Today, I greet the readers of coopzeitung with a crooked smile from the front page of the print edition. And also in the online edition, you can read a detailed article and watch some short video tips from Demian and me. We are thrilled that we get to represent our passion to such a large audience.
The author of the article, Stefan Fehlmann, spent many hours with me at the academy, and together we delved deep into the world of coffee. It was a lot of fun. Thank you for your interest and your excellent questions!
Lucia Hunziker captured everything in brilliant pictures as a photographer. Thank you very much, Lucia!
An article is always a compilation of many topics, and not everything can be covered in depth. That's why, for example, there is a Brewing Course that lasts several days, not just a few hours. In that sense, an article is also a compromise. Many areas were touched upon in this article in the coopzeitung.
However, one small remark is still important to me because the graphic shown for the drinks is not entirely precise regarding a central topic for me. No, I'm not talking about the amount of milk foam to heated milk. That's certainly debatable.
For cappuccino and latte macchiato, one espresso shot is usually used, as is also the case in the article's graphic. That is correct. However, the ratio of dissolved coffee particles (TDS) to water changes with the addition of milk. Assuming that cow's milk consists of approximately 87.5% water, in addition to carbohydrates, milk fat, protein, etc., the total proportion of dissolved coffee particles in relation to water and other new components of the drink is naturally no longer 7 – 10% TDS. The milk here is to be seen as a "bypass" that changes the percentage ratio.
This can be calculated as follows:
(current coffee weight espresso x current strength espresso)/total beverage quantity (including "bypassed" milk/water) = final TDS of dissolved coffee particles in relation to the total beverage volume
Example: Espresso = 25 g, TDS % = 8, added milk volume = 130 ml
((25 g Espresso*8 (% TDS)/155 g total beverage volume = 1.29 % TDS
So, a cappuccino, when looking at its strength, is nothing more than a filter coffee with a milky taste. 🙂
If you want to consider the TDS of the milk or added water, the formula is as follows:
((current coffee weight espresso x current strength espresso) + (added liquid quantity (milk/water) * TDS milk/water))/total beverage quantity/100 = final TDS of dissolved coffee particles to total volume
"Bypass", by the way, is a super exciting topic. It always refers to liquid that does not flow through the coffee during extraction but is added afterwards. This can be water, milk, or even spirits. But more on that another time. For now, we are just happy about the article in coopzeitung.
