Cafe experience - Am I too fussy?

[el_espressio]

Heres one for you  - Ill bet youve all had a similar experience.
I was in  a very nice little cafe in Leura (Blue Mountains, NSW) this morning and thought Id do the unthinkable and have an espresso.  This was ordered, along with my partners latte.  Thought Id keep an eye on the pour, wondering if itd reach 8 seconds, when I noticed a double spouted portafilter serving up my espresso as well as the latte at the same time. You know the feeling.... made a token effort to keep my mouth shut and thought Id wait until I tasted it, not wanting to embarrass anyone, least of all myself.  Anyway it looked OK, but was completely tasteless.  I took it up to the counter and said that Id ordered an espresso.  The woman said - "Yeah......short black......???????......." You can imagine the facial expressions and attitude....  I said that this was not an espresso, that it was half of an espresso.  After a bit of mumbling from the other attendant I was given what I had paid for, and found it perfectly acceptable.  Predictably, this ruined the whole experience.  I paid for three coffees (wasnt asked to) and left wondering what the coffee suppliers (Grinders in this case) would make of this type of thing.  No-one wants to look and feel like a coffee snob   , but I do think that if I order an espresso I shouldnt have to make a scene to get one.  Any thoughts?

P.S - Noticed a commercial ECM in another cafe - man, did it look the goods!!

[scoota_gal]

Re: Cafe experience - Am I too fussy?

Just caught this before going off line for the evening and thought Id add my comments for your enjoyment!!

We had some training at my place of work tonight. One thing that was said by the trainer was that when going into a cafe to purchase coffee, you have to remind yourself that it is not your shop and that the people behind the machine will have different tastes and ways of making coffee.

That said, I still believe that the customer is in the right if they are not happy with their product (and as for charging you again for that coffee, especially after you sending it back, what a rip off! > ) and you should be able to get what you think you should be paying for.

I nearly died the other day, when my boss came up to me and said, "Can you make me four caps on instant coffee?" I just stared at her and said "Youre joking, right?!?" Her shake of her head made me see she was serious. The customers then afterwards said that their coffee wasnt hot enough. Okay, so I frothed their milk to the limit of 70 degrees and even I have trouble drinking it after that temp. So what do you do?? Well, I think you bite your tongue but say that youll try to do better next time. Let them drink burnt milk if thats how they like it.

So, my point being, as the maker of the coffee, I would try to make it to my customers tastes. Especially if they specifically ask for it in a certain way, I will do my best. Even then I would say to them, if its not to your liking, please let me know. But then, I consider myself to be in a service industry. Of course, you have to remember that not everyone else thinks so...

Oh and for the record, el espressio, I dont think you are fussy.

[lennier]

Re: Cafe experience - Am I too fussy?

Interesting, is an espresso ordinarily considered to be a double shot (60ml) in NSW? Here is Melb I would normally expect (and get) a 30ml single shot espresso unless I asked for a double. So seeing it poured from a double spout along with another coffee would be the norm, and in fact probably better than seeing it coming from a single spout, given most baristas struggles with single baskets!

Cheers,

Dennis

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: Cafe experience - Am I too fussy?

I too am confused El.

The double filter is indeed for making two singles, or 1 double, so to pour a caffe latte portion & an espresso at the same time from the double filter & outlet is perfectly correct.

Thats how I always make my espresso....and I use the pour from the other side to make my staff or wife a nice capp / or caffe latte / or whatever. I use the double cause I dont like single filters, and therefore my wife or staff benefit by default whenever Im making myself a coffee.....win win situation! They like that.

The only problem I can see in your case there is the over coarse grind & gushy, pissy pour, and ofcourse paying for 3 coffees when you only received 2 that you were happy with. We always let the client get away with a freebie or two if they say they werent happy with something....its got nothing to do with whether there really was something wrong with the product or not, its to do with keeping your client base happy, whether dey is krazy or not doesnmadder...its dere money!

Suggest you go across the road next time, its not your problem to teach them how to improve their business...no one does that for me, so why should we do it for them. Let them work it out all by theirselves..........

Regardz,
FC.


Ps Scoota.....I hear what your trainer said about about everyone having their different ways.........but am afraid I dont accept it. Its a cop out. Thats excatly whats wrong in the cafe industry, no standardisation or understanding (in general) in the proper method of brewing a simple cup of coffee. Much of the result (bad coffee in the cup) is blamed erroneously on coffee roaster suppliers.

Ouch.

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: Cafe experience - Am I too fussy?

ok to answer the question.

El Espressio, joe...no you are not too fussy, you just shouldnt place yourself in a position to be disappointed.

The soft option when out & about is simply to order a capp or a flat white and NO, I dont want that in a mug.

Regardz,
FC.

[DavidR]

Re: Cafe experience - Am I too fussy?

Couple of years back I started going to a newish coffee bar in Adelaide, at a workmates suggestion (well, more like "their coffees are only $2 between 10 and 3, and its on the way back to the car park").

Lattes and flat whites werent half bad, but long blacks tended to be too watery ("most people like the cup filled all the way to the top"). I had just got a couple of the baristas nicely house-trained when they both changed shifts, and the new guy had no idea. I ordered a LB and FW, which this nuffy proceeded to brew from the same group. Yup - one half-shot for the FW, the other for my LB. When the FW shot was poured, he moved the LB cup under both spouts, and then made by LB from what was, by that time, brown water.

Needless to say I didnt go back there again!