Right. Well put, Nick. By "traditional" we meant cup sizes, not bad cleaning habits. We keep an eye on best methods and also serve the best coffee we can find on the island. On occasion we ship in some Intelligentsia as a special treat. Thanks for clarifying that.

Nick Griffith said:

Intelli LA serves 8-12oz lattes, 6oz capps and only 12oz coffee.
We're fairly successful with the limited smaller size.

We don't consider ourselves "traditional", we simply make drinks the way we feel they taste best.
Be careful with pushing the traditional aspect of espresso bars.
To a lot of people traditional Italian screams a host of bad things i.e. not cleaning the espresso machine, 7g singles, pre-grinding, using lower grade coffee mixed with robusta like Illy or LavAzza.
"Traditional" is also a bit of indicator that progress has been ignored in some respects and you might be using some older techniques or practices that have been improved upon.

Bottom line, do things the way YOU feel they taste best. And if you fell they taste best with robusta coffee out of a dirty machine... well, good luck (That was just an example, I'm assuming you clean your machine and use a good quality, locally roasted espresso).
Nick

Watch out! A well-pulled 7g single can be a beautiful thing! I could talk just as much junk about the overdosed crap a lot of espresso jockies out there are slinging...

But on the topic: if you stand to your guns and explain politely to your customers what you are doing, you will do fine. Some people may not come back, in favor of the bar down the street that will serve them a 16oz, extra hot hazlenut cappuccino, but thems the breaks.

I've also found that standing the occasional reluctant customer a drink goes a long way. Someting like, "here: this is how we make a latte. It's on me". Most of the time they love it and become repeats. That's not to say they don't also go elsewhere occasionally to get their caramel macchiato fix!

Nick Griffith said:

Intelli LA serves 8-12oz lattes, 6oz capps and only 12oz coffee. We're fairly successful with the limited smaller size.
We don't consider ourselves "traditional", we simply make drinks the way we feel they taste best.
Be careful with pushing the traditional aspect of espresso bars.
To a lot of people traditional Italian screams a host of bad things i.e. not cleaning the espresso machine, 7g singles, pre-grinding, using lower grade coffee mixed with robusta like Illy or LavAzza.
"Traditional" is also a bit of indicator that progress has been ignored in some respects and you might be using some older techniques or practices that have been improved upon.

Bottom line, do things the way YOU feel they taste best. And if you fell they taste best with robusta coffee out of a dirty machine... well, good luck (That was just an example, I'm assuming you clean your machine and use a good quality, locally roasted espresso).
Nick

I had a custokmer enter my new store in belfast looking for a quality take away sandwich, he was holding a frappeccino from starbucks! a caramel one i think! Now I asked him why he didnt let us make it! He said because he never knew we done it!

So what did I do!? I offered him a trade- i made him my own caramel frappe with a couple of shots of great espresso, took his starbucks one off him and binned it!

As independant coffee shops we have the ability to super customize our drinks! We shouldn't say, we'll try our best! we shouild say like starbucks, ill make you drink which will make you never retrun to starbucks!

also on the size front, for a wee while i ran a 8 and 12oz takeaway cup, i've stripped it down to just 12oz, this works for me, when people ask for a small they get 12oz, when they ask for a reg they get 12oz. Its simple and i dont think i would ever go any bigger, not in ireland anyway, its not particularly normal here for 20oz coffee etc. But i suppose if the market your in wants 20oz drinks they have to get it!

I suggest asking your customers what they thinki??? they know best they buy from you?

g