Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

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Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

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Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

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Out Now: The February + March 2023 Issue

The February + March 2023 issue of Barista Magazine features New Zealand coffee & chef champion Sam Low on the cover. Also inside: a special section on branding, understanding trademark law, an interview with Laura Sommers, field reports from Kansas City, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, and much more. BY KENNETH R. OLSONBARISTA MAGAZINE We’re excited […]

Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

We talk to the first Colombian World Barista Champion and Diamante Coffee Farm founder Diego Campos about his brewing habits.

BY TANYA NANETTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Photos courtesy of Diego Campos

The focal point of a coffee worker’s professional life is, obviously, coffee. Whether for a customer, to check a specific production batch, or to verify the correct roast profile, a portion of the working day will likely involve the brewing and tasting of coffee.

But what happens when coffee professionals aren’t at work? What are their coffee habits when relaxing at home? How do these habits change on the road? 

Deigo pours water from a metal pitcher into the top of an AeroPress. Two white mugs sit before him on a small table, as well as a Comandante grinder.
Diego’s preferred home-brewing methods include an AeroPress and Colombian coffee pot.

Brewing with a Champion

Diego Campos became the first World Barista Champion from Colombia in 2021. Although he is only 32 years old, Diego is already deeply involved in coffee. He has spent the last 14 years working as a barista, coffee producer, and founder (together with Derlin Roa) of the Diamante Coffee Farm.

When Diego is at home relaxing, he loves brewing his own coffee, usually prepared in a Colombian coffee pot, or brewed with an AeroPress or a dripper.

“Coffee at home is the coffee that I enjoy the most,” he shares, “because I get to connect with my personal taste, and because I get to share it with my wife, and that makes it much more important.”  

And, even if Diego drinks most of his coffees at home, there’s often time to pop into specialty cafés in the area and enjoy a good espresso. But he also appreciates a “regular” coffee shop, which doesn’t strictly deal with specialty. Diego reminds us that, after all, “in order to drink and appreciate a really good cup of coffee, sometimes you have to drink a bad one.”

Diego with his wife and young daughter brewing coffee at home. His daughter is pouring coffee into a white pot with a handle while her parents look on.
Coffee is a big part of Diego’s life, and he enjoys it most when sharing it with family.

But Diego’s passion for home brewing isn’t just confined to his home. He always brings coffee and a reliable coffee brewing method with him when visiting friends or family. 

“I always like to bring a good coffee, accompanied by a good method,” Diego says. “First of all because I like to drink coffee throughout the day, and secondly because it is a good way to teach and enjoy a good coffee with the people around me.”

On the Road

Things are not much different when Diego travels; he always carries coffee equipment with him. (A brewing method, a scale, and a grinder are the three coffee tools he never leaves home without.) But he also checks out the local specialty-coffee scene, starting with a little bit of research even before traveling. 

Diego snifss coffee brewing in a Chemex on a table outside. The table is covered in a woven blue and black and pink tablecloth with diamond and flower designs. He holds a metal steaming pitcher in his hand. A Comandante grinder sits behind the Chemex on the table.
Diego brings a coffee setup when he travels or visits loved ones.

“It’s always nice to know what the scene is like where you’re going, knowing if you will be able to find a good coffee!” Diego shares. He visits coffee shops more often when he’s on the road than when he’s at home. “It’s a good way to meet new coffee people,” he says.  

As a last tip, Diego advises what is, in his opinion, the best way to drink and brew coffee while traveling. “I think the AeroPress is a good option for traveling,” he concludes. “Just make sure you bring a good coffee to brew at the same time.” 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tanya Nanetti (she/her) is a specialty-coffee barista, a traveler, and a dreamer. When she’s not behind the coffee machine (or visiting some hidden corner of the world), she’s busy writing for Coffee Insurrection, a website about specialty coffee that she’s creating along with her boyfriend.

The post Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

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