ALPRO BARISTA: Plant based drinks

I drink my coffee black… say baristas!

But 70% of Europeans don’t do it…

For dedicated professionals, a desire to improve, a sense of satisfaction and humility towards their profession are essential. This is especially important in the barista profession, where each cup of coffee is a monument of the moment, offering the consumer an experience, a treat, safety and innovation.

Until a few years ago, cappuccino was made with cow’s milk. But in recent years people have started drinking less milk. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the sustainability of their purchasing habits and the impact of their daily eating and consumption routines on their health. For example, every day the media covers topics such as climate change, ecological footprints and carbon emissions – issues that make consumers pay attention to the sustainability of the food chain. People are eating less but better quality meat and trying to reduce the consumption of animal ingredients. There are now countless valuable alternatives.

Plant based drinks

Customers are becoming increasingly involved in conscious consumption – which includes both food and drink. When choosing a product, the sustainability of the product is now taken into account – and coffee is no exception to this rule.

Besides sustainability, the most important argument for consuming plant-based products is dietary and lifestyle awareness, by default. In some diets, dietary choices such as vegetarianism (allows fish, eggs), veganism (no animal products allowed) and flexitarianism (mixed diets with a conscious reduction in animal products) also play a role important. Plant-based diets also play a significant role in the diets of those avoiding dairy.

A few consumers who choose plant-based beverages do not do so because they do not “like” milk. It is a more than conscious choice.

Interest in plant-based beverages has grown tremendously in recent years. It is important to consider who chooses these drinks and why when looking at the coffee shop drink menu. It’s also important to understand and experience how each works with coffee.

COFFEE + PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES

Coffee with milk or vegetable drink is the most consumed type of coffee. 70% of coffee drinkers are “white” coffee drinkers. Young people, lovers of fresh coffee, opt for a cappuccino or a type of latte.

The spread of plant-based drinks, both at home and in the catering industry, raises new questions – this guide will help answer them.

It is important to use a herbal drink that has been developed specifically for coffee. Only these drinks can meet the high standards of taste and aesthetics.

Soy, almonds, coconut and oats are naturally nutritious. However, they are not needed in huge quantities to produce a liter of plant-based drink, so the environmental impact of transporting raw materials is much lower.

VEGETABLE BEVERAGES:

• Plant based
• Naturally lactose free
• Naturally casein free

The Alpro Barista range is an excellent choice, offering a no-compromise solution.

Alpro Barista sticks are available in both almond, coconut, soy and oat bases.

For coffee lovers. For cream lovers.

You are on the right track!

WHY IS SUGAR ADDED TO PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES?

Milk naturally contains a sugar known as lactose. Plant-based drinks do not contain this, so some may add plant-based sugars (e.g. fructose) for sweetness, but Alpro Barista Soy Drink, for example, uses apple extract, which is a great complement to the coffee flavor .

PREPARATION OF COFFEE WITH PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES

Coffee combined with milk, herbal drinks and/or sugar is also commercially important. If you strictly and constantly control the quality of your coffee every day, you will soon notice that people slowly become “addicted” to your “fantastic cappuccino”. One of the pillars of a successful cafe is its regular customer base: traffic is stable when the percentage of returning customers is at least 75%.

COFFEE IS THE MOST POPULAR BEVERAGE ORDERED

How to make a drink from pressed coffee using vegetable drinks or milk?

When making a cappuccino, the first and most important step is the espresso itself.

It is important to remember that you cannot make a perfect cappuccino without a perfect espresso. This is where the origin of the coffee beans becomes important.

You will notice that certain types of coffee are better suited to almond drink, coconut drink, or even oat drink. There are several reasons: one is the acidity of the coffee, which depends on the origin of the coffee and also on the roasting process. The roaster can bring out or suppress certain characteristics of the coffee, depending on the roasting method chosen.

HERBAL DRINK RUBBING

To make a delicious cappuccino, you need the perfect espresso, but you also need the right amount of milk or plant-based drink. We will explain the frothing method of Alpro Barista drinks and milk separately, as there are some differences.

First, let’s take a closer look at how to make perfect microfoam from herbal drinks. Microfoam refers to a nice, creamy, high quality foam. It basically consists of a lot of microbubbles that are no longer visible to the naked eye – this makes the foam pleasantly creamy in the mouth. In fact, herbal frothing is not that different from milk frothing, but Alpro Barista drinks react faster to steam. Because these drinks contain neither lactose (the natural sugar in cow’s milk) nor casein (the natural protein in milk), and their composition is completely different from that of cow’s milk, thus having a different reaction to steam. Of course you can make a perfect cappuccino with them, but there are a few things you have to be careful of, because if you don’t froth them correctly, the result won’t come out as good as it should.

What you need to know about the rubbing process:

• Use an Alpro Barista, which is specially created for coffee!
• Always keep Alpro Barista drinks in the fridge before use!
• Always keep the batter cold. Before each use, rinse it with cold water so that it does not heat up too soon!
• You can’t refrigerate a drink in a steamer.
• If you are frothing an herbal drink, use a slightly lower temperature, as these products react much faster at excessively high temperatures! Finish at 60 °C instead of 65 °C!

–      Use a gentle circular motion to swirl the ladle after frothing the drink. This will homogenize the drink and mix the different layers together, leaving a nice shiny surface.

–      Stop swirling just before you pour it into the coffee – don’t swirl for too long as the herbal drink tends to separate faster!

TIPS FOR THE PERFECT MICROFOAM

AVOID SEPARATION

You’ll notice that as soon as you pour it into your coffee, the herbal beverage tends to separate easily. This is mainly due to the fact that it contains different proteins, and its separation is a natural reaction to the acidity of the coffee. It means that some types of coffee trigger a much stronger reaction than herbal drinks.

DO NOT REUSE THE MICROFOAM

Unfortunately, if you haven’t heated and prepared your Alpro Barista drink properly, you can’t reuse the failed foam. Too hot, too loud, too cold, too thin… you can’t correct these mistakes. Start over!

GOT A CREAM TOO THIN?

If the herbal cream is too thin, you can’t put it back in the steamer. Your cappuccino will be too runny and lack the soft, creamy texture. In this case, you probably did not introduce enough air into the drink at the beginning of the steaming process, because you pushed the steam pipe too deep into the drink.

WAS THE FOAM TOO STRONG?

If the foam is too strong, your cappuccino will be oversteamed and not creamy enough. The result will be a dry foam with large bubbles. In this case, you have added too much air to the drink for too long. You didn’t insert the steam pipe deep enough into the drink and so too much air got into it or it may have boiled.

POURING THE CREAM IS AN ESSENTIAL MOMENT

If you pour the Alpro Barista cream too slowly or too lightly into the coffee, you risk leaving all the cream on the bottom of the jug and pouring only the liquid part into the cappuccino.

ALPRO BARISTA BEVERAGE RECIPES

The soy “Bicerin” is a reinterpretation of a Turin recipe from the 1800s: chocolate cream made with herbal liquor, a shot of espresso coffee and a little soy liquor foam. True gourmets can also sprinkle a little cocoa powder on top!

• 1,5 dl Alpro Barista SoYa
• 1 espresso
• 15g hot chocolate

Coco hot choc is one of the most popular hot drinks, consumed all over the world. The creaminess of the hot drink with coconut and good quality chocolate make it unforgettable.

• 15g hot chocolate (dark)
• 1 dl steamed Alpro Barista Coconut
• Coconut flakes sprinkled on top

Almond Shakerato, extremely refreshing for the hot season. It must be stirred for a cool and refreshing foam.

• Double espresso
• Ice
• 1dl Alpro Barista Almond cold

Alpro Barista Oat Latte or Oatacino, as we call it, is the most popular coffee in the world right now. Prepare the cappuccino as usual, but stop frothing at 60 °C.

• One espresso
• 2dl Alpro Barista Oat