Customer claims new espresso blend is thin
So I work as a roaster, and with the recent weather I had to redo one of my espresso blends on the fly due to a backorder on some bags. I swapped out a Brazil base for a Mexican base on a blend for a certain customer. I informed them of this and that there would be no price change (the mexican was more $$ but I did not mind given the conditions) and if they had any issues to let me know and when the new crops arrived I would give them the old blend at no charge.
Today I get an email from them complaining that their shots are "watery", there is no crema, and that they are pulling to fast... I tested this blend before sending it out, and I had no problems with it (it was a tad bit spicy in comparison to the brazil but still all around great!).
Tomorrow I will be giving them a free batch of their old blend as promised, but I feel I should help them given the issue. Im not crazy here in assuming that the grinder needs an adjustment am I? The big question here for me is how do I explain this to them without coming across like a jackass. In sales the customer is always right, even when they are wrong, so I have to find a way to come across so that they will listen to me and at least adjust properly so this problem does not happen anytime a new crop arrives.
One last little thing to note: For an experiment I once bought Eight O'clock coffee from Wal mart and pulled shots with it, we still got crema.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Ayers on
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Is he pulling them on a home machine? I had similar issues with a blend on my old Isomac Venus. At work on the Marzoccos everything was fine, but take it home and no matter what I changed (grind, temp surfing point, basket size, dose size) I always got watery, almost crema-less shots. The blend was a dark roast espresso, and I was never able to tell why the shots pulled so poorly at home. Granted I wasn't a big fan of this espresso even when pulling nicely at work, but I would take some home occasionally, and yeah...it always pulled poorly. I could get great if not amazing pulls out of almost all other espresso blends, so, maybe his machine is like mine and doesn't like certain (very specific) profiles?
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Permalink Reply by Alexander Stephen Root on
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Was there a difference in the oiliness of the end product? Did you have to alter your grind when testing the new blend before you shipped it out?
I have no idea what could have happened, these are just questions that come to mind?
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Gray on
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I'm not sure how your operation works, but one thing that came to mind was what a roaster I have used always did. Anytime we had an equipment change or change in the blend they would come to the shop and help get everything dialed in. It may not work for you, but it may help. At the very least you would know if they were just full of it, trying to get free coffee out of you! If you were actually there to change the grind or suggest what else should be changed, it may not come across as bad. I always appreciated it from our roaster.
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Permalink Reply by luke hudek on
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My thought right now is to go in and say something along the lines of "well I hope it was the coffee and not the equipment!" and get them to pull a shot with me on their setup and see if I can play around with them a bit that way.
I offer to help every shop I go into and train them, but some right out refuse to be helped when it comes to espresso for whatever reason, but I am hoping to sneak some advice in come morning.
Jeremy Gray said:I'm not sure how your operation works, but one thing that came to mind was what a roaster I have used always did. Anytime we had an equipment change or change in the blend they would come to the shop and help get everything dialed in. It may not work for you, but it may help. At the very least you would know if they were just full of it, trying to get free coffee out of you! If you were actually there to change the grind or suggest what else should be changed, it may not come across as bad. I always appreciated it from our roaster.
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Permalink Reply by BreAnn Veldstra on
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I say this as a coffee beginner/enthusiast if I may,,,,,
It is a touchy situation especially if they are a regular! The thing I learned in customer service is people are always fast to throw out a "constructive criticism" and its also like pulling teeth to get positive feedback!
You're Idea is perfect!!!!, if it is an appropriate setting,time and if they are interested invite them behind the counter giving them a run down on your espresso and how it works with the machine, invite them to taste short shots and then Pellegrino to clear the pallet and then let them taste perfection it could either mean a whole lot to the customer and or make them feel justified/educated enough to critique more! ............
or maybe they got a decaf shot?!! who knows =) happy roasting
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