We’re long overdule for an open-type thread around here, so let me provide the excuse by asking one of the world’s great questions: what’s the best way to make coffee?
I’m an eclectic coffee drinker; I like espresso but also enjoy a really good cup of American coffee, and I prefer coffee black but am willing to adulterate it with milk if I suspect the quality is not going to be that high. (Sugar under no circumstances.) For the past few years I’ve relied on the lowest-effort method I know of that is guaranteed to produce a good cup: freshly-ground dark roast beans, placed in a simple cone filter and hot water poured right in. Practically instant coffee, but a result that can be as good as the beans allow.
But I’d like to start mixing more espresso into my home coffee experience, so I’m in the market for a new espresso machine. If I were a physicist of means, I might go for a work of art like the Elektra Micro Casa Lever on right. Or would I? This is a spring-action lever machine, which is to be contrasted with the manual levers, not to mention the automatics and super-automatics, and then there’s the matter of boilers, switches, heat exchangers … a complete mess. The pumps are certainly elegant, but I’d also like something that is functional and doesn’t require constant pampering. So I am in the unusual position of being frozen with indecision about what kind of espresso machine to get. Any opinions out there?
The ground rules here are:
- There’s no such thing as right or wrong; different people have different tastes, for which different approaches are appropriate.
- Answers with specific comparisons of advantages and disadvantages are more useful than simple insistence on truth.
I do understand that this is the internet and rules are unlikely to be followed, but I feel I should try.
Obviously not all advice on such a topic is too be trusted. The Engineer’s Guide to Drinks thread featured a sobering (as it were) number of people who think a “martini” should just be chilled gin rather than a proper cocktail, and were proud to admit it in public! So caveat lector. And if you want to talk about something other than coffee, be our guest.
The guides (in particular the buying guide) at coffeegeek.com are really excellent. For my part, I have an ECM Giotto paired with a Mazzer Mini grinder. I rarely drink anything but espresso-based drinks because of this stellar combo, such that pour-over or press coffee is an unusual treat. The Giotto is 7 years old and going strong; I do plan to replace its vibe pump with a procon rotary one at some point. I usually recommend the Silvia to people, and the Baratza grinders.
@ Sean
I endorse those who recommend Bialetti products, provided you are willing to compromise for “merely” good quality coffee in exchange for reasonable effort and price.
Note, Bialetti coffee won’t produce the fine quality of crema that even a medium quality espresso machine will give you. Even though they have a product (the Brikka, I believe it is called) that does give some approximation of crema, it just doesn’t stack up in a side-by-side taste competition with a good machine espresso. The crema of the Brikka is much less persistent. It will dissolve back into the coffee, unlike espresso machine crema, which will dry to the side of your cup if you neglect to drink it with the black part of the drink.
HOWEVER, I think Bialetti is a great compromise. They can be stove-top (preferably gas) or plug-in electric and are easy to setup and clean and, once you’ve gotten the hang of them, can do a quite decent approximation of espresso and can do excellent Americanos and give coffee that to me is superior to your average drip coffee. A cafe au lait, latte, or cappucino with Bialetti “espresso” is nearly indistinguishable (to my palette) from those made with drip machines or espresso machines (depending on the drink of course). The Americanos made from Bialetti espresso are also darned good, though you can tell the difference. The biggest compromise is in straight espresso, though in my opinion, it is often worth the compromise.
The biggest trade off is the smoothness of the espresso. So, if you like neat, unadulterated velvety espresso, and you most enjoy licking the frothy crema off of your lips after downing a shot of espresso, then the Bialetti isn’t for you. If you can get by with a hint of crema, then I recommend the Brikka. If you don’t care about crema that much, but want a nice concentrated coffee with good flavor, the Moka Express line is for you.
I’ve owned both the Brikka and Moka Express and have done side-by-side comparisons with several good coffee establishments in Hyde Park. Of course, other than quantifying the texture of the coffee and quality of the crema, my taste conclusions are inevitably subjective. (I’m a U of C grad school grad, so you know my frame of reference. And no, I’m not using Salonica or Valois in my comparisons. Think more along the lines of Medici coffee.)
A few final notes about Bialetti. The most important one is that getting the grind of the coffee and the level of heat for the Brikka and Moka models is important. Too coarse or too fine will make the coffee not so good. Also, too high a flame will make bad coffee and too low a flame won’t make coffee at all. There is a bit of an art. So I suppose it must be mentioned that some (minor) training will be required before you are satisfied. This is a tradeoff worth factoring into your decision.
Just doing my best to find the best coffee prepared by others in my home town of San Antonio, Tx, and saving my money for far too many far off gadgets, I look to the expertise of others. I trust Martin Lersch:
http://blog.khymos.org/2008/11/11/wonders-of-extraction-espresso-part-i/
He has Miss Silvia making his espressos (and even scrambled eggs!)
Looks like we all have so much input and so many opinions to go through in this blog post! Thanks all; it’s good shared wisdom.
As Abraham Lincoln said, if this is coffee, please bring me some tea, but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.
We got a Rancillio espresso machine as a wedding present, and it has been working flawlessly for the past 7 years (knock on wood).
The water is important, too, don’t forget. Clean, cool, filtered water…canister filter, reverse osmosis, whatever, just be sure the chlorine and other major flavor detractors are removed.
I’ve owned two Illy Francis Francis machines, and have been quite happy with the espresso. They have their drawbacks, but I very much like the X1 I have now, and, although not the primary reason to buy a given machine, they are extremely pretty.
I’ve been very happy with my Aeropress as well. It doesn’t make much volume, so like Jim, above, I also have a filter (drip) machine when I need a pot full for friends. Very smooth coffee with little bitterness (also helped by using water that is below boiling). Quick and easy to make, trivial to clean up, takes up no space on the countertop, and cheap to boot.
OMG. I can’t believe I missed this thread. Two of my daily rituals, espresso and CV. The best internet resource for espresso help, bar none, is home-barista.com.
That elektra is rumored to be amazing. As is the gaggia achilles. I’m a big fan of the lever machines in general, as it makes it cheaper (and more fun and ritualized) to pull a perfect shot.
You can’t really go wrong with a lever machine. I myself bought the very very cheapest one i could find, (the gaggia factory – also sold as the la povoni europcola or something like that). And I love it. It gets a bad rap for overheating, which it does if you pull more than 2 doubles in a row. But I rarely do that, so it’s great for me.
Whatever you get, be prepared to fiddle. It took me 6 weeks of daily use to finally pull an amazing shot. You have to dial in the grind and the dose of coffee exactly right to really get a great shot with lots of crema.
The general rule of thumb, unfortunately, is to spend more on the grinder than on the espresso machine. Which is entirely unsexy and irritating advice. But it’s solid advice. Most of a good shot is in the grind. And you need a high dollar grinder to get consistent, fine grounds for espresso, with no random big chunks to kill the necessary pressure. Even a little off, and you’ll get channelling in the puck, which makes for a bitter shot.
Or … you can do what I did, and spend $100 on a german conical burr hand grinder. Adds more time, and more ritual, but it doesn’t cost $1000. And it’s kinda fun.
Buy a great grinder first! Then worry about what espresso machine to buy. Even your drip coffee will taste better.
I learned that a few years ago on alt.coffee. Reading the alt.coffee archive at groups.google.com for a couple of months before jumping in would be a good starting point. I know… who’s got the time… 😉
Also, a website started by a (former) contributor to alt.coffee is providing good information in general about espresso and coffee in general:
http://coffeegeek.com/
He reviewed the “Elektra Micro Casa a Leva” in 2002:
http://coffeegeek.com/proreviews/detailed/microcasaleva
P.S. My grinder is a Mazzer Mini, and it’s one of the best things I bouth… ever.
Here at our roastery, we utilize a number of different methods to get our jones satisfied, and I’ve discovered it really depends on the bean. Our East Timor Maubesse really shines in a Chemex, whereas the Washed Sidamo we just received tastes the best so far out of a regular old airpot brewer – basket filter, hot water pumped from city line through our filter. We try to taste all our varietals and blends as many ways as possible, starting with the cupping room and working our way through Chemexes, French Presses, pour overs, the airpot brewers, home coffee makers, the smattering of Starbucks espresso machines on hand for caterings and our precious Red Ranger – the Rancilio S27 that still manages to pump out shot after jitter-stimulating shot.
The bottom line – it truly depends on the bean. Take away all other variables, and let the bean tell you how to smash it and boil it and extract its delicious essence.
By the way, in my experience, a coffee is best starting about 36 – 48 hours after roasting – it’s old enough to have degassed a sufficient degree but young enough that oxidation hasn’t really affected it and that it still contains all the idiosyncratic and lovely volatile aromatic chemicals that distinguish one varietal from another….
And at this juncture, I present Sean with Barry Schwartz’s TED talk: The Paradox of Choice.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html
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What’s lacking here ironically is any facts. Lots of people say the grinder is the most important part of the process. Based on what? I can’t think of a really good scientific reason for that to be the case but I’m willing to be convinced. Nor can I see how differences in pressure, given some range, make a difference either. I CAN see a reason why the coffee bean would make a huge difference. But in our gadget driven world that’s not terribly exciting to talk about. And even that’s a huge variable. I’ve had great espresso beans from Starbucks and awful ones.
to 64:
Each brewing process needs a different grind that complements that brewing process. The French press requires a coarse grind so that, when pressed, as few of the grinds as possible make it into your cup. But a cheap blade grinder (one of those little Cuisinart deals with the press down top) will chop up some of the beans (nearer the center of the apparatus) much more finely than other beans. Now, since you’re using a French press you’ll be steeping the beans for about 3.5 minutes; that’s a good amount of time to extract flavor from a big, coarse ground, but it completely leaches the smaller grinds that your cheap blade grinder left you, which leads to an acidic taste.
Similarly for other brewing methods. Coarse chunks in the pour-over method, for instance, just don’t have enough water time to brew; and the more consistent the grind the fuller and more consistent the flavor you’ll get. The grind is perhaps most important for espresso. It needs to be super super fine so that you can compress it evenly, allowing the steam to pass through the puck evenly under great pressure. Even one bad ground can ruin a shot of espresso (as mentioned in #59).
But ultimately the proof is in the tasting; there’s no way to believe it until you’ve actually invested in a good grinder and figured out how it works. And I’ll say that that’s the single most important investment you can make in your coffee experience.
Alternately you can grind the beans where you get your coffee and put them in the freezer when you get home; the grounds won’t be as fresh as grinding them yourself, but if the choice is between a good grind two weeks ago and a cheap blade grind today I’d say take the former.
We have a Capresso 1300 (which is now a long obsolete model) automatic. We usually brew the full 7.5 oz cup (essentially espresso with more water), and find it wonderful. At this point, it has made us nearly 6000 cups of coffee and never needed service, although lately the two nozzles don’t dispense at the same rate (probably needs more thorough cleaning). It automatically grinds the beans, but you can use pre-ground as well (which we use for decaffe). Among some of the handy things you never thought of that it can do:
1. Even your guests can use it, so you don’t have to brew coffee for them.
2. Since you can have a pour as little as .5 oz, you can get ultra strong coffee for baking deserts.
3. Frother is great for making hot chocolate.
I think that lever-pulls are better, but you need to train and keep in practice. Plus your guests will expect you to serve them.
If you don’t go with an automatic, spend the money on a burr grinder if you will be making espresso. For drip it isn’t quite as important though.
Don’t go for the coffee pods — the coffee is more expensive and you have little control over strength.
@64, re: pressure. It only matters with espresso, but with espresso, it’s the prime consideration. Pressure IS espresso. 9 bar, specifically. The intense pressure forced through the puck of coffee is what creates the crema and the flavor. And getting the pressure right is a function of two things: the dose of the coffee, and the grind. Those two variables interact a bit – you can put a little more coffee in the puck if you grind it a little less finely, and vice versa. When you don’t have enough pressure, you can see it as the shot pulls – the coffee shoots out very quickly, thin and light. And you’ll see a crack in the puck of coffee when you remove the portafilter. That happens a lot when you don’t have a good grinder – too many big, uneven chunks in the grind – they’re not nestling together well to resist the coffee flow evenly. But most importantly, you can taste it. As straight espresso, it’s almost undrinkable. But a shot pulled correctly is amazing. It’s sweet, rich, nutty, and not at all bitter or overpowering. There’s nothing like it.
Pressure is also the reason most of the sub $1000 non-lever espresso machines are a joke. There’s just not enough power in those things to get to 9 bars. And most of them have a little spring frother to sort of fake the crema. Below $1000 the only real espresso machines you can buy are lever machines.
You are right about the beans. Some of the best beans for filtered coffee make absolutely terrible espresso. When you’re starting out, it’s best to stick with one bean you know is capable of good espresso and master that before experimenting with others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_filter_coffee – the Chicory works wonders.