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My coffee is not hot enough!

7grams Coffee technicians are experienced coffee machine repairs technicians who have seen a lot of coffee machines in their time. We asked them to tell us the most popular complaint they receive. ‘My coffee machine doesn’t make hot coffee’ was on top of all their lists…Why? We know the answer. It is obvious to us, but is it obvious to all you avid coffee drinkers out there?

Q: How is coffee supposed to be drunk?

I’ve been a fly on a wall at many a café in various cities of the world. I have lost count how many times I’ve seen cups of coffee being sent back to the kitchen simply because they weren’t hot enough.  while baristas stand at their coffee machines in shame, customers shake their heads and sigh…oh, to drink a cup of boiling hot coffee around here, what does one have to do!!!

Did you know it is not the coffee shot itself that creates the heat, but the milk or froth. So, what happens to milk when it gets too hot? That’s right, it burns! This all might seem as if we are pointing out the bleeding obvious, but so many coffee drinkers out there do not realize this fact: coffee is not supposed to be drunk boiling hot…boiling hot coffee usually means burnt milk.

They say milk loses its taste when heated beyond 65 degrees C, but that’s already way too hot for us. The milk should ultimately be steamed to 60 degrees, so that when it is poured it reaches no more than 65-70 degrees in temperature. Any hotter is quite simply too hot, and burnt milk. Worse than burnt milk, burnt coffee and burnt milk…but that’s something to take up with your barista who is operating the coffee machine.

The bottom line is, although some people prefer it, boiling hot coffee is just not good enough for 7grams Coffee. It is a sign that something is wrong. It decreases the quality of the coffee and the taste of the milk, and overall results in a very average cup of coffee.  So next time you complain about warm coffee, think again and ask the Italians! How do you think they down their espresso shots in seconds! They don’t want to have burnt esophagus‘s…and neither should you. Boiling hot soup or tea is a matter of taste…boiling hot coffee is not! Sometimes there is nothing wrong with your coffee machine when it doesn’t make hot coffee. This is not an insult to you, just some words of advice on how coffee should be drunk.

In conclusion, here’s a note I found on a menu at a great Café in Melbourne:

Please Note: our coffee is served tepid so the milk remains creamy and full flavoured, not caramelised. if you wish us to burn the milk and have a hot coffee just ask…

Need we say more!

Happy coffee drinking…