Cool beans

Agreat cup of coffee is just like a juicy steak. Or at least that’s the way Jon Allen sees it.

Imagine buying two cuts of meat - one a cheap chuck steak, the other a filet mignon. Then think of cooking both of them until all pink is removed and char coats all surfaces, turning them into edible hockey pucks.

The differences between the two steaks are lessened in that scenario, Allen said. Instead of the delicate nuances of the filet, the dominant flavor becomes the charring, and likewise for the chuck steak. Allen, co-owner and chief coffee scientist at Onyx Coffee Lab in Springdale, uses that philosophy as he roasts coffee beans.

Dark roast, the stuff of big red cans at the grocery store or that which is whipped up in volumes and served in cups with Italian names at chain coffee stores, isn’t what Allen intends to create.

He tries to find the subtleties of each bean he imports to his Springdale-based coffee shop, tucked into a nondescript shopping center but full of out-of-the-ordinary coffee gadgets.

Carrying names such as Huehuetenango, Sidamo and other non-native monikers, these coffees are the product of much experimentation and labor, from the harvesting to the roasting to the method with which they are combined with water to make a cup of joe.

Coffee shops have long experimented with ways to serve the perfect cup of coffee, and in the past few years, that’s included a surge of popularity in new methods, new beans and a new emphasis on local flavors. And just like the surge in the number of local breweries Northwest Arkansas witnessed in late 2011 and then throughout 2012, the area is now exploring a coffee renaissance.

COFFEE COOKS

Coffee growing and roasting is often compared with the process of making wine, and for good reason. Just as a particularly rainy season affects the production and quality of a grape crop, so too are coffee plants around the world affected. It’s something Cary Arsaga - of local chain Arsaga’s - has witnessed time and time again. His company has roasted coffee locally for about eight years, and beans imported from the same farm remain consistent only in that they are different from year to year. As a result, he and chief roaster Braden Bull change the roasting procedures - mostly through a process of trial and error - for each new batch.

Arsaga remembers the time directly after he decided to start roasting his own beans instead of buying already-roasted beans. A difference of a few degrees of heat or a few extra seconds in a roaster was the margin between a good batch and a bad batch.

“I threw away hundreds of pounds of beans in the beginning,” said Arsaga, who took training classes in Idaho before venturing out on his own.

Science is a big part of the roasting process;

charts and graphs at the Arsaga’s roasting facility in Fayetteville monitor the exact temperature and time needed for the particular batch of beans. About 20 pounds of raw coffee beans, each about the size and color of a dried pea, get placed in the roaster. Natural gas-fueled heat cooks the beans at a temperature that depends on the desired darkness of the roast but usually ends up in excess of 400 degrees. The beans first turn a cinnamon brown, then darken and begin to crack after about 10 minutes of roasting. The individual beans loose water content and weight, but they grow considerably during the roasting process. Finding the sweet spot between too light and too dark is a precise business, and it’s conducted manually at Arsaga’s.

“You have to pay attention to the smells and sights,” said Ava Arsaga, Cary Arsaga’s daughter, who moved to the area just more than a year ago from the Pacific Northwest to join thefamily coffee business.

Freshly roasted beans give off a considerable amount of carbon dioxide for as long as three days after the roasting period, meaning the freshest beans served in coffee houses are likely about four days old.

“The goal is to bring out what’s unique about the region, and not the roasting method,” said Allen, who started roasting his own beans about four months ago for Onyx but roasted for a year and a half before that under the moniker Anonymous Coffee Roasters.

TASTER’S CHOICE

Coffee lends itself perfectly to various tastes, Allen said.

“There are more aromatic complexes in coffee than anything else in the world,” he explained. Allen serves a range of flavor profiles through the coffee he roasts at Onyx, all of which are done in small batches. His concoctions fall generally on the lighter side.

“Typically, it (dark roast) doesn’t bring out the best flavor profile,” said Allen, who alongwith wife Andrea purchased the Arsaga’s locations on Gregg Avenue and Crossover Road from Cary Arsaga and his wife, Cindy, about four years ago. The Allens opened their third Arsaga’s branded store about two years ago, but they switched names at that location in Springdale four months ago to accommodate Jon Allen’s desire to roast beans and experiment with flavor. A new name - Onyx Coffee Lab - was needed to denote the emphasis on experimentation.

Generally, the coffees sold at Onyx are estate-grown, meaning the beans all come from the same farm. If roasted to perfection, Allen highlights the natural flavors present in the beans. Ethiopian Sidamo Guji beans are regarded for their notes of blueberry and are sweet enough in the cup that the staff at Onyx calls them “the cream killer.” A Peruvian El Cautivo contains the essence of chocolate. The most expensive coffee Allen had on hand on a recent Friday morning, a Costa Rican Geisha valued at about $45 dollars per pound even atwholesale price, hints at cocoa and floral notes.

But light- or mediumroasted coffees are not the only option for those keen on drinking locally. Baba Boudan’s Espresso and Coffee Bar, the Fayetteville store that was the area’s first to roast its own coffee, creates what owner Jennifer Summers said are darker brews.

“In general, Fayetteville’s taste swings West Coast style. Everything we do is going to be dark or mediumdark,” Summers said. Baba Boudan’s offers two coffees at all times - a house blend and a French roast - and a third option depending on the season.

Though the flavors can be subtle, coffee aficionados relish the opportunity to find them and swear to their existence. The Arsagas remember one occasion where they held a private cupping for a group that included a few strangers. At the cupping - an event designed to present several coffee samples to willing tasters - one of the guests, a wine representative, knew nothing about coffee but much about flavor profiles. During the blind tasting portion of the cupping, he outscored everyone else, equating what he knew about wine to what he discovered in the tastes of the coffee.

MULTIPLE METHODS

The ever-evolving methodology behind current coffee consumption doesn’t end with the selection of a variety of coffee. The grounds must be brewed somehow, and increasingly, there are a host of methods that provide varying levels of acidity and texture.

On one end of the scale is the Aeropress, a relatively new invention that forces water, via a plunger system, through the grounds. The resulting coffee tends to have less body and a more acidic mouthfeel. A good way to check for acidity, Allen said, is to savor the coffee in your mouth for a few seconds. More acidic coffees will make the edges of the drinker’s tongue tingle, he said.

At the other end of the range is the more common French press, which similarly pushes water and coffee grounds through a filter. The French press, however, traps the grounds underneath the coffee-steeped water and sometimes creates a grittier brew, which is undesirable to some. It creates a coffee with more body but with less acidity.

Somewhere in the middle of the two are pour-over systems, such as the Chemex manual system or the slightly less involved Clever drip system that is found at Onyx. The Chemex system, resembling the kind of rudimentary equipment found in grade school science labs, features a beaker with a conical neck. The coffee filter and grounds are placed in that crook, then hot water is added, allowing the steeped solution to sink through to the bottom of the beaker.

The Clever system emulates the process but has a valve that prevents it from dispensing liquid until placed over the top of a mug.

Even as automatic drip coffee - like the Mr. Coffee system sitting on the counters of millions of homes - remains popular, opportunities for new options are rapidly moving into Northwest Arkansas. Mama Carmen’s in Fayetteville, among their other alternatives,makes pour-over coffee with a Chemex system and serves Aeropress-made coffee as well. Acoustic Mud, the only coffee-first shop in Bella Vista - not a convenience store that serves variations of truck-driver-approved drip - sells French press offerings.

Allen also runs a cold press system that yieldshighly concentrated cold brew and a siphon brewing system that is only available when the few baristas capable of operating it are on the clock. Clearly, the “lab” part of the store’s name is not a misnomer. It all takes time, too. Don’t expect a siphon-brewed cup of coffee to be made in less than 10 minutes.

Still, even higher-minded coffee shops such as Onyx sell dark roast, lattes and other cream-and-sugar-filled concoctions.

“I’m not trying to push them into a drink that they don’t know,” insisted Allen.

Yet, he’s watched students from nearby Har-Ber High School transition from cappuccinos toward more exotic roasts.

BOILING OVER

Education is a big part of what Allen hopes to accomplish through Onyx Coffee Lab. Each Saturday morning at Onyx, Allen hosts a public cupping session. It allows him to show off some of his more recent roasts. Guests there are treated to a variety of different coffees, served in small cups alongside placards that name the beans.

Arsaga’s has been offering private cuppings for some time, but plans are to bring those events to many of the stores the Arsaga family still owns: at the old train depot just off West Avenue in Fayetteville, one on the University of Arkansas campus and another at the Fayetteville Public Library. The Arsagas also own the shop at Washington Regional Medical Center, though it’s unlikely they’ll bring the cuppings there.

The idea is to introduce small batches to consumers. It might yield a onetime-only batch, but Cary Arsaga said an overwhelming response might push a particular variety into more widespread production.

“We will have three different cups,” he said. “And we’ll let people taste themand notice them. We’d like to show them off.”

Make no doubt about it - specialty coffee might be made in small batches but it is big business. In addition to roasting for the physical stores, the Arsaga roastery system also provides for several local restaurants such as Greenhouse Grille. Similarly, Onyx has partnered with James at the Mill in Johnson and The Hive, located inside the brand new 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville, to provide coffee products that pair well with the foods served there.

Arsaga’s new depot location has been a big success, Cary and Ava agree, and Allen reports a jump in business of between 60 percent and 80 percent since adopting the lab model and its accompanying name.

Both Allen and the Arsagas suspect Starbuck’s new lightly roasted and much advertised blonde roast is a response to niche, localized coffee shops rebelling against the notion that dark roast is always best, further proof that the market for specialty coffees exists.

Still, Allen said he never begrudges anyone for adding inches of cream and sugar into their cups, even though he believes there are better options. That’s why his store always features a self-serve coffee bar.

Allen believes the more people know, however, the more likely they are to try higher-end, higher-profile coffees, and the various equipment on the counters at Onyx goes a long way toward stirring curiosity.

Cary Arsaga, in the same vein, knows that awareness of the elaborate process coupled with Northwest Arkansas’ dedication to local products will only further entice exploration. He’s watched the trend develop over the past 22 years in the coffee business, after all.

“It’s not just a Folger’s world anymore,” he said.

AT A GLANCE

Coffee Flavors According to the National Coffee Association, the best beans are grown at high altitudes in tropical climates. Every country, region or state produces beans with different flavor profiles, such as: Hawaii: Best known for Kona coffee, which grows on an active volcano. Kona is described as rich and aromatic.

Guatemala: Three growing regions produce most of Guatemala’s beans: Antigua, Coban and Heuheutanango.

Guatemalan coffee is said to be spicy or chocolatey in flavor.

Costa Rica: Costa Rican coffees are noted for their balance of a medium-bodied taste with sharp acidity.

Colombia: The National Coffee Association characterizes Colombian coffee as “consistently good, mild coffees with a wellbalanced acidity.” Brazil: Brazil produces more of the world’s coffee than any other nation. Coffees from this country are regarded as mild and sometimes sweet.

Ethiopia: Called “remarkable” and “bold,” it is believed coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia.

Indonesia: Coffee is grown on several of Indonesia’s islands, including several that lend their name to coffee varieties such as Sumatra and Java. Such coffees are known for a rich, full body and mild acidity.

Source: The National Coffee Association, ncausa.org