Interesting article but I have to disagree with many things. Even as a coffee roaster, barista, and coffee equipment certified technician (i know jack of all trades, so be skeptical) i was going to just hit the back button and not reply. The only reason i am, is i think some of the misinformation here might cause people disappointments, and financial trouble in the future. so here are my thoughts:
Controllable Variables…
1- “ that comes from unroasted green center of the bean” … take any bean from that bottle coffee and crack it open, u will see, is that the whole inside of the bean is roasted to the same degree. What you mentioned is a basic “push button roaster” that is trying to do a light roast, it is bad and it is one of the first things you learn as light roaster.
2- “Baristas push too hard on the coffee grounds” you actually give a hint to the answer in your next point. baristas in USA dont grind as fine as baristas in Italy. I cannot say this is a bad or good thing, it is a preference with many people in support of either side.
3- “ Baristas need to grind the coffee as fine as possible. Coffee machines don’t matter much as long as they are strong professional lines ” This is when we start going into a dangerous direction. lets start with grinders: wether you grind finer or less fine the main objective is extracting a certain amounts of solids (oils, flavors) out of the coffee beans, hence why you see baristas in the USA tamping (pressing) on the beans harder than in Italy (because they grind less fine in the USA). The idea is as follows when you grind too much you create heat, and heat destroys flavors in many things (since you are from Italy, i think you know the difference between a cold pressed olive oil and a forced heated olives to extract oil, the flavors are totally different). Baristas in the USA believe the same happens to coffee, and hence they choose grinders that dont spin too fast(creating friction and heat) and choose to grind less fine. I dont think one method in taste is better that the other but in theory the USA baristas has a point.
More importantly is what you said about coffee machines. “don’t matter much as long as they are strong professional lines ” . THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG. as someone who is building my own coffee machine, many things make so much difference. Lets start off by
HEAT : some of the commercial professional coffee machine cut so many corners in the tubes inside and insulation that even an Italian barista would never be able to make two shots that taste remotely similar. The temperature goes from supper hot to too cold, etc . The control box in the machine is sometimes of lower quality that wont control variations etc. Hence why you see Cafes in the USA using La Marzzocco and people in Italy using La Cimbali or Faema as they are well built and researched machines.
Maintanence : I have been there alot and swore alot fixing many of these machines. Some machines are well designed on the inside as well as the outside, but many are not, they just look pretty on the outside. Having to change a pump (which even the Italians do :) ) can be a frustrating task for non well designed machines. Changing a simple valve on the inside could take 15 minutes or 2 hours depending on the machine as well. We are not even talking about how well built the machine itself is to last for 5 years, 10 years, or 30 years.
there are many other things, as type of pumps they use, type of boilers they use( some use toxic boilers, some use stainless, others use copper, each has its yess and nos )
I personally use a La Cimbali at my cafe and planning to change to La Marzocco, they are two different types of machines, one is amazing for what is called “surfing”, the other is consistency and elimination of at least one variable which is heat. La Cimbali will never extract espresso shots at the same temperature, there are fluctuations, and depending on the barista and the line that you are serving these fluctuations can be as little as 1C or as high as 5C, La Marzocco eliminates that variable for a barista as temperatures are consistent with the use of an additional stand alone boiler inside the machine.
4- “ Be fast” Should i say the same to Ferrari when i order a Ferrari F599 GTB Fiorano and have to wait 2 years to get it !
5- “ No turnover” AGREED
6- “ The more you use a machine the more its mechanics inside will taste of coffee and produce better quality”
NOT TRUE for the most part, the more the machine is used the more the pump is abused the more possibility of fluctuations in the water pressure it puts out. I doubt you would notice this, but machines will need to be serviced every now and then and when they do it in Italy the boilers are totally de calcified (same in the USA as well), when that is done, the water in the machine doesnt “taste” as sweet as it used to, but it is only a tad less sweet, so in that sense it is true, but this maintenance happens all the time, so i cannot say a 10 year old machine makes a tastier espresso than a 2 year old machine.
7- “ Too long” I have many Italian friends and i cannot say that they all like their espresso the way you do. Some order it in southern Italy “ristretto” some just a “caffe”. Some like it with milk, some dont etc… totally subjective.
OUTSIDE VARIABLES:
1- “ Air, Humidity and Pressure” AGREED
2- “WATER” I DISSAGREE. “ why coffee, pasta and pizza taste better in Italy.” I have had some of my worst pasta and pizza in Italy actually, as well as the best ones.
“ Italy has less added chlorine (the Bay Area has a strongly chlorinated water). In most cases it’s pure by default, as its already filtered by mother nature” this is all true but espresso machines in the USA are not usually running directly on tab water, they have filters to remove the chlorine totally. Maybe you like the taste of chlorine in the coffee. I am not sure if all of Italy uses direct tab water for their machines. But what you mentioned about Naples ( i was only there when i was a young boy ), seems to be destructive to an espresso machine. As what we feel as sweet water, usually means water high in specific minerals, but minerals for boiler (inside a machine) is just bad and causes deposits which in turn plug up the machine (i have seen this with many machines i fixed, and experienced it first hand with my La cimbali when i ran it for around 3 months from bottled water) … so unless the shops in Napoli are sending thier machined to service every month, i dont see that they are using direct tab water that you like the taste off.
3- Now we come to a big point. I personally have a love/hate relationship with espresso in Italy, I love how well the baristas are, but hate the coffee they use. It is bland in my opinion. I do understand how you feel the exact opposite and understand that since you grew up with that coffee. For me i love to taste what a coffee CAN be, not just a dark taste of a roast, or the same note in almost every bar in Rome when i order a caffe. I want to taste a spicy coffee, a bitter one, one that i can taste tropical fruits in it. I am not a fan of Purple bottle, especially not now a day, I dont like all the blending that cafes do in the USA or Italy (blending in general is done to achieve some consistency of flavor, so the customers get used to a certain taste) i like to drink espresso that is roasted just right from one farm, or at most from one country. I want to taste the bad things and the good things in it. I self taught my self how to taste things, and as I am a roaster as well, espresso became more of a journey than just a gulp for a caffeine rush. a journey that takes me from when the coffee was touched to be picked, washed, dried, to the thoughts that went through a roasters head as he roasted this batch of coffee, the mistakes he/she might have made or not, the barista and what he/she messed up in or perfected.