9 Bars
A Delicate Alchemy: Exploring the Hidden Realms of Espresso
by Jennifer Prince, Zoka Coffee Roaster and Tea Company

It is finally coming together. Your shot times are perfect, your cappuccinos are divine; your routine is second nature. There remains only the gaping hole in your presentation, more daunting than months of training and anxiety: The signature beverage.
   Realistically, for competition, you want an innovative, potentially classic drink, palatable through the first two or three sips. You cannot expect more from a judge, and it is vital that these first sips be indicative of the taste you describe, rich with espresso, and good enough to win. Just as with any other great cuisine, the taste should be full and round. As orange and green are only parts of a rainbow, so are lemon and chocolate only parts of the full flavor spectrum. However, the greatest factor is the espresso. If your judge cannot taste the espresso, your drink may as well be a glass of orange juice.
   We often start with a goal in mind. I want to use oranges/chocolate/ginger/mint, or I want to create a dessert drink. Let these serve as guidelines, but they should not inhibit you from expanding into better ideas as they present themselves. The real goal is to create a drink that complements your espresso without overwhelming it.
   Begin with the most important thing your espresso. Familiarize yourself with your blend. You can get started by consulting the experts around you. Your roaster has extensive knowledge of the single origin coffees that compose your espresso blend. If possible, cup or pull (as an espresso) each single origin to examine their individual characteristics. You should know the origin and characteristics of your beans intimately. This knowledge will also help you accentuate or look for characteristics in your espresso itself. While not all baristi have access to their roaster or an opportunity to cup each coffee, work with everything you have: Thatís what artists do. The characteristics of your espresso blend are due to the single origins within it. This unique flavor will serve as the base for your drink. Coffee flavors, such as cocoa, nuttiness, citrus and dried berry, are all flavors that can be complemented by the ingredients in your drink.
   Experiment with your espresso. Outside of signature drink building, this is the most crucial part of competition, the art, and the industry. Give the bean honor, show it respect and it will be your ally. As the paragon of espresso is a result of a multitude of factors, you can emphasize certain flavors over others and bring your espresso into an unprecedented best by controlling these variables and being aware of the changes outside of your control. Try experimenting with your shot time length (24 versus 29 seconds), the quantity of espresso extracted (ristretto or a lungo), your dosage (how many grams in your basket), and your roasted coffeeís age (best at three days old or six). If desired or possible, you and your roaster can tailor your espresso blend to have particular characteristics. To be successful, use your skills and knowledge as a barista to control all variables and truly understand what is going on.
   Along with necessity, history can inspire us. Before you create, do your research. Many culinary Web sites and books can provide exceptional information and recipes. Barista and latte art competition Web sites and articles make enthralling study guides and are filled with ideas for presentation and drink appearance. Learn about classic coffee complements like cardamom and cinnamon, and their methods of use. Familiarize yourself with past signature drinks for inspiration on ingredients, order of assembly, and lessons on overall presentation. However, take care not to plagiarize past recipes when creating your official signature drink. If possible, talk with chefs or culinary students about food and taste combinations. The baristi, friends and customers around you are all full of ideas and, coffee sommelier or not, everyone knows what they like. With time and effort, rough ideas can yield polished creations.
   Systematically experiment with espresso variables, order of assembly, and ingredient changes until the right drink shows itself. Firstly, the way you assemble your drink is a simple factor that can change taste, temperature and appearance. There are many approaches to combining your espresso and ingredients. You can combine a small amount of your ingredients into each single espresso, or combine all of your espresso into the ingredients and then divide into glasses. Generally, the latter method is considered better because, if combined, a flawed shot will be masked by the other espressos, and measuring individual ingredients into four glasses may be inconsistent and time consuming. You can also utilize an assembly design by which your espresso and ingredients are separate, then combine while being imbibed. Creativity is encouraged, but any method detracting to the taste especially of the espresso should not be kept.
   After solidifying your methods of espresso preparation and your (tentative) assembly, the drink may not be perfect. There may be details in the drinkís assembly that still detract from its quality. Trouble-shooting while simplifying your preparation will help you carve the final product. For example, youíve been using a spicy drink mixture with hot water and espresso, but the taste is off. Adding a substance like milk (whether or not you initially wanted to) will create a medium that accentuates different flavors not carried by water, and vice versa. Or perhaps icing the drink accentuates a desirable flavor, but adds too much water. In this case, consider freezing one of your ingredients to use in lieu of ice, as a fellow competitor did. In developing your technique, bear in mind appealing temperature and texture.
   As your drink becomes more complex, more flaws can arise in the relationships and preparations of your ingredients. Some of these problems may require deeper research into culinary science. For example, if the sugar of your simple syrup (two parts sugar to one part water for a syrup base) crystallizes when it cools, remedy it by keeping it under the boiling point during preparation. Likewise, milk curdles as a response to salt, heat and acidity and this can be avoided by changing the order of assembly or ingredients.
   As such, perfecting taste can lie in the ingredients themselves. Often widely used ingredients, like almonds, come in a variety of forms: almonds, almond syrup, almond extract, almond oil, almond sugar, et cetera. Each ingredient form will have different advantages and produce slightly different tastes, one of which will be the most desirable for your drink, though there are restrictions on some of these forms that narrow your options. Firstly, the magical chemical structure of espresso, being an emulsion of coffee oils in water, makes it adversarial to other oils, and, as such, they do not blend well. Also, it is illegal by competition rules to use any alcohol in the preparation of your drink. So while it kills your Irish American idea, this rule also excludes all alcohol-derived extracts.
   While you develop your assembly technique, and decide on ingredient forms, test rounds of drinks with certain ingredients eliminated. When experimenting, maintain simplicity. Your drink can easily become a complex concoction, but remember that you will be explaining, preparing and presenting this drink within a six or seven minute window. Elimination is an easy solution. Regardless of complexity, experiment by excluding a specific ingredient. Its value should become obvious once it is gone. This may also help you evaluate ingredient quantities. For drinks with complex preparations, also remember that during competition, you may have to create your drink two or more times in one day, and most likely will not have access to a kitchen. As such, be wary of drinks requiring major prep work like baking or reducing, and determine how long they stay fresh. And throughout all these developmental stages, it is helpful to keep a physical record of changes; in the frenzy of experimenting, it is easy to lose track. Most importantly in the end, your ingredients should complement your espresso, in that order.
   Consult others while experimenting. Your palate, however educated, however discerning, may be biased. Every person has palatal blind spots or gaps in what flavors they can detect, and we all read flavors differently. What is sweet to you may carry an unpleasant tang to someone else. Ask your courageous coworkers and regular customers to try your latest manipulation. Let their sensory opinions, suggestions and revulsions be your guide, because this drink is not for you, it is for the judges.
   Following these comes the truly side-note aspect of your presentation: the drinkís appearance. The point value is minimal, and the real show is in the cup, but this is still a culinary event where appetizing appearance is necessary. If the drink involves steamed milk, cold cream, or something similar, you could pour a rosetta or monkís head. If it is sprinkled with cocoa, it can be applied in a design or pattern with a straight edge, et cetera. Etching designs between two color-substances can be practiced everyday on your home bar. You can also change your assembly method to alter the appearance, such as layering your cream and espresso in a clear glass as opposed to stirring and dumping. However, do not sacrifice flavor for appearance.
   With a little effort and knowledge, you can change from an average shot slinger into a great barista. But being an accomplished competitor requires passion and dedication. By knowing your blend, experimenting with your espresso and ingredients, learning to control variables and developing towards better, simpler and the same every time, you can create a winning and ultimately soul-satisfying signature beverage.