Posts from — February 2008

Researchers and chemical engineers at Nestle in Switzerland have invented a machine that analyzes the gas espresso gives off when heated, “translating” the ion compositions into taste notes like “roasted, flowery, woody, toffee and acidity.” It’s imaginatively called an “electronic taster,” and was originally conceived as a quality control device for the major players in the coffee industry.

I found it interesting that adding a mere 5% Robusta to the espresso blends threatened the model, since the better Robustas can have radically divergent flavor profiles:

The espresso coffees selected for this study were blended mainly from different Arabica varieties with some Robusta (5% Robusta in average). Blending Arabica with Robusta varieties has shown to add complexity to the model and adds some uncertainty in the prediction of the sensory profiles, but the model still shows reliable results. Models obtained with pure Robusta and Arabica samples separately (data not shown here) show results which are more accurate. Nevertheless, predicting the sensory profile of a new coffee depends very much on the diversity of samples used for constructing the model. The broader the sensory and analytical space of the samples included in developing the model, the more robust the model.

Read more about this amazing machine in Analytical Chemistry, which recently published an article detailing the workings of the machine (and from which the quote above is taken). For my own part, my own palette and I don’t feel particularly threatened, and don’t anticpate a day where I walk in and see RoboCop manning my San Franciscan.

We finally found a proper roasting machine, a San Franciscan SF-25B. It’s in about a hundred pieces but it’s in solid shape and the price was right. We’ll palletize it and bring it over Snoqualmie Pass as soon as the snow lets us.

It’s an older machine, mostly manual the way I like it, with an aftermarket digital temp probe which will help with roast profiling. I need to clean it inside and out, install the new cooling fan motor that came with it, and then put it back together and hook it up to our ducting and gas line. Also, it’s painted black-on-black and we may strip the fittings and nameplate back to the original brass. A lot of work involved but it’s worth it for the right machine.

Here’s the “before” picture, showing the machine as we saw it in many pieces sitting in the back of a warehouse… (Forgive the poor image quality, I was using my iPhone camera in a darkened room.)

Another recent article in the New York Times describes a Starbucks closing down across the street from an indie coffee shop in Kansas City. For the first time the trend of Starbucks pushing out small shops seems to be reversing, and lagging sales and a stale formula has caused Howard Schultz to consider shutting down multiple stores in the US.

Analysts aren’t exactly lining up for a death pool, but there are legitimate concerns about Starbucks’ inability to deliver the experience its brochures promise. Baristas are little more than tollbooth operators now thanks to automatic machines, and even many of its proponents admit that Starbucks has lost what mystique it had, feeling more like a McDonald’s than a coffee house.

In short, the people high up in the chain (as opposed to the customers) are finally wending their way around to the obvious: aggressive expansion for its own sake isn’t a sustainable business model, especially when you’re dealing with a volatile commodity like coffee. So what should your model be?

The [Starbucks] store had a funereal air the other day as a handful of loyal customers sipped beverages and jotted goodbye notes in what amounted to a book of condolences.

Next door, the Broadway Cafe was bustling. “You win because of the coffee,” said Jon Cates, one of the owners.

Anyone over at Big Green listening?