The Coffee Drinker's Guide – Details, episodes & analysis

There is more to coffee than just its roast level and in this episode we are taking a look at the many different types of coffee that are out there and why it's useful to know your type. This week’s FACQ lifts the lid on ‘Heirloom’ coffees.

Videos showing the cupping method:
The method https://www.instagram.com/reel/CCDaoMYhYik/
The process https://www.instagram.com/reel/CWqNy7mj6bx/

Photos:
Aftermath of a cupping session https://www.instagram.com/p/CAfLZ4UhvAq/?img_index=1
Professional cupping session https://www.instagram.com/p/CAseIQGBzil/?img_index=1

Species of coffee:
Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa, Liberica, Stenophylla

Examples of Arabica coffee varieties:
Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra, Geisha or Gesha, Maragogype, Pacamara, Ruiru11, SL28, Typica, Villa Sarchi, Mundo Novo

For many more examples of Arabica varieties check out: the World Coffee Research coffee varieties catalog (https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/arabica/varieties)

Types of coffee by shape of coffee bean:
Peaberry
Elephant ear

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Welcome to the first episode of Season 3! In Seasons 1 and 2 we explored some key influences on the taste of your coffee for better - and worse! Now its time to use that knowledge to help you up your coffee game without breaking the bank. Yes, its true, you really don’t have to spend a fortune on coffee and coffee paraphernalia to be able to drink better coffee. To that end in this week’s FACQ we circle back to the question of using the (relatively inexpensive) spice grinder to grind coffee.

Suggested episodes to listen to:

On brewing variables:
* The Impact Of Brewing Water Temperature On Coffee on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify Podcasts
* Grind Size Matters on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify Podcasts
* The Surprising Impact Of This Overlooked Brewing Variable on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify Podcasts
* Put Down The Scoop And Get Out The Scales! on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify Podcasts

Other useful episodes:
* When Was Your Coffee Roasted? on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify Podcasts
* Why Arabica Is So Special To Specialty Coffee on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify Podcasts
* The Daily Grind(er) on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify Podcasts

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In this episode we’re exploring the topic of defective coffee beans which are beans with problems that make them taste bad. What exactly is defective coffee and how can you tell if you are unfortunate enough to be drinking a cup of it? All will be revealed along with the importance of defective beans in defining the quality of a coffee. This week’s FACQ asks the crucial question of how to avoid buying defective coffee.

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The word ‘acidity’ doesn’t sound particularly pleasing, especially as its so often associated with indigestion. So you might be surprised to discover that in the Specialty Coffee world acidity in coffee is both desirable and prized. In this episode we take a deep dive into acidity in coffee and find that it is about much more than just pH levels. That said, in this week’s FACQ we discover the actual pH of coffee and how it relates to other drinks. Is coffee more acidic than Coca Cola? Listen to find out!

The Academics of Acid in Coffee  is a readable article on coffee acidity by Five Senses Coffee in Australia. (https://fivesenses.com.au/blogs/news/academics-acid-coffee/)

Check out Season 1, Episode 1 on brewing water temperature and its influence on the acidity in coffee:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify Podcasts
On the Blue Sky Coffee website

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Ever wondered about the significance of the word ‘Arabica’ on your coffee packet? In this episode we take a look at why Specialty Coffee is all about Arabica  and why Arabica coffee is so special. This week’s FACQ wonders where the plant came from in the first place and how it rose to dominate the coffee world. 

Check out the Robusta episode from Season 1 here:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify Podcast
On the Blue Sky Coffee website

Check out the coffee brewing equipment episode here:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify Podcast
On the Blue Sky Coffee website

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Did you know that the flavour of your coffee is influenced by the way that you brew it and especially the brewer that you use? Perhaps more mind blowing is that despite the many and various types of brewing kit available on the market there are actually only two basic methods of brewing coffee. This episode takes a look at the range of coffee brewing kit out there and how your choice of brewer may be affecting your coffee experience. This week’s FACQ tackles the question of the best way to brew coffee - and the answer may surprise you.

Coffee brewers by brewing method:

Immersion (the grounds are submerged in water)
Cafetiere, (also called a plunger or French press)
Cold brewers (e.g. the Toddy brewer)
Ibrik or cezve (also called Turkish coffee)

Percolation (water passes throughout the grounds)
Filter cone (also called drip or pour-over:  V60, Kalita Wave and Chemex)
Stovetop espresso brewer (also called moka pot or Bialetti) 
Espresso machines, including coffee pod machines

Hybrid brewers (these use immersion to extract the coffee then pass the liquid through a filter) 
Aeropress 
Clever dripper and Hario Switch brewer (basically the same thing but different brands)
Vacuum brewers (e.g. Siphon or Cona)

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Welcome to Season 2! This season we will be exploring various - potentially surprising - things that affect the flavour of your coffee. In this first episode of the new season we return to the topic of water. In Season 1, Episode 1, we covered the influence of the temperature of your brewing water on coffee extraction. This time it's all about the quality of the water that you brew with as the minerals, metals and salts in water not only affect its taste but also influence the extraction of the coffee too. This week’s FACQ tackles the best water for brewing coffee at home.

Check out Season 1, Episode 1 on brewing water temperature to complete the lowdown on brewing water:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify Podcasts
On the Blue Sky Coffee website

Bottled water:
Some numbers to use as a guide when buying bottled water to brew coffee with:

Magnesium levels of 3.5 - 8mg/l
Calcium levels of 12mg/l
Bicarbonate levels below 75mg/l. (Bicarbonate levels above this will flatten and mute fruit flavours, but increase the mouthfeel which is often seen as positive.)
pH: water that is slightly acidic, in the range of pH6 to pH7 produces coffees which have a bright, pleasing flavour.

Water filters:
Home water filter systems tend to focus on removing limescale and chlorine from the water but don't necessarily balance out the minerals in it, so may still produce poor tasting coffee. It may be worth trying out filter systems that add magnesium to the water as this can improve the coffee’s sweetness and balance.

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It's the season finale! In the last episode for this season we find out why that great coffee you just had was in fact a miracle in a cup. Discover just what had to go right all along the way from coffee bush to cup so that you could have a moment with your coffee. This week’s FACQ answers the frustrating question of why it is that when you find a good coffee it’s never there when you go back for it again.

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It’s time to tackle coffee blends. Did you know that while all coffee blends are coffees not all coffees are blends? In this episode we explore this distinction, why it’s important and what it means to you as a consumer. This week’s FACQ wonders just how many different coffees you can find in a blend.

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Specialty coffee is all about the beans from the Arabica coffee plant which are complex and varied in flavour. But there is another coffee species called Robusta, widely used in cheap, high volume coffee products, which is potentially more resilient than Arabica to the threats posed to coffee production by global climate change. As the future of coffee may well lie with Robusta this episode takes a deep dive into its current situation - where it grows, what it tastes like and in this week’s FACQ, what your options are for tracking down Robusta coffee to try for yourself.

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