Preheating cups removes soap residue too

[malachi]

I'm sure we all know the value of pre-heating your demi, right?
If we pre-heat the cup, the espresso does not cool upon coming into contact and become sour tasting.

But this is not the only benefit of pre-heating your cup.

As I recently learned from visiting a local coffee freak, many people have taken to merely allowing the cups to warm on top of the machine rather than pre-heating with hot water. It was explained to me that heating with hot water was a pain as: you ended up dumping water into the drain tray which is shallow and prone to over-flow on some machines and also because it was likely to cause autofill to start and your machine to cool right before you wanted to pull a shot.

Well... that's all well and good... if you don't wash your cups with dish soap.

I was served a shot that tasted noticably of dish soap and had the tell-tale "ring" as the crema was broken down on contact with the soap residue.

Folks... pre-heat your cups with water and if you're not going to do so, at least rinse your cups after you wash them.


Just say no to dish detergent.

[barry]

Just say no to dish detergent.

...and the health department will just say 'no' to you!





--barry "bleach? there's supposed to be bleach in there?"

[malachi]

Use a bar glass washer with a booster heater. Works like a charm, passes health inspection every state I've worked in.

Or use a bar glass dip product to sanitize the cups. Again, passes health inspection.

[HB]

Folks... pre-heat your cups with water and if you're not going to do so, at least rinse your cups after you wash them.

Are you railing against those who wash their cups with dish detergent and water, but don't rinse? Bleech! Or are you recommending against using dish detergent period, even if rinsed thoroughly with fresh water? (Most of the time I use the automatic dishwasher for demitasses... even for illy collection cups ).

[NewEnglandCliff]

Different people have greater abilities to taste certain things. One thing I can pick up more so than most people is, unfortunately, dish washing detergent; specifically, automatic dishwashing detergent. I can tell right away when served a drink whether the glass has been hand washed or machine washed. Unless the glass is given a fresh water rinse before using (filling and emptying twice suffices), machine washing ruins the drink. It doesn't matter whether a rinsing agent was used in the machine or not. Believe me, I've tried everything as I'm not a fan of hand washing. Machine washing will eventually wear off any logos or artwork you have on your glassware, as well, so I'd be hand washing that Illy collection Dan!

[malachi]

I'm generally opposed to dish detergent except in very small amounts and, as Cliff notes, when not only rinsed thoroughly but also re-rinsed prior to use (once dry).

[HB]

Machine washing will eventually wear off any logos or artwork you have on your glassware, as well, so I'd be hand washing that Illy collection Dan!

It may offend collector purists, but I own a few illy collections and treat them pretty much the same as "everyday" cups. I thought the glaze over the artwork would protect them from wear, no?

[NewEnglandCliff]

Can't deny that with any certainty, but I know from experience that silk screening will wear off. The causticity (real word) of the detergent lightly etches bare glass itself with each washing, eventually creating a permanent haze. Crystal, as well.

[HB]

Thanks Cliff, I'll treat them more carefully from now on.

By the way, I asked my wife, who is very sensitive to off flavors, to compare the taste of water served from two illy cups that were cleaned in the dishwasher. One was rinsed several times and dried and the other was not. Not knowing the difference between the two samples, she identified the unrinsed one as tainted in some fashion, although she was unable to say how.

[DavidMLewis]

Can't deny that with any certainty, but I know from experience that silk screening will wear off. The causticity (real word) of the detergent lightly etches bare glass itself with each washing, eventually creating a permanent haze. Crystal, as well.

The problem is worse if you have soft water in an area that normally has hard. The manufacturers formulate their stuff differently for different markets, and it's extra-caustic for hard-water areas. We have a whole-house softener in a hard-water area, and in our experience Ecover powdered dishwashing detergent does a pretty good job. While you still get some erosion, it seems to be reduced by about a factor of ten.

Best,
David

[Abe Carmeli]

Can't deny that with any certainty, but I know from experience that silk screening will wear off. The causticity (real word) of the detergent lightly etches bare glass itself with each washing, eventually creating a permanent haze. Crystal, as well.

Here's an example of a 1993 Illy collection cup (Faces of Italy) which illustrates the effect of wear and tear on the cup print. Note the print fading close to the cup rim.


Fading memories

[miKe mcKoffee]

I'm sure we all know the value of pre-heating your demi, right?
If we pre-heat the cup, the espresso does not cool upon coming into contact and become sour tasting.

But this is not the only benefit of pre-heating your cup.

As I recently learned from visiting a local coffee freak, many people have taken to merely allowing the cups to warm on top of the machine rather than pre-heating with hot water. It was explained to me that heating with hot water was a pain as: you ended up dumping water into the drain tray which is shallow and prone to over-flow on some machines and also because it was likely to cause autofill to start and your machine to cool right before you wanted to pull a shot.

He may be a coffee freak but not truly caring about coffee IMO. I know many many coffee aficionados who always pre-heat their cups. I don't care if it's press or vac or cap or straight shot, whatever the cup it gets pre-heated at my house! Oh, hot water on demand unit tweaked up to just off boil makes it easy too.

[AlMac]

As I recently learned from visiting a local coffee freak, many people have taken to merely allowing the cups to warm on top of the machine rather than pre-heating with hot water. It was explained to me that heating with hot water was a pain as: you ended up dumping water into the drain tray which is shallow and prone to over-flow on some machines and also because it was likely to cause autofill to start and your machine to cool right before you wanted to pull a shot.

Warm is the word. You need to put hot water in your cup so that you have a hot cup and hot espresso, rather than warm cup and tepid espresso. Unless your machine is giving off some very serious heat.