… in coffee, people!
I have been thinking about ‘body’ in coffee - both espresso and brewed - a fair bit lately. I find it rather difficult to pin down, and I often feel as though I use descriptors that are not necessarily appropriate.
I read a rather interesting article on body and corpo in espresso last night, and have been pondering an experiment to help me get my head around it all. I’m thinking a whole variety of coffees, several grinders (to make life a little easier), nose-clips, some slightly coffee-obsessive friends, and a gun barista who can pull super consistent shots … hmm … evaluate both espresso coffee and cupping traditionally.
Will it achieve anything? Dunno, but it seems like fun …
Just found a mouthfeel wheel for red wine that I need to have a good look at as well …
Hmm …. body … corpo … mouthfeel … texture …
“easier to recognise than to define” (from that pdf on body- I think so, but lately I’ve been questioning my recognition of body in coffee. I think I’ve been generally describing body as most others would, but I’m not sure ‘most others’ know what body necessarily is. Does everyone use the olfactory senses in evaluating body and/or just viscosity and/or depth of flavour and/or….? Even from the wealth of knowledge down at the Palate training in Melbourne I didn’t get any blanket statements from people. I think the evaluation of body ‘may’ differ in regards to espresso and filter etc. Just gonna throw that one out there. I reckon I’m probably stretching the boundaries of body there and maybe falling into balance of flavours, so yeah…hmm…. that Italian word “corpo” to describe “pure tactile sensation elicted by physico-chemical properties” helps.
Can you describe the body of a coffee, more so espresso, without putting it in your mouth, but just swirling it around a demitasse and seeing how well it coats the walls?
Oh and for the experiment - I’m in. I’ll bring toys.
Dan - re: just swirling it … I reckon you could describe viscosity from that, not sure about body or corpo.
The article picked up on six ways ‘texture’ is described in coffee, ie:
a) viscosity
b) feel on soft-tissue surfaces
c) Substance-related descriptors
d) coating of oral cavity
e) resistance to tongue movement
f) afterfeel-mouth descriptors
So I’d reckon the only one you can look at with out sticking it in your mouth is viscosity ..?
It’d be ‘corpo’ you could analyse a bit with a nose-peg - that is purely the tactile sensations present, as you’d be eliminating ‘flavour’ pretty well by stopping yourself from being able to smell …
I’ve really no idea what I’m talking about here actually. Still, we should just do some experimenting and see what we learn …
And I reckon you’re right, ‘body’ would be very different in espresso as in brewed coffee … but still …
Dear Michelle, i am after some advice regarding the giotto machine, i am a customer of Dennis at cuppacoffee and have just purchased a rocket giotto premium plus(i realise your machine is a giotto premium) and am trying to get my head around flushing and dosing etc.
I find that if i perform a minimal flush (which is suggested) the resultant espresso is quite hot, watery, lacks body, not overly bitter but much hotter than i am used to. I do notice that the water sputters out of the shower screen for quite a few seconds when first pulling the lever… that seems to suggest to me to flush. Do you flush and for how long (i realise this question sounds inappropriate)?
In regards to dose Chris from talk coffee suggested 20plus grams but i am finding it mashes the puck against the showerscreen , Do you have a starting point when it comes to dose (i have a nuovo simonelli grinter grinder which is flat blade, 50mm, doserless and clumps like dog so i weigh them and use a kind of weiss distribution technique to get the best result)? Is headspace important in the giotto
Thanks again for your help
PS in the past i have ordered coffee from Neil at ministry grounds and that is how i stumbled across your website/blog
cheers kent
Hi Kent,
I’ll shoot you an email, but briefly…
re: flushing - if a long flush yields a better result, then do it! I do flush, more out of habit than anything, though I’ve never timed it. Before I had my machine tricked out (I’d suspect yours came ‘pimped’), I used to flush until it stopped spluttering.
Hmm, 20+ grams is way higher than I dose. I don’t dose by weight though. I’m a volume girl
I think I stick to around 17-18gm, though I do occasionally down-dose significantly (14ish gm) depending on the bean I’m playing with. To my mind, updosing that high is going to jam it against the shower screen whilst it’s still dry and result in channelling.
Hmm … Dan, feel free to chip in, you know more about this stuff than me …
Michelle thanks for the quick response… you have confirmed some suspicions about flushing and i’ll change my dosing… i’m sure i’ll have more questions/issues in the future if you don’t mind me asking…
cheers kent
No problem at all Kent!