Coffee master class with Costa Coffee tastemaker Gennaro Pelliccia

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Coffee master class with Gennaro Pelliccia in Costa Coffee BGC

Gennaro Pelliccia is Costa Coffee’s official tastemaker, his job is to make sure that coffee beans and coffee taste is the same as Costa Coffee’s 1971 original taste. I learned that Costa Coffee’s special beans uses one kind of blend – the Mocha Italia, it’s a blend that was created by the Costa brothers when they started Costa Coffee, it’s a mix of Arabica and Robusta beans that gives a smooth, round and rich taste for their coffee.

The most interesting info about Gennaro Pelliccia is that he insured his tongue for a £10 Million or that’s around $ 22 Million USD last 2009

He is here in the Philippines to conduct a coffee master class and also share his expertise in tasting coffee. The coffee master class was held in the newly opened branch of Costa Coffee in One World Place, BGC.

Costa Coffee branches is also at Eastwood City and Robinsons Manila

Costa Coffee Flat White Coffee
I was at the launch of Costa Coffee BGC few weeks ago and Im not sure what to order, because Im new to their coffee brand, but for my 2nd visit, I learned that their special and most recommended coffee is the Costa Coffee Flat White coffee. It’s a kind of cappuccino with smooth, light and hidden espresso kick.

I was late for the coffee master class because of the massive traffic jam in EDSA, and I already missed the coffee tasting and how to identify good and bad coffee. I think Im on the right track because I can tell also if the coffee bean is bad when its aroma is gone and also its espresso taste is a bit dead.

But Im not sure hahaha, I need more coffee master class.

They tasted these 3 kinds of coffee beans, Gennaro explained the taste of each kind of beans. Columbia beans is the fruity and acidic kind, the Kenya is the darker and acidic coffee, and Indonesia is always the strong kind of coffee.

I also learned that coffee beans taste still depends on its roast, so choose if you want a sweet flavor then choose the medium roast, and for bitter and strong, choose the dark roast beans.

Some tips I learned in making a good espresso
- espresso should be thick on top
- black at the bottom
- must have a la crema on top of coffee
- good aroma
- good taste

I volunteered to make my own Flat White, Mr. Gennaro taught me on how to use their 8000 lbs coffee machine from the UK. I super worship their machine because its customizable only for Costa Coffee.

I used my self learning espresso making skills (thanks to the Breville Barista Express machine we have at home) in operating the machine and here I learned that the grams of the grounded coffee always matter to the perfect taste of your espresso.

The machine we have at home is automatic, but for Costa Coffee’s machine they operate it manually, you press stop if you are good with the espresso drip.

Gennaro also taught me how to determine the warm of steam milk, by using a dial thermometer, 120 degrees is better, but we should stay there to don’t exceed to 140 degrees, burning too much on the milk is bad. I also learned on how to swirl it to make a lot of creamy white glossy milk with foam.

And here’s my DIY Costa Coffee Flat White --- its weird because it tastes better than the one I ordered over the counter hahaha.

Bottoms up!

Thanks to Gennaro Pelliccia and to Costa Coffee for the coffee learning session. I need to attend more in order to level up my coffee tasting and making skills.

I also met Barista Gladys, the best barista of Costa Coffee in Robinsons Manila, I received a lot of tips from her about using the machine and also she told me to get a dial thermometer for the milk and, weighing scale to weigh the amount of grams of the ground coffee and also I learned from her that re-using the grounded beans is not good because the acidity is already gone.

Also re-steaming a milk is also bad.