Observations of a (VERY) Amateur Barista – the ABCDs of Coffee

After a long (though highly enjoyable!) month of traveling, I find it quite nice to be back in Jakarta, sitting in a coffee shop, and writing at long last!  I am astounded at how the 6 hour time difference between Jakarta and Auckland is impacting me more than my typical 12+ hour experiences, so it seems appropriate that today’s post should be about coffee.

I caveat this post with the confession that I barely passed high school math or chemistry. (Many thanks to the patience and understanding of one Enrico Marchetti, then Beijing-based Scotch-Italian teacher extraordinaire!) But still I find the precision of proper coffee preparation fascinating (even though at times frustrating!)

My favorite thing about all of the teachers at ABCD — Hendri (Phat Uncle), Ve, and Izman (LatteArtBandit!)— is that they are truly driven by passion and a deep love for what they do.  They gently direct, rather than correct, and make coffee both accessible and a wonderment. No one is too dumb, or too unsophisticated for this course. And that’s really saying something for a subject that is just as complex (if not more) than its frequently more standoffish cousin, wine appreciation.

I’m not going to give EVERYTHING away, because quite frankly, if you live in Jakarta or thereabouts, I strongly recommend this course.  If I had three thumbs, I would gladly raise them all to ABCD.    But I will happily debunk some common coffee myths in this post.

coffee_plant_beanMyth 1:  Arabica is always better than Robusta.

Wherever you fall in this debate, Hendri informs us that with global warming and other environmental factors affecting the productivity of coffee plantations, the world will increasingly become a Robusta place.  (The ROBUST in Robusta is no coincidence.  Robusta grows in more climates, is more resistant to pest infestation, and matures in a shorter time than its delicate sister.)  There ARE high quality Robusta blends out there – just like there are crap Arabica ones.   Robusta is frequently maligned because of its “harsher” flavor and occasionally “muddy” texture. In truth, it is increasingly it is becoming harder to tell the difference.  And for you resident workaholics out there, know that Robusta contains two to three times more caffeine by weight than Arabica.   Fun fact — if you want to differentiate the two different types of beans in a snap – look no further than bean and furrow shape.  Arabica is oval and has an S-like furrow, while Robusta beans are round, with a straight furrow.

Myth 2: Coffee shelf life and storage – freezing makes coffee last longer

To freeze or not to freeze remains a frequent debate among us “normal” coffee drinkers.  The most common wisdom is that freezing prolongs the shelf life.  Many coffee aficionados – from Portland, OR to Brooklyn, NY have told me definitively NOT to do this, but Hendri was the only person who gave me a clear scientific explanation.  First, freezing beans produces condensation, which affects both flavor and chemical makeup.  Second, both the excess water (from condensation) and the hardness of the frozen bean will ultimately damage a good coffee grinder.  The only way to store coffee?  In a dark and airtight container in a cool and dry place. (Check out the AirScape container available here and at specialty stores).  The optimum time for enjoying coffee?  Within 10-14 days of roasting.  Still tolerable?  Within two months.  Fully stale?  Within a year.   But drinking stale coffee, however unpleasant, is unlikely to make you sick.

Myth 3:  Dark roast and light roast coffee have different levels of caffeine

Most beginning coffee drinkers (including me in my college years) begin with the belief that due to its stronger flavor and deeper color, dark roast coffee contains more caffeine.   At the next level (me until three days ago!) we graduate to the belief that light roasts are more highly caffeinated because the caffeine is “roasted out” of dark roasts. But at ABCD, I learned that caffeine is actually a very stable molecule. (Scientific American explains the decaffeination process here.) Similarly while, espresso may have more caffeine by volume because of its concentrated nature, when imbibed “normally” (i.e., not 10 shots in a single sitting) it has the same amount of caffeine as a comparably “normal” cup of drip coffee.

Ziarna kawyMyth 4:  Shade-grown coffee beans absorb flavors from their accompanying shade trees.

You will often hear coffee drinkers comment about the orange notes in Bali-grown coffee attributed to the orange trees that frequently shade coffee crops on this beautiful Indonesian island. But you would be hard pressed to find eucalyptus-tinged coffee – which is one of the most common shade trees used among other coffee growers in Indonesia.  Flavor variations in coffee come from a number of factors, including altitude (coffees grown at higher altitudes tend to feature more sweetness and acidity), temperature, soil, etc. Roasting and storage also affect bean flavor.   The most significant way that a shade tree ACTUALLY impacts the coffee it protects is how the two plants compete for resources — water, nutrients, etc.

Myth 5:  There is only one proper way to brew coffee

It would be so easy to walk into the course assuming that all of the processes and procedures taught are the ONLY way to drink coffee. There were a couple of helpful guidelines though:

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Agitation (swirling the water or gently stirring) is key to the drip coffee brewing process. The bubbles are gas being released from the grounds, while the oily top layer holds in the aroma.

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One of ABCD’s many professional espresso machines. In brewing espresso, balance and timing are key. (Photo shamelessly appropriated from the ABCD website. Many thanks Ve!)

Coffee to Water Ratio: 1:15 – for every gram of coffee, add 15 ml of water (so a full cup is something around 15g of coffee and 225 ml of water)

Ideal Brewing Temperature: Between 92-96 C (too high and your coffee will be bitter; too low and you will not extract enough flavor from the bean.)

Milk Storage: Under 5C. (Fun fact – every additional 3C reduces its shelf life by half.)

Milk Heating: Never heat over 72 C, and never reheat.

But let’s face it – the majority of us don’t have THAT much time to devote to making our morning cup of Joe, nor do we have the budget (or the counter space) to invest in high-end equipment. I really like the definition of coffee snob that Hendri provided on day one (read here).  But when I sheepishly confessed that I owned a Nespresso machine back home and asked his opinion, he had this to say.  “Is it as good as specialty coffee?  No.  But is it better than pretty much any other one button solution in the market?  Absolutely.  For people with limited time, this is a perfectly good machine.”  He added “Coffee appreciation is a process.  If people move from instant to fresh ground, from pod based drip coffee to properly pressurized machines like Nespresso, it’s all progress.  And that’s a good thing.”

ABCD also emphasizes that coffee appreciation is about experimentation. Volume of grounds, grind size, keeping or tossing the first few drops of your drip coffee (which tends to be the most acidic – good if you like this flavor, less so if you don’t!) – all are a very personal choice. So while the above formulas are general best practice guidelines, they are not a rule set in stone.

On I lighter note, I will end today’s post by sharing some wisdom from Mrs. Hughes, my 11th Grade IB English teacher. A cup of coffee will not make you any less intoxicated – it will simply make you an “awake drunk.” So appreciate a cup of specialty coffee when you’re fully sober – and stay with water while drinking!

 

Kranji, the Wild West in Singapore

When I think of the Wild West two things spring to mind: the tiny period of American history that has somehow been blown up to be a cinematic staple … or the awful Will Smith film. You know the one: not funny, with the terrible CGI spidery thing, from back when Mr. Smith was a bankable star. Anyway, I digress.  I certainly do not think of Singapore. Yet recently I found myself chugging along on a bus to what is billed as the Wild West of Singapore – Kranji.

Now if you go to Kranji, leave the notion that this is some kind of remote outlawed land on your breakfast table. This is Singapore after all. There is no such thing as remote land. However, if you are in the mood to try something a little different and maybe see another side of Singapore that isn’t all Boat Quay and Orchard Road, then there are some things to recommend.

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Kranji Reservoir is much more than a beautiful vista. It is also a key source of water. Photo courtesy of PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency.

Kranji countryside is essentially a farmland area in the Northwestern reservoirs of Singapore that is an MRT and bus ride away.  The bus, which only services the Kranji area, stops off at the six farmlands that participate in the Kranji Countryside Association.

“What does this mean?!?” I hear you scream. The association is essentially a collection of farms that welcome visitors and are accessible via this bus. While it says online that most of the other farms in the area do not receive guests, signs you pass along the way say otherwise. So I really think it depends.

If you only have time to visit one farm, I strongly recommend Bollywood Veggies.

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Does the warrior attack the platter? Or does the platter attack the warrior?

Bollywood Veggies is a truly wonderful place. Their farmland is beautiful and allows for a very interesting and educational tour of all the things they grow. There is also a fantastic café in the middle.  (Try a glorious dish called the “Warriors Platter” and their particularly good banana cake.) If you are lucky and it is not too busy, Dillon, one of the owners, will dust off his guitar and play any song you could possibly think of. We could not recommend this place more highly.

There are a couple of key things to consider before embarking on this trip.  First, the bus only comes every hour-and-a-half, so once you get dropped off at a particular farm, you are stuck there for a good while. This is not so bad if you plan carefully. But be warned: some stops are far more interesting than the others. The goat farm left a lot to be desired, bar the fresh milk which is highly recommended. (Bring a cooler and a book, perhaps?)  The bullfrog breeding farm was OK, but did very much feel like the end of the line.

Second, the fact that you are tied to the bus stops means getting to other parts of the area can be difficult. We were told the fish farm in the southern part of Kranji is beautiful and truly worth visiting, but without one’s own transport it is a no go. Note to the Association: bike hire is the way forward because the area really feels like a different country.  In the meantime, for other business travelers, Uber is always a good option.

Kranji countryside is definitely worth the trip if you plan carefully — especially for those who are tired of the urban jungle.  Weekend Crossroad’s recommended itinerary:

Begin with a midmorning visit to the Kranji War Memorial, billed as the largest of its kind in Asia.  Next, catch the bus in time for a leisurely lunch at Bollywood Veggies.  Finally, end your visit at the Kranji wetlands (the last stop on the bus route before the MRT). Even to locals who “know” Singapore, Kranji feels like a totally different world.  Moreover, it proves that if you lift the lid on this city-state, you can find something truly unique.

A Culinary Tour of Laos in Luang Prabang

Simply put, Laotian food is amazing.  There is a lot of national pride around the nation’s culinary heritage, and a combination of gratification and resentment that Thai cuisine has apparently “borrowed” a number of the area’s most renowned dishes. (Both the Lao and the Thai people are descended from a broader diaspora of Tai peoples whose reach extends from India to China, as well as Southeast Asia.  So perhaps we can call a truce and deem it a shared heritage. . .)

Now, there are two ways to experience Lao cuisine.  The first is the safe route, sticking to well-known staples such as:

  • Sticky rice (which comes in white, brown or purple varieties)
  • Laap, a spicy, minty salad of marinated minced buffalo, chicken, pork or fish (sometimes served raw so the more cautious explorer will do well to ask in advance)
  • Tangy papaya salad
  • Any combination of amazing dips, or jaew, which range from the almost salsa-like jaew mak len and eggplant-based  jaew mak khua to the more adventurous but equally delicious jaew bong, a chili paste whose special ingredient is, of all things, buffalo skin.  These dips are served with rice crackers and dried river weed (which may sound unappetizing at first but is little different from seaweed at the end of the day)
  • Local meatballs and sausage;
  • Various stir fried greens – some of which you would have never imagined eating — but are delicious nonetheless.

The second is what I like to call the “Anthony Bourdain on crack” approach.  (You can view the episode on his visit to the Land of a Million Elephants below — though apparently not in all markets.  Vientiane — check.  Jakarta — check.  Auckland — fail.)

IMG_3681This is the approach advocated by my friend Jason, who is not only a craft beer and whiskey/whisky aficionado  (I never asked him if he’s an Irish or Scotch man), but also one of the most adventurous eaters I have ever met.  So it is with great glee that he comes across Tamarind‘s Adventurous Lao Gourmet degustation menu.  (As readers of this blog are likely aware, degustation means tasting in French.  Finicky eaters will undoubtedly think of this more as a “disgusting” menu, and should opt for some of Tamarind’s tamer dishes.)   For someone like me, who definitely draws a firm line between food and insects, it is still worth a try (barely!)  For someone like Jason and his good sport better half Erin, it is a must do.  (Rubbing his belly after the feast, Jason proclaimed that he could “go home” now because he’d reached the apex of his trip.)

For around US$ 25 apiece, we got to sample over 20 different dishes — beginning with banana-flavored lao lao, a traditional spirit distilled from rice, and ending with a dessert platter and coffee or tea.  Value for money doesn’t even begin to describe the experience.

Round 1:  Aperitifs

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Erin did this JUST to mess with me. Hope the bug liked the banana lao lao!

We whet our appetites with shots of banana lao lao (which the Lao call whisky, and we call moonshine).  We are also offered refreshing ginger and lemongrass drinks, and I spice things up (literally!) with an absolutely amazing watermelon chili granita.  Then the adventure really begins.

Round 2:  Vegetable Platter (which comes with extra protein)

The first food round really tests our mettle — nestled among 8 dishes is stir fried water bug.  I would have been up for the challenge (the chopped up bug bits look like mushrooms).  But — Tamarind “helpfully” wants to remind you of what you are eating — and a giant water bug proudly sits on top of the platter.  I’m not particularly squeamish about bugs, but roaches are my Kryptonite.  And, unfortunately, the water bug looks like the world’s biggest cockroach.  (Water bugs are actually a kind of scorpion, but the eyes see what the eyes want to see!)  Like a malevolent Mona Lisa, its baleful eyes seem to follow my every move, and I begin to feel slightly queasy.  (To be fair, this could very possibly be attributed to the street-side BBQ chicken that I’d enjoyed earlier in the day — but I prefer to blame the bug.)

I admit it, I COMPLETELY wimp out.  I happily eat AROUND the bug dish, while Jason and his wife Erin bravely dig in.  Unexpectedly, it’s the chili — not the bugs — that almost does them in.  (Jason’s theory is that Tamarind’s chef amps up the spice levels so people don’t feel guilty about not finishing their portion.  Erin figures if your mouth is numb you can’t taste the bug.)  Either way, despite their most valiant efforts, neither of them can manage more than a couple of bites.

On the platter we also enjoy banana flower with bamboo shoots, sauteed ferns (which tastes much better than in sounds!) a medley of steamed vegetables including mushrooms, mustard greens, and a Southeast Asian specialty called “pea eggplant” which resembles overgrown capers.  We also sample a sour plum-based puree, as well as rice crackers boiled with ginger and sugar.  In true Lao fashion, we make miniature sticky rice balls with our fingers and dip these into the platter, using our thumbs to scoop up bite-sized portions of food.

Round 3:  Protein Platter

So, the secret protein on this platter was beetle larvae.  With memories of my roach nemesis still fresh in my mind, I steer clear of these.  Due to a shellfish allergy I avoid the fragrant baby shrimp cooked in lemongrass and chili and the miniature crabs (which Erin finds more difficult to eat than the beetles, and even crunchier.)  I like the buffalo meatballs, am ambivalent about the riverweed powder (it resembles matcha toasted with ginger and garlic, and I can’t help but think it would wonderful with Japanese pickled plum).  I think about my Chinese mother as I sample sweet pork floss, and avoid the fermented fish (which is basically Lao gefilte-fish) and the sour pork and pigskin wrapped in a banana leaf.  Food coma is clearly beginning to set in, because at this stage at the meal I scribble even more illegibly that usual (the last dish on the platter appears to have been some sort of fish and shrimp in a banana leaf. . .)

Round 4:  Soups

We are presented with two soups — snake soup (yup, it really does taste like chicken — chicken with tiny, tiny bones)  Lao people traditional eat the snake skin — we find that we are not Lao in this regard.  And ant egg soup.  Ant egg omelets  — Jason’s primary quest grace a Mr. Bourdain — are seasonal – and he is disappointed to learn that the eggs are too small at this time of year.  But we all enjoy the soup — the eggs look like rice granules (I see an excellent prank coming up!)  But again — fiery hot spice levels.

Round 5:  Fish

This tiny catfish (we never knew that they came this small!) delicately seasoned with lemongrass, fish sauce and chili is absolutely scrumptious.  However, we are so full that we can only enjoy a couple of bites.  The next day we would see massive bins of these fish at the morning market, squirming around like eels.

Round 6:   Flowers

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This dish is basically mushy and extremely bitter, and is not a particular hit with any of us.  However, the presentation was interesting, and we remind ourselves that even though we are not fans, bitterness is a highly prized flavor in Lao cooking.   (Along with salty and sour, bitterness forms a taste profile trifecta in the cuisine.)  We are far more interested in the so-called “earring fruit” that accompanies the dish.  (Lao food-naming conventions are VERY creative, as you will continue to see. . .)

Round 7:  Dessert

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We have no idea how we are going to eat dessert, but what they say must be true — dessert goes into another part of the stomach.  So we shift on our seats and make some room to feast on purple sticky rice boiled coconut milk and flavored with coconut tamarind sauce (which is so delicious that I buy a jar to take home with me.)  We also tuck into pumpkin custard steamed in the rind,  In an effort to be Lao, we attempt to gnaw on the tough exterior which elicits a chuckle from the restaurant manager — Lao eat ALMOST everything, but not that.  Finally, rice powder and coconut skewers,  a delicious cookie made from rice powder and palm sugar known rather appetizingly as “cat poo”, and a brittle-like cracker of sesame and peanuts.  I am not usually a fan of coconut, but everything is so delicious.

After our three-plus hour dinner, as we cross the rickety bamboo foot bridge which spans the Nan Khan River to return home, we consider the distinct possibility of crashing through the slats in an Indiana Jones-like manner given how full we feel.  It’s almost impossible to imagine that when we wake up 9 hours later, we will be back at Tamarind learning how to cook ourselves!  (No, there were no bugs on that menu.)  More to come on Lao food!

Are readers interested in recipes along with the posts?  Let me know!

ABCD: A History of Coffee (and another India – Indonesia link)

Today was the first day of my three-day professional barista course hosted by ABCD (A Bunch of Caffeine Dealers) in Pasar Santa, a traditional market with a quirky, hipster food-truck culture food court in Jakarta.

I am excited – and ever so slightly intimidated. I am overwhelmed by how little I actually know about coffee. And I find it fascinating.

Coffee originated from Ethiopia around a millennium ago, and is the stuff of legend. Kaldi, an Abyssinian goatherd, noticed that his goats were unusually energetic after eating the red berries and leaves of an unfamiliar tree. He tried them himself, joined his dancing goats, and became known as the happiest goatherd in the Arab world. The story diverges here depending on who tells it. Kaldi either:

  1. Gave the strange fruit to an imam, who upon tasting it, was repulsed and threw it into the fire whereby it emitted a wonderful aroma, or
  2. Gave it to a passing monk who realized that drying and boiling the berries led to the most wonderful beverage.

Was the origin of coffee one of the first religious disputes? Either way, coffee as we know it today was born.

Whichever version of this myth you believe (if at all), it was Yemeni traders who introduced this strange and wonderful brew to the rest of the world along with the spread of Islam. But the growers were wily, only trading boiled seeds. This made them drinkable, but impossible to transplant. As a result, the successful proliferation of coffee is also due to a history of chicanery, mischief, or just plain thievery. And lots of sex.

In the 1600s, an Indian Sufi named Baba Budan smuggled seven seeds to India from Mocha, and started the global spread of coffee cultivation. (I’m pretty sure that THIS story didn’t involve sex given his presumed holiness!) But more importantly, this led the Dutch to try (and fail) to grow coffee at home, until they found an excellent climate in their colonies in the Indies. And in keeping with my Indo-Indian connection theme, it is interesting to note that it was the Dutch governor in Malabar, India who sent the first seedling to the Dutch governor of Batavia (modern day Jakarta).

Offshoots from these plants were reserved as gifts to close friends of the Dutch, including France’s Louis XIV, who jealously cultivated, picked, and roasted his own private coffee stash personally. When French Naval officer Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu pleaded with King Louis’s court to grant him a few seedlings to grow on the new colony of Martinique, he was denied. However, royal physician Pierre Chirac (any relation to Jacques?!?) was strategically seduced by a woman procured by de Clieu. This unnamed heroine was able to smuggle some seedlings to de Clieu just as he was about to set sail for Martinque. According to some accounts, these seedlings grew to become 90 million trees in the span of 60 years, launching the cultivation of coffee across Latin America.

Meanwhile, amidst a heated border dispute between French and Netherlands Guyana (modern day Surinam), Portuguese colonel Francisco de Melo Palheta was sent as a diplomatic envoy. While little is written about his success or failure to secure the peace, what IS said is that he managed to seduce the wife of the unyielding governor of French Guyana. She smuggled him some seeds hidden in a lavish bouquet of flowers – and the rest is history.

Today, Indian coffee is produced predominantly by small growers in South India (Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu). Their product is low in volume but high in quality –reputed to be the finest shade-grown coffee in the world. (The coffee plant is quite temperamental. Mountain grown coffee gains natural shade from the peak, while plains grown coffee requires the planting of “shade trees” to minimize exposure. )

Indonesia, meanwhile, is the world’s number four coffee producer. Sitting perfectly in the coffee or bean belt, in many ways it is an ideal place to grow coffee. Unfortunately, according to Hendri Kurinawan, our coffee guru at ABCD, Indonesian growers have not been disciplined at segmenting their coffee plants, leading to a challenge for Indonesian growers to provide clearly designated single origin. But distinctly Indonesian coffees include Luwak (yup, the civic poop coffee!) and Timor, a hybrid of Robusta and Arabica beans.

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Map courtesy of National Geographic — thank you for licensing your images for free for non-commercial uses!) The Coffee / Bean Belt stretches equidistant across the equator from the Tropic of Cancer through the Tropic of Capricorn.

Hendri ends today’s class by passionately asking us to take our learnings and become coffee snobs – not in the sense of turning our noses up at coffees we don’t like – but rather to appreciate the many distinct flavors, and demand higher quality from our brewers, who will in turn require higher standards from their roasters, who in turn will only source from reputable, reliable and sustainable growers. I couldn’t agree more – and am excited to see what tomorrow brings.

(Side note – as I write this I am EXTREMELY caffeinated, having completed my first cupping class at ABCD and now sitting in the same Café Anomali sipping a single origin Bali brew. Slowly but surely making my way through their list!)

Coffee and Tea (spa) in Jakarta

The nice thing about quitting your job and taking up blogging is that a lazy afternoon at a coffee shop and a spa can arguably be considered work. (Those of you who are feeling the first twinges of jealousy remember – I have no income!)

Anomali Single Origin Coffee Chart

Choose your own adventure — Anomali maps out the flavor notes of coffee from different parts of Indonesia

I’m sitting in Anomali Coffee on Jl. Senopati. First strike – the wifi doesn’t seem to be working. Boo.   But enjoying a lovely cup of Toraja coffee and a chocolate croissant (4pm is the new 8am folks!), I slowly get over it. Anomali is a great place to take a coffee tour of Indonesia without leaving Jakarta. Slowly but surely I will make my way through their list and report back on my discoveries!

I find delicious irony in the fact that after Anomali I am headed for Tea Spa. For the most part, the world is arguably divided in two – coffee people and tea people. (Has anyone mapped concurrence in people, such as coffee people being predominantly dog people, etc. etc.?)  Of course, loving to be ornery, I consider myself to be both.

TeaspaAdequately amped up on caffeine, I walk the short distance to Tea Spa, on Jl. Gunawarman 9, in the Senopati area of Jakarta.  With a tea room on the ground floor and the spa on the upper level with — you guessed it — all tea treatments and products, it is an unassuming standalone building with a curious combination of exquisite detail (such as crown molding) and mild decay (worn carpets.)  And HORRIBLE elevator music.  Give me gamelan, koto, er hu, ANYTHING but Muzak!  I opt for a three hour signature package which includes a heavenly French massage, a “wrap” which is basically boiling hot padding placed around your stomach and thighs, a body scrub and a mask.  Well worth the IDR 430,000.  Overall, I give Tea Spa a thumbs up.  Good value for money, nice ambiance (please, please change the music though!) and the therapists speak English.  And now I’m going to melt into relaxed puddle. . .

Coming up next: Next week I am excited to be taking a 4 day barista course at ABCD – A Bunch of Caffeine Dealers – at Pasar Santa.  I also plan to review other spas and compile a best of list of both cafes and spas!