Home Made Coffee Syrup

During the last three years I have taught my wife to drink coffee. It started with a latte made ​​with a strong 2 oz brew from my Aeropress.

Now, however, she has become so accustomed to the taste that she drinks her latte with a double shot of espresso .

But, from the very first latte, and still going, she always adds coffee syrup in her coffee . She simply can't live, or consume coffee, without it. We have tried .

Coffee syrup is tremendously expensive , considering what it really is. So I decided to try out the production of my own homemade coffee syrup.

My wife's favourite is the vanilla syrup, which very convenient is one of the easiest to make.

It's super easy and cheap to make your own syrup. Furthermore both my wife and I thinks, that the new homemade one tastes better and stronger than the ones we have bought so far.

So, here goes with the recipe

Ingredients:

400 g of white sugar

3 (dl) cups water

1 pinch salt

2 fat vanilla pods

That's it !

Steps:

Split the vanilla bars and scrape out the seeds.

Add bars and seeds in a large pot with the sugar, water and salt.

Turn on the heat and bring the contents to a boil.

Time it. The syrup is ready after 5 minutes of boiling.

Don't stir it, just leave it to boil.

Let the syrup cool slightly in the pan.

Then pour it through a fine-meshed sieve - into a bottle you like.

The taste of this recipe is very sweet, so you don't need to add much syrup in a latte. Furthermore, this way your absolutely sure that it's free of additives.

Notice all the fine vanilla grains floating in the syrup, you wont' find that in the ones you can buy - and don't worry, their supposed to be there.

I haven't tried out any other flavours. But in theory you could add anything you like in the sugar/water mix.

Enjoy

Espresso Extraction; Measurement and Mastery by Scott Rao

The book is only available as an e-book and can only be purchased through amazon.com, which has the following description.

"Measurement and Mastery is the highly technical follow-up to The Professional Barista´s Handbook. Baristas who have mastered Scott´s earlier work will enjoy this compact ebook´s new material and numerous original ideas. EEMM examines topics such as pressure profiling, portafilter basket design, and advanced use of the coffee refractometer. Scott also discusses the current popular topic of how to produce delicious coffee at extractions as high as 23%, an idea he pioneered in 2010." 

We know that not all coffee knowledge can be found in coffee books, but of course we have bought it and will post a review in the nearest future, meanwhile enjoy our Instagram update. You can also have a quick look inside the book; simply click here.



Have a great weekend everyone!

//Hendrup

Mazzer Major/Kony/Robur "interlock" mod

When you ask around in the coffee environment, the grinder is often pointed out being the essential part of achieving a good espresso, but the average home sets limits for which grinder you are able to choose, due to the height of the kitchen cabinets.

Therefore some buyers are bound by the height of the grinder, which is quickly inserted as below, 
Mazzer Major - 61 cm.
Mazzer Kony - 65 cm.
Mazzer Robur - 72 cm.

Due to this problem, I have received some questions about the Mazzer grinders - especially is the Mazzer Mini extra short bean hopper, will fit on the Mazzer Major?

Well lets start with the interlock modification. The Major, Kony and Robur grinder has an interlock collar, where the back of the collar has a tab that enters a slot on the grinder - if the tab isn´t slotted, the motor doesn´t run.

I will demonstrate below how to remove this interlock and thereby be able to use the grinder without any bean hopper at all.


1. The interlock assembly is held on with two screws, simply unscrew them - as shown on the below picture.

2. Lift the plate up off the body - the switch is attached to the outer plate. The red contact is the actual interlock and if its press down, the grinder will run.

3. Put a chunk of something in there to hold the switch down - I use a piece of eraser, because its elastic and can be cut into a appropriate size, but you can also use other pieces.

4. Now simply place the plate back onto the grinder and screw the screws back. You are now able to grind without a bean hopper and can therefore also attached a smaller hopper without an interlock collar - read more below the picture.

So back to the question regarding if the Mazzer Mini extra short bean hopper, will fit on the Mazzer Major? Well, it will fit, but note that the diameter of the short hopper throat is smaller than the Majors collar opening, so it will rattle around when grinding. To solve this problem you can wrap the Mini hopper with a band of electrical tape, so it will hold everything tight. So the answer is yes :)

The Mazzer Major height with a Mazzer Mini extra short bean hopper is 51 cm.!

Hope this guide was helpful.

// Hendrup

Jailbreak Blend

I'm well into the 2 kg bag of green Jailbreak Blend, I received from HasBean.

The blend contains 

(40%) Guatemala Finca Cuidad Vieja Los Jocotales Red Honey Bourbon

(40%) Nicaragua Finca Los Miligros Washed Caturra

(20%) Guatemala San Patricio El Limon Washed Caturra

This is the mk6 blend 

I have had some difficulties at the beginning, in how much heat to add. My first two roast got pretty uneven, because of the different sized beans of the three bean sorts. But when I found the right settings to my coretto I could go for the start of 2nd that Has Bean recommends. 

I also got a small bag of roasted beans, which I used as reference to my own roast. 

At my third try of 300 gr batches I got close to the color of the pre roast, but it didn't get in to second.

At this color I got to 199 c temperature 

Roasting more batches, I found that the best temperature for me is 211 c. It's a bit darker than  what Has Bean roasts, but it just hits 2nd and then I cool it.



With this temperature I get a espresso roast very suitable for capucinno. Just a tad darker and stronger than the pre roast. That's why I love roasting at home. The possibilities to change a great blend to my own preferences. 

The blend is round and very mild, with a hint of fruit and bright acid. 

The taste is balanced, rich chocolate, bright plum and the feel of almonds in the very end. Gives a full cream feel with steamed milk, especially when cooled down. 

I have done brighter and darker than my favorite 211c. 

The brighter 200-204c is also great, but not with milk. Many of the bright flavors are more powerful, the body is lighter and the acidity kicks in way more. 

Going darker than 211 isn't good for this blend. Getting half way in to 2nd is too much, almost all flavor is burned away. 

It's a great blend of high quality beans. When roasting at home you have the possibility of doing light and dark. That gives you an opening of roasting a batch for milk based drinks and one for stand alone espresso. The blend is great for both things when roasted for the purpose. The pre roasted beans are very tasty as well, but mainly for straight espresso. I liked my own roast better than the pre roasted though. 

Instagram: Drop Coffee

Received five coffees from @dropcoffee and looking forward to cupping them this weekend ! ☕

Øristeriet - A2 Espresso Review

Øristeriet has been kind enough to send me an example 

of their new espresso blend - A2

The blend contains 

50% Yirgacheffe Misty Valley & 50% Sidamo Wotona Bultuma.
And it's organic !

Dealer describes it as a lively, fruity and fresh espresso. Very rich sweetness with deep notes of chocolate. 

Suitable for cortado in particular. 

As always with Øristeriet, I received the beans fresh from the roaster. I have had them resting for 8 days.

Opening the bag I'm surprised how light the roast is. It's very popular these days doing light roasts - keeping as many volatile aromas as possible. 

Well, since I'm primarily a cappuccino consumer, light roasts usually doesn't suit me that good. 

But the description claims it to be a great cortado blend. Besiddes, my crawing for milk shouldn't get in the way for a adequate review. 

The smell from this blend is very powerfull. Sweet almonds, and a distinguished spicy smell, in the end I sense tobacco.. 

When I try new coffee, I always go for a 50% brewratio. Usually that's what makes the best results all over for me. 

I notice once again the light roast when grinding - the noise from my major is significant louder than usual. Another thing to keep in mind buying light roast, not all grinders (small burrs) can chew its way thru light beans.

 I think the coffee is pretty easy to handle and I didn't have any problems getting the right flow. How ever I did strugle a bit with distribution. In the picture you can see a spritz from my naked filter. Usually I just grind and tamp, with this coffee i had to distribute with a finger, to prevent lot´s of sprints.

The crema is light and a bit thin, as expected of a light roast I would say. But I do have some problems with a lot of bubbles in the crema. I'm not sure if its the coffee, or my brewing. But it is consistent. 

The taste of the espresso is light and fresh. A delightful medium body, suited to the bright taste.The notes of fruit is defiantly clear. The taste, maybe more the feel, of chocolate is coming thru at the back of the tongue. At the third or fourth zip I could clearly taste tobacco notes. It did very good for the bright espresso. It's a good espresso, easy to get thru with lots of flavor. 

I wouldn't recommend it for cappuccino  and latté. Not enough deep and strong flavor for that. Of course that's my opinion. Doesn't taste bad though - just not enough. 

I also tried the recommended cortado. Better than cappa, and not a bad experience at all. The richness combined with light notes does very well. 

But, I actually liked it best as macchiato or stand alone espresso. 

Another tiny thing. Showed from my latte art progress thread I have had a really hard time, doing descent art. It's defiantly the thin bubbly crema that's tricking it for me. So, not good espresso for latte art :)

You can buy the blend at Øristeriet - or another of their always high quality coffees 

Latte art progress

Ever since I started with espresso, I have been fascinated with latte art. 

I have been practicing and trying ever since. 

I have come to learn, that the milk texture is the important thing in the process. 

To get the best possible microfoam I have set my Giotto pressurstat at 1,3-1,5 bar. That's pretty high, and I do have to flush quite a bit. But the foam I make after the adjustment is all worth it. 

In this post I will show my progress in art. I will start with the basic. A heart. 

When I conquer the heart I will advance :)

Some where along the way I will show a video of my steam and pour technique - but I'm not quite there yet. 

Furthermore I have bought new cups. They look pretty, but the surface is rather small, which makes it even more difficult. So I'm actually back to basics 

Day one

Heart 

Actually pretty good, need more structure though. 

Bad in many ways :) hope for better results tommorow

DAY 2

More structure - but pretty far from center.  

DAY 3

The last couple of days art work. 

I'm getting a better feeling of introducing the milk now, wich makes it easyer to create the right shape. Though it may not look like it yet :)

My latte art has never looked this bad, or caused me so many troubles !!

I'm starting to blame the coffee. It's rather thin and bubbly.. 

I'm gonna keep trying - but really lookin forward to try some new beans. 

New coffee- new progress

I feel pretty confident in the heart now ! And, it's getting a bit boring doing 

From now on I'm gonna try the tulip. Maybe I'm doing a heart once I a while aswel 

Apparently the tulip is easyer for me than the heart 

Great results with the tulip. 

Vacation cappas

Overall symmetries are getting a lot better.  Still struggling a bit with the endings though. 

Coffee channel are attending a latte art course with Soren Stiller Markussen at the end of the month. 

I sure hope to provide beautiful art after that !

My best tulip so far !!

I tryed pushin some more rings in there. 

Need some more practice. Another regular one, I think I got these under good control by now...

Startet practicing the Rosetta.. This I my first try. Hooping to get it a bit better, before our course with Søren Stiller Markussen 

Brand new cups from Great Coffee, used by Mr Stiller in his shop..

Hopefully my latte art technique will improve !!

It may be beginners luck, but this is the best Rosetta base I have ever made. 

It feels a lot easier to break the crema with these cups. 

It's still not pretty - but never the less my prettiest one yet. 

Still got a pretty long way ahead of me, before I can present a nice Rosetta 

From the past week

A couple of swirl hearts

Some of the throws from tha last couple of weeks. Still trying for the Rosetta. Got a lot of problems with that....

I thnk this is my best one so far