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In my mispent youth in America I worked in a coffe shop in Alexandria, VA for several years.
We had a great time trying all the different beans and mixes to get the perfect expresso taste.
We roasted our own beans on the premsies and had a top notch burr grinder.....it was a commercial operation and a simple but high quality manual expresso machine. No autotimers etc etc,. all done by hand and experience.
The result, we drank a huge number of single shots to get the taste to our liking and well, the customers just loved it.
Mind you not many wanted the single shots, or a 2x single shot which for my money was the most delightful way to get started. So we used to get seriously caffined up every morning and just soar all day.
Blends are very very personal as is the degree of roast need to bring out the different oils in each type of bean.
We used a base of Kenya on a med roast with a Columbian on the lighter side as I recall, then a make up of Blue Mountain or Sumartran depending on the mood. A very rich taste but with a 'short tail'. Our idea was to not have too many of the heavier essences in the blend to linger on the tongue. These tend to be on the bitter side and can spoilt that post coffe taste.
Needless to say the heavy duty grinder was essential to maintain a predictable grind for the machine. The simpicity of the manual was countered by the need to have a certain eye and skill to consistently 'pull' a good expresso. Its like riding a bike, easy when you know how but still takes some learning.
Fortunately making a couple of hundred a day gives you enough practice to get real good.
For home use however there is no single right answer; a French press/ caffetiere with a lighter coffee will provide a long weaker drink which can be good.
All of the expresso machines can produce a passable single shot....although unless they are hard plumbed into the water mains the presssure avaliable will often be a little on the low side, but I haven't looked in detail for a few years.
If you really like expresso look for the best pressure vessel you can with a larer cold water reservoir. That way you can play aorund for a while without having to refill every fice minutes.
We used to warm the machines up and run a few empty cup thro the heads the mornig to get everything wet again before the first real pull of the day, which we inevitably consumed to check it was all OK. Similarly in the evening a few empty runs did help keep the heads clear of grinds and keep everything.
If I recall properly then cleaning the steamer pipe was the most difficult job, making sure all the milk was clear of the blow holes etc.
Oh the joy.
Since then I keep well away from most comercial coffee shops expresson etc....better to stick to something that never surprises you and nobody can screw up....instant.....
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