Comments on: The Unforgivable.

By: Ben E.

Ben E. — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:18:23 +0000

I rarely build a drink for myself that’s larger than 8 oz. Scratch that. I never drink lattes, I would never make them for myself. I also always steam to 150. I pour it, I enjoy it. Maybe I dilly-dally too much and the drink cools before I get to it. I want that drink as hot as it can possibly be without effecting flavor by the time I get it, and that usually means 150 in the pitcher.

Yeh, I need to start temping my final drinks just to see how much heat I’m loosing because I totally don’t get what you’re saying here.

By: Grady

Grady — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:20:33 +0000

Love it George. And I especially love that after-dinner voice of yours…

By: Tyler

Tyler — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:51:11 +0000

There is a fine line between arrogance and educational opportunity. I have never been asked to serve a 6 oz drink to a person who would complain about it not being hot enough. It kind of goes with the turf, if one is ordering a 6oz drink they generally know the appropriate temperature. So if someone said “hey whats this trad mach thing” and tries it, well it doesn’t make to much sense to come down on them when they mention its not very hot. Now here is the perfect time for an educational opportunity.

But, the original post seems more directed to those preparing the drink than those ordering it. So….rant received and concurred.

By: John Giannakos

John Giannakos — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:35:45 +0000

Julian, there’s no golden rule for what a 12oz+ drink (or any drink for that matter) should be steamed to. I can only speak for myself and our cafe when I say, we always try to serve it at 150, by default. If a customer orders extra hot, we make it 10 degrees hotter. If a customer wants it at 180, we bite our lips and make it 180.

The Mocha. Let me give you the easy answer: it always matters. If you can’t already smell the difference in milk steamed just off boil, you’ll without a doubt taste it. If your dosage of chocolate can hide that taste, you’ve got a different problem

Regarding the house rule “Manditory Thermal Mug”… All I can say is, you better have a stockpile of vaccuum thermos to give away for free with every coffee. Because that’s the only way I can see that working. . I’m a pretty passionate guy when it comes to educational oppurtunities with customers, but I pick and choose my fights, and this isn’t one of them.

Cheers.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:51:04 +0000

A few cents to add:

A good house rule for extra hot is if you want it extra hot, that it needs to be in a thermal mug. for one reason, if you want your drink at 165 or higher, there’s a good chance the to-go cup is going malform from heat, leading to a lid popping off. it happens. the other reason is, if you want it extra hot to take to your wife… love her a little more and bring a friggen vacuum thermos. a considerate barista will preheat the cup.

A lot of the time, instead of saying no and creating disconnect, we like to look at as an educational opportunity or try to solve the customer’s problem in a more elegant way.

Lastly, a little heat (never over 150-ish) IMHO is a good thing – when your capp is too easy to drink, and goes down like chocolate milk.

By: Julian

Julian — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:05:08 +0000

Also, question w.r.t. caffe mochas: would it really matter how hot the milk is steamed to, since the taste of both the milk and espresso are “masked” by the chocolate flavour? At D’s, I have one regular that gets a 20 oz”near-boiling” hot mocha so he can bring it home for his wife. So… is there a limit to how hot a “large” drink (over 6 oz) can be steamed to?

By: Julian

Julian — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:58:23 +0000

Interesting… I’ll keep those tips in mind, John. I wouldn’t have thought of #3, but the first two make sense, I suppose. Though, I still think they look a bit odd.

By: John

John — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:12:51 +0000

Julian,
This post applies to all drinks 6 ounces or smaller. See the note near the beginning of the post. At Crema, our 12oz. drinks are done at 150 as well.

A few reasons why some customer prefer their coffee with straws:

1. They don’t want to stain their teeth. This is more prevalent with brewed coffee.

2. Customers on the go –especially commuters, find it easier to drink in their car or while walking, using a straw. It helps prevent spills too.

3. It looks more posh when your wearing lipstick.

By: Kyle Wheeler

Kyle Wheeler — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:58:08 +0000

Preach it! I want to be able to actually drink my coffee when I recieve it.

By: Julian

Julian — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:55:03 +0000

130, huh? At my coffee shop, we steam our drinks to 150, BUT we have “Starbucks” sizes. Like what ya.wei said, there is the occasional customer that says (imagine le snooty voice): “This drink is warm! Can you make it hotter?” Sure, I’ll NUKE the bloody thing until it catches fire; that hot enough for ya?!

On a side note that ya.wei brought up, wtf is with this new ridiculous trend of drinking coffee through a straw? Have adults regressed back to their infant years where they require a sippy cup? I’m going to put myself in their shoes and think that the drink is too hot to sip, so a straw will make it easier. SOLUTION: Don’t ask for it extra hot (esp. in 31 Celsius weather)!

BUT one thing that peeves me off even more than “extra hot” are the NO FOAMS. I’ll leave that for another blog rant.

But I digress: I’ll try steaming some 6oz drinks for myself @ 130 and try ‘em out.