I have become a rabid espresso fiend. I’ve made and drunk espresso for years, but ever since drinking one at Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco, I’ve discovered there’s a new level of espresso wonderfulness to be achieved.
We own a nine-year-old Starbucks “Barista” machine. It’s still going strong, though I suppose it’s going to give up the ghost one of these days. Since the Blue Bottle epiphany, here’s how I make my daily dose of inky, foamy goodness:
Heat the basket and the cup with hot water.
Cram the basket with hard-tamped fine-ground espresso roast, making sure the grounds go all the way to the edges so there are no weak spots. Make sure it’s good and full.
Wrestle and twist the basket onto the machine. Wonder if this manhandling is shortening the life of the machine.
Run about a 20 to 30 second pour through the grounds. If the pour rushes through in less time, the grounds were not packed hard enough.
An ideal cup should show a good layer of “crema”, or dense golden-brown foam on top. Any sugar spooned onto the foam should sit for a second or two on top before sliding slowly and sensuously down into the syrupy coffee.
Drink. If you close your eyes and say “Ohmygod, ohmygod” as you sip, you know you are approaching barista perfection. You have only to continue to hone your art, at the expense of your nerves and your digestion.
Now I’m working on the perfect “restretto”, which is the high pinnacle of achievement in espresso making. It involves pouring less water through the same amount of grounds, but I believe you must get your coffee ground even finer for this act.
We picked one up at Bed, Bath, and Beyond a couple of weekends ago. It’s a fifty-dollar little Krups maker, and, oddly enough the instructions specifically warn against tamping the coffee down into the basket. Also, the water reservoir only holds enough water for four demi-tasse servings, plus you can add a little extra water for your steam needs. The cap for the reservoir screws on to make for a high-pressure system.
About ten years ago, we got a larger Krups espresso maker that had a removeable water reservoir with no high-pressure seal, and two coffee baskets (depending on whether you wanted one or two servings) that were intended to be packed to the top and tamped down. That one just up and died on us while we had it in storage, and would not power up when we tried to restore it to service.
I used to live with a commercial-grade double-pull Faema. I let it go when I moved into an apartment. (At one point my espresso consumption was so high that my complexion was noticibly yellow. I feel much better now, thank you.)
Now I have a little consumer De’Longhi. It takes up a more reasonable amount of real estate on the countertop, but it doesn’t really compare with the real deal.
I have a Nespresso machine at home. If you like playing around with parts and getting into the nitty-gritty of espresso making, this isn’t for you. The grounds come in a sealed capsule that you place in the machine. Close the lid, pull the handle, and it brews immediately into your cup. Total waiting time is about 30 seconds for the heating coil to get hot, it uses a cold water reservoir and a pump instead of steam pressure. I can’t be bothered with tamping and wrestling and waiting for the steam to build pressure, too much trouble and I never used the old machine. This one, it’s so quick and easy, you can have it any time you want, and the machine is attractive too.
It is by far the easiest to use coffee making machine of any kind that I’ve ever had. Nestle sells a wide variety of capsules with different roasts for your espresso/cappucino/lungo desires.
I don’t drink coffee at all, but my husband, Javahead Jones, more than makes up for me. We have a little Krups that we bought several years ago, and he recently bought a Cuisinart coffee grinder because he’s been unhappy with the store grinders. He also never uses the steam nozzle because it works for crap; he heats his milk on the stove and whisks it either with his electric whisk or a hand whisk. Froths just enough for him.
Also, whenever he does fire up the java, he makes himself an espresso AND a latte. Sometimes twice a day. He’s a nut.
I have an old stovetop model. I picked it up at a Methodist rummage sale (Methodists have the best rummage.) I haven’t used it yet, but I did download some instructions.
I’ve got a Gaggia, and a Saeco sitting aroudn the house here somewhere. At my shop I have a La Marzocco Linea two group. So I don’t ever use the Gaggia or the Saeco anymore. (Your *$s machine is more than likely made by Saeco). The grinder is just as important as the machine. I used a hand cranked german Zassenhaus for shots at home. I go through 6 or 7 double shots a day some times. who needs sleep anyway.
A few years ago, Olive Garden ran a “Win a Trip to Italy” contest. I won a huge, very expensive coffee machine that can do espresso, cappucino, steaked milk. I received a 1099 for it from the contest company (as did the IRS), and had to pay taxes on an extra $700 income for it. It IS really nice.
It’s been sitting boxed up in my garage for 6 years.
I use a Capresso, and have pretty much gotten my at-home espresso to the level of what they serve at Starbucks (which is not really high praise). I make sure to pre-heat, grind my beans fresh moments before brewing, tamp down the grounds with about 30 pounds of pressure, and aim for the perfect double-shot to come thru the machine in 25 seconds, if I’ve done the proper grind and tamping job.
I’ve found that if I’m really lucky, a finer grind with less tamping will give me an even better cup. But only about 1/4 of the time.
The beans must be fresh! I buy mine from a local roaster, so there’s usually never more than 6 weeks between roasting and my using them. Bad beans will kill my espresso. The pre-measured pre-ground packets are anathema to me! As are the pre-ground vacuum sealed varieties such as Illy, and others.
It’s also very important to clean both the machine and the grinder regularly, and thoroughly. Old oils ruin the taste also!
The stovetop “espresso” makers are not spoken of in my house.
When my current espresso machine breaks down, I’m going for the Starbucks Barista model.
Keep on brewing, teela! Does luck play a role in your brewing results?
We’ve had a Mr. Coffee model for about 8-10 years now. We’re actually on our third because the first two burned up the same way. The second time it happenned I was actually in the room and heard a “poof” and saw a quick flash and then smoke coming from the knob that switches between off/steam/brew.
I called the company the first time figuring that if I used the key word “fire” they’d send me a new one. They did after a little persuasion and after I sent the old back. The second time they didn’t even ask for the old one back. My theory is that they had run into the problem so many times they were happy I didn’t mention any damages. Also the carafes were cheap and easy to break so we use a measuring cup.
The espresso itself is half-way decent but not near the quality of a Starbucks. I had a stove top model once and thought that it made better espresso but bagged it since I couldn’t steam milk.
We’ll probably move up to a higher end model shortly so I’m reading the “reviews” with interest.
Since this is the Straight Dope, I should point out that the stovetop models really do not make espresso. Espresso is made only under pressure, using water that’s heated to higher temperatures while under pressure than is possible at standard atmospheric pressure. This results in the extraction of molecules into the espresso which are not present in coffee, particularly the portion known as the “crema”.
Oh, and it appears that I was ill-informed to begin with about espresso. It’s the hig pressure, not the high temperature, that extracts different molecules. At least per my cited links. It says the espresso is still extracted at about 205 degrees.
I must investigate further. My knowledge is deficient.
