The seven deadly coffee sins your barista commits

It's one of the worst ways to start the working day - sitting down to a bad coffee.

It's cold or weak, and the last time you checked a long black didn't have milk in it either.

You grudgingly drink it and swear you'll never go back to that cafe again. But you do go back because it's coffee, it's on the way to work, and because that barista will hunt you down if you don't.

Life is too short to drink bad coffee and while your barista may be heavenly to look at, he or she may be committing some of the worst sins when it comes to making a brew.

Barista Basics Coffee Academy co-owner David Gee said Australians were becoming more sophisticated when it came to their cup of choice and cafes couldn't afford to give customers a bad drop.

Mr Gee told news.com.au coffee drinkers shouldn't put up with a bad cup and the country was spoilt for choice when it came to cafes, the types of coffee available and the quality on offer.

According to him, while the perfect cup depended on the individual person, people could generally tell if it was not hot enough, had the wrong type of milk, was burnt, or was simply not strong enough.

"Coffee is a big deal to people and is a word of mouth movement and is the one treat people don't really like to go without," he said.

"Coffee drinkers have become much more sophisticated with their choices compared to 10 years ago and the explosion of the internet and home machines mean they're more educated too."

Hopefully your coffee looked as good as this and tasted even better.

He said one reason for consistently bad coffee could be that the barista wasn't well trained or cafe owners couldn't or didn't want to spend the time or money on investing on better training.

But there's always that one barista with a bit of attitude who won't listen to customers. Here are the seven deadly sins he is probably making.

Bad attitude:

There's nothing worse than a cranky barista who continually gets your order wrong or rolls his eyes when you ask for anything other than full fat milk.

Mr Gee reckons this is where the customer has the power to break up with their barista and find someone better.

"Some baristas do have attitude," he told news.com.au.

"But it really all comes down to customer choice. If the barista or cafe only serves full fat milk because that's their philosophy either learn to like it or simply go somewhere else."

Bad extraction:

According to Mr Gee, this is a big mistake baristas make when it comes to good coffee making.

He says after grinding, a 30ml shot should come out in around 25-30 seconds creating a great aroma. Coffee coming out too fast or too slow could affect the strength and flavour.

Burnt/overheated milk:

Over-heated milk or heating it too quickly can give coffee a burnt flavour.

Mr Gee says it's all about consistency with temperature and ideally milk should be heated to around 60-65 degrees. Those wanting it extra hot only have a few degrees leeway before it burns.

The coffee expert reckons one sure fire way to get burnt coffee is for a barista to feel the milk pourer by hand which doesn't give an accurate measurement of its true heat.

"A lot of people do it by hand and the milk is too cold, which then leads to it being reheated again, which then means it's too hot."

Wrong technique:

While it doesn't take two seconds to make a good coffee, it does take the right technique when it comes to froth and the type of coffee you're making.

According to Mr Gee, the proof of a good coffee is all in the froth.

"Well-textured froth is all down to pouring," he said.

"A flat white should only need a minimum of milk and again it comes down to training of the barista.

"There's different ways of making a macchiato but only one way of making a cappuccino."

Wrong stength:

No-one likes a weak coffee. And one of the surest ways to ensure you get one is by having too much milk and water, and not enough coffee.

Unclean machines:

A coffee machine which isn't cleaned regularly can also affect the flavour of the coffee and create a bitter or unpleasant taste, according to Mr Gee.

"A lack of cleaning can see a build up of oily gunk in the machine," he said.

"A busy cafe should clean and flush their filters at least once a day."

Stale coffee beans:

Finally, most of us know when the beans just don't hit the spot and they taste worse than dirty dishwater.

Mr Gee said keeping beans fresh was vital to ensuring a good brew and keeping the beans away from oxygen was crucial to keeping coffee drinkers happy.

He suggests putting beans in an airtight container to protect them from oxygen exposure and not leaving them in the machine overnight.

Source: News.com.au, 23 September 2013