I'm always amazed at Caffe Streets ability to bring clarity, definition and sweetness out of their espresso better than any other coffee establishment I've ever been to. The last time I was there, they were pulling Heart Roaster's Stereo blend. It wasn't that the bean was incredible, it was more about the way they were able to produce a shot that had both a fruity side and a bitter side without any flaws that I could detect. Not one. And this isn't the first time I've had a shot from them that was flawless. They have figured out how to pull shots without any unwanted flavors to detract from the experience. What secret have they figured out that nobody else seems to be able to copy?

I imagine a thorough dial-in process, narrowing down and optimizing each variable. No secret to it. The average home user probably doesn't want to waste a lot of beans and time, so we'd settle for parameters after a few dial in shots, pick the best one of those, and go on with daily life. For a business, it pays to spend several bags and several hours trying every possible combination of parameters.

I might agree but no other cafe I've ever been to has been able to match Caffe Street's ability to dial in coffee. There has to be more to it. I know their Synesso has pressure profiling capabilities but when I ask how the pressure is manipulated, the barista says they just reduce the pressure as the shot progresses. I'm hoping someone here has some intimate knowledge of their practices!

The thing I notice about Streets is that they use their profiling in a way that most people who have this capacity do not. They produce very "loud" shots, and use the profiling to keep them just balanced enough to be tasty. Other people using levers or profiling machines do not push the envelope nearly as hard. With Streets, the classic Cafe Vivace "punch in the mouth" shot is not just marginally drinkable, but becomes completely tasty.

If I were trying to imitate this style; my first stab would be underextracting by using higher doses and coarser grinds; then compensating with lower initial pressure and a more extreme drop in pressure during the shot.

another_jim wrote:If I were trying to imitate this style; my first stab would be underextracting by using higher doses and coarser grinds; then compensating with lower initial pressure and a more extreme drop in pressure during the shot.

Thanks Jim! I'll give this a try tomorrow morning. BTW, Sherman and I missed you last weekend. Streets was on (as you can tell) as was the Pho!!!

I tried it today and mostly struck out. On the Strega at least, picking up the volume beyond a certain point loses clarity -- I couldn't match the combination of power and clarity that Streets gets at their best. I'll try again with WP coffees (Streets doesn't usually pull naturals), and see if that helps.

Is morning I also found low pressure to fail. Then I switched to higher pressure, around 11 BAR, and it was much more promising. I'm using 3 day old Stereo blend so I expect it's too fresh but at that pressure with its finer grind, I could see how the sweetness was amplified while I could tame the bitterness by forcing the flow to increase. This is very exciting. This weekend should work better with a rested bean and more time to play.

Just a general comment here for those who have never tried Heart's Stereo; that working with this blend provides an especially good platform for practicing development of the "transparency" or "clarity" discussed above in this thread.

Well-made shots of this blend famously exhibit a distinct left-right separation of flavors - so you can be sure up-front there's a target out there you can hit, and when you do hit it, you will (yes literally) "taste success." Getting to that point is a great étude in clearing out the causes of muddiness from your technique.

Perhaps only those with the highest-end grinders and machines may claim clarity sufficient to discern a Central SO's marmalade notes as being made from Seville versus Cara Cara orange peels, but with Stereo, just about any setup, carefully used, can yield some clear distinction between its parallel taste tracks.

Well, another bust. I think this coffee doesn't like extreme pressures. I had the best results sticking to my trusty ramp up to 9 BAR then taper down as the shot progresses. Still, I wasn't able to get the clarity and definition that Caffe Steets gets. It's driving me crazy because with my equipment, I should be able to match just about any shop's output.

The final variable which is about 80% of the final product is water. How does yours compare to their's?