James Hoffman - the Billy Beane of Espresso?

Coffee blogger James Hoffman suggests crema makes espresso taste bad:

After having tried this we sometimes skim the crema of the espresso right before drinking the espresso using two small spoons. This seemes to give a more clean and less bitter cup which is finishing of extremly soft... crema is rubbish!

He also wrote an article about this nearly three years ago. My guess is that 90-95% of the espresso made in the world tastes bad. There's a tough-guy appeal built up around bitter espresso that is all wrong; you've got to acknowledge how bad it tastes before you can figure out how to make it taste good.

Comments

[Michael Sippey]

I just like that he uses *two* small spoons to skim the crema off the espresso. (Of course, I'm too lazy to click through and read the post, so he could be talking about two people each with their own individual spoon, but instead I like the image of him dextrously using two spoons at once to skim in the most effective manner possible.)

[Teachertalk]

Well, however wise he may be about many things, his account has now been suspended and the link you gave us goes nowhere! So the "no Crema" is good theory might be added to that "goes nowhere" category, as well. Give me Counter Culture coffee within 11 days of roasting with lots of crema!

[David Jacobs]

Wow - he must have run over his bandwidth! I guess this is because of the discussion on the Brewtus mailing list yesterday. In any case, when the video comes back, I will try and pull down a copy.

[David Jacobs]

I recommend clicking through and watching (when the video returns) - Hoffman is passionate! You also may find amusement in how I've butchered the Sippey-style on Hello.Typepad's custom css. It's tweak-tastic!

[megnut]

Ollie and I will never accept this! "Awesome crema" is our mantra and goal every day. There can be no other way!

[David Jacobs]

The video is back!