Every experienced barista worth their salt knows that pulling a perfect shot of espresso is extremely difficult to do on a consistent basis. Try as one might to repeat every step that went into pulling a perfect shot, inevitably the next shot just is good, in fact very good, but just not as good as the one a minute ago. And then we try to reproduce that perfection.
There are many factors that go into why some shots are better than others - perhaps the equipment or ambient temperature or humidity changes imperceptably in the last minute... maybe it was an imprecise tamp because of an inconsistent grind... perhaps a half-second difference in the brew time... or a half degree off the desired boiler temperature... a hair off the ideal water pressure... or a couple of lesser beans in the hopper just dragged down the rest.
Espresso equipment is fussy and people not robots, so even under the best conditions, repeating the steps that go into a perfect shot is extremely difficult.
That's why baristas call those rare perfect shots "GodShots".
Because divine intervention seems the only plausible explanation why shot A was just not quite perfect but shot B was absolutely dead-on from feel to color to tiger striping to crema and most importantly, taste, even though it would seem both shots should have been of equal quality because all things being equal... all things were equal. Except the end result.
It's happened to every barista who's stood behind our LaMarzocco to pull a shot. Maybe you've had it happen to you when making a cake or a burger or a gin and tonic. You tasted whatever you made and said, "Wow... this is perfect. This is the best X I've ever made!"
And then you couldn't repeat it. At least not right away.
Well, we just experienced another type of "GodShot" with this week's cannoli filling. Absolutely nailed it.
The filling is always good and we get a lot of compliments. But for whatever reason, this week's batch is just a little better.
So thanks, God. Please share whatever it was with us when you have a spare moment.
(Note: At the time of the original posting we were making our own fillings. As of November 15, 2006 we are using Vaccaro's ricotta and chocolate fillings. The primary reason for this is that we could not buy smaller quantities of the ricotta impastada we have been using and it does not freeze well. Also, we're spending a lot more time on soups now, making it difficult to invest the energy in making homemade cannoli fillings to the quality we desire.)
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