is there any excuse for crap coffee?

askthecoffeeguy

I was fascinated by a barista's coffee routine yesterday - but for all the wrong reasons!

Firstly she was running double shots into takeaway coffee cups but only using a single handle and splitting the pour into two (call me old fashioned but I havent been anywhere that doesnt use tripple baskets for a single 30ml extraction for a very long time!)

And, if that wasnt bad enough the milk jugs had all obviously been used with reheated milk for a very long time because,

a)    The sound and timing of the milk heating indicated to me that it could not have been fresh, and

b)    There was baked on milk I'm talking a 1/4 of an inch thick in each milk jug, which looked like they had never had a scrub in their lives!

This in not in backwater Bayswater or somewhere else remotely suburban, this was in Fashionable Fairfield, full of fashionable young blond things driving their 4WD Beemers, where one would expect the coffee to be of a reasonable standard !

And to make matters worse they were charging a premium for the coffee on the basis that it was Fairtrade and organic - I mean, excuse me, I charge less for my coffee than that, and I can bet that its more sustainable (for the farmer at least in terms of what they're paid) and a damn site tastier to boot!

So is there any excuse for poor coffee poorly executed in this current day and age where information abounds and expectations ought to be rightfully high?

P

mycuppa

on 1367303539:

This in not in backwater Bayswater or somewhere else remotely suburban, this was in Fashionable Fairfield, full of fashionable young blond things driving their 4WD Beemers, where one would expect the coffee to be of a reasonable standard ! P

What is wrong with the coffee in Bayswater ?  :o Bayswater is one of the primary commercial hubs of Melbourne - a place where the real, hard work is done !

Kelsey

I'd have to go with either a) they don't care or b) they don't know. I'm still shaking my head over one encounter with (b), even a year or more after the fact. At a lovely little spot in Maleny, beautiful restaurant I approached the counter and asked for a ristretto. The staff member looked confused, then started hunting around on the register for the right button to press before giving up and asking the supervisor. She said: "Well, you know how an espresso is a short black poured over a shot of water? A ristretto is just the short black." I was too gobsmacked to say anything. Needless to say, the resulting 'ristretto' looked more like a gushing triple and tasted like Nespresso.

askthecoffeeguy

There's nothing wrong with bayswater I used to live in bayswater and there's some very fine coffee there - I just threw that into the mix to provoke a response

askthecoffeeguy

Also because it seems very far away and somewhat remote now that I'm north-side but I actually lived south-side for something like 22 yrs!

UNM

on 1367303539:

(call me old fashioned but I havent been anywhere that doesnt use tripple baskets for a single 30ml extraction for a very long time!)

You need to get out more. Plenty places use single or double baskets.

on 1367303539:

this was in Fashionable Fairfield, full of fashionable young blond things driving their 4WD Beemers, where one would expect the coffee to be of a reasonable standard !

Why would you expect that? Do you really think the clientelle there are any more discerning than in places like, say, Ashburton or Bayswater North? My experience has been that demographics of different suburbs  has nothing whatsoever to do with how good the coffee is. Take Canterbury for example - the Maling room makes pretty good coffee IMHO, but there are at least a dozen other cafes within 300metres, some serving swill and all do a roaring trade just because a certain type of person goes there for the ambience.

on 1367303539:

So is there any excuse for poor coffee poorly executed in this current day and age where information abounds and expectations ought to be rightfully high?

Yep, I am sure if tackled about it, they would have nothing but excuses.

derrilex

on 1367303539:

Firstly she was running double shots into takeaway coffee cups but only using a single handle and splitting the pour into two (call me old fashioned but I havent been anywhere that doesnt use tripple baskets for a single 30ml extraction for a very long time!)

Common practice up here is to use a single for a small TA A double for a medium TA A double + a single for jumbo TA Why would you use a tripple for 30 ml ? I never use singles and never would but a tripple for 30 ml ? OTT ? I've never seen it done before even at the flashest of worthy joints up here. You also need to join the coffee police Pat. I'll send you a application  :D

Rider

Q: is there any excuse for crap coffee? A: no HTH

Brett H

on 1367321995:

Q: is there any excuse for crap coffee? A: no HTH

*LIKE*

askthecoffeeguy

Admittedly I went to this place for a sandwich and not for a coffee and yes I am a coffee snob (if you'll pardon the pun) and no I dont get out much when I have a commercial coffee machine at home which makes excellent coffee, and I have coffee on tap at work, and yes, there's only a dz or so places around Melbourne where I would consider drinking coffee and yes, perhaps half that number if I'm really discerning I'm not at all a fan of the new age fruit driven just off green roasted coffee that passes for espresso in some places - in fact the other day I had a good old fashioned Italian espresso which was stale and bitter, and over roasted, and choc full of robusta - and you know what? I preferred that to the new age mouth full of grapefruit acidity that passes as coffee in some joints, dont get me started... but today (well... yesterday now) I popped into a tiny cafe at the top end of Smith Street (just before the tram turns the corner into clifton hill) and had three wonderful coffees in a row which was completely unexpected and a nice surprise - so its good to venture further than my comfort zone sometimes...

UNM

on 1367334601:

, there's only a dz or so places around Melbourne where I would consider drinking coffee and yes, perhaps half that number if I'm really discerning

Hmm, wonder who makes the list? Foxy Brown obviously, but who else?

on 1367334601:

its good to venture further than my comfort zone sometimes...

:thumb: