Eldorado's
GroundsKeeper perfects perking
By Wishelle Banks,
Outpost contributor
Related stories
Technically speaking, C8H10N402
is the chemical formula
for coffee. Not exactly what coffee lovers contemplate in
the throes of getting that first cup, another cup, or the
final who-cares-I'll-drink-it-cold cup of the day.
Discerning drinkers wouldn't dare take for granted the
steamy dream drink, they go out of their way to procure
their particular pot of hot coffee, express espresso or
extra-jolt java. The precious nectar turns up everywhere, in
vast arrays of quality, each purveyor claiming their brand
of beans to be "gourmet" coffee.
Coffee Houses
invade Reno
Starbucks
review
Studying at
cafes
But tucked away in a corner laboratory in downtown Reno is a laid-back but nonetheless mad scientist who does indeed savvy what coffee drinkers really want in a good cup of joe, a java genius anticipating the multitudes waiting for non-fat cappuccinos, piping-hot Americanos and just plain coffee. Black coffee. Straight-up, take-no-names, killer coffee from ballistic beans.
This is how the resident roastmaster at the Eldorado Coffee Co. drinks it. Not your average coffee drinker. And this ain't no coffee shop.
"Just call me 'The GroundsKeeper,'" insists the man inside the coffee roasting gazebo, who sometimes answers to the name Kit when he's not bent over the gas-powered, German-made Probat coffee roaster, his brow furrowed with obsessive concentration. The GroundsKeeper has a reputation to uphold. The beholder of beans would never just put on a pot of coffee. To him, it's a precise science in which sensitive coffee beans are delicate, temperature ranges must be strictly adhered to, and phrases like "favorable soluble chemistry" get tossed around like a bag of beans. The GroundsKeeper is a member of the Technical Standards Committee of the Specialty Coffee Association of America [SCAA], a clandestine, caffeine-saturated fraternity of coffee connoisseurs.
"There's only one commodity in the world that people spend more money on than coffee," says the GroundsKeeper. "And that's oil."
The lucrative industry began as a hobby for The GroundsKeeper, who roasted his own beans at home for 15 years before learning his wealth of knowledge to share with the world. Today, surrounded by stacked gunny sacks full of the world's finest coffees, The GroundsKeeper slaves all day to create blends that keep the Eldorado up all night. As the Probat spins another batch of perfectly roasted beans, The GroundsKeeper offers a quick chemistry lesson.
"The thermal environment never exceeds 520 degrees, preserving the physical integrity of the beans and maximizing the progression of a favorable soluble chemistry, according to the Agtron Advanced Scientific Roasting System," he explains over the cacophony of crackling coffee beans, relishing his element.
"The first crack has to do with the sugar in the coffee, melting, splitting into its two component sugars, and releasing a molecule of water as super-heated steam. The bean is basically crystalline and amorphous cellulose, in a latticework, with spaces being filled in with the amorphous cellulose. When you start disrupting the amorphous cellulose, you're actually making holes in the bean, out of which the essential volatile oils--the ones that contribute dramatically to the flavor--are lost to the external environment. So, if you're buying coffee beans that look wet, you're buying coffee that has lost a lot of its flavor already. Once you brew it, you haven't got enough left for that appealing flavor."
Flavor, naturally, is foremost for coffee lovers. And to the GroundsKeeper, whose nit-picking nod to nuance has earned the Eldorado's Bistro Roxy Restaurant Blend the SCAA's elite Golden Cup Award. The GroundsKeeper removes another batch from the roaster and lovingly places them on the Agtron Roast Analyzer, a sophisticated contraption that tells him how much of the sugar has been caramelized. Wordlessly, he transfers them to the grinder and carefully smoothes the surface, just before the shift change with Mr. Hyde.
"This is a super-abridged (highly selective), near-infrared spectrophotometer," he says, then translates. "You roast a certain way for brewing coffee. You try and maximize the difference in the degrees of roast between the outside and the inside of the bean. The larger the difference, the greater the complexity of the brewed coffee. For espresso, you try to decrease that difference, because the degree of extraction for espresso is enough greater to have certain qualities become unfavorable. Brewing is a gravity-driven process of extraction. Espresso is a pressure-driven process of extraction."
The GroundsKeeper's discriminating tastes afford him delicious opportunities to debunk millennia-old mystiques about coffee, as well as its more recent accessories.
"There's no such thing as a 'home espresso' machine," he says, laughing. "Mediocre implications, at best. If [consumers] like what they're getting, that's all that matters. Espresso is a process. The accepted standards for that process are not met by any 'home espresso' machine."
Additionally, The GroundsKeeper reveals that the small appliance to end all small appliances is a scaled-down batch roaster, enabling ordinary joes to roast their own beans at home. And for that, consumers can also purchase the beans in a more natural state--cool, smooth beans in gray-green tones--and turn them into robust, raven beans with the push of a button or two.
"Batch roasters [are already] available for home use. There's nothing as shocking to a coffee drinker than to roast their coffee and then taste it immediately."
And while the pungent aroma, efficient tools and allure of coffeehouse-style coffee can be had at home, the aesthetic ambience of the coffeehouse is not included. Hardly a serious threat to industry giants.
"Starbucks is a marketing success, an incredible marketing success," the GroundsKeeper observes. "But more than a year ago, I saw an article in one of the trade journals that it's three to five weeks between roasting and delivery to vendors. That puts [Starbucks] out of the specialty coffee arena. They're basically in the dairy business. The incredible majority of their beverages are mostly dairy product. You can get away with murder when you adulterate specialty coffee with dairy products and flavors. I'm not saying Starbucks buys crap. They don't."
As long as he's at it, The GroundsKeeper sets the rest of the record straight, like the bittersweet brew he sips.
"Do not," The GroundsKeeper preaches, contrary to popular gospel, "refrigerate or freeze your coffee. Oxidation is the enemy of coffee. It will destroy it. Freezing causes physical damage, which leads to an increase in exposure to air and moisture, the two worst enemies of coffee. Never use distilled water to make coffee. It's a flat, lifeless beverage. Never use softened water. The beverage is 98.2-99.3 percet water. [It's] absolutely critical. Much of what's dissolved in the water is temperature-dependant. Extraction is a temperature-dependent process. You extract the wrong things--or not enough of the right things--when you have the wrong temperature."
The GroundsKeeper has spoken. The Cardinal Rules of Coffee are now commandment. Sinners, repent!
Eternally, religiously scientific, The GroundsKeeper ultimately and humbly defers to the fine art of coffee as a form of art itself. Using espresso and impeccably foamed milk as a medium, "latte art," developed by David Schomer of Seattle's Espresso Vivachi, is the latest twist in the trend. Pictures are created by pouring the milk in at the right moment, with the relevant flair, on a wing and a prayer. And as an artist, The GroundsKeeper is blessed.
He prepares the espresso, transfers it to a waiting vessel, then foams the milk to its rightful oblivion. He tunes and retunes, then The GroundsKeeper assumes a solemn expression, followed by a hushed, ceremonial tone. He sternly sets the espresso on the bar, pouring the whole milk into the patina-like espresso with a gentle flourish. Just before the nectar of the gods reaches the top--threatening to overflow--the espresso-powered pattern enigmatically produces a perfect heart at the very brim of the cup. Seeing is believing, swear on a bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain beans.
"It's the proper density of the foam--not the temperature--that makes the picture," The GroundsKeeper says with a sigh of relief. "If it's not steamed properly, the milk will either float on top of the crema, or sink below it."
Twenty minutes later, his tangible art is still perfectly silhouetted inside the cup. Too pretty to drink.
Then it's back to business. The GroundsKeeper's got more important things to do, like quality-controlling every coffee pot and espresso preparation inside every Eldorado restaurant. It's a living. For The GroundsKeeper anyway, who travels America "teaching espresso labs and brewing labs, and soon, teaching people how to taste and smell. Studies have shown that you can improve your sensory discrimination 10-fold with training, and since olfaction and gustation--smelling and tasting--are inseparable, the class has great potential for increasing people's awareness and ability to discriminate in specialty coffees."
And while the Eldorado roasts some 300-500 pounds of specialty coffee beans every day, providing special blends to their restaurants and bars, The GroundsKeeper is a passionate specialist who still loves the indulgence of solitary sipping, and claims he consumes "six-to-eight" double espressos every day, and chases those down with "four to eight" cups of coffee.
"Death before decaf," he swears. "Properly roasted and prepared coffee is one of the most seductive--and, thankfully--addictive beverages around."
As if the Biggest Little City-dwellers actually need another temptation added to the long list of no-no's, like all-too-accessible alcohol, tobacco, gambling and legalized…um, passion. Incidentally, The GroundsKeeper hints, coffee can be a potent aphrodisiac.
"For some, anyway," he figures with a sly smile. "You nose-hit the coffee immediately after it's been roasted and ground, and you'll get the spins."
To illustrate his point--and to meet his espresso quota for the day--he methodically measures, clicks, tamps and tamps again, putting his whole body into it. When the grind is absolutely accurate, he lifts it up like a trophy and breathes deeply.
"Isn't that great? Now that's sensual. If you could bottle that…"
Which, of course, The GroundsKeeper already has.
Posted April 9,
1999
Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost
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