Espresso 101 with Heather Perry - Page 2

[RapidCoffee]

Heather told me that the dose really depends on the coffee. If it doesn't taste right updosed, you would down dose it. The Coffee Klatch blends work well at around 22g, and tend to like higher temperatures than a coffee like "Black Cat." You just experiment and do what is best for the coffee.

A far more rational stance, IMHO, than asserting "thou shalt dose 14g" with every coffee, every basket, every machine.

[CoffeeOwl]

You mean that she'll come to my house!?!
(my machine is plumbed, needs 220V, and is a four-man lift) ; >

Is she married?
(my machine is plumbed, too, but I'm not that heavy )

[CoffeeOwl]

(...)Thanks to Pawel for posting these videos!

Actually thanks to Beezer; I only added the final one...

[WilsonHines]

Is she married?

Almost certain that she isn't married.

[RapidCoffee]

Actually thanks to Beezer; I only added the final one...

Oops, my bad. Correction made.

[Randii]

You mean that she'll come to my house!?!
(my machine is plumbed, needs 220V, and is a four-man lift) ; >

As a matter of fact, she offered to come to my house to train me. That may only extend to students in the Los Angeles area, but you can always ask her. I thought it was better to do the training at the roaster, because we could compare the pro equipment to the home equipment.

Is she married?
(my machine is plumbed, too, but I'm not that heavy )

Sorry guys, she's got a boyfriend.

[Psyd]

As a matter of fact, she offered to come to my house to train me.

I was sorta kidding. I get my 'training' going to all of my favorite shops and watching what they do, and quizzing them on technique.

Sorry guys, she's got a boyfriend.

And they were kidding, too. I hope.

[quiltmaster]

I was under the impression that the goal was to create froth; milk and foam held in suspension. If the milk and foam separates, haven't you overcooked it?

Heather taught me to froth milk by just piercing the top of the milk, and letting the milk roll. She didn't have me angle the pitcher, I keep it straight and the wand is held at the side of the pitcher wall. Lower the pitcher as the milk increases in volume and stop adding air when the temp feels "baby bottle" warm. Do not drop the wand into the milk - just listen until the sound makes a deep "roar", which indicates that the milk is at temperature. Heather transfers half the volume of milk to a separate pitcher, lightly swirls the milk in the first pitcher and makes the latte art in the cup, then does the same with the second pitcher for cup number 2. This evens out the pour quality of the milk. I hope this makes sense, as I don't have visuals to show you. I thought frothing milk was really hard until Heather showed me how to do it. She taught me how to do it in only two tries. Heather is a good teacher.

[Beezer]

I don't think he's saying that the milk separates out. It's just that if you pour both drinks from the same pitcher, more foam tends to end up in the first drink than in the second one. I've had this happen to me too. Transferring some milk to the second pitcher before pouring the first drink allows you to make sure your ratios of milk and foam are right for both drinks.

[quiltmaster]

Thanks.

[HB]

Also see Can't pour two cappuccinos, including hints from USBC champion Bronwen Serna.

[Ozark_61]

.... In the subject the poster wrote: "forget all of that, I'd rather take it from world's greatest latte artist".

Uh - did he say POWDERED MILK? That's awesome!

I started off with a battery frother and microwave in the early days too... I wasn't so fancy to sprinkle with a fancy stencil though. Out geeked again!

Geoff

[malachi]

I don't think he's saying that the milk separates out. It's just that if you pour both drinks from the same pitcher, more foam tends to end up in the first drink than in the second one. I've had this happen to me too. Transferring some milk to the second pitcher before pouring the first drink allows you to make sure your ratios of milk and foam are right for both drinks.

The issue is only relevant to situations like the WBC where you have to serve all the drinks at the same time. In that case, you're going to have steamed milk sitting for a long time if you steam it all at once. Competitors have learned the trick of splitting the milk early, then swirling to recombine and pour later. This results in 4 consistent drinks.

Really not relevant to home baristas -- and not even relevant to pro baristas (outside of competition formats) as a general rule.

[oofnik]

Well, here is one of these folks who is not Heather. Someone posted this in a thread where people were asking and giving tips for latte art in an Israeli coffee forum. In the subject the poster wrote: "forget all of that, I'd rather take it from world's greatest latte artist".

<video>

Sedi,
Can you link me to this forum? I've been looking for an online Israeli coffee community for a little while. I know Israel takes its coffee very seriously! Very awesome coffee shops all over the country.

[Sedi]

Sure. Don't expect for much. Many dialogs there sound like ones of people who hit each others cars in a traffic jam, you know, the typical Israeli conversation. Many users who know their coffee got tired of it and write only occasionally when replying to a specific question. Until not too long ago, one of the moderators was the founder and owner of coffee-tech, he dropped. The interface is also annoying. This is however the most active coffee forum here and if you have a specific question about coffee in Israel there will always be someone there to answer. Here is the link:

http://www.tapuz.co.il/tapuzforum...page.asp?forum=320