I will concede that stovetop espresso does not meet the SCAA definition of espresso and that stovetop espresso is not the same thing as espresso you would normally get from a modern espresso machine.
However, as I said before, it is much closer to espresso in preparation (under steam-driven pressure) as well as texture, flavor, and strength than infusion (i.e., drip, vacuum or press) preparation; it is prepared under similar conditions as the first drink deemed to be “espresso”, therefore, IMHO, can reasonably be considered espresso as prepared over flame or alternative heat source.
Further, to say that because it is not espresso because it is not made under pressure is factually incorrect. To say that espresso only comes from pump-driven machines is factually incorrect. I can abide by the fact that I’m on the other side of the stovetop “espresso” controversy, just wanted to clarify some misrepresentations of it.
Incidentally, great links and I’ve ordered the book. Why, yes, I am a coffee geek. And thanks for your excellent analysis.
Amazing! Our Silvia of around 6 years went pffftt the other day and I spent a lot of time researching what to replace her with. I ended up getting another Silvia!
I’m not as precise as you are with your method - I’m more of a time and motion man myself going from start to finish as efficiently and quickly as possible. Still, the old machine must have been faulty. When pressing the brew button after the machine had been on for any given period of time, steam would come out of the group head and scald the coffee charge. I took to running the steam through until I got water before every pour, and it was better but it was still no great shakes. I figured that was just a quirk of the machine. The new one doesn’t do that and I am pleased to have dispensed with a step!!
I do love my Silvia - it’s an authentic experience. I generally make lattes so I’m compromised to start with but hey, I like 'em! I am going to have to follow up the precise boiler temperature control add-on of which you speak.
Thank you, and I guess we’ll just have to agree to, um, continue to talk about coffee beans and all their myriad manifestations.
And BACI, our new Silvia instructions make clear that the steam must be purged from the system before brewing each time, lest that happen.
I love the temperature control, as it tells me just what the temp is at any step in the process, and lets me bleed off some steam or water to lower it quickly, or wait a few seconds to let it raise to where I want it.
Qadgop, linky no worky. Which model did you get and how pleased are you with it now?
I like cappucino and the wife latte. Straight espresso with perfect crema is less important to me. Anyone have a recommendation for a good machine for caps and latte without being quite so pricey?
A lever espresso machine is still a pump, just not an electric pump.
Steam driven machines do not produce enough preassure to properly make espresso. We have evolved as an espresso making species beyond the swill that originally bore the name espresso.
Coffee geekness is a wonderful thing. and a wonderfull website…the second proudest day (after the birth of my son) in my life was when an article on the front page of coffeegeek.com featured my shop, and a photo of my roasters…which now resides in Sanfransico making great coffee for Zambrano Coffee. I miss it, and my La Marzzco so very much…
Link works for me. Just use google images on Rancilio Silvia PID and you’ll find what I got. Lots of Youtube videos demonstrate how to use it.
I love my Silvia even more now. I got 3 more portafilter baskets now, and a decent tamper that clicks when I reach 30 pounds of pressure. I’ve gotten the grind, the amount and the tamping down where I want them, and 90% of my shots are “excellent”.
My grinder is a Baratza Solis Maestro burr grinder, and has worked quite dependably for me. I toyed with the idea of getting a Rancilio Rocky with a doser, but my current one is working so nice I see no reason to. When I need to clean it, I just take it out to the garage and blow it clean with compressed air.
I’ve no experience with hand grinders.
bdgr, coffeegeek.com has been a great website for figuring things out. Do you have a link to the webpage featuring your place?
I have a Rancilio Silvia, too! As you may remember from past threads. We’re espresso geeks as well, and must have our little cups of well-drawn espresso with a good crema every morning.
Yeah, it took practice and fiddling to learn how to pull perfect shots. IIRC, it was getting a Mazzer Mini burr grinder and learning the perfect grind fineness that did the trick for us. A Wikipedia article recommended the simple of rule of “grind it finer, tamp it more gently” as a guideline, and it works for me.
The drawback is that once you’re able to pull luscious barista-quality shots at home you have to exercise restraint so that you’re not drinking the damn stuff all day. My limit is two double ristrettos per morning, period.
No, not really. When start off with a new pound of beans, we grind it just a hair coarser. When it’s coarser, I have to tamp it about as hard as I can. As we pass the halfway mark on the pound, we have to adjust the grind a bit finer to keep the quality up. With the finer grind, I stop a little short of tamping as hard as I can.
Of course, I’m a woman without a lot of oomph to her arm muscles. My husband has to not tamp as hard as he can or his puck would be as hard as a . . . well, a puck.
It’s an art, I tell you.
If you really want to geek out, get a “naked” basket - this has the spout part removed below, so that the perforated bottom of the basket is just hanging there naked. It’s tricky to get to work right, and I’ve never mastered it. You’re supposed to get the crema of the gods if you finagle it just right.
I think I’m going to have to go get just 1/2 of one ristretto now, 1:20 p.m. though it may be.
I’ve made naked portifilters before. We had a geek jam at our shop one time and we had a drill set up with a hole saw to cut the bottoms out of peoples portafilters they brought in. Fun for the whole family, there’s a video of it being done at my shop somewhere on the internet, or at least there was.
Rhonda, who wrote that article, was one of our early customers, and even manned the counter a few times after that article was written. She went on to write a story about us in “chicken soup for the coffee lovers soul”. We were also featured in Fresh Cup magazine’s coffee almanac one year. Unfortunately tore up the streets around our shop for extended periods of time, and we just couldn’t survive the drop in business (our sales dropped over 50% the first time, and more than that the 2nd).
Just so you people know, I had dreams of espresso last night. Glorious shots of espresso pouring over and over. Man, did I ever have to pee this morning!
