Our Blog

I started working at Coffee Brothers over a year ago now while still an HSC student. My knowledge about coffee was pretty well rounded at the time – I knew that there were cappuccinos, lattes and I finally learnt that the weird mini coffees were called piccolos. Fantastic. I was ready. Bring on the hospitality lifestyle.

Turns out, as I completed shift after shift on weekends, and now working shifts day by day outside of school, what I thought I knew about coffee covered about 5% of everything. Or was it 0.5%? I actually don’t know how much there is to learn and what I know. But at the very least, I can say I have learnt these 10 things, just by being in the Coffee Brothers café. Here they are:

1. 1. I love people – the thing I love most about my job is the amazing people I get to see whenever I work, we are so lucky to attract such whole-hearted, kind and friendly people. Yes, we too get our share of odd nutters, but generally it is really fun just being around people.
2. 2. This being said however, sometimes it’s not so wise to ask people how their days is before their first coffee. It’s always best to start the conversation after their first sip.
3. 3. It’s ES-presso not EX-presso! Oh lord help me if I get that wrong.
4. 4. Seasonal blend is a blend of different types of coffee beans whereas single origin is only one single type of bean – a singular place of origin… It took me a while to wrap my head around this one…
5. 5. WHY SUGAR -  at the start of my coffee journey I was drowning my caffeinated beverage in sugar. I was not much of a coffee drinker, I would occasionally have a soy cappuccino with 1 every once and a while but only to be polite to a co-worker who would offer. But as the year went on and I watched the baristas drink sugarless I started to understand what makes a good coffee. So I went from a soy cappuccino, to cold drip. Then to almond piccolos, to espressos, to cold drip, to long blacks, to cold drip now am back at espressos because a gurl ain’t got no time for no 8 ounce drank! I have learnt to enjoy coffee stripped back of milk and sugar, especially cold drip – I think I have consumed over 1000 litres of this liquid heaven. But hey, if you like sugar in your coffee you keep doing your thang.
6. 6. TSK TSK – the magical sound of milk frothing away. I only recently learnt how to steam milk and golly-gosh is it a challenge. It’s all about learning how and when to stop letting the air into the milk, then, when it is at the right temperature, take it away from the steamer, and don’t forget to purge... don’t forget to purge. Claudia did you purge? Yes, judgemental barista watching over my shoulder, I was getting there…
7. 7. LATTE ART IS AN ACTUAL ART FORM AND WE MUST ALWAYS APPRICIATE THE SLIGHEST DESIGN!
8. 8. No barista makes the same coffee as another – I learnt this when we had a regular drink a coffee I had made. Meg watched everything I did, the weighed dosage was ok, the espresso pour was ok, milk temperature was fine and froth level was passable. But still: “its tastes… different…” Not the thing you want to hear when being compared to a nationally recognised barista. “Different… but good.” However, I was comforted by the statement “no barista makes the same coffee”. Not meaning one is better and the other worse, just different. Each coffee shows each baristas personality and style, and that’s a pretty cool thing.
9. 9. Everybody has an opinion (life lesson not just about coffee…). Recently I was summoned by Meg to the bench mid-shift where I saw two identical looking cups of flat white coffees. She asked (told) me to taste them. I pick up the left one to sip it... not my favourite. I pick up the right one… definitely not my favourite. I didn’t like either. But Meg was asking for my opinion on which I preferred. What do I say so I don’t sound like an idiot or disrespectful to our coffee? I ended stuttering out something like “I like that one worse”. I thought I was wrong. One cup was supposed to be right and the other wrong, right? Turns out, it ended up being both were made ‘wrong’ in two different ways, and she was showing me how a shot pulled outside of the desired specs can alter the flavour in a bad way. It’s these surprise little coffee quizzes by Meg that keeps me up at night… literally. Coffee is full of caffeine you know!
10. 10. And last but not least – WOW, people drink a lot of coffee. Like, wow!
11.  

So there you have it folks, a short list of some of my observations over the past year. Ultimately, Coffee Brothers is so much more than what meets the eye, there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure you get that amazing cup of coffee each and every day. It’s all thanks to the amazing staff that your coffee is as good as it gets.

- Claudia Krek

Find out who I am here

Are you a newbie in the hopso world and have learnt some funky things too? Let us know!!

Facebook

It’s super exciting owning your own coffee machine, but figuring out how to steam milk can be a real trial and error endeavour, and as fun as that experimentation can be, most of us just want our damn good morning coffee. So I have tried to compile all my knowledge of steaming milk and condense it into 5 tips for you to use to get you on your way to becoming milk pros!

When we talk about steaming milk, there are a few points to really consider in helping you. The ultimate goal is to produce a beautifully textured and creamy product that mixes well with your espresso shot. If your milk texture is too thick and bubbly, it will feel more like you are eating your frothy concoction rather than drinking a smooth liquid. You also don’t want to cook your milk so hot that you have to leave it for 20 minutes before it’s drinkable.

All of the tips and tricks I am discussing here are transferable across all alternative milks as well. One difference, however, is in relation to temperature, such as how almond milk does not need to be heated as much as cows milk to avoid an added bitterness. Test it out and see what best suits your palate. You can always e-mail us below for further questions.

So here are some things to look out for:

1.    First things first- fresh is best. Re-steaming milk won’t act as a simple reheat. It will continue to cook and burn the milk, giving your coffee a strange, burnt or bitter flavour.

2.    Temperature. The temperature of your milk is very important. If the milk is heated too much, the proteins in the milk go through a change that is not fixed by simply cooling it down again. This is referring to the denaturing of proteins. The fats in full cream milk also undergo a physical change in chemical composition when heated well past 70degrees. In a cafe, your barista is aiming to heat the milk to somewhere between 60-65degrees and 70degrees for extra hot. 

The temperature of the milk can also be your best friend in adjusting your final foam level, but I will delve into that in more detail later. 

When steaming your milk, place your dominant hand around the jug. Avoid putting it underneath the base of the jug as this will not be as accurate of a gauge for the temperature. You will feel the temperature of the milk heat up on your palm as you are steaming. You’re indicator for the right temperature will happen when you cannot hold the jug for 3 consecutive seconds. That’s you’re signal to turn off the steam wand. For extra hot drinkers, continue steaming for an extra 1-3 seconds depending on your jug size (another tip for you extra hot drinkers: pre heat your mug before pouring in the espresso and milk so the glass or ceramic doesn’t leach out the heat). A great way of truly measuring your milk temperature is to use a thermometer (we have them online if you need it). You can use it to train your hand and perception of heat until you feel comfortable working without it.

3.    The volume of milk you use. The amount of milk you use in the pitcher or jug can either make your life a walk in the park or a walk over needles. When first learning, you should fill the pitcher somewhere between the bottom of the spout and 1cm above the bottom of the spout. Under filling your pitcher may cause your milk to spin wildly out of control and it may turn out super bubbly. It will also heat up very quickly. Over fill your jug too much, and you may find the milk ending up on your bench instead of in your coffee before it’s even warm! If you need to under or over fill your pitcher to cater for your cup size, consider a different sized jug.

4.    Foaming your milk. This is a longer point as it is often one that people struggle with the most when learning. Foaming the milk is what determines whether you are drinking a flat white, cappuccino or a babycino. It is not an easy thing to master and certainly takes a lot of practice due to the mass amount of variables that go into foaming your milk, but I shall try simplify it so it is easier to understand. 

Foaming the milk, or texturing the milk, is the process of adding air into the liquid, thickening it up to mix into the espresso shot. The more air you add to the milk, the thicker it becomes. No air for flat whites, lots of air for cappuccinos. The addition of air occurs when you hear the ‘tssk tssk’ sound coming from your pitcher and steam wand, and it is this sound that will become one of your best friends in foaming milk. You make this sound by lowering the pitcher slightly whilst steaming so that the air holes on the steam wand are just - only JUST - above the milk and open to the air. When determining how much air you wish to add, this can come down to trial and error. Unfortunately I cannot provide you a number of seconds to count, as each jug size is different and each coffee machine is different with different steam wand pressures, but I can give a few tips to help you figure it out for yourself. 

My first tip is in relation to temperature. For a smooth, creamy milk texture with microfoam (when the bubbles added are so fine you can barely see them, and the foam has a creamy raw meringue texture), all the air should be added before the milk temperature hits around 38degrees. I call this hand temperature. Pay attention to your milk temperature in the initial stages of heating. You will notice a point when the jug switches from feeling cold to feeling warm. Right in the middle, there is a microsecond moment where you can’t feel the temperature. This is because it is the same temperature as your hand. Once you have hit this point, and the jug suddenly feels warm rather than cold, stop adding air. 

The final stages of heating the milk from here on should focus on mixing the added air into the liquid. This is how we make the milk taste creamy. If you were to add air into the milk when the milk is hot, a couple of things happen. 1. The milk does not have enough time to mix everything in the jug together, often causing large bubbles and froth that separates from the liquid. 2. The texture of the milk may end up too thick and bubbly, more towards the babycino side of froth rather than foam. 3. Consider you are adding air for the full duration of the steaming process – there will be so much air added into the milk that you’re coffee will be so incredibly thick, you will need to spoon it down rather than sip. Of course - for my frothy coffee lovers – by all means, aerate away.

Another friend of yours will be sound. You may have noticed that sometimes your steam wand and milk will screech at you. It’s not the nicest of sounds. When the screeching sounds, one of two things are happening in your milk: 1. The overall milk temperature is too hot, or 2. There is no air in the milk. Even for flat whites in the cafe, we add a couple of ‘tssk’s of air to help avoid this sound. It won’t add too much foam and will certainly sound more pleasant to steam.

5.    Finally – the spin. Spinning the milk acts to mix the liquid and the air together, as I have mentioned above. A controlled spin of the milk in the jug helps to create that creamy texture and reduces your chance of accidentally adding more air. The alternative to spinning the milk is folding the milk, which is much less controllable and often leaves spillages on the floor and bench. 

To achieve the spin, I suggest lining up your steam wand in line with your body before you start. Place the wand tip in the centre of your jug, with the holes only just submerged beneath the milk. Then, tilt your jug on an angle about 20degress to the right or left (whatever is most comfortable for you). By angling the wand in relation to the jug like this, you are telling the steam to spin around the edges of the jug as opposed to straight down the middle. This should create your spin for you without you needing to move a muscle.

So there are my few little tips on steaming milk at home to create that milky texture you experience in a cafe. If you have any questions or need further explanation on any of these points, please don’t hesitate to ask! We love it when you ask questions!