l think some where along the line its up to the individual, theres a lot to be said about visiting coffee shops finding the coffee drink that suits you then replicating it on your machine, whats right for one may not be good for another

I saw some video of Tom in SM drinking espresso, he swirls it around... waits about 2 min before taking a sip.

It made me wonder so I tried.

I found it to be so good this way too. However, only for good shots. Bad pulls will taste much worse.

During the swirling around, great time to smell it. I am starting to pick up hints by that too if I nailed the shot and what I can expect on first sip. The crema will dissipate... it doesn't matter, still great mouthfeel and body.

Also, I'm liking shorter heat times on the cups, and not fill it to the rim.

Anyway, just an observation from something I've been trying in last few weeks.

James Hoffman mentioned this in his blog not long ago.

From the discussion I took away that a very good shot espresso could be quite pleasant cold. If its mediocre its shortcomings will be more pronounced than when it was hot. This is also in line with what Jim Schulman mentions on the first page of this thread.

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"After a century of investigation, the role of temperature on taste perception is still unclear. The general view is that perception is optimal at normal mouth temperature. For example, cooling reduces the sweetness of sugars and the bitterness of alkaloids (Green and Frankman, 1987). However, the bitterness (and astringency) of tannins is well known to be more evident at cool temperatures. This apparent anomaly may relate to the different receptors involved in tannin and alkaloid bitterness.
Another important factor affecting taste perception is PH. It both directly influences the ionization of salts and acids, and indirectly affects the shape and biological activity of proteins. Structural modification of receptor proteins on gustatory neurons could significantly affect taste responsiveness."

Jackson, Ronald S. Wine Tasting: A Professional Handbook. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2009. 140-141. Print.

...and for the physiology nerds like me: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4...04248.html

Although it mentions cooler temps than what most may drink coffee at...