When you’ve been reading up on coffee and am attempting to learn the subtleties of the espresso pulling process, it becomes a hazard visiting the chains when you lean over the counter to observe the barista making your drink. I find myself sometimes being pedantic, much like the day when I ordered a Cafe Mocha at Spinelli’s Heeren.

Here’s what I observed;

• the barista doing the portafilter wiggle in the group head to dislodge grinds, but NOT dry wiping the basket
• preheated the cups with the hot water spout
• overflowing water from the portafilter into the measuring cup, mixing with the pulled shot
• pulling the shot into a measuring cup and tipping it into the cups/mugs (why destroy the crema?), or isit because the mugs are too big to fit under the rancilio groupheads?

Anyways, the cafe mocha wasn’t to die for, it was a drinkable drink. And the bitterness from the overflow watering was probably masked by the chocolate powder. But I think I would’ve enjoyed the drink better if I hadn’t observed the barista, which is something I have to remind myself not to do next time around. Cheers!

Bean Score: 2 3/4 out of 5. Score deducted for the overflowing water.