TED Talk and Results

In order to see my final results, stay tuned for my TED Talk, which will be released soon.

Blog #14: Final Thoughts

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Throughout this project, I have learned a lot. Over the course of the project, I have taken a deep dive into how to make espresso drinks, and the many of the "whys" regarding espresso. I have also learned how to photograph non-human subjects, which is super useful for everyday life. This project has also taught me some lessons. One being that not everything is as easy as it seems. This is something that I knew, but not something that I have exactly experienced.

Reflection

I'm really glad that this is the topic that I did my project over. Not only was I able to partake in my passions as schoolwork, but I was able to spend time to improve in something that I would have needed to anyways: coffee. I make coffee almost everyday, so it was important for me to "master my craft" and always improve. Photography is also something that can be a good side job in the future. If you have followed along since the beginning, thank you. I will be posting a video of my TED Talk presentation soon, where I showcase the final products.

Blog #13: A Change in Perspective

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At the beginning of this project, I was fairly confident in my attempts to create latte art. When watching videos or going to coffee shops, the baristas made it look so easy. It could be that I am using an espresso machine that is designed for at home use, but I could not properly get a good consistency for latte art with my milk. It had the perfect amount of foam and frothiness, but was never the right texture, nor had the consistency, to create latte art. Therefore, instead of trying to capture the art itself, I moved to capture different types of coffee drinks, whether they be cold or hot, have milk or are milkless, or fall into any other category.

Reflection

As seen in Blog #11, I have captured a cold brew with cream. This is one example of what I will be showcasing in my TED Talk later in the project. I think that, although this was not the original project idea, this will end in a better end-result and will do a better job of educating people on the inner workings of coffee.

Blog #12: Goal 4 Summary

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My 4th goal in this project was to combine everything that I have learned into one. That would be learning how to properly create an espresso drink (pulling a shot of espresso, steaming milk, etc.), creating latte art, photographing non-human subjects, and then photographing the final product. In my previous posts, I go into detail on all of these steps and processes.

Reflection

My initial thought process when going into the 4th part of this project is weary. Although I have mastered most of the steps, not being able to do latte art is a big issue, so I hope that I can still find a way to fully complete my project to the level that I wanted. Even though the project has to change slightly, I think that it will overall still be really good!

Blog #10: Photographing People

Blog #8: Before We Start Shooting

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Before we start shooting items that are not people, I want to talk about the basic camera controls that you need to know in order to create a properly exposed photograph. There are three main settings that you need to be aware of in order to work a camera: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The aperture is how much light is let into the camera from the lens. This also affects the bokeh, or how much of a blurry background you get. The next factor is the shutter speed. The shutter speed is how long the light is allowed to touch the camera's sensor. This also affects how much motion the camera measures. If you are capturing a high speed object, you'll want to use a high shutter speed so that you can freeze the image. The final factor is ISO. ISO is the amount of artificial light added in order to compensate for low lighting conditions.

Blog #5: Steaming the Milk, but Making It Look Good

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Steaming milk is the hardest part in making an espresso-based drink that contains coffee and milk, in my opinion. When brewing a shot of espresso, the machine does almost everything for you. After initially dialing in all of the setting in your machine, your espresso is pretty much set. The same thing can't be said for milk, on the other hand. While some machines have automatic frothing, most do not, and when they do, they don't perform that great. Check out Blog Post #3, where I explain how to steam milk. When talking about creating latte art, it is extremely important to get the correct amount and sizes of the bubbles in your foam. This is what is called microfoam, where there are a lot of really tiny bubbles in your milk. Not only does this create a smoother experience, it allows you to pour the milk easier and creates finer lines and more accurate detail.

Reflection

Kind of going off of what I said in the reflection of my last blog post, but it is truly important that all steps are correct and accurate. If you don't foam milk properly, such as creating clumps of foam or only foaming the top, it will create an undesirable drink. Undesirable both in the way that it tastes and the aesthetics, which makes for an overall, bad drink. Even if you don't need the foam to create latte art, you still want it to taste goods.

Blog #4: Brewing the Espresso, but Making It Look Good

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When you think of espresso, or black coffee in general, you probably don't imagine the visual aspect to it. I didn't either, but when researching, I realized that it does matter. A shot of espresso has something called crema or a frothy, foam like texture on the top. This is a result of all of the pressure that the water gets pushed through in order to brew the espresso. Most of the time, this is a light brown - orange color. The reason why this matters visually is when you attempt to make latte art, the crema is what differentiates the colors in latte art. When adding a design to your coffees, you create the design with the milk and the crema acts as a background, much like a black pen to a white piece of paper.

Reflection

My reflection for this post is the realization that every step does matter. When you make a standard drip coffee, you don't worry or pay attention to the process that goes on. You add your water and coffee with non-exact measurements and go on your merry way. However with espresso, due to the amount of error that can go on, it is important to understand each individual element, why each step is important, and how they all work together to make something great.

Blog #3: Brewing Espresso and Steaming Milk

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It's time to start crafting these beverages. There some mild preparation needed, but nothing much. The first thing to do is turn your machine on so that it can heat up. The Breville Barista Pro heats up internally in three seconds, but we still need to heat up the portafilter and out mug/glass. The reason we do this is so that there are no issues with the coffee not reaching the proper temperature while brewing and so that when the coffee hits the mug/glass, it does not chill down. We can achieve this by placing our portafilter in the machine, and with our cup under the portafilter, we can push the start button to commence the shot. While that is going, we can pour our milk into our pitcher. For this specific glass that we are using, we can fill it up to the 8oz line. After the water is done we can empty out the cup, remove and drain the portafilter, and wipe it dry. After it's dry, I am going to place my funnel on the portafilter so coffee doesn't spill out of the portafilter. Then, I'm going to place the portafilter under the grinder and push the portafilter in to commence the grinding process. I've already dialed in the amount of coffee and the grind size, as that is long process. Once the coffee is done grinding, I remove the portafilter and with the funnel still on, place my distributor. I'll give it a quick spin to level out the coffee and then remove the distributor and the funnel. After the funnel is removed, I use the distributor again to evenly distribute the coffee in the portafilter and make sure that it is compacted. Once distributed and tamped, place the portafilter in the machine, place a cup under the portafilter, and start the brewing process. After it is done, remove the cup, remove the portafilter, and knock out the grounds into the knock box. I then rinse out the portafilter and make sure that it is dry. Next is steaming the milk. Purge the steam wand by turning on the steam. Once all of the excess water is removed, turn off the steam. Place your pitcher under the steam arm and start the steam. Bring the tip of the steam want to where it barely breaks the surface. Once you see a few bubbles, submerge the wand into the milk, creating a whirlpool. After the pitcher is too hot to hold, turn off the steam, remove the pitcher, clean off the steam wand with a damp cloth, and purge the steam wand. Finally, pour your milk into your cup and rinse the pitcher.

Reflection

At the beginning, it was difficult to steam the milk. The milk would either have too much foam or too little foam, or just fly all over the place. With time, I have definitely gotten the hang of it. One thing that I can improve on is how to differentiate the amount of foam I create when striving for a latte or a cappuccino. I seem to always get it in the middle, but not the right amount respectively. I have also found when messing around with different techniques is that it is easier to create even a glimpse of latte art in a mug compared to the glass that my dad uses every morning. Finally, over time, I have differentiated the grind size and grind time throughout this process. I started with a thicker grind at a longer time and have slowly moved down to a thinner grind at a shorter time.

Blog #2: Different Types of Drinks

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There can be an infinite number of milk:espresso ratios and add-ins to create different drinks, but there are definitely some standards in the coffee world that everyone needs to know. You've probably heard of a latte and cappuccino, but lets break it down. I'm going to walkthrough the more popular drinks and well known drinks, but click here to see a full chart of different drinks with graphics.

Firstly, lets talk about espresso. Ordering an espresso will get you one singular shot of espresso. A doppio is two shots of espresso. There is also a ristretto shot, which is less liquid in a finer grind, which results in a less bitter shot. A shot of espresso, a doppio, or a ristretto shot is the base to all espresso coffee drinks. Larger coffee brands such as Starbucks make drinks with more than two shots, but this is untraditional.

I want to quickly talk about ratios. A 1:1 ratio is either one shot of espresso to one ounce of liquid or two shots of espresso to two ounces of espresso. A 1:2 ratio is either one shot of espresso to two ounces of liquid or two shots of espresso to four ounces of espresso.

An americano is a 1:2 ratio of espresso to water. This is similar to a standard cup of drip coffee. A lungo is a 1:1 ratio of espresso to water.

A latte is a 1:2 ratio of espresso to steamed milk with a slight amount of foam on top. A flat white, similar to a latte, is a 1:2 ratio of espresso to steamed milk with no foam. A cappuccino on the other hand is a 1:1:1 ratio of espresso, steamed milk, and foam. A lot of drinks vary off of a latte, such as a mocha. A mocha is a latte or flat white with chocolate sauce stirred in.

Reflection

The drink that I will be making the most is definitely a latte. It's my dad's favorite drink, and most people like it. Out of all the drinks listed, my favorite is definitely an iced americano. I add cream and sometimes vanilla syrup. At Starbucks, I order an iced coffee with cream and vanilla, so this is a similar alternative. My mom and grandparents like black coffee, which would be an americano.

Blog #1: A Quick Note on Equipment

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It doesn't matter how much you try, you cannot get good espresso shots without the proper equipment. Yes, you can use an Aeropress or Moka Pot, but having a high quality, 9 bar pressure espresso machine is key to pulling a good shot. There are three main types of espresso machines: semi-automatic, automatic, and super-automatic machines. A semi-automatic machine sets the water temperature and flows the water into the machine properly, but the barista has to dispense the preferred amount of liquid. Furthermore, the barista has to manually steam the milk. An automatic machine is everything that a semi-automatic machine is, with the added benefit of dispensing the proper amount of water and stopping it once properly dispensed. These types of machines can also steam the milk automatically (although I don't think the texture is as good a manually steaming it). Both of these mentioned above can have built in coffee grinders, but they are not always present. Finally, there is the super-automatic. The super-automatic does everything for you, from grinding the beans, to pulling the shot, to steaming the milk, and constructing the drink. These machines are often found in offices and in homes where people don't want to devote the time to learning the proper techniques. The coffee machine in the school cafeteria is a super-automatic espresso machine. It is also important to note that some of these machine can have a coil heating system and a double boiler heating system. For a heating coil, you can only pull shots or steam milk at a certain time. In a double boiler, you can pull shots and steam milk at the same time.

Another major piece of the equipment is the grinder. As stated above, some machines have these built in, but not all do, especially lower end machines. There are two main types of these machines: a blade grinder and a burr grinder. You should never use a blade grinder. Blade grinders heat up the coffee due to the high speed needed in order to grind the coffee, which makes the coffee bitter. Burr grinders are far more precise and grind the coffee at a consistent rate. Either of these types of grinders can be handheld or electric.