coffeearmy

The thing about geeks is geeks obsess.  There is no greater oxymoron than “indifferent geek”.

There are a lot of pejorative terms that are associated with geeks: obsessive, anal, control freak.  But is it wrong to have standards based on knowledge and want to be able to live up to them? Is it wrong to see the appropriate constants for life’s variables and want to achieve them?

Breville doesn’t seem to think so.  The company that is better known for $30 sandwich presses has decided to step it up a notch in the domestic coffee market with the BCG800 Smart Grinder, which is well designed, well engineered and beautifully constructed.

As well as allowing you to control how fine your grind is it also provides portion control: the same amount of coffee at the same level of coarseness every time.

Once you’ve got your settings right there are no day-old grounds sitting in the machine - you only grind as many beans as you need. For those of us who don’t have the money to fork out $1500 for a domestic espresso machine and instead rely on a $60 stovetop espresso for our caffeine hit at home, this is innovation.

Consistent grind and portion control with most of the mess contained within the bounds of the machine mean a simple 125g of roasted beans from the local micro roaster can cover all requirements for the week.

The small visual and physical footprint of the BCG800 means that it sits comfortably in a domestic kitchen.  Simple application of magnets combined with build quality means that you’re able to easily slip components in and out for cleaning. 

There are also some rants to go with the raves: the volume presets are fine for standard group head bowls but not so useful for stovetop bowls. Having a volume setting with linear increments would be useful.  It’s also not that easy to accurately put stovetop bowls directly under the grinder’s outlet – maybe it would be possible to create stovetop bowl holders like the group head bowl holders.

These are minor niggles, though. A geek would be satisfied that this machine can provide the right amount of the right kind of grind at the press of a button, but with the BCG800, Breville has gone a step beyond.

- Angus Smallwood

The brilliant Andrew Kelly, of Small Batch and Auction Rooms, invited a squad of Coffee Army members to their new roastery to demonstrate the standard cupping technique. This - for the uninitiated - is how they compare different beans and roasts, and how they choose which beans to buy. In this session we tried 8 different coffees in a blind tasting with each selection of beans divided into four bowls to check for consistency. (Arty photographs courtesy of iPhone and Instagram.)

Small Batch and Auction Rooms’ Andrew Kelly with his note board and spitting cup…

Step 1: smell the freshly roasted beans, then put them through the grinder and smell the fragrance again.

Step 2. Add hot water. Either swirl it about or not, depending on what you think is proper. Sniff again. 

Step 3. After four minutes “break the crust”  - which means open up the froth on top to let out more aroma. Sniff again. Take more notes.

Step 4. If you like, get some of the froth on the back of the spoon and sniff that too.

Step 5: use the spoon to take a sip, rinsing it between tastes. Spit the coffee out.

Step 6: Reveal the origins of each batch of beans and nod as if you knew all along.

Not sure if your barista is making your latte properly? These are the 10 points to look out for (courtesy of trainer Paul at the Coffee Army boot camp at the Coffee Academy)

1. Should always start with fresh cold milk - should never reheat leftover milk in the jug (will taste funny or burnt)

2. Jug should be filled to about half full. They should use the correct-sized jug: a small jug for one latte, a larger jug for multiples

3. Steam wand should create a whirlpool in the jug, not lots of bubble bath-style frothing

4. Wand shouldn’t make a screaming sound (indicates lack of air getting through) - should just give off gentle “kissing” sounds

5. The jug should be just too hot to touch comfortably, then steam turned off

6. They should give it a swirl to even out the texture and heat

7. It should be poured immediately

8. They shouldn’t use a spoon - the milk should have a consistent texture and pour out evenly, not requiring a dollop of froth on the top

9. The result should be a cascade of tiny bubbles cascading down the glass

10. When they’ve finished they should immediately wipe down the steam wand with a tea towel

The tastings tomorrow (August 30) will be at Small Batch’s new roastery: 

3-9 Little Howard Street, North Melbourne, just off Howard Street

See you there!