Author: Ennio Cantergiani

How New Technologies Impact Coffee Equipment? (Part 3)

ennio tecnologie parte 3 margini

Refractometers and the “Perfect Cup”
For the last episode of this small review of new techs related to coffee, I will try to consider the use of refractometers for the “Perfect Cup” preparation. Barista’s refractometers such as the VST and Atago are the most popular on the market. I will propose in a future post a scientific and statistical comparison between VST, Atago and the RE40D from Mettler-Toledo (professional laboratory refractometer).

How New Technologies Impact Coffee Equipments? (Part 2)

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Barista Drive System (BDS) from La Cimbali – Bluetooth communication This tool implemented by La Cimbali in some of their machines and grinders allows facilitating the non-experimented barista work. Using Bluetooth connection, the professional espresso machine and the grinder(s) are able to modify the grinder(s) parameters in order to keep the initial settings for the “perfect cup”, let say 25ml

How to Select a Good Cascara?

How to Select a Good Cascara?

Cascara, meaning ‘skin’ or ‘husk’ in Spanish, is the outer peel of the coffee cherry (berry). In biological terms, we can say that cascara contains exocarp and mesocarp. The mesocarp contains a lot of pectins and small sugars while exocarp contains mostly polyphenols. It was for a long time a by-product of coffee production. Today, cascara has an added value as food and food ingredient.

The classic use of this by-product is infusion in hot water, but you can now find it as flour. It can then be used in flour blends to add colour, fibres and caffeine.

So, cascara is becoming popular and we expect in the next few years a big increase of its consumption. Why? Simply because Starbucks is launching a cascara latte. They will make cascara a trendy product.

Now, the most important part of this brief article:

How can I choose a safe cascara ?[Sign in to continue]