Poor Man's Espresso Workaround...

[djmcmath]

I know that Tabs and Isabo are going to have my hide for not just going out and buying the correct gear to make proper espresso with, but I've been desperately trying to perfect my coffee without diverting any funding from the Porsche budget -- I'm sure you understand.

Anyhow, one of the articles at coffeegeek.com was about a shop that did it correctly -- have two separate baristas, one working milk, one working espresso. Finish both parts of the process at the same time so as to minimize temperature differential and preserve the crema. Never ever leave the espresso sitting somewhere while you make the milk, because then the crema goes away.

Well, there's only one of me, and my little coffee machine can only support one operation at a time, so I needed a workaround to keep the crema from disappearing off my espresso while I made the milk. What kills crema? Temperature change, mostly. ... So I just need to keep the little demitasse hot for 2 minutes while I froth my milk, yes? Easy.

Enter a bowl full of boiling water. Preheat the demitasse in the bowl, pull the espresso, then back into the bowl of boiling water to keep it hot. I'm used to entertaining myself while frothing the milk by watching the crema disappear, but this time it stayed! Woohoo!

If anybody else has Poor Man's Workarounds for fine coffee, I'd be thrilled. Enjoy my humbly submitted input.


Dan

[pwd72s]

What the world needs is a 10 cent cup of coffee...

[Moses]

Coffee obsession. The lure of the bean. I love it. I'll try it.

(I have dropped several hints at home about a Salvatore machine like Tabs' for my birthday, but the date approaches and no big deliveries at my house. )

[djmcmath]

The ultimate Poor Man's coffee solution -- persuade someone else to buy the machine.

[Isabo]

You hold him down and I'll shoot him! :

Joking aside that sounds like a clever solution. Judge it by the results in your coffee cup.
-Isa

[djmcmath]

Actually, Isa, I was a bit disappointed with the coffee I produced that go. But then, I have so many other variables in my system that whether or not the temperature is consistent is almost (but not quite) a non-issue. Half the time I don't even get crema because I'm still using the el-cheapo Target whirly-blade grinder, and am not consistently tamping the grounds. I guess it doesn't really matter what coffee I use, or how carefully I control the temperature, if I can't get the grind and tamp correct.

Anybody have any suggestions for making the grind more consistent without spending a fortune? Maybe I could tamp with a weight, instead of just by hand? I'm reaching, here ...


Dan

[Isabo]

The problem of your grinder is that the grind is inconsistent and some will end up too fine.
I've never done this but it should work:
Grind it a little and then pass it through a filter/sieve with miniscule holes. Anything left gets ground again.
Might be more sensible to buy your coffee ground until you can afford a good grinder, just doesn't stay fresh so long.
-Isa

[Isabo]

Tamping the coffee down is trial and error until you find the right balance for your machine and your taste. Then just repeat. Grind, freshness and how "Oily" the coffee is would also have a bearing but I don't think even the greatest barristra in the world could judge it.

[djmcmath]

You're spot on, Isa. Grind and tamping are two opposing parts of the equation. To obtain consistent espresso, both grind and tamp have to be consistent with the given beans. I have gotten both tamp and grind correct several times recently, but am finding my results difficult to duplicate. I was considering the filter technique you describe this afternoon. Unfortunately, I could not design in my mind a system which was any more efficient than spending a couple hundred bucks on a good grinder. Oh, well.

Thanks for the help.

Dan

[greglepore]

Give it up. A Bodum Antigua grinder is only 50 bucks, and believe me, it will be the best 50 bucks you've ever spent if you want real espresso on every shot. I get excellent results w/ that and a Saeco-made Spidem machine I bought on ebay for under 50 bucks (you need to remove the pressure valve in the pf). The Bodum can be hotrodded a bit, but so can the Solis etc grinders. If its poor man's espresso you're after, its the ticket.

As to the milk thing, foam the milk, pull your shot. The milk will hold, the shot may not.

[djmcmath]

Greg, you're right. I found a used Capresso 551 at Amazon for $30. The reviews at coffeegeek were mostly positive, so I said "Screw it, $30 is like, what, most of a door seal?" I know, it isn't the $400 Mazzer Mini I wanted, but we'll see how it goes...

What "hotrod" recommendations do you have for a pump-based espresso machine, though? I'd be curious as to any insight you have. TIA,


Dan

[MFAFF]

Get your coffe ground by an expensive machine in the coffe shop,

Buy a pound in two half pound bags and keep both in the fridge preferably in air tight containers.

You'll see that the ground stays pretty fresh over the time you use it, obviously depending on how much you drink.....

[greglepore]

There aren't a ton of hotrod tricks for pump machines-the funny thing is, aside from stuff like solid brass pf's on the expensive machines, they're pretty much the same. Yeah, the more expensive machines step up to larger/brass boilers and 3 way solenoid valves, but none of that stuff is really necessary to making good shots, although it helps simplify things and becomes more important when you start to pull multiples.

I'd get some idea of what temp your water's really at-use an electronic kitchen thermometer. I then experiment with the steam temp switch to sort of 'force surf" the boiler-with mine, I get nice 190 deg water if I hit the steam switch on for around 10 seconds before I pull my shot-turn it off before you pull, or you could get steam at the end, not good.

The other key is if your machine has a pressurized pf, lose the pressure valve and maybe open up the remaining hole a bit. I don't know that on a perfect shot the pressure valve messes stuff up much, but I find that I get better results without it, and you can pretty much tell by the color and consistency of the crema whether your shot was "on" or not.

Grinders, on the other hand, can almost all be taken apart and have the base setting adjusted to get a finer grind than out of the box. This may be necessary, maybe not. If you google on this, there's an English guy who's got a couple of pages of different grinders with photos.

Oh yeah, one last thing, if you change coffee you'll need to play slightly with the grind due to moisture/oil differences; after a couple shots it'll be dialed in again.

[Isabo]

Another variable according to some experts is water. These will feed their machines mineral water. The bar owner where I usually breakfast maintains the best coffee is in Naples, he is a neopolitan, he says it's a combination of the local water and the local weather conditions. I've never been so I'll take his word for it with a pinch of salt.

[ronb]

you can "steam" milk with a vitamixer (superblender thing), it will heat and froth it due to the huge rpm of the blender. so steamed milk and espresso are ready simultaneously. of course you have to have the vitamixer or a commercial blender.

[djmcmath]

I tried "force surfing" my boiler this afternoon. Ended up spraying espresso and coffee grounds all over the counter. Guess that answered my question about "Gosh Greg, why don't you want steam into the grounds?" I'll keep at it. My room-mate is getting a little sick of "Hey, sample this, let me know if it's any good." He's reached the point where "Yeah, Dan, it's all good, just enjoy your coffee, ok?"

I'll open up the machine tomorrow, as much as I can, and see what I can tweak on the inside. Thanks for the ideas.

Dan

[greglepore]

What machine? There's nothing inside to tweek, although there are easily replaceable parts if they break. On some machines you can get different temp thermostats (expressoparts.com) but really no need. Two thermoswitches, a vibratory pump, a thermofuse, and some wiring and a steam valve

If you sprayed coffee, you either didn't have the pf seated tightly, opened it too early after brewing or had the button engaged too long-you need to tr it off aft 5-10 seconds then begin your pull. May not be necesssary if you're already in high 180's-190. It could also be that your machine uses a thermoblock rather than a small boiler; these heat/cool more rapidly and hold less water, which is why they're undesireable.

[djmcmath]

Originally posted by greglepore
What machine? There's nothing inside to tweek, although there are easily replaceable parts if they break. On some machines you can get different temp thermostats (expressoparts.com) but really no need. Two thermoswitches, a vibratory pump, a thermofuse, and some wiring and a steam valve

Krups Gusto. I guess if there's nothing inside, I won't bother. Thanks for the heads-up.

If you sprayed coffee, you either didn't have the pf seated tightly, opened it too early after brewing or had the button engaged too long-you need to tr it off aft 5-10 seconds then begin your pull. May not be necesssary if you're already in high 180's-190. It could also be that your machine uses a thermoblock rather than a small boiler; these heat/cool more rapidly and hold less water, which is why they're undesireable.

I'm pulling 145-150 normally. I think I left the "make steam" switch on too long, and probably also tamped the grounds too far.

How would I know if I had a thermo-block instead of a small boiler? The system is horribly simple, though totally unlike my first machine. My first machine had a little bitty pressure chamber that you'd unscrew and fill with water, then heat. This machine has a removable reservoir and a pump. I'm guessing my first was a "boiler"-type, and this one is a "thermo-block?" Oh, well.


Dan

[greglepore]

Your Krupps machine has a thermoblock. It an aluminum block with a labyrinth path in it for the water to flow thru-the block is heated to a high temp, and water flowing thru it is heated. It has no storage capacity to speak of. Difficult machines to manipulate.
Next step up are the small Saeco/Starbucks/Spidem/yada machines that use small 100ml or so boilers. These have a small boiler that is auto fill. A startling number of the "non-high end but
above thermoblock" machines use this arrangement. Better machines have die cast pf's.

Next rung up gets you a larger boiler, often brass, with a heavy solid brass pf (chome plated) and a 3 way solenoid valve in the group. The machines are more temp stable, thus require less monkey biz, and are therefore more consistent. Downside is cost, maintainence and the fact that they prefer to be on for a good while (some, like 1/2 hr) before everything settles into temp.

150 water temp is way to low.

A poor man's upgrade at the moment would seem to be the Briel machines on ebay-whomever handles their returns has a bunch up, and the one with the stainless steel case has been going for around 80-100 bucks, I think, which is a pretty good deal-its a well thought of budget machine, even at its normal $275-350 retail. The lady that was doing the Spidem's (some as low as $35 -they're Saeco internals in a plastic housing) has run out, it seems.

[djmcmath]

Ooh, thermoblock sounds like a real disaster, in terms of producing reliable espresso. I have some thermo background, so the very concept seems ... poor, to me. Hmm. Briel, you say, are acceptable? I can swing $80-100, I suppose, to make better coffee more consistently. I'll let you know how it comes out. Thanks for the help,

Dan