Upside down latte

[Boris]

I was in QLD earlier this week, Brisvegas and Ipswitch. Let me say at the start Im not generalising about all QLD, but, I ordered coffee at two different locations and both made lattes like this.
Pull the shot into a cup and set aside. Froth a liters worth of milk using the masterbatory method. Get the takeaway cup and spoon it with some roadhouse foam. Then pour in the rest of the super heated (no thermometer - made the swizzle stick go soft) milk, then dribble the shot in the top. Viola, one latte.

The next day I guided the young lady as to how I would like it made and she said "Oh you want a cappacino". After biting through the end of my tongue as I paid the nice lady, I enquired as to the facility she attended to get her competancey. The local coffee school, no name forth coming.

The last gizzillion books Ive read contradict their procedure, as would the standard I was taught.

Any comments from the QLD trainers?

Boris

[jimmyb]

Re: Upside down latte

where did you go?

[Thundergod]

Re: Upside down latte

He said Brisvegas and Ipswitch.

[Wushoes]

Re: Upside down latte

maybe he meant the shop names

[hazchem]

Re: Upside down latte

Ive seen this in Sydney a bit as well. In fact, when I was first trained to be a PBTC at City Extra it was suggested to me that I should make lattes the same way when i have time. Alexanders that used to be across the road from town hall always served their lattes like this as i recall.

I do wonder though, if the ratio of espresso, to milk to froth is the same, does it matter what order it goes into the cup? Sure, its not ideal or to specification, but in a larger commercial environment if you can serve something that creates a bit of excitement at the table, and generates a few more orders, then IMO its worth doing. Doesnt sound like this is what was happening up in Brisvegas though ...

[Rukudo]

Re: Upside down latte

If anyone watched Black Coffees 3rd episode on SBS tonight, they had a female barista showing how she pulled her lattes, and she did it exactly the same

I thought the whole point of pulling the shot first is so that you can then slip the milk under the crema, evenly distributing the coffee throughout causing your 1st few sips to actually taste of coffee and not just frothy milk.

Problem is, when the chick on SBS demonstrated her technique it seemed that the 1st sips would be froth...then coffee...and then all the milk left down the bottom? :s

[Dennis]

Re: Upside down latte

Yeah Rukdo...but she did it with a smile,,,lol

[pie_in_ear]

Re: Upside down latte

As a roaster and trainer in QLD, and not the city of Brissy, I get it all.

The majority of training is done by:

1) Stale coffee distributors who are bussiness people, not coffee people and were last trained in 1981 when that was the correct way to make a latte.

2) Tafe, Cadet, Employement plus....the list goes on. One particular trainer in my area is an ex chef who learned to make coffee when I trained him while working at a customers cafe. If you read the guidelines for prepare and serve espresso beverages, they are very open to interpretation.

A couple of funny stories along these lines too.
While I was looking into becoming accredited for training, the training trainer, the guy who decides if you are qualified to train somebody, says to me that he will grant me prior recognition. To do this he would like to come in and get trained by me, because then he can see where Im at and learn some things.....his words.

A recent trainee who did a class with us rang me to tell me she had failed a job interview. They had asked her to make a flat white, latte, cap. They told her that the latte was wrong because she just made a fw in a glass. They layered their lattes!!!

It is sooo bad when you come across these places, and they are everywhere.

[Rukudo]

Re: Upside down latte

Notes to self: Smile lots when serving Dennis rubbish coffee

I can say that working in Tassie and Qld resorts i never come across that style of latte before, so with any luck the majority of places are now updated. Mind you i have had a "professional" at one place swear to god that lattes MUST be dusted with chocolate.

Probably the closest thing i have been shown would be a latte macchiato. But even then it was described to me as "merely for show".

[muppet_man67]

Re: Upside down latte

Probably the closest thing i have been shown would be a latte macchiato.  But even then it was described to me as "merely for show".

would that be milk marked with coffee?

[robusto]

Re: Upside down latte

No need to worry about inconsistent standards, folks...Starbucks will ensure we all drink the same lattes -- and loving it.

It happened to hamburgers thanks to McDonalds, it  happened to chicken thanks to The Colonel.... coffe is next to follow the road of exported cultural imperialism (of the mediocre kind).

-Robusto

[coffeewise]

Re: Upside down latte

1) Stale coffee distributors who are bussiness people, not coffee people and were last trained in 1981 when that was the correct way to make a latte.

When I started making coffees in Victoria 20 years ago - there was no Latte.

The choice was
Cappuccino - one third coffee, one third milk, one third froth
Flat White - a quarter coffee, three quarters milk (obviously no room for froth after that)
Long Black - turn on machine until cup is full
Short Black - turn on machine until cup is full (smaller cup)

The thing is that people still use these as guidelines, especially the cappuccino. There is nothing wrong with the definition as such if you are using a 120ml - 140ml cup. but if you have a mug and you fill it a third of the way with coffee it will undoubtedly be overextracted unless using a 60gram basket.

Regarding Black Coffee on SBS. I was appalled at that display of coffee making - grinder tamp and all.

But she did smile and she had met the grower of the beans she was using, which is more than most of us can say I would imagine.


James

[muppet_man67]

Re: Upside down latte

No need to worry about inconsistent standards, folks...Starbucks will ensure we all drink the same lattes -- and loving it.

It happened to hamburgers thanks to McDonalds, it happened to chicken thanks to The Colonel.... coffe is next to follow the road of exported cultural imperialism (of the mediocre kind).

-Robusto

I disagree robusto. I think with coffee we have already been there. Perhaps coffee is reaching post modernism. ;D The coffee scene in Melbourne is certainly on the up. there are probably more cafes then ever using fresh beans, and for those that are not there are more baristas behind the machines that know something about extraction. There will always be bad coffee. just as with wine there will always be goon.

[coffeewise]

Re: Upside down latte

Have to agree there. I have a little coffee retail business and thanks to GJs and MoreBucks many more people have been introduced to the possibility of Specialty Coffee as opposed to Supermarket stuff. After the consumer is converted their needs change and end up on sites such as this and maybe purchasing from the little retailer down the road.

What these companies are doing is introducing the culture of coffee drinking to the broader community and this will encourage more people to frequent quality coffee establishments.

Places like McDonalds have really fuelled the takeaway food society we live in today. I grew up with a Chinese Restaurant and Fish and Chip Shop, look at the variety these days.

Sbucks and GJs do the same now as MCds did in the 1970s.

James

[jimmyb]

Re: Upside down latte

maybe he meant the shop names

yeah