Coffee

All about how to brew coffee and daily tasks

Espresso

This page is all about how we brew espresso in Analog. Brewing espresso is a science. It would be ambitious to teach it all to you on this page. It is however possible to showcase and explain the setup that we have - which is actually quite decent. Most of this is learning by doing. Once you have done it a few times it becomes second nature. You will also be taught this at the courses.

In Analog three machines are involved: Grinder, autotamper, and espresso machine. If you have never seen an espresso machine before, it works by forcing pressurised water through a coffee 'puck'. The puck is in a portafilter, which are the things with handles.

Brewing espresso can be reduced to four steps

  1. Cleaning the portafilter
  2. Grinding coffee
  3. Tamping
  4. Pulling the shot
Cleaning the portafilter

The first step is to take the portafilter out of the espresso machine. Rotate the handle clockwise to release it from the machine. It is left in between shots in order to keep it hot. Thus it still has the coffee from the previous shot. Knock the portafilter into the knock-box in the table. Then, using the brush, clean the small residue inside the portafilter

Grinding coffee

Place the clean portafilter under the grinder. On the display there are three buttons: 1, 2 & 3. They should all be set to the same setting. Press one of them, and coffee will be ground into the portafilter. If you want to learn how to adjust the grinder, reach out to the QA team. 

Tamping

Next, you have to tamp the coffee. This means pressing it into the portafilter to achieve the puck. If you have seen this in cafés, the barista uses a tamper to do this. In Analog, we have an autotamper, called a PUQpress, that does this for us. It ensures that the same pressure is used for every shot. It eliminates an important variable of pressure when adjusting the coffee, as many baristas put their hands on the equipment daily.

Pulling the shot

Finally you are ready to brew the shot. place it back in the machine the reverse way you took it out. Then, press the double shot button the display to begin brewing. We always brew a double shot, even though a guest might have ordered a single. If that is the case, place the cup under one spout, and a small glass under the other. 

Espresso should brew in the 26-32 second range.

Filter coffee

This page is about how to brew filter coffee. It is much more straight-forward than espresso, and does not require daily adjusting. Filter coffee is brewed in large thermos, each containing 5.6L, or roughly 18 cups of coffee.

Brewing filter coffee can be reduced to three steps:

  1. Rinse equipment
  2. Grind coffee
  3. Brew
Rinsing equipment

Before brewing fresh coffee, it is necessary to remove any leftover grounds in the equipment. Old coffee is bitter coffee. Run some tap water through the thermo to rid previous coffee. Rinse the brew basket to rid old grounds. You don't have to dry it. Place the thermos back under the brewer.

Make sure the thermo tap is closed, the lid is open, and that it is not already full.

Grind coffee

Place a fresh filter in the basket, and place it under the grinder. There are guide-rails to hold it in place. If not already set to large, press the button marked 'large' on the side of the grinder with coffee beans filled. Normally we use the left side, however the right side is also usable.

Press the green 'grind' button! It takes about 30 seconds to grind the coffee.

Brew

Place the filter basket in the brewer. Press the 'brew a' button to start brewing coffee. From here the process takes care of itself. It takes 8 minutes for it to finish.

 

Daily cleaning tasks

Throughout the week, we need to clean the equipment we use. This keeps our machines happy, last longer, the café look better. Cleaning tasks are spread throughout the week. If your shift is assigned a task, you have to complete that task every week. Cleaning tasks are documented through shift reports. 

If you are short on time, just place the "cleaning" sign whilst completing your task. The guests must understand that if we do not keep the café clean, we can not continue to operate at all. 

There is a poster in the kitchen explaining which shifts have which task, and a small guide on how to complete them.

Find out more about the specific cleaning tasks in the Kitchen & Operations Handbook.

Where to find stuff

Analog has two storage rooms, referred to as storage 1 and 2. The same key is used to access both rooms. 

Storage 1

This is where we keep all our foodstuffs, or stuff used in production. Coffee beans, milk, sugar, straws, etc. are stored here. You will go here most often.

Storage 2

Here we keep all sorts of stuff, mostly seasonal decorations. We try to keep it tidy, but in reality it is a mess most of the time. There is old equipment, cables, and other random stuff collected through time. 

Counter setup