The best serve coffee-making advice from Cimbali’s Maxime Herbaut.

The best serve

Maxime Herbaut, national sales manager at La Cimbali, spends a lot of his time sharing knowledge and expertise to help customers deliver the best coffee experience possible.

TOP TIPS

“Whether I’m visiting a small independent coffee shop or a large, branded chain, the challenges that customers encounter on a daily basis are pretty much the same,” says Maxime Herbaut.

“Here are the top six issues which come up time and time again with simple solutions to help operators serve the best coffee going.”

Why does my coffee taste bitter?

If you start to notice bitter tasting espresso it might be because the extraction or pour time is too long, or that your equipment hasn’t been maintained properly.

Aim for a pour time of between 25–35 seconds depending on the coffee profi le and equipment, and watch the coffee as it comes through ensuring it doesn’t over extract.

Ensure all equipment has been cleaned as per manufacturer recommendation to prevent stale coffee residue mixing in with the fresh coffee as this can impart a bitter taste.

Regular servicing by a professional is also key to ensure the equipment works as it should and extracts the coffee as needed.

The daily grind…

Using consistently sized coffee grounds is very important to overall drink quality - larger sized grounds cause under extraction which creates a weak and watery coffee with a sour taste. Smaller grounds can cause the coffee to be over-extracted which can add bitterness.

Uneven grounds are usually caused by wear to the burrs and so they should be checked and adjusted/replaced on a regular basis.

Sharper burrs will grind the coffee with more consistency and precision

and there will be a big improvement in flavour, balance and consistency.

A regular clean of the grinder to remove oils and micro-grounds will also benefit the overall coffee quality.

Overheated milk

One area that customers are always keen to learn more about is the correct temperature for prepping milk.

Because the temperature of the steamed milk will affect the flavour of the finished drink it is important to get it right.

Milk starts to boil around 71°C and anything over 70°C can burn the tongue and is therefore to be avoided. The best milk temperature for milk-based espressos is between 60 and 70°C.

A good way to reach the preferred milk temperature is to use a good, calibrated thermometer. There is a little delay with a thermometer which means that the steam should be turned off just a few degrees below the desired temperature.

When working with non-dairy milks, remember they have a ‘splitting point’ which can be as low as 60°C. Play it safe by pre-heating the serving cup to a higher temperature and then only steam your milk to around 60°C. As long as your timing is ok, the drink should then maintain a higher temperature by the time it is ready to serve, even though you have decreased the milk temperature a little.

Limescale build up

Coffee machines with steam boilers are inherently vulnerable to scale build up. As well as causing breakdowns, limescale and mineral deposits can have a negative impact on beverage flavour, aroma and clarity.

If your business is in the South East, Midlands, North East or East Anglia which are known to be hard water areas, then the problem of scale build up is intensified. The chances are a filter of some sort will be needed to regulate the water quality.

Because there are so many different types of water filters available, best advice is to ask the experts before purchase to ensure you choose the correct system for your business.

In addition to fitting a water filter, regular machine servicing from a coffee professional is also recommended.

Staff training

In an industry known for part time workers, casual staff, staff shortages and high turnover rates, keeping a fully trained barista team is always going to be a challenge.

Larger chains have the benefit of fully budgeted training cycles; smaller independent businesses don’t have that luxury.

Many of the businesses we work with appoint a barista trainer who takes responsibility for the entire team, filling knowledge and skills gaps and ensuring that everyone is trained to a level of competency supported by ongoing refresher training.

Other customers rely on our expertise and we provide coffee training to help staff develop their knowledge, grow sales and most importantly, reduce maintenance costs.

This seems to work extremely well, introducing a level of professionalism and helping staff develop to their full potential.

Maintenance

It might surprise you to learn that around 65% of coffee machine breakdowns are due to poor maintenance - i.e. the breakdown could have been avoided if the machine had been maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Getting into the habit of cleaning the machine every day after closing is essential to prevent the machine remaining dirty overnight (we still see this often). It should take less than 10 minutes from start to finish and will pay dividends in terms of coffee quality and lifespan of the machine.

Training sessions at Cimbali are focused on maintenance of the machine as this is one of the most efficient ways to reduce equipment breakdowns (any machine downtime will inevitably lead to a loss of sales).

In addition, many manufacturers offer service and maintenance contracts which should be considered an essential part of buying new equipment. The annual charges can be budgeted for – there’s plenty of margin available for this if the operator has the correct machine type for the business needs.