Its important to have a "coffee person running your Starbucks.
My double short cap on my walk today had acceptable foam. After 2 years of going to the same Starbucks, they are getting the foam right. The manager asked me after drinking it if the foam was okay. I replied to him that it was.. but the coffee tasted better.
Some folks feel that if the drink is going to end in an espresso based beverage, it doesn't matter a whole lot whether the coffee tastes good in the drink. It just has to come across as bold and strong. Well friends there is a difference. A slopped up coffee pull can make your drink taste rather skanky. The result is a very bitter less than flavorful cup of coffee.
The manager revealed to me today that he has set the machines at this Starbucks, when he is there to pull at a "slower" than Starbucks recommended speed. The usual setting for an espresso pull at a Starbucks is around 12 to 16 seconds. This is the Starbucks company recommendations. Mine today was set at 19. The manager suggested that I request a 19 second pull for the cap to taste the way I liked it. I suppose that this is the major difference between Pete's and Starbucks. It might be the espresso blend but I suspect that it is also the length of time the pull takes.
My friend in Italy, Franco, says that he hates to get espresso coffee products in the US because the add so much hot water to the pulls. If you do them yourself at home, their is a point in time where the coffee maker just fills up the shot with hot water to even out the pull. He always wants them to stop at that point, let the hot water run into the drain and give him the straight shot. If the machine more slowly produces the shot, there is a chance that more of the oils that give it flavor will go into the cup instead of staying in the grounds..
So what do think about that? My professional baristas?
Love
Pat
My espresso machine gives three quick shots of steam, then rests for five seconds before running steam through the coffee. In the literature they state that this is to let the coffee expand and become ready to let go of it's flavor (or some such nonsense). I find that the major players are beans, roasting, grinding and amount and heat of water through the grounds. If you are adding milk, the stiffness of the foam determines how much it will interact with the coffee underneath.
ReplyDeleteI recently bought a new rubber stamp, it says: With enough coffee, I could rule the world!
Bob says to tell you to just drink hot chocolate and go fishing.
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