(written with some humor in mind)

My brand new equipment (first ever at this level - a Vetrano 2B and a K30) is to be delivered by the end of the day, but I need beans. So I go to a local coffee shop that also roasts. At the counter, the young lady points to a shelf that has what I'm looking for. As I'm reading the bag, I ask the girl if she could brew me some, and she says yes. She asks if I want a latte, and I said no, I'll take a shot. She makes me a double (for free). I'm not tasting anything that was written on the label, but I smile to the barista anyway (she is cute!). The store is packed, and I really did not want to be overheard saying that the shot of one of their best coffees wasn't good. I'm thinking as I drink that surely (I hope) I'll be able to make this better with all that expensive equipment I just purchased! I need the beans, so I buy 2 bags.

I get home, the equipment arrives, and I'm tearing open the boxes and get the equipment setup. I'm struggling to get things dialed in, and it's now 7:30 PM, and I have to be at work at 6 AM. How many test shots do I have to do? Will I get any sleep from all that consumption? It's now 9:30 PM, and I've gone thru 1 1/2 bags, and I realize I have very little chance of getting to sleep.

(now serious)

After all the attempts, the end result was the same: the coffee never tasted good, just like at the coffee shop.

Should I only by beans from a roaster/coffee shop that the taste can be verified by having them make me a great, flavorful shot?

It's 1:30 PM, I'm so tired...

Generally, any competent home barista can pull a better shot than a busy cafe. That being said, if you're not well versed with the coffee and the sample you try at the cafe fails to impress, consider looking online at some reputable roasters and start there.

Well, yeah, of course.

An easier test is to have them brew the beans. If the coffee brews well you should be able to pull a decent shot with it. Also how fresh were those beans? Too fresh and the flavors haven't opened up. Stale is beyond help too.

TomC wrote:Generally, any competent home barista can pull a better shot than a busy cafe.

Generally, statements like that are offensive to places that 9 times out of 10 if not 10 out of 10 will prove the statement false.

That said to the OP: why in the world would you buy bags of coffee that tasted bad in the first place? Had you been there before? Usually someone will get a shot to have a baseline of what to target pulling at home. In that respect it sounds like you succeeded.

Compass Coffee wrote:Generally, statements like that are offensive to places that 9 times out of 10 if not 10 out of 10 will prove the statement false.

I completely disagree ( to the latter part)

To the OP: do you like coffee and espresso to begin with? Just to make things clear.

On the other hand, I second the point that you shouldn't buy beans that even the seller can't make taste good. That is pointless.

Hi Mike,
Lots of good roasters and baristas in Denver. I'd be happy to share my favorites and I'm sure others here have their favorites as well.
Good luck,
Chuck

While I agree with much of what has been said, another "test" I find somewhat reliable (in regards to potential) is to get a good whiff of the roasted beans. If you open the bag, stick your nose in to take a big whiff and don't think something like..."man, these beans smell good" then you're probably wasting your time with them. If, on the other hand, you are getting that from these beans you're struggling with, then I think you need to try harder to get the dose and grind right. Read through the Espresso 101 sticky on the Tips page and play around with some shots. Of course, as mentioned earlier, you'll need the bean freshness to be in range (hopefully, between day 4 and 10).

TomC wrote:Generally, any competent home barista can pull a better shot than a busy cafe.

For the sake of discussion (and potential split and/or locked thread or deleted post ) I suppose partially comes down to your definition of any competent home barista. I wonder how many of the currently 12793 registered HB members would qualify as competent. And as such would generally pull better shots than a competent, trained, professional barista in a busy quality focused cafe. A busy cafe with well trained barista paying attention to the shots and hence knowing at about any time how they're pulling. Fact is IMO it's easier to pull a good shot when busy than when pulling from dead slow period or walk up at home. I know when I was strictly a HB member, before turning professional 8+ years ago, even with a number of years diligent dedicated home barista experience I would have to say I would have been in the incompetent category and likely failed head to head with any of the barista I have on staff, or myself now for that matter.

Now if you were referring to the preponderance of cafes out there, which aren't quality focused, I'd agree with your statement. However it was stated as all inclusive "busy cafe". The generalized all inclusiveness of the statement is what was offensive personally. Busy and lacking quality are not automatically mutually inclusive.

I'll agree with a portion of your statement, but not all of it. I've been to too many cafes, seen too many baristas pulling shots that they've dialed in to mix with a ton of milk. Their dial -ins fade, or the person who sets the dial-in, his/her choice isn't optimal. At home, I can carefully tweak any aspect of the extraction. Time is on my side and not theirs. We just disagree. I started as a barista in 1999.