Burnt. No crema. Bitter. Overextracted. Sour. Over and over again, I’ve gotten crappy espresso at the above chains (and a lot of independent places, too). Not just once in a while, but nearly all of the time. If not all of the time, at places like Gloria Jean’s.
My most recent stop at a Seattle’s Best revealed they were using a Super Automatic espresso machine! No adjusting the grind, no adjusting the tamp, just push a button, and a shot (of horrible) espresso came out.
These places are supposed to be using espresso as the basic foundation of a large portion of their drinks! The cappuccinos, the lattes! How can they sell those with a straight face using such bad espresso as their base? <<shudder>>
(Thank Og for Alterra, a small roaster and chain in the Milwaukee area. I’ve never had a bad espresso there. And I’m also grateful I have Miss Silvia at home, enabling me to brew my own proper shots.)
Because they’re more in the milk-and-sugar business than the actual coffee business. People who drink straight espresso are few and far between; most people get sweet monstrosities. You need bitter & burnt to get any coffee flavor at all through all that milk & sugar.
Oh, but most folks can taste the difference between a cappuccino made with decent espresso and one made with a bad shot, once they’ve experienced the good stuff. And a good espresso is quite powerful in its own right, and its flavor will permeate thru the dairy and sugar.
Part of the answer lies in the invention of ‘flavour shots’ - not as many people at Starbuck’s order just an espresso. By the time you’ve got a ‘Venti, non-fat, vanilla, caramel Spinello’, you’ve actually got a chocolate bar melted into a cup of coffee.
Like you, O Quadgop, I’m ever so delighted in my Krups machine which is making better Café au lait (the proper term for it, IMHO.) and Caffe Latte (that’s where you throw the espresso into the cold milk and froth the mixture as best you can.) than I ever got from the green mermaid.
Bolding mine. My WAG is that a lot of the customers (in the US, anyway) don’t know or don’t notice the difference. My experience traveling in Europe is limited, but I remember the fabulous coffee drinks I had in Paris and in Italy, even at my hotels. I also remember a Parisian guy explaining to me that Starbucks survives in Paris because the American tourists go there - it is familiar, and Starbucks serves larger volume drinks, which, according to him, Americans prefer.
Because it’s cheaper to use crap beans and automated machinery which requires no higher-paid skilled barista to operate it. And a harsh burnt roast covers the crummy flavor of the subpar beans they stock.
I’m always startled by the quality of the chain Peet’s. I’m not sure just how far-reaching this chain is, but they are easy to find here in the bay area of California. Not only are their beans good, they have honest-to-god baristas who know how to raise a crema, even on a shot of decaf. It’s amazing.
You have more faith in the taste buds of the common man than I do.
Also, I don’t think most people order cappuccino, either. At least, not a plain cappuccino. They order a mocha decaf vente cappuccino with extra caramel and vanilla sprinkles.
I stick to my Gaggia, and the beans from the local roaster, who once told me “friends don’t let friends drink french roast.”
Cost. Should the cost of their coffee go up by a mill, customers will complain. That means training and retention of staff are out.
Speed. Time is off the essence, customers have very important things to do.
As a result, hand pulled shots are out.
Large amounts of stuff. People just want to fill their gaping maws with large quantities of something, preferably the sweeter the better. Therefore, whether the espresso is actually good is irrelevant.
Most of it is perception. If you see a poorly made cup of coffee you assume it’s bad and don’t like it.
The only way to truly tell is if you take a double blind coffee taste test.
When I worked for Westin we had a salesman do this. No one was able to tell the Starbucks type espresso from the fancy machine they were trying to sell us.
Even coffee snobs that swore they could tell, couldn’t tell. They got it wrong just as often as they got it right.
HOWEVER, when this coffee vendor switched to his premium type coffee, the kind of coffee that sold between $25 and $75 per pound you could tell. Even I could tell quickly.
This coffee I could drink without milk and sugar. Or course who is gonna pay $25 or much more for a pound of coffee and the $5,000 for the fancy machine to make it right?
If you see badly made coffee you assume it is and read things into it. We all do this. In the end it wasn’t the type of machine or the way they made it that really made the difference it was the quality of the coffee that was the major factor
I’ve managed to make crappy espresso from great beans, which minutes earlier produced a great shot, by using the wrong temperature, or pressure, or grind.
Mistreatment of the best quality product will cause notable defects in the end result. Burn a steak, and one will taste it. Same for espresso. Undercook that same steak, and it’ll taste raw. Same for espresso.
Very true. But I did have to spend a bit more to get a decent home machine, which would reliably maintain the temperatures and pressures needed to consistently make a decent espresso.
This just about covers it. Starbucks is expensive enough as it is. I shudder to think of the prices they’d want for stuff that’s actually worth eating and drinking. I’ve tried it a couple of times, and frankly, I’d rather go to Denny’s to get a cup of coffee.
On international trips, I often choose to route through SFO so I can get the trifecta (Peet’s, sourdough and Anchor Steam).
Someone had a “ask the barista” thread. But they worked at Starbucks, and because I think that is an oxymoron (Starbuck & barista), I ignored that thread. Apologies if the guy actually knew what he was doing.
I hated hated hated espresso straight until I visited Rome for a few days. My first expresso shot at the airport waiting for my luggage was far better than I’ve ever had elsewhere. And I had several shots around Rome that were even better.
Qadgop - that Silvia is on ,my list of essential things to acquire when I relocate back to the US after a 25 year hiatus.
I was blessed (cursed?) with having had an excellent espresso rather early in my impressionable espresso-drinking career, and have spent a long time chasing that particular dragon.
Yep, it was a trip to Europe which clued us in on just how good a straight espresso can be. I don’t think we ever tasted a poor shot there - even the most humble office worker’s zinc bar cafe in Paris will pull you a sublime “express”.
Once, we miscalculated our timing to take our homebound flight, and had to get our breakfast croissant and espresso at the airport. I swear that airport espresso was one of the best I had when in France.
How does everyone like theirs? I like mine “ristretto” or “short pull”, with a good dose of raw sugar.
