Merito Said:

Coffee of 2012

January 4, 2012, 8:42 am

Some of my summer reading has included James Hoffman’s blog, JIMSEVEN. James is a World Barista Champion, coffee roaster and coffee intellect (amongst other things).

Have a read through yourself, what I found interesting is the results of his 2011 predictions being fairly accurate especially in the rise of filter brewed coffees and the increase in coffee prices, both of which he predicts are to rise again in 2012.

The notion that filter coffee surpasses espresso may sound far-fetched, and I do think we are a wee way off that. However, the increase in filter coffee purchases makes me quite happy. In the store we present filter coffee as alternative beverage, it does take a bit longer and hence it often isn’t chosen. The beauty of filter coffee is that the subtle flavours of the coffees are preserved, and with higher quality coffee coming in all the time it does seem a waste of sorts to shoot this straight into espresso. Don’t get me wrong, espresso has it’s place, and I love it, but if I go to a restaurant and always order my steak medium rare, what am I missing out on? Steak Tartare perhaps…?

The goal for us at Merito this year is to buy, and present, an elegant range of coffee that can be enjoyed through filters as well as espresso. I hope to see an increased interest in the finer, speciality coffees.

Brewing Merito

October 19, 2011, 11:57 am

For those in the Auckland CBD check out ME Coffee for a great Merito brew, delivering consistently good espresso from 6:30am and firing up the syphon and V60 filters from 12pm daily.

Bottomless Filter Project

October 16, 2011, 8:53 am

A Merito Guide to Coffee

August 2, 2011, 5:24 pm

We are often asked to explain the differences in common coffee drinks here in New Zealand so we have created this little snippet below to help – this is based on the espresso brew method as opposed to filter and others. Feel free to fire us an email if you have any further questions.

Single vs Double Shot

There are different extraction methods of espresso and also varying shot sizes. A traditional espresso shot is either served as a single 30ml shot or a double 60ml – variations occur based on length of shot in both time and volume. A Ristretto shot, meaning “restricted”, can be served in a variety of ways but is commonly seen as a shorter volume over a proportionality longer period. For example, at Merito we like to pull approximately 20ml single shots over about 20-25 seconds and 40ml double shots for about 35-40seconds.

Espresso

The construct for all common espresso-based coffees is this elegant little drink. The espresso allows an uninihabited evaluation of everything going on in this brew method. Served in a 90ml cup either single or double shot. That’s it.

Long Black

Typically, we like to serve our long black with just 15mls of hot water in the bottom, topped with a double shot of espresso In a 140ml cup. Serve hot water on the side for one to adjust to taste.

Short / Long Macchiato

The addition of milk can soften some of the bitter notes to coffee and highlight sweeter notes too. A macchiato is an espresso served double or single. A short machiatto is served without hot water whereas with a long macchiato we would encourage adding 5-10ml of hotwater to the base of a double shot. To this we add foamed, heated milk, approxiatemtly ¼ the volume of the espresso base while encouraging the foamier milk to come through.

Flat White

Utilising the single or double espresso shot as a base we now add heated, textured milk to a 150 -180ml cup, looking for 3-6mm in foam depth on top.

Cappuccino

In a similar vein to the flat white, a cappuccino differs mostly in foam depth, traditionally about 10mm deep. Depending on taste a cappuccino can be topped with chocolate.

Latte

Known as a milky drink, a latte is typically a double shot of espresso with the addition of heated, textured milk, served in a 220-300ml vessel depending on taste. The depth of foam is about 10mm.

Mochaccino

Chocolate is well paired in flavour to coffee and hence the inception of the mochaccino. Poured as a latte but with the addition of chocolate, either by adding powder to your milk or approximately 30ml of chocolate syrup to the beverage.

Whatever your preferred appreciation of coffee is, enjoy.