[405 West 23rd Street, New York, London Terrace] [coffee grinder flipper sounds]
au lait.
has five locations in Manhattan and our primary focus is to treat coffee as a culinary art.
the coffee into the portafilter….
bar, they had Starbucks, they had deli coffee, they had a few people that were really trying
it, but no one had really treated coffee as a culinary art….
coffee off the sides and then a thirty pound…
>> Espresso is a very tricky thing to make correctly and there’s a lot of theory and
lot of science behind it…there are a whole set of variables, there are steps that have
to be followed very exactly.
important thing as far as the beans is concerned is the freshness of the beans so we get our
beans two or three beans a week and when we call and make an order they don’t just take
the bag that’s already been roasted that’s been sitting on the shelf they take the green
beans, they roast them in small, small batches, they bag them, they send them the same day.
espresso…flow rate, which is the speed at which the espresso is flowing. The time at
which it drops…it should drop at around six seconds and then it should run (Espresso
to go!) then it should run to about 22 to 26 or 27 seconds.
they even touch or talk about milk.
>> When you’re steaming the milk it’s important to focus on the consistency for
the drink you’re making depending on whether it’s a cappuccino or a latte so for the
latte it’s going to be more wet in consistency and for a cappuccino it’s going to be more
dry….
>> This is a small double cappuccino.
>> For someone to be a great barista they really have to understand food and coffee
and wine – they really have to be excited about taste because if they’re not someone
who really understands and enjoys and is passionate about food and taste they’re never going
to really understand why it’s important and how it’s so important to make great
espresso.
>> So with a latte you’re not going to get too much air at the surface but you want this
whirlpool effect to start pretty much immediately.
a very different product than we think we’re serving. Ours is all about the quality of
the coffee beans, the quality of the milk, the training of the baristas and obviously
great equipment.
>> You wanna get all the bubbles out from the espresso and the milk so you have a smooth
consistency in both. The most important thing to do when pouring a latte is to really tip
the pitcher…
>> Unless you have all those elements together it’s not really possible to get what we
call a beautiful, artisan, hand-crafted espresso drink.
>> That’s a large latte.