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withered_preacher
Matisse
To expand on crema. It’s an emulsion of lipids, suspended fine coffee particles, water and CO2. Three of these things are inherently bitter in flavour. It really adds nothing to flavour.
Neither it is a sign of quality. Fresher beans will have more CO2 and so create more crema, as will certain species and varieties, Robusta especially. Great beans can produce great espresso 12 weeks after roast and more, producing less crema that it will at 2-4 weeks from roast. Incidentally this is a key reason why eyeballing volume leads to inconsistencies between shots, that change in crema means the same volume has variations in gas and liquid, changing extraction and flavour