Wine Article

What is the last thing that your patrons taste/drink before leaving a restaurant ?
And if you do not believe me go out there and watch. Nearly everybody will toss back that last cold cup of coffee before leaving their table
therefore it is vitally important that your coffee tastes wonderful hot
warm or cold.

Now how can you be sure that your coffee tastes good.

STEP ONE : CLEAN the EQUIPMENT

Cleanliness is more important than godliness
therefore ensure that you not only clean your bowls every night (there must be a joke in that line somewhere)
and your coffee supplier can give you urn cleaner to really clean them occasionally
or run them through the dishwasher. DO NOT FORGET THE BREW BASKET. This will be dirtier than everything else
so once again ensure that there is no oily residue
plus clean the showerhead
and the area around it. If you have an urn or dual system
ask your coffee supplier to come in and train/educate your staff on how to properly clean the equipment.

STEP TWO: CALIBRATE the EQUIPMENT

Many times I go into a restaurant to find the brewer is short-potting (no this is not a gardening term)
and the remedy can be very simple. Adjust the timer or float mechanism. BUT
maybe the equipment is short potting because the water line (including the filter/strainer) or machine or showerhead is clogged with lime
or some other gunk. Cleaning and maybe de-liming is necessary. Remember that if your brew time is too long
your resulting (revolting) coffee will be bitter
with a burnt after-taste. It’s rather like drinking coal tar - although I must admit I cannot remember the last time I knocked back a shot of coal tar.

Also
ensure that the water coming out of the showerhead is at the correct temperature
too cold and you will underextract
too hot and we start going down the coal-tar path again. A simple thing to check (use an oral thermometer
not a r...... one)
and then adjust the temperature on the thermostat as necessary.

STEP THREE : WATER

A cup of coffee is 98% (approx) water
so if your water tastes lousy
your coffee will taste lousy. So test your faucet water by comparing it to the taste of a bottle of filtered water. And if necessary
put in a proper water filtration system. Remember your ice
soda
and cooking will all taste better.

STEP FOUR : YOUR COFFEE/COFFEE SUPPLIER

The people responsible at your coffee roaster will cup (taste) coffees through the temperature range
right down to room temperature - specifically to address the question at the top of this page
and to ensure that the coffee tastes good even when its been sitting for a while in your coffee cup. The coffee cupper (and by the way the best tea tasters
coffee cuppers
and wine sommeliers are all women
this is because physiologically God built a woman’s mouth differently to a man
and women have much better taste buds than men ) will cup and blend the coffee so that the taste profile always remains the same. People do not want surprises when they first wake up
least of all in their coffee cup at 7am
therefore the job of cupping and blending is one of the most difficult in the world. Mind you
most people don’t want a surprise in their martinis about 12 hours later
so once again tasting and blending is vital.

Having determined that your coffee supplier/roaster (hopefully one and the same company) can roast and blend coffee well
lets look at packaging
and the whole bean versus fractional pack/ground coffee debate.

Your coffee supplier is loaning you brewing equipment
and if you want to do a whole bean programme (no that is not a spelling mistake)
they will lend you a portion control/doser grinder. Now the grinder they lend you will be a proper commercial grinder
costing about $700. But just consider that your roaster uses a grinder where the blades alone cost upwards of $15
0
and your roaster is checking the degree of grind several times a day with very expensive and sophisticated equipment. Therefore what chance do you have with a $700 grinder of achieving a consistent grind? And just remember that your brewed coffee quality will vary enormously with the vagaries of heat and humidity playing havoc with the coffee particle size coming out of your grinder. Or you can buy fractional packs
which have been nitrogen flushed to remove oxygen and preserve freshness.

A doctorate in nuclear engineering is not required to understand that fractional packs will always produce a better
and more consistent brew than a whole bean programme. The difference between local/regional coffee roasters is not in the roasting. Anyone can set themselves up as roaster. Even you. Buy some green beans and toss them into your hot air popcorn popper
and Voila you have air-roasted some coffee. And provided you didn’t cremate them
they probably smell wonderful. No
the difference in coffee roasters is how they buy the coffee
where they buy their coffee
how they blend the coffee
and most importantly (and this is really where the women are separated from the girls/ politically correct phraseology) how they pack the coffee.

Coffee’s enemies are heat
oxygen
light and humidity. Therefore coffee that does not arrive in your restaurant in foil/film wrapped
hermetically sealed bags will lose its freshness within a day or two. BUT
packing equipment is very expensive to buy and run
and this where the difference lies between a roaster dedicated to ensuring freshness in your patron’s coffee cup
and one who does not have what it takes.

And now dear readers to summarize :

Correctly clean and calibrated coffee brewers (try saying that after drinking a couple of martinis)
Clear
pure
and great tasting water.
Good fresh coffee
from a hermetically sealed portion/fractional pack.

Follow these simple rules and your clients will leave with a smile instead of a grimace.