cup test. At this time, you can feel the differences between different regions and different tree species. Kenyan coffee beans, for example, have a strong dry taste with berry acidity; Costa Rican coffee beans have a scalding acidity and a clear balance; Isobel Yeshua coffee beans have a very exaggerated floral aroma and citrus flavor; Sumatra coffee beans made with traditional processing method have a low profile flavor and a malty rich feeling. But some coffee beans don't have unique flavor characteristics at all, but that doesn't mean they're not good or boring coffee beans. If all the flavors are very strong but very balanced, and there is no special flavor, then this type of coffee beans may be called "classic coffee", because this type of coffee beans can always play a role in complementing a certain position in the formula, but it cannot be unique.

Strictly speaking, the term "unique expression of tree flavor" is somewhat confusing, because most coffee beans in the market are marketed by "producing area name" rather than "plant name" in botany, so the correct term should be "Origin Distinction/growing-rngon Distinction". In the world of coffee, the term "tree species unique expression" has less cachet than it does in the world of wine. Whatever we call it, this distinctive flavor is best expressed at light to medium roast depths, the deeper the roast, the more the essential flavor of the coffee bean dissipates. Of course, at the stage of extremely deep baking, it is almost impossible to detect the unique flavor of the producing area.

Balance: This is also an easy word to understand. The term refers primarily to a wine that is strong in acidity but not too wild, sometimes viscous, and without damaging defective flavors.

Words related to "processor"

The words mentioned in this section are flavor words related to the various stages of post-harvest processing (shelling, fermentation, washing, drying and storage), most of which are defective flavors.

Clean: This common phrase stands for "coffee beans in cups that appear directly from the fruit, without any blemishes in flavor during processing." The best performers of Central American coffee beans, Kenyan coffee beans, Ethiopian washed processed coffee beans, and Hawaiian-Kona coffee beans are among the best examples. These coffee beans have clear flavor, flavor, performance of special bright, clear, without any processing procedures, drying procedures and other real defects caused by flavor interference. Sumatra and Sulawesi coffee beans, on the other hand, have a distinctive satirical flavor (low-key complex flavors like malt and mildew) that is partly due to traditional rough processing.

Fruity/Fermented/Winey: Some coffee beans have fruity flavor in nature, but this flavor is usually due to the drying process of the processing stage, the peel and pulp of the shelled beans are not removed, and the tang contained therein begins to ferment, and the flavor is attached to the coffee beans during fermentation; or the shelled beans can retain a part of the pulp and mucosa to ferment together, which will also produce this effect. If the process is handled properly and no microorganisms grow, the flavor will be sweet and very attractive, which is called "fruity"; but if handled properly, the flavor may have a taste of food spoilage, which is called "overfermentation", that is, a defect in flavor; in between, there is a critical fermentation flavor, which is "wine flavor". Some people love coffee beans with fruity flavor and wine aroma very much, and I am one of the fans myself.

Musty/Malty: When the coffee beans adhere to microbial organisms during the drying process, it will produce a very strong, hollow taste reminiscent of a piece of moldy leather in a damp shoe cabinet. But when the taste is not fully developed, the feeling expressed in the coffee flavor is acceptable, and the flavor is the "malt flavor" that many people will like. Some imaginative people even romantically associate this pleasant taste with "chocolate flavor". However, adding this flavor is really too strong to accept, then this flavor can be directly called "moldy", which is a very obvious flavor defect.

Earthy: This flavor is caused by the coffee fruit falling on the soil and drying, absorbing the smell of the soil, which is often misunderstood as "moldy". Some professionals in the coffee world consider this earthy smell to be an attractive exotic flavor, but others abhor it so much that they see it as a flavor defect.

Wild: This term refers to the wild flavor that occurs when a coffee bean has all of the above flavors.

Baggy/Faded: Soft coffee beans grown at lower elevations and stored in moist conditions tend to produce a hollow, musty taste, accompanied by a taste similar to that on the surface of a rope or hemp bag, which coffee professionals call "baggy". The coffee beans with sack flavor usually show a state of decline, taste boring, and the outline of various flavors is blurred. This flavor is usually regarded as a flavor defect.

Flavor profiles associated with harvest

Sweet/Green/Grassy: Coffee beans made from fully ripe coffee fruits generally have a natural sweet taste; however, if coffee beans are made from immature fruits, the viscosity in the taste is thin, with raw flavor and grass flavor, generally accompanied by a biting astringency.

Words related to "baking"

The words in this section are all flavor words related to baking pattern or baking depth.

Sweet: Between the medium and deep roasts (also known as Vienna to Espresso roasts), sugar is fully developed and some bitterness related flavor elements are removed at this time, resulting in a round, soft taste and a thick, but not empty coffee. Of course, the coffee beans made from fully ripe coffee fruits have a higher sweetness, and when they are roasted to a deeper roasting degree, they will have a better sweet performance.

Pungent/Pungency: The author attributes this phrase to "a slightly bitter taste characteristic of deep roasting," a sensation familiar and particularly appreciated by anyone who prefers deep roast coffee.

Flavors resulting from roasting-Bittersweet: The term refers to the aggregation of all the complex flavours of deeply roasted coffee beans. In deep roasting, the acidity of the coffee beans disappears and is replaced by a pungent flavor with a subtle caramel sweetness, which I refer to as "Bittersweet" and some people may classify this taste as an anonymous "Roast taste/Taste of the roast."

Bready: Coffee beans that have not been roasted to a sufficient depth or temperature will show a toasted taste in the cup. At this point, the flavor oil of coffee beans has not yet begun to develop.

Baked: This is another term used to describe flavors produced by improper baking. The main reason for this flavor is that coffee beans are roasted at too low a temperature for a long time. Coffee beans with roasted flavor, the performance of the cup is empty, no aroma.

Correlation between baking patterns and flavors

Now, with that knowledge, let's take a look at the correlation between the different roasting patterns and roasting depths of these anchovies, and this section will be introduced one by one in order of roasting depth. Again, you can also find summary reference information in the chart on pages 80-81.

. The lightest roasted coffee beans, generally known as cinnamon roast, the highest roasting temperature point of the bean core does not exceed 400 Fahrenheit/205 Celsius, and the SCAA caramelization degree is "#95". At this time, the appearance of the coffee beans is very light brown, the performance of the cup usually has a strong, waxy acid, the aroma is weak, the taste is biased towards the shell flavor, the viscosity is thin, and the coffee beans are dry and oil-free.

. The shallow roasting, which is slightly deeper than the previous stage, is called New England baking, and the highest temperature of the bean heart is about 400F / 205C, which is "# 85" in terms of the caramelization of SCAA, when the acidity in the coffee cup is very strong, and the flavor uniqueness of the coffee bean itself (Varietal characteristics, usually accompanied by acidity) will emerge. At this time, there is an obvious feeling of viscosity, but it is inferior to that of deep baking. The surface of the coffee bean is still dry and oil-free, but the flavor oil has quietly developed inside the coffee bean.

. A darker, medium-light brown baking that captures the degree of baking is called light baking. In the category of American baking, the highest temperature of bean heart is between 400C and 415C (205Mel 215 degrees Celsius), and the degree of caramelization of SCAA is between "# 75" and "# 65". The acidity is bright, but it is no longer too strong, the flavor uniqueness of coffee beans is still retained, and the consistency is fuller. In the eyes of traditional East Coast coffee drinkers, coffee beans in this roasting mode are the "best coffee".

. En than the former is a little deeper, medium brown baking catches the degree of baking, which is called medium baking, medium-high baking, or urban baking, which is within the range of American baking. The highest temperature of bean heart is between 415-435 degrees Fahrenheit (215-225 degrees Celsius). According to the degree of caramelization of SCAA, the acidity is still obvious, but the taste is relatively rich. At this time, the unique flavor of coffee beans gradually weakens, and the consistency is fuller. This is the traditional universal baking model in the western United States.

. Then a deeper baking depth is called "deep city baking". The highest temperature of the bean heart is between 435 and 455 degrees Fahrenheit, and between "# 55" and "# 45" in terms of the caramelization degree of SCAA, the acidity weakens slightly and the consistency becomes thicker. At this baking depth, the coffee bean itself is unique except for the acidity of Kenyan coffee beans, such as red wine. Almost imperceptible. Some of the more delicate features, such as the elusive smoky flavor of some coffee beans from Guatemala, are easily lost by roasting.

At this baking depth, a new flavor begins to emerge, which is a special flavor that can only be found in deep-roasted coffee beans. There is no special term in the general comments, but the author has a name for this flavor. It's called "bitter and sweet". There is a sugar flavor in the coffee beans that begins to develop, giving the coffee beans at this baking depth a delicate sweetness, which is not quite the same as the sweetness of granulated sugar, but closer to the texture of caramel. at the same time, the performance of acidity is transformed into the expression of irritating flavor, a combination of these flavors that deep roasting lovers are familiar with.

At this time, the bean table may still be dry, or it may begin to appear sporadic oil spots, which are just about to emerge from the inside of the coffee beans. The most popular baking depth in the northwestern United States and Northern California is currently available in Starbucks coffee shops across the United States.

. To the degree of ordinary deep baking, which is called Espresso baking, European baking, or high baking, the highest temperature of bean heart is between 445C and 455C, and the caramelization degree of SCAA is between "# 45" and "# 35". At this time, the acidity has been completely wrapped in a strong sense, and the flavor uniqueness of coffee beans can no longer be distinguished and full-bodied. The bitter taste of deep-roasted coffee beans is also getting stronger and longer. At this baking depth, there must be oil on the surface of coffee beans, from sporadic oil spots to the extent of a thin film.

. When the coffee beans are roasted to a very deep roasting degree, such as French roasting, Italian roasting, deep roasting, etc., the highest temperature of the bean heart is between 455 and 465 degrees Fahrenheit (235C-240C). According to the caramelization degree of SCAA, it is "# 35". The bitter taste or deep-roasted coffee bean taste occupies the whole picture, the consistency gradually weakens, the acidity and the flavor uniqueness of the coffee bean itself. All have been overshadowed by a strong bitter taste, with acidity ranging from round and soft (coffee beans with lower acidity) to the tipping point of bitterness (coffee beans with higher acidity). At this roasting depth of coffee beans, the bean table is always shiny.

. When it comes to the stage of very deep baking, such as Italian baking, deep French baking, Spanish baking or re-baking, the highest temperature of bean heart is between 450C and 475C (245C to 245C), and the degree of caramelization of SCAA is between "# 35" and "# 25". The viscosity of the surface becomes weaker and weaker, while the oil on the bean surface begins to be highly evaporated. At this baking depth, the critical point of bitterness in the performance of bitter sweet taste, there is also a hint of scorched taste in the bosom, not to mention the acidity and the flavor uniqueness of coffee beans, which has long been a member of the deep-roasted flavor level. The bean surface is shiny, and the flavor oil is blown out of the bean surface.

In addition to the thin consistency and the deep-roasted taste of the dominant flavor, these very deep-roasted coffee beans are very exciting and enjoyable for those who prefer this flavor. Coffee beans at this roasting depth are ideal for making lattes with milk or other coffee drinks mixed with milk.

. Finally, there is the stage of very deep roasting, the appearance of coffee beans is close to black, probably only deep French roasting and Spanish roasting will roast coffee beans to this extent, the highest temperature of beans is between 475 and 480 degrees Fahrenheit (245C-250C), according to the caramelization degree of SCAA, it is "# 25". Very deeply roasted coffee beans must have a very special taste. With a thinner consistency, deep-roasted beans are bittersweet, with a higher proportion of bitterness and less sweetness, and the whole cup of coffee is full of charred and charcoal. No matter where the coffee beans come from, once they are roasted to a very deep stage, the flavor is almost exactly the same. The oil on the bean table is bright and smooth, and deep roasting like this is basically not used for brewing espresso. Espresso beans are deep-roasted beans, yes, but not completely blackened. Still have a good consistency and sweetness performance. People who roast coffee beans at home, whether or not you deliberately bake such a handful of very deep-roasted coffee beans, you will accidentally bake such a thing sooner or later in the process of playing.

Beyond the previous stage of baking, it is already coke, not coffee beans. There is no sign of consistency at all. it tastes like charred rubber soaking water, and even the oil on the bean table has been roasted dry. A batch of beans like this are not worth boiling at all.

Time / temperature ratio and other subtle influence properties

All roasting modes are different because of the roasting process, so even coffee beans that look the same in appearance behave very differently in the cup. When you use fast heat / high temperature (or a combination of air flow high temperature and fast air flow) to bake a coffee bean to a fixed baking chromaticity in a short time, the roasted coffee bean retains more acidity; coffee beans that are baked at lower temperatures for longer periods of time have relatively less acidity, but have fuller consistency and higher complexity.

The difference, however, is often a source of long-standing debate among supporters of different baking systems. For novice bakers, this differential trade-off is often fought in their hearts, whether to vote for the "leisurely slow fire baking pie" (Slow-and-deliberate school) or to join the "elegant quick fire baking pie" (Fast-but-gentle school).

Slow roasters advocate roasting coffee beans in a cautious and organized way: first, take the excess water out of the coffee beans at a relatively low temperature, and then allow the coffee beans to be pyrolyzed at a higher temperature. The purpose of the first step of low temperature is to preserve the moisture of the coffee bean as much as possible and to keep the structure of the coffee bean from too much damage, but the temperature is also high enough for the baking to continue smoothly. and can not cause too much damage to the water in the cells and cells of coffee beans. Slow-fire baking pie tends to use drum-type roaster rather than air-flow roaster, because the former has more subtle and essential fire control and throttle control than the latter; slow-fire baking pie baking time per batch is about 12rel 25 minutes.

On the other hand, Kuaihuo roasting pie believes that "the longer coffee beans are roasted in a bean roaster, the more aromatic oils are lost, and most supporters of this school prefer to use air-flow roasters or roasting systems that stir and heat coffee beans on a similar principle. The fast-fire baking school believes that the advantage of air-flow baking is that the strong high-temperature air flow is very efficient in heating coffee beans, and the coffee beans can be roasted faster than before the cells are overly destroyed. therefore, a higher proportion of flavor factors can be preserved. The minimum baking time of each batch is 5 minutes, and the longest is no more than 15 minutes.

So who is right? Maybe both factions are right. The author personally drank high-quality coffee from two schools, each has its own advantages, so the author thinks that this controversial point should be narrowed down to personal preference this block, at the end of what is "good coffee"? Only the drinker knows. The author can only give a general direction here: people who like sour and sweet coffee (or people who like the slightly bitter and sweet flavor of deep-baked beans), and want a cup of coffee with clear flavor and straight into the feeling. Maybe choose fast baking pie will suit your stomach. On the other hand, if you don't like too much acidity and clarity, and want fuller taste, higher complexity and deep performance (or like deep bakers with more bitterness), then slow baking pie may be a better choice for you.

But supporters of both groups also share a common understanding: if the coffee beans are roasted at a low temperature for a long time, the coffee beans will have a poor taste such as baking, and the coffee beans will be roasted to a fixed baking point in a hot but too short time. Then the coffee may lack complexity, rhyme and strength. Both factions follow a rule, that is, the pursuit of quality, but the focus of the two factions is not quite the same.

However, the evolution of baking technology also has some impact on the flavor of coffee beans. For example, proponents of air flow baking emphasize that coffee beans roasted by air flow are clearer after being boiled, so air flow roasting is a better baking method, because the smoke and silver skin are more completely separated from coffee beans in the process of baking, which happens to be the weakness of most drum roasters. But there are also a group of experts who like the heavy taste and oil smell produced by smoke and silver skin burning, and they just want it, so no matter what others say, they prefer old-fashioned baking equipment to produce their favorite smoke.

The relationship between time / temperature ratio and domestic bean dryer

Unless you are already an experienced roaster, I suggest that beginners should not ask themselves too much to bake coffee beans that are full of variety. The first step for starters is to learn how to master the relationship between time and baking depth, and first find your own favorite baking depth.

Next, if you want to try to distinguish the flavor differences of "with different curves and reaching the same coloring depth", you should first look at the limitations of the equipment you use.

In the fifth chapter of this book, the author has done a survey of market baking equipment for you. For coffee lovers who like bright performance and obvious acidity, choosing air-flow baking technology should be a more wise choice. Whether it is a specially designed machine for roasting coffee beans or a hot air popcorn machine. Both types of air-flow baking equipment have a predicted maximum target temperature, and the roasting speed of coffee beans is relatively fast (about 3 to 12 minutes per batch). Baking smoke and silver skins are efficiently separated from coffee beans, and the finished coffee beans are clear and high-pitched flavor characteristics in the cup. If you prefer coffee with more defective roasting flavor, thicker consistency, fuller and higher complexity, then maybe you should get started with the old-fashioned Aroma Pot bean roaster, stove popcorn machine, or oven bean roaster.

While the more professional drum type household bean dryer or hot convection bean dryer such as Swissmar Alpenrost bean roaster, HotTop bean roaster, and Zach&Dani's bean roaster and so on, the flavor characteristics of coffee beans baked by these machines can not be separated from the following categories: clear, less smoke, low-key deep flavor, low acidity and sweetness, usually accompanied by a more obvious irritating flavor.

A Dictionary of Coffee Bakery Review

In this chapter, the author introduces the relevant words and descriptions that will be used in roasting and tasting coffee. These professional words are like passwords for coffee lovers to communicate with each other, and may not be required, but the description of these words has a considerable positive effect on the improvement of coffee appreciation. Here will be a collection of Chinese and English, I hope to help readers to use.

Acidity/acidy acidity

Acidic acidity

Agressivery flat taste's strong nose-punching hollow taste

Aroma wet aroma

Astringency astringency

Astringent is astringent.

Baggy sack flavor

Baked baked flavor

Balance equilibrium degree

Berry-note acidity has berry flavor acidity.

The characteristic slightly bitter taste of deep baking in bitterish

Bittersweet turns bitter to sweet / sweet in bitterness

Bland is empty and boring.

Body/mouthfeel viscosity / mellowness / taste

Bready smell of toast

Brisk is lively

Bright bright

Buttery is like yellow cream

Caramllike quality is close to the texture of caramel

Charred burnt smell

Chocolaty Chocolate

Cinnamon roast cinnamon baking degree

Clean is clear.

Clean balance's clear sense of balance

Complexity complexity

The smell of rotten food in composty/rotten

Depth/dimension depth / hierarchy

Earthy wet soil taste

Dry has a dry taste.

The taste of faded declines

Fatter has a higher sense of fat.

Fermented overfermented flavor

Flat without aroma is empty and without fragrance.

Floral with floral scent

Fruity fruit aroma

The full consistency of full-bodied

Grassy grass smell (fishy smell)

The taste of grainy millet.

Green has a raw flavor.

Gritty sandy / sandy rough

High-toned high profile

Idiosyncratic roast taste defective baking flavor

Lean is non-greasy.

Light-bodied tastes thin.

Low-key low-key flavor

Malty malt flavor

Mellow is delicious

Musty smells moldy

Oily is oily.

Overwhelming is wild and unruly

Irritant flavor and taste of pungent/pungency

Red-wine-like has the texture of red wine.

Rich rich

The reverberating acidity of ringing aidity

Rounded/rounder is round and round

Sharpness sharpness

Smooth is smooth and smooth

Sour stinging sour taste

Soft tastes soft

Sugary sweetness sugar sweetness

Sweet is sweet

The destructive defective flavor of tastes of idiosyncrasy

Tectre texture

Thin is thin

Watery is as thin as water

Wild wild flavor

Aroma of winey wine

What kind of coffee would you like to bake?-buy coffee and raw beans

Every kind of raw coffee beans has some inherent mysteries. One of the greatest joys of roasting coffee beans at home is that you can unveil this layer of mystery directly by roasting the beans yourself, instead of just drinking the coffee flavor interpreted by others and losing a lot of fun.

Of course, maybe you don't care about the subtle differences between the various coffee beans, or you may only focus on the more basic requirements: you simply want cheap and fresh coffee beans to drink. If your request goes so far, maybe you only need to buy a few pounds of Colombian, Kenyan or Sumatran beans to go home, then I suggest you skip this chapter and turn directly to pages 186 to 225 of this book. then you can move towards your goal and start baking your coffee beans. You can find the location of raw coffee beans and the necessary equipment for roasting coffee beans in the "related Resources" section of this book.

However, now that you've reached this point, you finally want to take a peek and learn how to distinguish the flavor differences of all kinds of good coffee in the world. For example, you can learn how a single coffee bean has different flavors at different baking depths. After more in-depth understanding, you can even build a "coffee bean hide" like a wine store, and find a coffee bean that matches the flavor characteristics of which flavor you want to drink; even if your friend prefers coffee beans with another flavor, you can also tell it right away. In the end, you can also prepare personal-style formula beans, all the process is under your own control, and you no longer need to rely on others to bake for you.

Basic cognition of raw coffee beans

There are so many kinds of coffee in the world that it is difficult to explain the differences between them. Next, I would like to introduce you to the preliminary method of how to buy raw coffee beans. If you want to know more about this kind of information, you can refer to the pen's other book, "Coffee: a Guide to Purchasing, brewing and enjoying", "Coffee:A Guide to Buying,Brewing & Enjoying", or "The Coffees Produced Throughout the World" by Philip Philippe Jobin. You can find information about buying other professional coffee books in the related Resources of this book.

I would like to remind you of a point: the biggest test of a coffee bean is not its name, its grade, nor the values that other people impose on things, the only thing we care about is taste. If you drink a cup of coffee and like the taste it brings, then this coffee bean is good coffee for you, on the contrary, if you drink a cup of unpalatable coffee, then you'd better not pay attention to a lot of other hype, even if other people describe it well, you don't like it, it's not good coffee for you!

Narrowing the scope of Cognition: understanding Coffee species by Tree species and Market definition

We know that there are so many kinds of coffee in the world, so it is a headache to know them one by one. In fact, there are some screening criteria that make it easier for us to understand the types of coffee.

First of all, we can narrow the cognitive scope from the species of coffee trees. Contemporary botanists have found more than a hundred species of coffee trees, but only one Coffea Arabica species is the mainstream in the world coffee market.

Another coffee tree species in circulation in the coffee market is botanically called Coffea Robusta. Compared with Arabica coffee trees, Robusta coffee trees can grow at lower elevations and have strong disease resistance and vitality. according to classification, Robusta coffee beans are not like good Arabica coffee beans. it has good acidity and complexity, but it has relatively high viscosity. Cheap Robusta coffee beans are highly likely to be used in the nameless formula of cheap coffee beans on supermarket shelves, and cheap coffee beans brewed in warm coffee pots in some budget-conscious restaurants to save money; coffee beans used in vending machines in office buildings.

In the category of boutique coffee, the only thing that highlights the importance of Robusta coffee beans is Espresso (espresso). A small amount of robusta beans with a high level of treatment are usually added to the espresso formula to increase the sweetness and consistency of the formula.

Another important part of the espresso formula is growing coffee beans at lower elevations in Arabica, Brazil. Most coffee beans produced in Brazil are harvested in whole batches, whether ripe or not, rather than just full-ripe coffee fruit, and are less delicate in handling. This kind of Brazilian beans and Robusta coffee beans are the main raw materials of packaged coffee powder and instant coffee powder currently on the market. In addition, lower-grade Arabica coffee beans (commonly known as hard bean HB) from other countries are similar in price to those of the lower grades of Brazilian beans.

Of course, there are also high-quality Arabica coffee beans on business trips in Brazil. These high-quality Brazilian Arabica coffee beans rank Milds (mild type) or High-grown Milds (high altitude mild type) in the international coffee futures market alongside good coffee from other countries in the world in quality.

This grade of good coffee beans is exactly what the author would like to introduce to you. Generally speaking, this kind of good coffee beans can only be found in wooden buckets or sacks in boutique coffee shops, which is exactly the type of coffee beans that I suggest my friends who roast at home to buy.

A zigzag and bizarre coffee name

Before I take you to take a quick look at all kinds of good coffee, there are some words that must be explained to you.

First, boutique grades of coffee beans are usually sold in two forms:

1. Mixed bean formula (Blends): made by mixing coffee beans from different harvest seasons or from more than two different producing areas.

two。 Single producing area, unmixed single bean: single source coffee beans limited to a single harvest season, the English name is Single-origin Coffees or Varietal Coffees.

And for friends who bake coffee beans at home, individual beans are the most popular because:

Knowledge accumulation: you can know where the coffee beans you are baking come from.

Taste exploration: individual coffee beans from different producing areas have different flavors.

High autonomy: when you are familiar with roasting coffee, you have a certain degree of understanding of the flavor characteristics of various single beans, and you can mix your own style formula beans according to your preferences.

The names of most individual coffee beans are determined by importers and exporters according to the country of production, the name of the market, or the grading system. The grading methods usually include the following:

1. How to deal with it.

two。 Sometimes it will indicate the growth environment conditions, such as the growth altitude and so on.

3. In addition, more and more individual beans will be marked with the name of the manor or cooperative.

4. Finally, add the name of their botanical tree species.

This trend has increasingly become mainstream. Next, the author will show you the names of all kinds of grades.

Coffee bean producing country

This indicator is easy to understand as the names of some countries, such as Kenya, Colombia, etc., which is the general name you will see on the bags of coffee beans sold in cafes. However, the classification by country is still a bit rough and general, because the scope of a country is so wide, coffee is grown in more than one place in each country, and the market forces are very complex. that's why there are a variety of categories and names that follow.

Mysterious market trademark naming

Market trademark nomenclature is one of the most traditional indicators, which can be found in coffee sacks or coffee beans lists of imports and exporters. Most of the brand names of coffee beans originated in the 19th century or even earlier, but they have many allusions, but they are mainly based on regional names, such as Guatemala-Antigua volcanic region (Guatemalan Antigua), Mexico-Osaka region (Mexican Oaxaca), and there are also trademarks with export ports, such as the most famous Brazilian port of Santos (Brazilian Santos). And the Yemeni port of Yemeni Mocha, which no longer acts as an export port (a port at the exit of the Red Sea, but has not exported coffee beans for a century).

But in the end, the brand name is reminiscent of the nature of the coffee bean itself, rather than a place name. These brand names are reminiscent of the characteristics of taste and flavor in addition to the location of the producing area. The brand name of some coffee beans is even louder than the name of the country of origin. For example, the trademark name Hawaiian Kona, which is generally recognized only by most people, is not directly associated with its country of origin, the United States or the state of Hawaii.

Coffee bean grading system

Coffee beans in many places are also traded according to the grading system, such as AA (Kenya AA) in Kenya, Supremo (Colombian Supremo) in Colombia, etc., which can be graded in many ways: according to the size of coffee beans, by the altitude at which coffee beans grow, and some by the performance of the final cup.

The definition of grading standard is generally promulgated by the competent authorities of government units in various producing countries, and a grading standard is generally set up, which not only makes coffee farmers do not plant coffee trees carelessly, but also encourages farmers to aim at producing high-quality coffee beans. Another use of the grading system is to facilitate a criterion to be followed when negotiating prices between buyers and sellers. However, generally speaking, the coffee bean appearance (grain size and defect rate) is the main grading standard, and the grading system based on the performance in the cup is still weak.

The classification of forgotten coffee beans is a simple classification standard established by the government authorities of the coffee-producing countries, which divides the coffee beans into large quantities and sells them by stages, so that the government agencies can centrally manage the enterprises that produce coffee beans. Recently, however, many coffee farmers have caught up with the global trend and are moving towards breaking the established market mode of operation. This allows independent single coffee farmers or coffee farmers' associations to exchange directly with international buyers and roasters. With the evolution of the situation, the classification standards originally formulated by the governments of the producing countries have gradually declined. In these coffee-producing countries, the original goal of pursuing a single classification standard has evolved into a healthy quality competition between manors or coffee farmers' organizations based on the requirements of international buyers and roasters.

However, grading is still an important naming element for coffee beans. In a more exquisite coffee shop, you can see that they mark the coffee beans in the following ways: country-region-level (such as Guatemalan-Antigua-Strictly Hard Bean, Guatemala-Antigua-very hard beans). However, most of the things you see at home in coffee shops are mainly rough marks of the country of origin plus trademark name or grade.

In addition, in a store's home or importer's coffee bean list, there is one level that is often easily confused: the Peaberry (Caracolillo in Spanish) level. Round beans are olive-shaped coffee beans, under normal circumstances, a coffee fruit should contain two semi-oval flat beans (Flat Beans), while the coffee fruit that does not normally split into two flat beans is a small round bean. Some producing countries do not specifically pick out and sell small round beans, usually mixed with flat beans. But sometimes small round beans are especially singled out and sold as a special grade in coffee beans that are famous and expensive. Generally speaking, in the same harvest period, the flavor intensity of adzuki beans is denser than that of flat beans.

For friends who bake coffee beans at home, round beans have a good advantage: because their caps are very neat, their baking uniformity is better than flat beans. Especially for friends who use baking equipment on the stove or popcorn machine, because of the appearance advantage of round beans, rolling in the pot is very smooth, while flat beans are not conducive to uniform tumbling because of their flat side.

Washed or dry? The relationship between the handling method and the level name

The coffee beans baked by us as ingredients are actually the seeds in the coffee fruit. Coffee farmers give the fruit another name "coffee cherry" (Coffee Cherry). If the pulp is separated from the seed, and how to dry the seed into a state that is easy to preserve, the whole process is collectively referred to as "treatment". As the processing process has a great impact on the quality and flavor of coffee beans, when buying raw coffee beans, you will sometimes see large treatment level words and other details about raw coffee beans.

1. Wet/Washed Process: the outer shell and film of the coffee bean are carefully removed step by step before the coffee bean dries. This kind of washed coffee beans, the quality of the cup is more stable, cleanliness, brightness, acidity are higher.

two。 Dry/Natural/Unwashed Process: the whole coffee cherry is dried together with the seeds, and then the dried seeds are separated, usually by machine to remove the pulp and peel. The dried coffee bean cup was unstable, the cup showed obvious fruit aroma, and the viscosity was thicker than that of washed coffee beans.

3. Exquisite semi-drying / semi-washing / mucosal natural fermentation (Semi-dry/Semi-washed/Pulped Natural Process): a compromise between the first two treatments, in which the peel of the picked coffee cherry is removed, leaving the pulp or mucous membrane to dry together, followed by a machine to remove the dried fruit. The technology was first developed in Brazil and is now widely used in Brazil, where coffee beans are often produced with staggering performance. It has both the clean taste of washing treatment and the flower and fruit aroma of drying treatment.

You can see a graphical overview of these three main approaches on pages 94-95 of this book. Understanding the differences in these treatments is only the first step. In the water washing treatment alone, different subtle adjustments can be made in each link. Here are a few examples:

1. In the traditional washing method, the outer dough-coated mucosa of coffee beans is naturally fermented to loosen itself before being washed off with water into the sink, and then completely removed by washing. This process is called "post-fermentation washing" (Ferment-and-wash).

two。 There is another method of washing, which skips the step of fermentation and removes the mucous membrane directly by adding water to the machine. This method is called "mechanical shelling" (Mechanical Demucilaging), or "water elution" (Aqua-pulping).

3. In addition, if some water is added to the fermentation step, the process is called "wet fermentation".

4. It can also be called no water, let the coffee beans directly ferment in their own mucosa, this process is called "dry fermentation"(Dry Fermentation).

All washed coffee beans produced in Kenya and Ethiopia are processed by wet fermentation, while most Guatemalan coffee is processed by dry fermentation. There is also a coffee bean that is washed with water after fermentation, but does not completely remove the mucous membrane, leaving a portion of the mucous membrane to dry together, which will add some fermented or musty flavor to the coffee beans. Indonesia-Sumatra-Mantenin and other Indonesian coffee beans with traditional half-washing method are treated in this way.

How to dry wet coffee beans? This step also has a great impact on the final flavor and quality of a coffee bean. The general rule is that natural sun drying is preferable to machine drying. However, as with the fermentation process mentioned above, the selection of drying methods is also combined and adjusted according to the actual conditions to achieve the most appropriate results. In some places, these two drying methods are used together, one part is natural sun drying, the other part is machine drying. When it comes to the temperature of drying by machine, drying at low temperature for a long time is obviously much better than drying at high temperature. The drying process also has some handling details that must be paid special attention to, such as covering the shell coffee beans at night to prevent dew or frost during natural sunlight, and the final result will be better than no protection at all.

Relationship between planting environmental conditions and grade names

Finally, we need to understand the relationship between planting altitude and coffee grade. Arabica beans grown at higher altitudes mature more slowly than those grown at lower altitudes, produce denser beans, and exhibit higher acidity and complexity in the cup. However, in most of the cognitive rules of the coffee world, the factor of growing altitude is not necessarily an absolute standard for grading (of course, growing altitude is only one of the factors that affect the performance in the coffee cup). In Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, etc., the classification names related to the growing altitude are different, some are called "High Grown"(High Grown), some are called "Altura"(only in Mexico); and in most Guatemalan and Costa Rican coffee,"Strictly Hard Bean"(the highest in this classification), because the higher the altitude, the higher the density or hardness of the coffee beans.

Name of estate or cooperative

As the fine coffee trade booms, so does the relationship between individual coffee growers and buyers in the country of origin. Because buyers and sellers have a direct trading relationship, some good coffees no longer need to be shipped together through intermediate stacks. Growers can deliver coffee beans directly to buyers and end consumers in fewer steps than in the past.

For Estates owners who are concerned about quality, they will seek to include the various flavors of their consumer partners in the estate coffee bean category record to facilitate future transactions. The English term "estate" refers to the larger "plantation," the smaller "Farm," and the Spanish term "Finca." Some coffee plantations may have their own processing facilities, which can carry out their own peeling, pulp, sheepskin and drying processes; smaller ones can also send coffee fruits to the common processing equipment set up by cooperatives for processing to obtain clean green coffee beans. In either case, the final stage of sale and purchase is directly from the individual estate to the buyer's transaction, rather than mixed with the coffee beans produced by other estates in the same region. In theory, this method can reflect the cultivation of coffee beans and the stability of the back-end processing steps, and allow the estate to confirm the quality by itself.

A similar stability can be achieved by cooperatives of smaller coffee farms. Individual small farms negotiate deals with vendors or bakers through special mechanisms of cooperatives, and are no longer subject to layers of exploitation as in the past. The beans produced by these cooperatives are often joined by environmental or social care organizations to make coffee farmers better off.

However, the prevalence of the estate concept has led to a lot of deception, as some unscrupulous estates will label their most famous coffee beans grown elsewhere and sell them at a higher price. This makes it difficult to market coffee beans under the estate brand name, because some unscrupulous estates prefer to make huge profits by fraud rather than really improve the quality of their coffee beans, which also makes other honest estates suffer because the market will suffer.

Fortunately, most well-established estates are less prone to selling fakes. Because these estates usually handle their estate coffee beans in cooperation with discorers or roasters, and discorers and roasters are concerned about their own reputation, it is not worthwhile for them to steal chickens without losing rice. Most of the known counterfeits on the market are high-priced coffee beans from producing areas, such as coffee beans labeled only with the origin names of Jamaica-Blue Mountain or Hawaiian Kona, which are harder to trace than coffee beans produced by single independent plantations or independent processing plants.

Name of certification mark or other type of mark

As coffee farmers grow closer to roasters and marketers in the regions where they buy coffee, a wide variety of projects have emerged that involve coffee production or eco-friendly marketing, hoping to minimize the environmental damage caused by this highly profitable crop. In fact, these programs will educate consumers to spend a little more money on coffee beans to help people in producing countries earn a better income, or to use the money to assist in environmentally friendly farming. This category of coffee beans with special objectives is usually certified by an international certification body, as long as the grower meets health, environmental protection or socio-economic standards, etc., to grant the grower certification, there are also non-certified coffee farms, they have long-term partnerships with roasters in the consumer country, can guarantee farmers income.

The following are several types of certified project plans:

1. Certified Organic Coffee Beans: Certified Organic Coffee Beans ensure that the coffee beans received by the buyer are grown, transported, stored and roasted without the use of chemical or artificial additives.

2. Shade-certified, bird-friendly coffee beans: In addition to being organically grown, coffee beans are cross-planted with multi-planted trees to provide shelter for birds in the coffee garden, and this coffee bean may additionally receive the Bird Friendly certification issued by the Smithsonian Research Institute Migratory Bird Research Center.

And shade planting certification (Certified Shade-Grown) coffee description is a bit complicated, its certification standards are currently controversial, at present, in terms of "shade" relationship, all coffee can be roughly divided into four categories, among which the real shade coffee beans must be planted in the coffee garden with other different species of trees, looks like a small-scale forest reserve, Coffee trees play a role in this, but the mainstream fine arabica coffee trees are now planted in the shade of specific trees, just as flowers and trees in parks are planted in advance. These coffee trees are carefully planted in the shade of specific trees. The third type is virtually free from any shade at all, but is due to relatively favorable natural conditions, one of which may be relatively thick cloud cover in the growing area (such as Jamaica-Blue Mountains), or in semi-dry areas (such as Yemen), or in cool climates relatively far from the equator (such as Brazil or Hawaii). No matter which of them, they are actually a little out of line with the concept of "shade planting". The fourth is the cultivation method by artificial technology, like corn fields planted on vast barren land, coffee beans are also planted in this environment completely uncovered. At present, coffee plantations of this kind are very rare in the world, but if international coffee prices continue to be so low, this kind of coffee cultivation method may become more and more common.

Environmentalists favor the first type of cross-shade planting because it provides natural, dense shade for coffee trees and habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife species, thereby reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. Shadow-grown certified coffee beans are most common in Central America because coffee trees have been grown this way in this region since ancient times.

3. Fair-Trade Certified Coffee Beans: Certified Fair-Trade Coffees generally come from coffee cooperatives that operate democratically. The cooperative gives its members a guaranteed purchase price, which is set by an international notary. Some of the money paid out of consumers 'pockets for fair-trade certified coffee beans is spent on campaigns to promote the concept of fair trade in consumer countries, but most of the money goes directly into the pockets of coffee growers. Almost all Fairtrade certified coffee beans have multiple certification qualifications of organic certification or shade certification, so Fairtrade certified coffee beans are the best and most positive purchase option for coffee lovers with environmental and social mission.

4. Certified Eco-OK Coffee Beans: These are Certified Eco-OK Coffees issued by the Rainforest Alliance. To obtain this certification mark, environmental requirements must be met at all stages of treatment from planting to grinding, such as diversity of wildlife on the plantation, zero pollution treatment processes, reduced or restricted use of artificial chemical fertilizers, and social and economic norms related to the livelihood of coffee farmers and workers.

5. Project coffee beans: In the American Specialty Coffee Association, there are many related organizations that are developing a large project planting program ("Sustainable" Coffees). It covers environmental, social and economic issues and aims to keep all resources sustainable. But at the time of writing, this plan has not yet been put into practice, but I am sure that this plan will start one day in the future.

6. Coffee beans produced in partnership: Roasters in consumer countries often form Partnership or Relationship Coffees with coffee cooperatives in producer countries. This means that a fixed percentage of the profits earned from selling coffee beans in the consuming country are directly returned to cooperatives or coffee farmers in the producing country. Some roasters also donate a portion of their profits to Coffee Kids, an organization that specializes in funding projects in coffee-producing countries in Latin America.

The relationship between "targeted coffee beans" and coffee lovers

For those who roast coffee beans at home, suppose they also want to buy coffee beans with environmental, social, economic, etc. considerations as their starting point. What other options do they have besides buying coffee beans with special goals or certification marks?

The biggest consideration for home-roasted coffee beans is that the selection of such beans is too limited. Most of the coffee beans currently certified as organic or fair trade come from Latin America. Even in these regions, the selection of coffee beans is very limited, not to mention that the most respected coffee regions in the world are completely uncertified.(Kenya, for example, is largely a cooperative of small-scale coffee farms, but there is no Fairtrade certification at all in Kenya); Harrar, Ethiopia, or Yemen, is grown without chemical fertilizers, but there are no certified organic beans.

The above paragraph is just a way to dispel the myth of certification, but experience shows that many fair-trade or organically certified coffees are of very good quality. The best example is that the two beans (one from Nicaragua and one from Peru) that I found to perform best in 200 cups were organic and fair trade certified coffee beans. But as things stand, it is difficult to get home-roasters interested in studying the history, scope, and complexity behind these certification programs, so home-roasters are unlikely to buy only certified coffee beans to roast.

Coffee tree species name

Almost all coffee with the best flavor performance is Arabica coffee beans. But Arabica species can be subdivided into different categories, and not all coffee beans from each category are delicious. Think about it: apples alone have so many different varieties, and like wine varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, etc. have their own characteristics. Therefore, we do not doubt that different tree species are also one of the factors affecting flavor differences (other factors are climate, soil, growing altitude and treatment method). Botanists usually treat artificially bred varieties and naturally occurring varieties as two distinct categories. Under each category there are many varieties and subspecies derived from a variety, and these relatives usually have special similarities in flavor. Coffee professionals, on the other hand, do not distinguish between them, and collectively refer to these three categories as "tree species," and I follow these conventions in this book.

The world of fine coffee is just beginning to market coffee beans in terms of "species". The most common expression we see is "Bourbon and Typica coffee trees in Manor A; Caturra and Catuai coffee trees in Manor B". But it's often hard to guess which Arabica species are responsible for the coffee we're drinking.

In the coffee world, there is a polarised view of tree species: the "old Arabica" is naturally much loved and admired by fine and traditional coffee lovers, but the "new" Arabica, which is usually more productive, is favoured by scientists, coffee farmers and government officials in coffee-producing countries.

1. Old tree species or natural evolutionary tree species resulting from natural selection (“Old”or Selected Varieties)： In fact, the so-called "old" tree species are not really very old, but the old tree species will have spontaneous evolution. The mysterious power of nature causes these naturally evolved varieties of coffee trees to suddenly appear in a certain manor one day, and people are blessed by heaven. They only need to specially select the fruit seeds of these varieties of coffee trees for preservation and continue to reproduce. Some of the best-known species are moka (Mocha) from Ethiopia and Yemen, Typica (Bourbon) from Latin America, Blue Mountain from the Caribbean, and Sumatra from Indonesia. But one of the most powerful natural variants, like Maragogype, which first appeared in Brazil around 1870, produces very large coffee beans but has a low average productivity per tree.

The more recent natural variation species are Mundo Novo, which appeared in 1920, Caturra, which appeared in 1935, and Catuai, which appeared in 1935. Among them, Kaddura species is generally welcomed by Central American coffee producing countries because of its short harvest period and high production capacity. compared with traditional old tree species (such as Dibica species), the coffee bean flavor of Kaddura species is relatively simple, simple and direct. for example, the flavor of Catuai species is more complex, and the picture shown in the cup is more complete.

two。 New tree species or "New" or Hybrid Varieties: for some fake connoisseurs, this topic is used to quarrel with scientists who improve the experiment. As a matter of fact, the new tree species are deliberately developed by artificial mixing, such as the most famous SL-28 tree species in East Africa, which is famous for its excellent flavor in the cup. However, new varieties of coffee trees with higher disease resistance or better environmental tolerance have also been developed in regions such as Colombia, Brazil, India and Kenya. these advantages can only be achieved with the help of the genes of other coffee plants (usually Robusta).

But in the category of new tree species, the only controversial focus is whether to master the performance of flavor and taste. Many coffee buyers claim that the large output of these new tree species can keep the production of coffee beans from falling too much, causing coffee farmers to suffer a loss of production, but the only loss is the performance of coffee beans in the cup. Of course, the authorities of coffee-producing countries who take the opposite position have refuted that it is understandable to sacrifice the quality of some cups based on the ecological protection and economic considerations of the new tree species.

Among all the improved tree species, the most hated is the Catimor species with Robusta pedigree. Compared with the traditional tree species, its cup performance is obviously much more insipid and simple, but there are exceptions, such as new tree species mixed with artificial technology in India (Kent Ken special) and Colombia (Variedad Colombia variety Colombia). Its coffee beans have a more complex performance in the cup, which is almost indistinguishable from traditional tree species.

3. Postscript: what is more disturbing than the first two is the genetically modified coffee tree (Genetically engineered). For example, in a private research lab in Hawaii, a tree is being developed that will not have caffeine from the beginning of its growth, and a tree that will grow all coffee fruits to mature at the same time in order to shorten the harvest time. We are still waiting to see when these genetically modified coffee beans will be approved. John Stiles, the researcher in charge of decaffeinated tree experiments, pointed out that he only reversed the genes responsible for producing caffeine in coffee trees, and that other genes that correspond to performance, flavor, and so on in the cup were not affected at all. If one day, this genetically modified decaffeinated coffee bean does appear on the market, as long as we have heard of it, we may be able to get it, and there is a group of people who can make objective judgments about the performance and flavor characteristics of the cup. however, as the old saying goes, the impact of GM experiments on the environment has been debated, and it is impossible for us to make these attempts.

Final challenge: add baking depth name

I would also like to remind readers that the label above the packaged coffee beans and coffee powder you see in the coffee shop may also contain the name of baking depth. Most of the individual and unblended coffee beans can be seen in all kinds of baking depth, because the "general taste" is different in different coffee roasters. However, if you get a single bean whose baking depth is deeper or shallower than other coffee beans from the same roaster, both the name of the single bean and the baking depth name (for example: Sumatra Mandheling Dark Roast, Deep roasting-Sumatra-Mantenin) will appear on the label. Therefore, in theory, when you buy coffee beans, you are likely to see the following names: Costa Rica-Tarazu-Raminita Manor-washing-extremely hard beans-French baking (Costa Rican, country name; Tarrazu, production area name; La Minita Estate, production name; Washed, treatment; Strictly Hard Bean, grade name; French Roast, baking depth). Generally speaking, however, such a long and wordy label name is rare, because such a long text description may deter customers and reduce the sales rate.