| |
 Cheers
Magazine – March 2006
By Nancy Backas
High-Brow Brews
Upping the ante-and the profits-in coffee and tea
service requires the right products and procedures, plus
a little panache.
...........................
Coffeehouses and tea cafes have brought Americans to a
new level of sophistication in coffee and tea, but
restaurants appear slower on the uptake. Many
restaurants that employ sommeliers and spend thousands
on wine cellars still invest few dollars and little time
and effort on coffee and tea service.
In fact, coffee and tea are where wine was several
decades ago. But, as with wine, customers are beginning
to know more and therefore expect more, forcing
restaurateurs to catch up. Enlightened operators now
find a little investment in improved service, education
and product cant help but increase coffee and tea
profits, too.
Those operators started by understanding the product.
Every coffee particularly the specialty coffees, has a
unique flavor thanks to the micro-climates that produce
it. And, like wine, different coffees go with different
foods. While its likely not worth the effort to create
coffee and food pairing menus since most patrons want
coffee with desert, it is worth the effort to examine
the flavor profile and quality of your coffee. Serving a
signature blend is neither that difficult nor any more
expensive than offering most premium blends, especially
with the proliferation of regional roasters all over the
country.
“Many restaurateurs, even high end ones, purchase
whatever coffee the distributors offer. They focus on
the wine list and the bar and neglect the coffee
service,” says Keith Hayward, vice president, Dillanos
Coffee Roaster in Sumner, Wash., who notes that the
scenario is changing. “In the Northwest especially,
there is an educated crowd when it comes to coffee. I’m
starting to see restaurants buying higher end coffee and
using local roasters, promoting coffee as coming from
their own home town and developing local blends with
roasters.”
One passionate roaster is Jeff Dreyfuss, co-owner of
Chicago-based Metropolis Coffee. “In my opinion,
restaurants all do a bad job with coffee. They don’t
clean their coffee makers properly for one. If they
grind their own, they don’t purge grinders between
grindings, and neglect to use filtered water,” he says.
Metropolis creates signature coffee blends for a number
of Chicago restaurants. The process begins with Dreyfuss
setting up a cupping, which is similar to wine tasting.
“We do a cupping of 10 different blends. Coffee is
ground differently for a cupping than it is for brewing.
We basically want them to taste the lighter tasting
coffees first, the ones you taste at the front of the
mouth that are more acidic, progressing to the darker
roasts which are less acidic,” he explains.
COFFEE CLASS
Dreyfuss then takes the operator through the roasting
process so they can understand how different flavors are
derived. A discussion of equipment and pricing rounds
out the process. Many roasters will offer machines
complete with water filtration, grinding and brewing
capabilities for free or for minimal cost, potentially
saving the operator $1,500 to $2,000.
Grinding is important, according to Dreyfuss, who notes
that coffee should be ground as close as possible to
service time. One should not grind coffee that was
roasted the day before, however, because too much carbon
dioxide still resides in the beans.
Coffee should be served within 20 minutes of brewing,
according to Dreyfuss, whose restaurant clients also get
a lesson in daily, weekly and monthly machine
maintenance. Diligence in machine cleaning, he says,
results in the best tasting coffee.
Many operators are eager to offer espresso beverages,
including cappuccino and latte, to their guests.
Dreyfuss warns that espresso is difficult to do
properly. “An espresso shot needs to be pulled within 20
seconds of being ground. Humidity, patting espresso
grounds in the portafilter properly and accurate machine
calibration all affect good espresso. Waiters just do
not have time to do it all properly,” he asserts.
Not all operators can grind on the spot, so they turn to
preground espresso from suppliers such as Illy Café,
headquartered in Trieste, Italy. Illy offers standard
pre-packaged single servings of ground coffee for making
espresso by the cup in special machines.
Signature blends and proper preparation aside, the next
step in improving coffee service – and in creating a
better profit potential – lies in the presentation and
variety of coffee beverages offered. Embellishments such
as whipped cream, shaved chocolate and raw sugar cubes
on a special tray brought to the table is one way to
improve service. Another is to make the coffee service
itself a show.
Victoria and Albert’s restaurant, an upscale venue
within the Grand Floridian Resort in Walt Disney World,
Orlando, FL., takes coffee service to a new level.
Celebes Indonesian coffee is brewed at the table in Cona
Vacuum coffee makers, intriguing two-tiered glass pots
with ground coffee placed in the upper unit and water
placed in the lower. When boiled, the water rises
through the filter-stoppered bottom of the upper unit
and remains there until drawn back down to the lower one
as brewed coffee.
A less dramatic, and less expensive, way to brew coffee
at the table is by using a French press, which results
in a stronger-flavored coffee perfect for heavier,
intensely flavored food. At the Yarrow Bay Grill,
Kirkland, Wash., French press coffee comes in small
($5), medium ($8) and large ($12) servings. The
restaurant also offers desert coffee drinks including
Sambuca Cappuccino ($9), Irish Latte ($9.50) and
Espresso Martini ($9.50).
Preparing and serving coffee made at the table give
patrons a “created especially for you” feeling, not to
mention a bit of theatrics. Coffees and coffee beverages
featuring roasts, preparation styles, presentation or
ingredients that tie in to a restaurant’s concept or
menu also serve to enhance the diner’s experience, not
to mention the check. Havana Central in New York City,
serves an array of coffees to complement the Cuban menu.
Café con leche – a traditional, strong Cuban blend – is
served as well as espresso and cappuccino, selling for
$3 and $4, respectively. A spiked coffee beverage, Café
con Ron (Cuban coffee spiked with the guest’s rum of
choice and topped with whipped cream) sells for $8.
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF TEA
Coffee is a traditional favorite, but the real
excitement in hot beverages today is in tea, in all its
forms and embellishments. In the last decade, numerous
tea companies have emerged offering flavorful blends of
green, black and white teas, not to mention a vast array
of herbal infusions (since herbal “teas” are really
combinations of herbs, flowers, plants, berries and
spices and not technically tea).
While many of these new teas are high quality,
presentation is what really cranks things up a notch.
For example, some teas are now available in nylon and
silk bags, said to produce better-flavored brews. Loose
teas are typically presented with water served in
individual ceramic, metal or transparent glass teapots
and stylish strainers. Such flourishes draw attention to
tea’s unique characteristics.
“Tea is a diverse product and the taste profile is
extraordinary,” says Joane Filler-Varty, director of
hospitality, sales and development, Mighty Leaf Tea,
headquartered in San Rafael, CA. “I see tea as part of
the meal experience.”
In working with restaurants to develop tea programs,
Filler-Varty first finds out what kind of style is
desired. “I sit down with the chef and taste the deserts
and make recommendations. I then pick two or three
selections that will go with a particular desert,” she
says.
Once the Teas are selected, the next step is training
staff in proper tea service. “An important part of the
process is training the staff so they know the taste
profiles and the characteristics of the teas,” she says.
Preparation comes next. Filler-Varty evaluates the
available water quality and more often than not suggests
a filter. She emphasizes starting with cold water when
boiling from a kettle.
“For brewing tea, certain temperatures are ideal for
different teas. Coming just off the boil, black teas and
herbal infusions require 200 to 205º F, while green teas
need a cooler 185.”
How does one achieve that in a busy foodservice setting?
The best way, she suggests, is to swirl hot water in the
service pots to heat them up before adding the loose
leaf or bagged tea and then pour the water over the
leaves. For green tea, she instructs staff to either
pour water into one pot and then into another to cool it
to the proper temperature before introducing the tea, or
leaving the lid off the pot so the heat dissipates.
Black tea should be brewed for 3 to 5 minutes, green tea
2 to 4 minutes and herbal teas for 5 to 10 minutes.
INFUSED WITH INNOVATION
Management at Vong Thay Kitchen in Chicago worked with
Filler-Varty when developing its tea program. A list of
teas is presented to patrons along with the dessert menu
at the restaurant, also know as VTK. A small tea box is
then brought to the table with a vial of infused tea for
each of the blends (two green teas, two black, an oolong
and two herbals), to allow patrons to see the leaves and
experience the aromas. The tea itself is presented in a
whole leaf form in a silk tea bag, accompanied by
individual, artful metal pots with metal mesh infuser
baskets. Waiters instruct patrons when to remove the
infusers for the best brew. Priced at $5.25, tea is on
par with or more expensive – and sometimes more
profitable – than many deserts at VTK.
In January, VTK went one step further and celebrated Tea
Month, offering high teas on Saturdays and
blend-your-own tea tables on Tuesdays, when tea leaf
readers were available to guests. Entrees involving tea
as an ingredient were also featured, such as Tea-Smoked
Duck, steamed over black tea leaves, along with two tea
inspired cocktails: Chamomile Mojitos and Cosmoteanis,
made with passion fruit tea.
Numi Tea, in Oakland, Calif., offers unique Flowering
Teas, produced in remote tea gardens in the southwestern
Yunnan province in China. While the leaves are still
damp from picking, they are flattened and sewn with
cotton thread into various shapes and bundles. Some tea
“ball” designs contain lilies or oesmanthus. They then
go through a normal drying, oxidizing and firing
process. When the tea is placed in hot water, it opens,
creating a tea “flower”.
In the restaurant, Flowering Teas are presented to
customers in the dry state in a clear-topped velvet
chest. The chosen tea “ball” is then steeped in a glass
teapot so guest can witness the “blooming” of the
leaves.
North Square, in New York City, offers unusual teas
brewed in two-cup presses for $3. Blends such as
Burroughs’ Brew – coconut and Nilgiri black tea – and
ChocolaTea, featuring chocolate, vanilla, rooibos and
black tea, bring new flavors to the service offered
daily from 3p.m. until 5 p.m. in the restaurant’s Deco
room, where patrons can also order scones, biscotti and
tea sandwiches with their tea.
An entire restaurant is built around tea in Boulder, CO.
The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, a traditional Tajik
teahouse, was presented to the city of Boulder by the
mayor of Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 1989. Today it is a
privately owned restaurant with a full lunch and dinner
menu featuring dishes from around the globe along with
more than 80 varieties of loose leaf teas.
A special menu if desert teas include Strawberry Dreams,
featuring strawberry bits and flowers with vanilla, and
Blue Moon, which highlights vanilla with almond notes
and mountain blueberry. Lady Grey’s Garden is Dushanbe
Teahouse’s exclusive blend of bergamot and crème teas,
blended with rose, jasmine and orange blossom petals.
What was once just a pipe dream for aficionados of fine
coffee and tea is finally becoming reality in some
restaurants, where a world of coffee is being brought to
the dining table, and the variety and versatility of tea
is being highlighted. As when an operator develops a
good wine program, the returns of a carefully planned
and expertly executed coffee and tea program are
handsome. And remember, as Metropolis’ Dreyfuss says,
“The last thing someone tastes at a restaurant is the
coffee.”
Mighty Leaf Teas UK
Somerset Distribution UK Ltd.
4 Damson Garth, Lund
Driffield YO25 9TH
Tel: 01377 217793
Fax: 01377 217793
Email:
press@mightyleafteas.co.uk
Back to Press Room
|
|