Channeling Julia

Onions are one of the oldest vegetables in cultivation, yet onion rings are less than a century old.

Our onions are dipped in Tempura batter, then pan fried in canola oil. The earliest known recipe for onion rings was published in 1933, where the onions were dipped in milk, dredged in flour and deep fried in Crisco. Recipe

This places onion rings at the heart of the Fast Food movement, which was first recognized in the 1951 edition of a Merriam-Webster dictionary. Everything in post WWII was devoted to convenience (and look what the results are today). I recall that my father was sent a monthly copy of "Fast Food" magazine in the 1960's because he had a fountain in the drug store. Articles featured fast food chains like MacDonalds and Burger King - both of which serve onion rings to this day.

Though we prepared our onion rings from scratch, almost all onion rings sold by fast food establishments are prepared in factories, frozen and shipped to the point of service (POS) before frying. Some vendors attempt to make their products a uniform shape and size, so they chop up the onions into a paste and create a frozen round shape which is then coated with batter and precooked before freezing for shipment. (this is quite a novel process covered in a patent filed in 1992 and assigned to the Clorox Company, with prior mentions going back to 1972 - USPTO 5,181,456)

What discussion of coffee roasting would be complete without a chance to sample the coffee?

Let's head a few doors down the street to the Simple Pleasures Cafe!

The best way to begin is to quote from their website: "The cafe is one of the oldest Bohemian Coffee Houses by the beach in San Francisco. Our customers come from all over the world to enjoy our exclusive coffees and unmatched atmosphere." Website

Well, that's just a teaser - they have live jazz almost every night, excellent coffees freshly roasted down the block and many kinds of teas. Also beer & wine. They serve lots of bagels and sandwiches, pastries and more. Board games and books on the shelf help pass the time for many of the regulars. The realities of a neighborhood institution - people who grew up in the neighborhood before moving across the country drop in to see old friends, grown up kids back from college say hi, people stop at the door to savor the smells of roasting coffee.

A quick look at their reviews on Yelp reveals a cross section of the neighborhood. People grow to love the place. The casual visitor more accustomed to the Starbucks pack'em all in atmosphere may feel a bit out of place in a cafe where people actually know each other, but those who stay long enough find it a home away from home.

Before we go, I can't resist a final comment about the coffee business:

About arabica and robusta beans: Arabicas contain less caffeine and are fairly fragile - growers in all countries must deal with infestations of "rust" (less caffeine means fewer defenses against invasive organisms) - so prices are higher because of the higher spoilage rate and special care required. Robustas originate in Central Africa and are immune to rust - thus less expensive to grow. As we can see from the roasting information, each has its place, so one is not "better" than the other. Blenders choose from the characteristics of each bag they receive and mix to create a consistent taste.

Special thanks to Ahmed Riad and Simple Pleasures Coffee Roasting Co.

If oil is the most widely known "black gold", the caffeine industry runs a close second. Transportation runs on oil, people run on caffeine!

Our exploration of coffee continues with a look at the drug that made coffee so popular. Caffeine is a psychoactive stimulant drug that has several primary effects - it can restore alertness/ cognition, elevate one's mood and reduce drowsiness.

As with many other drugs, those who consume more caffeine develop a tolerance over time. Consumption of about 8 cups of coffee a day over a week generally is enough to habituate the user so sleep disturbance no longer occurs. However, long term consumption at higher levels can create many unpleasant side effects such as irritability, muscle twitching, insomnia, headaches, heart irregularities and anxiety. Perceptually, a cup of coffee (dose of caffeine) lasts 3 to 4 hours. In reality, the blood level of caffeine is reduced 50% in a little less than 5 hours in most of the population, but it may be metabolized more slowly for people who have higher sensitivity to the effects of caffeine - certain genetic groups, infants and those with high estrogen levels. These groups may take anywhere from 5 to 30 hours to reduce their blood level by 50%.

Background

Caffeine is most often extracted from the cherries of the coffee plant (the seeds are coffee beans), though it is present in other plants and can be produced synthetically. These plants use caffeine as a pesticide and as a competitive advantage to inhibit germination of competing seeds.

The industrial uses of caffeine consume the majority of the coffee crop. Caffeine recovered from the decaffeination process is used as an insecticide, made into caffeine tablets, used to boost the caffeine levels of soft drinks and to create "energy drinks".

Due to consumer health concerns, most decaffeination uses water as a solvent (the Swiss water process). The beans are soaked in water. The water is then pumped through a filter of activated charcoal (which removes the caffeine) and returned to the beans. The process may be repeated several times before the water is finally left with the beans and evaporated as the beans dry. The activated charcoal is further processed to concentrate and extract chemically pure caffeine.

The economics of caffeine

Only about 2% of the coffee beans harvested annually make their way into specialty coffees. Almost all coffee purchased in this category is "Fair Trade Certified" - meaning that the growers and harvesters are paid a fair wage, the product is produced on a sustainable level and the product promotes economic self-sufficiency. While this may create a price floor well above the average market price for coffee beans, it can be argued that the quality of beans in this category is well above the average bean. (you get what you pay for).

It takes 3 to 4 years for a coffee plant to be able to produce a significant harvest - 7 years before peak productivity. Global fluctuations in supply & demand result in periodic shortages and overstock. This results in a market price that is often detrimental to the farmer, as it is impossible to grow "just in time" beans. Some years the warehouses are overflowing - the farmer makes little or nothing and decides to grow something else. Other years the warehouses are empty and farmers make lots of money - motivating other farmers to plant coffee. A few years later that extra crop production starts filling the warehouses again and the cycle continues.

Most of the coffee beans produced globally are sold at market price, so growers are not particularly interested in the welfare of the workers. The higher quality beans make their way into the mass market blends - where price is the only real consumer concern. The remaining beans are grown just for their caffeine content. Major soft drink manufacturers own huge plantations in developing nations for the sole purpose of extracting enough caffeine to supply the global demand for colas and energy drinks.

Don't forget: Tea is also part of the caffeine industry, but we'll be looking at tea another week.

Special thanks to Ahmed Riad and Simple Pleasures Coffee Roasting Co.

Visiting Simple Pleasures Coffee Roasting Co. in San Francisco, we learn the some of fine points of coffee roasting and a few tips about blended coffees.

The longer the beans are roasted, the more intense the flavor. As we see from the photo above, the beans coming out of the roaster are dark and smoking. That means the beans are somewhere near an Espresso Roast - possibly even a French Roast. If we were to look closely at the beans, the surface would be shiny or oily. So the depth of color and indication of oils are indicators of the darker roasts. The carbonization (burnt taste) and roasting aromas overwhelm the inherent flavors of the coffee beans.

A light roast has far less of that burnt taste and is more suitable for signature beans like those from Java, Hawaii (Kona), Jamaica (Blue Mountain) and Kenya where we wish to savor the distinctive flavors.

There are four distinct stages of coffee roasting.

The lightest roast is "First Crack", where the beans heat enough for the water content to turn to steam and expand the size of the bean. This expansion makes a popping sound. The bean is still acidic. Mass market coffees are typically roasted to this stage. This is why grocery store brands extol the virtues of the arabica bean vs the robusta, "Columbian" coffee and blends with "Blue Mountain" or "Kona" - because what flavor there might be in the bean is the only flavor that is present. Coffee roasted to this stage has a longer shelf life.

After first crack, the beans begin to darken and develop a sweeter flavor as the acids are broken down by heat. This is the stage to which specialty roasters roast - because the body has a better balance of flavor, complexity and aroma. Shelf life is shorter than first crack coffees.

As the beans continue to heat, the volatile oils began to reach their boiling point and pop again. This is "Second Crack" The surfaces of the beans start to shine as the oils rise to the surface. Roasting aromas and flavors begin to predominate. The body becomes heavier. Roasts such as Viennese, Italian Espresso, High and Continental come from this stage. Shelf life is even shorter because the oils can turn rancid with time.

The final stage is called "Double Roast". The beans begin to smoke as the sugars carbonize. The outside of the bean becomes very oily. This is the French Roast. Flavor is intense, smokey, sweet with none of the inherent varietal flavors remaining. Shortest shelf life - so much oil on surface that interaction with oxygen will breakdown flavor very quickly.

As we look at the transformation of flavor through the levels of roasting, it becomes very apparent that the selection of beans by the operator must match the level of roast. Lighter roasts require flavorful beans, darker roasts require beans capable of developing flavor as they heat. Beans used in the darker roasts tend to be primarily robustas because whatever flavor is present in arabica beans will be burnt out.

Special thanks to Ahmed Riad and Simple Pleasures Coffee Roasting Co.

One of the essentials for roasting fine coffee is - the roaster! This week we are visiting Simple Pleasures Coffee Roasting Co. in San Francisco, who own a roaster with a 25lb capacity.

Today's coffee roasters were designed in the 19th century. The only changes made in recent designs are additions of an afterburner to reduce pollution and a safety control system to prevent overheating.

The design is simple - hot gases from the oven burners travel through a rotating drum and heat the beans. The operator controls the degree of roasting by varying the amount of time the beans stay in the roaster. There is a small window that shows the beans tumbling as the drum rotates. Next to it is a sampling device that collects about 1/2 cup of the beans so they can be removed, smelled and viewed by the operator. This sample is returned to the roaster after observation.

When the beans have reached the desired stage, a door in the front is opened and the beans spill out into the cooling pan. Air is blown through the beans to quickly cool them as a rotating paddle stirs the pan. Once cool, the beans are collected from the cooling pan and stored for later use.

The temperature inside the roaster is maintained at about 450°F. In cold weather it can take longer to preheat the oven, so the time required to produce a batch can vary - the operator must compensate for the weather as well as the condition of the beans (primarily moisture content) when they are loaded into the oven.

A small roaster is preferred when the operator wishes to roast frequently and rotate stock quickly. Large commercial coffee roasting facilities commonly use roasters with a capacity of 500lb or more that rely more on automation controls so the operator doesn't need to be as skilled.

Special thanks to Ahmed Riad and Simple Pleasures Coffee Roasting Co.