Italyhound, I am kind of in the same boat here. I like a creamier cap and my wife loves the stiff foam with little or no milk center. What I have been doing lately is pull two doubles. The first one is hers On the second I steam up about 8 to 10oz of milk at the same time. I stretch it further than normal (as Dan points out about double the size) then scoop off the top foam for her. What's left with a quick swirl and tap turns out to be pretty good foam for me.

Cheers

Ian

Things have been going really well and I never thought I would but I am at the moment 100% hooked on macchiatos. I have been practicing daily making some form of pretty blob in an espresso cup.

Here is a foaming question. I have been using a thermometer which I find to have sluggish readouts relative to the rapid rise in temp in my small 12oz pitcher. When I was chatting with a barista at Intelligentsia this past week during a trip to Chicago, he told me that they are trained with thermometers but ultimately learn to feel the right moments.

Now, he told me that when the milk feels warm, stop stretching and when its too hot to hold, stop altogether. He also said you can hear when to stop and told me to listen for pitch changes.

I wanted a little feedback from the people here. First off, I cannot hear any change in sound. The other thing is that in my dainty hands, the milk gets realllly too hot for me at about 110-115 (at least thats what the readout says). Maybe those guys have thicker skin.

If anyone who does it by feel and ear can offer any tips, I am appreciative.

Evan

Evan-

As you approach 150F you should hear the sound go from a higher pitch to a low and then lower rumbling sound. Go too far and you will here even more rumbling (which I assume to be boiling milk but not sure). I would recommend that you use a combination of touch, sound and the thermometer for awhile to get acquainted with what happens when (you might also check your thermometer in boiling water to be sure it is at least close to accurate).

I'm guessing here, but for smaller volumes of milk, this sound might be too hard to hear, or by the time you do, you may already be way too far.

another_jim wrote:1. No matter what the coffee, group, basket, or grind, one should stop at the same color every time for best results. This will result in fast shots with large volumes for coarse grinds, slow shots with small volumes for fine grinds.
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Jim,

Let me get a re-comfirmation from you... Are you saying you shoot for the same color of the shot regardless of what coffee you use?