Flavor
THE CULTURE
OF TASTE
Our roasters are able to create blends with an extraordinary character, selecting and dosing coffees coming from different countries according to conscious choices but also intuitions.
SIX WAYS TO BREW COFFEE
The nuances in scents and aromas are endless: fruit, flowers, spices, chocolate and cocoa are a real pleasure for the taste of connoisseurs who can interpret them.
“Developing a good taste sensitivity is a slow process, a daily and patient exercise that over the years becomes experience.”
ESPRESSO
Espresso coffee, well-known all around the world, was invented at the end of the 19th century along with the machine to make it. The name itself ‘espresso’ refers to an express, swift preparation and to something made ‘on the spot’.
With this method coffee expresses the best of its organoleptic characteristics that in the cup become foam, aroma, body and aftertaste.
The essential elements are played by the coffee blend, a perfect roasting, the type of espresso machine and the ability of the person preparing it.
Espresso coffee is obtained by dripping very hot water under high pressure over roasted, finely ground compacted coffee; the time and coffee volumes depend on the espresso machine filter.
The energy deriving from the high pressure along with the thermal energy from water allow to extract the substances contained in the coffee very rapidly thus obtaining a unique cup of coffee. When the dripping is over, the beverage in the cup presents more layers. On the surface there is a creamy layer, an emulsion of colloidals, particles of insoluble substances and polymers that with the aid of pressure trap tiny air bubbles thus producing this unmistakable foam.
Below the surface there is an oily layer that helps the foam acting as a lid, thus keeping for longer the beverage aromas that would otherwise evaporate. Finally, we have a watery solution made of sugars, acids, protein materials, phenolic substances and caffeine.
The essential variables that determine the perfect result for this wonderful and complex beverage are: the quality of coffee, the right dose, water temperature, extraction time, the ratio between the coffee dose and the water volume, the water pump pressure, the granulometry and distribution of ground coffee, the press.
The standards that define an espresso:
Ground coffee dose: 16 ± 2 grams for double espresso Water temperature 92 ± 4 °C (197 ± 39 °F) ; pressure profile 9±1 bar; Dripping time 27.5 ± 2.5 sec.
MOKA
The Moka pot, also called caffettiera, is the most widely used coffee maker in Italian households. Created in 1933 thanks to the creativity of Alfonso Bialetti who transformed the art of coffee making into a simple and natural gesture, an essential rite for every Italian family and an Italian symbol famous all over the world, on display in the most important Design museums.
Our tips for the preparation are to fill the moka base chamber with water up to the level of the external release valve. Water represents the liquid component of the beverage and its quality is of utmost importance: in case it is too calcareous, the best choice is to use bottled still mineral water. The amount of coffee powder depends on the filter size: it shall be evenly distributed, up to the rim, without packing it down. Place the moka pot on the stove keeping the heat low for best brewing. To avoid burning the first coffee, you can pour inside the moka pot a small quantity of water. Remove the moka pot from the stove as soon as you hear the first gurgle.
Preparing your moka is a ritual to start the day: the scent it generates belongs to our most private daily habits.
The maintenance and cleaning of the moka are essential: wash well all the parts by removing any residual coffee and replace the gasket whenever you notice water leaking from the joint of the two parts.
NAPOLETANA
Originally known as the flip coffee pot, the Napoletana was invented by a Frenchman named Morize in 1819 to prepare coffee at home. This flip coffee pot became very popular throughout the city of Naples . The Neapolitan artisans later improved this Parisian invention with the use of aluminum and unwelded components, making it become in its own right a Napoletana coffee pot. It is still today produced in its traditional shape, consisting of six interlocking parts.
The main parts are: the bottom section to be filled with water with a very small hole at the top and a handle that can be either straight or curved, the cylinder-shaped coffee container containing a perforated plate that on one side allows the water to go through and on the other acts as the base for ground coffee. The filter must be tightly closed and it will hold the non-soluble particles of ground coffee. The whole coffee container, together with the filter, will then be placed inside the water section. The coffee collector part is equipped with a spout to serve the filtered beverage and is equipped with another handle. Then, there is a lid to close the collector and finally, in line with Neapolitan tradition, the cuppetiello, a small paper cone that goes over the spout during the brewing phase. The cuppetiello – which the famous actor Eduardo de Filippo mentioned in his Neapolitan comedies, is used to preserve the aroma of the coffee while it drips into the cuccumella, thus allowing the water to remain suspended together with the coffee for the desired time, creating a real controlled infusion.
We are now teaching you the perfect preparation to preserve the mildness of coffee once brewed. First pre-heat the water container to 92°C – 96°C (197 °F – 205°F).
The use of filtered water or low mineral content water with a low fixed residue is important to get a good beverage.
To obtain three cups of coffee, you need a dose of 16 grams of ground coffee – it should be less finely ground compared to that we use for moka – and we level it to the rim. Pour 240 grams of hot water, close the coffee container with the filter and insert it inside, close with the upper part and then, by flipping the Napoletana coffee pot, start celebrating the wedding of water and coffee. When the dripping is finished, remove the tank and mix the coffee inside the container. This beverage is pleasant, with a light body and exquisite aroma. Sip it slowly and enjoy.
V60
During the early 20th century in Germany the way to brew coffee presented a few imperfections in taste and some coffee grounds. Mrs Melitta Bentz had a brilliant idea using a piece of blotting paper from her son’s school notebook: she used it as a filter for dripping coffee through the paper, the result was a pleasant and tasty beverage. She also invented the first tool for filtered coffee with an old tin pot in which she had punched some holes and then covered with the paper that would filter coffee from any grounds. This extremely successful idea was patented in 1908. Since 2004 this instrument has been improved by many different companies. Many cafeterias have chosen it since the coffee obtained with this system is very particular.
This is what you need to make filtered coffee:
• A V60 Dripper that takes its name from the 60° angle V –shaped cone; generally it is made of metal, ceramic or glass. It has a central hole and particular spiral patterned ribs.
• A small and suitable scale
• The whole bean coffee grind should be a medium-fine setting, a bit coarser than the one used for moka.
• A goose-neck kettle with a long beak suitable to pour coffee with precision.
Preparation: for this recipe use 16 grams of ground coffee and 270 grams of water at a 92°C/198°F temperature with a total contact time between water and coffee of 2 minutes and 30 seconds;
Place the V60 Dripper over the glass container and the whole set over the scale. Place the filter inside the dripper and rinse all its parts to remove any ‘paper flavor’ and pre-heat the container below.
Then:
• Discard the rinse water from the container below
• Pour 16 grams of coffee
• Gently shake the V60 dripper to settle the grounds
• Reset the timer and scale
• Make sure water is at a 92°C/198°F temperature.
Start the timer and slowly pour water; first pour only 32 grams of water, that is double the weight of the coffee in grams. This phase is called the bloom. Let sit for 32 seconds, that is the end of pre-brewing; then begin pouring water continuously in small circles from the center towards the edges and back to the center until you have 270 grams of extracted coffee. Stir well, serve and enjoy.
FRENCH PRESS
In 1852 in France Mayer and Delforge created the coffee plunger or coffee press, later enhanced in 1929 by the Italian creativity of Attilio Calimari and Giulio Moneta who added a helical spring so that the filter would hold fats to the glass body of the pot, and Bruno Cassol who added a metal mesh to the filter.
For a correct preparation we recommend:
A brew ratio of 60/65g coffee for a 1litre beverage.
• Coffee dose: 15g
• Grind: coarse
• Water volume: 250 ml
• Water: low fixed residue
• Water/coffee contact time: 4 minutes
Procedure
• Heat with hot water the glass pot and the metal filter
• Empty the French press, fill with 15g of coffee, make it even; pour 250 g water. As soon as water enters into contact with the coffee grind, start the timer.
Changing these parameters – BREW RATIO, WATER TEMPERATURE and BREWING TEMPERATURE – will increase or decrease the extraction.
Close with the lid and then gently move the filter to the surface of the beverage. After 4 minutes, slowly plunge the filter to separate the beverage from coffee grind.
CEZVE OR IBRIK
“As with art it must be prepared, so with art it must be drunk”. Abd el Kader, 16th century.
This pot is designed to make Turkish coffee, which has entered the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO.
We know that originally Ethiopians and other people such as the Oromo used the leaves and flowers of coffee in their food and drinks. The infusion made by boiling the dried parts of the coffee berries generated a new beverage that the monks of a community in Yemen really enjoyed as they could bear the long nights awake praying. It was only from 1511 that the beverage became popular when an Islamic court ruled that consuming coffee was allowed by law. Coffee brewing rapidly spread up to the Arabian Peninsula and in 1550 it reached Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, where in 1554 the first coffeehouse was opened.
In Arabia, the drink took the name of ‘Quahwa’, using slightly roasted beans and accompanied by spices such as cardamom. In Turkey the beverage is called ‘Kahve’: the beans are roasted until they become dark and the drink is sweetened with sugar. However the most well-known names for this small long-handled pot traditionally made of brass, are ‘Cezve’ and ‘Ibrik’. The open upper part avoids too much pressure is formed, while its cone-shape, with a narrow neck, stops the coffee grounds from being poured into the cup.
The most traditional brewing method is to put the coffee powder in the pot full of water with some sugar, sometimes with spices such as cardamom and cinnamon.
Preparation for a small pot and two small cups:
• Put 8 grams of coffee grind, almost as for espresso, finer than that for moka, inside the pot. Sweeten with some sugar if you wish;
• 80 grams of water, filtered or bottled, at 50 °C /120°F;
Stir well for 10 times to avoid clotting; then put the Cevze on the stove setting the flame so that extraction will take 2 minutes 30 seconds. During this phase do not stir. Check very carefully. When the head or foam starts coming up, but before it boils, remove from the stove. Slowly pour in the small cups, carefully trying to maintain the foam. Let it sit for some minutes before sipping so that the coffee grounds may drop. Serve accompanied with a glass of water.