THIS is a story close to my heart, and close to my taste buds. Way back in the days before I became the editor of Super Living, I was a barista, so I’m passionate about a good cup of coffee. I get the feeling that I’m not alone.

You only need to walk into a suburban shopping centre to hear the roar of milk being steamed and smell the strong aroma of a cup of java.

There’s no doubt Australians are passionate about a good cup, and chains are quick to advertise their quality coffees prepared by skilled baristas. But are the skills of chain baristas all they’re cracked up to be?

CHOICE recently went out to road test some of the coffee on offer from some of the biggest coffee chains in Australia, and the results were mixed to say the least.

The 10 chains tested were The Coffee Club, McCafe, Wild Bean Café, Muffin Break, Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, Hudson’s Coffee, Michel’s Patisserie, Coffee Guru and Jamaica Blue.

The chains’ espresso blends were tested, with Michel’s Patisserie coming out on top with a score of 80% while Starbucks and Gloria Jeans drew the ire of the testers with scores of 45% and 40% respectively.

CHOICE tester Mathew Gee, who owns the Barista Basics Coffee Academy in Sydney, said it all came back to the extraction process. He said an ideal extraction time was 25-30 seconds for a 30-millilitre shot.

The time a shot is extracted depends on a number of variables, such as how coarse the ground coffee beans are, and how tightly packed the ground beans are before the extraction process begins.

This is why baristas have to constantly test and re-test their extractions throughout the day to accommodate changes in atmosphere and new beans.

Gee said the tendency among chain baristas to extract their shots outside these parameters was disconcerting, showing care was not being taken.

"In seven of the nine outlets we visited the shots were either under or over-extracted, meaning the water has passed through the coffee too quickly or slowly, so their coffee didn't stand a chance of being outstanding," he said.

Australasian Specialty Coffee Association president Ross Quail told Super Living that to dismiss a coffee based on one particular set of criteria was a bit too harsh.

“To judge a coffee on one particular set of criteria is a little unfair. You may very well judge the technical aspects of a cup of coffee but what matters at the end of the day is that the coffee tastes good,” Quail said.

He also said having a barista extract a shot in less than 25 seconds wasn’t the end of the world, especially when it came to milk-based coffees.

“Sometimes, an under extracted coffee can taste really good especially in relation to milk coffee. It can give you a different sort of flavour which really complements that, and given that about 90 per cent of the coffee we drink is milk-based, that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he said.

The survey also tested the consistency of the chains’ cappuccinos, and found that Starbucks came out on top.

"We found a wide variation in temperature, taste and consistency in the cappuccinos we ordered, despite each outlet in the same chain using the same brand of machine and coffee beans," Gee said.

However, consistency doesn’t necessarily mean that your coffee is going to be consistently good.

Gee said, "If you favour a stronger, bolder flavour, the Starbucks consistency won't necessarily give you a great-tasting coffee.”

Despite the results, Quail said it wasn’t wise to write-off the chain coffee as sub-standard, and chain baristas as under-qualified.

“Chains employ huge numbers of staff and it may not be possible to train everyone to a really good standard. Not everybody making the coffee is going to be a seasoned hand as a barista,” he said.

“That being said, I have no doubt that they’re putting a lot of energy into training and constantly trying to improve.”

He added that the best way to judge a coffee was to go out and taste it for yourself

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