A pleasure between espresso and a hot long drink
The name of the Schümli coffee already suggests that it is a typical Swiss product. The word is the trivialization (diminutive) of foam and it refers to the crema that floats on top of the coffee after preparation. Decisive for the aroma, which lies between the espresso and the “long cup” of coffee, are the choice of beans, roasting and the type of preparation.
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Schümli coffee: strong aroma with fine acidity
How do you make a Schümli coffee whose taste is strong and unmistakable? First of all, there is the choice of beans. The nobler Arabica varieties outweigh the beans of the Robusta plant in the mix. In coffee blogs, connoisseurs recommend a mixture of coffee beans from Colombian and Brazilian growing areas.
Roasting is of central importance : It combines at least three different levels – light, medium and dark – in traditional Swiss drum roasting . That means: the coffee beans are roasted slowly and at low temperatures. This creates this very special aroma profile during preparation, to which the low proportion of bitter substances contributes. In other words, a light espresso roast is used for Schümli coffee . The traditional quality awareness of Swiss coffee roasters ensures that this unique taste experience is consistently and reliably contained in every cup.
The pressure ensures the quality
What is called Schümli coffee in Germany is what a guest in Switzerland orders as a café crèma. The name is derived from the habit of adding coffee cream. Just as the German lovers of the black hot drink prefer filter coffee , the Swiss like the preparation from the fully automatic machine . At this point the third secret of Schümli coffee, after the selection of beans and roasting, is deciphered : It is created under a pressure of two to three bars and is brewed for around 15 seconds with around 120 milliliters of water for the “long cup”.
As with espresso, seven to eight grams of coffee powder are used per serving to prepare it . Since the fully automatic machine required for this is more likely to be used for commercial purposes, another option was required for private households. It is the piston coffee machine that began its triumphal march in Switzerland in the 1980s and paved the way for piston coffee. And this name is just another word for Schümli coffee. The German-speaking Swiss prefer to drink it, while the French-speaking western part of Switzerland prefers dark roasts. And in Ticino, the Swiss drink coffee the way the Italians love it, to which the Ticino people belong linguistically: as espresso .
Schümli coffee and fully automatic machines go hand in hand
The spread of Schümli coffee is related to the development of the fully automatic coffee machine. They have existed in the commercial sector since the end of the 19th century. Switzerland, the world market leader for fully automatic coffee machines, also launched the first functioning model for private households on the market in the mid-1980s. This went hand in hand with the need to develop suitable bean mixtures for this. That was the hour of birth of Schümli coffee. Its success proves it right: Anyone who compares the classic filter coffee with the Schümli from the fully automatic machine smells and tastes the difference: The Schümli coffee has more body volume and is rounder in taste.
Doubly convincing in the “stress test”
The proximity of Schümli coffee to espresso is made clear by a “stress test”. To anticipate the end: Both types of preparation led to enjoyable results. The challenge was to produce both with just one coffee grinder and one espresso machine. The noble blend for this was roasted light enough for the Schümli but also dark enough for the espresso. The beans – 100 percent Arabica – came from Latin American and Indian growing areas. The beans first ran through the grinder in the espresso grind, then later in the somewhat coarser form for the Schümli.
The espresso turned out just as it goes without saying with Arabica varieties: strong in taste with fine fruit acids and the aroma of dark chocolate. But the Schümli made from the same beans with the same grind was also convincing. The bitter substances could be tasted a bit more clearly – but by no means unpleasant. The intense aroma and the ample volume of the body arrive just like the crema.
Anyone looking for this variety on the Internet will find a great variety to order, for example the Speicherstadt Schümli Café Crème. The beans, 85 percent Arabica and 15 percent Robusta, come from Brazil and India. This mixture is not only suitable for the fully automatic coffee machine, but for any other type of preparation. This is mainly made possible by the fact that the grinding degree can be selected. If you like to drink Schümli coffee or want to try it out and compare a small selection with each other, you can take the Schreyögg tasting package. This gives you two pounds each of the Exquisit, Schümli and Crematic varieties.
All of them are characterized by a high proportion of Arabica beans. With a balanced taste and a balanced aromatic taste thanks to subtle acids, they are suitable for fully automatic machines and portafilter machines. A slightly milder roasted espresso mixture is the Gorilla Coffee 1 kg mixture for 11.89 euros/ 14.43 dollqrs per kilogram. The Arabica and Robusta beans from Central and South America develop a full-bodied aroma with a delicate note of chocolate and nuts.
Conclusion: between filter coffee and espresso
If the filter coffee does not have enough character and the espresso does not have enough liquid, the Schümli coffee is the ideal choice. As a hot long drink, it combines the advantages of both bean mixtures, roasts and preparation methods : black or with coffee cream and also sugar.
