A new education centre has launched at Sydney’s Seven Miles Coffee Roasters combining science and barista knowledge to help provide valuable insights and map the future for Australia’s coffee drinking culture.
The Seven Miles Coffee Science and Education Centre (CSEC) is headed by Dr Adam Carr, who has a PhD in chemical engineering, and Matt Brown, a SCA-accredited barista trainer at Seven Miles.
The first research project will see the centre work with University of New South Wales students to focus on the role water plays in espresso quality.
“Often, we blame the blend or milk for an undesired consistency or watery flavour, but what about the water?” says Carr.
“The composition of water varies from state to state, country to country so we are investigating the ‘extreme’ versus the ‘ideal’ conditions and how that impacts on the coffee extracted.”
Natural flavour profile experimentation is also high on the agenda and includes the study of unusual bean varieties such as Colombia XO which has been fermented to showcase characteristics of cognac.
“Instead of your morning latte, imagine ordering a flavour profile of ‘citrus’ at a local café and being presented with a morning brew that has flavours of lemon and lime,” says Carr.
“It sounds bizarre today but with the experimentation at origin combined with the research we will be doing at Seven Miles’ CSEC, who knows what’s possible.”
The education division of the centre offers training programs at the Manly Vale headquarters, which was recently certified as a Premier Training Campus by SCA and features a state-of-the-art roastery and cupping room.