A new cafe has just opened in our town to much anticipation (not that we needed another cafe, although one with good coffee would have been welcome). I thought Id drop in there, say hello, check out their gear (Wega and Mazzer) and sample their brew.
I was a bit stunned when I looked at the grinder and found an upturned M@!!^ari 3kg nitrogen tin in place of the hopper!
NO!!!! What about fresh beans??? "But these are from Italy...and we only grind a bit at a time, it lasts about an hour when ground." My suggestion that fresh beans from a local (or even not so local) artisan roaster (or even an enthusiastic Coffee Snob with a Heat Gun :
) may be preferable didnt appear to be given much consideration. And grinding on demand ...
With much trepidation I tried a double latte. After it cooled down to a reasonable temp (much too hot) the full rancid staleness of it was uncovered. BLECHHHH!!! :P :P :P Felt sick all afternoon.
Why do they do that? Spend a fortune on setting up a cafe (and, good luck to them, they have done it before to good success, their forte being the patisserie side of it) but skimp at the last hurdle by going with a large company contract and stale beans? :-/
I assume Im correct in presuming the main problem there is beans which are goodness knows how old and may have been too old even when packed (otherwise wouldnt CO2 expansion in the tin be a problem? Nitrogen doesnt stop that process, does it?)
Better add this to the thread that listed what to look out for in bad cafes - upturned nitrogen tin hoppers!
I was a bit stunned when I looked at the grinder and found an upturned M@!!^ari 3kg nitrogen tin in place of the hopper!
NO!!!! What about fresh beans??? "But these are from Italy...and we only grind a bit at a time, it lasts about an hour when ground." My suggestion that fresh beans from a local (or even not so local) artisan roaster (or even an enthusiastic Coffee Snob with a Heat Gun :

With much trepidation I tried a double latte. After it cooled down to a reasonable temp (much too hot) the full rancid staleness of it was uncovered. BLECHHHH!!! :P :P :P Felt sick all afternoon.
Why do they do that? Spend a fortune on setting up a cafe (and, good luck to them, they have done it before to good success, their forte being the patisserie side of it) but skimp at the last hurdle by going with a large company contract and stale beans? :-/
I assume Im correct in presuming the main problem there is beans which are goodness knows how old and may have been too old even when packed (otherwise wouldnt CO2 expansion in the tin be a problem? Nitrogen doesnt stop that process, does it?)
Better add this to the thread that listed what to look out for in bad cafes - upturned nitrogen tin hoppers!
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