:DL
just kidding...


Use medium/low flame and don't stir the stuff until it start to rise slowly-coffee should not jump out your "fingan" but slowly rise....will not get burned this way....
When the coffee is about to spill just then take it off the flame and stir.
This way you should get a nice thick foam which is also indicator that brewing went well.
(If you feel like alchemist you can repeat the process of slowly rising the coffee)
Wait a minute and drink.
You should use plentiful spoon for a drinking cup of water.

http://msc.walla.co.il/w/w-248/197803-18.jpg

Mmm, Turkish coffee... Easier than espresso, too.

That Graefe CM80 was a good find, Skybird. And I thought German grinders were always the expensive high-end type -- z.B., the last time I saw a Mahlkonig K30 was in the home of a retired Swiss banker! :DL

If you continue to climb the espresso mountain, be ready to stimulate the Italian economy some more. I've done my share for them:

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/4609/testarossa3.jpg

Why two groups? One is for my girlfriend. :DL

I think I'm finally there.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2443/img1341jt.jpg

I can't get it any better, and I think it cannot get any more prototypic for a "perfect" espresso. Colour, consistency of crema, amount of crema, taste - looks pretty much perfect to me. Crema is like it should be: a red medium hazlenut-brown, not too light, not too dark, preferrably spotted. I also now get it like this almost every time I brew a cup.

:yeah:

20 seconds-shot done in an old Krups Novo 2100 (which - to hell with them - is no longer build, these idiots), 35-40 ml coffee, 12 gram fresh powder, level 9 with the Graef grinder, almost no pressure when tamping. Coffee is Roestbar's "Frau Meyer's Mischung" (60% Arabica, 40% Robusta, silver medal winner 2010 of the german coffee roaster guild), which probably is the best Espresso I have ever tasted anywhere, anytime. A fantastic blend and roast, and if brewed well, not a hint of bitterness or acid taste - but a mixture of nuts' aromes and the taste of chocolade withouit sweeters, or cacao.

Some pics from the past 2 weeks, while experimenting:

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8964/img1334g.jpg
Looks nice, but taste was too light.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1306/img1313o.jpg
Looks great, but taste was bitter.

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/9043/img1314b.jpg
Looked the same, and taste was okay - but not great.

The secret is to do it systematically! :D