Help Me With My New Espresso/Cappucino Maker

Cafe Society
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So a few weeks ago, I won this DeLonghi Espresso-Cappucino Maker from a blog. I received it today, and I have questions, and also if any of you experts out there have any recommendations, I would love to hear them.

First of all, the booklet that came with it says “Before using the machine for the first time all accessories and internal circuits must be washed by making at least five cups of coffee without using ground coffee.” Huh? They must mean using just plain water, but could they be any more confusing?

Also, the cappucino instructions say to use skim milk- I was expecting this to come today, so yesterday I bought whole milk. Okay to use? Thin it with water?

Also, is tap water okay to use? Our tap water is disgusting, so I will probably use bottled water anyway- should I use distilled to keep the machine cleaner? Does it matter?

I’ve been stocking up on coffee additives for the past few weeks- whenever I go to the grocery store, I’ll check to see if any syrups or fancy coffees are on sale, and so far I’ve gotten some raspberry (kosher, even!), peppermint, and caramel syrups, as well as a few different kinds of espresso beans. My next-door neighbors (so luckily!) own a coffee shop just down the street, so I can order things for my machine that the average person would have a hard time finding- they’ve already said I can order white chocolate syrup (my favorite) and whatever else through them. How awesome is that! Any recommendations as to what I should try?

This “tamping” thing- I have heard that it’s so incredibly important to tamp right. What if I fuck it up?? Other people seem to have these fancy metal genius tampers- my machine came with a plastic measuring cup-type thing. Should I get a fancy tamper? Hold me closer, fancy tamper…

I’m really excited to make my first latte tomorrow! Squee!

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Congrats on your new machine! I used to have one, and have since lost my snobbery (OK I’m just lazy), and gave it away along with my Capresso when I moved in 2010. I’ve been a barista in the past, so I’ll see about answering your questions.

The machine should be “cleaned” (rinsed) with plain water. As for a home machine, it’s usually recommended to use distilled water. For me, it was a pain in the ass to haul distilled water home, so used tap (which I think tastes fine hereabouts, but depends on who you ask) and just kept an eye out for lime buildup which can be rectified by running a cycle or two with plain white vinegar and another 5 cycles of plain water afterward.

I have no idea why it stipulates skim milk. Perhaps merely to promote healthier living with fat-free milk, but a steamer attachment can steam pretty much any liquid you want. The coffee shop I worked used the steamers for 2% as the standard, but we also used skim and whole, or half-and-half if someone wanted a breve, and eggnog in the holiday season. Do keep in mind the steamer gets louder the thicker the liquid, so don’t let that alarm you, and keep a dampened tea towel on hand to wipe the wand immediately or it gets very hard to clean the milk residue off.

Don’t let the tamping scare you, but be prepared to practice and either drink your bad results anyway or throw them out until you have the hang of it. Ambient temperature and humidity, along with the grind, have an effect on how the coffee behaves, so depending on the time of year, and what it’s like inside your house, you will have to tamp a little harder or softer sometimes. When beginning our shifts, us baristas test and taste the espresso to see what we need to adjust before setting things up for the day. Even with that, periodic adjustments could be needed, grind a little finer or tamp a little harder. Most likely, if you’re just making lattes for yourself and aren’t terribly picky, whatever you make as long as it isn’t watery, will probably be just fine.

If you tamp way too lightly, you get watery espresso and a shot that comes out super fast. If you tamp too tightly, the shot takes a long time to get through the grounds, and on a home machine could either not pump through at all or squirt out the sides instead of into your waiting demitasse. So you’re aiming for something in the middle. You probably want the equivalent of about the weight of a brick, so heavier than your hand, but not the weight of your upper body!

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Okay, thanks. Now I’m more nervous about the tamping! I’m sure I’ll get it right, though- in time for iced coffee season!

I don’t have a grinder. I can have my neighbors grind whole beans for me- should I do that? By the bag? I know it’s recommended to grind per-use, but I am not getting a grinder any time soon. Or will it be okay to buy it ground? I add a lot of creamer and sweetener to my coffee, and I’m not that picky about it, so maybe pre-ground is okay?

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I have a friend who raved and raved about her espresso/cappucino maker. She buys her flavored syrups by the CASE. I finally succumbed, and my kids bought me one for Christmas several years ago.

I used it once. Biggest PITA ever.

I’m gonna get a Keurig.

If the cappucino were still a big draw for me, I’d go for the Nestle Dolce Gusto machine.

YMMV, of course.
~VOW

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It’s not a health thing: skimmed milk gives better bubbles! I learned this from my bro who was trained as a barista by an Italian sent over on behalf of Lavazza.

It’s not going to be a disaster with whole milk, but I have experimented many times with my fancy Elektra machine, and I can confirm this is the case.

The tamping is easy: one medium-strength push is all you need. Don’t pack it too tight.

Absolutely make sure you have espresso-grade coffee too; the kind you put in a drip machine makes absolutely awful coffee: the machine relies on fast contact (hence ‘espress’) between steam and the grounds. Large grounds don’t allow enough of the oils to leach out in the time that the steam is passing through.

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But mine was free! That will make it extra delicious, and I think I will find it much less of a pain than paying ~$6 per at Starbucks or my neighbor’s coffee shop.

And yep, I’ve been making sure to stock up specifically on espresso beans. I don’t know anything about those pod-things, though- would that be better? I can use any kind that say’s it’s ESE?

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Honestly, it’s not that skimmed milk gives better bubbles - it’s the easiest - and maybe OK for training. That big, bubbly bubble bath looking foam is not desirable - the goal is the dense stuff. I was trained with 2%, and prefer whole, and can foam up some half and half with some work. Never tried whipping cream… But on that note, my home machine never was able to kick out the amazing steam that the giant coffee house machine could, and it was certainly a different technique to get good foam out of the home machine. It took quite a bit longer.

So, thinking about it, I’m sure the home machine is instructing to use skim simply because it’s the easiest to get the “bubbles” a home dabbler is looking for. (But, really, you don’t want bubbles - you want dense foam)

Here’s a fairly involved article from Coffee Geek. This will probably scare Alice, but may be what you need for your Elektra home machine, jjimm. Learning to ride the top of the milk is probably the trickiest part, resulting in the best, dense foam, and the article might detail it enough for you to modify/perfect your technique.

Oh! And if your machine doesn’t have a thermometer with the accessories, make sure to get one! I was trained to steam milk to 160F, and if someone ordered “extra hot” to still never go above 180F or the milk will be scalded and undrinkable. (I think 170-180 tastes bad, even if it’s somehow not quite scalded, it’s close enough) The article above seems to aim for 150F.

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I always order my drinks at 140. Any hotter and I have to wait forever to drink it, and I’m just not that patient. It did come with a thermometer, I believe.

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Okay, so I’ve been making lattes over the last couple of days. One thing I have found is that the milk gets really thick and unappetizing right on top- I don’t think that’s normal. What do they call it- clabbered? Why is this? Am I making the milk too hot? I was wrong, there’s no thermometer, and I haven’t bought one yet, but it seems to be between 140-150… otherwise it would be burning my tongue. I have been putting raspberry syrup in the lattes- could that do that to the milk? And I was wrong about the tamper- the tamper is actually built in to the machine and you just hold it up to it and push- I seem to be doing that right.

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Hmm. If the milk is not too hot, that shouldn’t cause thickening on top. Letting it sit after heating can cause a “skin” to form, but that’s also if it gets too hot. Steaming for a beginner is probably easiest if you’re not trying to get perfect foam right now, but you should be moving the pitcher around so the wand is moving from bottom to top without getting too close to the surface, so the milk is moving around in the pitcher. Eventually, you’ll want to train yourself to start with the wand at the bottom, but quickly move to near the top, and “ride” the wand just under the surface as it rises, where you get the best foaming without bubbling.

Milk should be steamed alone, nothing added to it. If you’re putting syrup in there to steam, stop. The syrup should be added to the cup with the espresso, then the milk, poured down the side, so it mixes as it’s poured. That might be the problem if you’re adding syrup to the cold milk, honestly I’ve never done it so I don’t know what would happen! It might also gunk up the wand intake more than just milk would.

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No, I steam the milk alone, and add the syrup with the espresso at the end. Maybe I am getting it too hot- I’ll get that thermometer asap.

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My only other thought is that maybe you are making a nice, dense foam, but don’t like it? I used to get requests often for no-foam lattes, many people aren’t fond of it. If that might be a possibility, you can try keeping the steam wand close to the bottom of the pitcher and just swirling a bit for minimal foam and just heating. You can also hold the foam back with a spoon while pouring from the pitcher. If you’re not burning your tongue, I would think you’re OK temperature-wise, but it’s hard to tell depending on how fast you’re drinking it post-steaming, how much of other stuff is going in, and if it’s going into a cold ceramic or steel mug, can cool it significantly before getting to your tongue.

Tough to say for sure without looking over your shoulder, yanno? - I hope you’re having fun with it, anyway!

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Oh, I am! I do think, at least with this last one I made, that the milk was curdled on top. Definitely will try again tomorrow, and as long as it takes to perfect. Thanks for your advice!