Lesson 4 of 6 · A day at Góc Hoa

Start-of-shift tasting

Three minutes and one cup to stop the "weak, watery" complaint

The extraction machine makes identical cups only when the tea, the programme key, the water and the ice are all right. Tasting is the cheapest way to know whether those four things are right today. It costs three minutes and one cup per shift.

Why we taste

• "Weak, watery like iced tea" is the second most serious piece of feedback from guests in reviews under three stars. Guests write "a lot but watery", meaning adding water cannot save it.
• The Hoa's positioning is aroma. A weak cup is a cup with no The Hoa in it.

What, when and who

• At the start of every shift, after the machine reports full temperature and before opening for sales: the shift leader brews and tastes one cup of plain tea (Trà Hương, no milk), chosen at random from the seven base teas.
• Every batch of pre-extracted tea concentrate: taste the first cup made from that batch.
• Every batch of pearls, grass jelly or cloud foam: the person who made it tastes it and records it on the sheet.
• When two cups get the same complaint in one shift: stop, taste again, check the programme key and the measures, tell the manager.
• Record it on the tasting sheet posted at the counter, kept for 30 days.

Tasting properly

• Taste in the state the guest drinks it: an iced cup one minute after it is made, stirred gently, through that cup's own straw.
• Smell first, close your eyes, take one sip, breathe out, wait five seconds, then judge the finish. The same ritual we invite guests to follow.
• Score each element: tea aroma, tea taste, sweetness, creaminess, astringency or bitterness. Compare with the Standard column printed on the sheet at the counter. Clearly off the standard means a faulty cup.
• A faulty cup never reaches a guest. One cup costs less than one guest.

Common signs and what to do right away

• Weak, watery, pale colour: usually under-weighed tea, the wrong programme key, shaken with ice too long, or concentrate past its time. Reweigh, check the key against the chart on the machine, remake. Never add concentrate to a cup already made.
• Harsh astringency, bitterness: tea packed too tightly, dirty filter mesh, extracted twice from the same leaves. Flush the group, wash the mesh, remake. Never add sugar to hide it.
• Milk tea splitting, skin on top, grainy: milk past its date or left out. Discard the cup, check the milk label, remake with fresh milk. Never stir it smooth and serve.
• Cloud foam running, not holding: taken out of the fridge too early or not whipped enough. Whip a new batch, take it out only right before topping.
• Pearls hard or crumbly: kept in the fridge or over 12 hours old. Discard the batch, cook a new one, log the waste. Never reheat old pearls.
• Trà Dưỡng cloudy, with sediment: the contents of the strainer basket were poured into the cup, or steeped over five minutes. Remake. Never re-strain the old cup.

If you are the one checking: Sign the tasting sheet at the end of the day. Three days in a row without a single "fault" line is worth a question too: was it really tasted, or tasted for show.

Take this with you. Smell, close your eyes, sip, wait five seconds. If it is wrong, remake it, do not hide it.