Consistency
Consistency
Consistency is so important for every café and business. You want your customer to come in and have the same positive experience every time so that they can trust your brand and return regularly and recommend it to other people.
If they come into your café and receive a good brew one time, and an undrinkable one another time, they will not be able to credit you to their friends and family. Big brands and popular chains do so well because their customers know that whichever shop they go into, they are going to get the same quality of beverage every time.
For consistency’s sake, it is essential that all the staff make the beverages in the same way to ensure a consistent and pleasant customer experience. That’s why the on-demand grinders and programmable machines have changed the game- meaning that the dose of coffee given by a grinder is always the same, and the volume of the espresso leaving the machine is too, leaving minimal space for variation.
The Puq-press takes this a step further by making the tamping consistent with a set pressure, eliminating even more space for barista error.
Programming your espresso machine:
1. Your machine should have the 5 buttons above each group-head.
2. Whatever you programme into the left group-head will automatically programme into the right group head (and the middle group if you have 3!)
3. To programme your espresso machine, dose the amount of coffee you want into the portafilter
4. Distribute, tamp and insert portafilter into group head
5. Hold down the 5th button (free flow) until the other buttons start flashing
6. Weigh out the cup and tare, prepare to start timer
7. Press button 1 and then allow espresso to flow until reach desired espresso weight/time. E.g 40ml in 20-30s
8. Once stopped, hold down button 5 again until all switch off. Button 1 will now follow those volumetrics whenever you press the button again.
9. Repeat this with the other buttons, 2,3 and 4. They have to be programmed individually.
10. I recommend you programme them all the same for consistency with staff. Do not programme them as single shots and double shots.
On demand Grinder:
1. Decide on your recipe and how much you want your dose of coffee to be
2. Weigh your portafilter
3. Dispense the coffee
4. Weigh the portafilter to see how much coffee was dispensed
5. if not enough coffee in, increase the time on the grinder. If too much, reduce the time on the grinder
6. Trial and error- keep going until you reach the optimum time for the grinder dispensing the correct amount of coffee.
You will need to adjust this when you change the grind size.
Pulling the Perfect Espresso Shot:
1. Remove portafilter from group-head and flush group-head to get rid of any coffee that might be left on there from the previous shot. This simple flush improves flavor, cleanliness and consistency.
2. Knockout spent coffee grounds and wipe the basket clean and dry
3. Dose desired grams of coffee into portafilter basket
4. Distribute coffee to minimize risk of channeling
5. Tamp consistently, level & ergonomically
6. Clean loose grounds from portafilter surfaces
7. Insert portafilter into the group head and start the pump immediately, as one continuous motion (don’t forget the cup!)
8. Observe the flow and stop pump appropriately (unless programmed to stop at correct volume)
9. If no further drinks are being made, remove the portafilter, knock out spent grounds, clean filter and return to the group-head to maintain temperature
Tamping Correctly:
Once you have dosed the coffee into the portafilter baskets, distribute the coffee evenly. In other words, hit the sides of the portafilter basket with your hand to make coffee level and equally spread across the basket before tamping. (Do not hit the portafilter on the side to level it out, this will damage your equipment).
If you do not distribute properly, the water will flow through the coffee at an uneven rate giving bad flavour and uneven extraction.
Once the coffee is distributed evenly across the portafilter basket, use the tamper. Place the portafilter on the edge of the tamp mat so that the spouts are not going to take any of the weight when you tamp.
Then use your weight to tamp on the portafilter, ensuring the tamper fits snug inside the portafilter basket. Apply pressure so that the coffee is evenly compressed and it is flat. Always tamp at a 90 degree angle and keep your wrist straight, bending at the elbow to reduce any injury
Consistency is also affected by good workflow:
· Develop clear “work zones” where all the equipment required for a job is logically grouped together e.g. grinder, machine and milk fridge.
· Minimize the need to twist or bend to carry out a task.
· Make sure adequate space is left behind the counter for staff to pass each other.
· Ensure there is adequate storage to prevent corridors and pathways getting blocked.
· Ensure adequate access to utilities such as bins and sinks.
· Ensure the layout assists “queue calling”, where a number of customers orders can be taken to maximize the efficiency of the barista making the drinks.