Además de Kona: 4 Cosas que Debes Saber Acerca del Café de Hawai

Apuesto que cuando alguien habla de Hawai, piensas en: playa, mar, Aloha y ¡KONA! ¿Verdad? Pero el café hawaiano es mucho más que eso.

Durante el segundo día del  PDG Micro Festival El Salvador, Malian Lahey de  Ka’u Specialty Coffee, dirigió un panel y catación de café hawaiano. Entrevistamos a algunos personajes clave en la industria hawaiana para descubrir cuatro cosas que debes saber acerca de su café.

English Version: More Than Kona: 4 Things You Should Know About Hawaiian Coffee 

1. Más que Kona

Hawai es famoso por su café de Kona, el cual es cultivado en el lado occidental de la Isla Grande. Sin embargo, ya que hay 137 islas distintas, podrás encontrar muchas más regiones productoras de café.

Ka’u y Puna están en la isla de Hawai, mientras que las islas de Kauai, Maui, Oahu y Molokai producen sus propios granos. Y a pesar de la distancia pequeña entre estas regiones, todas tienen perfiles de taza distintivas.

¡No es Kona! Es una finca de café en la región de Ka’u de Hawai. Crédito: Miguel Meza

2. Microclimas Diversos

El clima tiene un gran impacto en los perfiles de taza. Y este pequeño archipiélago tiene una gran variedad de climas, gracias a sus diferentes altitudes y condiciones climáticas. “Creo que estos microclimas nos dan acceso a una amplia gama de perfiles de sabor”, dijo Madeleine LG de Ka’u Specialty Coffee.

Mientras que los vientos oceánicos mantienen la temperatura constante durante todo el año, encontrarás tormentas de nieve, desiertos y más, en Hawai. Kona, la cual es seca y soleada, está solo a unos minutos de la región volcánica de Ka’u, la cual tiende a experimentar más lluvias. Puna, ubicada un poco más arriba de la costa, es incluso más lluviosa.

VER TAMBIÉN: Micro Festival El Salvador: We Need Events in Producing Countries

Encontrarás en Hawai una gran variedad de climas. Crédito: Ka’u Specialty

3. Procesamiento Experimental y Producción

Si visitas Hawai, encontrarás a los agricultores trabajando en dirección a la producción de especialidad. Madeleine LG dijo “En la región de Ka’u hay agricultores, como Tío John – llamamos a todos los agricultores tío o tía- . Él utiliza procesamiento honey y permite a los científicos experimentar con diferentes productos, como fertilizantes y hongos que pueden combatir las plagas“.

Algunos productores también están adaptando métodos hawaianos de procesamiento en otros países. Gilberto Baraona de Finca Los Pirineos en El Salvador, ha estado trabajando con gente en Ka’u para refinar su procesamiento natural y honey. A la vez, Madeleine me dice que Ka’u Specialty Coffee ha estado experimentando con el uso de maceración carbónica, un método popularizado por Sasa Sestic.

Los productores de Hawai están experimentando con diferentes métodos de procesamiento. Crédito: Big Island Coffee Roasters

4. Un Interés Japones

Hawai puede ser un estado estadounidense, pero el segundo grupo étnico más grande es el japonés. Con una historia de 200 años de migración de la tierra del sol naciente, no es sorprendente que hayan productores y tostadores japoneses que viven en Hawai.

Miguel Meza de Paradise Coffee Roasters me dijo “Algunos tostadores japoneses tienen pequeñas fincas, y hay un par de pequeños importadores enfocados en los cafés hawaianos que visitan anualmente”. Él da como ejemplo a Hula Daddy Kona Coffee y a Rusty’s Hawaiian, empresas de café japonesa-hawaiana.

Hula Daddy Kona Coffee, una empresa japonesa y hawaiana de café. Crédito: Konaskies

Escrito por A. K. Molina Ospina, con agradecimiento a Madeleine LG de Ka’u Specialty, Miguel Meza de Paradise Coffee Roasters y Gilberto Baraona de Los Pirineos.

Traducido por Alejandra M Hernández y editado por Karla Boza.

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¿Qué Hacen los Productores Durante el Año?

Producir café va más allá de simplemente sembrar árboles y recoger sus cerezas. Aunque el período de cosecha puede durar pocos meses, los productores están ocupados todo el año administrando sus campos, preparando la tierra, experimentando con nuevas estrategias y más.

Me contacté con Marlon Del Valle de finca AGROCAF y Aiddé Pérez de Finca Alta Luz, ambas ubicadas en Huehuetenango, Guatemala, para saber más de su trabajo. Y esto fue lo que descubrí.

English Version: A Coffee Producer’s Year: What Do Farmers Do?

Plantas de café en AGROCAF, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Crédito: Marlon del Valle

El Semillero y Almácigo 

El primer paso de un productor siempre es la preparación del semillero y almácigo. El semillero es donde ocurre la germinación de las semillas y por ejemplo, en Guatemala, es aconsejable prepararlo entre marzo y abril. Como es una estación seca, el riesgo de que la planta atraiga una enfermedad es mínimo.

Sin embargo, se debe tener en cuenta que la mejor temporada también puede variar según la altitud (según Anacafé, el 85% del café de Guatemala es de altura).

1. El Semillero

En esta etapa, Marlon y Aiddé me dicen que trabajan en lo siguiente:

• Las características ambientales del semillero: humedad, aire y temperatura.
• El sustrato: idealmente es arena de río lavada o tierra rica en materia orgánica, entre 10 y 15 cm de profundidad.

Luego, ellos:

• Siembran las semillas a unos 2 cm de profundidad y las cubren con material vegetal.
• Después de 40 días, empiezan a retirar gradualmente la cubierta (asegurándose de que haya sombra entre 70 cm y 1 m sobre el suelo).
• Después de aproximadamente 70 días, las dos primeras hojas de la plántula (las hojas de cotiledón o chapolas) estarán abiertas, esto significa que está lista para pasar al almácigo.

VER TAMBIÉN: Una Guía de los Cafés de Guatemala

Almácigo en finca la Vega en San Pablo, San Marcos, Guatemala. Crédito: Ana Villatoro

2.El Almácigo

En el almácigo, las plántulas pueden crecer fuertes y saludables hasta que estén listas para sembrarlas en la finca. Dado que esto es 70 días después de la siembra en el semillero, puede que esto ocurra entre mayo y junio en fincas de mayor altitud en Guatemala.

Según Marlon y Aiddé, los productores deberían hacer lo siguiente:

• Asegurarse de que el almácigo tenga buen acceso al agua y esté alejado de posibles fuentes de contaminación.
• Usar sustrato de 50% de tierra negra y 50% de fertilizante orgánico.
• Exponer el sustrato al sol durante varios días, volteandolo periódicamente para reducir el riesgo de plagas y enfermedades.
• Usar bolsas de polietileno o bandejas de plástico reutilizables de aproximadamente 7 por 10 cm para las plántulas.
• Aplicar periódicamente métodos de control de malezas y fertilización (la agricultura orgánica requerirá, por supuesto, diferentes métodos).
• Después de 20 días, volver a sembrar las plántulas que muestran signos de marchitamiento.

Almácigo en finca Alta Luz en Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Crédito: Aiddé Pérez

Preparar el Último Trasplante

En Guatemala, normalmente durante la temporada de lluvias, después de unos 6-9 meses en el almácigo, las plantas de café se pueden transportar al campo. Los productores reconocen cuando están listas por el número de hojas: debe de haber un mínimo de seis pares.

Sin embargo, eso no significa que los productores no hagan algo mientras tanto. Necesitan preparar el suelo (y también administrar, cosechar y procesar su cosecha actual).

Al preparar el suelo, los productores deben prestar atención a:

• La ubicación: necesitan decidir dónde plantar las plántulas, teniendo en cuenta la cantidad de sombra, el acceso a los cultivos, el diseño de la planta (filas, triángulos, curvas …), la distancia entre las plantas y más. La variedad de café, el terreno y el clima local determinarán la distribución exacta; sin embargo, mis entrevistados enfatizan que quieren al menos 1 m² entre árboles.
• Los árboles de sombra: estos pueden regular las condiciones ambientales, retener humedad, proteger las plantas del viento, prevenir el desarrollo de malezas y más. Los productores deben considerar cuidadosamente la cantidad de sombra en función de la variedad, la temperatura y las horas de sol en la finca. También deben considerar qué tipo de sistema de sombra quieren usar.
• Dos o tres meses antes de la siembra, los agricultores deberían comenzar a preparar los agujeros. Mis entrevistados me dijeron que generalmente cavan huecos de 30 cm de ancho, 30 cm de largo y 30 cm de profundidad. Es importante que estos no se excaven con demasiada antelación o demasiado tarde, pues así se pueden proteger de la erosión.

Cuando llegue el momento de transportar las plantas, los productores deberían:

• Seleccionar las plantas más fuertes.
• Con cuidado, transportarlas desde el almácigo y retirar la bolsa de plántulas.
• Verificar que las raíces estén sanas.
• Asegurarse de que la tierra alrededor de los árboles esté bien empacada y bien regada.

Café plantado bajo árboles de sombra  en  finca AGROCAF. Crédito: Marlon del Valle

Nutrición & Gestión

Un mes después del cultivo, los productores deberán de comenzar a fertilizar el suelo. Sin embargo, antes de comenzar, necesitan preparar el fertilizante y también hacer un análisis de suelo.

Algunos agricultores eligen utilizar fertilizantes orgánicos hechos de compost y pulpa de café; otros optan por fertilizantes químicos. Mis entrevistados sugirieron que, con fertilizante orgánico, los productores deberían usar alrededor de 12 kg de pulpa descompuesta por árbol.

VER TAMBIÉN:  Perspectiva del Productor: Producción de Café Orgánico en Guatemala

Después de la primera siembra, Marlon y Aiddé recomiendan que los productores fertilicen aproximadamente cada cuatro meses, dependiendo de la condición del suelo y los factores locales. Además, también deben asegurarse de fertilizar cuatro meses antes de la cosecha.

Además del manejo del suelo, los productores deben revisar regularmente los árboles en busca de signos de enfermedad o daño de plagas. También deberían podarlos para mantener altos los niveles de producción.

Finca Chicharros en El Palmar, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Crédito: Ana Villatoro

Cosecha

Para la mayoría de los productores, la cosecha es una de las partes más activas del ciclo de cultivo. La  primera generalmente tiene lugar en tres o 4 años después de la siembra. En Guatemala, a gran altura, es entre diciembre y marzo. En altitudes más bajas, puede comenzar a principios de  octubre. (No olvides que la preparación del semillero también comienza en marzo, lo que la hace una temporada agitada para los productores).

En primer lugar, los productores deben recolectar las cerezas. Muchos productores especializados las recogen a mano usando un sistema llamado “recolección selectiva”, en el que solo se recogen las cerezas maduras, esto asegura mejores sabores en la taza final. Algunos productores, sin embargo, usan máquinas de recolección. Los productores especializados que usan maquinaria normalmente separan las cerezas maduras de las inmaduras después de la cosecha.

VER TAMBIÉN: Recolección a Mano Vs Recolección Mecánica: Pros & Contras

Incluso si las cerezas se seleccionan a mano, por lo general se seguirán clasificando para detectar defectos después de la recolección. Esto implica poner las cerezas en agua y eliminar cualquiera que flote.

Café madurando en Finca Alta Luz, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Crédito: Aiddé Pérez

Procesamiento, Secado y Almacenaje

Ahora, es momento para el procesamiento. Hay muchos métodos de procesamiento, pero los más comunes son el húmedo o lavado, el seco o natural, el honey y el despulpado natural. La elección del método determinará el tiempo de procesamiento y secado, el perfil de sabor del café, el trabajo y métodos de control de calidad, la infraestructura y más.

VER TAMBIÉN:  Proceso 101: Lavado, Natural Y Honey Producción de Café

De acuerdo con el  Green Book de Anacafé, el 98% del café de Guatemala usa el proceso de lavado. Sin embargo, los naturales y los despulpados naturales son comunes en países como Brasil, y Costa Rica incluso se ha hecho famosa por sus honeys.

No importa el método de procesamiento, el café debe secarse lentamente hasta que alcance un contenido de humedad del 10-12%. Se puede hacer en secadoras mecánicas, pero la mayoría de los productores de especialidad intentan hacerlo bajo el sol, ya sea en patios o camas elevadas.

VER TAMBIÉN: ¿Cómo Mejorar la Calidad al Secar Cafés Lavados?

Después de que el café se haya secado, se empaca en bolsas de 60-70 kilos (o, en grandes beneficios en países como Brasil, en bolsas aún más grandes) y se deja reposar antes de exportar. Durante este tiempo, debe almacenarse en una bodega con humedad, temperatura y nivel de luz estables.

Trabajadora en el patio en Finca Alta Luz. Crédito: Aiddé Pérez

Mientras los granos se secan, reposan y se almacenan, los productores tienen mucho para mantenerse ocupados: también están atendiendo a sus plántulas, podando sus árboles, fertilizando la tierra y buscando signos de plagas.

Luego están todas las decisiones comerciales, las opciones de mercadeo, las negociaciones de ventas y la administración del personal. Marlon me dijo: “Cuando empiezo un nuevo año, lo primero que pienso es en mejorar la calidad de la producción y lograr mejores precios en los mercados extranjeros”.

El año de un productor no se detiene, siempre hay algo que hacer en la finca. Pero vale la pena: como los padres de Aiddé comentaron: “Lo que [nuestro trabajo] da es un tesoro”.

Escrito por Ana Villatoro. Todas las entrevistas fueron realizadas en español y traducidas por el autor.

Traducido por Alejandra M Hernández y editado por Karla Boza

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Gruppo Cimbali Acquires Majority Stake In Slayer Espresso

More steamy news coming out this morning as it was announced that Italian espresso machine maker Gruppo Cimbali has purchased a majority stake in Seattle-based Slayer Espresso. Slayer now joins La Cimbali, Faema, and Casadio in the Gruppo Cimbali family of espresso machines.

According to the press release, the acquisition is being “positioned as a partnership” and “Slayer will maintain full autonomy in terms of operations and methodologies, with founder Jason [Prefontaine] continuing as President and CEO.” The partnership will increase Slayer’s presence in the international market while giving Gruppo Cimbali an already recognizable, high-end espresso machine line and better access to the American market.

In a statement release on Slayer’s website, Prefontaine had this to say:

The partnership with Gruppo Cimbali is a significant business move for us and has been well thought out over the past year, representing the perfect blend of the classic established know-how of Gruppo Cimbali with the subversive and innovative methodology of Slayer. This partnership will also assist Slayer in streamlining our manufacturing process through consultation and lean production implementation, enhance our engineering expertises and provide us access to build a large, high quality team to truly achieve all of our goals.

The deal was finalized November 16th. For more information on the merger, read Slayer CEO Jason Prefontaine’s statment on Slayer’s official website.

I just hope we get a Slaema Steam61 out of this.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

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Blue Bottle Resigns From The SCA

Breaking news coming out of Oakland today as Blue Bottle—one of the “Big 4” roasters in specialty coffee—has announced that effective immediately, they are withdrawing from participation in the Specialty Coffee Association due to the SCA’s decision to host World Championship events in Dubai as well as the controversial Deferred Candidate Policy (read more about the decisions and what they mean here and here). They join Counter Culture as the only two of the Big 4 to come out publicly against the SCA’s recent decisions, but Blue Bottle is the first to resign its membership.

In a phone interview yesterday, Blue Bottle founder James Freeman tells Sprudge, “After surveying our own staff, there was overwhelming agreement that the SCA’s response has not been adequate. So we’ve decided to withdraw our membership from the SCA and not participate in any SCA events, and not pay them money for anything until hopefully they come to their senses.”

To reach this decision, Blue Bottle higher-ups sent out a company-wide survey, with a vast majority of the 68 responses being in favor of withdrawal from the SCA. In that same survey, a majority of respondents also stated that they found SCA to be very important to their overall professional development. And while the conclusion jibes with Freeman’s own inclinations, he made it clear that this move is not a function of his own feelings but that of the people’s comprising the company. “It’s not just my opinion, it’s nothing unilateral,” Freeman tells me. “It’s our community speaking very, very clearly and consistently to us that they don’t want to be part of this decision the SCA made.”

Blue Bottle further clarified its position in a statement made today on their official website. In it they detail an attempt to reach out to SCA and encourage a potential change in venue, saying, “We also offered our financial assistance to move the competitions to a location where our baristas could be assured safety.” Moving forward now for Blue Bottle, not participating means, amongst other things, not financially supporting any baristas in competitions. Freeman is quick to note that this does not mean his staff cannot participate at a personal level—as competitors, judges, or volunteers—but simply that Blue Bottle will not be providing the sort of backing—monetary and otherwise—that the company would give under normal circumstances.

The withdrawal from the SCA is not permanent, or at least Blue Bottle hopes not. They plan to return to the fold once the appropriate changes have been made. “The SCA has done many good things for the specialty coffee community that have been benefitted many of our people as well as many people in other coffee companies,” Freeman states. “Once they’ve realized the error of their ways and we’re not associating with a regime that people in our community don’t have faith in, then we’ll be happy to rejoin… We’re not going to spend our money until we see change. Then we’ll happily spend our money.”

Blue Bottle is not the first coffee company to resign their SCA membership over the selection of Dubai as host city for World Championship events and the Deferred Candidate Policy, but with 48 cafes internationally and two more still in the works—and now the international backing of Nestlé—they are certainly the largest, with a founder in Freeman who is no stranger to the national news spotlight. Blue Bottle’s decision today dovetails alongside ongoing mainstream coverage of Deferred Candidacy in publications like The Advocate and New York Magazine, stories that have brought the issue of the SCA’s Dubai decision to a growing mainstream audience. With nigh on 50 cafes, Blue Bottle’s dues are only marginally higher than a brand with a single location. But for the SCA, the loss of Blue Bottle’s membership may be the costliest yet.

For more information on Blue Bottle’s resignation from the SCA, please read this statement published today on their official website.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Blue Bottle Coffee is an advertising partner on Sprudge Media Network.

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Nice Package: Abracadabra Coffee Company In Woodstock, Vermont

Who couldn’t use a little magic in their life right now? The fine folks at Abracadabra Coffee have been casting their circles in Woodstock, Vermont for two years and invoked a charming new look for their packaging this year. Abracadabra blends esoterica with arabica and the only thing dark sided about the coffee is its penchant for the occult. We spoke with Clint Hunt via the Ouija board to learn more.

Tell us a bit about your company!

Abracadabra manifested into existence in 2015. We are a tight group of three best friends (Antoinette, Sarah, Clint) that wanted to showcase magical coffee in the most transparent way and have a fun fucking time doing it.

When did the coffee package design debut?

We spent the 2016 winter conjuring up the concept for the box design with butt loads of fire, booze, and laughter. We wanted to keep the look clean, classic, and strong. Monochromatic motorcycle riding cosmic witches ya know? We launched the design in May 2017.

Who designed the package?

With help from our friend/designer Andrew Plotsky of Farmrun, we designed a logo system, font style, and tons of mystical drawings to use. The name of the coffee is in the most legible black metal font we could create that is still debatably legible. It represents the pagan qualities we value of respecting the earth and universes. The box, made by Packlane, is recyclable, while the inner bag, by PBi, is compostable. No hocus pocus! We focus on single origin coffees that will reach out and grab ya.

What coffee information do you share on the whole bean coffee packaging?

The origin, region, farm, processing method, elevation, tasting notes, and roast date are all including on the labels.

When did the cold brew cans debut?

The design for the cold brew can was done by our good pal and visual artist Dang Olsen from L.A. Originally the design was commissioned to be on a skateboard deck, but we thought it was too sick, radical, gnarly, etc., and needed to be seen by more people. We have two rotating single origin cold brew cans. The white cans have a fruit forward adventures profile while the black cans have a chocolatey comforting profile. The can wraps, done by Lucky Clover, were set free in Sept 2017.

Where is your coffee + cold brew currently available?

Our “black on the outside cuz black is how I feel on the inside” boxes are available on our web store. The cans are available in Vermont. Make a trip!

Company: Abracadabra Coffee
Location: Vermont
Country: United States
Release Date: May 2017
Designer: Andrew Plotsky, Farmrun

Nice Package is a feature series by Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. Read more Nice Package here.

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Borneo Coffee: Surfing And Coffee In The Monaco Of South America

Last August, during winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the Argentine entrepreneur and surfer Tomas Moche took the off-season to renovate the kitchen and enlarge the space of his coffee shop, Borneo Coffee, in Barra de Maldonado, a region of Punta Del Este, Uruguay. Even during construction, he kept the shop semi-open to attend to customers arriving constantly for his coffee. “I do not want to stop serving people, for now, I’m still the only specialty coffee around here and I need to keep the customers connected with good coffee, so I keep the takeaway service operating,” he says.

Five years ago, Moche moved to Punta Del Este, a cosmopolitan seaside town commonly referred to, with some exaggeration, as the Monaco of South America because of its casinos and luxury residences, restaurants, and hotels. But if Punta can be compared to the certain glamour of the French Riviera, across the rippled architecture of the Barra de Maldonado bridge, known as Puente Ondulante, is the much more relaxed town of Barra de Maldonado.

Here, there aren’t any tall buildings around, only holiday houses wedged among great lengths of sand and virgin wild areas, and, of course, beautiful beaches like La Posta del Cangrejo and Playa Bikini, both appropriate for surfing. Across the charming central street are cool restaurants and bars, local shops, antique stores, and a glittery nightlife that sets the small village on fire every summer evening.

Moche got the inspiration to found his business in La Barra while frequenting Californian cafes. Since moving to Uruguay, he visits the American West Coast once or twice a year, and while there relaxes at cafes after surfing. The vision for a cafe came to fruition while taking barista courses in San Diego, when he bought a La Marzocco FB80 and began chasing after specialty roasters in Uruguay and Argentina, his homeland.

Without delay, he found a wide range of high quality beans from MVD Roasters and The Lab, both native to Montevideo. He also discovered Agustin Quiroga’s coffees from Puerto Blest in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Moche also brings coffees back to Punta Del Este from his travels. Recently, he had Australia’s Quest. In addition to espresso, Borneo prepares coffee with the V60, AeroPress, and as cold brew. Hot Dutch chocolate-based drinks are also hits, according to Moche.

Moche has Argentine chef Sabine Caubarrere preparing genuine homemade foods like carrot cake, chocolate cookies, brownies, Argentinian alfajores made with almond and honey, and other southern cuisine staples. “I want to offer a traditional but focused patisserie of wholesome products like whole wheat flour, brown sugar, and vegan and gluten-free options. For the summer, we will also have light and healthy snacks for the beach, not forgetting, of course, the Uruguayan meat in some dishes,” says Caubarrere, who has a degree in gastronomy from Argentina as well as international experience working in restaurants and hotels in France, Spain, and Belgium, as well as in Argentina and Uruguay.

Moche (left) with a customer at Borneo Coffee

Today, the regular coffee served by Borneo is roasted by The Lab, which besides being a coffee shop and a roasting company in the Uruguayan capital also operates as a dealer for La Marzocco in the country. Veronica Leyton, one of the partners, told me she is very excited to provide her beans to Moche. Her sentiment sums up his cafe’s place in the South American coffee community. “Borneo is a jewel in the country’s recent boom of independent coffee shops, brimming with casual amiability and offering expertly-prepared coffee and food. It’s exactly the alternative that a place like Punta del Este needed.”

Borneo Coffee is located at 20001 La Barra, Maldonado Department. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Paulo Pedroso is a regular contributor to Brazilian newspapers Folha de São Paulo and Valor Econômico, as well as Revista Espresso, a Brazilian specialty coffee magazine. Read more Paulo Pedroso on Sprudge.

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A Guide to Coffee Grind Size, Consistency, & Flavor

Pardon the pun, but grind size is no small matter. Controlling this variable allows you to improve the taste of your coffee, ensure repeatability, experiment with recipes, and more.

Unfortunately, many a wonderful coffee has been let down by its grind profile. From the wrong size (often caused by a poor understanding of recipes) to inconsistent grinds, there are many factors that can go wrong. The result? Anything from sour or bitter brews to an inability to recreate that perfect cup.

I spoke to Mark Vecchiarelli, Founder of Kruve and the creator of the Kruve Sifter set, endorsed by three-time Japan Barista Champion Miki Suzuki, five-time Canada Barista Champion Ben Put, and more. The tool reduces clumps and ensures grind consistency – so who better than Mark to break down grind size for me?

SEE ALSO: Brew Guide: What Are The 3 Phases of Drip Coffee Brewing? 

Brewing pour over coffee: a delicate balance of grind size, brew time, and more.

Grind Size, Extraction, & Flavor

When making coffee, our biggest goal is to achieve a controlled extraction. The final coffee flavor will depend on how many compounds are extracted from those roasted beans into our brew – something that is a delicate balance of water:coffee ratio, brew time, water temperature, grind size, and more.

SEE ALSO: Understanding Coffee Extraction & Other Key Brewing Concepts

The whole purpose of grinding our coffee beans is to increase the surface area coming into contact with water. And the finer or coarser the grind, the more or less quickly water can pass through it – affecting brew time as well as extraction efficiency.

A coarser grind has looser particles which, in turn, will allow water to move between them more quickly. The combination of less surface area and a shorter brew time (unless it’s immersion brewing) means that less extraction will be taking place. On the other hand, a finer grind has particles that are packed closer together. This means water takes longer to pass through the grinds and that there’s more surface area – leading to greater extraction.

Is your coffee mouth-puckeringly sour? Your grind size is too coarse – go finer. And if it’s a bitter brew? You have the opposite issue; try grinding coarser.

But there are several factors that help determine the exact grind size that’s best. Let’s take a look at them.

The life of a roasted coffee bean.

What Affects The Ideal Grind Size?

First of all, personal preferences will always determine the ideal coffee recipe. So too will the coffee you’re brewing: depending on the origin, variety, processing method, roast profile, and more, you may want to highlight different characteristics. Dark roasts, for example, are more soluble and so you might use a slightly coarser grind.

However, two points deserve special mention. The first is brewing method: different brewing devices are suited to different grind sizes. A French press, for example, is typically paired with a coarse grind. Most pour overs (one exception being the Chemex) lend themselves to medium-fine grinds. With espresso or Turkish coffee, you’ll want to go fine and extra-fine respectively. And some brewers, like the AeroPress, can suit a wide range of grind sizes.

SEE ALSO: Brewing Methods Compared: How Should You Make Coffee at Home?

Then there’s the age of your coffee. Hopefully, you’ll always have fresh beans to hand but, as the days pass since they were roasted, you’ll want to tweak the brew recipe. This is because the coffee’s flavors will fade over time. In this case, many home brewers and baristas like to grind finer; others prefer to up the coffee dosage and grind coarser to compensate. The first option will increase extraction; the second, intensity.

Yet even while controlling grind size opens up the door to manipulating coffee extraction – and therefore coffee flavor – there are also several things that can make it difficult for baristas and home brewers to do so.

Brewed coffee grounds. Credit: Sam Koh

Coffee Grind Issues: How Big Is Table Salt?

One stumbling block is the vocabulary we use to talk about grind size. How many times have you read a brew recipe that calls for a grind size of “table salt,” “kosher sea salt,” or “fine sand?”

The problem is that many people read these descriptions and don’t actually know what size kosher sea salt is. Even if they do, this is a far cry from any sort of precision measurement. So, this can make replicating recipes or calibrating grinders extremely difficult.

In order to ensure consistent grind sizes, we need a universal language. Sometimes, you can refer to the settings on your grinder. The Baratza Sette 30, for example, uses numbers 1–30. This option isn’t possible with all grinders, however. For many hand grinders, you simply adjust the grind by twisting an unmarked cog – meaning you can’t communicate which ‘setting’ you’ve used.

Different coffee grinders, different scales.

What’s more, since burrs and blades dull over time, two grinders of the same model can still grind differently. In fact, the same grinder may produce different-sized grounds from one season to the next.

And of course, if you wish to use a recipe from someone with a different brand of grinder, “setting 10” will be no help at all.

The team at Kruve prefer to use microns (μm) to measure grind. Their sieves range from 200 to 1,600 μm. Mark tells me that “microns provide the ultimate reference and control”, allowing users to easily share recipes, experiment with different grind sizes, and also calibrate grinders across different shops.

Kruve have produced 15 sieves, available for purchase individually or in sets, meaning users can refine coffee grinds to 105 different micron ranges. Credit: Kruve

The Coffee Grind Consistency Issue

Moreover, no matter what grinder you use, inconsistency can be an issue. If your ground coffee contains a mixture of larger and smaller grinds (“boulders” and “fines,” respectively), these will extract at different rates.

Typically, the larger particles will under-extract while the smaller ones will over-extract. This can result in unpredictable extraction rates, muddle the flavor of your coffee, prevent you from successfully replicating a recipe, and more.

To resolve this, most coffee aficionados opt for high-quality burr grinders – but even the most expensive of these can have a degree of grind inconsistency. Beans tend to shatter rather than neatly cracking. This will nearly always lead to some fines and boulders.

Mark explains that, when Kruve first began designing their grind refining system, they researched how common a problem grind inconsistency actually was. They tried using different sieves, ranging from kitchen to laboratory standard, to sift grinds. The result? Grind particle size varied by up to 1,000% – making consistency an almost-impossible objective.

This is why they set out to offer control to home users, regardless of the grinder or the brew method; Mark compares sifting grinds to using a scale for brew ratio. And they’re not the only ones who believe in the importance of sifting: several Champion Brewers and Baristas have been landing podium finishes using the Kruve Sifter set.

A Kruve Sifter set separates fines (top) and boulders (bottom) from otherwise consistently ground coffee. Credit: Kruve

In the pursuit of high-quality specialty coffee, no variable is too small to consider. By getting the right, consistent grind size, you can craft brew recipes to your exact preferences. You can experiment with different variables. And you enjoy a delicious cup of coffee – not just once, but every single time.

Written by Sam Koh.

Please note: This article has been sponsored by Kruve.  

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The post A Guide to Coffee Grind Size, Consistency, & Flavor appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

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