July 21st, 2010
Several months ago I wrote a blog about how I brew coffee at home. The coffee makers I use are not automatic; I grind the coffee beans, boil water in a kettle on the stove, pour it over the coffee grounds and enjoy. But that’s me, that’s how I like to make coffee. Not everyone wants to stand over the stove first thing in the morning, bleary eyed, waiting for water to boil. Most people want to walk into the kitchen, throw coffee into the brew basket, fill up the coffee maker with water, turn it on and jump in the shower.
Automatic home brewers come in all shapes and sizes; what you decide to purchase is a personal choice. Most automatic home coffee brewers make about the same quality cup.
So what can you do to ensure you get the most out of your automatic brewer?
1. Purchase whole bean coffee and grind just before brewing. Only buy what you will use in a week. This is the single most important part of making a great cup, no matter how you brew it. Fresh is always best!
2. It would seem I shouldn’t have to say this but… USE FRESH FILTERED WATER!
3. Clean your carafe and brew basket regularly. Coffee oils attach to plastic quite easily. These oils will sour and that taste will be passed into your cup. Use small amounts of mild soap and a brush or pot scrubber to get into the nooks and crannies. Rinse well and then rinse some more. Also wash the carafe and rinse; do this at least twice a week. On the other five days, rinse both pieces with hot water. The key here is to use small amounts of mild soap, something with little or no fragrance. You don’t want your next pot of coffee tasting like Dawn or Palmolive!
4. Monthly, you should clean the the “inside” of the coffee maker. Hard water deposits can build up inside the heat exchanger. This is the area the water flows through to get heated. Combine in your coffee pot a mix of 1 part white vinegar to two parts cold water. Pour into the reservoir, place the carafe under the brew basket and turn on the brewer. Allow the mixture to pass completely through the coffee maker and discard down the drain. To rinse, let the brewer cool for 30 minutes before pouring in another pot of fresh cold water and brewing. Repeat the cold water rinse again to ensure none of the vinegar/water solution is left inside. If you been using your coffee maker for years without doing this procedure, you may have to repeat this cleaning process. Doing this once a month will keep the guts free of mineral deposits and it will ensure the machine continues to heat efficiently.
By following these tips, your automatic coffee maker will give you a great tasting cup and years of reliable service.
Tags: automatic coffee machines, crimson cup, home coffee brewing
Posted in News from CrimsonCup Worldwide Headquarters, On the Road with Ablend | 1 Comment »
June 7th, 2010
30 years ago when I was first starting out in the coffee biz I used to pound the espressos. Drinking 10 to 15 single shots a day was the norm. I wasn’t doing it for the buzz; I truly love the taste of a perfectly extracted espresso. As I’ve gotten older my metabolism has changed and I’ve discovered I should not have caffeine after 3pm. I’ve tried switching to decaf after 3pm but I just can’t get myself to drink decaf espresso even though we sell some of the best decaf available. I think it’s a psychological thing with me.
As I’ve traveled around the U.S. training new coffee shops a question I am frequently asked is, “So how much caffeine really is in espresso?” First we must learn a little about how caffeine gets into your cup. Caffeine is a water soluble crystal that is easily removed from ground coffee when contacted with water. The longer water is in contact with coffee the more gets into your cup. For example, to brew a 64 ounce pot of coffee, you should use 4 ounces of ground coffee. 64 ounces of water takes about 5 minutes to pass through the coffee grounds and into your airpot. In those 5 minutes about 869 to 1410 mg of caffeine will wind up in your airpot. This means a 12 ounce cup of drip coffee will have between 168 mg and 264 mg of caffeine. As a comparison, a 12 ounce can of Classic Coca Cola® has 34 mg of caffeine and an 8 ounce can of Red Bull has a whopping 80 mg!
Espresso by contrast is traditionally consumed in small quantities. A single shot should be 1.5 ounces and a double 3 ounces. 3 ounces of espresso requires about 17 grams of finely ground espresso and is brewed in 22 to 27 seconds.The amount of caffeine that ends up in your cup, ounce for ounce is greater than in drip coffee, about 100 mg per ounce. Therefore, A 16 ounce caffe latte will have about 300 mg of caffeine. So, how much caffeine do I drink? I have no more than 3 single shots (450 mg) a day and that is all my body can take. Remember, everyone reacts differently to caffeine and other stimulants because our metabolisms are different. Mine says to me, “If you want to stay up till 3 in the morning, let’s go pull another shot!”
By Armando, Crimson Cup’s Chief Espresso officer.
Tags: armando, caffeine, coffee, espresso
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May 21st, 2010
Through the 30 years I’ve been in the coffee business, I know darn well there is more to a caffe latte or a great tasting cappuccino then just coffee, milk, and syrups. All of these ingredients must be high quality, they must blend well together, and they must stand out to a customer. So to give you 
an insight into how we take ordinary coffee drinks to extraordinary I’m going to write a blog on each of the most important ingredients in your favorite coffee drinks: milk, coffee, and syrup. Today’s post will focus on our syrups & sauces.
Our Syrups & Sauces
Our syrups and sauces have been chosen to compliment the delicate taste of our espresso blend. Flavor syrups with to much citric acid will cause milk to curdle; this was a problem during the late 80’s when syrup companies began testing the waters of the business. Proper amounts of syrups in our drinks create a balance between syrup, espresso and milk for a smooth and pleasing combination. Neither flavor overpowers the other.
Our chocolate, white chocolate and caramel sauces are Crimson Cups’ own formulation. We developed these sauces with one of the top food technology companies in the world. Last year, after four years of development, we released our white and caramel sauces. After a few false starts and five visits to two different labs in two different states and countless sensory panel tests we finally found the flavor profile we set out to achieve. The white sauce had to be just right as it’s the main ingredient in our famous signature drink, The Crimson Cup Mocha.
So while it may seem simple to choose a syrup or sauce when you are placing your drink order in actuality there is a lot of work that we put into making sure the syrup or sauce in your drink is the best on the market. For more information on any of our products visit our website: www.crimsoncup.com.
By Armando, Crimson Cup’s Chief Espresso Officer.
Tags: armando, baristas, buy local, coffee, coffee house, coffee shop franchises, franchise coffee shops, own a coffee shop, running a coffee shop, sauces, syrups
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April 23rd, 2010
Through the 30 years I’ve been in the coffee business, I know darn well there is more to a caffe latte or a great tasting cappuccino then just coffee, milk, and syrups. All of these ingredients must be high quality, they must blend well together, and they must stand out to a customer. So to give you an insight into how we take ordinary coffee drinks to extraordinary I’m going to write a blog on each of the most important ingredients in your favorite coffee drinks: milk, coffee, and syrup. We’ll start with the milk.
The Milk
While on my trips around the country training new coffeehouse owners, I am asked time and again, why do we need to order 10 cases of milk? My reply is: coffeehouses sell more milk than coffee. For example, a 16 oz caffe latte only has 3 ounces of espresso, an ounce or so of syrup and the rest is milk. This means milk is roughly 12 ounces of your drink!
Only recently has the coffee industry paid more attention to the quality of milk going into drinks. Not many realize the milk in our caffe lattes is a great source of vitamin D, calcium and smaller amounts of vitamin A. At Crimson Cup Coffeehouse we use Trauth Dairy milk from Newport Kentucky. Why do we bother bringing milk all the way from Kentucky? It’s because Trauth is a dairy plant with higher quality standards than the state requires. They are a certified rBGH-free (recombinant bovine growth hormone) dairy plant. We receive shipments from Kentucky twice a week.
So while milk may not seem that important, to us it’s one of the most crucial ingredients in our coffee drinks. We take many steps to ensure we have top of the line products and milk is just one factor. Next time I’ll cover our sauces and syrups.
For more information on any of our products visit our website at www.crimsoncup.com
by Armando, our CEO (Chief Espresso Officer).
Tags: armando, cappuccino, coffee, coffee roasting, coffee shop supplier, coffee shop supplies, coffeehouse, latte, milk, running a coffee shop, sauces, syrups
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