Posted by Lauren on August 11, 2009 at 11:06am in Espresso
My first post was about accepting a job at a Coffeeshop which uses a fully automatic machine. Well, I ended up turning that one down and getting a different job with a completely manual machine- HOORAY!
The only thing is, she trained me very differently than what I'm used to. I'm working on a Nuova Simonelli 2-Group.
I was trained with Stumptown in Seattle and worked with it for about 2 years-- dose espresso, even it out with your finger, apply light pressure, tamp 30 lbs, run water through until boiler stops making a boiling sound (okay bear with me if you don't know what I'm talking about there-- it's with older machines and I don't know how to explain), pull shot for 23-28 seconds, latte art, BAM.
However, with this coffee, I was told to dose the espresso, don't worry about evening it out or drying out the puck after rinsing it, tamp it once with the tamper that's built into the grinder (which is smaller than the puck so it leaves some edges much taller than others) for 3 seconds at a light pressure, she didn't mention letting the boiling water run through, and the shot should be 15-20 seconds.
When I came for my interview and she made me a latte, I noticed that it tasted rather acidic. I would feel like a total snob bringing any of this up, even though when she instructed me to hold the latte foam back with a spoon until I was ready for it, I said, "Oh, well, uh.... I don't... need... to," and she basically said "OH, well okay! Just do it however you usually do, we have different ways." But I also don't really know about preparing coffee other than Stumptown.
Are shots capable of coming out okay at 15-20 seconds?
School me, folks! Please!:)
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