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Guest blog – Brew Lab training lab

Guest blog – Brew Lab training lab

For our anniversary the ever thoughtful Mrs Frivolitea bought a session at Brew Lab in Edinburgh on artisan coffee brewing. I’m not sure what this says about my coffee making skills but it was, nonetheless, most welcome. A nice surprise ahead of the day was a message that I was the only person booked in. Rather than cancel, we were offered free places for any friends who might care to join. Nice. So Mr and Mrs Frivolitea brewed some coffee together under the expert tutelage of the delightful Emiliya Yordanova. We were shown pour over technique (with the Kalita wave), immersion brewing (with clever dripper) and Aeropress.

In many ways we barely scratched the surface of this craft and I left with a renewed respect for the skill of someone who makes coffee with the level of attention to detail displayed at places like Brew Lab.

The class itself was a great mix of explaining concepts, such as over and under extraction, then demonstrating this and letting us taste the results. We played with how tiny variations of a recipe (changing the quantity of coffee by a few grams) dramatically affect the result of the brew and the different qualities extracted from the coffee at different points in the process.


We also tried the same coffee brewed with the different methods, again tasting the very different results.  Artisan coffee is still a pretty small market, although rapidly growing, and often parodied as the domain of arrogant hipsters; attracting the man who perfects just the right bounce to his cappuccino and his beard but cares for little else.

I admit that I don’t know as much about the world of coffee as many and I was a little worried I might be looked down on, as if I might be someone who thinks Costa serve something worth drinking… None of that at Brew Lab. Emiliya was a great tutor. Clearly passionate about good coffee and wanting to share and encourage. She patiently handled our newbie questions and it was a pleasure to spend the morning with her.

My day to day, practical coffee brewing probably isn’t going to be dramatically changed as a result… In an office where Nescafé is the default option I’m already gently lampooned for my hand grinder and Aeropress. But we definitely learned some techniques and tips that will make a difference; a clever dripper is on our purchase list… And I am gaining more of a taste for the delicate flavours to be extracted from pour over brewing.


So that does sound like I’m taking away more than I suggested… Probably. The passion for all of this, demonstrated by folk at Brew Lab, is quite infectious.   

Super tasty bruschetta with heritage tomatoes

Super tasty bruschetta with heritage tomatoes


Here’s a quick and easy way to make some ordinary ingredients into a really delicious starter, or meal in its own right.

This is based on a simple bruschetta I was served in a restaurant. It was simple, fresh, vibrant and tasty…  The key to my version is preparing the tomatoes using more salt that you think can possibly be healthy (most of it drips away) and make a simple olive paste for the bread. Using heritage tomatoes isn’t essential, but they tend to taste better and contain less water. Visually they make things much more interesting.

To serve four you need:
Olives (100g)
Bread (four slices)
Tomatoes (the more varied the better)
Garlic (four or five cloves)
Olive oil (ideally extra virgin)
Tomato puree
Chilli
Dried mixed herbs
Wine vinegar (red or white)
Salt

Roughly cut up the tomatoes and place them in a colander over a bowl to catch the juice. Sprinkle salt over the tomatoes. You need a lot of salt. For six good sized tomatoes I end up using about three or four teaspoons of salt but don’t worry, most of this drips away with the juice. Gently mix the salt in with the tomatoes.

The salt draws out the liquid and you’ll find juice starts running into the bowl. Move the tomatoes around every so often as you want to get as much liquid out as possible. After about 15 mins or so, discard the juice (it’s far too salty to be useful) and put the tomatoes in a bowl.

Mix up a dressing with three parts oil to one part vinegar (you don’t need much dressing so don’t overdo it). I usually throw in some dried mixed herbs, a crushed clove of garlic and half a chilli. Pour this over the tomatoes and mix it through.

Wizz up 100g olives and a few cloves of garlic to a fine paste, adding olive oil to loosen. Mix in two teaspoons of tomato puree (or more to taste). You can add a bit of chilli, though perhaps not needed alongside the dressing. I sometimes add a few drops of dark soy sauce. This intensifies the flavour and adds a bit of colour.

Toast your bread and spread a thin layer of the olive paste. Then pile high with tomatoes and serve.