I always say Espresso is an
adventure. And its true. The best Baristas I've gone to fairly regularly never served me the same shot twice.
But it really shouldn't be a
different adventure each time.
Ignoring the StarBucks image/stigma for a second; for over a 2 decades, I would visit them each morning for quad-shot
espresso w/a splash of steamed whole milk.
As you said, I would sometimes get that
adventure surprise, when all I had wanted was a 'sure-thing'!
Botched/Wrong/Forgotten orders, bad hair-day baristas, even a few fights inside their stores, etc.
Forced me to finally go the DIY route and we have never been happier with our morning ritual, ever since!
I love coffee. The stronger the better.
But every time I drink more than 2 cups black I am nearing the pearly gates.
Let us make a small definition distinction between a "cup" of
coffee and "shots" of espresso.
Before starting our StarBucks espresso ritual, every time I would drink any of the 'office coffee', it would feel like
I was nearing the porcelain urinals.
The solution: [Nestcafe image]
It's really easy to make a consistent* cup of coffee, dialing in is as easy as choosing the size or quantity of teaspoons.
* Consistently awful.
Yeah, LOL.
I always loved a good cup of coffee. (It triggers my tachycardia which is not fun.) I have been unable to find a satisfying decaf coffee.
That sucks! Is there such a thing as "near-coffee" like 'near beer'?
Is your blood pressure normally borderline, for the tachycardia onset?
I had understood that daily caffeine intake 'enlarges the arteries [blood vessels?]', en route to the brain.
Hence, caffeine withdrawal causes extreme headaches (in the back of the brain) because less oxygen is reaching it.
I don't know if this is an urban myth but I most certainly did get those headaches a few times that I was not able to consume my daily dosage.
Yet, your description contradicts it in round-about way.