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multiple lattes on Saeco Aroma - 2005/11/19 01:02My Saeco Aroma (Classico in U.S.) is great. I use it mostly for straight shots and the occasional one-off latte.
As the holiday season approaches, I expect a few occasions where I'll need to make 5 or 10 lattes in a row.
What's the strategy for manipulating steam and heat etc. so I can do this as efficiently as possible AND make all the lattes GOOD?
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dave
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Re:multiple lattes on Saeco Aroma - 2005/11/19 03:35How much milk can you steam at once? Does it work best for you to steam before brewing; how long does it take to get up to steaming temperature after brewing, then cool it back down to brewing temperature?
In short:
Pregrind several shots worth of coffee immediately before starting the first shot. Be sure to have your dosing down to be able to fill your basket from this larger amount.
Split doubles into two cups each, so that pulling two shots back to back gives you the base for four drinks. Your guests may very well prefer their lattés at this strength. Be sure to have a place to put spent pucks.
Consider serving smaller cappuccini instead of lattés (4-5oz), which will also make it easier to prepare enough milk for multiple drinks.
Steam up a large quantity of milk in a large pitcher in one go, suitable for serving multiple small drinks. You may sacrifice a bit on quality doing this, as great microfoam is hard to do in volume on such machines. If there is a long delay getting up to steaming temp after pulling your shots, you'll probably want to froth your milk in advance -- especially since frothing a lot of milk will take longer than pulling a couple of doubles. 1oz of coffee will cool much more quickly than a large mass of milk
If all of your guests (or a group of them) are used to sugared drinks, you might practice with adding sugar to your milk before frothing. This way you can still attempt some latté art without your guests immediately stirring their drinks into a featureless brown (they likely will, anyway).
e.g.,
1. Preheat everything; boil a kettle to heat all of your coffee cups while you get other things ready.
2. Grind the coffee.
3. Fill a cold 20+oz pitcher with 12-16oz of milk and froth it as best you can, taking care to heat the milk evenly (you can spin the milk with a spoon if you like, since you will likely have trouble spinning so much at once). Froth with the element still on (not quite finished heating), to keep the steam coming.
4. Pull 2 (or 3) doubles into four (or six) preheated 5oz cups.
5. Spin the milk in the pitcher to try and remix the foam back into the milk.
6. Pour the milk into the 4 cups (or however many you can manage), using a spoon against the spout to selectively distribute the foam vs. steamed milk among all of the drinks.
7. Bring out the prepared drinks immediately. If you have to bring them out four at a time in two goes, I'm sure your guests will understand. Tell them how important it is that the drinks are served and consumed immediately.
Does this help?
Dave
Post edited by: dave, at: 2005/11/19 19:44Dave is an Ottawa resident and Coffee Expert
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Tim Hicks
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Re:multiple lattes on Saeco Aroma - 2005/11/19 04:53dave wrote:
Does this help? Duh, I think so, thanks. Each time I read it, more of it makes sense.
How much milk can you steam at once? Dunno yet. The steaming wand isn't very long, so I suspect I can't do much. Tempted to nuke the milk ......
Does it work best for you to steam before brewing Yes. Most advice says the milk will keep a minute or two, the coffee won't.
how long does it take to get up to steaming temperature after brewing, then cool it back down to steaming temperature?
I bet you mean "back down to brewing ..." - I dunno - how do you tell? Best I've heard so far is to steam the milk, then turn off the steamheater, vent some steam and even some water, maybe pump some water - but then I don't know how hot my brewing water is, and all I can do is wait till the "heating" light goes on and then off to signal "ready to brew" again. Is there a better way?
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dave
Visitor
Re:multiple lattes on Saeco Aroma - 2005/11/19 19:57Tim Hicks wrote:
I bet you mean "back down to brewing" ...
Best I've heard so far is to steam the milk, then turn off the steamheater, vent some steam and even some water, maybe pump some water ... wait till the "heating" light goes on and then off to signal "ready to brew" again.
Whoops, yes; thanks for the correction.
Yup. That's it. You draw off the steam and cool the boiler down below brew temp (the heater turns back on) by flushing water, which draws cool water into the boiler, then waiting for the temperature to rise back to optimal brew temp. By flushing enough water through the group, you cool it down as well. You are probably best to flush some water through the group again, once up to temperature, to help it stabilize to brew temperature.
You can spin the milk in the jug which doing all of this to try and preserve its distribution, since it might take a while.
Most advice says the milk will keep a minute or two, the coffee won't.
I would say that this is especially true when trying to produce lots of drinks. You don't want those 1oz split doubles to be stone cold and flat by the time the milk is ready.
In my case, the boiler on my Gaggia is very small and it usually works out better for me to steam after brewing. I'm ready to steam in a matter of seconds, and this lets me prepare good microfoam that I can use right away, without hurting the shot too much.
Dave
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JP
Visitor
Re:multiple lattes on Saeco Aroma - 2005/11/20 01:22Is this Tim Hicks originally from Indy?
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Tim Hicks
Visitor
Re:multiple lattes on Saeco Aroma - 2005/11/20 20:14JP wrote: Is this Tim Hicks originally from Indy?
Nope - that must be the guy who's a VP at Blockbuster or something.
I'm told there is someone with my name in Vancouver, and he even looks a bit like me. Hope he behaves!
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