I don’t know if you have ever seen this scene. The barista just turned on the machine in the morning and did not drink the first espresso extracted. Instead, he poured it "cruelly" into the sewer, and then continued to extract the next handful of coffee. When customers see it, they ask why? Do you need to do this if you make your own coffee at home?
Why should the first cup of espresso be thrown away?
Taking the habit of the Front Street store as an example, we need to enter the indispensable coffee debugging process before officially producing it, which includes two tasks. First make a cup of espresso and pour it out directly, then taste the espresso (black coffee) and latte to adjust to determine the parameters of the day, which is related to whether the coffee produced throughout the day is good or not. The reason why the first cup of espresso could not escape the fate of being thrown away was because it was "substandard".
Cleaning powder residue
Generally speaking, the price of espresso machines in coffee shops is not cheap. As long as the care and maintenance are in place, their service life is relatively long, and daily cleaning is one of the key factors to extend the life of the equipment. After closing every day, baristas will perform a relatively deep cleaning of the coffee machine. In addition to wiping stains, they will also use special cleaning powder to remove residual dirt in the brewing head.
Although most of these powders will be dissolved or poured out with the flushing of hot water, it is not ruled out that there are still trace amounts of cleaning powder remaining in the gaps of the brewing head. Therefore, in order to avoid these particles affecting the taste of the coffee, and for health reasons, the first concentrate after starting up is usually poured out directly.
Overnight coffee powder
Compared with other grinding equipment, the Italian grinder has a longer internal channel, which makes it easier to leave the last handful of coffee powder inside overnight. As Front Street often emphasizes, once the coffee beans are ground into powder, both the aroma and the carbon dioxide gas will dissipate over time. By the next day, this part of the coffee powder will not only lose the aroma, but also affect the final flow rate because of the removal of carbon dioxide, so the espresso produced will not have much reference value.
The parameters of the coffee machine are unstable
We all know that water temperature and pressure are important parameters for extracting espresso. After the barista turns on the machine, these two values will reach the set standards in about ten to twenty minutes. However, in fact, the water temperature, pressure and other parameters are not stable in the early stage of startup, and the coffee produced at this time is often under-extracted or over-extracted. For example, the actual water temperature is too low, resulting in a sharp and sour concentrated taste and a thin aroma. After going through a complete extraction process, the coffee machine can officially complete the power-on state.
Based on the above reasons, the "wasteful behavior" of the barista choosing to pour out the first espresso after turning on the machine is more to make the coffee produced daily in the store taste better and be more stable. But for home coffee users, the situation needs to be different.
Is it necessary to throw away the first handful of concentrate for home production?
You know, most families with espresso machinesUserDue to the small number of cups produced, generally only 1 to 2 cups of coffee are made per day, so the grinding is not adjusted frequently, and deep cleaning is not performed as frequently as in coffee shops. In this case, it is undoubtedly "extremely wasteful" to grind a handful of powder to make concentrate after turning on the machine, and then throw it away, and most people are reluctant to do this. So for the home coffee contestants, Front Street’s view is:
1. Some friends are accustomed to weighing the coffee beans first and then grinding them. The biggest advantage of this method is that it is not easy to accumulate residual powder, so there is no need to put powder. For friends who have placed coffee beans in the bean warehouse for a long time, the part of the overnight coffee powder remaining in the channel has changed, soAffects the taste of your first cup of coffee, Front Street still recommends discarding it, that is, before picking up the fans,Grind 5-8g and throw away。
2. If you did not use cleaning powder the day before, there is no need to use one specially.Cup of espresso is "rinsed"; but if we have deeply cleaned the coffee machine, we can also be a little clever and use a small amount of powder (such as 12g ~ 15g) to fill it tightly and make a handful of espresso to "force" the powder hidden in the gap of the brewing head.
3. After the coffee machine reaches the preset temperature, do not rush to make it. Wait for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the internal temperature to fully rise. Then, we directly attach the handle to the brewing head, empty the hot water for about 6 to 8 seconds, and repeat 4 to 5 times, so that the machine can be fully preheated.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
