The irony that Starbucks, a company known for serving coffee with questionable roast level and opaque freshness would train their baristas that a shot can die in seconds is hilarious.

This HAS to be a Starbucks manual. I worked for Starbucks like 8 years ago and they DEFINITELY instilled this idea of a dead espresso shot to the point where you’d be reprimanded if milk didn’t hit the espresso within 10 seconds for any drink requiring it

when i worked at starbucks, if i didn't IMMEDIATELY mix my espresso shots with milk or syrup, my SM would dump the shot and say something like "your espresso died, try again" 😭 worst job i've ever had lmao, coincidently, the worst coffee i've ever had too

This makes total sense. I've always wondered why "the shot is gonna die", but put it in a latte and suddenly it's all good for 10+ minutes.

Just saw this posted, and all I have to say is: you're so brave for posting this Morgan! Thank you for dispelling this myth, I learned about this myth when I worked at Starbucks, and I think it was mainly said as a way for us to stay productive

Espresso is not dead... espresso is life!

worked at starbucks 5-6 years ago and i had a regular who would sit and watch me make her drink and force me to remake it if the shots sat for more than FIVE seconds (wouldn’t even give me the full 10). she got a venti iced caramel macchiato with extra extra caramel and breve. even if shots could die that quickly, there is no way in hell you can taste whether or not your shots were “dead” with that amount of milk and caramel lmao thank you for making this video

Morgan really out here with the "maybe you just suck at it" response, lmao

I thought the timer was two hours not two minutes and thought “wow that holds up pretty good for a long time” 😅🤣

If espresso "dies" in 10 or 15 seconds, that would mean that the chemicals inside coffee are SO FREAKING VOLATILE, that not many chemicals could really rival them. Even in spices, you should preferably grind them fresh, but ground spices will last for quite a while if sealed up. Also, if the chemicals are reacting with each other, again, those chemicals inside the coffee would have to be extremely reactive for that to happen. In the end, I'd guess that espresso would change after like, 5 or 10 minutes or something. Another thing, IF those chemicals were that volatile, why would adding milk or syrup stop that? What, milk would fix them in place or something? Be an inhibitor of those reactions? This whole line of "reasoning" makes zero sense if you think about it from a basic chemistry or physics perspective. Morgan is also correct about the temperature part. Our mouths can sense the most tastes and aromas at body temperature (around 36.5 degrees, no idea how much that is in freedom units). This is why crappy beer is served ice cold - it masks flavor and makes it more palatable. This is also a reason why people think beer tastes like crap at room temperature. In actuality, a good beer will be great at room temp (I sometimes drink them at room temp). This is also the reason why folks drink hard liquor on the rocks or chilled - it masks flavor they dislike and makes it more palatable to them. TLDR - espresso won't die in 10 seconds unless it's full of francium (even francium 221's half-life is 4.8 minutes, and that's the most unstable element we have found so far) or something, and you taste more flavor the closer the drink or food is to your body's temperature.

In my home hand-pulled machine experience, espresso is fine for a couple minutes, at least. . . Now, if it’s 20 or 30 Minutes later, there is degrading of the coffee. First, by then, it’s probably cold. Second, the oils and acids will deteriorate somewhat over 20 minutes or so, but not NOT 20 seconds.

Love the sneaky cameos from your cat - reflected in microwave and wandering around in the background

When I was working at Peet's coffee, we also learned about the whole idea of espresso shots dying. Since I was a shift lead there, I remember even pouring out several shots that had "sat too long" because I was supposed to do "quality control" on how our baristas ran their bars. I always felt guilty about that, and it feels bad that it was never necessary. I feel betrayed and like an asshole 😭

I usually drink my shots like 5-10 minutes later, once they've reached drinking temperature. I want to actually taste what I made instead of burning my tongue.

Thank you for making this video! I worked at [MERMAID COMPANY], the people who created this lie. Their coffee is disgusting and it awful to work for. But yeah I never bought this lie. Because I always thought logically, "What about the people who have drank espresso on it's own for decades? Surely they're not burning their mouths with fresh lava temperature espresso.". Sure enough the logic checks out lol.

This myth has Starbucks written all over it! I distinctly remember being taught this while I was being trained there, and initially I bought it! :D Starbucks tries way too hard to appear as a company-connoisseur of coffee, to the point where they make up rules, "facts" etc.

This sounds like someone drank their espresso too early, got burned, and then needed a justification for burning their tongue. "No no, it's totally better that way!"

As a beginner home “barista,” I found this video SO informative. I have searched the internet for tutorials on lattes (my preferred bev) and almost all of them referred to espresso not being usable after 10 seconds. SUPER overwhelming for someone like me, who basically fumbles around a cheap espresso machine. So happy I discovered your channel (I also love James Hoffman!) because I find your videos so entertaining and useful :-)

Coming home from work, pulling espresso shots all day and now getting to enjoy Morgan talk about espresso shots. That’s a perfect Wednesday in my book!

Thank you for this! Because of this myth, I was always confused when ppl would talk about Italians etc drinking espresso shots and I'd wonder how they sit and sip on it and if it doesn't "die" during the time they're drinking it.

The...pink...espresso...machine!!! It's fantastic!!! Great video as always and the pink espresso machine made my day!

With high customer traffic, I completely understand the need to have a fast, efficient, flow. However, for a company, like BuckStars, to distribute misinformation in their training, indicates one of two things: 1) the willingness to lie to their employees to achieve a goal or 2) a deep ignorance in a field that is a major component of their business. No matter which one is true, both are very disappointing. People, also, shouldn't put 100% stock in everything a major entity (whether it's a business, celebrity, or online personality) says.

I've no doubt this is a myth starting from Starbucks, as I'm an 8 year now employee and have urged baristas I've trained to not let them "die". It was never made clear why, and from expanding my coffee knowledge from outside sources I could only assume that the crema would eventually go flat. So I've told my coworkers this, as I have seen the crema dissipate fairly quickly before. Seeing this video now makes me wonder if that just indicates the shots I've seen "die" were pulled out of calibration or it could be a result of our particular espresso machines. Considering they're designed to pull shots very fast, I wouldn't be surprised if that effects it somehow. Either way seeing this video now has subdued the panicked rush to "save my shots" if I stepped away too long while queueing my shots. Sometimes we have to juggle a lot and that "espresso dies" myth certainly instills a lot of panic in us poor baristas with this company lol.

Morgan, you're radiating positive yet slightly chaotic energy, good vibes and I think you're smart ! I'm sure you would be so cool to hang out with :D

off topic: seeing your kitty's tail swishing in the microwave reflection (around the 1:00 mark) made me so happy :)

Great video! Sounds synonymous with letting wine “breathe” before drinking. More gases are released, allowing the true nature of the notes to settle.

thumbs up. i'm glad it was mentioned that temperature masks taste . i think this is a big part of the reason for the starbucks thing. if you let THAT coffee cool, it will taste worse. its the same thing with bad beer, it has to be super cold to be enjoyable. what i mean by 'that coffee' is that is it's a lower grade of coffee (so over ripe/under ripe cherries from diff farms etc, probably with defects) that has been over roasted to make it uniform all year round in huge volume across the world. about crema...if it dissipates completely, the drink will taste a little less strong which could be a problem in some situations. crema has a bitter carbon-y taste, that many people especially older generations are used to as it's kind of like generic coffee taste. for some customers if you make a flat white or something and the crema is gone it won't taste strong enough for them

Just finally got into home espresso after years of curiosity, and this has been such a great channel. I'm glad this makes me feel more validated about wanting my drinks to cool off a bit before I taste them. 1) My tongue burns super easily and it hurts in the middle of the night days later at times and 2) I always think the flavor is way better when I can actually ... taste it.

Kudos to you for talking about this issue Morgan! MDC videos are always informative and great to watch!

When I worked at Starbucks part of my training was literally to drink one fresh shot and then drink one "dead" shot and it was obvious that the "dead" shot tasted WAY worse...but after working at another cafe and also making my own espresso at home (even with a VERY cheap machine), I know for certain it's just because Starbucks' espresso is kinda garbage lmao (No shade to people who enjoy it tho, I also like their tasty specialty drinks! Just...usually ones with so much flavor in them that you can hardly taste the epsresso, lol)

A bonus video is a treat and the fact it was a fun and informative video just makes it better.

As someone who worked at Starbucks for 8 years, I can confirm that is the training manual. When training in espresso, you would actually watch the crema, body, and heart kind of meld together! The taste was more bitter after a lil wait but I completely stand with Morgan, it's silly and espresso is good 10 seconds in or 1 minute after.

Starbucks baristas need to understand they have different rules from regular baristas 😬 My first job was in fast food and I can definitely see this as being a way to not just let product sit for too long. This way being FEAR lol

Oh my god that’s the cutest coloured machine I’ve ever seen 😍 Great video as always, also, you’re so pretty and so well spoken, really enjoy watching your videos and learning so much more about coffee ☕️

I too learned that several years ago in training from SB. Honestly that is about how long it takes for the crema to dissipate from shots pulled from their machine. But I have dispelled that to many of my barista coworkers. But your synopsis of why we are taught that is brilliant! Heck, I've been known to drink it hours later after I get off work, lol

Great Job on this! Totally enjoyed the full explanation and elaboration on temperatures and flavor enjoyment.

I so enjoy your videos!

Not only Starbucks; I worked at a local coffee shop in a small town last summer and it was ingrained in our membrane that we had 10 seconds to pour the espresso into the drink. Crazy!

Morgan drinks coffee on a Wednesday? What a pleasant surprise :)

Former unmentionable business employee, the way that the unmentionable place works is interesting. A lot of the machines they use are automated. I've tried so so many shots now at this point in my life, and those shots taste miserably awful after the time frame mentioned in the manual. Whether that can be considered dead or not is up to each individual. However, the shots are very rancid after 10 seconds....

I love your content!

love the Silvia make over 💕

I work at [Company that shall not be named] as a barista, and yes hearing that a shot could die in their philosophy surprised me and the first time I'd ever heard of it.

Thanks for the awesome content!!

You are just so awesome. I have been using an old school espresso press, well can’t afford the awesome one your using, but it’s so cool watching your videos

I've worked as a barista for multiple chains that taught this, but at least at my locations, we all knew it was based on getting drinks out as fast as possible and with as consistent a taste as possible. I mean, as soon as you sell someone a plain shot (or even a con panna/machiatto) you can connect the dots.

As someone who owns a busy cafe and roasts his own coffee, I will say this: my acid test of the quality of a roast is how the espresso tastes after an hour or more. If it doesn't taste good at room temperature, it's not right.

Yess!! Love that you're debunking myths!!

I’m dead before I drink my espresso

I work as a barista in a chain (not as big as starbucks) and we’re told that the espresso “dies” after 30 seconds. it’s not quite as quick or as stressful as the only 10 seconds at starbucks, but knowing that i can relax a bit about the quickness of getting shots into drinks (within reason) is definitely nice, and it was something i was wondering about while watching your other videos as well!

I'm such a goblin for forgetting my cups lying around I legit thought the timer was set for two HOURS at first and was like "eh it's probably fine"

Thanks, Morgan. I think you've helped resolve my questions on this. I've heard the theory of "dead shots," but haven't been able to reconcile it with my experience. I've been brewing espresso for myself (and sometimes others) in one form or another for better than 50 years. I've had everything from a Moka pot to a Vesuviana and an Atomic (the latter for ~30 years). Last few years, I've been using a Saeco Aroma or a La Pavoni Europiccola. As any of these that would steam milk (the first two couldn't) were single-boiler machines, there was always a lag between the milk being ready and the espresso being ready. NEVER did I observe a diminution of drink quality, even if I had to do something else after the shot had run (like rinsing a milk pitcher). And, in line with your comment about the temperature being TOO hot after 10 seconds, I've also found that. I tried tasting my shot about 1/2 hour ago from the Saeco to compare it with my shot yesterday from the La Pavoni (same coffee/grinder/etc for both) and it was so hot I had to wait to not scald myself. (FWIW, the Saeco shot had better body and richness with more nuance. The La Pavoni is more of a "challenge" to manage all the variables). As to the temperature, does anyone remember the great controversy over the lady who sued McDonald's for "too hot" coffee? That was only, IIRC, ~175 F, stipulated in the McD's training manual. So, a straight espresso shot, right from the machine, accidentally dumped on the customer could be a lawsuit-in-waiting. And that's usually my drink of choice at Starbuck's (hey, believe me. Driving through rural Idaho, you're grateful if you can find a Starbuck's!).

I am so glad you posted this. I actually had plans to ask you what the best temperature to drink coffee is. I can't taste all the flavor profiles usually ascribed to a coffee when it's first given to me; I can't pick up subtleties until it cools a bit. So thank you for letting me know I'm not a detective coffee drinker.

Wow, great video. Your best so far for me!

yess knowledgable queen, we love to see it 💅🏽 when tasting pour over coffee, you actually want to let it cool down a little bit to actually taste more of the flavors, body, etc. that same principle should apply to espresso aswell!

I LOVE the teaspoon

First of all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year second thank you very much to make those points to those people's living on the clock and trying to get other ones to their likings.... And number three that's a lovely pink machine I love it 💯🔥😎✔️

Every time you say "an espresso shot has died", somewhere a random barista abruptly quits.

Great content! And a cool pink Pro X! ❤

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! As a roaster who has explained to dozens of our baristas over the years about the "life" of an espresso shot and trying to dispel the myth that espresso will die within 30 seconds (not to mention trying to not overwhelm them with the science of our espresso roast and why the crema is why it is because of the gases, etc.) it's nice to see this video from you so I can send this video to them 😊 You explain it a lot better than I do, so this video will be their new training manual

I worked for Starbucks for 8 years and this is 100% what they taught. You are so right in thinking it has to do with efficiency. I’m so glad you explained this because I believed this myth until now! Love your videos!

Love your videos

For me what works best is small sips from hot to room temperature. This way you enjoy all the development of the taste.

I knew nothing about crema before this video. Thanks for unpacking the science and the strategy behind pulling an espresso shot!

Well done, thanks for the info

I watch your videos with my little daughter and we are really enjoying.

Congrats, you were lucky to be able to switch your Pro with the new and improved X, I really hope Rancilio will offer an update option for all their Pro users too

Hey Morgan, I’m a new subscriber, just came across your content. I myself am a black coffee drinker, nothing fancy. That being said I really have enjoyed the vids I have watched and am looking forward to watching more. You present information very well and seems like your having fun. 👍🏻

Not going to lie...I was kinda distracted with Morgan's cat in the reflection of the microwave in the beginning of the video 😂

That pink Rancillio is gorgeous.

The only thing apart from efficiency where I can see the 10 second rule applying is because of how long it often takes from the time you call someone's name to collect, to the point where they actually start drinking the coffee. there's often a good minute or so there, even longer if they're having it served to their table

Thank you! I'm so glad you dispelled this "old Barista's tale". Unless someone wants a scalding shot to knock back, it's perfectly fine to let it sit for a bit.

Great video! Also, the new coffee machine looks great, can you make a review of it, specifically how much of a difference the soft infusion does?

That pink looks amazing

Then how are you supposed to serve a shot? “SIR! Hurry! You only got 5 more seconds to drink this!!!”

So true. Coffee flavor develops over time. Pour overs taste different over time as well so it only makes sense for espresso. However those insulated kruve glasses probably keep the temp higher than some not so well insulating ones

i luv u!!! you are amazing!!! 😍❤️❤️❤️

I don't drink Coffee, I do not like the taste at all. However I really enjoy these videos soo much. Her voice is so soothing and calm

My workflow with my flair actually includes cleaning the rest of the machine ( about a minute or two) to let the shot rest. It cools down a bit and the crema also diffuses a bit too. ( Crema tends to be bitter from my own observation) So I stir it and drink it then and usually it is very nice!

Great video! That's such a baffling thing to hear in a training manual. Maybe we're spoiled here in AU/NZ, but ordering a long black or espresso - I'd never expect it to hit my table, let alone my mouth in 10 seconds. The main difference I've found between home espresso that I'm basically pulling straight into my mouth, and cafe espresso that probably takes 30-120 seconds before it reaches my taste buds - is that the cafe espresso is more consistently good!

Espresso is basically the inverse of beer/spirits. The colder the drink, the less flavor is perceivable but reveals more flavor when it warms up as espresso or coffee in general has less flavor when hot but reveals more flavor when it cools down

totally. excellent debunking! early 3rd wave trends were up dosing and ristretto. shots were often badly extracted, maintaining the crema/texture/mouth feel were everything.

Thanks for another interesting video that helps me understand espresso better. Silly crema!

Great video! I've always wondered about this theory. I've tried shots RIGHT after pulling, and could barely distinguish flavors, and tried shots after cooling a bit and noticed a lot more of the nuance. Glad you gave my theory some credibility! 5:23 Also, cat-bomb in the bottom left corner. Thank me later.

I worked at starbucks as my first regular job and was under the sway of the deadshot until I found myself watching one of the world competitions which I had never even thought of being a thing beforehand and it changed my mind on the possibilities of coffee forever

Bless you my child. Loved this. The nay-sayers who comment, "Let it sit for a couple of days" are comparing apples and oranges. You know it; we know it; they know it ... yet the BS comes out anyway. Just keep producing the facts. This was a good one.

'Partner' here. The dying of espresso is specific SB Espresso Roast and the Mastrena machines. The Espresso Roast ages in a way that makes it bitter and less appealing to most coffee drinkers. Everything about the setup is to make drinks faster, not necessarily 'better.' The shots don't hold the crema very long, and the milk does not steam very well. But it's better than Dunkin', so there's that.

As someone who started their coffee journey at Starbucks, thank you for helping to spread good information. Starbucks is the primary reason most of America have a hard time appreciating better coffee.

Great vid. I especially love the reflection of your cat in the microwave oven door! I've never heard this myth and I agree 100% that letting espresso, or coffee for that matter, cool from scalding really improves one's ability to actually taste the flavors in the bean.

Anyone else notice that Morgan is the first KZfaq Rancilio has ever sponsored?? Thats pretty sick.

I like ceramic cups because they cool down some of espresso heat. Double sided glass is good for serving when it is expected to drink not instantly but indeed after 2 min

So, the huge seattle based coffee chain is to blame for this myth? No wonder that shit is such a hilarious claim about Standard Operating Procedure and how to "Quality Control" in order to put more pressure on the low paid staff so someone can make more money off of their work.

This is very informative and brings to my mind a similar question: is it true that freshly ground coffee is better if it is used within seconds of being ground, or is it just another myth?

Hahahahaha The cat tail reflect!!! 🤣

Educational. And I love it.

Ooh, the Silvia Pro X. I hope they allow for a retrofit mod you can fit into the Silvia Pro. I’d love to have the pressure profiling.

I actually get that comment ALOT too! So.. THANK YOU for explaining 💖 Respect!

Awesome video as always. I think whether it's espresso, pour over, or french press you should always let you coffee sit and cool a bit so you can taste all the flavors and not just hot brown caffeinated water.

Right, and right! I freeze espresso for CaffeineGinAndTonic... one of the craziest drinks. Or just let it sit for a while for the ones who don't like espresso. LOVE your pink finish on Miss Silvia.

thank you for making this video, morgan! like many others, i learned this myth when working at starbucks. honestly, i always thought it might be bs because we literally sold espresso shots. if shots die to 10 seconds, why does sbucks serve them without adding ingredients/milk?