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Originally Posted by JohnnyD
Now to learn you something... Espresso begins an oxidation process as soon as it leaves the machine. A typical shot is only good for 20-30 seconds from the time the shot is pulled - you can almost watch it turn from a nice creamy looking tan to a dark brown. When I get a latte from Starbucks, I can tell from the first sip if they let the shot sit too long before pouring in the milk (quite frequent when there is only one person working and there is a line.)
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Starbucks doesn't sell espresso, they sell black colored coffee drink.
First off, everybody knows Starbucks over roasts their coffee. If you roast espresso beans to far they loose all their oil and will never, and I mean NEVER form a proper crema.
Your beans should be medium brown with a hint of oil on the surface and between 3-7 days old.
Secondly, I don't believe there are any Starbucks left that don't use anything but super automatic machines. These are designed to pump out a 70% product that's never good and never bad. Nobody cares because 80% of the time it's going to be jacked with milk, whipped cream, flavor shots and other nonsense that will mask any real coffee flavor.
Third, espresso doesn't really get bitter because of oxidization. It is bitter because of
over extraction which happens during the pull. If your grind is too fine, you compact the puck to much or your water isn't the right temp for the entire pull you pull too many bitter resins from the beans.
After 30 seconds a shot will loose the perfect mouth feel (assuming it was right to begin with) but won't get so bitter that it's going to make for a bad cappuccino. If it's taking you that long to steam milk you need a better machine with a much faster boiler.
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I have a pretty good machine that does a good job. However, I do need a better device for tamping the grounds. Generally, my better half doesn't care so she'll make one first and II steam the milk for both of us at the same time and make mine second.
Only thing I don't like about my machine is that I can't steam milk while it's brewing.
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No serious discussion about espresso can omit the
grinder which is nearly if not as important as the machine itself.
I had a commercial Mazzer grinder in my kitchen a few years ago before I sold it to the coffee shop down the road
-spence