skimmy wrote:The end of that article: calling mixing in the crema "akin to putting sushi in a blender."
Not sure I consider that a fair analogy, but that cracked me up.

mivanitsky wrote:I used to swirl the shot to mix.

Now i stir it with the cute, tiny spoons from EPNW.

The only reason I stir has nothing to do with the crema, it's to bring the denser sugars at the bottom of the cup back up to homogenize with the rest of the shot.

I concur. The crema has very little to do with the flavor of the shot, even when mixed. We all did those experiments years ago, and I followed in the steps of the ancient masters before me in trying this. To the less experienced here, if you haven't fractionated an espresso shot by time into 5-7 aliquots, you should try it. It is instructive.

I am not sure of how a shot actually layers in the cup over time. Obviously eventually it will settle along density gradients, but that may take longer than it takes to pour, cool, and drink a shot.

We kicked this one around back in 2009.

"Crema is Rubbish"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaUZcbLPTBA

another video about crema

Eliminating bitterness seems to be a longstanding trend.. Folks who believe it needs to be in coffee are kind of purists. Because from what I've seen everyone else seems to focus on everything but the bitterness when talking about the development of flavors in coffee, and in particular, espresso.

Bitterness is a unique flavor that might be deemed crucial in some foods (or in this case drinks). To be honest, I enjoy espresso without the bitterness, or should I say less bitterness. For those of us who drink lots of it, we often see minimal to no bitterness in a great shot of espresso. But to the average joe, who doesn't drink espresso every day, the bitterness is there, even in a god shot, and the probably the dominant flavor of this drink, or any cup of straight coffee.

When I drink espresso, I'm stirring in the Crema.. And it's not to save the bitterness. It's because crema contains the oil emulsions that are key to the body of the shot. Without it, the drink will be thin and lifeless.

weebit_nutty wrote: When I drink espresso, I'm stirring in the Crema.. And it's not to save the bitterness. It's because crema contains the oil emulsions that are key to the body of the shot. Without it, the drink will be thin and lifeless.

Illy's book spills a lot of ink about how oil emulsions are stable in espresso, not only in the crema...

Thanks for sharing Steve!

The lesson I've learnt as I have gone on this coffee journey is that there are many kinds of bitterness. Now I can taste the difference between the dark chocolate bitterness and the biting bitter taste from an overextracted shot.

Needless to say, one is more pleasant than the other!