November comes in like a juggernaut for the coffee world with a lot of new coffees coming available, people all in a frenzy buying coffee related holiday gifts, and then we have Dr. Illy (of the Andrea kind) lecturing... and there's the constant questions about caffeine. All this and more in this Coffee at the Moment.
Posted Mon Nov 26, 2007, 5:30pm Subject: Re: Grinders, Coffees and Caffeines by Mark Prince
They're available off & on, I got mine on July 27/07 from Tom & had an advance emailing saying supply was short maybe 10 - 20 in total & down to 10 when I ordered., & to move quick & I did! {;-)
Posted Tue Nov 27, 2007, 3:14pm Subject: Re: Grinders, Coffees and Caffeines by Mark Prince
When people comment to me about the loads of caffeine I supposedly am consuming every morning (3-5 espresso, ristretto style) I comment it's only ~20mg/shot or about equivalent to the soda you are drinking. They laugh & I explain until their eyes glaze over. Based on the initial info in your column I can now just tell them to check out coffeegeek.com. 15gm x1.2% = 18mg x80%=14.4mg of caffeine.
It's cool to hear even without the HGL you are still supporting coffeekids.org. Thanks Mark.
Noel Mano dell 'operatore> Macinadosatore> Miscela> Macchina espresso
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 4,650 Location: Vancouver Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Frankenstein'ed LM Linea Grinder: Anfim Super Caimano Vac Pot: 1922 Silex Drip: Krups Moka Brew Roaster: Hottop
Posted Tue Nov 27, 2007, 4:12pm Subject: Re: Grinders, Coffees and Caffeines by Mark Prince
narc Said:
When people comment to me about the loads of caffeine I supposedly am consuming every morning (3-5 espresso, ristretto style) I comment it's only ~20mg/shot or about equivalent to the soda you are drinking. They laugh & I explain until their eyes glaze over. Based on the initial info in your column I can now just tell them to check out coffeegeek.com. 15gm x1.2% = 18mg x80%=14.4mg of caffeine.
I think that calc is wrong because there's 1000 milligrams in a gram, not 100? (in part two I break down the numbers per drink; what the hell, I'll post it here as an advance sneak copy) Math was never my strong point, but here goes:
Based on all the quasi math in the previous article, I'll present some typical caffeine content levels in different types of coffee and espresso beverages. Pretty much everything is calculated on this formula:
A single shot of espresso made with 7g of coffee, brewing approximately 30mls of liquid will contain around 60 mg (actually 58.8mg) of caffeine. Illy's own financed tests (conducted by a fellow named Petracco in 1989) show an average of 60mg of caffeine in a 30ml shot, so the estimation vs. actual lab results are nearly spot on. Got it? A single shot of espresso has about 60mg of caffeine in it.
A double "ristretto" shot, going by my theory postulated above, extracts even less caffeine - I'm going to guess 50-55%. So a 30ml ristretto shot made from 14g of coffee will have about 70-80mg of caffeine.
An americano made with a single shot still has 60mg of caffeine, even if the volume is 120-150mls of beverage. Double it up and get a 240-300ml beverage and 120mg of caffeine. (remember this number)
If you're using 100% robusta for these shots (are you insane?), your numbers would be double, subtracting 10%; so single robusta espresso shot has 110mg, double ristretto robusta shot has 135mg, and a double shot americano would have 215mg.
If you follow my preferred ratio for standard drip coffee, which is 7g of ground coffee for every 120mls of water (4oz), here's how the drip coffee percolations break down.
I usually serve drip coffee in 240ml (8oz) cups, with about 210mls served - but for maths' sake, lets say 240mls / 8oz as our starting point. That uses 14g (which is 2 tablespoons) of ground coffee, but the percolation method extracts up to 97% of the stored caffeine from the ground coffee = but let's use the low end number: 92% extraction. So my 240ml serving of arabica-brewed drip coffee will have 155mg of caffeine. 350ml cups (12oz) will have around 230mg of caffeine.
For robusta, times it by two, and remove 10% again, giving you 280mg of caffeine in a robusta-laden 240ml brewed coffee, and a whopping 414mg in a 12 ounce cup. And remember, that's using the low estimate (92%) extraction yield!
Caffeine in espresso So many people see espresso as this little tiny jolt of caffeine. That's actually true - it has a lot of concentrate caffeine in it compared to its serving size. 30mls of liquid with 60mg of caffeine has more caffeine per ml than 240mls of brewed coffee with 155mg of caffeine: 2mg/1ml in the espresso, and 0.6mg/1ml in the brewed coffee.
But, it's also misleading on several levels. First, espresso has more of, well, everything because it is in fact a concentrate. Second, the fact that espresso is "a tiny jolt of caffeine" forgets the word "tiny". If you have one or two shots of espresso in the morning, you're still ingesting less caffeine than if you drank an 8 ounce cup of brewed coffee. And if you dilute the espresso, making the americano beverage (or a cappuccino, or latte), you're having much less caffeine per ml of liquid: 240ml double shot americano with 120mg of caffeine (0.5mg/1ml) vs. a 240ml cup of brewed coffee with 155mg of caffeine (still 0.6mg/1ml). That brewed coffee has 35mg more of caffeine in it.
And americanos have sooooo much flavour potential over most filter drip coffees!
Jabes Senior Member Joined: 30 Oct 2003 Posts: 68 Location: Atlanta Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Isomac Tea Grinder: Rancilio Rocky/ Maestro Plus Roaster: I-Roast
Posted Tue Nov 27, 2007, 6:02pm Subject: Re: Grinders, Coffees and Caffeines by Mark Prince
"I'm still waiting for the day for a nicely engineered, geared hand grinder - one that, when you turn one full revolution on the hand crank, the burr set does 10, 15 revolutions. It can't be that hard, can it?"
The thing about gears is that you either get speed or torque, but not both. They're inversely proportional. And I'm sure it takes a good bit of torque to crush through those coffee beans, so as far as hand grinders go, we may be out of luck in terms of speediness.
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 4,650 Location: Vancouver Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Frankenstein'ed LM Linea Grinder: Anfim Super Caimano Vac Pot: 1922 Silex Drip: Krups Moka Brew Roaster: Hottop
Posted Tue Nov 27, 2007, 11:30pm Subject: Re: Grinders, Coffees and Caffeines by Mark Prince
Jabes Said:
The thing about gears is that you either get speed or torque, but not both. They're inversely proportional. And I'm sure it takes a good bit of torque to crush through those coffee beans, so as far as hand grinders go, we may be out of luck in terms of speediness.
Maybe a 2x or 3x gearing system then, instead of my dream of a 10x gear? ;)
Also, my 'geer skills and knowledge are limited, but wouldn't a longer crank arm result in better torque in a geared system? I'm not talking about going to a 2 foot turning diameter (from the current, oh, about 10" turning diameter), but adding a few extra inches may allow for better torque for a gear system?
AndyS Senior Member Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 474 Location: NY
Espresso: Tricked-out Silvia Grinder: Robur, M3, Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Yama Drip: no, I don't have a Clover... Roaster: PIDed Popper
Posted Wed Nov 28, 2007, 3:39am Subject: Re: Grinders, Coffees and Caffeines by Mark Prince
MarkPrince Said:
wouldn't a longer crank arm result in better torque in a geared system? I'm not talking about going to a 2 foot turning diameter (from the current, oh, about 10" turning diameter), but adding a few extra inches may allow for better torque for a gear system?
Posted Wed Nov 28, 2007, 4:10am Subject: Re: Grinders, Coffees and Caffeines by Mark Prince
Mark, It's great that you will be doing Silent Auctions for Coffeekids, alongside your other efforts this month...
And to think that i am planning to buy myself a grinder for my upcoming birthday... (I love my Zass...but an electric grinder for espresso will make it easier to offer neighbors a shot.)...
Is there a chance of bidding for a 220V Baratza?? I guess i should check if they have somone who can service the machine in Israel...and then I take it upon myself to outbid everybody!!
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 