Coffee

Interesting thread on Home-Barista about how just smelling--and not drinking--a throw-away dark roast sharpens and opens up the senses allowing you to better enjoy a light roast coffee. I haven't tried this myself yet, I don't often roast screamingly light roasts, but it sounds like it has merit. I was reminded of this thread this morning after drinking my medium roast Brazil Jag Summer espresso before enjoying an Excalibur and how much the espresso opened up and enhanced the flavor from the cigar.

https://www.home-barista.com/brewing/mind-blowing-just-smell-dark-roast-brew-transforms-light-roast-brew-t100862.html

@Olekingcole that's an interesting question. When I signed up for the Kickstarter for the Cafelat Robot I didn't intend to use the Robot as a daily driver, but rather to add to my collection in place of a Faema Faemina Baby which is the inspiration for the Robot and a machine that I had considered collecting but worried about problems with the old gaskets on these machines. I already have a Faema Faemina and so I had this itch to scratch as a collector of vintage lever espresso machines. I didn't go for the Barista version with the pressure gauge because it would deviate from the Faemina Baby's classic looks.

However, when I received my Robot, I quickly discovered that it works great to make a straight shot of espresso without much prep time. The Robot fills a particular niche for people who want straight espresso, a lever, don't mind having to provide boiling water, and it's relatively easy to use and works well.

I haven't tried the Flair levers so it's hard to compare. As a lever enthusiast for many years it's also hard for me to accurately comment on how easy it is to use, since I see posts from people who encounter difficulties for many different lever machines.

I would buy another Robot now without question, both from a design aesthetic and performance perspective.

I roasted a Peru Cajamarca today, pre-heated the roaster for the next batch, and then accidentally poured in the same roasted Peru back into the roaster instead of the Ethiopia Guji Gogogu Washed I was planning on roasting next. Thankfully I realized my mistake and dumped the beans out after warming them up again and then pre-heated again for the Ethiopia batch.

Doh!

@Yakster said:
I'm thinking of taking my Cafelat Robot espresso machine camping this weekend so I'm trying out the coffees I have roasted up to see which one to bring. I have a Peru Cajamarca first which has some sweetness and earthiness and an Ethiopia Guji Gogogu Washed which has a lighter flavor and more berry sweetness second. Also, I had my morning cup of the Peru, so I'm starting to vibrate a bit but the winner is the Guji coffee.

Too bad the images are stretched out horizontally. It looks like it may look better for images that haven't been cropped. Hmm.

Pretty sure that's called Glamping. Have fun.

"...people overlook what's in their back yards". True. I live a 5 minute walk to the ocean and haven't been swimming or reading a book on the beach in 50 years.

I went to brew a pot of coffee this morning, I measured out the Peru Cajamarca and came up a few grams short so I threw a few grams of the Colombia Gesha in there. Even though it was just a couple of grams out of 30 grams or so the peach and dank weed punched through.

My wife filled up her mug first today and only left me with have a cup, I guess I'll be making another cup of coffee today.

Tell me about your wants, wishes, desires... for espresso, but be warned I have been out of the buying game for a while so I may not have the best recommendations.

Are you looking to make straight espresso or milk drinks? Do you have a budget in mind? Do you want to push a button and have a drink, do you want a machine that does more advanced profiling and configuration options, do you want the quiet, tactile feedback of a manual lever espresso machine?

Also, if you're not looking at pods, you'll need a good grinder so what's your budget for a grinder? You'll also want to step up your coffee game so there'll be a budget for coffee too. You can save money by buying a manual grinder, they're very good and since they don't require electrical safety certification can save you money, but are powered by your armstrong device and cranking out multiple espresso drinks one after the other could become tiring.

Two sources for research are James Hoffmann's YouTube espresso machine and espresso grinder buying advice videos and for and even deeper dive the home-barista.com website.

@OmgFrigginMike said:
Honestly I would be fine with just straight espresso but because of the lady I would need one to do milky frothy drinks. As far as price goes I'd probably say sub $200. I'm essentially wanting a push of the button, something that just makes it in the morning for me. We do have a grinder already but its nothing fancy and have switched back to Folgers already ground. I'll take a look at those YouTube recommendations when I get off work tonight

Let me know the make and model of your grinder. $200 doesn't go that far for espresso, compromises may have to be made.

I checked the James Hoffman videos, the buying guides are several years old and he's UK based. Here's a US based review covering machines and grinders, you'll want to get a new grinder, that may be helpful.

The Delonghis may come with with pressurized portafilters/filters which make false crema and compensate for lower end grinders, in that case you'll probably want to replace the portafilter or filter for a regular basket which makes better espresso and is easier to clean. You may need to pick up a milk frothing pitcher, a better tamper if the machine comes with a plastic tamper, something to do WDT (Weiss Distribution Technique) which is a way to stir the coffee to get a better distribution which can be as simple as a few paperclips or 3D printer nozzle cleaning needles stuck in a wine cork to prevent channeling or a grinds shaker which accomplishes pretty much the same thing.

The Flair levers and other portable espresso devices will require a separate milk prep device, you could heat up the milk in the microwave and use a frothing wand or put it in a canning jar and shake it or get some of the more expensive milk frothing devices. Using a steam wand from an espresso machine is tricker but you can get the proper viscosity, like latex paint, to pour latte art milk patterns.

I looked at buying a Eureka Minion grinder, but I keep reading threads where people have problems getting a grind that works for espresso so I steered clear. No first hand knowledge, just a feeling about it based on what I've read.

https://youtu.be/RPngI8M8B1s?si=YwexTLG8k7LYII5X

Take a look and ask questions about the ones that interest you.

You'll want a digital scale as well. It really helps with consistency and dialing in your espresso, it has a learning curve.

Here's a small one that fits between the legs of my Robot after trimming the silicon cover.

https://a.co/d/97rRALk