Barista at the shop near my house said my espresso shots were pulling too fast and that one tip changed my whole morning routine.

She showed me how to grind finer right there and the next shot came out with actual crema for the first time in months - has anyone else had a random stranger fix their coffee setup like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

james923mo ago

So this random coffee wizard just waltzed into your life and fixed your espresso in 30 seconds flat? Sounds like a caffeinated fairy godmother coming in clutch when you needed it most lol. I bet that shop barista is probably sick of seeing people walk in with busted grind settings and screaming shots. Next time I roll up to a drive-thru I'm half expecting someone to lean out the window and tell me my tire pressure is off.

ellis.victor3mo ago

Got pulled aside by a random guy at a coffee shop who told me my tamping was uneven. He let me borrow his tamper and showed me how to level it out before pressing. Total game changer - my shots went from nasty and bitter to actually drinkable in one session. I never thought about how the grind and tamp work together like that.

the_michael24d ago

... and now I'm just waiting for the day some random dude in a grocery store stops me to tell me my baguette has a bad crust-to-crumb ratio... next thing you know there's going to be a secret society of coffee or bread wizards roaming around just fixing people's amateur mistakes. At least yours was actually useful. Last time a stranger gave me unsolicited advice at a coffee shop he just told me I was holding my cup wrong.