Coffee Blog from Nude Espresso

Coffee Blog from Nude Espresso

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A Guide To Brewing Coffee At Home

 

We sell a lot of retail coffee from our two sites and out of the roastery. One of the things we get asked about most is how to brew coffee at home the way we do it in the stores. There is no easy way to explain it as one of the main philosophies of our business is to treat each coffee like an individual. Each coffee we get is roasted and brewed in a way that suits the characteristics within it. That being said there are some really easy ways to greatly improve the results you get at home.

 

Rule Number 1: Buy Fresh, Grind Fresh!

I can't stress this enough. If you really want to get the most out of your coffee buy it from a local roaster and use it within 3 weeks of the roast date. It also needs to be ground right before you brew it. There are many simple and cheap options for grinding at home. For those on a budget go for a hand grinder with ceramic burrs, they do a pretty reasonable job for the price (starting at £25). They can be a bit slow but it means you feel as if you have earned your morning brew. There are a few good electric options that are cost effective but to be honest even a bad grind done fresh will improve the flavour you get. The only thing to avoid here is the spice grinder. These grinders have two rotating blades that really just smash the beans to pieces and are very inconsistent, make sure you get something with proper grinding burrs.

 

Rule Number 2: Water

Water is a huge part of any brewed coffee and as we know the water in London is very hard. Hard water can play havoc with the delicate compounds we are trying to extract form our coffee. If water is extremely hard it can actually reduce efficiency of extraction because the water already has an element of saturation so there is a limit to how many coffee particles the water can absorb. If you have a filter built into your kitchen bench then use that to fill your jug before boiling it. If you don't then I would recommend using a Brita style hand held filter. Although these are not the ideal solution, they will reduce some hardness and take out any other chemicals that may have a negative effect on the flavour. We have done blind comparative taste tests with staff and customers and it is blindingly obvious which sample has filtered water and which does not. One, not very eco friendly or practical option is to buy bottled water and use this for your coffee.

 

Rule Number 3: Temperature

You don't need to be a fanatical about temperature to get good results. Simply letting your jug sit for 2-3 mins after boiling will allow the water to drop to between 90-95°C. This is where we want to extract our coffee, any hotter and we get harsh bitter flavours, any lower and we get sour under developed flavours.

 

Rule Number 4: Consistency

If you want to compare different coffees on an even level I recommend finding a system with the equipment you have at home that means you can duplicate results. In our shops this means weighing the ground coffee, weighing the water and timing the extraction. Although I recommend this approach I realise most people just want a nice coffee, not a science experiment. However, I do suggest you use the same scoop size each time you brew (most brewing devices come with some kind of scoop), likewise, I would decant from your kettle into a smaller vessel that is easy to pour from and fill it the same amount each time.

 

Rule Number 5: Coffee to Water Ratio

This is less a rule and more a suggestion. A good starting point is 60g ground coffee per liter of hot water. From here you can decide if you would like it stronger or weaker and either up or down the amount of ground coffee you use. With a darker roast I tend to use a little less coffee because as the roast progresses we loose moisture and subsequently weight from the bean so it requires more beans to obtain the same weight.

 

Pourover, Filter, V60, Chemex:

This is one of my favorite ways to brew coffee. It's simple, easy and produces a clean and satisfying cup of coffee. Always rinse the filter paper well with hot water before using it. If using a ceramic cone then put the paper in the cone before rinsing as this will help to heat the cone to the same temp as the water and ensure it doesn't cool to quickly. Roughly 60g per liter will give you good results.

 

Aeropress:

I have a love hate relationship with the aeropress. I love the idea and how it works but I hate the way they look and I'm always discouraged by the papery taste the filters give off (this can be avoided by purchasing a metal disc filter). That said, you can get fantastic results from these devices and they are a must have for any home coffee geek. I love that you can produce such varying results from one device and if you really want to understand extraction and grind size then the aeropress is a one-stop shop. Personally I tend to enjoy natural processed coffee through the aeropress but it can depend on how you brew with it. This is not the place to get into a detailed description of all the ways you can use one but I will say the first thing to do when you purchase an aeropress is to throw the instructions in the bin!! They are a waste of paper. I recommend brewing with it upside down and turning it over to plunge once you reach your desired brew time.

 

Cafetiere:

These devices often get a bad rep but I think they are fantastic. They are quick, require no knowledge of coffee and produce fantastic results. The only downside is the sediment in the bottom of your cup but this issue has been addressed by espro (for a hefty price, available from coffeehit.co.uk). Always pour your hot water into the cafetiere first. This helps cool the brewing water to below 95°C. Pour the coffee in on top and give it a good stir. Put the plunger on and submerge the crust ever so slightly and wait for 4 mins, plunge and serve straight away. The most common mistake with these is that people leave the coffee to stew which produces bitter over developed flavours. A good place to start here is 60g per liter.

 

Moka Pot, Bialetti, Stovetop Espresso:

I cannot stress how bad these things are! Never ever use these to make coffee! You might as well take the coffee put it in an old work boot and throw it in a fire. I find some people are really passionate about these devices and everybody has a theory on how to do it best. I have tried them all and cannot find a way that does not overheat the water to the point that it strips all the nuanced flavour from the coffee and leaves you with nothing but superheated bitterness. The Moka pot is steeped in tradition however this does not make it a good device for brewing coffee. I don't want to rant and rave with hatred for these little things but if you are buying nice coffee and using a Moka pot you will do yourself a massive favour by purchasing a £10 cafetiere from John Lewis.

 

Home Espresso:

This really is a big subject and it deserves it's own blog post which I will do at some stage. However, I will offer one piece of advice: Spend all the money you can on a good grinder. You will get far better results with a good grinder and a cheap machine than you will with a good machine and a cheap grinder.

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New Developments at the Roastery

Things have been moving flat out in the roastery with new wholesale accounts all over the UK. The UK is really starting to switch on to good coffee and we are proud to be amongst the rosters on the sharp end of the blade.

From the outset of nude espresso the plan was to build relationships with people. Richard and Gerard believe to build a brand and a company that has longevity, you must understand and know everybody you do business with. With that in mind we are beginning to look at how we can connect with the people who grow and pick our coffee. It is the dream of every serious coffee geek to get to origin during the harvest to pick the cherries, help with processing and really get involved with the beginning of the coffee supply chain. In an industry filled with small companies there are very few people who get the opportunity to do this. Often business owners are to involved with the day to day running of a café or roastery to leave it for any extended time. Both Richard and Gerard have barely had more than a weekend off since they opened 5 years ago.

Excitingly we are now getting to the stage where we can begin to work with farmers more directly and get access to coffee that is rare and special. This week we ordered our first true micro lot directly from El Salvador. We have been buying coffee from the El Borbollon mill for a couple of years now as a staple for our blend. When they sent us some micro lot samples from the new crop we got very excited and decided to dip our toes into direct trade. The lot is due to ship on Thursday and should be available in a couple of months. This coffee is a really great representation of what a good El Salvador should be: Big, juicy, sweet and full of red fruit flavours.

Costa Rica is another exciting project for us. Richard and Gerard plan to head down later in the year to meet the owners of Finca Sonora. We currently have two coffees available from this farm that are a good representation of the part varietal plays in the flavour of coffee. We are hoping to work with Finca Sonora going forward because we love the coffee they produce and they enjoy working with roasters to produce the kind of coffee we want to drink. Hopefully in the future we will be able to get more interesting lots from them that exhibit processing methods, varietals and possibly altitudes.

To keep up with demand for our coffee we have hired a couple of extra hands in the roastery. Kurtis Leigh who was once the manager of our Soho store before spending a year working for some of the top roasteries in Melbourne. Tom Flawith has also just started with us to help spread the roasting load. Tom has worked at Extract coffee in Bristol, Allpress in London and now moves to us here to continue learning about green coffee and fine tune his roasting skills.

Make sure you pop down to the Roastery on the next sunny day and enjoy a coffee in our little car park garden. See you soon!

Richard Williams

Head Roaster

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National Barista Champions!

The last few blog posts have been pretty heavy going so I though it was time for a bit of a feel good update.

2013 has been a whirlwind so far with a huge increase in whole production for us at the roastery. A growing coffee industry and consumers getting used to a better quality cup of coffee has seen many new cafes opening up in London and our existing customers seeing growth also.

At the beginning of the year we set ourselves the goal of getting through 20 different single origin espresso offerings and we have just moved onto our fourth with the Rwanda Gisuma becoming available this week. This coffee is fresh, clean, so so delicious, and will be available in our Cafés next week.

We are also now holding open cupping sessions at our Soho store on the final Wednesday of every month. These will give our west end customers and fans a chance to taste our wares without having to trek out east. So today at 4pm I will be there with our latest coffee offering and a few sneaky samples of things to come.

I am very proud to announce that nude espresso roaster & trainer Jordi Mestre has just defended his title as the Spanish Barista Champion! Below Jordi has written a little overview of the competition, the work that goes into his preparation and what can be gained by entering into such competitions. As a witness to Jordis' development over the past year I can testify to the growth in his understanding of coffee in general but also to his development as a coffee professional. We are lucky to have him!

I would also like to send out huge congratulations to Mirriam Simasiku of Blue Moon Café based in Lusaka, Zambia. Who, at the beginning of March won the Zambian Barista Championship using our very own east espresso blend. Mirriam came across our blend by chance when a customer of ours was in Lusaka and gifted Blue Moon café a bag of east; she fell in love. After a few emails and a Skype session to discuss roasting profiles, flavour and bean origin, Mirriam put together a signature drink with summer fruits, spices, lemon zest and dark chocolate. She won herself a trip to Melbourne for the World Barista Championship at the end of May and we hope to work with her in her preparations.

 

Why Competition?

The first time I sat and watched at a competition it was just over a year ago, it was in the 2012 London heat of the UK Barista Championship. I remember that at that time, I thought it was ridiculous and totally unnecessary, I did not understand the reason why one would like to compete and submit themself to that pressure. I enjoy brewing and preparing coffee for my costumers and love to be a perfectionist with it, but I was convinced that competition was not for me.

After competing in the last two National Barista Competitions and one World Barista Competition I can explain the HOW and WHY of this show or game.

First of all let me explain the basics of the competition. Each contestant will have 15 minutes to prepare 4 espressos, 4 cappuccinos and 4 signature drinks and your own beverage creation that highlights the characteristics of the chosen coffee. Moreover, during these 15 minutes the contestant will have to explain why he/she decided to go for the chosen coffee, and all the characteristics of each of the drink. In the espresso, explain exactly what the judges will find in the cup, crema description, aroma, mouthfeel and body as well as acidity, sweetness and flavour notes. Similar descriptions will have to be provided with other drinks. It is important to show and demonstrate your understanding of your coffee and the techniques you're using. You must also demonstrate a concept and synergy in the preparation of your drinks.

Seven judges will score different aspects of your competition, 4 sensory judges evaluate taste and score your drinks on sensorial descriptions, 2 technical judges that will evaluate your techniques and methodology. One head judge is in charge of checking consistency on all the drinks, techniques and calibrating the judging team.

Rules and particularities go on and on as you get more involved in it, but I wont bore you with all the scoring system details.

I registered and entered a little bit by accident but from the first minute I started training I realised there was a lot to learn before I could measure myself among other competitors with years of experience in the field.

So, for one month I would go every evening after work to competition training at Protein by DunneFrankowski where Rob and Vic were happy to guide me and polish my style to prepare for a competition service. It is unbelievable the amount of hours that have to be invested in tasting coffees, choosing one, deconstructing espressos and cappuccinos, and coming out with a creative and genuine signature drink that encapsulates the concept of your speech and highlights the characteristics of the coffee. Moreover, lots on practice in order to gain confidence in competition service, practice your shots and pours as well as your speech.

The learning curve experienced in a competition-training period pays back all the effort and hours that one put in it.

The baristas and coffee professionals that congregate in these sorts of events bring the knowledge that they gain during a whole year in their jobs, and put it together with other professionals that also want to share their experiences.

To me in competition there is a lot to gain and certainly nothing, absolutely nothing to loose.

And this is all I expect from this years WBC in Melbourne!

Jordi Metre

2x Spanish Barista Champion, nude espresso trainer & production roaster

 27/03/2013

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Roasting for Espresso & Filter

Our roastery is open to the public and we encourage people to come in, ask questions and generally soak up the atmosphere. There is something to be said for the theatre an operating roaster provides; as a result we sell a fair few retail bags of coffee from here. When selling beans we get many questions about roast style, most including the terms 'espresso' and 'filter' roast. I think that these terms are helpful in most cases because they describe a style of coffee and they do give you a hint of what to expect. However, there are in fact myriad exceptions and like all things different roasters can interpret styles differently.

My plan for the following passage is to describe my own approach to roasting for these two styles of brewing. It is important to note that I am omitting any reference to bean varietal, processing method, origin or altitude of growth, which would all normally play a part in how I approach roasting a coffee. The reason is that it can get very complicated very quickly and because this blog goes to a range of people I don't want to get too technical and bore everybody. The graphs used below are from real roasts that we have done in our 15kg Toper drum roaster. Something worth noting is that the performance of a roaster is dependent on how it has been installed (ventilation, extraction etc.) and the climate it is in. Our roaster behaves very differently from winter to summer so the exact profile is an evolving thing that moves with the seasons and the age of the green coffee. So if the temperatures look a bit strange then it is probably due to the above reasons. I will also mention that the line labeled air temperature is an exhaust temperature measured just before the cyclone so does not represent the air temperature in the roasting chamber.

Espresso Roasting:

Espresso machines are usually set to impart about 9bar or roughly 125psi of hydraulic pressure onto the coffee. This is the main reason espresso coffee is so unique. The pressure has the effect of emulsifying the oils in the coffee. The emulsification causes the liquoring, which coats the palate when we sip an espresso shot. The pressure also intensifies many of the coffee's characteristics, the most obvious one being acidity. Acidity is a very important part of good coffee, it adds character and vibrancy but it must be managed carefully because it can turn sour and harsh very easily. Most specialty coffees have quite a bit of acidity to them and most specialty roasters search out acidic coffee.

Below is a copy of a production roast profile for the Brazil we use in our East blend. The blend is designed to have a mellow acidity that sits in the background but is enough to give the coffee life. The blend is also roasted to be as sweet as possible with a big syrupy body and a subtle stewed plum flavour that comes after the initial hit of caramelized sugar. The profile is quite a long roast by many standards but for a commercial espresso blend the slower approach allows the acidity to mellow and give the barista a bigger operating window in which the coffee will taste good.

 

This is a fairly classic approach to roasting commercial espresso blends. And at the risk of other coffee professionals scoffing at me I will say that this kind of approach is what many roasters have in mind when they use the term espresso roast.

The next graph is a profile from our current single origin espresso. This coffee has been selected and roasted to highlight the acidity and fruity flavours that are in the coffee at lower degrees of roast.

If we compare it to the previous graph you can see the roast time is almost 2 minutes shorter. It's a little hard to tell but the end temperature is 4°C lower also. You will also notice the start temperature is lower; this is because the initial green weight of the roast is less and I find that a more aggressive heat application gives a slightly sharper, more vigorous acidity (we love acidity).

 

The above profile is probably more indicative of the recent trend in roast style of producing highly acidic and fruity coffees. Coffee roasted in this way is much closer to what people describe as a filter roast. Likewise, I believe that this kind of roast will produce a more pleasant filter coffee than the first. Many roasters will only roast a coffee one way, they say the coffee is roasted to get the very best from each bean and you can use them for any brew method. I do like this approach but in my experience it can be a little confusing for customers and sometimes people don't get what they want. I suspect that the above profile is probably how coffees are roasted when the "one profile for one coffee" quote is used. It would ensure the coffee works for all brew methods.

Filter Roast:

Usually the term filter roast includes any slow brewing method that is not espresso. Filter coffee for me is far more like drinking a nice wine. It's delicate, subtle and complex and is usually very easy to drink; it is what I choose to drink most of the time. The absence of pressure that we find in espresso preparation means the coffee feels much more like tea on the palate and you experience more of the high notes (floral, citrus etc.).

The below profile is a copy of a very delicate coffee that has been roasted for filter in mind. You can see again the lower start temprature and even shorter total time. This coffee is about as light as you can get away with roasting coffee and still call it roasted. The flavour is more acidic, very floral, fruity and even has a hint of fresh hay that I personally like in this coffee.

 

Conclusions:

The examples I have given are by no means extensive or absolute. They represent a broader approach for roasting with regards to brew style. That said, some coffees work beautifully as espresso roasted in the fashion that I have used as my filter example. In fact the exact profile above is a coffee that works amazingly as an espresso. I would describe it as whacky but it certainly has a charm that some of our customers appreciate and I love it because it is interesting and unexpected. There are many exceptions to what I have said and I'm sure many roasters will have different approaches to getting different flavours from their coffee depending on their preferences and the machinery they use.

Over all, if you take the same coffee and roast it in either of the espresso profiles I have suggested and then roast it in the filter method and compare them in the same brew method you can expect the espresso roast to be lower in acidity, higher in body and it is likely to be sweeter and smoother.  

The main purpose of the blog is to help customers understand what to expect when we use these terms but I encourage those that wish to experiment to disregard our use of the filter and espresso roast terms and try coffees in as many different brew methods as they have at their disposal. Some coffees will work, some will not and some will surprise and change the way you think about things but most importantly you will have fun and you will learn. For me there is no greater pleasure in life than learning something new.

As always, I encourage comments and I would love to hear from any roasters that either agree or disagree with what I have said. I'm always open to new approaches and I would like the opportunity to revisit this topic if others are willing to provide profiles and explanations. Likewise if anything is unclear in what I have written do contact me to ask questions. You can contact me at: roastery@nudeespresso.com

Richard Williams (head roaster)

13/03/2013

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What Does it all Mean? Part two:

Milk based Drinks!

What is the difference between a flat white and a latte? How does a piccolo differ from a cortado?

The truth is that the answers to these questions really depend on whom you ask. Every barista, roaster, café owner or coffee enthusiast will have their own idea about the recipes for each drink. Some of these recipes vary so much that two drinks with the same name would have almost no resemblance to each other. For example, I've seen a macchiato advertised at high street chains in 12oz cups, we serve ours in a 2oz.

Last time, I talked about espresso shots and how I don't think we should confine ourselves to set measurements that may not result in the best possible flavour from the coffee. I'll ask you to bear that in mind while I describe my ideas around naming milk based drinks.

Below is the current (milk based) coffee list at nude and how each drink is made:

• Flat White - 6oz cup, espresso, steamed milk with about ½ cm of foam
• Latte - 8oz glass, espresso, steamed milk with about ½ cm of foam
• Cappuccino - 6oz cup, espresso, steamed milk with about 1cm of foam and a sprinkle of chocolate
• Piccolo - 4oz glass, espresso, steamed milk with about ½ cm of foam
• Macchiato - 2oz cup, espresso, a dash of steamed milk

You can see that the real difference between these drinks is the amount of milk used. True the cappuccino has a touch more foam and a little chocolate but really it's not going to taste much different to a flat white. Now, the drinks listed above are only how we serve them. Cafés that still do double and single shots may vary the amount of shots in these drinks. Likewise the sizes may vary or they may offer the same drink in small and large…. The difficulty with using the traditional Italian names is that the drinks have changed so much over the years and every barista has their own idea about how they should be made. Subsequently, the names are meaningless. The only thing you know when you order a latte is that you will get some espresso with some milk in it…

The new idea is that we should use a size name for milk coffees i.e. 4oz, 6oz and 8oz. I'm not claiming this is my idea, as Prufrock has been doing it for a couple of years now and a few new cafés around town have also started to use this system. Personally I think it ensures that the customer is more likely to get what they think they are ordering. They know if they order the 6oz they will get an espresso (extracted in a way that best suits that drink) with a set amount of milk, what could be easier?

We have partially adopted this system ourselves in our cafés with the use of one espresso size and keeping all our 'traditional' drinks to one size, resulting in each drink effectively representing a white coffee in a different size (as listed above). I'm sure as the specialty coffee industry penetrates more of the market the out-phasing of traditional Italian names will follow, at least you now know what our drinks are made of and you can get what you want.

As always, if you have any questions or comments you can contact me by email roastery@nudeespresso.com

Richard Williams (head roaster)

19/02/2013

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It is an amazing day outside today and we have the roastery door open for the first time in a few months. It feels like spring is in the air and the mood in here certainly has lifted! As part of our push to make coffee information more accessible to our customers we will be putting out a series of blogs that look at different parts of our product. I'm going to try and avoid technical jargon wherever I can and hopefully keep them brief but relevant. If you have any questions or need clarification on something I've expressed poorly don't hesitate to contact me via email - roastery@nudeespresso.com

Below is the first of two articles that look at the confusing world ordering a coffee. This has been spurred by my amusement of people who often have overly complicated drink orders but when probed don't really know what they are ordering. I also believe that our current system is unnecessarily complicated and outdated. Enjoy!

What Does it all Mean? Part One:

Espresso Shots!

What constitutes an espresso shot? What is a double? What is a Ristretto?

Well well well dear reader, this is a fun one, and something I think should be cleared up both for the sake of the customer and the café owners trying to explain what they are serving.

Traditionally a single espresso shot was considered to be 30ml or one ounce. The Barista would use roughly 7-8g of ground coffee placed in a small brewing basket and extract for around 25seconds. Therefore a double would be 14-16g brewed in a larger basket for the same amount of time but yielding 60ml of brewed coffee. Simple right? Well, yes and no.

One thing I want to bring up before I talk about why we no longer use these measurements is the issue of using brew volume to describe espresso. Different coffees and different roast styles yield varying amounts of crema (the gassy layer that floats on top of the espresso shot). You can see from the numbers I have quoted below that the ratio of volume to weight is not consistent and the coffees below have a very similar roast style! Shot weight is a far more accurate and relevant measurement.

From the perspective of the speciality coffee industry things have moved on a lot. Probably the most obvious difference is the omitting of Robusta from our selections. If you don't know what Robusta is look it up. I will say that it should be avoided at all costs and tastes like the sole of an old rubber boot. The coffee that is available to us now (generally speaking) is of a far higher quality than anything that has existed in the past. So as an industry when we find a beautiful coffee we like to treat it as an individual. This means roasting coffee's from individual farms, lots within the farms and individual picking days separately. It also means brewing the separate coffees or blends to get the best we can from each one.

For example, we like to brew our east blend with 19g of ground coffee for between 26-30 seconds yielding a brewed weight of 20g (40ml, this is a traditional double ristretto). Contrastingly, we brew our El Salvador Finca Malacara with 18g of ground coffee for between 24-26 seconds yielding about 30g (55ml) of brew coffee. Anyone that has spent a bit of time on an espresso machine will tell you that these two recipes will look quite different both as they extract and when they are done. We have picked these recipes because they represent the best balance we could find between tasting amazing as an espresso and having enough flavour to stand up to milk. If we were to swap the brew recipes you would have very unsatisfactory coffee indeed.

So what does it all mean? It means that the terms double and single shot are (in my view) meaningless and should be avoided. If you are buying your coffee from a speciality coffee roaster or a café that uses the coffee from a speciality roaster then I would recommend that you try the recipe they use for a flat white (if that's what you like to drink). If the results are unsatisfactory in terms of coffee to milk ratio you then order a drink that represents a variance in this ratio i.e. a bigger or smaller drink. Simple!

Next time we will look at the confusing world of Italian named espresso based drinks…..

Richard Williams: roastery@nudeespresso.com

Head Roaster

01/02/2013

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Does your coffee taste like coffee?

London coffee is booming and in many ways you can get coffee in London that tastes unlike anything you will be served in most parts of the world. We are spoilt for choice when it comes to quality roasters who all have their own style and approach. However the "specialty" or quality roasters are still very much in the minority. And while more and more people are beginning to expect more from their daily caffeine fix, the vast majority of people are still consuming commodity coffee from generic high street coffee shops. I have no problem with the commodity coffee trade and truly believe that it has its place. However, I fear that many coffee drinkers don't know what they are missing out on. The strangest part of it is that specialty coffee is often no more expensive than commodity coffee by the time you get it in your cup. Walk into any High St chain coffee shop and you will pay almost the same price for a latte as you will in most specialty coffee bars that have highly trained barista's, top quality coffee and very expensive brewing equipment. I urge everybody to try something new once and a while, grab a London coffee guide and go somewhere different and learn to appreciate the variety of flavours that coffee can have. At nude we always try to offer a range of coffee flavours and roast styles in order to challenge our customers and ourselves.

Like most coffee geeks I love good beer. I recently handed a stunning stout from the Redchurch brewery to a friend who is not a coffee or beer aficionado. The reply I got was that the beer tastes like coffee. This is a very common remark from people tasting dark beers. On the surface this is a completely reasonable thing to say but lets look a little closer…

Beer is made from malted barley; to get the colour the barley is toasted. In a dark beer the barley is toasted quite a lot, this gives the beer its dark colour and flavour. Coffee is also roasted and for a long time it was only roasted quite dark, producing dark colour and flavour similar to that in dark barley. The vast majority of roasters still roast very dark and while philosophically I don't think there is anything wrong with roasting dark I believe that it's most often done for the wrong reason: the use of poor quality green coffee. At nude, if we roast something darker it's because we think the delicate interplay between acidity, body, sweetness and overall flavour is somehow improved not because we are trying to hide the defects in it (coffee is a very delicate product and there are many things that can go wrong before we get it,). Defects, as you would expect from the name don't taste very good.

The roasting process has a big impact on the final flavour of both coffee and beer, so is a vital part of both products. Coffee is incredibly complex and the same bean can give off surprisingly different flavours from small variations in the way it is roasted. One of the important reactions that occur during roasting (and the most obvious) is called the Maillard reaction. This is basically the browning effect.  The same reaction happens when you roast almost anything (bread, barley potatoes etc). The more we roast the more we brown, so like dark beer we get more dark colour and flavour.

When we look at coffee, I think now we can see that this so called 'coffee flavour' that my friend picked up in the beer is a result of the roasting not the coffee itself. Coffee is naturally very acidic, often fruity and complex. When you use well-produced, high quality green coffee (as we do) you are able to roast a bit lighter and let the individual and interesting flavours shine through. Coffee has more than double the flavour characteristics of wine so the complexity and individuality of different coffees is even vaster. Yes, we do still imprint a certain style on the coffee we purchase by the way we roast it likewise you do the same when you brew it but with quality and defect free coffee the inherent flavour is more important. I suppose what I'm getting at is that I want people to think a little more about what they taste, does your coffee really taste like coffee?

If you want to taste the difference for yourself come along to our open cupping on Friday the 1^st of February from 4pm at our roastery.

Richard Williams

Head Roaster

09/01/2013

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Roastery moves and changes:

Everyone is starting to look very rugged up on the streets now with the first day of winter just around the corner! Things are continuing to change rapidly here at the roastery and anybody that has been in will have seen our new layout. The addition of pallet racking and a training room for our wholesale sessions gives the space a very different feel. And as we seem to be getting busier and busier the additional room we have created is very valuable!

November has also seen some new coffee's in our range. We have said goodbye to the washed Sidamo Wolutma OCR and hello to a natural Yirgacheffe Konga that is one of the best Ethiopian coffees I've had for a while. We have also landed a natural Sidamo Korate that should be on the shelves in December as this coffee tastes like Christmas spice and mulled wine! For those of you that love something different in your espresso try our new Tanzania Utengule single origin espresso. We are very impressed with the body and structure this coffee has through our espresso machine. Finally I am very excited to announce the arrival of the Panamanian Esmeralda Geisha! We are not roasting this coffee yet but will be very soon, keep an eye out for further announcements. The Geisha really is something special and will make a great gift for those coffee obsessed relatives I know you all have!

I'm also very happy to announce the addition of our new home barista class! This class is for anybody with an espresso machine at home that wishes to learn how to make coffee like the team at nude. These classes are a slightly adjusted version of our wholesale espresso classes but we have a little more fun and it's tailored to suit the needs of those who attend. If you wish to book yourself in on one of these or you want to book in somebody else as a Christmas gift then give Jordi or myself a call at the roastery (07712 899334) or email us roastery@nudeespresso.com

Finally I wish to remind you all of the open cupping sessions here at the roastery on the first Friday of every month. The final session for the year will be on the 7^th of December at 4pm. This session will be a great opportunity to taste the Geisha before you buy and get a sneak peak at our new African coffees. I hope to see you there!

Richard Williams (Head Roaster) - 20/11/2012

 

 

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Le Carnaval du café:

I wish to start this post with a big thank you to our friends at The Collaborative Coffee Source and Kaffa for an amazingly informative weekend in Paris at Le Carnaval du Café!

The Roastery team from Nude Espresso packed our bags, boarded the Eurostar and headed to Paris for a much-anticipated weekend of cupping and education with coffee professionals from all over Europe. It was an intensive program of lectures from 8am to 6pm.

On day one we heard from Flavio Borem, a researcher based in Brazil conducting ground breaking research on many aspects of coffee production and quality. Within the first 20mins of his presentation he had exceeded my expectations for the entire event. Flavio is a dynamic and passionate character with a deep understanding of quality coffee. While there is much research done on coffee very little of it is related to quality and most researchers are not themselves proficient in cupping meaning the understanding of the precursors to quality are still somewhat hazy.

We were lucky enough to taste coffee that Flavio had grown, processed and roasted himself for the experiments he is conducting on the interrelation between altitude, varietal, processing and quality. Under the right conditions it is possible to create a natural processed Brazil that is nothing like anything most coffee professionals have tasted before. The coffee was clean, acidic, floral and totally different in character to any Brazilian I've tasted. This year the new crop Brazils are ready to be shipped and we should have some coffees that have been grown with the help of Flavio, we expect to have these in a month or so.

We also heard from Daniel Petterson, infamous grower of the Esmeralda Geisha, arguably the best coffee in the world. For those of you that haven't tried geisha, cupping the geisha varietal next to "regular" varietals makes them seem bland and uninteresting. The flavour is truly something special, geisha must be experienced for oneself.

After the success of the geisha varietal in the Best of Panama cupping competitions Daniel is on a mission to find the next big thing by meticulously growing and cupping hundreds of wild coffee varietals that are unknown in the commercial world. This is an exciting prospect for the future with the possibilities of finding new flavour profiles as yet unseen in specialty coffee.

We are trying to get our hands on some geisha from Daniels farm as something special for the holiday season so if you are interested let us know at roastery@nudeespresso.com.

Richard Williams (Head Roaster) - 02/11/2012

 

 

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Autumn has arrived:

Autumn is my favorite season; cool crisp days with clear blue skies and the clean blue light that you only get at this time of year. With the weather cooling and coffee consumption going up the enthusiasm for our new range of single origin coffee has been overwhelming and we are already on the search for our next selection. Until we can announce those, make the most of the last couple of batches of our OCR Sidamo, and Panama La Esperanza as we won't be getting these in again.

For those of you looking for something a little different pop into our cafés or to Jordi's cart at Nettle Market to try the latest seasonal espresso blend - 60% Panama, La Esperanza and 40% El Salvador, El Borbollon: Honey and Marmalade sweetness with zesty acidity and a delicious malt finish.

On Friday the 5^th we did our first open cupping in the roastery. It was an intimate affair with a few friends of Nude and a couple of customers. These sessions are a chance for our wholesale customers and our loyal retail customers to step into our world here at the roastery and learn a little more about coffee as an agricultural product. It's also a great chance for budding coffee geeks to taste a diverse range of coffee side by side. Jordi and myself are on hand to answer any questions you may have and to dispense the beer afterwards!

The first one was kept very small just to test the waters but we will be doing them on the First Friday of every month and from here on out we will be announcing these sessions on Twitter so follow us @nudeespresso.

If you have any questions you would like to ask me about the coffees we roast please feel free to email me roastery@nudeespresso.com

Richard Williams (Head Roaster) - 10/10/2012

 

 

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New coffees at nude:

The last two months has been a workout for my taste buds as all the new crop coffee samples pile into the roastery. Every year we expand our search in an attempt to bring you, our customers' better and better coffees.

Look out for the Ethiopia Sidamo Wottuna Operation Cherry Red (OCR).  This coffee is absolutely stunning: bergamot, orange peal, herbal aromatics, clean crisp acidity and a tea like mouth feel.

OCR is a program that invests resources and education into the Ethiopian coffee market in order to improve the quality of the coffee. Farmers are taught to pick only the ripest cherries. They are then sorted and processed separately and sold for a premium, which is then paid directly to the farmer. Programs such as OCR are beginning to produce real results both in terms of the flavor of the coffee produced but also in the lives of the farmers that make the effort to improve there practices. We are proud to be paying a premium for coffees that have such positive social implications.

Also on the menu over the coming months will be:

Panama La Esparenza: Clean, crisp, understated with a honey sweetness and malty finish

Colombia Narino: Green apple, citrus and cocoa with a bittersweet finish

We also have Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga and Tanzania Utengule on the way so make sure you keep an eye on the shelves at Hanbury Street and Soho Square!

By Richard Williams (Head Roaster) - 13/09/2012

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You can now get nude outside Soho Square:

 

You will be pleased to know that our outside seating has been approved and you are now able to enjoy coffee and brunch outside our cafe 19 Soho Sq. Get Nude Now ;-)

By Gerard - 31/07/2012

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Enjoy the Olympics at our Roastery Brick Lane:

 

Puma have set up camp in the carpark in front of our Roastery allowing you to watch the Olympics on the big screen whilst enjoying your delicious Nude coffee. There is plenty of activity every evening when the Puma social club kicks off from 7pm till late located in the Boiler House. Check  https://www.puma.com/news/get-in-on-the-action-register-for-puma-yard-london-tickets-updated for details.

By Gerard - 30/07/2012

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Spanish 2012 latte art champion:

Nude Espresso proudly took part in the 2012 Spanish barista championships with Miguel Lamora competing in the latte art competion with our 'east' espresso blend. The scoring was based on 25% taste and 75% visual. This gave us a huge advantage as we scored the highest on taste by a country mile! Thanks to the beautiful combination of your 'east' espresso blend and the organic pasteurized milk from a local farm called Granja el Prat, Miguel went on to win the competion. Congratulations Miguel!!!!

By Gerard - 31/05/2011

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London Coffee Festival Success

Nude was proud to be involved in the London Coffee Festival working with La Marzocco to raise money for Project Waterfall. Team Nude got the party started when they took centre stage on the artisan cafe stand with a 3hr session serving there signature Nude Spicy Martini that they created with Absolut Vodka. The day finished with Nude hosting a coffee festival party at there Roastery where cocktails, wine, beers and good tunes flowed on until the early hours!

By Gerard - 04/05/2012

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Bring back outside seating Nude Soho Square:

We are currently working hard with Westminster Council to
bring our outside seating back. We are pushing for our seating
plan to be finalized by the time summer rolls along. Hopefully
TFL will be finished digging up Soho Square for you to enjoy
the serenity of the Square over a delicious nude cup of coffee.

By Gerard - 28/03/2012

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Soho New Brunch Menu:

Wednesday-Sunday. We know that there are few places that do a good brunch on the weekend in Soho so we thought we'd break the mold and give our coffee lovers out west an inspired seasonal brunch menu to enjoy. Our weekend opening hours will come forward an hour and we will be ready to serve at 10am. Scrambled egg with bacon and French toast with cinnamon poached pear, vanilla marscapone and pistachio are two of our many delicious treats.

By Gerard - 15/03/2012

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Join us at the London Coffee Festival 27-29 April:

The London Coffee Festival is back! Once again this will be
hosted in the Old Truman Brewery right on the door step of our
Hanbury St café and Roastery just off Brick Lane. Nude Espresso
will be taking part in the event on Sat 28th April from 1pm, working
with La Marzocco on there artisan café stand pulling shots of
coffee and our signature espresso martinis. All proceeds will be
going to the project waterfall charity.

 

By Gerard - 09/03/2012

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Nude Supper 'Taste of Italy':

 

Nude put together another of there scrumptious and devine supper clubs last month and themed the evening as a "taste of Italy" night. Italian food was prepared by renowned chef Cameron Emirali and matched perfectly with the finest selection of Italian wines. The 5 course meal went on into the early hours of the next day.

By Gerard - 01/12/2011

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Absolut Roastery Dinner:

The cocktails were following when Nude recently hosted a dinner for Absolut Vodka. Nude's coffee roastery was transformed into a 24 person sit down restaurant serving a four course meal matched with wine.

By Gerard - 01/12/2011

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Guatemala Teanzul Cup of Excellence 2011:

Guatemala Teanzul was also voted one of SCAA's 'coffee of the year' winners 2011. This coffee is sensational. A sweet balenced cup with chocolate & caramel notes, good acidity & great aroma. Nude has a limited supply of this delicious coffee and we are sure it will fly out the door. 

By Gerard - 01/11/2011

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Nude Supper - 'Taste of Italy' Friday 04th Nov:

We are very excited to invite you to our Italian Supper at Nude Espresso, 26 Hanbury Street on Friday 4th November. Proceedings will start at 7.30 with canapes and bubbly, before sitting down to a 5-course Italian feast created by Cameron Emirali, the chef of the avant-garde restaurant the Wapping Project. The food will be paired with a selection of the finest wines Italy has to offer. Tickets will cost £65 each, and due to the limited space, they will be issued on a first-come, firstserve basis. We hope you can make what should be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.please contact Rich on 07804 223 590 or email: rich@nudeespresso.com Pssst... we will be hosting a 'taste of Spain' supper in early December.

By Gerard - 05/10/2011

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New Coffees at Nude: This week we take delivery of 4 new shipments of coffee. Kenya AA Tungua, Ethiopian Harrar, Ethiopian Sidamo and El Salvador El Borbollon. We plan to start roasting these coffees this Friday and will have them in store and available online early next week.

By Gerard - 14/09/2011

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Nude Roastery now open: Nude has opened its Roastery doors for the summer, giving customers first hand experience of the coffee they enjoy everyday being roasted in front of their very eyes!

Nude wants their customers to be informed about their coffee and to enjoy the sweet aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans.

The Roastery is south facing so its the perfect spot to relax and soak up the sunshine. 'Nude' deck chairs are coming soon!

By Gerard - 26/05/2011

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'east' goes west: Nude Espresso has now opened the doors to it's new espresso bar in the west end. Situated at 19 Soho Square, some of Nude's east boys and girls have headed west, to serve you the best!

Pop in and try some of our freshly roasted coffee and let your taste buds become inspired!

By Gerard - 23/05/2011

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Party time in E1: As one of the highlights of our involvement in UK Coffee week, Nude held a super evening drinks party at the roastery last night. Thanks to all those who came along to enjoy the Absolut Nude Espresso Martinis and Steiny Pures!

Welcome to a lavish London summer of Nude coffee and loveliness!

By Rich - 10/04/2011

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Nude Winter Feast: Many thanks to all who came to this superb evening, filled with food and colour. Guests enjoyed coffee cocktails, then a gourmet meal from our award winning chef, Cameron Emirali, whilst our guest artist created bespoke artworks for a grand auction (chaired by the fabulous Mr Gosney) of three iconic pieces, reflecting the evening's fare. Carriages left late!

 

By Gerard - 01/03/2011

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Nude Supper Clubs: New York Times quote: 'Most of the pop-ups and supper clubs are found in East London, a sprawling, diverse area with tidy row houses, art galleries and light industry.....Every season Nude Espresso, a small coffee bar just off Brick Lane, hosts a one-night-only meal cooked by Cameron Emirali, the chef of the avant-garde restaurant the Wapping Project.'

Through out the summer of 2011 Nude Espresso will be opening it's Roastery doors to coffee tastings and hosting various events. Keep an eye out and pop in from time to time to find out what will be happening to make this an amazing summer. 

By Rich - 18/02/2011

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Nude Espresso will soon open its new concept Espresso Bar in Soho Square. 

Times are changing and Nude wants to bring its great sense of style and freshly roasted espresso and singe origin coffees to a small pocket of London devoid of decent coffee. Nude will create an environment thats ideal for drinking espresso and pour over filter coffee. We hope this will give us a chance to further educate our customers on our taste profiles and the traceability of our green bean. This will be an environment that coffee lovers can feast in.

By Gerard - 13/02/2011