Often when you go to a cafe they are busy, the staff are run off their feet, and if they're wearing a mask they often can't get enough oxygen going to their brain. This usually leads to the coffee you get being lackluster, uninspired and missing something. That 'something' is called Love. There was no Love put into the final product. Remember when you're Mum or grandma made your favourite meal, dessert or hot chocolate as a kid? … It was the way it made you feel that made the best memories. So when brewing your V60, or preparing your espresso… make sure you put the time and effort into appreciating each action taken into making that beverage come alive.

> @"drdre89"#p23045 if they’re wearing a mask they often can’t get enough oxygen going to their brain Yeah, this is a total myth. Anyway, in answer to your question, none. No love goes into my coffee, I just focus on making it right. The reason it's bad in a lot if cafes is purely economics: the staff aren't paid enough to put the effort in to improving; the owners collect the money from the public all the same.

> @"drdre89"#p23045 if they’re wearing a mask they often can’t get enough oxygen going to their brain Sure thing. Surgeons manage to miraculously carry out some pretty difficult and precise operations wearing a mask. Imagine what they could achieve if their brain wasn't deprived of oxygen…. Seriously… Grab a coffee…

@"MediumRoastSteam"#p23071 I assumed the brane and mask leading to a reduction of O2 was a joke?

@"drdre89"#p23045 masks aside 😁 , I'm into putting some love into my espresso making for sure. Not sure if I can tell you what that looks like exactly but it's something like going a little slower and putting some care and attention into each step. Noticing the colors, the scent of ground coffee, admiring the pour. Yes indeed @"drdre89"#219 sign me up for that one.

I just take care to prep the puck properly. Can’t say, it’s a TLC!

@"tompoland"#p23091 I also like to enjoy the process, the journey from bean container, to grinder, to cup. The visuals, the smells…glorious.

Absolutely. It's why I've been exclusively hand grinding for the last few years and recently sold my Mara and got a Cafelat Robot (no regrets!). The tactile experience of the manual process is all part of the fun, and equally as important to me as what ends up in the cup.

Making my own coffee is the best way for me to have the best odds of a delicious cup, but I don't like making coffee. I love the end result (& sharing it with people I love) but for me the process is just a process, I'm diligent because it's an important factor in the quality of the result, but there is no love in it. Coffee is as unware of love as it is of time. > @"drdre89"#p23045 Often when you go to a cafe they are busy, the staff are run off their feet, and if they’re wearing a mask they often can’t get enough oxygen going to their brain. This usually leads to the coffee you get being lackluster, uninspired and missing something. If they were competent, you'd still get a good cup, even if they themselves hated it. If the cafe never, or only occasionally makes a good cup, perhaps they're just not that good at it?

@"MWJB"#p23122 could be straying off topic .. again.. but, wonder what others think about this- I’ve tried to really take a look at the equipment and process when I’ve ordered a coffee out recently. Pretty much all of the ‘good’ places I’ve bought from, it seems, everything is automatic. The dose is electronic, automatically dosed to a preset weight, most now have an electronic tamp and then the coffee extraction is simply push a button, the only manual intervention apart from that is adding water, or milk. I’ve had decent results most times but to be fair I don’t coffee out much anymore and would be picky these days!! With all that in mind, it doesn’t take a huge amount of love then for that kind of place does it?

Just returning to masks, after collapsing twice I stopped wearing one, all the classic oxygen starvation symptoms. I certainly didn't get my full oxygen quota wearing a mask. That might have something to do with the drugs I take but for some of us masks really do interfere with breathing.

How much "Love" do you put into your coffee making

CoyoteOldMan

Just a musing on the topic. The Italian coffee shop where we usually had our breakfast while on vacation makes (their estimate) between 1,200 and 1,600 coffee drinks a day. During tourist season that’s 7 days a week. Could it taste better if they paid attention to the last 10%? Maybe - but it’s darn good as it is, and consistently so. At €1.00 for an espresso and €1.30 for a cappuccino, it’s very cheap too. If they paid that extra attention, they could not deliver the volume or the price, and I’d rather have those…

JahLaza

CoyoteOldMan they are born with portafilter in hand though!! Yes it’s streamlined, and they’re so used to it,it’s enough as you say. It’s a different scenario to cafes over these isles though, but, I must say, you can get seriously good coffee here these days too. I’m looking forward to my next trip to Italy this autumn with slightly more experienced coffee eyes this time

drdre89

CoyoteOldMan The Italian coffee shop where we usually had our breakfast while on vacation makes (their estimate) between 1,200 and 1,600 coffee drinks a day.

That’s because the people working there must love their job and love what they’re doing. The energy and vibe in that workplace must be of a high vibration that’s why the coffees they make taste great.

Bicky

The ‘problem’ with the scientific approach is that it’s cold, hard, reductionism. If everything is reduced to numbers does it become self-defeating? There’s an endless pursuit of truth/perfection, which is crucial for scientific progress, but for the simple enjoyment of coffee?

If you score every cup you ever have, unless you’re getting 10s all the time, are you ever truly content? If you give a cup an 8, do you make an adjustment for the next one in pursuit of that 9? A second here, a gram there, where does it end?

I’m not suggesting we throw away the scales and go back to volumetric yields, but maybe it would do you good to just take a step back and accept that 7/10 for what it is. It might make you appreciate the next 8/10 that bit more 🙂

It’s an interesting topic.

MWJB

Bicky If you score every cup you ever have, unless you’re getting 10s all the time, are you ever truly content?

I don’t see how this can happen? It would mean that your coffee was the very best coffee, perfectly grown, picked, processed, roasted & brewed. It’s unrealistic. I drink a range of coffees, sometimes a quick 6 or 7 is just the ticket, I accept it for what it is. If I buy a coffee with high price then my expectations are higher and then I’m disappointed with such a score.

Once dialled in, I rarely adjust (maybe minor tweaks, or if trying a new brewer), Again, thinking you can adjust all 6s to 8s is unrealistic.

A second makes no difference in any form of coffee brewing.

I focus my love on people, some appreciate it, some don’t…but I’m not going to waste it on some dried seeds that are totally reliant on what I’ll do to them.

My coffee making is methodical, but it’s never cold…it takes too long for one thing :-)

tompoland

-Mac true true.

But love is repeatable too. Ask Liz Taylor. Was it five husbands?

Joking aside, maybe love is too strong a word?

Care, awareness of senses including sight, scent, texture. Enhancing enjoyment.

tompoland

Ernie1 I saw a triple-pack recently from a fairly big roaster, £30 or something for three 100g bags. I figured I might as well just feed £30 cash through my grinder and pour it down the sink.

Too funny. So true though.

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