Comments on: Home Espresso – The Slippery Slope

By: Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:07:17 +0000

I really think of the whole lot of machines I have worked with, it has to be a Linea La Marzocco that always stood by making the perfect quality espresso shots. A single group Linea La Marzocco would be ideal for home use too. Its a manual machine with a separate milk steamer.The steamer is great. I prefer starbucks beans any day to any other coffee beans since the ‘Starbucks Espresso Roast’ as they call it gives amazing quality espressos with the right creamy caramelly aftertaste.

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:19:04 +0000

Hey Bob Kuehne

I just got a Silvia and a Macap M4, and I am wondering if you wouldn’t share with me where you have your grinder set to? I dont want to blow thru tons of beans and I am very new to both machines so any help or even some more tips I would be very appreciative. Thanks

Erik

By: Howard Walker

Howard Walker — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:26:38 +0000

That first paragraph pretty much sums it up, but I’m a “stay the course” kinda guy…

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:17:39 +0000

Tonx -

I think I am happy with it, at least for now. At the very least, it will let me try to learn how to do microfoam and lattes without needing to worry about the espresso part. (And I imagine that once I get on top of the foam/steam part, I may be tempted to go get a semi-auto and start learning it how to pull shots properly… But simply knowing myself, I’m never going to get it dealing with two variables at the same time)

I’m interested in what the brewing methods you’re talking about are, that are both easy enough for a rank amateur, but will result in high quality output… Or are those topics for later? (I’m guessing the simplest is probably just the the manual way of doing drip, right?)

By: stuart

stuart — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 04:06:36 +0000

“Home espresso sounds like an innocent idea but its really the hobbyist equivalent of the Iraq war – it will cost way more than you expect, and in spite of repeated failures you’ll resist cutting and running.”

so true, tonx! i’ve just spent my latest $100 on various accoutrements to my coffee setup.

i mean, i’m blessed to have several stunning coffee shops within a couple miles, but still … the joy i experience when i pull a crema-rich shot and pour in well-frothed cream is worth the time and investment.

damn you for getting me hooked!

By: Bob Kuehne

Bob Kuehne — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:56:06 +0000

My biggest problem with brewing espresso at home is this:

I can’t have coffee anywhere else – it just doesn’t compare.

Quite frankly, nearly all of the coffee you get is poorly made. This includes coffee at most restaraunts and even at most coffee shops. It’s sad but true. So I go somewhere, I have a great meal, and then dessert and … dare I? should I? an espresso. It’s usually unimpressive, but I love a coffee at the end of a meal. And yet, the dissappointment!

Anyway, pretty quickly, at home, you’ll be making espresso that’s a cut above most things (there are still that are a cut above – Intelligensia in Chicago, Mud in NYC, Verlet in Paris). But the downside of brewing at home is that it raises the bar, your tastes, your standards, and just zipping over to the coffeeshop and having a cappucino becomes frought with gustatorial peril.

However, the coffee you can make at home is _soo_ much better, it’s truly astounding. My setup includes a Rancilio Silvia and a lovely Macap M4 grinder. Getting fresh beans, a good grind, and a bit of pressure behind the extraction and delicious espresso is a daily occurance.

So, before any of you think of brewing espresso on your own, know in advance, that you will be disappointed by much more espresso, from this point on. There be dragons! ;)

By: RawheaD

RawheaD — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:25:22 +0000

I use a Starbucks “Barista Milano” (a model that only was marketed in Japan, OEM of Saeco) and a Starbucks grinder. I agree that a really tasty hot espresso is hard to come by at home, but that’s no reason to dissuade everybody from going home espresso, cuz as long as the shot is decent , which can be achieved with minimal investment–both monetary and time-wise–then you can make out of if great lattes and cappuccinos. During the warmer months of the year, I’m just totally in love with my setup and the iced lattes that it produces. Just remember to be consistent with the measurement (7g/shot) and tamping pressure. Really, the only tough thing about it is the tamping, and the rest, once you’ve tweaked everything (timing, particle size, etc), is just mechanical.

By: Spiney Norman

Spiney Norman — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:58:57 +0000

I took the plunge long ago and have been delighted with the results after only a few weeks of testing and tampering. I purchased a Spidem Trevi Combi Plus machine and, although the grinder is a bit on the messy side and the hopper needs a good whack or two to get the beans unstuck and flowing again, I love it. First off, the equipment is really manufactured by Saeco, an acknowledged major maker of first rate equipment. It has a reliable vibrating pump that delivers 8-9 bar consistently. The boiler is a little slow to heat up, but adequate for home use. It’s not a Rancilio Silvia, but it puts out the occasional “God Shot” and almost always delivers a perfect microfoam for latte. It’s more about technique and the beans than the hardware.

By: edAg

edAg — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:29:52 +0000

I’ll be the first to admit I have a problem with coffee, but when you get it right at home… It is a beautiful thing. I’ve owned my Salvatore semi-auto for about 3 years and it gives up between 4-8 double shots a day. So, figure I’ve pulled close to 10,000 shots. I still screw it up. And, I still don’t have the hang of the whole microfoam thing for cappucino (then again, I tend to drink Americanos, so it hasn’t really been a priority).

Couple other warnings I’d give prospective home baristas…

First, even if you have everything set right, you can get the same roast from the same roaster and have to change everything. BTW, if anyone wants a good roaster in the DC area, check out Misha’s in Old Town Alexandria. Sometimes the beans just come out different. Stay flexible.

Second, home espresso is messy. You spill beans, drip espresso, and generally make a mess all around your dedicated coffee area (you did realize you needed a
“dedicated coffee area,” didn’t ya?). Not for the super clean freaks among us.

By: mojoandy

mojoandy — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:11:42 +0000

I’ve had a Rancilio Silvia espresso machine (and the Rancilio Rocky grinder) for the past five years. I’ve made countless shots on it.

I would say perhaps one in four shots have been drinkable and one in twenty have been excellent. My ratio lately has been much better (every one of the them drinkable, more than half excellent) because I’ve gone absolutely OCD. It’s like rolling a cigarette (as discussed here): you just have to do it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…

It helps, however, to troubleshoot and play with one factor at a time while keeping everything else constant. These variables? Shot time, tamp pressure, fineness of grind and the coffee itself. (Another variable is the temperature of the water coming through the grounds, which varies alot even on a relatively high end machine like the Silvia. What I do is count down from the last time the “light went off”. On mine, about two minutes from when the thermostat called it quits the water temperature reaches something approaching optimal.)

So, get a good amount of a decent espresso coffee. Calibrate your grinder to what you think is a decent grind (this is the one I played with the most). Get a shot glass. Get a timer (optimally that counts down from twenty, but a stopwatch works). Measure a very *consistent* amount of grounds. Tamp it to a *consistent* pressure. Let ‘er rip and time how long it takes to get the right amount in the shot glass in twenty seconds (tour coffeegeek for the right amount of grounds for the right amount of espresso). If it takes too long (i.e. at twenty seconds you haven’t hit your mark of, say, 1.5 oz) then make the grounds a little coarser. If it’s too short (you fill up your 1.5 oz well before the twenty second mark) make the grounds finer.

Then do it again and adjust.

Avoid your wife’s glares.

Then do it again and adjust.

Ignore your wife tapping her foot.

Then do it again and adjust.

Ignore the door slamming.

Then do it again and adjust.

….

By: Tonx

Tonx — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:59:57 +0000

Daniel – I guess my personal feeling is that if you’re already willing to buy good fresh coffee, you can achieve greatness with a much simpler brewing method where you’ll only get okay results on most automatic machines. I admit I have the bias of years of working with the best of the pro equipment, but I think its a pretty safe consensus among the serious espresso crowd.

Ultimately, if you like what you’re getting out of the machine and its proving to be trouble-free then thats the ultimate criteria.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:43:06 +0000

While I know it won’t end up approaching the quality of someone who really knows what they’re doing, I recently purchased a superautomatic.

Essentially, I had to acknowledge that fact that I probably wasn’t ever going to have the time or inclination to learn how to make espresso better than the dandy machine that not only did that for me, but also ground the beans and cleaned itself. (I do plan on learning how to steam milk properly, though, at some point)

I guess my question would be: Is the espresso made by a decent superautomatic – using good, recently roasted beans – still worthwhile by the standards of people like you who really know their espressos?

It’s just not practical for me to learn (at this point) how to become good enough to make the best espresso myself – but I still hold out hopes at managing to produce something considerably superior to S$.