TRAINING TACTICS
Babin Gurung is the New South Wales Barista Trainer of Suntory Coffee Australia.
Creating espresso recipes Mocopan Coffee’s Babin Gurung shares how to set your own espresso recipe and the critical variables to manage for consistent results and maximum flavour, every time.
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spresso recipes are a guide to producing consistent coffees in your café. Much like cooking or baking, having a recipe to go by helps set the variables to achieve the desired outcome every time. Often, your coffee roaster will provide you the recipe or brew guide to suit the coffee. While this is a great starting point, further adjustments may be required due to variations in equipment on hand, style of coffee you serve, customer-base, and even the location of your café.
Having the knowledge and confidence to adjust your espresso recipe is key to getting the best out of your coffee and not wasting precious grounds in the process. Today, we’ll look at how to create your own espresso recipe. But first, here are a few things to consider before we dial in. • Coffee origin: In the October issue of BeanScene, we talked about single origin coffees and how flavours can vary based on their origin. When creating a recipe, whether it’s for a single origin or blend, your goal should be to highlight the characteristics of the region. The other thing to keep in mind, is that coffees grown in higher elevation are denser and can be more difficult to extract compared to lower elevation coffee. A finer grind setting may be required to achieve maximum extraction. • Coffee style: The two main styles of coffee served at cafés are black and
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milk-based. For milk-based, your espresso needs to cut through and complement the richness of the milk, while black coffee should highlight some of its origin characteristics. If you are planning on serving the same coffee for both styles, you need to find a good balance. • Roast profile: Roasting has a big impact not only on the flavour of coffee but also how it extracts. Darker roasted coffees are easier to extract compared to lighter roasted coffees. This will impact the size of dose you use, extraction time to water
temperature. A higher dose works well with darker roasts while a smaller dose may be required to extract full flavours from a lighter roast. • Coffee age: As discussed in the February 2021 edition of BeanScene, ‘How to adjust and calibrate your coffee grinder’, coffee degasses over time, making it easier to extract. When using freshly roasted coffee, it is important to adjust the recipe to encourage higher extraction, while coffee that has spent more time on the shelf may require lower yield and extraction time. It is ideal to have a
Remember to adjust your espresso recipe to encourage higher extraction when using freshly roasted coffee.
