My coffee is awful this morning.

[Weegie]

After a few cheaper machines, eventually ended up with a lever unit, which was obscenely expensive and stupidly simple in construction.

Its just a boiler, or pressure vessel if you prefer the technical jargon, with tubing to the group head, the group head has a large lever and a take off to the steam wand. You raise the lever to charge the group head with water then a slow steady downward pull forces the water through the basket (and coffee) and into the cup.

The boiler runs between 1-1.5 bar and it can only really make one cup at a time and using it takes a bit of practice. The most important point, in my experience, is getting the grinder settings right. I also weigh the beans, for a weaker cup use 12 grams and 15 for a stronger one.

When steaming the boiler pressure will drop to around 0.5 bar but for even a larger cup it will happily steam sufficient milk straight out the fridge (4C or so) to 60-65C very quickly and when finished be back up to full pressure in 15-30 seconds.

From what I've seen water temp has to be around 85C or thereabouts and extraction pressure of 9bar, although it varies from roast to roast.

The reason it can be a bit hit and miss, is you only know the boiler pressure and not the group head, although the machine can be modified to install one.

I like a strong cup and dilute it with milk something between a machiato and a cappuchino, makes a cup as good or better than many commercial cafes around here

Coffee I currently enjoy is Ueshima, a Japanese brand, my wife likes the lighter roasts from Africa both of which we get from our local supermarket.

I spent around 2 years frequently travelling to Italy, both in north and south and can't remember ever having a bad cup of coffee, even though many of them were made on small home sized machines. In every other country I went to, including the UK it was usually the opposite.

 

[Pressureangle]

14 minutes ago, Weegie said:

After a few cheaper machines, eventually ended up with a lever unit, which was obscenely expensive and stupidly simple in construction.

 

 

Sad anecdote; my backyard neighbor moved in from Colorado, had a cafe. She brought with her an old brass hand lever espresso machine from Italy, said it didn't work anymore so she gave it to her neighbor. He made a hydrogen separator or some such out of it. Pity.

[Weegie]

1 hour ago, Pressureangle said:

Sad anecdote; my backyard neighbor moved in from Colorado, had a cafe. She brought with her an old brass hand lever espresso machine from Italy, said it didn't work anymore so she gave it to her neighbor. He made a hydrogen separator or some such out of it. Pity.

That's a real pity, I'll bet it was beautifully made.

Perhaps me getting older, but I just find machines nowadays not nearly so well made

[Pressureangle]

OOokay.

Went out, bought Illy to replace the sour Bustelo. 
Vacuum? No, pressurized...must be CO2 or dry nitrogen. Nice. 
Very nice aroma, great flavor, smooth. I've only ever had Illy brand in an airport or two, which was good but...airport. |
Thanks for the recommend.

[audiomick]

Bialetti: yes, the best option after a really expensive "proper make it by hand" espresso machine.

I don't have an established "house brand". I quite like to try different sorts.

 

As far as the Australian "coffee culture" goes: Germany is a country in which rather a lot of coffee is consumed. I have seen threads on German forums that get very intense about which beans, how to grind it, what temperature, and so on. Despite all of that, if you go into a cafe here in Germany and get really lucky, you might get a good coffee. But you probably wont.

In Australia, particularly in Melbourne, in my experience, if you go into a cafe and get a coffee, you have to be really unlucky to get a coffee that is not at least pretty good.

[leroysch]

No OTR truck drivers in this bunch.....

[docc]

Not long ago, I stood by while my two boys debated the priorities of making the perfect coffee.

The connoisseur declared that a fresh roasting (within days) of quality beans is paramount.

The chemist-son argued that the extraction time and temperature were the foremost factor.

While they never could agree, I can say I have never had better coffee when either of them made me a cup.

All of the coffee-making parameters remind me of The Decent Tune-up . There is really no one aspect "most important" - it is an orchestration. All elements must be present to achieve the outcome.

 

[Pressureangle]

51 minutes ago, leroysch said:

No OTR truck drivers in this bunch.....

Well, Docc is. Was. At least once, in an act of desperation.

[docc]

53 minutes ago, leroysch said:

No OTR truck drivers in this bunch.....

 

1 minute ago, Pressureangle said:

Well, Docc is. Was. At least once, in an act of desperation.

That was definitely an "OTR" event for me. I gave wide latitude for the working truckers. I felt like we were working together.

As we all should, out there on the roadways . . .

[DucatiGuzziIndian]

....."In Australia, particularly in Melbourne, in my experience, if you go into a cafe and get a coffee, you have to be really unlucky to get a coffee that is not at least pretty good."

Same in New Zealand.... coffee is outstanding... Starbucks open up and then have to close becuase its crap compared to the local cafes.

[Tomchri]

Good coffe me like. Actually beans from Sweden. Coffe in Sweden used to be terrible, MO.
Cheers Tom..



Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

[Pressureangle]

1 hour ago, Tomchri said:

Good coffe me like. Actually beans from Sweden. Coffe in Sweden used to be terrible, MO.
Cheers Tom..



Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk
 

The fridge drawing is awesome. I recognize the Key West 'fridge magnet lol

[po18guy]

Coffee...a few years back, DW and son bought me a GeneCafe coffee roaster. I had roasted years before that using Melitta hot air roasters and then a Nesco catalytic roaster. You do not save all that much when buying green beans, but you have your choice of 50+ varieties of beans and infinite roast levels. Can do a half-pound every half hour. As the green bean seller states: "Life is too short for bad coffee"  

[PJPR01]

5 hours ago, po18guy said:

"Life is too short for bad coffee"  

To be complemented by "Life is too short for bad wine"!  Perhaps just as important!

[Gmc28]

Yep, like a motor oil topic, but at least with this moto guzzi group, less hostile!  

I’d second much of whats been shared…. Italy used to be the spot for espresso when i was younger, as even the gas stations  in teh 80’s (Pavesi, etc) would serve up decent or even really good espresso.  I’d brag about it to my kids, then over the years most of those places replaced the barista with a machine.  Gross.  Had the proper chemical effect if looking to get jacked-up to rip down the auto-strata and into downtown Rome, giving the bird to everyone as a matter of course on a normal day, but the machines even from illy and other brands produce rotgut.  That said, to be fair, i also have to say that those old Italian places where the whole population would be there espresso shots, i distinctly remember seeing locals get their espresso cup, then grab the sugar container and and do a long pour of white crystals.  That part tends to get glossed over in my fond memories.  So maybe the Jo wasn’t as great as those gas stations….

And as others have pointed out, Oz is where odds are high you can get a great shot.  Love to hit New Zealand to tour and sample espresso, and i suppose the Sauv Blancs and even Pinots they’re famous for…. Vacation list for eventually.