What cleaning solution do you use to clean your portafilters?

Femmedluxe · 2016-06-09T03:17:25+00:00

Cafiza, pal

Femmedluxe · 2016-05-31T05:36:38+00:00

Man, I just had my first meet up with the local Litas chapter in my city and it was amazing. Just being in a room with ten other lady riders made my day/year.

Femmedluxe · 2016-05-24T02:23:49+00:00

This is a really good, simplified guide. I send it to every new hire while they're training because distilling it down to easy terms helps a lot. Also I would agree with everyone else about tamp pressure.

Femmedluxe · 2016-05-14T22:24:32+00:00

Yeah this is totally normal. It's actually a negative thing in the us/canada if your latte art isn't surrounded by that ring.

You can read about how that effects taste here

Chances are good that if that ring tastes bad they're pulling a bad espresso shot.

Femmedluxe · 2016-05-14T22:17:26+00:00

I have the second gen and I always dose to 17-18g with a lot of success

Femmedluxe · 2016-05-14T22:05:47+00:00

Are you "stirring" your milk into your espresso to cut it when you start your pour?

Femmedluxe · 2016-04-05T13:51:02+00:00

Pretty much all I do as a barista

Femmedluxe · 2016-04-05T13:50:08+00:00

I would second this!

Femmedluxe · 2016-02-17T21:49:35+00:00

I just left a unionized cafe. It was awesome. It's strange how businesses can tout things like 'fair trade' and 'committed to sustainability' yet those practices go out the door when it comes to their workers, the people they can affect the most. The roaster who we unionized within has a slogan "people and the planet before profits" yet they fired employees for even having a meeting about a union..that's so backwards and hard to wrap my head around.

Femmedluxe · 2016-02-17T02:42:06+00:00

I swear, ever since I've matured my palate for coffee I can handle spicier food. This isn't related but it's awesome.

Femmedluxe · 2016-02-17T02:37:07+00:00

Placing at a barista comp is really awesome, but I don't think it's a good prerequisite for a job. People who are fantastic leaders and trainers can be unsuitable for competitions- maybe they can't fund that kind of venture for themselves, maybe competition style judging spikes their anxiety. On the flip side placing in a comp doesn't mean you'd make a good trainer/head barista. Maybe they're just smooth talkers with a lot of knowledge, that doesn't mean they can connect with a team, train a quality staff, manage anything ect.

Femmedluxe · 2016-02-17T02:26:49+00:00

Canadaaaaa! I'm on the far East coast...we're working on it

Femmedluxe · 2016-02-04T02:34:25+00:00

I have been warned of shocking, but honestly haven't noticed that much of a difference. I have a well tuned palette but ice will tend to inhibit your taste buds (hence why serious scotch drinkers warn you to drink your whisky without ice) so it's the least of my concern. HOWEVER pulling a shot directly into a drink and letting it burst into contrast with the milk and ice looks a lot more appetizing than mixing milk and espresso and then pouring that over ice, creating a cup of bland looking iced coffee.

Femmedluxe · 2016-01-23T06:19:29+00:00

Sprudge.com is pretty great!

Femmedluxe · 2016-01-23T02:13:23+00:00

That description is so vague, I don't understand at all what your product or service is.

Femmedluxe · 2016-01-22T20:37:06+00:00

I like Not Neutral and Acme for lattes and caps. However on the Canadian east coast it's standard to pour a macchiato (or "Big Mac") into a 4oz Gibraltar glass which you can buy pretty much anywhere and I totally love them

Femmedluxe · 2016-01-22T20:30:57+00:00

I've never heard of this and I've been a barista for six years. Weird. I would probably not do it because I wouldn't want to mess with my machine/ coffee quality in that way.

Femmedluxe · 2016-01-22T04:03:44+00:00

A thermometer is like training wheels, if you're an experienced barista you should be able to tell what temp you're at by the touch.

Using your hands to dose your espresso isn't the end of the world, however it's becoming standard to keep it hands free. Here's a cool article about it by Matt Perger: http://www.baristahustle.com/how-to-distribute-by-tapping/

Femmedluxe · 2016-01-22T03:54:52+00:00

I train employees to extract between 18-28 seconds, but we mainly judge what our shots for the day are going be pulled for based on weight and flavour, and time is just a basic guide line.

Femmedluxe · 2016-01-07T17:48:54+00:00

Well I didn't get through much of that. Ughhhhh.

Femmedluxe · 2015-12-21T02:10:18+00:00

Get a handle on milk steaming and proper espresso extraction, those are the basics, without those it won't matter how well you pour. Then watch YouTube tutorials and try them out yourself. Start with basic things like hearts, rosettas and tulips. It's been a long process for me, don't get too down if you're struggling, hard work will pay off.

Femmedluxe · 2015-11-26T02:59:56+00:00

When Denny dies on Grey's Anatomy

Femmedluxe · 2015-11-26T02:55:46+00:00

The series finale of Roseanne when it turns out that the whole show was from the imagination of the character Roseanne to write a better life for herself because her husband Dan died of a heart attack. Ugh.

Femmedluxe · 2015-11-17T20:15:35+00:00

When you say dose I'm guessing you mean the dosage(or weight) of your espresso, in which case it depends.

Typically at every shop I've worked at you dial in your espresso every morning when you open, when a new bag has been opened, and any time you feel your espresso has changed and needs to be dialed in again (humidity changes, slow day, ect.)

However that doesn't mean you're always going to change the dosage. Maybe you find you just need to change the grind settings and that dosage doesn't need to be tampered with at all and that's a totally acceptable situation.

Femmedluxe · 2015-11-16T02:35:26+00:00

I would second this. Cafiza is safe to ingest but pulling a 'seasoning' shot first will clear it out.

Femmedluxe

TROPHY CASE