Coffee quality in danger: The most frequent mistakes in a coffee shop
If you are the owner of a cafeteria or you are close to being one, you will know that offering exquisite coffee is one of the most important things. To do this, certain factors are evaluated, starting with the grains, the preparation and even the presentation of the drink. Taking care of these details not only guarantees you retain your clientele, but also includes quality coffees on your menu.
As we have explained in other articles, coffee beans change from the roasting process, until seconds before serving in the cup. The reason is that there are a series of factors that could act negatively on the drink, for example, if there is poor preparation. That is why, as the manager of your premises, you must ensure that all processes are carried out correctly.
In Incapto CoffeeIn addition to offering incredible products, we also take care of guiding everyone who reads us. This is why in this text, we will reveal those common mistakes that many coffee shops tend to make. It has cost more than one their reputation and clientele.
What you should avoid if you have a cafeteria
Possibly, you have had to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee with your friends in a cafeteria. A moment that automatically stops being pleasant, when you take that first sip of your drink and realize that it is not even the shadow of what you imagined.
There is also the case of the owners of these establishments, who by not taking care of important details in the preparation of their coffees, end up putting their coffee shop at risk.
If you have experienced any of these situations, we will take care of revealing what really happens below.
1-Storing coffee incorrectly
If we do not store the beans in the appropriate containers and places, the coffee would quickly begin to lose its organoleptic properties (flavor, aroma, acidity, among others), resulting in a stale and flat drink. It is advisable to store them in a dark, dry and cool place.
Coffee is a very delicate product. This is a detail that the owner of Billy's Bar Espresso, in Marouba, Sydney, takes into account, because in its premises, about 150 kg of coffee is consumed every week.
Therefore, you have decided to store your grains in packaging with degassing valves. These are placed in a room, located underground and with a stable temperature. It does this to prevent the product from coming into contact with the sun or heat from cooking equipment, as these can cause the beans to become oily and at the same time, result in a cup of flat or baked flavors.
If you have your cafeteria located in an area where there are sudden changes in temperature (summer and winter), you must be much more careful with the storage of grains. In fact, the owner of Billy's Bar Espresso explains that they let the coffee rest for at least two weeks before using it, especially during the summer. Since this guarantees you to offer a fresh and delicious drink.
However, not all cafeterias have adequate spaces for temperature-controlled storage. If this is your case, you have nothing to worry about. Our team of experts recommend storing coffee away from cold, heat, humidity, and sunlight, all at extreme levels. To learn more about keeping grains in perfect condition, we invite you to read our article ‘Coffee Freshness: Why is it so important?’
2-Leave equipment maintenance aside
The success of most establishments requires a lot of attention. In this case, if we want our cafeteria to be one of the most sought after, we must pay attention to those small details. One of them, each one taking care of the equipment.
Now, we know that maintaining espresso machines is complicated. Therefore, the ideal is to do it regularly. At the same time, we would be avoiding repair visits that are generally expensive, as well as giving the equipment a long life.
One of the main reasons why espresso machines break down is because lack of basic maintenance. Everything you prepare in your coffee maker should taste just as exquisite as the first time you used it. This is advice shared by the technical manager of United Supplies, Paul Martin, in Sydney. It also encourages coffee shop owners to frequently check safety parts such as the boiler, solenoid valves and flow meters.
On the other hand, the specialist asks that baristas be introduced to the habit of doing maintenance regularly. They must comply with the following:
-Rinse for at least two seconds at the head of the group, at the end of each preparation. The goal of this is to eliminate waste.
-The barista must give a few small blows to the basket, after the shots. With this they would be preventing the coffee from becoming embedded in the coffee maker.
-Use cleaning products for the extrusion of the group heads. It is also important to clean the filter holders every day.
-Wash the steam wand to avoid milk buildup after each use.
-Keep the mill hopper clean and at the same time vacuum it every day. This would eliminate the remains of old coffee.
-Several times a week the dispersion grates must be removed and cleaned
-Avoid storing liquids or food on the coffee maker. With this we will prevent leaks that we might regret in the future.
-Finally, it is essential to test the coffee frequently to detect possible problems before being served.
Doing these tasks and getting used to them may be a challenge, but they are a necessity if we want to keep our entire cafeteria afloat.
3-Ignoring the brewing temperature of the coffee maker
This is one of the most common mistakes in coffee shops. Many times, we do not know the temperature of the brewing water of the espresso machine. We would be putting the drink at risk. To achieve this, it is essential that we use specialized equipment and thus find the exact levels. Some of the machines have the option to set the temperature, on each group head. However, sometimes, through carelessness, we tend to accidentally change this or they may not be suitable for the coffee you are preparing to prepare. This will end up affecting the cup.
For those who didn't know, the brewing temperature of the water influences the quality of the coffee. Specifically, in the extraction and the amount of flavor compounds that are released. It is likely that different preparations or grains need different temperatures to achieve a perfect extraction.
Specialists agree that it is very common for different extraction temperatures to be achieved for each preparation. If you are not familiar with this point until now, it is recommended to: Try the drink.
For example, if you consider your cup flawed, you will notice a lack of sweetness, body, or acidity. To avoid this, you must control the temperature of the water. Believe it or not, approximately 1 or 2 degrees will always make a difference. And magically the coffee will be of better quality. The experts of Incapto Coffee, they advise that your team be in charge of tasting, to check the flavor of the drink. If possible you could invite a supplier to do this test.
The ambient temperature inside your establishment could also be a harmful factor. Even cold air blown over the coffee maker during the winter season is capable of lowering the brewing temperature and causing under-extraction.
If your espresso machine does not allow you to manually set the water preparation temperature, don't worry! The solution is to check that the boiler is working correctly and without stopping. You can also ask a technician to use a thermofilter only for espresso machines, or something similar. And so you can keep everything under control.
4-Ignore the quality of the water
One of the keys to making good coffee will depend on the quality of the water. Well yes, just as you read it. The first thing you should evaluate is that it is clean and oxygenated, with a pH as neutral as possible (without flavors). Normally water has organic particles, sediments and other substances that could damage our cup. The ideal is filter before use.
However, the water you use in your cafeteria must contain minerals such as calcium, bicarbonate and magnesium. This way you can successfully extract the flavor of the coffee. Something you should take into account is that an excess of these minerals will produce lime in your coffee maker, resulting in an opaque or chalky drink. If there are few elements, we will obtain a coffee with a sour or vinegary taste.
Since we don't want customers to run out of your establishment, we advise you to install specialized filters with physical and active carbon filtration systems. Another option is reverse osmosis to achieve better results. Another point that you cannot ignore is that the chemical characteristics vary depending on the area, therefore you should analyze it.
In turn, you must include an adequate filtration system, clean it and maintain it regularly. You're probably wondering, what happens if I don't replace the filters or set the option to remineralize the water? The answer is that the quality of your coffee will not be 100%.
Establishing quality control methods can be a complicated task. But we invite you to take a look at our post on ‘Water quality and its influence on a good cup of coffee’ and immerse yourself in everything related to the topic, without complications and with satisfactory results.
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