A dip in coffee beans, that would be it. For example in the Exotico that was freshly roasted two days ago. If Josef Bernhuber just lifts the lid of the ten-kilo bucket, the smell of … Yes, of what? In any case, for something previously completely unknown, for a mixture of – Bernhuber helps: “Cranberry-blueberry”. Okay if he thinks so. In any case, it’s just plain kidding. But that alone doesn’t let a Bernhuber go. He also opens the lid of the Intenso variety. An olfactory contrast program, something acidic rises in the nose. In Bernhuber’s technical language: “Nutty”.
Six months ago, Josef Bernhuber, 43, a media designer by profession and previously employed in an agency, opened the “Don Grano” coffee roastery – the Spanish Don is called Herr und Grano Bohne. It is located in a simple room in the business park in Straßlach-Dingharting at Mitterstraßweg 19. A drum roaster shines clean and silver, as does the portafilter – two technical terms that you learn by the way. The drum roaster is the centerpiece, because it is where the raw coffee beans, which are in sacks in the next room, are roasted. The portafilter is the professional coffee machine on the small counter, which is still shiny like new. And next to the nine buckets of coffee beans that were roasted two days ago is a table with a hole in it.
Master of the beans: Josef Bernhuber processes the finest types of coffee with his wife Adriana Guerro in his Straßlach roastery.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Bernhuber uses this to carry out the next step after roasting. He then gradually pours the beans onto the table and fishes out the bad ones. He pushes the good ones through the hole into the bucket below. What sounds like the agony of Cinderella from the angry stepmother is not so bad, assures Bernhuber. “There are only a few.” And how do you spot the bad ones? Bernhuber purposefully reaches into the bucket of exotic and brings out two examples. They are brighter than the others. “That means they weren’t roasted properly, maybe because they’re bad inside.” Even if there are only a few bad ones, which would cloud the taste, they stay in the mixture, says Bernhuber.
At the moment, Bernhuber is concentrating on Colombian coffee, which is due to the fact that his wife Adriana Guerro is Colombian, and that is not the only reason why he has been to the country several times and visited fincas that produce coffee there. Bernhuber had the idea of becoming a coffee roaster himself one day when “things were going badly at work”. In the evening he said to his wife that he was going to open a coffee roastery now. After her husband started doing it again and again, they both found out how to put the idea into practice.
Each bean tastes different and is prepared differently depending on the region.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
In the meantime, Bernhuber has had numerous workshops and courses on coffee, including at SCA, the “Specialty Coffee Association”, which has certified trainers in every country, and he has also attended many workshops in Colombia. Bernhuber has completed courses in the roasting and filter preparation departments. If you now ask what he has learned there, your head quickly buzzes with countless interesting facts. The grind of the coffee is very important. The coarser it is ground, the more can be made from a certain amount. However, the water flows very quickly through coarsely ground beans, which can make the coffee too acidic. If the coffee is ground too finely, it flows too slowly, so that the coffee can become bitter. The temperature of the infused water also plays a major role. “The ideal temperature is between 92 and 96 degrees.”
So Colombian coffee, and what is special about it? That differs depending on the region and type of coffee plant, says Bernhuber. He lists a few types: Cattura, Castillo, Colombia, Yellow Burbon, Pink Burbon, Red Burbon, Geisha and Tipica. And that is by far not all. “Coffee always tastes different, depending on the region in which it is grown.” For example, the Cattura in the Nariño region tastes completely different than in Tolima. “In Nariño the acid is more citrus-like, in Tolima you have more of that kind of malic acid. But that is not always the same,” says Bernhuber.
The beans are delivered from Colombia in large sacks.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
But there are not only different plants that taste different depending on the region, the taste is also influenced by the preparation. “Every finca has its own method,” said Bernhuber. “And many also have their secrets that they do not reveal.” The “natural method” can be used: The pulp is removed, then the beans are washed, then fermented in water or dried straight away. In the honey process, the pulp is squeezed, then the beans are fermented in water – there are also a thousand variations, i.e. between 30 and 500 hours – and then the pulp is removed. “This coffee is usually sweeter because the fructose goes into the beans.”
Bernhuber currently has six suppliers from Colombia: two cooperatives and four fincas. After the harvest – which is possible all year round in Colombia thanks to its proximity to the equator – everyone first sends him a sample of raw beans. The raw beans double their volume when roasted. “Because the moisture in the beans is heated, the water vapor expands and the beans crack.” This is called the “first crack” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/landkreismuenchen/. “That sounds like popcorn,” he says. After the first crack, Bernhuber decides how long he wants to continue roasting, i.e. how dark the beans should be. One day after roasting comes the cupping step, “the sensory testing”, as he says. He then grinds a handful of beans and pours them over with hot water. Then comes the taste test.
On Saturday, August 14th, from 9 a.m., you can stop by the coffee roastery in Straßlacher Mitterstraßweg 19. Registration is requested, gladly at short notice on 0151/730 650 41.