old442 wrote:Why do some shops insist on pulling shots in two stainless pitchers and then pouring them into the cup?

Kurt

I work in a shop part time and the only time I ever do this is when a customer orders

a) Any milk based espresso drink in a 20 oz cup (not my shop - if it was I wouldn't sell 20 oz drinks). Our 20 oz cups are automatically served with two double ristretto shots of about 1.5 oz each. The 20 oz cups will not fit under the pouring spout of the LM Linea.

b) Any size quad shot Americano. We add the espresso to the water - not vice versa.

One might ask.... why not make the two double shots in succession - both into the same pitcher? First reason is because I'd rather deal with losing a bit of crema from two pitchers versus having the first shot go really flat while the second one is being pulled. Second reason is that many of our morning rush customers (I work 6 AM to 8 AM) are in a big hurry. Don't ask me why - but it's the way it is. I have literally seen cusotmers - on many occasions - walk out if it took more than three minutes from start to finish to enter the store, get their drink and leave.

I'll also note that it's not my shop and not my set of practices......

But I have been in what I considered to be a fairly progressive and well run shop (not the one where I work ) that pulled ALL their shots into shot glassess and then transferred them into the ceramic or paper cup. When I asked why they said it was so the barista could check the shot quality and amount of crema on every drink. I think that's a terrible idea. It's easy enough to tell whether you have a good pour or not by just watching the espresso flow directly into the (preheated!) ceramic cup.

I understand about pulling the shots and adding the to the "Big Gulp Latte".
What I see quite often is pulling the shot into two small stainless pitchers and then pouring them into a cup when it was a straight double shot that was ordered. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

I think I figured it out. Perhaps since everyone is drinking Big Gulp Lattes they had to figure out something to do with the small cream containers.

If you angle your tall to go cups under the PF, you can still pull shots directly into the cup.
I never understood the pull shot and transfer it thing... more stuff to wash, and who wants to wash more stuff?

John P wrote:If you angle your tall to go cups under the PF, you can still pull shots directly into the cup.
I never understood the pull shot and transfer it thing... more stuff to wash, and who wants to wash more stuff?

True of a 16oz cup on La Marzocco Linea but very tough to do with a 20 oz cup.

Phaelon56 wrote:True of a 16oz cup on La Marzocco Linea but very tough to do with a 20 oz cup.

Owen, I'll trade you my Astoria Argenta RG for your LM Linea. The RG (Raised Group) will let you put a 24 oz paper cup right under the group. I only pull doubles for, at most, a ten ounce latte, and my bowls fit under the Silvia, so I'm sure they'd go under the groups of the Linea. Just let me know where to ship it, brother. ; >

Psyd wrote:Owen, I'll trade you my Astoria Argenta RG for your LM Linea. The RG (Raised Group) will let you put a 24 oz paper cup right under the group. I only pull doubles for, at most, a ten ounce latte, and my bowls fit under the Silvia, so I'm sure they'd go under the groups of the Linea. Just let me know where to ship it, brother. ; >

Hmmmm... soooo tempting but I think I may have to pass. Actually.... I think if we switched to bottomless PF's it might be possible to get the 20 oz cup snugged under that in such a way that it would stay in place while the shot was pouring (yes - this is a shop where we use the AV auto-volumetric feature instead of watching every shot while it's being pulled but - as I'm so fond of saying - it's not my shop).

Surely the 20oz cup would fit under a bottomless portafilter ;P

I visited a local establishment the other day. I know that the pf tap with the tamper is pretty much standard practice (although I don't do it at home and I liked Mark Prince's thoughts about it in his tamping article) but this guy was really just knocking the crap out of the PF. I just wanted to go, "Hey..whoa whoa there! Easy, buddy!" It was the most aggressive PF knock I've ever seen!

bc