tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31986315.post6985235576917031970..comments2023-06-02T03:28:34.614-07:00Comments on Espresso Coffee Snobs: The Golden Rule of Espresso Coffee MakingJohn Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886360413052039824noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31986315.post-70564302456448781522016-02-29T00:57:48.141-08:002016-02-29T00:57:48.141-08:00Hei,
I bought a La Pavoni hand worked espresso ma...Hei, <br />I bought a La Pavoni hand worked espresso machnie and now I'm strugling to get some crma on my espresso. All the info I get is welcome so I came across your blog. Right now I am using <br />Lavazza arabica espresso beans <br /><br />https://www.espressokopen.nl/product/lavazza-caff-espresso-1kg/?gclid=CjwKEAiA9c-2BRC_vaaJ0Ybps30SJABlqxDelOnukGUbSCEz83eEZxpRPe_5r7DY9X2YGqhfPCUAUhoCh8Dw_wcB<br /><br />But I het 0.0 crema... I wanted to follow your advice on theCoffee Masters Gourmet Coffee, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, but I can't buy it in Holland. Di yoy have any more tips on which beans make good crema and also availavle in Holland or Europe. I came across Thijs one but am not certain <br />http://www.koffievoordeel.nl/koffiebonen/alberto-caffe-crema.html<br /><br />the other sidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11674900731311867147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31986315.post-27185284642701825612015-08-01T12:02:23.867-07:002015-08-01T12:02:23.867-07:00Hi Beth, So nice to hear from someone who is passi...Hi Beth, So nice to hear from someone who is passionate about trying to make some good coffee to enjoy at home. I will try and give you some tips to work with what you have got. With your "mill" grinder, the greatest difficulty is getting a consistent grind, plus there can be some burning of the coffee because of the high speed of the blades. You can also consider buying beans that are already ground, but they need to be really fresh, or if you can, buy whole beans at a store that has a grinder available for you to grind the beans when you buy them - that's if such arrangements exist in Peru. Here in the U.S. it is quite common. <br /><br />Make sure you are grinding the beans fine enough. If you are grinding them to the point that they are more "gritty" rather than "powdery sand", then you need to grind them a bit longer perhaps.<br /><br />Also, the beans themselves have a huge impact on whether you will get crema or not. You will probably have no luck at all getting crema if you are using dark-roasted beans that are oily. The best beans are those that are a medium roast with little to no oil evident on the outside of the bean. If the beans are shiny, then they have been roasted too long for making espresso crema. <br /><br />Play around with packing your portafilter as full as possible. You need to be able to lock the portafilter in place still otherwise it will blow off under the pressure of expressing the coffee, but pack/tamp the coffee into the portafilter with as much pressure as possible with it being as full as possible. However I know from past experience, you can get to the point where you machine won't be able to produce enough pressure to force the water through the coffee, so you will need to play around. <br /><br />Anyhow, from my own experience with less expensive machines in the past, the most critical thing is the beans, so you need to find the right roast. Next is the grind; if it's too coarse then the water will simply pass quickly through the coffee grinds and make something like bad filtered coffee. <br /><br />Good luck and let me know how it goes.<br /><br />John<br /><br />John Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07886360413052039824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31986315.post-50489923044958741652015-08-01T09:57:27.244-07:002015-08-01T09:57:27.244-07:00Hello John! Thank you for a great coffee blog. I...Hello John! Thank you for a great coffee blog. I am a newbie, gleaning info as I can. My limitations are finances (ha!), and I live in Peru, where even spinning-knife coffee grinders are hard to find. I do not aspire to be a purist, but I switched to espresso in steamed milk when I decided my lifelong habit of drip cofffee with non-dairy creamer (all that's available here) was too much of a health hazard. I purchased a small home espresso machine - Oster, one boiler, no information whatsoever on pressure amounts. Ooops. I have not been able to get any crema at all in my espresso. I adjusted the packing and amounts with no success. I have a couple of questions: one, if I grind whole beans with the knife grinder instead of a conical grinder, how much quality am I losing? And two, is there any way to calculate how much pressure is produced in my machine without info on the machine or in the manual? I am using a aerator to stretch my milk, as the one on my machine is not good. Thanks again!Beth ACBnoreply@blogger.com