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BARISTA is an expert in making espresso and other speciality coffee using an espresso machine. We supply full Barista training with any espresso machines we sell, and on request any of our customers can receive the benefit of Pennine's staff expertise for setting up grinders and espresso machines as well as instructions for making drinks.  |
| How do your drinks look? See the perfect espresso extraction & latte presentation |
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Where do you start when training the perfect Barista? Possibly the first step is to acknowledge that there is no such thing as 'perfect', but a high level of skill and ability can be achieved through practise, knowledge and commitment. Before training can be considered it is neccesary to choose the staff who will operate your equipment carefully, they must be self motivated, friendly and commited to making great drinks all of the time. The biggest failure in the UK speciality coffee market at present is not due to the equipment used, not even the coffee in the grinder (although good coffee does help a great deal). Instead the fault lies with disintrested staff who have had little or no real training, making them even more disintrested. To make a great Cappuccino you need to want it to be great, if you are not bothered then the drinks produced will be inconsistent and lack the quality your customers demand. |
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We can't choose your staff for you, but we can help motivate them to make fantastic drinks for you. This is why Pennine training staff not only have certificates from Lavazza UK's training centre to show they have undergone comprehensive training in the fine art of making espresso and cappuccino, but they have years of experience from supplying and installing espresso machines which has fine tuned these skills. Now our customers receive comprehensive guidance on setting up their equipment, maintaining it to keep drinks consistent and staff training for espresso, cappuccino's, artistic lattes, decadent mochas and fantastic flavoured drinks (ie cinnamon roll latte!)
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Espresso Machine cleaning and use tips |
Espresso Presentation Tips
How do your drinks look? See the perfect
espresso
extraction & latte
presentation Picture guide to espresso, cappuccino & latte
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Know your latte from you Macchiato
Know your espresso
based drinks with this guide
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Solve you espresso machine problems with this guide Still having problems, go to our quick reference diagnostic page now!
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Equipment
The most important part of your speciality coffee setup, but worth very little if it is not set up correctly. It is a common misconception that to make the best drinks the most expensive or best known brand of espresso machine needs to be purchased, this is false because even the best equipment money can buy will not produce a quality espresso if it has not been set up correctly - before staff training is even considered. So how should you set up your espresso equipment?
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The grinder - Grind setting is fundamentaly important, too coarse and your espresso will underextract rushing into the cup in a great deal less then the correct time of between 20 and 25 seconds per 1 floz. Your exact extraction time will depend on the coffee bean blend used, it's proportion of Arabica to Robusta and the component bean origins. Too fine a grind and overextraction will occur, the tightly packed fine coffee grains make it hard for the water to pass through the coffee, your espresso will drip into the cup and take over a minute! Even if you don't time the extraction it is easy to spot a bad espresso - by looking at the 'crema' (creamy golden brown head that should be on every espresso). A thin or non-existant crema indicates a too coarse grind and far too quick extraction, a very dark crema indicates too fine a grind causing a slow extraction. Ideally you should have a creamy brown crema which clings to the side of the cup lazily during drinking. It should hold a teaspoon of sugar on top for a short while as well. However the quality of crema is influenced by the quality of espresso coffee bean - so don't expect miracles if you use cheap beans! Indeed the extraction time given above varies so much - from 20 to 25 seconds per 1 floz, because your optimum extraction depends on the espresso blend you use and it's Arabica to Robusta component ratio. You must find the optimum extraction using your own taste skills, the "crema" quality (it should be light to medium brown, dark brown and speckled indicates an overextraction) and what your own experience says is right. Remember as you try to find your optimum, one notch adjustment to finer or coarser on your grinder will change your extraction by 5 seconds slower or faster respectively. The doser of your grinder should be set up to dispense between 7 and 7.5 grams of ground coffee per lever pull. The other very important part of your grinder is your grinding disks, which may need replacing if you start to find even your fine grind seems coarse or unevenly ground. Routine care of grinders involves cleaning the bean hopper regularly with a soft cloft, and using a soft bristled brush to clean the inside of the ground coffee chamber. After opening your kilo of coffee beans, only put enough in your hopper to last you a few hours (if you don't get really busy!), then fold the bag down concertina fashion and keep sealed down with tape or an elastic band. |
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The espresso machine - Essential to your operation, a big investment for any business, yet still so often abused when just a little care would make all the difference. Just try and remember how many times you have seen an espresso machine with steam arms caked in caramelised milk and stained filter holders which leak coffee from around the group as well as the spout. Did it put you in the mood for a cappuccino?
Filter pans (left) stain quickly, seperate nightly from the filter holder and soak in water. Once a week seperate from the filter holders and soak in an espresso cleaner. Oil build up (near left) will taint the flavour of your drink. .
. Filter holders are far too commonly found in the far right state, and if you never bother to seperate the pans from the holder you may never notice how bad they look. Compare the regularly cleaned holder near right, the dark build up visible is caused by oils and tannins extracted from the coffee. A build up like this will taint the taste and quality of the espresso produced. Maybe that few minutes each night is worth it! . . . . Soaking holders like this is all it takes to keep them clean and your drinks as their best. Note that when you use cleaning solution the plastic handles should be kept above the waterline to stop damage to the plastic. . . . .
You will never see the diffusers pictured right because they reside in the group of your espresso machine. However, backflush with the blank filter plate every night and the build up seen near right will be reduced consderabley. To backflush you need to remove a filter pan from any filter handle, insert the blank plate (no holes!) and then replace the filter holder into the group. Run the group for around 14 seconds then switch off. Remove the holder and you will see ground coffee in the blank plate, this has been flushed off the diffusers. Repeat this process three times, or until no more grinds appear in the blank plate. . Gaskets hide in the group head as well, and although you may not see them they are prone to wear. To reduce this we reccomend you wipe the top of your filter holder after tamping the coffee in it to remove stray grinds. Near left is a new diffuser, compare with the heat shrunken holders on the far left. You can just make out the burnt in line as well, stray grinds on the filter holder burn into the gasket reducing it's sealing properties. A worn gasket will let coffee leak from the top of the filter holder when espresso is being extracted. . Still having problems, go to our quick reference diagnostic page now! Steam Arms - Cleaning steam arms is essential to make good cappuccino, a build up of caramalised milk on your espresso machine steam arms looks very bad to your customers and it will impair the steaming and foaming ability of your machine. Wipe the steam arm with a damp cloth after foaming milk, and each night soak it in a cup of water to help remove any stubborn build up. Cleaning with an abrasive pad will damage the steam arm leaving it discoloured. So now you have your machine clean and well maintained, what are the factors that will make your perfect espresso?
For cappuccino your milk should be steamed in a stainless steel frothing jug, with the milk held at a slight angle and the steam wand jets held just under the milks surface. As the foam develops, lower the foaming jug so the steam jets remain just below the surface of the foam. If you are measuring temperature by hand stop steaming when you can no longer hold the side of your foaming container. If you use a thermometer stop steaming at 150 degrees fareinheit for cappuccino, or 160 degrees fareinheit for latte. Over 180 degrees fareinheit will burn the milk making it useless. If you obtain sufficient foam prior to these temperatures, lower the steam wand to the base of the milk container to complete steaming. Wipe your steam arm after steaming to stop a caramalised build up. This will not only look a lot better for your customers, but will also help prevent health issues (bacteria will also build up with the old milk, and could result in Diahorrea for your customers). |
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