Disclaimer ! This article is not intended to spread hate to or discourage the support of local coffee shops!!
A little over a year ago, my friends and I began making more of an effort to buy our morning coffee from local coffee shops and less from large chains. We began to notice that more and more often we would get a coffee with that bitter, sour taste. What’s the cause of this taste? Burnt espresso.
Burnt espresso occurs when espresso is over-extracted, which can happen for many reasons. If you grind the coffee beans too finely, leave the espresso brewing for too long , use too hot of water or if you let the shot sit for too long after extraction, your coffee may have a bitter, sour, and burnt taste.
Elle Merlin, a senior at South, and one of the friends who started noticing burnt espresso in her daily coffee said “I feel like at some point it just kind of was a flavor that I couldn’t really escape. So it seemed like every [coffee shop I visited] had burnt espresso.” We weren’t the only ones to notice this espresso epidemic either. Addie Lafave, another senior at South states, “I would say about a year and a half ago [I started to notice burnt espresso]. I mean, you always have a chance that you’ll get [burnt espresso in your drink] and I [have] definitely experienced that before.” But what could be causing this issue? Merlin thinks, “Small coffee shops are usually pretty busy, and employees are having to do multiple jobs instead of just focusing on making the coffee. It also may be an issue of them not being properly trained in.” Going into local coffee shops, there’s usually only one or two people working with a long line of customers. Speaking from experience, as I have worked as a barista for two summers in a row now, the drinks need to be made fast to keep up with the demand, which sometimes can lower the quality of the drinks.
Well, what can be done to solve this issue? Though it may not always be possible for every business, Merlin and I believe having more baristas working may be helpful. “I think that baristas should be properly trained. I understand that it’s a lot of money to run a business, but just having somebody who’s dedicated to being at the register, and [other] people dedicated to making the drinks of the best quality possible.” Taking extra time to check that your beans aren’t ground too finely, the water isn’t too hot, the espresso isn’t being brewed for too long or too slowly and making sure that an espresso shot isn’t sitting out for too long is a quick thing you can do that can ensure you’re getting the highest quality espresso.
If you’re looking to support a small business that does not burn their espresso, Merlin recommends Loons Coffee at 4648, Lake St, Minneapolis, MN (they also do student discounts!) and recommended by LaFave Claddagh Coffee at 459 7th St W, St. Paul, MN.
