Ernesto Illy has died recently. Being a coffee lover (Americano) I was familiar with the name Illy but not the man. This is from The Times.Ernesto Illy was an evangelist for espresso coffee, with which his family name is synonymous in Italy. Both scientist and businessman, he dedicated his life to creating the perfect cup, in the process helping to turn a drink hitherto largely appreciated only by his countrymen into one regarded around the world as the chic quintessence of Italy.
Illy had firm views about espresso, born of decades of research and tasting. For him, the water temperature should be between 90C and 95C and the coffee the sand-sized grinds of exactly 50 beans roasted at 220C, with 25ml to 30ml of espresso then extracted from it under 9 atmospheres of pressure. The temperature of the coffee to be sipped must be between 80C and 85C, and Illy even designed the shape of a cup for the ideal taste. Milk and sugar he regarded as contaminants.
Beans passing through Illy's warehouse in Trieste were subjected to 114 separate checks in laboratory-style conditions. He believed that if just one was too fermented it would spoil the taste of a cup, and scanners using ultraviolet light accordingly rejected 1.5 per cent of each intake.
These procedures guaranteed consistency of quality, although they also made Illy's coffee twice as expensive as other brands.
Yet such attention to detail was not merely being pernickety but was based on chemistry. Coffee is composed of about 1,500 different elements, with 800 compounds alone contributing to its aroma. Vital to the smell and flavour of espresso is the crema, the amber film that lies on top of it.
Illy had firm views about espresso, born of decades of research and tasting. For him, the water temperature should be between 90C and 95C and the coffee the sand-sized grinds of exactly 50 beans roasted at 220C, with 25ml to 30ml of espresso then extracted from it under 9 atmospheres of pressure. The temperature of the coffee to be sipped must be between 80C and 85C, and Illy even designed the shape of a cup for the ideal taste. Milk and sugar he regarded as contaminants.
Beans passing through Illy's warehouse in Trieste were subjected to 114 separate checks in laboratory-style conditions. He believed that if just one was too fermented it would spoil the taste of a cup, and scanners using ultraviolet light accordingly rejected 1.5 per cent of each intake.
These procedures guaranteed consistency of quality, although they also made Illy's coffee twice as expensive as other brands.
Yet such attention to detail was not merely being pernickety but was based on chemistry. Coffee is composed of about 1,500 different elements, with 800 compounds alone contributing to its aroma. Vital to the smell and flavour of espresso is the crema, the amber film that lies on top of it.
7 comments:
Really interesting post, Gary. I have to say that I prefer the Cafe Direct Macchu Picchu coffee to Illy for flavour and smoothness though.
I suppose Ernesto Illy is now officially a has-bean? I just hope that such a crass comment doesn't get my comment filtered. I just think these kinds of stupid puns up to alleviate the tedium of the daily grind. I've nothing against the latte Ernesto Illy, honestly.
Sorry...I'll stop!!!
From a fellow coffee lover.
Not a grain of sense in that, old bean. I've only looked an instant though so some of it hasn't percolated to my slow brain yet.
Here in France most people seem to drink filter coffee at home and expresso in cafés (it's about 80p a cup). Those Senseo machines are popular, too.
We don't have Starbucks or any of those other things in Bordeaux, mercifully, so coffee is still reasonably priced here.
I buy instant coffee in our enormous supermarket but it isn't easy - there's LOADS of different ground coffee available but hardly any instant. Good taste, see, the French.
Also - because an espresso does NOTHING for your thirst, it just gives you a quick caffeine hit, the nicer cafés give you a glass of water with it.
And a little square of chocolate.
Thinks - I must go in cafés more often...
Was it the French who thought of putting chicory essence in the coffee. In my nan's house tea was the only drink but there was sometimes a bottle of Camp about with its evocation of the Raj. Remember that?
Yes, we used to use Camp coffee sometimes. It was foul.
Here you can get a coffee/chicory blend but I can't imagine anyone would.
However hot chocolate drinks - especially for breakfast - well don't get me started on Banania or on Grand Arôme (fondly known as "big stink")
Post a Comment