We’re all going on a coffee hunt.
I’m not scared.
What a beautiful day.
I was invited to attend a tour of the Jamaica Blue Roastery here in Melbourne. Led by World latte Judge Jeremy Regan. Jeremy has been traveling the world sourcing and selling coffee on behalf of Jamaica Blue for more than 18 years. To use his own words, he discovered early on in his career that he had “rather a good palate” when it came to coffee. He also has quite a passion for it and it was a delight to hear him talk about the why he thinks coffee holds a rather important place in our lives as a way to draw people together through ritual and community.
To an old man a cup of coffee is like the door post of an old house — it sustains and strengthens him.
Here in Australian we drink more than 3kg of coffee per person per year. For many of us it is part of our personal ritual and it helps create important daily moments of reflection and indulgence. The day never looks so promising as when we sit with that first hot cup of creamy coffee in our hands.
Jeremy took us on a tour of the Jamaica Blue coffee roastery and we saw the process the humble little coffee beans get through from when it first hits out shores, to when it arrives at a Jamaica Blue cafe.
Sort, clean, cupp, roast, degas, package, rest.
And they’re off.
An essential part of the coffee roasting process is patience and rest as the little brown bean needs time to degas. If time is not allowed for this then the end product will be too sour and it will not work well with the milk used to accompany it.
Rest little bean, rest.
Jamaica Blue sources their coffee beans from farmers in 6 different regions including East Timor and Brazil and Jeremy travels regularly to meet with farmers and owners of these co ops.
We also had the privilege of being involved in a mini barista class.
It was interesting to hear that often when tasting the beans at a co-op, the coffee is often roasted simply in a pan over an open fire and is served with lots and lots of sugar in order to sweeten up that coffee taste that we tend to love here in Melbourne.
So much of what we find to be a “good coffee” or good taste in general comes to us not just through our taste buds but also through our memories, our culture and our history.
So it is that in inner city Melbourne your coffee will come to you served less than scorchingly hot, in order to preserve the flavor of the milk.
But however you like your morning brew (I prefer to let my AeroPress work its magic, Jeremy likes his V60) there were still some great tips that I picked up on.
- Keep your milk at around 60-65 degrees celsius to ensure you don’t burn it.
- The texture of well-heated milk will be like glossy paint
- When frothing the milk with a espresso machine, the attachment should be “pecking the milk and not French kissing.”
- Ligh,t air, moisture and heat are enemies of fresh coffee so don’t store it in the freezer!
This month is caffeine appreciation month so show your coffee some love and maybe indulge in an extra cup or two to celebrate.
To find out more, visit www.jamaicablue.com.au
