Dead shots
I thought this might make for a fun conversation piece: does letting a shot sit and cool affect it's taste in a negative way?
I don't think anybody's arguing that the taste doesn't change but it's my experience that the major difference between a fresh shot and an old one is that, one, the crema has integrated with the shot and, two, our taste buds can more accurately perceive the flavors at a cooler temperature. Thus, when an old shot tastes poorly, it is more likely that the shot was bad to begin with and our ability to notice it has changed. I'm not sure if this is scientifically accurate, though, and I'm curious to see what everybody else thinks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on
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I think your assumptions are correct. Ryan Wilbur (Stumptown) let his shots sit for a couple minutes during competition this past year and he had incredible espresso scores.
It works the same as brewed coffee, there is a point where it just becomes stale, but it's not "dead after 15 seconds" like Starbucks has taught everyone to believe.
Unfortunately, latte art is (once again) the main culprit for moving espresso shots quickly. More crema=more contrast.
-bry
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Permalink Reply by Jasmine Arielle Grantham on
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Starbucks LIES! lol
I think it makes good sense that letting the shot sit for a moment or two could really allow for the more natural taste of the espresso to become more prominent. That's really interesting!
Jas
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Permalink Reply by Phil Roberts on
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Joshua,
James Hoffmann posted this topic on his blog last September... I remember trying it out shortly after this blog when I kept serving my wife espressos that would end up sitting on the counter for 15-20 minutes before she finally got to drinking it. The result was pretty interesting. Your taste buds perceive sweet, sour, bitter at different intensities depending on the temperature. You can also test it with ice cream. Higher end restaurants will let ice cream sit on the counter for a few minutes in the dish before delivering it to the table to be consumed. The idea is that the ice cream will appear sweeter as the temperature gets closer to that in the room... Essentially, it's just a fun way to experience tasting!
-phil
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