Are you becoming more 'purist' about your espresso drinks?

[HB]

For years I mixed it up each morning. Sometimes an espresso and cappuccino, sometimes two espressos and a cappuccino; rarely was there a day with no milk in one of my espresso beverages. Maybe it was the back-to-back research for Buyer's Guides or the intense One week with the La Marzocco GS3, but I've changed habits. This morning I thought about making a cappuccino and realized it's been weeks since I've made one. Consciously or not, I've focused more on the coffee and milk was "getting in the way" of that pursuit.

So I wondered, is this just me? Or have you also naturally drifted towards more espresso and less cappuccinos / lattes over time?

[doleeo]

I've started to appreciate the flavor of espresso and began depicting certain flavors within the cup.

Along with becoming more of a purist about my espresso, I've taken a step into the world of cupping.

But there are just some blends that make too good of a cappuccino to pass up!

[another_jim]

What's impure about a cappuccino in the morning?

[hbuchtel]

What's impure about a cappuccino in the morning?

At first I thought Dan meant "Italian" but maybe he just means pure coffee?

Henry

[edwa]

I have drifted the other direction which can be attributed to the switch from single boiler to Hx.

Silvia made me an espresso drinker and an americano drinker. The latter I would brew toss into a travel mug and hit the freeway with all the other lemmings.

Now that I have an Hx I have been drinking a far greater amount of 6 oz Capps. There are times when I intend on making a Capp and see what looks like a great shot oozing into the cup and I just have to drink that double without milk.

[SylvainMtl]

I have drifted the other direction which can be attributed to the switch from single boiler to Hx.

Silvia made me an espresso drinker and an americano drinker. The latter I would brew toss into a travel mug and hit the freeway with all the other lemmings.

Now that I have an Hx I have been drinking a far greater amount of 6 oz Capps. There are times when I intend on making a Capp and see what looks like a great shot oozing into the cup and I just have to drink that double without milk.

wow, same here.

[Abe Carmeli]

This morning I thought about making a cappuccino and realized it's been weeks since I've made one. Consciously or not, I've focused more on the coffee and milk was "getting in the way" of that pursuit.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen . I haven't changed habits, I've never liked milk. The good news about my affliction is that It forced me to focus on the coffee, or otherwise move to a shot of whisky in the morning to numb the pain. There's nothing impure about a cappuccino in the morning, as Jim put it, but the challenge of having 1.5 oz of coffee sustain me for a whole day is too sweet to pass. Good things come in small packages.

[cannonfodder]

I still make an occasional milk drink, usually a macchiato or 6oz cappuccino. I find some blends handle a little milk very well and interact favorably. Over the past year I have significantly lowered the number of milk drinks I prepare. I would say maybe 3 a week.

For a couple of months I did away with milk. I wanted to concentrate on my espresso skills. Milk covers many espresso sins but a naked shot has nothing to hide behind. My shots improved and I further refined my technique and equipment tuning.

One step closer to espresso nirvana.

[CH]

A macchiato or even a nice strong drip can be a good change-up.

[zix]

Occasionally a tablespoon of malt whiskey is very carefully poured down, via a tablespoon. With some of the earthy beans I sometimes put sugar in. Just a little bit, preferably dark or light muscovado sugar (if I can get it). No milk for me.

[scook94]

I'm with edwa and SylvainMtl on this. I started off as an espresso-head having only the occasional americano as a "long" drink. I moved up to an HX machine, primarily to improve my espresso but also because one day I knew I'd want to conquer latte art. I had my HX for all of 6 months making only a handful of milk drinks for my good lady, and then one day I stumbled across coffeevideomagazine.com and got obsessed with microfoam and rosettas. I now make equal amounts of espresso, americano and lattes.

[tmaynard]

What's impure about a cappuccino in the morning?

A cappuccino for two) for the first, eye-opening cup(s) of the day. A macchiato at about the 10:00 AM "coffee break." But from then on, it's pure espresso -- okay possibly a "corretto" after dinner and beyond.

Anything else would have my Italian/Sicilian in-laws champing at the bit. It simply isn't done!

In my world, I've switched to decaf after about 6-8PM, but that's been my only concession: no milk after 10-11 AM!

Live the lifestyle, as they say.

[To be completely honest: I've had a decaf cappuccino as late as 10PM when I'm dining out with my wife -- but this is usually in a French restaurant, and no-one raises an eyelash -- after all, they're the land of "cafe au lait!" and there aren't any Italians/Sicilians there to disapprove!]

t++

[IronBarista]

I've been doing the espresso thing only for a while. One day, I got some milk to make a cappa. I opened the steam valve to purge the wand and I was a little scared because I'd forgotten how much noise it made. I was expecting the boiler to explode. Once I calmed down I was fine. The drink was good too.

[Marshall]

This poll assumes movement in only one direction. But, as my frothing skills improved, I began to mix milk drinks into my former menu of straight espresso only. I now have a cappa every other day or so for myself and usually serve them to guests.

But, I think your assumption is generally correct. People tend to reduce their reliance on milk drinks as their skills improve, they discover better coffees, they get better equipment, fix their water problems, etc.

[dankbean]

I'm with Marshall on this one.

Now that my frothing/stretching skills are on par, I'm enjoying teaching myself proper and consistent latte art. I'm skipping the spoon, and just going for freepour.

I don't feel less of a purist for it. I still drink plenty of straight shots, and I now am regularly involved with QA in our roasting department. As far as I'm concerned, for every capp or latte that I make for myself or my coworkers, there's usually two or three shots that went into it, so I'm getting more practice pulling shots by making a variety of drinks. If I make six capps throughout the day for my coworkers, combined with my own hourly straight-shot-and-back-to-work, I'm pulling dozens of shots.

C'mon, man. You can't introduce me to espresso shots and milk drinks and french press and vacuum pots and macchiatos and pumpkin spice, caramel sauce, nutmeg-sprinkled frapp-O-chinos and espresso con pannas....and then expect me to just choose ONE. ;-b

[Vincent Kluwe-Yorck]

As Abe looks at it with a philosophical perspective: 'Good things come in small packages'.

Me too, I never liked the unholy marriage of milk as the natural output of a mundane analphabet and coffee beans as highest peek in the creation of human sophistication. Only in the nineties, when macchiato became fashionable, I gave it a serious try for a restricted period of time. Nothing against milk as such. I like milk as shake, preferably with fresh strongberries (even as a foreigner I know it's STRAWberries, but aren't they strongberries as well?!? Love that term).

Dan asked me to place my last contribution to the board, which I had posted elsewhere, within this thread for obvious reasons. So here it comes:

Some thought I have to get rid off before exploding like a blocked steam valve under pressure after having been a home-barista guest reader since ages.
I really scratch my forehead, not understanding you US espresso aficionados with respect to one single aspect: We all have been searching the deepest corners of the planet like crawling through deepest jamaican and brazilian jungles and climbing blue, red and pitch black mountains the bad-and-dirty-way for the finest beans on earth, learning the procedures of roasting them perfectly with lifelong skill and have been training our barista skills for decades to produce the best espresso ever, spending thousands on equipment + machines and ruining 3 marriages minimum with much-to-big-and-noisy-and-ugly espresso machines (as noisy and ugly as La Spaziale S1 that is!!!!!).
WHY AFTER ALL FUSS ASSASSINATING THE PRECIOUS RESULT BY BURYING IT UNDER TONS OF MILK AND FOAM?!?
Which seems to be the leading attitude in the US, if I read all the discussions about steaming ability and boiler volume correctly. As an espresso purist, who likes the taste of espresso, I will never understand, how someone could willingly destroy all this richness of aroma nuances with something as profane and unexclusive as milk (same thought corresponds with my habit against extraordinarily expansive darjeeling highland tea, being even worse by considering not only milk, but a poisoning acid and no.1 aroma killer as lemon as debatable addition). So if I had one wish for free, it would be for a single-boiler-non-steam-arm S1 Vivaldi II. Amen.
Don't get me toooo serious, folks!

P.S. Longing so badly for the new Vivaldi II !!!

[Worldman]

I started out drinking straight espresso but soon went to cappuccino...proper sized 6 oz. capps, that is. I find myself drinking more and more straight espresso though my fav drink is now what my wife calls: "a little coffee", i.e. a sort of machiatto with more microfoam therein. We make them in the NP espresso cups (2.5 oz.) by putting one 1oz. shot covered to the top of the cup with microfoam. mmmmm....

Purity, shmurity!

Len

[Vincent Kluwe-Yorck]

Sorry, Worldman, but as far as I can see on your foto, you are not producing a macchiato at all. This would make for a perfect Cappu, if the pot was big enough, so it makes for something, we could probably call a 'restretted Cappu'. For a macchiato you would not pour the milk, but would just lift some milk foam on top of your espresso with a spoon.

[Worldman]

Sorry, Worldman, but as far as I can see on your foto, you are not producing a macchiato at all. This would make for a perfect Cappu, if the pot was big enough, so it makes for something, we could probably call a 'restretted Cappu'. For a macchiato you would not pour the milk, but would just lift some milk foam on top of your espresso with a spoon.

Vince,

Pay attention this time! What I said was

"a little coffee", i.e. a sort of machiatto with more microfoam therein.

Indeed, it is a tiny cappuccino, in fact, at 2.5 oz. total it IS GOOD.

[edit]Sometimes, my wife does call it a "baby cappuccino". That does pretty much describe it.
Len

[lparsons21]

While I do more espresso shots these days, my mainstay is Cafe Cremas and Americanos. Maybe once or twice a week I"ll do a cap or latte.