Coffee

I think espresso is where all the micro choices you make really start to show, it's true for non-espresso and drip and aeropress that 'good enough' is great

I got the gooseneck electric =]

No temp control but who cares

haha veg it is like jenga or something! My bf got us a refurbished espresso machine (pavoni, a small one with only a few buttons) for Christmas and so far I'm the only one trying to master the art of it - I think I'm doing pretty well. Need a better grinder though, that's where I run into problems with the puzzle :/ Yet it still makes a more rewarding and delicious cup of coffee than the stovetop pot I used for years and thought I was okay with...

ya mismatched size grounds are espresso death m/l

龜
Posted: January 31, 2015 at 1:24:18 PM
I got the gooseneck electric =]

is it good it looks so fn goofy man idk i will get it tho if it makes me more of a coffee man

omg rrobyn i love that pavoni, so jelly

diff beans need slightly diff grinds even! it's really interesting w all the variables

i saw a vid from some coffee shop about tamping & it upped my game considerably

they said to spoon yr grounds into the portafilter & pat them down like yr making a sandcastle THEN level off with yr finger THEN use the tamper to fully squash them in

it made my shots way better
dont ask me why though lol

capresso burr grinder is not too $$$ & has lasted us for years of daily use
i highly recommend

Oh I will check that out!

People are like oh you need to spend more on a grinder than on the espresso machine and I say wtf

I have a really cheap burr grinder that I got a couple of years ago but it doesn't grind fine enough for this machine. So I grind the coffee and then grind again in little blade grinder for a few seconds. Probably that makes me a coffee heathen. Mostly it's just annoying.

might hav to cast u out of the coffee thread

Will try to atone. But I understand.

mods

How will I ever learn

flagged u rrrobyn sry

I was just looking at how to mod a cheap burr grinder like the one I have - pretty easy! And possibly dangerous! Maybe that'll give me some cred here.

maaaaaybe

im tentatively willing to entertain this coffee mod

capresso burr grinder is not too $$$ & has lasted us for years of daily use
i highly recommend

― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 31 January 2015 18:56 (3 hours ago) Permalink

Capresso Infinity is the gold standard of burr grinders of people who are not insane

haha veg it is like jenga or something! My bf got us a refurbished espresso machine (pavoni, a small one with only a few buttons) for Christmas and so far I'm the only one trying to master the art of it - I think I'm doing pretty well. Need a better grinder though, that's where I run into problems with the puzzle :/ Yet it still makes a more rewarding and delicious cup of coffee than the stovetop pot I used for years and thought I was okay with...

― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Saturday, January 31, 2015 1:37 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've had a La Pavoni for about 8 years and I love it! It needs servicing though and I've been kind of putting it off because now that I have to get K to preschool every morning I don't have time for the full ritual anyway. It's a beautiful piece of machinery, difficult to tame, but once you do it can make amazing coffee.

A few other tips:

1) ONLY use the larger filter basket (IIRC it comes with two, one is sort of tapered on the bottom, hence smaller, and one is not). It's supposed to be a "double" but it really holds the ideal amount for a single shot, and double-pulling the same grinds is a ridiculous idea.

2) A couple things to keep in mind for the future, but that require shelling out more: a "bottomless" portafilter (no oil buildup = cleaner espresso and easier cleanup), and a tamper that actually is the same size as the pavoni portafilter (IIRC the one that comes with it is weirdly smaller).

3) The thing is a burn hazard, so be careful. The whole thing is metal that gets and stays super hot. Also any time the machine has been in use recently, only open the water chamber VERY slowly as there's a lot of pressure in there and it can shoot hot water all over your hand if you move too fast (you can also use the "steam wand" to empty out the pressure before you open)

4) You don't absolutely have to use an "espresso" roast, in fact if you like nu-coffee places a lot of them use something lighter for their espresso. You can really make espresso from any coffee, although at least a medium roast is better imo, because light roasts have so little oil that they don't produce much "crema."

5) For cleaning, I find that lightly wetted pieces of paper towel work best (for cleaning the inside ring of the head where the grinds get stuck).

There are also some great sites where people give you tips -- will try to find. Some of them are a little OTT crazy, but it's fun to try the different techniques and see what works for you. Give yourself some time and practice, and be a little obsessive about it. I have had people tell me that I made "the best coffee they've ever had.

I could give a lot more tips too but this probably already sounds absurd.

gbx how many clicks do YOU use??

Oh and absolutely get the Capresso or similar, blade-chopped grinds will mean you don't get a nice tightly packed "disc" of grinds and you won't get proper pressure/extraction.

what's ur fave btwn nescafe and Maxwell house

keep the crazy espresso tips comin this is good stuff

http://imagecdn-0.findnsave.com/289/10039972-420

I will check it out.

I like to make a paste of the coffee and a lil milk and sugar first, smooth it all out adding milk til ive the right amount, then microwave that before adding the hot water, best coffee you'll ever taste #protip

good lord

gbx how many clicks do YOU use??

― Jennifer 8.-( (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, January 31, 2015 4:43 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

good q, no clue -- 3.5 thread roots visible on the adjustment screw

I tighten it all the way and untighten it 10 clicks, rly hope I'm doing the right number of clicks

no charge matt happy caffeine ;)

all of the coffee i make is perfect so i'm not sweating it

Thanks for la pavoni tips! I figured out a few of those on my own, like I just laughed at the tapered "single shot". And was just reading about bottomless porta filters! Seems like something to try. I don't like nu coffee because it kills my stomach but also I don't like how it tastes. We got a blend from the Faema store that refurbed the machine and it was good! But I have other coffee sources I'm going to experiment with.

Biggest issue right now is grinder and tamper. I was looking at the capresso abs or ss and the Gaggia mdf, hmm.

espresso tip - 30 pounds of pressure for legit tamping. get your shoulder squared over top & bear the fuck down. mr veg got me this little rubber pad that helps

oh and we have this stainless steel tray that goes under the grinder, it helps pull out any static - dark roast oily beans get crazy staticky & the tray stops the grounds flying all over the counter

not must-haves by any means, but are cool if yr so inclined

my favorite for espresso shots is def medium roast colombian, i got one from ritual roasters that was like GAME: CHANGED, my shots were like buttah lol

oh and seattlecoffeegear is the website i used - has tons of how-to videos, mad helpful imo

Is there a $500 torque wrench-like gauged tamper for the discerning espresso drinker? If not, let's get rich.

http://espro.ca/tamper/ Damn.

lol holy shit

ehhh that's for pussies

O_O

tampin' it

oh, man alive, what size bottomless portafilter and tamper go with the la pavoni ebr? i guess i could just ask the guys at faema store, but why not ask ilx, and i might buy online.
my bf got a standard portafilter for the machine rather than the pressurized one it originally comes with because he'd been told that was the way to go.

oh hang on, hang on, that's a diff model then I have, for some reason I assumed you were talking about a europiccola (lever machine) based on what you said. Don't know if all my tips apply then. Probably some of them don't. I do stand by bottomless portafilters in general though, don't know what would fit but most places that sell them tell you which models they fit.

my favorite for espresso shots is def medium roast colombian, i got one from ritual roasters that was like GAME: CHANGED, my shots were like buttah lol

― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 31 January 2015 23:44 (Yesterday) Permalink

Medium roast colombian is my go-to for espresso as well, it's the most bang for buck (I find that even with the cheaper beans you can get good shots out of it for whatever reason). I do like Stumptown's Hair Bender a lot but for a while for everyday use I was just buying bulk colombian from costco.

yeah it's p reliable even when it's not fancy $$$

oh those pavoni lever machines are so cool and beautiful. its design would make our quaint kitchen look shabby, haha.
i think my bf got this one because it was there at the time and an inexpensive refurb, checking the boxes of what we can deal with right now.

going to get a freakin grinder asap. and some mildly-fancy medium roast.

I'm still not in the market, but Breville makes a $600 machine w/ grinder and temp control, etc. built in - espresso people, predictably, think it's garbage. But the average drinker would probably think it's capable of making a good espresso, right?

I don't know enough about it but my strong suspicion is that espresso snobs are basically audiophiles.

$600 is too much to pay for a goddamn Breville imo, and that's not me being a snob

if you have that kinda scratch, get a good brand refurb or at least invest in something with replaceable parts & longevity

i have had a breville electric kettle for 1 year & it's already starting to rust ffs

The Breville is well designed and makes a good espresso but it breaks quickly and has electronic controls you will not ever need -- their customer service is lousy where I live and it isn't serviceable by folks who know espresso machines, so mine had to go in the garbage after a a year and a half, which suddenly makes $600 for a decent machine and a decent grinder crappy value.

The current value-for-money/snobs-will-not-mock-you champion is Lelit, an Italian company that is relatively new in espresso machines and thus not quite as well known, but which has been making industrial steam irons (!) for decades which are considered by industrial steam iron snobs to be top notch. You know how those industrial steam iron snobs are.

My espresso shop guy, who runs his own repair shop, started carrying the brand after opening one up and being seriously impressed by the build quality, and he insists he has not had to repair one in the two years he's been carrying the brand. I have heard that the non-European distributors kinda suck, but they are really good machines and make really, really good espresso if you are into practicing and getting it right.

Wow, seriously envious of the Europiccola and its spartan looks. Anyone have tips associated with the Gaggia Classic? After a few years heavy use, I just recently took the thing out of storage, disassembled, and thoroughly cleaned everything.

I'm still not in the market, but Breville makes a $600 machine w/ grinder and temp control, etc. built in - espresso people, predictably, think it's garbage. But the average drinker would probably think it's capable of making a good espresso, right?

I don't know enough about it but my strong suspicion is that espresso snobs are basically audiophiles.

― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Sunday, February 1, 2015 6:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well paying $600 for a breville with everything built in is probably the equivalent of buying a $600 "all-in-one" stereo when you could get better individual components for the same total price. Buy the $100 Capresso grinder and spend $500 on a separate espresso machine and you'll be happier with the results.

Sure, I get that about automation and fragility and buying parts - but the espresso people are less "buy a receiver at the pawn shop" and more "my diamond-encrusted cable really allows me to HEAR this section of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' for the first time."

Made a Moka Pot cup for the first time - medium roast from a local roaster, espresso grind on my grinder, boiled water then poured it in and screwed on the top, took it off of heat once I couldn't see the bottom anymore (was following half-remembered instructions I saw online) - it was very smooth, not nearly as heavy/thick as I was expecting. Not sure it will be a good option for bleary-eyed mornings given the need to clean quickly and the possibility of self-injury, but neither would an espresso machine - and I can always just down a couple of shots of my cold-brew concentrate if all I need is caffeine.