[Woodsea]

I have done the 100 dollar espresso machines, the campfire french gizmo, their french press.  Maybe it was the price I paid but after spending $50 in the first 2 weeks back in the USA at Starbucks and Caribou, I bought a real machine, this is the best by far.  I think it will pay for itself, of course I will still sweeten it with Trader Joe's chocolate powder.  At the rate I go thru coffee it should pay for itself in the next 6 months.
The learning curve was about 4 cups of espresso until I got the grind and the tamping down.

[PaulHilgeman]

What did you get?  Grinder?

Chocolate powder.... in the grounds before pulling the shot??? 

Find someone that roasts loacally with even decent beans and use them within about 14 days, with a perfect 30 second pull and you will be in heaven!!!

-Paul

[Woodsea]

Gaggia Classic
Gaggia Burr grinder (settings at 5)
Trader Joe's Ghiardelli chocolate powder mixed into espresso with frothed milk added to fill cup.
Heaven!!  enjoying one right now.  Gotta go and play barista for the mrs split shot mocha.

[PaulHilgeman]

Nice!

I have the gaggia baby millennium.

So, obviously 7 years later and still going strong!

-Paul

[Night_Train]

Gaggia Classic
Gaggia Burr grinder (settings at 5)

Enjoy Woodsea.....it looks like we have the same brewer and grinder. Is your burr grinder the MDF model?

When I bought my "classic" it was said to be able to produce some of the highest bar pressure out of a home machine. There are probably other machines now that approach that bar pressure number.   

[shep]

Obviously coffee drinking is a favorite sport on this forum Might I humbly reintroduce Chinese coffee?
YUM! also on the subject of additives, the Afghans add just a touch of Cardamen to the grind. Try it!

[Night_Train]

Obviously coffee drinking is a favorite sport on this forum

It must be....a person must have arm strength in order to prevent "coffee elbow." hehehe

[PaulHilgeman]

The classic and baby are essentially the same model, aside from the housing.  The baby at the time was plastic, but the baby millennium, the one I have has a silver painted housing.  Nice looking, but not as cool as brushed or polished stainless steel.

As to the specs, yes, all of these machines are about the best you can get unless you jump to 3x the price.  Outstanding pump, HIGH HIGH HIGH wattage boiler (short warm-up, and switch to steam), and good reliability.

The original portafilter gasket is still on mine!!!!  7 years with a minimum of 2 pulls a day!!!  I actually bought one expecting to replace it, but it is still soft and seals to the PF perfectly.

I have had no performance issues at all, but I do clean it every 2 weeks.

-Paul

[Woodsea]

Yeah, it is the MDF.  While doing research, which I tend to do alot of.  Most people suggested to get a lower priced machine to allow a better grinder in your budget.  I took it to heart.

[samplesj]

I agree it is hard to beat a nice cap in the morning.   I'm just finishing mine 

The learning curve was about 4 cups of espresso until I got the grind and the tamping down.

Its not over yet.  You'll continue to get better (maybe only until you hit the feedback limit for your grinder/machine combo), but its not something you master.  As you get better I wonder if the cocoa falls by the wayside.

I bet you also see that you use more coffee now since its more convenient/cheaper.

When I bought my "classic" it was said to be able to produce some of the highest bar pressure out of a home machine. There are probably other machines now that approach that bar pressure number.   

That is interesting marketing speak.  The key part of it is the phrase "home machine".  By calling yourself a home machine you are competing with the department store steam-toys instead of the prosumer/commercial style equipment.

Find someone that roasts loacally with even decent beans and use them within about 14 days, with a perfect 30 second pull and you will be in heaven!!!

30 sec?  25 is closer to the general guidelines I've seen.  I've seen anywhere from 20-30, but it seems 25 seconds for 1-1.5oz (2 oz double) is most common.

Regardless of where your beans are roasted don't fall for the french roast scam.  Light vienna or even full city+ makes a great shot (French doesn't even come close IMO).

If you are somewhere big buying would work, but I ended up just roasting my own.  We only had 1 guy roasting fresh locally and he started getting a bit erratic (too far roasted too often).  After I finish this batch of beans, I'll have paid for the i-roast2.  Sure it costs me some 15 minutes a batch, but picking up beans was ~30 minutes so I'm only spending an extra 15 minutes (~3 batches to a lb).  The best part is that its roasted to the degree I want.  I also get to experiment with exotic single origins for French Press.


Coffe is fun 
Espresso: Expobar BrewtusII with Macap MXKR (low speed conical with doser, but its HUGE )
French press : Bodum 12 cup with doserless Rocky
Roasing: i-Roast2

[PaulHilgeman]

30 sec?  25 is closer to the general guidelines I've seen.  I've seen anywhere from 20-30, but it seems 25 seconds for 1-1.5oz (2 oz double) is most common.

Regardless of where your beans are roasted don't fall for the french roast scam.  Light vienna or even full city+ makes a great shot (French doesn't even come close IMO).

If you are somewhere big buying would work, but I ended up just roasting my own.  We only had 1 guy roasting fresh locally and he started getting a bit erratic (too far roasted too often).  After I finish this batch of beans, I'll have paid for the i-roast2.  Sure it costs me some 15 minutes a batch, but picking up beans was ~30 minutes so I'm only spending an extra 15 minutes (~3 batches to a lb).  The best part is that its roasted to the degree I want.  I also get to experiment with exotic single origins for French Press.

Yeah, you are right, 25-30 is always pretty good.  I try to vary depending on the age of my roast.

When the roast is fresher, longer pulls tend to taste a tiny bit better, but the key with a longer pull is to hit the cycle right.

I use an i-roast too, what beans are you roasting?

-Paul

[samplesj]

Yeah, you are right, 25-30 is always pretty good.  I try to vary depending on the age of my roast.

When the roast is fresher, longer pulls tend to taste a tiny bit better, but the key with a longer pull is to hit the cycle right.

Well you can adjust the pull, grind, or tamping pressure to get the right amount of espresso without blonding.  If 30 works for you, its your cup so enjoy it.  I play with the grind a tiny bit instead.

GET NEKID!  If you don't already have a chopped portafilter then get one.  It helps tweak tamping technique and makes blonding very easy to see.

I use an i-roast too, what beans are you roasting?

Does yours run hot?  Mine runs really hot so neither of the canned profiles will work (both make ash).  With a tweaked profile I can get 8 minutes or so to City range and 13-15 to FC+ to V range.

Right now for espresso I'm roasting Sweet Maria's Classic Italian Espresso Blend to FC+/V ish.  The last little bit of beans left in the batch will show some oil, but usually no oil showing for the first few days.  What we can buy locally is VERY oily right away.  Originally I tried a few home made blends and I've had most of SM's blends.  With the now dead Silvia we used SM's Liquid Amber, but with the Brewtus we prefer the Classic (LA is sharper/bolder, but the classic is VERY smooth and caramely).  The Monkey is awesome for a straight shot, but it just didn't hold up to the milk for the morning caps.  Any of the blends are good and even my home-made blends were more to our tastes than the stuff I can buy fresh locally.  However in a bigger area you might find some really skilled roasters.

As a matter of fact when I finish this reply I need to fire up the roaster (1 now and then 1 more later today).  I had to go out of town for a few days this week and got behind.  We'll have to use these with just 24 hours rest (I like at least 48 hours).  To me days 7-9 are the sweet spot so longer resting (multi-day) means we don't use them up before they hit their prime.

[PaulHilgeman]

Yeah, I rest mine for about 3 days before using them.

I roast to a FC+ in about 15 minutes, plus 4 cool down.  So, obviously mine runs pretty cool. 

The stock programs are junk

[Rob S.]

Paul,
    I'm drinking my sweetmarias coffee thinking I did OK on the roast & grind process and noticed you find the programs junk.   ARe you referring to the "stock" roast profile of "Pre 1" or "Pre 2" as junk.   If so I guess I better learn to use the custom roast profile  and try it.   HOw are the custom ones better?

Rob S.

[samplesj]

Paul,
ARe you referring to the "stock" roast profile of "Pre 1" or "Pre 2" as junk.   If so I guess I better learn to use the custom roast profile  and try it.   HOw are the custom ones better?

If you like it then its good

From what I have read it isn't really the program, but rather the EXTREME variance between any 2 i-Roasts.  Then there is also the input voltage variable (I have 124, but you may have 115). 

Supposedly with a "correct" i-Roast on "correct voltage" the stock profiles are great, but if you've got a really hot running i-Roast then its a problem.

Basically no two i-Roasts are the same.  Across machines a profile isn't repeatable, but on a specific machine you can get a good repeatable profile wth a bit of tweaking.

The custom profile is better for me because it lets me slow down the first crack to second crack span.  Too fast a span there made any coffee overwhealmingly bright to us.

So what homeroast blend is everyone else using for their espresso machine?

[Rob S.]

Jeremy see PM from me.

Rob S.

[fajimr]

woodsea

welcome to the world of home espresso... looks like you are on the right track but just as in audio, the upgrade bug hits hard 

a couple of things I would recommend:  1) a decent tamper- they can be a bit expensive, like 80+ USD for a nice reg barber but I bought a nice one for about half that amount... I'll dig around and see if I can't find you a link.  I think the tamper goes a long way to helping you with consistency.  Playing around with the fineness of grind and tamp pressure (which should be more consistent but I sometimes tamp a bit harder for ristrettos) you can achieve coffee nirvana. 2) a coffee roaster- mainly because I get the sense that you live overseas, true?  With a coffee roaster you can ship and store green beans for up to a year.  Roast them when you need then and you will always have fresh coffee.  You can't have excellent espresso without fresh coffee. 

check out www.coffeegeek.com for more information that you can probably handle.  there was also an espresso thread a while back.. you probably won't have to go back too far to find it.  lots of coffee geeks here amongst the audio geeks.

cheers
jim

[fajimr]

So what homeroast blend is everyone else using for their espresso machine?

check out:  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=33392.0

looks like we even have a professional roaster as a member !

[Night_Train]

Yeah, it is the MDF.  While doing research, which I tend to do alot of.  Most people suggested to get a lower priced machine to allow a better grinder in your budget.  I took it to heart.

There is a term called a "dancing grinder." A person does not want that and it's what you get with when you buy the wrong one.

[Night_Train]

With a coffee roaster you can ship and store green beans for up to a year.  Roast them when you need then and you will always have fresh coffee.  You can't have excellent espresso without fresh coffee.

In my experience with green coffee beans, I've been able to store them in my basement for many, many years without degradation. I've had as many as a dozen different green coffee bean origins stored for 5 to 7 years. The only difference was that the bean lost some coloration and somewhat faded, but it did not ruin the bean or flavor of that brewed coffee. The faded green bean coloration was due to the bean losing moisture content as it ages. Depending on how old the bean and its resulting moisture content will determine how fast you get to first crack. Older or aged green beans roast more quickly and will throw any profile out of whack for that particular origin.