January 19, 2022
Who doesn’t love a perfectly brewed cup of coffee? People across the world turn to the humble, roasted coffee bean as a morning eye-opener, afternoon pick-me-up, and post-dinner beverage. In fact, coffee is so popular worldwide that it’s the second most consumed beverage, right after water! If you are a future barista looking to grind into the world of coffee, our partners at Dillanos Coffee Roasters share the best info on coffee for beginners to get you started.
Coffee 101: Tools of the Trade
The first step for brewing a stellar cup of coffee starts with the bean. Much like wine, coffee has its own level of terroir. Where the bean comes from, the climate and soil it grows in, how it is harvested, and how the bean is roasted contribute to a coffee’s flavor profiles and freshness. Many commercially produced coffees often have defects from their terroir that can significantly reduce the quality of the bean, so you don’t want to start out with a lackluster product.When choosing the coffee for your espresso stand, you’ll want to select high-quality, specialty-grade coffee to keep your customers coming back for more.
The Journey of a Coffee Bean:
Before coffee even makes it to your customer’s cup, approximately 100 people have been involved in planting, growing, harvesting, sorting, bagging, transporting, roasting, packaging, selling, and brewing! That labor of love is evident in every coffee product from US Foods CHEF’STORE exclusive Dillanos Pacific Star Coffee. Pacific Star sources only the finest, 100% Arabica beans from around the world. Each bean is inspected and sample roasted before getting the stamp of approval. When you purchase Pacific Star, you know your coffee is flavorful, fresh, and exceptional.
Buy Beans thAT Support Sustainability Efforts:
It’s no secret that modern consumers search out businesses that advance sustainability and fair-trade efforts. In addition to superior beans, Dillanos Pacific Star also prides themselves on supporting farmers, pickers, and mill workers. When you purchase Pacific Star coffees, you can rest assured that you are helping to promote ethical practices.
Different Methods to Brew Coffee
Coffee Fact: It takes close to 20 hours of labor to produce a 12oz cup of drip coffee.
Once you have your Pacific Star specialty-grade coffee, the next step is to pick your preferred brewing method to highlight the flavors of the beans. If you are new to the popular methods of brewing coffee, we’ve outlined them below:
POUR OVER COFFEE:
This method is ideal for showcasing flavor. Each cup is brewed to order by pouring hot water over ground coffee into a single-serve cup. This method requires limited brewing equipment: a vessel and filter for the ground coffee, something to boil water in, and a cup for the brewed coffee. It produces a robust final product, great for coffee connoisseurs that aren’t in a hurry.
Chemex:
A Chemex is a piece of specialty equipment designed for the pour-over coffee method. It is an elegant piece of brewing equipment and allows the barista complete control in the brewing process, including water temperature, pouring speed, and brew time. The Chemex method is great for lighter roast coffees as its slower brew results in lighter-bodied coffee with less naturally occurring oils present.
French Press:
French press brewing is an immersion method that utilizes a carafe with plunger attachment to steep and strain coffee grounds. French presses come in various sizes. They can be anywhere from individual servings to 64 ounces. The range of equipment size make them a versatile solution for serving a variety of guests at once. Coffee brewed via a press delivers a rich flavor, however there is some risk of over-extracting flavor if the steeping time is off.
Aeropress:
If you are looking to coax out underlying sweet notes in coffee and reduce bitterness, an Aeropress system might be what you are looking for. Grounds are measured and placed inside the Aeropress cylinder, hot water is carefully poured over, a filter is added, the entire Aeropress is flipped over, and delicious coffee is pressed into a coffee cup. The systems are portable, making them great for coffee carts on the go. They require a bit of technique and the coffee must be served right away for maximum flavor.
Clever Dripper:
Clever drippers can be thought of as a hybrid between French Press (immersion) and pour-over (filter) methods and thus give you the best components of each brewing method. These cup-shaped devices can also be fitted with cone-shaped filters making clean up easier. Grounds are placed into the filter, water is poured over, and coffee is slowly extracted into the serving vessel thanks to a special valve at the bottom.
ESPRESSO:
Espresso refers to an infusion brewing method where hot water is pushed through finely ground and pressed coffee beans with pressure for a short period of time. This method produces a strong and intense shot of coffee. For this brewing method, a specific espresso machine is required. These machines can be manual or fully automated. The grind of coffee for espresso perhaps is the most important factor as the consistency and freshness impact the speed that water can flow through and how much coffee is extracted.
Expand Your Coffee Horizons with Pacific Star Coffee
Are you an up-and-coming café or espresso cart owner looking to serve high-quality coffee, support sustainable efforts, all while maintaining profits? Then look no further than CHEF’STORE’s exclusive partner, Pacific Star Coffee by Dillanos Coffee Roasters. Headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Star prides itself on only the best quality products that support and sustain coffee farmers across the world.
