5 things you should never order according to your Barista
As coffee has improved and exploded as an industry here in the UK, there have been a few things for our growing population of coffee drinkers to learn when ordering in their local coffee shop.
Ordering a drink can be a daunting process if you don’t know your espressos from your cappuccinos, especially if you’ve never tried either before.
Sometimes it’s not the fault of the coffee shop though if the coffee is bad, it can actually be you.
American publication PureWow asked a New York city barista to give their insight on the issue of customers who think they know best, but are actually ruining their own experience.
In this instance at the very least, the customer is not always right…so here’s the 5 ways never to order in your local coffee shop:
Extra-hot Americano
Whilst it is possible for some coffee machines to control the temperature of the water used during the coffee extraction process, this is usually a 1 or 2°C maximum.
So unless you are ordering a milk-based coffee, like a latte or cappuccino, we as baristas are not able to control the temperature of your drink.
An Americano is just espresso with hot water, so if you’re asking for your drink to be ‘extra-hot’, then you must know something about espresso machines that we don’t.
Worse still, if the barista puts your drink in the microwave to increase the temperature further, not only are they being silly, but completely destroying the reason you’d come for a fancy Americano in a coffee shop.
‘Bone-dry’ cappuccino
We haven’t heard of this one before ourselves, but for those that aren’t sure what a cappuccino entails: one-third espresso, one-third steamed milk and one-third foamed milk.
A wet cappuccino contains a little more milk, where a dry cappuccino contains a little more foam.
As for bone-dry? We assume that would just be bubbles.
Firstly, that would be a nightmare to make. Secondly, you’d be drinking espresso with just air, and paying for the privilege.
Why would you want to do that?
Skimmed soy latte
Of course soy milk is a lovely alternative for those that a) don’t like regular milk or b) can’t drink regular milk or c) want a low calorie option to regular milk.
Skimmed milk is great for if you are concerned with calorie intake.
Skimmed soy milk simply doesn’t exist.
So no skimmed soy latte for you.
Almond milk cappuccino
Whole milk is the best milk for creating velvety smooth milk foam and milk bubbles — absolutely perfect for cappuccinos.
Almond milk on the other hand, is much harder to use to create thick, fluffy and dense milk bubbles with.
What happens with almond milk, is you just end up with thicker almond milk, absolutely fine for a latte. But it just doesn’t cut the mustard when you want a lovely cappuccino.
Please, save yourself from disappointment and just stick to almond milk lattes.
Drip coffee right before the shop closes
If you want to drink coffee that has been sat around for a while, then by all means order yourself a drip coffee right before the shop closes, but it’s highly unlikely that a barista will even entertain the idea of making a new batch of drip coffee right even up to half and hour before the shop closes.
Whilst drip coffee is exploding in popularity, this is a rarity.
If you ever feel the urge to do this, just think, would you want to have to stay at work later for a cup of coffee?
Stick to espresso-based drinks before closing time.