Why do coffee houses extract into a vessel first?

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pcrussell50
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#1: Post by pcrussell50 »

Seems like any more, pretty much every third wavey coffee house I go to, extracts espresso into a vessel of some kind before pouring it into the demitasse. I'm talking espresso here, served in house (not takeaway) in a proper demitasse, and not milk drinks either.

Why over the past two years has extracting directly into the Demi, all but vaporized?

I have a weird WAG on the matter... as I've grown up, I've watched the national preference go towards "purity and convenience". Boneless skinless chicken breast. No dark meat eaten off the bone. Last time I ordered chicken like that, I got stern warnings that there would be skin. And bones. As if somehow I was far outside the norm for this. So getting back to espresso, I wonder if "the industry" has focus grouped and decided that people might be scared by the flecking and mottling you might get from extraction straight into the Demi? But that would be pure guess.

-Peter
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belegnole
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#2: Post by belegnole »

Only thinking out loud here. But, there has been a trend where crema is stirred to combine it with the rest of the drink. The idea being that it creates a better more uniform shot. Pouring into a shot glass and then a demitasse would accomplish the same. Also it allows for two other things from the shop perspective. One being they can do a better presentation as the pour from the machine can sometimes leave the cup looking a bit messy. Second lot of places split a double into two different drinks. As the different drinks may end up in different cups, there's uniformity at the machine.

Honestly, it's probably just that it's easier for a number of reasons to use one standard glass for the pour. Then put it into the proper cup, glass, etc for the drink being made.
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Almico
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#3: Post by Almico »

I guess I'm not a 3rd wave coffee house. Singles and doubles go right into the cup...and only the cup. No espresso "to go" here.

belegnole
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#4: Post by belegnole »

I keep having baristas hand me a shot glass instead of a demitasse. Personally I find that trend to look cheap.
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lancealot
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#5: Post by lancealot »

Maybe because it keeps spritzes from the bottomless off the demi.

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HB
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#6: Post by HB »

I've only seen that in cafes that serve drinks in cups so tall, they don't fit under the grouphead. So they pour into a mini pitcher first and transfer to their "big gulp" latte cup. Often said vessel looks as appetizing as one might imagine after repeating this all day without rinsing. :|
Dan Kehn

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#7: Post by new2espresso »

It seems to vary based on the coffee shop. While traveling and deprived of my own espresso machine last week I found that the local coffee shop where I was staying would pull espressos into the demitasse whereas when I visited Blue Bottle they would pull their shots into a small milk pitcher and pour it out from there.
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pcrussell50 (original poster)
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#8: Post by pcrussell50 (original poster) »

I seriously can't remember the last time I didn't see it. Even the legends like Klatch and Portola in SoCal, to all the flyover cities I layover in, Kicakappo and Stone Creek in Milwaukee (was just there), Elemental in Oklahoma City, Revolution Roasters in North San Diego, PublicUS in Las Vegas, all of them. Amazing.

-Peter
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yakster
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#9: Post by yakster »

Strange, when I started with espresso 10+ years ago, it was all about the espresso brew bells (small milk pitchers) and everyone did this. This went away as more and more people favored pulling into the demitasse, and posts started appearing about people repurposing those brew bells to steam tiny amounts of milk in (if they could) for macchiatos. Now it appears to be making a come-back, not sure why.
-Chris

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russel
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#10: Post by russel »

I prefer that strait shots be pulled into a clean intermediate vessel and then transferred into a drinking vessel. Crema is not tasty and espresso is much better stirred up. I'd rather serve a finished drink than have to hand someone something with an explanation about how then should be doing the last step. Also, I don't like the clutter of the used spoon...it never sits well on the saucer and then it's another thing to return to the dish tub or wherever the cafe wants it to go.
russel at anacidicandbitterbeverage dot com

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