Cappuccino! Oh Cappuccino!

So much has been written by so many about this most liked, yet least understood, drink. So many interpretations, so diverse, so different, by so many people who loved it and craved it, yet by so many others who drank it so they could saythat they too had had it, and yet by others who drank it, hated it, and had no other intention of drinking ever again.

The many who loved it owe it to the fact that the first they had was just great. It could have happened on a trip to Italy orat a coffee house they came upon or at a restaurant that took pride in making cappuccino and not only food.

The ones who did not crave going for another were the ones who tried one with high expectations only to find in their mouth the most "not sweet enough, not hot enough, not coffee enough, not flavorful enough" to not be bitten and caressed by it.

When none of the above happened, the dismissed and chastised drink did not make them run for or even want another.The worst was for the ones who went for it with passion because they heard it's high pleasure return, the rejoicing of all theglands and pores in your mouth and all.............this and that and in return they got a revolting strong, bitter, burnt, very hotmouthfull of a drink that was the total opposite of they dreamed and what their trusted friends told them about.

I do not suggest at all that in Italy all cappuccinos are good and all the bad are elsewhere. The percentage of bad cappuccinos in my guestimation: 50% is equally divided all over the world including Italy, where I tasted some of the mostawful renditions (the extremes) in my life. A barista seems to be ready for graduation when he or she can read a thermometer needle, hold a stream jar by it's handle, turn a knob of a steam valve on a machine, hold a spoon to spoon the froth, and viola! A barista is born! (an idiot barista in my opinion, to be exact)

He or she does not understand:

1. That a 20 second shot becomes such only through the proper grind adjustment.
2. That the quantity of coffee used for a shot effects proper brewing.
3. That a true latte is made in the glass to be served, heated at the bottom, no froth... the sound will tell when the milk is ready to receive the shot of espresso in it.
4. Frothing milk is best done with steady holding of jar and proper positioning of the nozzle and not continuous up and down moving.
5. That you should look at the color of coffee coming out of the filter handle spout and not the "automatic" button you pushed.
6. That it is better to hold the bottom of the jar in the palm of your hand than to stick a thermometer in it. You will not cook it for sure
7. That the size of a dining cappuccino should be 8 to 10 oz and not a soup jar.
8. That flavor (vanilla, hazel, etc.) will be better frothed in the milk than poured below.
9. That sugar in milk prior to frothing will sweeten the drink much better.
10. That a cappuccino machine does not change the composition of a bad blend into a good one. The machine is a device that will provide steam and a way to push 190 degree water through ground coffee in 20 seconds.
11. That not all 10 oz and above drinks should be douced with two shots but rather as the drinker desires. Light - one shot. Strong - two shots. Super strong - 3 shots. and possibly, sold for the same price, not + $ + $$ + $$$.

To further elaborate on my philosophy, or on any of the points I made in this brief introduction to cappuccino (a complex subject), I urge the reader - if serious about the subject - to dial 817-640-3131 and ask for Domenic. I will answer.