Sugar in the PF?

13th January 2004, 12:13 PM

So I was playing around with my buddies new Expobar, and he was saying
how one of our friends was over making a shot. Apparetnly after he
dosed and tamped the grounds in the PF, he then added a bit of sugar,
and then pulled the shot and it was apparently very good. As someone
who likes my espresso sweet, this sounded like a nifty idea to me- does
anyone else do this? I never heard of it before- it wouldn't cause
damage to the showerhead or basket would it? just curious if this is a
common practice or if he's just weird...

13th January 2004, 12:17 PM

"StrongBad" <StrongBad@m> wrote in message
news:MPG.1a6df1426ad5d3c6989682@netnews.upenn.edu. ..
> So I was playing around with my buddies new Expobar, and he was saying
> how one of our friends was over making a shot. Apparetnly after he
> dosed and tamped the grounds in the PF, he then added a bit of sugar,
> and then pulled the shot and it was apparently very good. As someone
> who likes my espresso sweet, this sounded like a nifty idea to me- does
> anyone else do this? I never heard of it before- it wouldn't cause
> damage to the showerhead or basket would it? just curious if this is a
> common practice or if he's just weird...

I would think the sugar might crystallize in the holes of the filter basket.
harrym

13th January 2004, 01:14 PM

At best, this pratice gets some of the sugar into your cup, with the rest
left behind in the cake. At worst, the sugar will cause channeling and will
gum up your machine. If you want sugar in your cup, put the sugar in the
cup, not in your machine where it doesn't belong. This practice has no
conceivable benefits and several probable downsides. If you know you want
sugar, you can give it a head start on dissolving by putting it in the cup
before you pull the shot.

"StrongBad" <StrongBad@m> wrote in message
news:MPG.1a6df1426ad5d3c6989682@netnews.upenn.edu. ..
> So I was playing around with my buddies new Expobar, and he was saying
> how one of our friends was over making a shot. Apparetnly after he
> dosed and tamped the grounds in the PF, he then added a bit of sugar,
> and then pulled the shot and it was apparently very good. As someone
> who likes my espresso sweet, this sounded like a nifty idea to me- does
> anyone else do this? I never heard of it before- it wouldn't cause
> damage to the showerhead or basket would it? just curious if this is a
> common practice or if he's just weird...

13th January 2004, 08:38 PM

For what its worth, last time I was over in Miami, the two cuban coffee bars
I stopped at (though neither establishment had english speaking employees,
all I needed to know was "dos cafes") both put the sugar right in the pf.
Though it was very good, it is not something I would ever try on my machine!

-Andrew

"Jack Denver" <nunuvyer@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:zLydnVEG3c32qJndRVn-jg@...
> At best, this pratice gets some of the sugar into your cup, with the rest
> left behind in the cake. At worst, the sugar will cause channeling and
will
> gum up your machine. If you want sugar in your cup, put the sugar in the
> cup, not in your machine where it doesn't belong. This practice has no
> conceivable benefits and several probable downsides. If you know you want
> sugar, you can give it a head start on dissolving by putting it in the cup
> before you pull the shot.
>
>
> "StrongBad" <StrongBad@m> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1a6df1426ad5d3c6989682@netnews.upenn.edu. ..
> > So I was playing around with my buddies new Expobar, and he was saying
> > how one of our friends was over making a shot. Apparetnly after he
> > dosed and tamped the grounds in the PF, he then added a bit of sugar,
> > and then pulled the shot and it was apparently very good. As someone
> > who likes my espresso sweet, this sounded like a nifty idea to me- does
> > anyone else do this? I never heard of it before- it wouldn't cause
> > damage to the showerhead or basket would it? just curious if this is a
> > common practice or if he's just weird...
>
>
>

13th January 2004, 10:15 PM

StrongBad wrote:

> just curious if this is a common practice
> or if he's just weird...

There's an old pour-over technique of placing
a spoonful in the grounds. Makes a distinct taste,
a bit different from adding later. Usually used
with flavored coffees, though. Maybe he picked
it up from that.

14th January 2004, 06:48 PM

barry@rileys-coffee.com (Barry Jarrett) wrote in message news:<400431ea.731655@news.east.>...
> sometimes this is cited as a method of making cafe cubano, although
> the real live escaped-from-castro cuban that i know only insists that
> the sugar be put in the cup before the espresso is brewed.

sugar in the cup prior to espresso is SOP in Miami among the Cubans
there as well. Bye.

sasha

15th January 2004, 10:19 AM

Bruce "better sweet and heavy than sour and watery" B

I tried it today I put one level tablespoon of sugar on top of the grounds and
pulled an ounce. It tasted more like sweet coffee than sweetened coffee.

I like it even sweeter I think I'll try two tablespoons next time.

3rd February 2004, 10:36 AM

Edward Rice wrote:
snip sweet stuff

> I don't suppose someone makes a treble-sized PF and filter basket for
> the Silvia, does anybody?
>
> -- Edward "the more, the merrier I get" Rice

I think if you get the commercial Rancilio PF is will accept a LM triple
basket. Be warned that the triple basket is addictive.

Gary (going for the triple triple) W.