[jqp]

I order from Sweet Maria's also  

I don't do espresso, but I like to get some good coffees. Ethiopian Yigacheffe, Hawaiian Kona, La Minita Peaberry, Costa Rican Tarrazu, St Helena

I need to get an iRoast 2 myself!

[Woodsea]

Oh, I did splurge and go with the

[Occam]

Well some folks have realized the market for high end coffee is far larger than the market for high end audio -
http://www.versalab.com/
http://www.versalab.com/server/versadyn/players1.html
Yup, same guy.

One has to resign themselves to their lot in life. I rather like my Saeco.

[Woodsea]

That is a cool looking machine!  I like the URL, the first comment was from a foreign service officer.  Hits close to home.

[PaulHilgeman]

Good find Occam,

That makes at least two of us audio manufacturing nuts that are totally into espresso, and at least doing some of it on our own.

As an aside, have any of you home roasters and guys with good esp. machines ever had a shot anywhere that is as good as the best of your own?

-Paul

[Woodsea]

Interesting that you should say that.  As of this point, I don't think I have ever had a better shot than what I can produce.  But, then again not one of these other guys have EVER invited me over for a taste test aa

[PaulHilgeman]

If you are in Chicago, you are invited!!!

-Paul

[S Clark]

Paul,
I have a Gaggia Baby that needs to be cleaned. You mentioned that you clean your machine every two weeks.  What is your cleaning procedure?
Scott

[fajimr]

As an aside, have any of you home roasters and guys with good esp. machines ever had a shot anywhere that is as good as the best of your own?

actually Paul, I have... a new cafe opened in montreal- Cafe ArtJava.  they are using Gimme! coffee and one barista knows what he is doing.  I had the best coffee of my life there a couple weeks ago- a double ristretto that was creamy, full bodied and tasted so smooth.  The second best came at the same cafe with a blend that a friend had recently roasted (the barista ran it through their grinder so he could try it too)... of course, the downside of making friends with a barista is that last week I had 4 espressos one morning as we were talking coffee and trying different blends...  cripes I was shaky the rest of the day!

cheers
jim

[Night_Train]

Oh, I did splurge and go with the

Mint !

[samplesj]

I have a Gaggia Baby that needs to be cleaned. You mentioned that you clean your machine every two weeks.  What is your cleaning procedure?

I'm not Paul and don't have a Gaggia, but its not really a Gaggia specific question.  I was actually surprised that the Gaggia's had 3 ways at that pricing tier, but they do (and its really pretty cool).  Since both the Baby and the Classic have a 3-way valve your question is really a what do you do to clean a 3-way machine.

Backflush.  Looking at CG's first look on the Gaggia it doesn't look like it came with a blind disk so you may need to buy one.  While you're at it buy another portafilter handle (I'd make it naked/chopped, but YMMV). 

Backflushing instructions:  Load the blind (no holes) basket into the pf and lock the pf into the grouphead.  Turn on your pump (start pulling a shot).  Then just wait until you hit max pressure.  I have a gauge so I can see it.  I don't think the Gaggia's do, but even without a gauge its not a big deal since you can clearly hear when it hits.  Turn off the pump and unlock your pf.  Switch the basket back.  If you've got a second handle of course you won't need to switch out the baskets and instead just change which handle you are using.

Backflush often.  Even just pure water.  Periodically backflush with a cleaner like Cafiza (somewhere between weekly-monthly [some even do quarterly]).  A can of Cafiza will have the instructions to use it printed on the label.

Personally I backflush with water after EVERY shot.   It isn't the big chore it sounds though since its part of my cleaning routing.  I do a bit of water from the grouphead without the portafilter locked in (just held below) to clean the grouphead shower screen and the portafilter basket.  Then I wipe the shower screen and lock in the extra pf with a blind basket.  While its building the pressure on the blind flush I multi-task and finish cleaning/drying the other pf basket.  If you've got room for a nice "bar" layout you might be surprised at how fluid that can be and how little time it really takes.

[Night_Train]

As an aside, have any of you home roasters and guys with good esp. machines ever had a shot anywhere that is as good as the best of your own?

-Paul

I personally haven't found a place yet. It's probably possible, but would be a rare find. I think the place would at least need to roast their own green beans and blend them too. Even at that rate, their blend or style of coffee would need to be palatable to each of us. After you've had your chance to roast different coffees and blends, then it seems you acquire your own individual taste that is hard to be duplicated by anyone else. Additionally, different style roasting machines impart a different flavor to the same green roasted coffee; be it fluid bed, drum, etc. These different roasters and roasts may or may not be up to someone else's fancy. A person tends to get spoiled when you run the whole show yourself from start to finish.

[samplesj]

Well some folks have realized the market for high end coffee is far larger than the market for high end audio -
http://www.versalab.com/
http://www.versalab.com/server/versadyn/players1.html
Yup, same guy.

One has to resign themselves to their lot in life. I rather like my Saeco.

I'm not supporting that type of pricing, but look at what a comparable grinder costs.  You can't compare a MDF to that grinder, a Rocky isn't, even a Mazzer Mini/Macap M4 isn't comparable.  That is a low speed conical grinder so you have to compare it to something like a Mazzer Kony/Macap MXKR or even higher up the Mazzer/Macap line.  The Versalab sells for LESS than a Mazzer Kony.  Of course if you dig around about it there are some who consider it to have serious reliability issues.  Its also reputed to have a very low easy of use.  It definitely can't touch the volume that a Mazzer/Macap conical will produce, but that isn't necessarily relevant to a home user just pulling a few shots at a time.  I'd also wonder if the quality isn't the same.  Sure its carefully hand crafted, but Mazzer (and Macap [used to be an OEM so even though their brand is new they aren't]) have been around the block a few times and have a serious rep for quality.  Their design is tested vs a new comer with a new design.

So what I'm saying is that though it is overpriced, it is cheaper than a direct competitor if you really want low speed conical burrs.  Now as to whether or not you can tell a difference between a conical burr vs a flat burr I won't go there since I can't prove it with a DBT .  Aren't we all used to that last 10% (or maybe even 2%) being 10x the cost?

[samplesj]

As an aside, have any of you home roasters and guys with good esp. machines ever had a shot anywhere that is as good as the best of your own?

-Paul

I personally haven't found a place yet. It's probably possible, but would be a rare find. I think the place would at least need to roast their own green beans and blend them too. Even at that rate, their blend or style of coffee would need to be palatable to each of us. After you've had your chance to roast different coffees and blends, then it seems you acquire your own individual taste that is hard to be duplicated by anyone else. Additionally, different style roasting machines impart a different flavor to the same green roasted coffee; be it fluid bed, drum, etc. These different roasters and roasts may or may not be up to someone else's fancy. A person tends to get spoiled when you run the whole show yourself from start to finish.

This is a very interesting question that actually is a bit tricky.

In terms of raw skill there are many people that could smoke any of us.  Its sheer chutzpah to think otherwise.  A barista that is actually paying attention to what they do is able to use their work as practice.  I'm not talking about the people going through the motions, but the ones that actually care.  You can only learn a new technique by practicing it on shots and they put a LOT of shots.  Hands/Mano is the real limiter in the 4M's.  Skill trumps it all.  So in terms of abstract "quality" theirs is going to be better. 

But like Night_Train said its not about the abstract quality, its about what I/you view about quality when they make it for me/you.  Their shot is probably pleasing to a wider range of other people than yours, but others don't matter when you are making it for yourself.

Having said that I live in the middle of nowhere and I'm not even sure we've got people with expert level skill.  I also don't know where the good espresso bars are when I'm traveling so....  Nope, I've never gotten a better shot than I made (before I upgraded machine and thereby skill a cafe bought was on top though).

While the end goal is the production of an amazing drink, I wonder if there is more at play with making it yourself.  Once you are comfortable with a machine you develop a flow (maybe call it a ritual).  Do the effects of the emptying our minds to get into the flow both clear our worries and get us in the right state of mind to better enjoy the end result?  Real awareness of the moment is amazing, but I'll stop there before something decides they need waders and complains of the smell.

[beat]

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

Hey this espressbow no laughing matter!! I recently had to change my style again to prevent its coming back..I had to learn to grind, tamp and pull lefty for a while! I started feeling it again a couple weeks ago after shaking it for a good 6 months. Back when I had to wear the little anti tennis elbow contraption I had people coming up to me asking if I was wearing a heart rate monitor or something. 

Anyway, another tip/procedure for cleaing aside from backflushing is descaling the boiler. I guess this depends on your water quality. Right here in the foothills of the rockies our water is very hard. I was using a regular espresso machine specific water softener until about 8 months ago when I bought a reverse osmosis unit. Shots definitely taste better now. I don't know if you can consider ro soft though. I have had my Isomac Tea for about 7 years and only last month did I have to do any work to it. I had to replace the "brain box" but before that I checked all the other easy things including replacing the pressure stat. Since I put so much energy into it I figured I would descale to make sure all the other pieces would be clean that water contacts I.E. switches, heat exchanger, valves. They make a powder to do this with but it is just citric acid. They say don't use vinegar or clr or that type hydochlor or whatever. I have heard it suggested also that every so often you can just cycle some distilled water through as it has a natural affinity for minerals. Well officially you use citric acid in water, trick your autofill into overfilling the boiler until it comes out the steam wand. Let it warm up a bit and turn it off and let it sit for a good long time and rinse rinse rinse.

Love to chat more but I gotta go,
peace, Beat

ps, cheers to the best shots being at home!!