Ice Cream Ireland

 Anyone who knows us and our shops, knows that we are incredibly obsessive about coffee. I’m not sure it’s healthy or that it makes much financial sense, for we spend too many countless hours tasting and trying to get it right. But that’s what we do.

Over the years, we have made many improvements, both in terms of process and taste. We’ve also moved to a Fairtrade bean and lately organic milk. Those are steps that we feel very good about, but the trick is to keep the coffees tasting good and coming out consistent.

I have written here about the difficulties of milk in the winter - how the lack of protein makes it harder to get good foam. The bubbles are too large (see photo), and the foam collapses easily. This seems to be compounded with organic milk, although some days it seems that it works better than others. Customers have noticed, and they are complaining.

The bottom line is this - using fresh and natural products is not always, by any means, the easiest thing to do. There are many reasons to go with the easy way - there is milk designed for frothing that is controlled for protein and froths perfectly every time. That’s really appealing because consistency is probably the most important part of keeping happy customers. The only problem is that we don’t like the taste.

I think the benefits of using organic milk, both in terms of how it tastes and for feeling good about it, make it worthwhile to stick with it and work on a solution. There’s a Chinese proverb, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor people perfected without trials.”

Let’s hope the last bit applies to cappuccinos!

Technorati tags: organic, coffee, cappuccino, milk, frothing

I’m all jittery after a very early start (I’m definitely NOT a morning person), a long day, and an afternoon drinking coffee. We’re opening the shops again tomorrow after a short winter break, and there’s always so much to do. One piece of that was getting our coffee right.

Every time we have our espresso machines serviced, it takes a lot of tinkering and tasting before we’re happy again with the taste. This year, we’re extracting our coffee for longer at a slightly higher pressure, and the result is a little more Italian than what we’ve been serving - a little more flavour and kick, although we’ve worked hard to retain the smoothness.

It’s part of our Continental drift, I suppose. People talk about whether Ireland is more aligned with Boston or Berlin - for us and coffee, it’s more a matter of Seattle vs. Sorrento. Anyone who reads this blog knows we gravitate toward the latter…

Gravity is not something I’m feeling much of, though, at the moment. I probably tasted 30 espressos, and I’m bouncing off the wall. The good news is that I have copy of the Instituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano’s “Espresso Italiano Specialist” book, and they say that 20% of caffeine is metabolised every hour, so I’m sure I won’t be up all night. I’m bound to fall asleep by 4 or 5 in the morning…

They also make some considerable claims for the health benefits of coffee. I knew about the healthy side of chocolate, but I’m already feeling slightly less jittery in the knowledge that coffee:

• Heightens memory capacity
• Alleviates headaches and migraines
• Heightens conditioned reflexes
• Increases artery tone and improves circulation
• Increases pulminary ventilation
• Helps digestion

… and so on (it’s a long list). They also point out that to reach dangerous levels, one has to drink 100 espressos right after the other. I’m relieved I stopped after 30.

Finally, I’m happy to pass on the fact that we will almost certainly be going organic on the milk for our coffees (thanks to everyone who took part in the poll). We will have to add an average of 10c to pay for the additional cost (on top of a price increase to deal with price increases from our suppliers), but I think our customers will appreciate the added value of organic. We work hard to be the best and organic milk will taste better and feel better. We’ve been using Fairtrade coffee for a while now, so I guess it’s a natural step.

Now I’ll go and try to relax. Maybe I’ll test my conditioned reflexes or test my memory capacity. Mama Mia. How do the Italians do it? Bring on the grappa?

Technorati tags: espresso, fairtrade, cappuccino, coffee, organic, Ireland

 Both of our shops are closed for the month, and that’s always difficult for me in terms of coffee. I need my daily fix, and I miss having good coffee on call! What I usually do is revert to my home cafetierre (photo above) using our organic Fairtrade bean or top up with a hit from my stove-top espresso maker.

I have written before about Yauco Selecto beans from Puerto Rico, and yesterday I brought some home. For anyone who hasn’t tried Yauco, it is defintely worth the splurge (the beans are very expensive). We have offered Yauco in the shops for a while now, and those who tried it, loved it. This bean is not good for espresso, but makes a great cup of coffee.

The result this morning, using a medium-fine grind for my cafetierre, was delicate and smooth, with a little hint of fruit and enough body to invigorate a damp, cold January morning. For those who like milky coffee, it also makes a wonderful, refined cafe au lait - simply heat some milk up to a simmer and add it in using a ratio of about 1/3 milk to 2/3 coffee…

Technorati tags: Yauco Selecto, bean, coffee, organic, Ireland

 As we look at what we put on our menu boards for our shops in 2008, I was wondering about flavoured lattes. We already have the option of a Latte al Caramello (caramel latte), have played around with other flavours, and should we offer them all the time?

Please take part in the following poll, and feel free to comment if it is too restricting!

Technorati tags: coffee, flavour, caffe, latte, poll

Following on from the Winter Hot Chocolate, here’s an idea for the holidays - you can create spiced sugar to serve with coffee to your guests and loved ones for the entire holidays.

This was Sean’s idea, and he was going for a variation on a gingerbread taste to create a Christmas Latte (photo above) for our shops. The dark brown sugar makes it really tasty. Of course, as I have said, it could work in any coffee, or could even simply be added to warm milk for those off caffeine.

I am going to suggest all ground spices (as opposed to fresh) so that it will still taste good on New Year’s if you make it in the next week!

Spiced Brown Sugar for Coffee

Ingredients:

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 500 g dark brown sugar

What to do:

1. Simply combine the spices and the sugar and mix very well.
2. Add to coffee according to taste.

Technorati tags: coffee, spice, sugar, christmas, latte, holiday

 Besides the cookbook, one of the projects we have for this winter is to try to make our company more green. Not only is it the right thing to do, but hopefully we can also save money on electricity, etc., as well as feeling good about ourselves! We are going to have a full environmental audit soon, and I’ll let you know how it goes…

In the mean time, I found treehugger.com, which should interest anyone with a slightly green tinge. They have such tidbits as How to Green your Coffee and Tea (compost the grinds, use Fairtrade, avoid tea bags, etc.) as well as How to Green your Electricity and even How to Green your Sex Life. I guess they haven’t written “How to Green Your Ice Cream” yet…

Technorati tags: green, environment, coffee, tea, ice cream

 According to the Telegraph, the Italians are so offended by the quality of espressos in European cafes that they are trying to set out a golden standard for their favourite drink. The Telegraph writes:

Marco Lion, the head of Italy’s parliamentary agriculture commission, is worried that the “true identity of Italian coffee” could be lost because, he says, many cafes in Europe do not have the faintest idea how to make a good cup.

Espressos must be “of a hazelnut hue with ornate flourishes of red and a smokiness that creates a uniform tiger-stripe pattern”.

Meanwhile, the “crema”, which sits on top, must be like a “tight sweater, with very fine bubbles, if at all, and of a height of between two and four millimetres”.

…and… “There is only one true and authentic way to make a cappuccino, but for some reason there appear to be myriad types sold in cafes,” he said.

I have to say I agree with his concerns. The purist in me hates the drift to ever bigger drinks, hotter drinks, less care given by baristas under severe time pressure, and style over substance. One would like to think a fight back by the Italians might help solve things, but somehow I doubt it, especially since the cappuccino in the Telegraph’s photo is all about latte art. Poor Signor Lion would have palpitations if he saw it…

Technorati tags: espresso, cappuccino, Italian, coffee, standards, authentic

 Taste is a funny thing. When the Napoleonic wars disrupted coffee supplies, the French started mixing in chicory root. They developed a predilection for it, even when times improved, and coffee with chicory became the norm. Here, in Ireland, we moved so quickly from tea to coffee that, being used to tea, a standard latte seemed “cold” to the palate. Baristas started scalding the milk, and now many Irish people rate as inferior a latte or cappuccino that is not blisteringly hot.

“Don’t worry, darlings,” a woman consoled us recently in Dingle, after sending back her drink for a scorching. “I was just in Italy. So disappointing. They also served me cold cappuccinos my entire trip until I finally explained to them how to heat it properly.”

I’m amazed this didn’t cause a diplomatic incident, with ambassadors recalled and large sums paid over for rehabilitating the barista, who is probably still huddled in a corner of his bar, muttering to himself. An Irish person explaining to an Italian how to make a cappuccino? La discesa dei barbari! 

I’ve written several times about the reasons for not over-heating lattes, cappuccinos, and any coffee drink containing steamed milk (here, here, and here). We’ve put up signs in our shops, made menus explaining the issues, and yet we still struggle with keeping customers happy.

What is new is that we’re also now getting complaints that our coffee isn’t “strong” enough. Our guess is that people who say that are mistaking bitterness for strength, as over-heating milk makes coffee bitter, not to mention that many cafes have their machine pressure too high to save time on frothing, which tends to burn the espresso. We take great pride that our espresso shots are smooth, but people seem to mistake that for being weak, assuming, perhaps, that a bitter coffee is a strong coffee.

Don’t get me wrong. Even with this ranting, we’re delighted when customers know what they like and dislike and speak up about it. We are in the business of pleasing people, and try our utmost to do so without snobbery or judgement, even if we disagree.

We also believe that there is a perfect drink for everybody. If it’s a strong coffee taste you’re after, a latte is probably not the right drink. A cafe au lait with dark French roast beans might be a much better choice.

However, although Ireland has come a long, long way in terms of coffee, I think we still have a long way to go before we can start lecturing Italians on how to make a cappuccino…

Technorati tags: coffee, temperature, milk, cappuccino, latte, Irish

 I wrote here already about one of my favourite treats - the Affogato al Caffe, but I thought I’d revisit it after trying it with the Kahlua Espresso ice cream. I thought it was sublime, so if you do make the ice cream (here), definitely try it! The warm espresso and cold ice cream, with a huge coffee kick, is pretty close to heaven.

To make an affogato, you simply take a scoop of ice cream (we like to serve it in a small coffee cup) and pour over some espresso (we use a single shot run long, in other words, an espresso lungo). In the shops, we serve the shot of espresso on the side and let the customer do the pouring.

Technorati tags: espresso, caffe, affogato, coffee, cafe, ice cream

 Pat, our coffee salesman brought us some of his better beans this week for our tasting pleasure. Included was a bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain, Yauco Selecto from Puerto Rico, and Mysore from India.

We’ve been toying around with the idea of offering an upscale cup of coffee for connoisseurs, or maybe offer a selection of several. It can get extrememly pricy for these beans, but it might a great treat for a coffee lover.

All of the coffees are more subtle than our current Organic Fairtrade bean. Our favourite so far was the Yauco Selecto - nice balance and not bitter in the slightest…

Technorati tags: Blue Mountain, Yauco Selecto, bean, coffee, organic, Ireland