Philosophically Perfect Cup of Coffee:
Sign of the Times Evident in Gold Cup
© 1983 Stuart Daw
(published in Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, March 1983)
The National Coffee Service Association is
developing a new operations manual. I have been asked by the board of directors
to prepare a section dealing with coffee brewing standards around lines
established by the Coffee Brewing Center in the days of the Golden Cup Award.
Many readers will recall the brewing
standards one had to meet in achieving success in that program. Winning a
Golden Cup had nothing whatever to do with flavor quality, only strength as
measured by the percentage of solids in solution at a given ratio of coffee to
water.
You will see in the accompanying diagram the
form used in determining whether or not a food service outlet would qualify
for a Golden Cup. As a sign of the times, I have extended the form 50 percent
lower to have regard for weights of coffee currently in use in Coffee Service,
something never even contemplated by the Coffee Brewing Center. Everything
below .80 percent soluble solids in solution is "New Chart."
On the left hand side of the chart, the
numbers stand for the percentage of a given cup of coffee that is coffee oil
(soluble solids). The difference between that number and 100, is the
percentage of water in that cup of coffee. Across the top of the chart and
down the right hand side, you will see numbers that represent the amount of
coffee used per decanter in a given brew.
The line that represented the bottom
perimeter of the old chart represents the weight of the number
of ounces of coffee oil per pound of coffee that had been
extracted during brewing.
By knowing the amount of water and
ground coffee used in preparing the brew, a soluble solids test done either by
a hydrometer, a conductivity meter, or in a drying oven, would reveal the
percentage of soluble solids in solution. Thus you can pinpoint on the chart
precisely where the cup in question belongs, and then by running your eye
vertically down the page, you can see the rate of ounces of coffee oil
per pound that is represented by that particular cup.
As you can see, the old form shows that it
would be impossible to win the Golden Cup with less than 3.2 ounces of coffee
per decanter. If you look at the left hand side of the chart, that means that
an "ideal" cup of coffee had to be between 1.15 and 1.25 percent
soluble solids. In other words, at 1.2 percent soluble solids, a cup of coffee
would contain 98.8 percent water.
If you use 3.2 ounces of coffee to a
decanter, the extraction rate would have to be perfect in order to get
precisely 1.15 percent soluble solids in solution, for too much or too little
extraction would send you into either the "bitter" or the
"weak" section.
Coffee brewed to the necessary
specifications was rich indeed. And "forcing" the food service
outlet that wished to benefit from the fine public relations flowing from the
award to serve "coffee with some guts in it" was probably very good
for the coffee business.
But with today's package weights it would be
impossible to even get onto the chart let alone into Golden Cup territory. Is
it then an absurd idea to even try to dignify today’s weights with a word
such as "ideal?"
As I said in the September 1982 issue of'
the TEA & COFFEE TRADE JOURNAL, the type of coffee represented by the
Golden Cup standard should be thought of as the "philosophically
perfect" brew. But the correct "socially objective" strength is
that which satisfies the most people in any given environmental context,
whether a hotel, restaurant, or business office.
At any strength the rate of extraction
should remain the same. One can make coffee weaker than the
"philosophically perfect" brew by using more water in the brewing
process, in effect adding water to the "perfect brew." For if we
simply add a decanter of water to a brew that has been made at 3.5 ounces, we
have, in effect, brewed at 1.75 ounces, a fair weight in today’s OCS market.
A hydrometer test of both brews will show the result as having simply gone
vertically down the chart, as the percentage of solids extracted from the
grounds would remain the same.
To the mathematical purist, forgive the
poetic license taken in the preceding paragraph. In fact, 3.5 ounces of coffee would
lose seven ounces of water in the brewing process. Then by adding a full
64 fluid ounces that would not actually pass through the grounds, we would
more than just double the ratio of water to coffee.
To fit the old chart to modern reality, let
us enter the "socially objective" strength for different types of
eating places requiring different beverage qualities in the away from home
market, and give "CUP" awards accordingly.
If you look at the chart vertically from the
ideal range on down, you will see that we have assigned numbers to the cup in
each rectangle, and herewith you will see a suggested scale of awards to be
given in accordance with the various strengths involved.
- Cup No. I — The Golden Cup Award
(for the philosophically perfect cup of coffee)
- Cup No. 2 — The Silver Cup Award
(for normal restaurant use)
- Cup No. 3 — The Tin Cup Award
(light snack bars, high class business offices, etc.)
- Cup No. 4 — The Plastic Cup Award
(for ordinary business offices)
- Cup No. 5 — The Paper Cup Award
(for weak coffee oriented offices)
- Cup No. 6 — The Empty Cup Award
(for that chiseling competitor)
The chart below is based on the original "Golden Cup
Brewing Control Chart" as issued by the Coffee Brewing Institute (later
the Coffee Brewing Center), which has been slightly modified in current usage
by the Specialty Coffee Association of America for their registered name,
"Golden Cup."
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