Specialty Coffee
You may all ready know something about specialty coffee, especially if you enjoy a cup of real coffee as opposed to the instant variety that many people drink daily. You will know, all ready that real coffee is infinitely better than instant, and probably know that there are different varieties and blends of coffee, each with their own characteristics.
Certain characteristics are evident from beans grown in certain parts of the world, for example, coffees from Africa and Arabia tend to vary in intensity but often have fruity or floral elements.
American coffees are mainly light to medium bodied with a clean finish, and are consistent in balance, and hence used in outlets like Starbucks to create popular blends. Coffees from Asia and the Pacific tend to be full bodied, rich, dark, and earthy.
Other names to look out for are India Monsoon Malabar, Swiss Water Java, Papua Sigri Estate, Kopi Luwaka, and Columbia la Manuela Supremo – exotic names with exotic flavours.
Coffee can also vary in taste quite considerably depending on how it is prepared. How fine the beans are ground, and how the essence is extracted, can affect the result. This leads to many different coffees with individual personalities served in different coffee houses and restaurants around the world. Turkish coffee, for example is derived from Arabica beans and ground very fine. It sometimes has the spice, cardamom added, and is thick, sweet, and intense.
The Italians have a way with coffee – in fact they have several ways. The Italians are believed to have invented the first machines to extract the best from coffee beans by using steam under pressure, and modern espresso machines can deliver coffee of varying type with the addition of a foaming facility. Coffee produced by live steam extraction is known as an espresso, and is strong and full of flavour. The brew is controlled by machine to take the optimum time and deliver the best result.
The espresso is a superb after dinner coffee, and it also serves as the basis for several variations. A popular one is the cappuccino, which has a frothy milk topping flavoured with cocoa powder and finished off with a sprinkle of cocoa powder or grated, dark chocolate.
A cafe latte is similar, but is usually milkier and less foamy. The cafe mocha has itself several variations, but is usually served as a latte or cappuccino with chocolate syrup or hot cocoa. An Americano is diluted with a little hot water after brewing. The macchiato is an espresso with an added dollop of foam over it. Espresso coffee can also be served cold as a cafe fredo, iced cappuccino, or espresso granita.
The really adult version of the espresso is the correto, (“corrected”), with an added shot of spirit, usually grappa or brandy. Coffee is also sometimes served with added liqueur, usually in a special glass, and often with whipped cream and sugar. The added spirit might be Scotch or Irish whisky, brandy, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, schnapps, Tia Maria, rum, Cointreau, or almost any other you can think of, depending where you are in the world.
In Corfu, for example, you might be offered a Koum Quat coffee, which is Greek coffee with added orange liqueur. The Greeks are also fond of iced coffee, but usually use only instant coffee in their café frappe, possibly because it is less trouble to make!
Another whole are of specialty coffee is that of flavored coffees, presumably for people who have exhausted the range of natural coffee varieties. You can get coffee blended with fruit flavours such as raspberry, peach, orange, apricot, as well as other rare and exotic combinations like rose, vanilla, chocolate, praline, and banana nut.
The enjoyment of specialty coffee is like the appreciation of fine wine – not something that is immediately apparent to everyone. For those who take the trouble to seek out and try the many varieties of specialty coffee, though, there is a world of very special enjoyment to explore.
