At the end of June 2023, Huynh Quoc Chanh, owner of C.K coffee shop told VNT writers through a phone call:

On the morning of May 3, 2023, C.K coffee shop welcomed two guests. The male guest is a foreigner, about 30-35 years old with pale skin, outstanding height, wearing sporty clothes: a light shirt with an open chest and shorts. The other customer, a Vietnamese female, helped him with translation.

After looking at the menu, the male customer ordered an expresso and asked to watch the barista make his drink. He walked over to the bartender and stood silently with his eyes attentively observing the barista's every move, from putting the ground coffee into the portafilter. When the bartender pressed the coffee, the customer quickly said "No, no" and shook his head to show his dissatisfaction. Not understanding the language, the restaurant staff and I were confused about his reaction.

“Compressing coffee only takes a few tens of seconds in the brewing process, but it is an important step. He is not satisfied because our female barista was not pressing the coffee strongly enough, which would lead to fast-flow extraction, causing the espresso shot to be sour, thin, and bland. He asked us to drop the shot that we were making and make a new one," the translator told us so.

I checked the shot of coffee our staff made and found out that his comment was correct," said the coffee shop owner.

According to Chanh, espresso is a popular beverage in coffee shops. Its unique but also challenging feature is that even though a barista uses the same kind of coffee, with consistent quality and the same grind size, he can brew shots of different tastes.

A good cup of coffee must ensure a lot of factors: the quality of the beans, the ratio of the coffee blend, and the roasting temperature. The preparation method must follow the strict requirements of flow and smoothness. An improper operation can ruin the taste of coffee.

Huynh Quoc Chanh, the owner of C.K coffee shop, compresses coffee (Photo courtesy of Huynh Quoc Chanh)

Listening to the customer's feedback, Chanh directly prepared another cup of espresso. “I cleaned my hands and dried them with a towel. I took about seven grams of coffee, just enough for a shot, then gently flattened the coffee surface. I used a flat tool to press the coffee in 4 directions, leaving no gaps on the coffee surface to avoid creating grooves, which might lead to uneven extract. When it came to compression, I stood with my back straight, my body perpendicular to the edge of the table, and always kept my wrists, elbows, and tamper aligned. Then I used a firm pressure (about 20kg) to press down, creating a flat and hard coffee surface so that the water would be evenly pushed through.

The operations were performed according to the correct technique. This time, the guest expressed satisfaction. He smiled and said OK. He also returned to the shop on the afternoon of May 3 and the next morning to enjoy coffee. Before leaving, the guest turned his head to wave to us and said simple English words so that we could understand “Thanks, see you. Goodbye!"

Through the translator, I learned that his name is Tommy, from the Netherlands. Although our barista did not follow the correct preparation technique at first, this mistake was later fixed with the shot of coffee I made. Tommy still rated C.K coffee shop as the best coffee in Phu Quy island.

Tommy is the most meticulous foreign customer I have met since I opened the shop. Our experience with him reminds us to adhere to the requirements in operations and preparation at any stage. Only then can we best serve the needs of our customers.

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