It's gonna get right down the rabbit hole of espresso into the way little details.

Here's the deal.

I think espresso tastes way better when you mix it before you drink it.

And here's why.

When it's first of bruised, the first liquid out of those spouts is incredibly thick.

It's incredibly dense.

That kind of sits at the bottom of the espresso cup.

Has the brew Progress is less and less dense. 00:00:51.700 --> 00:01:0.760 Liquid is coming out and that sort of layers on top of that first very dense layer, a bit like one of those trashy lead cocktails that, thankfully nobody makes any more. 00:01:0.860 --> 00:01:6.470 If you just sit on unmixed espresso, that first sip will be mostly the last part of the shot. 00:01:6.530 --> 00:01:11.370 It'll be thinner, hapless texture, less sweetness, and you sip again.

It gets a little bit better than the soup again and maybe finish it and you get just the super dense stuff at the start.

Sweeter but also much, much, much more acidic.

So you get three evolving interesting but ultimately unsatisfying sips of your coffee or mix it all together before you drink it, and that way.

Every single sip is balanced and delicious.

Now I see a lot of people swelling their espresso before they drink it to kind of mix it all together.

The problem is, I don't think that works.

I think it's way better when you stare it over, swirling it.

And to be honest, every time I do a taste test, I feel the same way.

But that's very subjective.

Maybe there's an objective way to test my hypothesis, and I think there is.

So here's what I did.

So firstly, I was curious about the difference between stirring and doing nothing to an espresso. 00:01:58.510 --> 00:02:5.920 So I pulled two shots, left one alone, stirred the other eye, then pulled two or three mils of liquid from the very top of the cup of each one on. 00:02:5.920 --> 00:02:9.520 I tested the strength, and there was a huge difference between the two. 00:02:9.720 --> 00:02:12.160 Massive, the unsteady shot.

That top layer was about 8% strength stirred.

Shot was listed a 10% strength like a massive difference in strength there.

So then, having established that, you know, mixing is a thing that we should be doing.

I then pulled a lot more shots on each time I would take a pair.

I would swell one and stir the other and do the same test where I pulled that little bit of liquid from the top of each cup, strain it and test it with a refract ometer.

If swirling is as good a stirring, then they should produce very similar results in terms of strength.

But that isn't what happened every single time.

Stirring that top layer was stronger than in this world shot, implying that there was much better mixing in that shot than the other. 00:02:52.530 --> 00:03:0.130 There wasn't a huge difference between the two in the stirred shot that might be a few 10th of a percent stronger in that very top layer on the other. 00:03:0.260 --> 00:03:3.850 But backing that up with taste there was a really noticeable difference. 00:03:4.320 --> 00:03:10.330 So that's why having tested it, I'm going to say, Don't bother swelling your espresso, get a spoon and stare it.

And if the cafe doesn't give you one will they should ask for one.

It's gonna make your espresso much more enjoyable.

There's two more things I should talk about.

Firstly, swelling feels pretty fun, but it goes wrong a lot.

You've done it.

I've done it.

If you swallow espresso, you've made a mess, too.

Usually in a moment we're trying to look particularly professional and given a swell, and you just destroy the place.

Secondly, swirling is kind of a thing you see in wine and swelling, and wine is a good thing.

The shape of a wine glass means that when you swore that liquid, you volatile eyes a bunch of the rumors and they get trapped in the head space above the wine inside the glass.

That way, when you smell the glass, you get a really clear picture of that wine with coffee. 00:03:52.760 --> 00:04:1.620 Espresso cup does know trapping of aromas If you swell, you'll send a bunch of aromatic compounds volatile off into the room. 00:04:1.790 --> 00:04:2.980 Gone forever. 00:04:3.510 --> 00:04:4.050 Just go. 00:04:4.440 --> 00:04:5.510 You don't get to enjoy them. 00:04:5.510 --> 00:04:6.300 You don't get to smell them. 00:04:6.300 --> 00:04:6.790 Really. 00:04:7.000 --> 00:04:8.060 They're just kind of gone. 00:04:8.260 --> 00:04:11.110 So there's no real benefit to swirling over staring.

Now, at this point, you might be rolling your eyes and thinking I have lost my mind.

Maybe, maybe, but I like to enjoy my espresso as much as possible, and I hope you do, too, and I'd be interested to see if you agree Go and do this experiment If you can pull two side by side shots swollen stir Tell me which one you prefer If you're a cafe that doesn't believe in teaspoons Shame on you And finally let me know in the comments down below What were your results?

And have I lost my mind?

Have I gone too far down the rabbit hole?

That's espresso.

I love to hear your thoughts on as always.

Thank you so much for watching.

I hope you have a great day.