Divine cream - coffee for gods

[August]

You guys are coffee aficionados. Myself on the other hand am happy with my daily thermos of Dunkin Donuts regular.

[Reece]

The wife and I have a small cappuccino machine and enjoy a good cup every now and then, the secret is getting good thick milk foam!!

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Schöneboom

Ciao Skybird (und Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!)

I've been making espresso for years, mainly with a Ponte Vecchio Lusso (spring lever), but also with the Bacchi stovetop machine, which is a world apart from the Bialetti:

http://caffemotive.com/Bacchi_Espresso.html

This design actually does produce 8-9 bars of pressure by using steam to drive the piston -- brilliant in its simplicity. The video shows the process without need for words.

To keep it short & simple: good espresso depends on using only the freshest beans -- roasted less than a week before use, if possible -- and grinding them with a high-quality burr grinder. Lacking these two conditions, one might be better off using Illy iperEspresso capsules for consistent results.

Buona Fortuna,
Wayne

Interesting design, never saw that one or heared of it before. Looks like something that could lift off into space any second.

[u crank]

Originally Posted by August

You guys are coffee aficionados. Myself on the other hand am happy with my daily thermos of Dunkin Donuts regular.

Ah yes, the workin' mans wake me up. Here in the Great White North it's Tim Hortons. I think they put something else in it besides caffeine. Anyway, I'm hooked

[Egan]

Originally Posted by Skybird

What is the problem? Maybe I can help.

Most decent machines claim a starting pressure of 14 or 15 bar, so you are within limits, because before the water reaches the coffee powder and passes through it, the pressure drops internally, usually to around 9 bar as desired.

The grind is VERY important, it influences the speed of the water passing through and thus it influences the extraction. You want to have a shot of 20-26 or 27 seconds, first 6-9 of it in the beginning may be "empty", no coffee being produced. Water temperature is also to be taken care of, while soft water is preferred over hard water (also saves the machine).

Check the cream. If it is too light and maybe the coffee tastes thin or even "acid", then the coffee is under-extracted, you want to grind finer or tamp with more pressure to make it more difficult for the water to pass through and thus increase the shot length, and to make sure the particles get "bathed" better.

If it is too dark, the shot is overextracted, and all the bitter stuff you do not want in the cup is right there - with you drinking it and tasting it. Less tampering, courser (?) grind.

Try to aim at a timing of 20-30 seconds for a 25-40 ml shot.

I use 12 gr of powder, Segafredo standard powder (relatively big grain), 22 seconds. It gives me around 40 ml. Crema is covering and okay, but not fantastic - while fine in consistency, it thins out a bit too fast and does not carry sugar. So, the extraction I do is not optimal (probably too thin), but by taste I like it, and so do occasional visitors who even copy me.

Of course, there is room for improvements... Lavazza powders are finer grinded than Segafredo, usually, but I do not like them by taste - too acid. Would like to find something completely new, a bean that is milder, but full, voluminous, not bitter, but a bit like the smell and taste of cakao, reminding of the creamy image you have on mind when saying the magical word "mocca" (I mean mocca-chocolates).

Cheers! Everything you said chimes with what I've slowly been thinking, to tell you the truth. I'll follow your advice and try again tonight maybe. I'm trying not to drink coffee after about 6pm just now as I've been having real problems sleeping recently and it doesn't really help. One other question: how much coffee do you recommend for a single cup of espresso?

Interesting about the water softness. We have very soft water here (and even then it's not as soft as up north where my parents live,) but I would have sworn it was the other way. You live and learn!

Anyway, I don't always have problems. I usually get decent crema but it doesn't always tend to be as dark as I would like, and while it is usually an OK taste, it does sometimes seem a bit thin and doesn't have that richer taste that one get with almost any espresso brewed in any cafe in Italy.

I find the same thing about Lavazza: Too acidic for my taste and not really sweet enough, but when used in my Moka it's normally much improved. I'm really beginning to enjoy my moka more than my machine, to be honest.

[Skybird]

The Italian Institute for Espresso Culture (real! no joke) gives this benchmark recipe:

7gr of powder for one shot
1 shot is 25 ml in the cup
water temp around 89°C +/- 2°
pressure 9 bar
shot flushes in around 25 seconds through the powder, then has created those 25 ml.

Take this as a general rule. The crema is considered good when if stirred slowly, you never should see the dark coffee below, and it should be able to hold a spoon of sugar for some seconds, a sugar island that does not just crash through, but gently melts into the coffee ocean below the foamy icy. However, foam not necessarily adds to the flavour and taste, it is more an indicator, not an aromatic ingredient. Some people mage a gospel out of it. I just take it as an indicator - and when i like the coffee by taste nevertheless, do not spend much thought on the foam.

However, do not become evangelical about this recipe. It is a general rule for orientation. I do 40 ml shots, with 12-14 gr of powder.

Flushging speed is influenced by how coarse or fine the grind is, and how much pressed/tampered it is. Do not underestimate grinding, experiment with it. Do not use finest grind with maximum of tamping - it will block the espresso machine, it then cannot pump any water through the pill you have created.

In Bialetti cans (Brikka or not Brikka), no tamping is done. The powder is filled in loosely.

The foam (colour) does not hold any additional aromes, but it gives you a visual hint on how the extraction went along. Too light or too dark foam or no foam usually mean that something went wrong and the espresso probably taste ill.

Creating lasting crema at pressures below 6 Bar is difficult. Below 4 Bar it is impossible.

A good coffee grinder (or is it coffee mill?) is needed! Different coffee beans may need different grinding levels, some finer, some more coarse. A gfood grinder maybe is the most underestimate device in making good coffee. People mnake a fetsih of machines, but a grinder imo is much more important. If your grind and bean type is right,m then even a sub-mediocre machien will give you a good coffee. Use a bad grinder or bean , and even the best machine is unlikely to make something good of it.

And then there are the coffee beans themselves. There is Arabica, and there is Robusta. Arabica is more acid (acidic?), and has a wider range of aromes, is more "fruity" and "flowery" in taste. It has 0.8-1.4% coffein. It gives less crema and of a lighter colour. Robusta is less acidic, but has coffein of more than 4%. It creates more foam of darker colour, that'S why it is often added into melanges meant for espresso extraction. By taste it tends to be "heavy", grounded, like earth, voluminous, lacking a wider range of aromes and lacking the fresh fruity aromes of Arabica. Robusta can remind of cacao a bit, but do not exaggerate expectations. Espresso melanges range from 100%, to mixtures of down to 50:50. Since I do not like acidic tastes in coffee, I tend to prefer melanges with plenty of Robusta beans.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Did you know that coffeein not automatically is a wake up call for the body? If the body already is pretty much awake or alarmed, it avoids "over-wakeness" by producing paradox effects: any additonal implementation of chemical stimulans then easily lead to the organism turn into sleepy mode - you feel awake, you drink coffee - and become sleepy.

[Skybird]

Look look what somebody got for himself today as a late birthday present:



I did not know until yesterday that my hometown is home to one of the shooting stars amongst German private roasters of recent years. Not only do they now run three very nice, unique cafes in town now, but they are delivering their blends to all places in Germany now, and to the German parlimanet,s becasue many people in government demand this coffee and no other . The beans they sell are never older than 3 days maximum, and if they have many visitors over the day, they get new beans even mor eoften, up to every day. And you smell and taste it! I already tried three of their five expresso mixes, and they all three are probably the best I have ever tried, one of which winner of some culinaric silver medal. Guess I found paradise today.

The Brikka arrived today, too, and while the foam still needs experimentation with the grind setting, by taste it works very very well. You enter 80-85 ml of water and get around 70 ml of coffee. I already love it. For some reason it works better than the older Bialetti that I once had in my university years. Maybe that valve and quadrupled working pressure really makes that big difference. If you consider to buy a Bialetti in the future, prefer the Brikka over the Moka Express any time! The price difference is only very very small - the quality difference is not.

But I need a new grinder. I am still using this one:



Build before WWI, maybe even late 19th century, we are not sure. Surprisingly, it still works well for grinding ordinary coffee powder like you use for filter cafe or French Press. But doing finer grind for espresso - there it fails. I am researching for a good espresso grinder, I really need one. I currently improvise with a muesli grinder for wheat and cereals, with a stone grinder, and indeed you can even create powder for Turkish coffee with it - but you need to work on the crank for 10 minutes - for one cup of coffee. that is not what I would call an optimised working technique.

[Schöneboom]

Guter Kauf, Skybird!

As for the grinder, well, things have come a long way, even for manual grinders:



http://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-PHA..._ep_636-1.html

I would seriously want one of these, except that electric motors have spoiled me!

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Schöneboom

http://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-PHA..._ep_636-1.html

I would seriously want one of these, except that electric motors have spoiled me!

I wouldn't. In coffee forums they say time and again that even getting the powder out of it is problematic, where as cleaning is often described as a "nightmare".

I decided to order a Graefe CW80 and use it with a wooden box to bypass the problem with the static electricity doing a mess with the powder, else this thing is said to be extremely good, cheap, and in a full aluminium case. And right now I am about to leave for town to get a new handgrinder as well, a Japanese Skerton made of glas and ceramics, which is said to be very very good for fine powders. Once the grinding level is set and no adjustements are needed, it should be fine. I am an animal of the night and hardly ever go to bed before 3 a.m., and so I like to have a tea or a black shot even at 11 or 12 pm - but using an electric grinder at that time of night would make me enemy with the rest of the house.

[Catfish]

Hallo Skybird,
nachträglich noch Glueckwunsch zum Geburtstag

The Bialetti machine looks really nice, i have an older one that looks similar, but not with that center "venting hole" (?) in the above tank's lid.
Are you sure that when the water boils, there are 15-19 bar in it ?

A friend of mine just got him such a "Nespresso" machine:
http://www.coffeemachineforsale.co.u...ttissima-en670
Disadvantage is you have to buy those capsules, but it really tastes phantastic !

I am thinking of getting an older SAECO with included grinder, so fresh-grinded beans and no capsules. But i must admit from the taste the Nespressos are difficult to beat.

Greetings,
Kai

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Catfish

Hallo Skybird,
nachträglich noch Glueckwunsch zum Geburtstag

The Bialetti machine looks really nice, i have an older one that looks similar, but not with that center "venting hole" (?) in the above tank's lid.
Are you sure that when the water boils, there are 15-19 bar in it ?

Thanks!

I never said or wanted to say the Bialetti has 9-15 Bar. I said the old Bilaetti Muka Express have 1.5 Bar, and the new Brikka have around 6 Bar. Espresso machines (=Siebträger) have 14-15 Bar at the bgeginning of the inside water-cacles, and when the water reaches the poweder, it has lost pressure and then should have 9 Bar by which to be pressed through the powder.

I tasted the Brikka qwith several coffees now, with very varied results. With two types it was impossible for me to see cream, two made medium crema that did not last long, and one made some good crema which again lived not long. But: I also became aware that it is a very great difference how fine or coarse the grind is, and I cannot even say that it should be the one or the other in general. With Robusta-rich coffee it maybe is more coarse, with less Robusta it probably should be a bit finer. But I am not sure so far. What I can say is that the Brikka makes very tasty, very very good coffee, crema or not. Even if I fail on doing crema like the guy in the video, I will not be disappointed.

Yesterday I ordered an electric grinder, and when I came back from town this midday (with a manual grinder in my Rucksack, a Hario Skerton with ceramic grinder), the postday already had stored the electric Grinder as well. And I have to say the Graefe CM 80 is both surprisngly cheap, and fantastic. Everything silver on the picture is not plastic or thin alumium tin, but is massive alumium. Manufatcuring quality is very good, handling is wonderful, noise is surpringly low for an eletric grinder, an the results are fan-tas-tic. 24 levels from stellar powder to very coarse.



It has an automatic setting, just push in a box, and it starts to grind. The often heraede complaint about electrostatic I avoid by using a glass or grinding directly into the filter. Super, cheaper than the often claimed favourite champions, and superb results. Best buy!

The Skerton is a great handgrinder, too, but with two limitations. It specialises in doing fine grind, finer than normal filter coffee and french press, the particles are too different in sizes when doing cpoarse grind, but for fine grind, the rersult is almost perfect. And it is not fast to switch between different settings, this one is meant to see some experiments and trial and error, finding a setting which you want to use - and then keep that setting, if you want: forever.

A friend of mine just got him such a "Nespresso" machine:
http://www.coffeemachineforsale.co.u...ttissima-en670
Disadvantage is you have to buy those capsules, but it really tastes phantastic !

I am thinking of getting an older SAECO with included grinder, so fresh-grinded beans and no capsules. But i must admit from the taste the Nespressos are difficult to beat.

Greetings,
Kai

Personally I am no fan of the Nespressos, not only do they say there are problems with hygienics, but I find them lame by taste. Friends of mine use them, but they admit they use them for reasons of comfort only. And I think this is the real argument in capsuled coffee. Me, I like the ceremony of creating tea, or coffee or espresso. And as I just learned again these days: nothing beats the aroma of freshly grinded coffee from beans roasted just few days ago! Curently the stairhouse of my living house, and my appartement all smells deliciously of coffee. Neighbours already have asked me what I were doing.

They already had asked me when I started to make Pizza some months ago!

If you mean to buy a "Vollautomat", then be careful. These are build with so much plastic inlife, that they cannot stand the pressures of 9-15 Bar needed for creating Espresso. It seems many people do not know this when considering "Vollautomaten". Also, these machines are difficult or even tricky to clean inside, somethign that needs to be done frequently. Coffee oils are nothing to make jokes about. Some people even say cleaning them borders technical maintenance work. I personally never felt tempted to go for such a machine. Get a good grinder, or two, if you do different grinds frequently or use different beans. And then a reasonable "Siebträger". Find your beans and your settings, and then you're done! No digital gimmicks needed.

[Skybird]

I have found my new coffee champion. It's a blend of 60% Arabica and 40% Robusta, not a hint of acidic nuances, silver medal-winner. In the machine it also makes a lot of crema. A very lot. Taste is creamy, like cacao without sweetness, mild, earthly, grounded, heavy, wide. I love it - this roasting and blend of beans is easily the best espresso I have ever tasted.

And I get along with finding out how to make the Bialetti Brikka working as intended. It'S tricky if you do not know the tricks, but it seems I have broken its resistence. The taste already was beyond doubt, but now I found the trick to create - well, not the crema you typically get from an espresso machine with many Bars being used, this micro-foam, but when using less water than they say in the description, and using a grind that is a bit more coarse than that what you usually use for espresso (maybe even using a normal coffee grind level), then you get a solid and lasting layer of nice and normal foam.



^ This pic was taken immediately after the brewing was done and the can had been emptied into the cup.

v The following was taken around 3-4 minutes later, after having stirred the coffee a lot, and having dissolved a spoon of sugar in it as well, and then walking to another room and then waited for some time. The sugar test was passed as well: the sugar lasted 4-5 seconds before it slowly molt through the foam. The foam, after these minutes and the stirring, still was there:



That is quite respectable for such a tiny little cutie! I love it!

Conclusion: The Brikka works as advertised, you just need to find out how. Less water, coarser grind, emptying the can immediately when the coffee is ready, and a good and fresh blend with plenty of Robusta - these factors seem to be the key.

[MH]

Looks like Germanic gods worshipping ceremony.
What is wrong with good Turkish coffee.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Catfish

The Bialetti machine looks really nice, i have an older one that looks similar, but not with that center "venting hole" (?) in the above tank's lid.

The first model of the Bialetti Brikka had closed lids of solid alumium, then they had a hole covered with glass, and now the hole is left open. This is intentional feature, for it seesm that early users gave feedback that the foam got better when the can was operated with opened lid.

Whether there were changes to the valve, I do not know, the most recent one looks like this, it is a ring that cannot be removed and that wraps around the chimney, while for cleaning the weight can be tied off. It contains soft rubber inside to seal the small opening hole in the chimney. This is what sets the Brikka apart from the earlier Bialetti cans, named Muka Express. These had no valve, no ring, no wight, and just two huge, very huge opening on both sides of the chimney's top.



P.S.
All three models can be compared here, would have saved me to take the pic: http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=h...d=0CJ0BEK0DMBQ

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by MH

Looks like Germanic gods worshipping ceremony.
What is wrong with good Turkish coffee.

Nothing. It's just not really my taste. I like to have some fine grind on my tongue and biting it, but still, the overall taste is slighty different than other brewing methods - that'S what makes it Turkish coffee, I guess, and not another Espresso.

But it tastes terrible if brewing it wrong, however - too fast and then letting the foam burn. Happened to me several times when I tested it earlier this month and did not klnow the right way. Must be cooked very slowly, with low heat. Patience, caution, low heat and constant stirring - that did the trick for me. Taste was okay - but I like the other ways of coffee much better.

That's all. No culture clash thing involved! Coffee is coffee - either you like it, or not.

I knew cahve from earlier years, btw, when travelling down there extensively, but I never have tried to brew it myself back then, just learned it just weeks ago. The kind of Turkish coffee is known in Greece, former Yugoslavia and the ME, under varying names, so varies the name of the cezve. But the principle is always the same.