Coffee – Page 5 – Abstract Gourmet

Coffee and Cigars

Those crazy cats at Tiger, Tiger are holding the next edition in their series of coffee and cigar tastings this weekend (Sunday the 9th September from 2pm).

It’s run by Tiger, Tiger and the cigars are brought along by Josh Devlin (of Devlins Cigars), with the idea being to match quality cigars with excellent single origin coffees.

I went along to one a little while ago and spent a great afternoon smoking a lovely Cuban cigar, the Bolivar Belicosos Finos (thanks for the info Josh !). It was paired with a fantastic Indian “Selection 9” single origin roasted by Fiori.

The tasting coming up this weekend however, will feature a single origin Cuban Altura roasted by none other than everyone’s favourite home roaster (and member of the Matt and Grendel mutual appreciation society) Grendel :)

Places are limited, and tickets are $30 each, which gets you a cigar and a whole whack of coffee… enough to have you jumped up in no time at all.

Check out the details on Tiger, Tigers (shiny new) website.

Signature Espresso

Ever wondered how you can turn your insatiable need for caffeine into an all day affair ? Sure you’ve got your morning latte covered, and the midday piccolo and afternoon ristretto is a done deal. But there’s still that lingering need to fill the void between after dinner and bedtime with as much coffee as possible (doctors advice may differ).

Enter the Epic Espresso Signature Drink Workshop ! Not only can you fill your head with all sorts of interesting coffee related facts, but you can also learn a few tips and tricks on how to make some stunning coffee based dessert drinks, meaning you’ll never have to take too long a break from your caffeinated lifestyle.

Tonight’s signature drink workshop was the brainchild of Epic Espresso barista Jeremy Hulsdunk. Jeremy should know a few things about creating espresso based drinks… His creation of a pancake themed signature drink helped take him to first place in the 2006 W.A Barista Championships.

The format for the night was straightforward. A group of coffee lovers of varying levels of experience, gathered around to sample excellent quality coffees and learn a little more about how to work with flavours to create new and interesting combinations. We started with a double ristretto of the Ugandan Bugisu Sippy Falls AA, an excellent single origin coffee. Not everyone was used to drinking ristrettos, but after some dubious initial reactions due to the intensity of flavour in that tiny little cup… the consensus was resoundingly good. Flavour descriptors ranging from floral, citrusy, sweet, and smokey were thrown around, with none necessarily being wrong.

Then it was onto another fantastic single origin, the Bali Gunung Batur. This time in the traditional cupping method used by coffee tasters to determine varietal qualities and defects in coffee. The process is basically grinding a set amount of coffee relatively coarsely, adding water at a specific temperature (a little below boiling), and then breaking the “crust” of coffee grounds to inhale the aroma, before slurping the coffee down, aspirating it as much as possible in order to spread it out over your palate. Somewhat like a wine taster would when judging wine, and with probably as many (if not more) different ways of describing the flavours.

Jeremy gave tasting notes and points of interest on each coffee, and a fielded questions with consummate ease while explaining his choices for the evenings selection.

Then it was onto the signature drinks. We made two different styles, one called Strawberries and Cream, and the other called Espresso Fondue Martini.

A certain someone has promised a write up of the Strawberries and Cream, so I’ll cover the Fondue Martini. It was a rich and luscious concoction. Melted chocolate, espresso, and vanilla infused cream, with roasted hazelnuts on top and fresh fruit pieces for dunking. Take a minute to check out the photos of the night below before scrolling down for the full recipe straight from the horses mouth.

Espresso Fondue Martini

Pouring cream
Melted chocolate (we used Belgian couverture chocolate)
Fresh fruit (we used pineapple and kiwifruit, but there’s lots of options that would work)
Frozen Raspberries (to put into the cream)
1 Vanilla pod (or 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste)
Crushed roasted hazelnuts
A shot of espresso (we used the Bali Gunug Batur)
Toothpicks / fingers (for dunking the fruit)

Methode ala Jeremy

1) Before you begin, infuse the cream with raspberries and vanilla by placing the cut vanilla pod and raspberries into the cream and stirring with vigour ! Let them stand together for a while so the flavours infuse nicely.

2) Place the melted chocolate (melted in a double boiler / microwave ) into a martini glass to fill just below half way (or more or less depending on how much of a chocolate fiend you are).

3) Pour a shot of espresso over the top of the chocolate.

4) Now add about 50 ml of the infused cream. Which should sink into the espresso / chocolate mixture with a layered effect.

5) Next sprinkle the top with the crushed roasted hazelnuts (an ingredient that compliments espresso and chocolate fantastically).

6) In true fondue style, go for the healthy option and dip fresh fruit into the dessert… making sure to stir up the chocolate and combine all the wonderful flavours for maximum effect.

It was a great night and a lot of fun for everyone. Check out the Epic Espresso website for details of when the next one might be. Thanks again to Jeremy and Corey for being excellent hosts. Here’s looking forward to plenty more great events, and more excuses to drink great coffee at all hours of the day ! :)

P.S – Apologies to anyone who has been trying to comment… I’ve moved to a new host and had inadvertently turned them off

We’re back online now :)

Autism Fundraiser Cafe Day

Thanks to Grendel for inviting me along to help out at a fundraiser he organised this weekend to raise money for the Autism Association Early Intervention Centre.

It was a great day, with lots of local coffee afficionados getting together to geek out and make coffee for a good cause.

Check out the man himself’s wrap up of the event, and check out a few photos I’ve pull together from it. All for a good cause of course :)

How to make Turkish Coffee

Well after a short lived foray into tea, it’s back to the tried and true original, coffee. Something a little different to my usual home barista shenanigans this time though. In the past, much of my efforts have been focused on preparing and perfecting espresso and milk based drinks. To the extent that I think I’ve been remiss in my attention to other forms of preparing coffee that are equally as rewarding. It’s easy to get excited about a perfect ristretto pour dripping like honey into your cup… but I’ve discovered recently that you can do just fine with nothing more sophisticated than a pot of hot water.

Enter Turkish coffee. Or Lebanese coffee, or Greek Coffee, or Arabic Coffee, or Armenian coffee… they’re all roughly similar, and I’m just using Turkish because it’s perhaps the best known. Long before Mr Gaggia pulled together the first modern espresso machine circa 1938, those crazy Ottomans (the people, not the foot rests), were hanging around the worlds first coffee shop in downtown Constantinople circa 1475… in fact Turkish law at that time made it legal for a woman to divorce her husband if he failed to provide her with her daily quota of coffee. Which is fair enough really.

So in a country (Australia) where some major cities have an espresso machine in every other laundromat, there’s a tendency to forget about the ways that millions of other people around the world appreciate coffee every day. Hence I present in it’s complex simplicity, my attempt at brewing Turkish coffee.

Let me just say right now that I am no expert at this. I’ve based my method on what I’ve gleaned from other websites, from talking to people, and from drinking variations of this in restaurants and cafes. I will not be offended if you completely disagree with me… much.

How I make mine

So to start with you need a couple of things. An Ibrik (or cezve), a grinder, and some coffee.

An ibrik (eee-brick) is a small pot, often made of copper or brass, that is used to boil coffee. The one I bought is a little fancier than the tradition sort, with a solid stainless steel base and a moulded handle… which hopefully doesn’t disqualify me in the authenticity stakes. You should be able to find them in middle eastern supply stores.

The grind is the next most important thing. Turkish coffee is the finest of all grind levels, and basically resembles dust. You can buy special Turkish coffee mills that will give you a really fine grind, or else you could try a mortar and pestle. I use my espresso grinder on it’s lowest possible setting… 4 stops below my normal espresso level, which gives me coffee so fine I can barely see it.

Turkish coffee is typically drunk out of small cups. Thimble sized ones sometimes. I use my Chinese tea cups, which seem to give a decent portion in each pour. To work out how much water you need in the ibrik, try using roughly one teaspoon of ground coffee per cupful of water. So to make 6 cups, measure 6 cups of water into the ibrik, and add 6 teaspoons of coffee.

View the pictoral guide by click the images above, or by going to my flickr site for some more details

There’s an old saying that goes:

Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and as sweet as love.

If this isn’t talking about Turkish coffee then I don’t know what is. The fineness of the grind, when incorporated into water, creates a thick solution reminiscent of mud when you get down to the bottom. Sugar is also commonly added at the start of the brewing process, rather than at the end, which would account for the sweetness. I’d add about a third as many teaspoons of sugar as the number of cups… So 2 teaspoons of sugar for 6 cups…

If you want to be extra fancy/authentic (like I did), you can also add a pinch or two of ground cardamom at this stage. It gives the coffee a wonder flavour that is distinct yet not overpowering (given you don’t add too much), that seems to be popular.

Once you’ve combined all the ingredients and stirred well so that it’s all mostly dissolved, then it’s time for the cooking. Put the ibrik onto the heat (a gas burner in my case), and over a moderate flame, heat it til it starts to bubble up and boil. Once its beginning to boil, remove it from the heat before it can overflow the ibrik… It’s important to keep a close watch on the boiling because things can get out of control in a hurry.

Once the first boil settles down, put the ibrik back over a low heat and bring it back to the boil… again stopping before it overflows. Repeat this process a final time, and you’re done. It’s apparently quite important to try and retain as much of the thick foam as possible while boiling. I think I’m a long way off perfecting it, but the flavour in the cup at the end is definitely to my liking, so I think I’m on the right track.

So now pour the coffee out into small espresso / chinese tea sized cups and sip away at the thick sweet spiced flavours, and feel it warming you from the inside out. Traditionally it’s drunk with a cup of water and perhaps a little glass of mint liqueur at the end of a meal, which sounds like a good excuse for me to try and construct a Turkish dinner menu sometime soon.

So next time you’re kicking yourself over bitter espresso and woeful attempts at latte art, just grab the nearest pot and give this method a shot. 71 millions Ottomans can’t all be wrong :)

In other news

My article about Honduran coffee grower/importer/roaster Gerardo Barrios has made it’s way into this months edition of Spice Magazine, a most excellent (in my totally non-biased opinion) local food, wine, produce, anything you can think of that related to tastiness magazine.
Epic Espresso has a new website, which I may or may not have had a hand in creating, and the quadruple ristretto flat whites are totally kicking it at the moment.
Slow Food Perth has a new website (which I also may have helped put together), with updated content, rss feeds, and a bunch of other whiz bang fanciness. Slow Food Perth are doing great things in the local community to help promote producers, suppliers, and creators of quality food, and also to help educate people on where exactly our food comes from, and some of the more pertinent social issues surrounding it. I’d encourage anyone who loves food to check out their own local group, if only to score great lunches :)

Midday Inspiration

Catching up on coffee:

Early morning meetings in the city have forced me out of my usual habit of making myself a coffee before leaving the house. Fortunately Clare and Jackson at Tiger Tiger have been keeping me well fuelled with excellent flat whites and macchiatos.
New purchases for my little home setup now include a tamping mat, a ‘latte art’ jug (with a new improved tip that’s supposed to make it easier to pour art… yet to be determined if this is true), and a new gasket for my Rancilio Silvia to try and stop the bit of leaking that happens occasionally. Thanks to coffeeparts.com for making my life easier when looking for bits and pieces.
Five Senses have recently added some of the infamous PNG PSC AA to their website for sale. This is a very rare and special grade of bean and from the double ristretto I pulled with it just now, I can see why. It’s full bodied, sweet, lingering and delicious (that’s as much as a flavour profile as I can manage). Try some if you can.
Grendel is going strong with his coffee fundraiser, having roasted up the beans now, it looks to be going well.
I also got a nice mention from Five Senses on their website. Thanks to Ashley for putting it up :)

6 more days in Sydney

Funnily enough it’s been a week or two since we got back from Sydney and I haven’t updated you (because of course you’re so interested) about the last few days of the trip. So here once again is my pictorial view of the harbour city, because sometimes words are really that great at trying to describe places and feelings and meals… although it’s mainly because I’m feeling lazy and really can’t be bothered typing too much.

On with the show. Oh, and if you’re reading this is a RSS reader, sorry for the oddness earlier, I had some issues with a plugin, and please click through to the site so you can see the photos properly in the gallery view.

Day 4

– Breakfast at Uliveto Cafe in Kings Cross, average coffee, great eggs.
– Walking the streets of Paddington, checking out as many boutiques as (um) we could.
– I take a break and check out the Australian Centre for Photography where the Head On exhibition is being shown.
– More shopping
– Break for a refreshing lemon lime and bitters at The London Tavern.
– I bought a Holga from the Lomography shop in Paddington.
– Walk back to Kings Cross from Paddington… See Hugh Jackman’s wife in a restaurant along the way. Ponder that she must find it annoying that noone remembers her name ever since she married Hugh Jackman.
– Dinner at Opium Den in Potts Point… much less opium than expected, but plenty of great Thai food.

Day 5

– A walk around Elizabeth and Rushcutters Bay to build up an appetite
– Breakfast at Bills in Darlinghurst. The ricotta hot cakes and scrambled eggs were great, I just can’t understand
why they use Vittoria coffee, which was terrible as per normal.
– Take the train out to Bondi Junction, and a bus to Coogee beach.
– Walk around the rocks from Coogee to Bondi, run across a bikini photo shoot and an old guy who lives on the side of a cliff… interesting juxtaposition.
– Dinner at Billy Kwongs after a stroll around Surrey Hills. Fantastic meal highlighted by the crispy skin duck in orange sauce, and scallop wontons… Didn’t see Kylie out the back cutting onions, but I guess she didn’t know I was coming ;)
– Dessert at Max Brenner chocolate in Paddington. Despite being stuffed from dinner, we figured exorbitant levels of chocolate would be a nice way to end the night. Max Brenner obviously knew I was in town, because he made a personal appearance in the shop that night, much to the suprise and delight of the staff, and anyone else who recognised the bald man with the earring.

Day 6

– Coffee at Toby’s Estate in Potts Point (take away double flat whites… not particularly great, but better than average)
– Wandered around Pott’s Point, towards Woolloomooloo
– Had one of the famous pies from Harry’s Cafe De Wheels, as well as a hot dog… and then another pie.
– Went to the NSW art gallery to see the Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astroboy) exhibition.
– Dinner at the very funky Jimmy Liks in Potts Point with the lovely Jules of Stone Soup, and Sue & J from Noodlebowl, and unfortunately not Deborah and LJ due to car troubles.
Highlights from dinner were crispy pork hocks, the massaman veal shank, the coconut fried banana and ice cream, and the wonderful company :)
– Said goodbye and thanks to Keong for his hospitality and went to Sue & J’s place.

Day 7

– Made it to Mecca Espresso in the city. Had an extremely tasty macchiato and flat white made on their lovely modded Mistral.
– Caught up with my Dad in the city for lunch, marvelled that we need to meet on the other side of country these days to catch up.
– Did some quick shopping for dinner in preparation for cooking for Sue & J.
– Whipped up a tidy little paella with some prawns and the closest thing to chorizo I could find ( a rather generically titled “hot Spanish sausage” ). Entree provided by Sue in the form of deep fried eggplant with sesame and honey. Wine choices by J including a rose, and red and a white that I forget.
– After dinner chocolates from Haighs
– Much fawning by Sharon over Nugget the wonder dog
– Pulling some shots of coffee on J’s kick ass Giotto and Mazzer Mini setup with some beans that I roasted for them.

Day 8

– Back into the city for more coffee at Mecca, laughing at business people running around in the rain while I sit inside drinking coffee.
– My first visit to Krispy Kreme… I ordered the original glazed and the cinnamon apple filled one. The glazed one was nice, the other one was nasty. All in all I can’t understand why anyone would line up for these things… but the world is a strange place, and people are gullible. Why else would George Bush get elected twice ?
– More wandering around the city, Sharon convinces me to try Krispy Kreme again because they are “So much better when they’re hot”. Sadly this store only sold cold ones as well… So I guess we’ll never know. But unless these things magically change flavour when heat is applied, I can’t see them doing it for me.
– Back to Sue & J’s place to go out for dinner.
– Catch a taxi to Enmore with the coolest taxi driver in Sydney. He was getting calls from his mates wanting him to come out to a Vietnamese karaoke club where they have competitions, but wasn’t sure if he would make it.
– Get out of the taxi and go into the Sly Fox for a drink before dinner. Realise that we have left one of the bottles of wine in the back seat of the taxi, who has now driven off.
– Have possible the worst cocktails ever made (chocolate flavoured ice magic on top of Sharon’s was a classy touch) before leaving to go to dinner.
– Walk outside and who should pull up next to us but our taxi driver, who had been driving around looking for us, and calling the number from the booking service to try and find out where we were… Amazing ! We got our wine back (a superb 2005 Malbec from Oakover in the Swan Valley) !
– Dinner at Emma’s on Liberty for fantastic Lebanese food. Highlights were the fried haloumi, arak prawns, spicy sausage, turkish delight, and cardamom Lebanese coffee.

Last Day in Town

– Finally get the meet the infamous Deborah and LJ for breakfast at the Fairtrade Coffee Company in Glebe.
– We talk a lot and I do my best to annoy and embarrass people with incessant photos, all of which were quickly vetoed.
– Wander around the streets of Glebe and head to the Broadway shopping centre where Deb shows us the Harris Farm markets.
– More wandering and shopping in Broadway, Deb gets me into the ladies lounge for more fitting room photography shenanigans.
– Say bye to Deb and LJ, head to Balmain to catch up with friends of Sue’s for drinks at an Irish pub, and then on to the 3 Weeds in Rozelle for more drinks, Anzac day rosemary branches pinned to our shirts, and two up inside the pub !
– Back to Sue & J’s to packup and head to the airport. Kisses, hugs, pats for Nugget, and off we go back in time to Perth.

All up it was a great time, we ate well, drank well, talked a lot, walked a lot, laughed a lot, took many photos (this is nothing compared to what I didn’t upload), spent time with old and new friends, and experienced a little slice of Sydney that we’ll remember for a while to come.