Lesson 3 of 6 · Doing it right

Never let a cup go watery

The machine extracts correctly when you get four things right

A weak cup is the hardest mistake to fix, because the guest only finds out after drinking and usually says nothing, they simply do not come back. The Teapresso machine makes every cup the same, but only when the four things in your hands are right.

Four things you control

• The right amount of tea: weigh every cup by the chart at the counter, do not estimate with a spoon.
• The right button: choose by the chart posted on the machine. Do not adjust the time or the heat yourself.
• A clean portafilter (tay pha): spent tea leaves removed, the filter basket washed, the group head flushed after the previous extraction.
• Water at full heat: wait for the indicator light, and pour away the first cup after switching the machine on.

Recognising an under-extracted or over-extracted batch

• Correct extraction: the tea flows evenly, the colour is clear and right for the tea type, the aroma is distinct, the spent tea leaves have swelled evenly and are moist. Use it.
• Under-extracted: the tea gushes out, the colour is pale, almost like water, the aroma is faint and you have to strain to smell it, the spent tea leaves are dry in one corner. Pour it away, extract again.
• Over-extracted: it drips, the machine whines, the tea concentrate is dark and cloudy, there is a light burnt smell, the spent tea leaves are mushy and stuck to the filter basket. Pour it away, extract again, flush the group head.

The start-of-shift taste check

• At the start of the shift, the shift leader makes and tastes one cup of Trà Sữa Signature (the Signature milk tea) and one cup of floral tea without milk before opening for sale.
• Taste with the proper ritual: smell first, close your eyes, take one sip, breathe out, wait, and only then judge the aftertaste.
• Every batch of pre-brewed tea concentrate: taste the first cup made from that batch.
• Two cups in one shift with guest feedback about the same fault: stop, taste again, check the button and the scale, report to the manager.

A faulty cup never goes to the guest, and four things you must not do

• Do not add tea concentrate to an already-made cup to fix weakness.
• Do not add sugar to cover astringency.
• Do not stir the film away and then hand the cup over.
• Do not reheat old pearls.

Pre-brewed tea concentrate

• One container per batch, with a label showing the time made and the use-by time, always kept chilled.
• No label means it is treated as expired. Expired means pour it away, do not taste it, no "still smells fine, use it".
• Do not mix pre-brewed tea concentrate with freshly extracted tea concentrate in the same cup.

Common mistakes

• Judging by eye instead of weighing.
• Adding water yourself so the cup looks full.
• Using tea concentrate past its time because it feels wasteful to throw it away.
• Wrong type of ice, or shaking with ice for too long, so the cup goes watery fast.

Take this with you. Guests pay for tea, not for water. A faulty cup never goes to the guest.