Toasting – Caffè Ernani

All Ernani Coffee Academy courses + new course

Martina Mazzoleni — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 08:00:00 +0000

In 2020, we inaugurated the Ernani Academy, the academy with a 360-degree look at the world of coffee, in order to train professionals, but without excluding any coffee lovers or curious people, to grow together around the culture of good coffee.

Why did we create the Ernani Academy?

Torrefazione Ernani took shape from the desire of Luca and Claudia, two of the four founders, to be able to serve really good, intensely aromatic coffee without that classic burnt aftertaste and a strong bitter note.

Together with Paolo, the roaster of Caffè Ernani, they began the whole project with the desire to give a new life and a breath of fresh air to the Italian espresso.

The team’s continuous training and constant quest for improvement has given the staff a huge and unbridled passion for the roasted bean.

Having reached this point, it was obvious that we wanted to pass on all that we were learning and learning every day to you as well!

If we also consider the fact that practitioners often come from generational changes, where the craft is passed down through practical experience, and that’s just fine! However, you often lack the theoretical training behind you, which allows you to fully understand the variables of the bean and then know how to manipulate them to obtain an excellent and, above all, consistent product over time, without relying more on “chance.”

The Academy was mandatory, both for our clients and for all curious outsiders!

Scopri l'Ernani Academy

Discover the Ernani Academy

The Academy has 6 courses, covering the entire coffee supply chain, namely:

Green Coffee – the course designed to acquire skills on the raw material processed, raw coffee, also called green coffee;
Roasting – the perfect course to learn how to read the roasting curve and understand the different methods and levels;
Cafeteria – the course suitable for professionals in the sector, to acquire knowledge on the raw material processed and on the extraction phase of the beverage;
From single-origins to Ernani blends. – the dual-purpose course: introduction to the espresso tasting course and understanding how different coffees influence the flavor profile of the final blend;
Espresso tasting – the course as a true sommelier, which will give you all the tools suitable for carrying out a complete organoleptic analysis of the espresso;
Brewing – the course that requires the most manual skills of all, to deepen the methods of extraction of coffee as an alternative to espresso.

There is great news!!!

Starting in April 2024, the seventh course will be added:

Bar Management

The course with the goal of understanding how to conduct an economic and financial analysis of one’s business, calculating food cost, to forecast future investments and/or strategies.

1.Green Coffee

Course program:

Origin and type of green coffee;
Coffee harvesting and processing methods;
Examination of green coffee samples;
Organoleptic profile and area of origin;
The defects of green coffee;
Marketing of raw coffee.

Time required: 4 hours.

Trainer: Paul and Martina.

2. Toasting

Course program:

Basic knowledge of green coffee and its selection;
The roasting process;
Useful tools for roasting;
Chemical-physical transformations of the coffee bean;
The roasting color;
Roasting test;
Tasting of roasted coffee.

Time required: 4 hours.

Trainer: Paul.

3. Cafeteria

Course program:

Basic knowledge of green coffee;
Selection of a good bench blend;
Definition of espresso;
Espresso extraction;
Equipment selection;
Equipment maintenance and cleaning.

Time required: 4 hours.

Trainer: Paul and Martina.

NB. You can also request the Latte Art course., but it will be done separately in another eight hours. To view available listings and options, email me at martina.mazzoleni@caffeernani.com or in the whatsapp chat here in the lower right corner!

5. Espresso tasting

Course program:

Basic knowledge of green coffee;
Basic knowledge of roasting levels;
Definition of espresso;
Sensory analysis;
Compilation of tasting cards;
Espresso coffee tasting and its description.

Time required: 6 hours.

Trainer: Martina.

6. Brewing

Course program:

Knowledge of green coffee;
Basic knowledge of roasting levels;
Definition of brewing with their basic recipe;
Practical extraction by different methods;
Coffee tasting and description.

Specifically you will use: Mocha, Napoletana, Chemex, V60, Clever, Aeropress, Flower, French press, Cold brew dripper, Brew bottle, and Syphon.

Time required: 5/6 hours.

Trainer: Paul and Martina.

7. Bar management

Course program:

How to start the Business, with Brand Identity analysis;
Formulation of goals with related strategies;
Calculate the Food Cost and the Break Even Point;
How to collect and analyze data, with provision of useful material for one’s own activity;
Work area organization and proposed offer;
Sales strategies.

Time required: 4 hours.

Trainer: Martina.

How to enroll in the Ernani Academy

All courses are held at the company’s headquarters in Desio, Via Don Luigi Sturzo, 19 (MB), or, if you work at a venue, we can come to you. However, there will have to be suitable requirements for the course to be conducted.

The courses, however, in Green Coffee and Bar Management, as these are only theoretical, can also be conducted via online video call.

We are usually available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, it is also possible to take the course on other days or time slots for a small extra charge per person.

How to book?

There is no real course calendar with set dates, as we have decided to be flexible to try to meet all your requests.

In fact, we know that those who work in this field often have only one day off, and this varies throughout the week, so feel free to write to us about your availability and we will make arrangements. That is why in the registration form we have left the option to enter the two dates that are most convenient for you.

Our only requests are:

A notice of at least 2 weeks before the desired date, so that we can prepare ourselves in the best possible way and offer you the best service;
A minimum of two participants. If you do not know anyone to participate with, we will enter you in our records and you will be contacted as soon as there is a vacancy.

Request for course activation:

[contact-form-7]

Some numbers:

7 Courses available;
365 days of availability per year;
More than 150 coffee lovers and industry professionals already trained at the Ernani Academy;
400 square meters at your disposal;
2 trainers: Paul and Martina

Trainer:

Paul Sangalli

Toastmaster, commercial agent and trainer

Trained at: Mumac Academy – SCA and AICAF courses, Brescia headquarters

Updates: continuous tasting and roasting workshops with top Italian industry experts.

Leggi la sua intervista

Martina Mazzoleni

Marketing manager, e-commerce, social media manager and trainer

Trained at: Mumac Academy – SCA and AICAF courses, Brescia headquarters

Previous studies: Bachelor’s degree in Labor, Administration and Management, as well as a Master’s degree in Marketing & Sales

Updates: continuous workshops on tasting, bar management and food&beverage communication.

Leggi la sua intervista

Choose your course and see you at Ernani Academy!

L'articolo All Ernani Coffee Academy courses + new course proviene da Caffè Ernani.

The Medium Roast: we shed light on different coffee roasts + photos and video

Martina Mazzoleni — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 09:19:14 +0000

Get ready to read the most comprehensive article on Toasting!

Why is coffee roasted?

You cannot talk about roasting, its levels and stages, if you do not first understand why you roast coffee.

For this I leave you with one of our videos on the subject:

Summing up what has been said: you roast coffee because raw beans, when extracted with water, do not give any pleasant aroma to the final drink.

In addition, they are not grindable, so you could make the drink only with the whole grains.

So if we want artful, fine-tasting coffee, we have to roast it first.

During cooking, the grains undergo chemical and physical changes and develop the flavor profile. Ultimately the grains become crumbly and thus grindable.

If you would like to learn more about the whole roasting process, I suggest you click below and read the dedicated articles:

La Tostatura del caffè con Ernani

La curva di tostatura

The different levels of roasting

Toasting can be divided into 3 different macro levels:

Light
Medium
Dark

There are then further nuances among these, but let’s make it simple and talk about the three macro-groups:

Let us first learn to distinguish them.

It is very simple: just make a visual inspection.

In fact, in the picture we immediately see the first group on the left, with the light roasted beans, in the center the medium roasted beans, and on the right the dark roasted beans.

Easy isn’t it?

Now let’s talk about the merits and demerits that the different levels give to the extracted drink:

Reading the table then it is immediately clear on the fly that Medium roasting gives the perfect balance of taste and aroma, cream and body, and adaptability to different extraction methods.

In fact, the Medium Roast, or rather medium-light roast like ours from Ernani Coffee, can be used for different extraction methods, makes the drink intense and fragrant, without ever overdoing the bitterness. It also makes the coffees delicate and expressive, but without sacrificing the creaminess and full-bodiedness that we so seek in our Italian espressos.

The bitterness is there, but it is delicate and pleasant, as is the acidity and sweetness.

Looking at it this way, the Medium Toast seems the best–then why doesn’t everyone use it?

For two reasons:

In the Nordic countries of Europe or, for example, in America, Canada, and Australia, where the most widely consumed coffee is filter coffee, the best roast is the light roast. These very long extractions in fact do not need to have a full-bodied beverage, but on the contrary need a finely acidic coffee with a wide and well-defined aromatic range. In these states therefore it is more common to find Light Roast coffee.
In countries like ours, where instead it is espresso that wins in consumption outside or inside the home, we have to have beans that allow us to create a silky crema and a round body in the cup. Light roasting is not good, while medium roasting is preferable. In order to make Medium Roast, however, one must compulsorily start with a high quality and fine raw coffee, thus more expensive. Instead, to keep prices low, many roasters buy low-quality coffee, then see themselves forced to roast it to a dark level.

We better understand why!

Medium Roasting, just as it enhances the positive aromatic notes, also enhances all the negative notes and possible defects, so you have to start with a quality raw material!

Negative aroma notes can be for example: wood, mold, yuta, stinker, grass, hay, earth, ash, tar, rubber, etc.

Defects in green coffee can be for example: broken beans, unripe, rotten, moldy, bug-holed, shells, etc.

To learn more about all the shortcomings of green coffee, click below:

Tutti i difetti del caffè verde

What is the difference between a quality coffee and one that is not?

Besides of course the quality per se and thus the final taste… but the main difference is the cost!

Do you want to sell your final product in a supermarket at € 3.00 per 250g of mince?

If you also want to make money, you have to buy low quality, defective and therefore low-priced coffee.

Do you want to focus on quality instead of low selling price?

Then you buy quality coffee at a much higher cost.

Understanding this difference, whoever opts for the first choice, must necessarily adopt the Dark Roast, as with the very strong bitterness it allows you to hide and cover all other defects.

If, on the other hand, the roaster wants to sell a truly high quality coffee, he or she will buy a fine, selected and faultless raw material and roast it to a Medium level, bringing out to the fullest all the qualities and natural aromas of the chosen beans.

In fact, as you can hear in the video below, the roaster’s job, if he wants to work well and give dignity to the whole very long supply chain, is to enhance the excellent work done by the figures who come before him, thanks to the Roasting.

Artisanal Toasting

There is an additional variable in all this: the type of plant the company owns.

In fact, there are artisanal plants, with a few but essential pieces of machinery, in which the work of the roaster and his or her skills are crucial to achieving a quality product.

This is, for example, the case for us at Cafe Ernani!

In fact, our roasters, Paolo and Andrea, immediately underwent a long and complex process of training and coaching to fully understand each and every step and variable in the cooking process and thus be able to handle them with extreme care and precision.

Without the two of them and without their passion, our product would not be what it is and it would not have the quality and research that we so desired when we opened the Desio Roasting Laboratory.

Unfortunately, you will be surprised by this, but not all roasters are trained and not all know how to master the variables and how to change them to achieve the desired result.

In fact, in this second case, choosing the Medium Roast becomes a risk, because the step from a quality coffee to a bad one is really short and making mistakes is easy.

Better then to opt for the Dark Roast, because the coffee will always be bitter anyway, and you can’t go wrong if you don’t seek perfection…

Finally, Medium Roasting is more complicated if the plant is industrial and fully automated, in which machinery and computers replace the roaster.

In fact, coffee is a natural product, so it varies over time. The plants bear different fruits from batch to batch and from year to year. The roaster must then modify the roasting curve based on the bean in front of him for that specific moment.

If this work is done by computer, with a standard, preset roasting curve, it is best to opt for a dark or at least medium-dark roast, so that at most the coffee comes out slightly more bitter, rather than having other defects such as astringency or poor acidity.

You can find out all the roasting defects in this video:

Did the chicken or the egg come first?

A tongue-in-cheek title just to reflect on: did people in the past use dark roasting or medium roasting?

Question that may seem out of context, but we are so used to buying or consuming around Dark Roast coffee that we are now convinced that that is the “real Italian coffee” with a “strong” and “bitter” taste.

“Medium and Light roast came later only for the spendthrift nerds on coffee.”

In fact, it is quite the opposite!

In the past, from the eighteenth century until the 1950s, coffee was roasted mainly at a Medium level.

There was no question about the quality of the drink: it was either fragrant, smooth and cozy or nothing!

A handbook written in 1836 itself tells us this:

Dark Roasting was introduced in Italy in the 1950s, during the Economic Boom, to make coffee a mass product, lowering selling prices and thus lowering the quality of the raw material and ruining the entire supply chain.

The big brands we all know have invested so much in marketing over the past sixty years that they have come to make us believe that those cheap, bitter coffees were actually the real taste of coffee.

But we know that this is not the case….

L'articolo The Medium Roast: we shed light on different coffee roasts + photos and video proviene da Caffè Ernani.

Il tostatore deve essere anche barista e assaggiatore | CAFFÈ ERNANI

Martina Mazzoleni — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 11:00:00 +0000

L'articolo Il tostatore deve essere anche barista e assaggiatore | CAFFÈ ERNANI proviene da Caffè Ernani.

Il caffè bruciato non è buono! | CAFFÈ ERNANI

Martina Mazzoleni — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 11:00:00 +0000

L'articolo Il caffè bruciato non è buono! | CAFFÈ ERNANI proviene da Caffè Ernani.

La Tostatura Media | CAFFÈ ERNANI

Martina Mazzoleni — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000

L'articolo La Tostatura Media | CAFFÈ ERNANI proviene da Caffè Ernani.

Come si può mantenere la qualità costante? | CAFFÈ ERNANI

Martina Mazzoleni — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

L'articolo Come si può mantenere la qualità costante? | CAFFÈ ERNANI proviene da Caffè Ernani.

What does craftsman work mean when it comes to coffee? And how is it different from the industrial one?

Martina Mazzoleni — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 08:19:46 +0000

“The craftsman loves and respects the raw material treated, enhancing all its natural qualities. The craftsman is an artist shaping with mastery, knowledge and experience every single bean. The craftsman imprints his signature in every single cup of coffee, given by his personality and his vision. Each of his coffees is therefore unique and unforgettable.”

All of us, or almost all of us, are habitual consumers of coffee. We appreciate it for its energy charge and for its moments of conviviality.

But how many of us really know coffee? And above all: how many of us know the differences between an artisan coffee and an industrial one?

Let’s start by saying that when we speak of “artisanal” and “industrial” we are referring to the actual roasting process,i.e. the most delicate phase of the coffee supply chain, which involves chemical-physical mutations of the green bean, to lead it to develop its aromatic profile to its best and allow the same to get in the cup.

I’m also sure that any of you have happened to enter a bar to order an espresso, drink it and realize that it is simply very bitter, with hints of stale, acrid and burnt.

There are three main reasons why this happens:

Poor quality raw material
Incorrect toasting
Wrong grind

Choose the raw material

Starting from point one, the coffee goes through various stages before reaching the roaster: cultivation, processing of green beans, drying of the same and the transport.

To have a good extracted product, as it is easy to imagine, you need a good starting product, as in everything in life!

As to coffee this means beans without physical defects, as homogeneous as possible in terms of density and size, with a wide range of fine aromatics and without any negative notes to the nose or taste, such as hints of rubber, mould, tar, ash, etc.

If the beans pass all these tests and show no defects, as well as an excellent taste profile, then the raw material is of quality.

The choice of green beans varies greatly depending on whether it is a large multinational or a small local roaster.

The small craftsman, as already mentioned at the beginning, has love, passion and knowledge for his work. His main objective is to be able to do his best to offer a cup that surprises his own clients.

The priority therefore is not the quantity of coffee sold, but its constant and very high quality. As a result, it tends to purchase micro-lots of fine and/or certified Specialty Coffees.

Instead, the industry has as its priority not quality, but quantity, rightly having to support an imposing organizational structure. Profit is therefore the only thing sought.

And if you think about it, this is not the case only for coffee, but the rule applies to any product, good or service on a market.

So if you’re looking for quality, you shouldn’t look for mass-produced products.

All this attention to the raw material also translates into a closer relationship with the plantation, and therefore greater control over the quality also in the processing and transport phases of the beans.

Industries on the contrary need large quantities of raw material and their ownworry is therefore to ensure the required variety, by mixing beans from all over the world,resetting inevitably the traceability and valorisation of a given plantation.

In short, quality is not only gustatory, but includes every aspect of each phase.

If you want to know more, subscribe to the newsletter and receive the free guide on “Recognizing a quality coffee, before, during and after tasting” + DISCOUNT Code.

The Roasting

I’m sure I’m not telling you anything new here either: faster processes are preferred in the industry to satisfy the needs of massive production.

This does not allow the beans to properly and optimally develop.

While in the Artisan Roasters, as at Caffè Ernani, there is no hurry, because things have to be done well and to do them well you need patience.

It is obvious that even the craftsman must think about profit, otherwise he would close shop on the following day, but it is not his only goal, as already explained above.

Furthermore, the beauty of artisan roasting is that the coffee is not roasted by machines, but by the roaster though machines.

Let me explain: in the industrial process the roaster presses a single button and the whole chain starts: the machines fish out the raw coffee, load it onto the transport rollers which take it inside the roaster. Once the set minutes have passed, the beans come out of the roaster, are cooled with water and entered in the degassing silos.

The roaster here cannot act on anything, he cannot modify the roasting time, the roasting curve, the speed and heat of the air flow, etc.

On the contrary, the Artisan Coffee Roaster uses the machine only as a tool for him: he regulates the temperature, the roasting curve, the air flow, the speed of the drum and so on, everything in progress, continuing to take small samples to examine them to understand if everything is going well or if this specific batch of coffee needs some changes to develop optimally.

In fact, let’s remember that coffee is natural, so not everything is the same. A batch may have beans that are more or less dense than the previous one or with slight differences in conformation. The roaster must therefore always adapt to all its changes in order to always be able to offer the best cup possible.

The Grinding

The grind is too often taken for granted when instead it is one of the main elements of a good coffee.

Industries, to be able to satisfy all the demand for packs of ground coffee, very big quantities of roasted coffees are ground all together and packaged, ready to be distributed in the various points of sale, but with a high probability of losing freshness before being consumed by us consumers.

While the artisan roaster can afford to roast a little product at a time and grind it only when the customer orders it.

A bit like what also happens at the Ernani cafè in Milan: the beans are not ground until they need to be packaged at the counter, at the explicit request of the customer.

The freshness here is obviously very high!

We’re done, I close with two small suggestions:

All of this, i.e. the quality of craftsmanship, is only possible if the roaster and consequently the entire company continuously invest time and resources in research. You cannot improve and refine any technique without practice combined with a deep theoretical study.

Secondly, we must be aware that most of us only know industrial coffee, buying it in supermarkets and consuming it in bars not really prepared. And we are now so used to this coffee that we don’t even think it can have a different or even better taste.

But until we try it we will never know!

So if you want to try a medium roasted artisan coffee, intensely aromatic and never excessively bitter, click on the button below!

Vai allo Shop!

L'articolo What does craftsman work mean when it comes to coffee? And how is it different from the industrial one? proviene da Caffè Ernani.

Perché il caffè è amaro?

Martina Mazzoleni — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000

L'articolo Perché il caffè è amaro? proviene da Caffè Ernani.

I difetti di tostatura | CAFFÈ ERNANI

Martina Mazzoleni — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 11:00:00 +0000

L'articolo I difetti di tostatura | CAFFÈ ERNANI proviene da Caffè Ernani.

Burnt coffee or “dirty water”: how to avoid these two mistakes?

Martina Mazzoleni — Thu, 24 Nov 2022 08:59:59 +0000

The coffees that I generally find in bars or buy at the supermarket have a very strong and unpleasant taste : they taste burnt and are very bitter.

Other times, however, the drink is not extracted correctly from the ground and it really looks like “dirty water”.

What do these two errors depend on and how to avoid them?

Let’s find out together in this article!

What causes the strong bitterness of coffee?

Now I’ll surprise you: coffee is not bitter! Don’t you believe it? I’ll show you!

Ok, fine, coffee is bitter by its nature, due to the roasting process and the presence of caffeine.

This substance in fact if taken alone is really very bitter. This is why Robusta is more bitter than Arabica, precisely because it contains twice as much caffeine.

But a quality coffee should never be excessively bitter! On the contrary, it must leave room for the fresher and more acidic notes of citrus or red fruits, as well as sweet hints of chocolate and ripe fruit.

The bitterness must be soft and delicate and never preponderant over the other tastes.

So why is the coffee I usually find around so bitter?

Because most Italian roasters dark roast, i.e. they cook the bean a lot, until it turns black and then burns.

A bit like pizza or bread in the oven: when they turn black they are burnt.

When we get to toast the coffee too much, it becomes unpleasantly bitter in the cup.

This is why we at Caffè Ernani have chosen the Medium Roasting, perfect for giving cream and body to an espresso, capable of maximizing all the natural aromas contained in the carefully selected and flawless raw beans, without ever making the drink too bitter.

Scopri di più, clicca qui!

Other reasons why coffee becomes bitter, with an empyreumatic aftertaste, i.e. burnt, are:

A water or instrument temperature that is too high. If this exceeds 100°C, the ground burns, bringing bitterness to the cup;
Unclean tools. This is because the residues of exhausted coffee, rich in oils and fats, once they come into contact with oxygen begin to oxidize, giving the drink hints of mould, tar, ash, stale, rancid, etc.;
The presence of chlorine in the water, for this reason it is advisable to always use filtered or bottled water;
The type of tool chosen for the extraction. For example, coffee in a moka is more bitter than coffee extracted with paper filter methods, but these are in turn less intense and concentrated than an espresso;
Finally, an over-extracted drink is more bitter than one prepared correctly. By over-extraction we mean that we extracted more than we needed from our ground brick. It happens when the coffee is ground too fine, consequently the water has difficulty passing through the grains and therefore remains in contact with the ground for a long time. Being the liquid at high temperatures and continuing to extract other substances from the ground itself, it burns it, bringing bitterness to the cup.

Grinding is in fact essential to obtain a good coffee. It is useless to buy a quality one if you don’t then adjust the size of the ad hoc for that instrument in that given period of time. A good coffee cannot come out, despite the quality of the raw material. Read all about grinding here!

Leggi tutto sulla macinatura qui!

This is why we at Ernani have given so many grinding options for our products:

Turkish
Expressed Extracted
Mocha pot
Neapolitan
Aeropress and Syphon
V60, Chemex and Clever
Cold Brew and French Press

So choose the perfect coffee taste for you and then the format that suits your instrument!

Se hai qualche dubbio su quale caffè scegliere, fai il test per “La tua miscela”!

If you have any doubts about which coffee to choose, take the test for “Your blend”!

When is a coffee defined as “dirty water”? Contrary to what we have seen so far, coffee can also be flat, tasteless, sour, acrid and astringent. In this case we call it “dirty water”.

* Astringent = occurs when we eat an unripe banana, raw artichokes or unripe persimmons. It is a dry sensation of the palate along with an unpleasant grit when the tongue is swiped over the palate.

What causes the failure and low intensity of a coffee?

From the wrong roasting: if the roasting lasts too long and with low temperatures, one stumbles over a defect called Baking, i.e. boiled coffee, precisely because the incorrect roasting has made it flat, without aromas and with an unlovable taste;
From under-extraction of the beverage, i.e. when less is extracted than what should be extracted. Unlike over-extraction, the ground coffee is too large and therefore the water escapes without having time to infuse with the ground coffee and bring oils, lipids and aromatic notes into the cup.

Check for example at the bar: if the barista serves you coffee in 6/10 seconds, the drink will certainly be under-extracted and therefore unpleasant and flat.

But let’s get one thing straight!

AMERICAN COFFEE IS NOT DIRTY WATER!

Very often when we talk about watered down coffees we immediately think of the classic American “drinks”, rather than a badly extracted drink.

But is not so!

Real American coffee, not our espresso diluted with hot water, should actually be called filter coffee, precisely because a paper or metal filter is used, which supports a certain amount of ground coffee, passed through by a certain amount of percolation water.

These are all complicated words to actually describe a simple preparation.

See how to make it in the video below!

The resulting drink is certainly less concentrated and creamy than an espresso, but at the same time it has no bitterness, resulting in a very aromatic, sweet, sour and really tasty coffee.

We won’t see the cream in the cup, but we will feel an explosion of perfumes on our palate!

So no, filter coffee isn’t dirty water, it’s just a method of preparing the drink other than espresso!

L'articolo Burnt coffee or “dirty water”: how to avoid these two mistakes? proviene da Caffè Ernani.

Discover roasting defects with Caffè Ernani

Martina Mazzoleni — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 09:45:08 +0000

What can go wrong when roasting coffee beans?

After having gone through the Defects of green coffee, today we discover the four Roasting Defects!

Leggi qui l’articolo sui difetti del crudo!

Roasting is an art and the roaster is a true artist. Every single action must vary on the basis of the green coffee at hand, therefore on the basis of its origin, density, freshness, species, variety and desired result.

If he doesn’t work consciously and above all with a great deal of knowledge and training behind him, he risks getting out of the roaster brown beans but full of defects!

Let’s discover them together!

Roasting defects

The roaster’s job is to be able to apply the right amount of heat over time and in the correct way in order to obtain the best possible quality in the cup.

He also has a lot of leeway, to put his personal touch on the coffee, like a signature, in order to bring out from the beans what others would not be able to do.

However, if he does not work correctly, he will stumble upon the four roasting defects:

Scorching
Tipping
Facing
Baking

It is important for the roaster to know how to recognize them, understand the causes that have caused them and the possible remedies to avoid them.

Instead, it is important for the consumer to recognize them so as not to be fooled by the classic words used by all brands and written on the packaging like a mantra, i.e. words such as “quality” and “premium”. In this way you will learn to recognize a well treated and processed coffee yourself!

Let’s begin!

SCORCHING

It is one of the most common faults in dark and very dark roasted coffees.

It appears as an irregularity that can be seen on the hump opposite the flat face, therefore on the back of the bean, in the shape of a black crater.

Causes:

When the bean comes into contact with the surface of the roasting drum which is too hot, and therefore the part of the bean that touches it remains stuck to the wall;
Or when the rotation speed of the drum is too high and a centrifugal effect is created, as in a washing machine, and the beans are pushed towards the walls;
Or there is too much coffee in the roaster and therefore it does not have the correct space to keep moving.

NB. The roasting drum is like a sort of rotating washing machine drum, inside there are the beans hit by a flow of hot air to be cooked.

In the cup:

The final drink will have a lower quality, with possible burnt and smoky aromatic notes, with a bitter taste and a slight sensation of astringency.

TIPPING

This defect is less invasive than scorching, but no less important.

Tipping manifests itself with black dots that appear on the flat face of the bean at the ends of the furrow, then as darker spots at the two extreme tips.

Causes:

It is generated by an excessive amount of heat transferred to the bean;
Or from an excessive contact time of the bean with the surface of the drum.

In the cup:

The drink will have aromatic notes of burnt and smoky with an increased intensity of bitterness and a slight astringency.

FACING

It is a defect that is clearly manifested on the flat face of the bean, with more or less extensive, clearly visible black spots.

Causes:

For an excessive amount of heat transferred to the bean;
Or due to an excessive contact time between the bean and the internal surface of the roasting drum, usually due to the rotation speed being too high and the subsequent centrifugal effect.

In the cup:

It produces aromatic notes of burnt and smoky with an increased intensity of bitterness and a slight astringency.

BAKING

Baking or “boiled coffee” does not appear visibly on the bean and is therefore the most difficult to recognize. However, it can be found during the tasting phase in a simple and clear way.

Causes:

Boiled coffee is the result of roasting really too long, combined with a temperature that is too low. Prolonging over time, beyond what is due, the bean does not develop its aromatic potential to the maximum, in addition to not even undergoing all the chemical-physical changes necessary to express itself to the maximum.

Without boring you too much it is just as if it were boiled and not properly cooked, as if we cooked the pasta over a very low heat for 30 minutes, when the indications on the package were 12 minutes, thus becoming soft and not very tasty.

In the cup:

The drink is characterized by few aromas in the cup and a “flat” profile… in short, little acidity, little sweetness, little bitterness and no aromatic complexity.

So here are the Roasting defects, did you already know them?

Next time buy the beans and check them and find out if there are any defects in the coffee you usually buy!

L'articolo Discover roasting defects with Caffè Ernani proviene da Caffè Ernani.

Meet the Ernani coffee Academy!

Martina Mazzoleni — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 08:25:39 +0000

Are you a curious person? Are you a coffee lover? Are you an operator in the ho.re.ca. sector? You love TV shows like “How is it done?”

Then this article is for you!

Today we will talk about the Ernani coffee Academy!

The goal of the Academy is precisely to allow everyone discover the world of coffee, from professionals to simple cup lovers, but above all to those who are not satisfied with “it’s like this, because we have always done it the old way” and want to deepen the topics to really get to know them.

But no more chatter and let’s get started!

How the Ernani coffee Academy was born

The Ernani roasting took shape from Luca and Claudia’s desire to serve a really good and intensely aromatic coffee, without that classic burnt aftertaste and that strong bitter note.

Together with Paolo, the roaster of Caffè Ernani, they began the whole project with the desire to give a new life and a breath of fresh air to the Italian espresso.

The continuous training of the whole team, the continuous search for improvement and everything that revolves around it, has given rise to an enormous and unbridled passion for the roasted bean.

To tell the whole truth coffee is not only our job, but our great love and what gives us the strength to improve both as professionals, as a company, and as individuals.

Someone surely will not believe these words, but what I always answer is “as soon as you discover what lies behind the cup of coffee, you cannot remain indifferent” … this world overwhelms you and ALWAYS fascinates you!

At this point it was therefore clear the desire to convey all this to you too, whether you are a professional or a simple fan of the dark grain, just like us!

How to do it?

By creating our Ernani Academy!

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Discover the Ernani Academy

Ernani Academy courses The Academy has 6 courses, ranging in all macro areas of the coffee sector, namely:

Green Coffee – the course designed to acquire skills on the raw material processed, raw coffee, also called green coffee;
Roasting – the perfect course to learn how to read the roasting curve and understand the different methods and levels;
Cafeteria – the course suitable for professionals in the sector, to acquire knowledge on the raw material processed and on the extraction phase of the beverage;
From single origin to Ernani blends – the course that has a dual function: introduction to the espresso tasting course and understanding how the different coffees influence the aromatic profile of the final blend;
Espresso tasting – the course as a true sommelier, which will give you all the tools suitable for carrying out a complete organoleptic analysis of the espresso;
Brewing – the course that requires the most manual skills of all, to deepen the methods of extraction of coffee as an alternative to espresso.

Green Coffee

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As we have already said, in this course we try to deepen the knowledge of the origin of the supply chain, thus discovering everything that happens to the bean still in the country of origin: from birth, to harvest, to processing and export.

Course program:

Origin and type of green coffee;
Coffee harvesting and processing methods;
Examination of green coffee samples;
Organoleptic profile and area of origin;
The defects of green coffee;
Marketing of raw coffee.

All this takes 4 hours.

This course, on the other hand, covers one of the most fascinating phases, namely that of the transformation from the green bean to the roasted one that we all know.

You will be immersed in an amazing coffee fragrance all the time!

Attention! Taking a course is not enough to learn how to roast … this takes years of practice and training. Surely the Roasting course will give you the basics to understand where and how to start.

Course program:

Basic knowledge of green coffee and its selection;
The roasting process;
Useful tools for roasting;
Chemical-physical transformations of the coffee bean;
The roasting color;
Roasting test;
Tasting of roasted coffee.

Time required: 4 hours.

Roasting

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Cafeteria

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If you work behind the bar or use an espresso machine at home, this is the perfect course for you, learning how to extract an excellent coffee with consistency and awareness.

Course program:

Basic knowledge of green coffee;
Selecting a good over-the-counter blend;
Definition of espresso;
Espresso extraction;
Selection of equipment;
Equipment maintenance and cleaning.

All this takes 5 hours.

N.B.: It is also possible to request the Latte Art course, but it will be carried out separately, in another 8 hours.

From single origin to blends The course that combines awareness and knowledge of the blend, understanding how it is created and structured, together with the introduction for the tasting of the espresso.

Course program:

Basic knowledge of green coffee;
Basic knowledge of roasting levels;
Definition of espresso;
Sensory analysis and compilation of the tasting sheets;
Tasting of the final blend and its description.

The time required for its development is 4 hours.

From single origin to blend

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Espresso tasting

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One of the longest courses requiring constant concentration, but perhaps also one of the most popular and fun.

Useful for discovering in depth what is hidden in the incredible taste of a “simple” cup of coffee.

Never be fooled again by the word “quality” used inappropriately by anyone! After this course you will immediately recognize a good coffee on your own!

Course program:

Basic knowledge of green coffee;
Basic knowledge of roasting levels;
Definition of espresso;
Sensory analysis;
Compilation of tasting cards;
Espresso coffee tasting and its description.

This course takes 6 hours.

Andhere we are at the last course: coffee extraction with manual methods alternative to the espresso machine.

Yes, because coffee is not just espresso… coffee changes shape, taste, temperatures, aromas and so on.

This is why there are many alternative extraction methods, including our beloved Moka!

So find out how to use them all and choose your favorite!

Course program:

Knowledge of green coffee;
Basic knowledge about roasting levels;
Definition of brewing with their basic recipe;
Practical extraction by different methods;
Coffee tasting and description.

For a necessary time of 5 hours.

Brewing

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How to enroll in the Ernani Academy

All courses are held at the company’s headquarters in Desio, Via Don Luigi Sturzo, 19 (MB), or, if you work in a club, we can come to you!

We are usually available from Monday to Friday. However, it is possible to take the course also on Saturday, in exchange for a small price supplement.

How to book?

There is no real course calendar, as we have decided to be flexible based on your requests and your free days!

So each course is carried out only on your request. That’s why in the registration form we have left the possibility to enter the two dates that are most comfortable for you, and we will organize ourselves accordingly!

We require only two things to be able to carry out the course:

A notice of at least 2 weeks before the desired date, so that we can prepare ourselves in the best possible way and offer you the best service;
A minimum of two participants. If you do not know anyone to participate with, we will put you in our records and you will be contacted as soon as there is a vacancy, joining other students.

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Some numbers:

6 Courses available;
365 days of availability per year;
More than 150 coffee lovers and industry professionals already trained at the Ernani Academy;
400 square meters at your disposal;
3 trainers, Andrea Panizzardi, a great Piedmontese professional, has recently joined the Ernani team!

Attention!

All our spaces can also be used by you!

Do you need to allow your clients to try out the equipment, or are you a Neo-Trainer, but you lack a room to hold your personal courses?

We make them available to us with everything you need!

I just have to say: “We are waiting for you at the Ernani Academy!”

L'articolo Meet the Ernani coffee Academy! proviene da Caffè Ernani.