I could have had a wheelset...(warning: coffee porn)

[grscha]

Funnily enough, I was talking to a guy today about French pressing Hair Bender. He said it's not the way to go. It does work well for drip though (in addition to espresso). Holler Mountain is excellent in the press.

I can get tired of Stumptown--it's everywhere here, but Hair Bender kind of sets the bar for espresso roasts in this town...

[shorelocal]

Have you tried Stumptown Hair Bender?

I am by no means an espresso expert, either making or drinking, but I've tried the Hair Bender and it was good. I'd suggest trying the Blue Gardenia espresso beans ... I was referred to them by the guys at Cyclepath and I wasn't disappointed.

[gt6267a]

has anyone tried latte art? this is probably my best effort with a camera nearby. post some pics!


latte-art-illy.JPG

[grscha]

Nicely done!

Ah, latte art. The holy grail of the home barista. One day...(my milk steaming skills need some serious work first).

[soupless]

I've got a bialetti that I'm pretty good at, and have been using pour-overs for years.

What's next? French Press?

[grscha]

What's next? French Press?

I would say yes. $10 at Ikea for a press...really good coffee...

[Eddie]

We've got an assortment of French presses, including three different types of single-serves (~12-oz). These make about one regular-sized coffee mug's worth of coffee.

My favorite by far is this one, although if the Ikea one is $10, it costs 3x that.

www.bodumusa.com - the Bodum online shop

[bozman]

Awesome xmas present. The Silvia is great. I've been able to pull some lovely shots already. It's funny--there is so much online about the Silvia and home espresso. I think it might be worse than bikes...

I didn't want to believe it, but the grinder does make a difference. I'm searching for a good tamper now.

How about this one: Espresso Tampers | Chris King Precision Components

Cycling AND coffee!

[timto]

I was saving for a wheelset, but stumbled across a deal not to be passed up on craigslist. I'm not unhappy...

Attachment 28189

I got the same setup with trays two years ago along with the arrival of my twin boys - not a day goes by that I don't appreciate that thing! Use it well!

[shanerpvt]

I'm currently spec'ing a grinder unit and not sure where I'm headed. Definitely interested in doserless. Looking at the Rocky, a Compak K-3, and a Macap MC4.

I know nothing about grinders. I gave been checking out some home set ups and I was courious why you were looking at the doserless?

just trying to learn.

thanks,
shaner

[C.Dyer]

Funnily enough, I was talking to a guy today about French pressing Hair Bender. He said it's not the way to go. It does work well for drip though (in addition to espresso). Holler Mountain is excellent in the press.

I can get tired of Stumptown--it's everywhere here, but Hair Bender kind of sets the bar for espresso roasts in this town...

Have you checked out what Coava has been doing? Or Heart? Stumptown set the bar, but the little guys have picked up the ball and run with it. It's pretty amazing the amount of good coffee in this town.

[Eddie]

I know nothing about grinders. I gave been checking out some home set ups and I was courious why you were looking at the doserless?

just trying to learn.

thanks,
shaner

Hey Shaner - I think it comes down to versatility. I have a general aversion to overly specialized things. A dosered grider is really only appropriate for espresso use, while a doserless could be used for more General Grinding, e.g. drip, pour over, French press. I've also read there can tend to be a bit of grind retention in the doser apparatus, which I guess could affect the quality and consistency of your shot - not a huge factor affecting my opinion, but perhaps worth considering.

I probably wouldn't multi-task my espresso grinder and use it for other brew grinds, as there would be a tremendous amount of wasted beans each time I dialed in the grind setting for different styles of brew. However, when things break, or have to be serviced, it's nice to have backup. In the end, I guess I see it as "why limit yourself unnecessarily?"

So far I've been using a Hario Skerton for grinding duties. It works very well, but man is it labor intensive. I read that it takes about 200 cranks to generate 14 grams of espresso grind. Probably a good thing, as it slows me down a bit and keeps me from pulling too many shots.

I pulled one of my best shots yet this morning, the Whole Latte Love's "Buzzopolis" blend. The preparation, execution, and results of each shot are unique. I'm far from having reached perfection, but I'm getting much better. This is a slippery slope.

[t-hoe]

all I can say is PID that thing. I sold my rocky+silvia+PID that I kept at work a few months ago (they put in an esppresso bar). The PID made all the difference. My home setup (a diva + an old mazzer jolly) pulls some god shots but can be tempermental. The PID'ed Silvia would give
me 90% of those god shots every single time.

[shanerpvt]

Hey Shaner - I think it comes down to versatility. .......

thanks for your thoughts.......im thinking of giving this a try.

take care,
shaner

[grscha]

Have you checked out what Coava has been doing? Or Heart? Stumptown set the bar, but the little guys have picked up the ball and run with it. It's pretty amazing the amount of good coffee in this town.

Definitely. Ristretto is my current favorite. Their cowboy blend is great in the French press, and I love their espresso. Heart is also excellent. I often stop there on my way out on a ride.

[Eddie]

all I can say is PID that thing. I sold my rocky+silvia+PID that I kept at work a few months ago (they put in an esppresso bar). The PID made all the difference. My home setup (a diva + an old mazzer jolly) pulls some god shots but can be tempermental. The PID'ed Silvia would give
me 90% of those god shots every single time.

I've researched the whole PID thing, and I get it, but at that price point, why not go Izzo or Expobar, HX or double boiler?

Which PID device did you go with? I've read that the PID can lead to early boiler burnout, with the constant switching - any experience?

Definitely. Ristretto is my current favorite. Their cowboy blend is great in the French press, and I love their espresso. Heart is also excellent. I often stop there on my way out on a ride.

You Portland cats have it good.

Beer, coffee, bikes, fishing... Maybe I should relocate?

[962]

I'm missing out when I forget about the OT section! Definitely nice find...

Here's my usual:

[t-hoe]

I've researched the whole PID thing, and I get it, but at that price point, why not go Izzo or Expobar, HX or double boiler?
Which PID device did you go with? I've read that the PID can lead to early boiler burnout, with the constant switching - any experience?

I guess I don't consider the machines you mention and the silvia to be the same price point. A silvia+PID is about $900. An Exobar brewtus, Izzo Duetta or la spaziales are more than twice that... Granted those machines are not in the same ballpark feature wise, but neither is their price. If the OP got a good deal on the silvia, than adding a PID makes a good machine great for what it would be... a small, temp stable, single boiler.

2nd, I was an relatively early adopter. I bought the PID in 2006 from PIDkits. It was about $50 bucks cheaper than it is now.
I bought the Silvia used from a friend at a great price, so adding $150 wasn't too painful.

Also Machines like the current IZZO, exobar and 110V double boilers didn't exist back then. The pro-sumer espresso market has exploded in the last 10 ( and especially ) 5 years.

By the time my Diva gives up the ghost, I'll probably be able to buy a PID'ed Linea at Target ;-)

oh. my PID was the watlow 935...the only one available at the time, but If I did it again, I'd get the same one.

Where did you read about early boiler burn out? On first thought, it makes little sense to me. A PID'ed boiler would remain at a more constant temperature for longer periods of time,
thereby extending it's life not shortening it (less expansion and contraction = less fatigue), but that's just a guess.

The switch itself clearly cycles more as does the element inside the boiler, but has anyone shown the additional cycles to these elements to be a large percentage of it's expected mean-time-to-failure cycles?
Mine was on basically 5 days a week x 8hr per day for 4 years without a hiccup. So that's contrary to my experience.

my 9 cents...

[Eddie]

I guess I don't consider the machines you mention and the silvia to be the same price point...<snip>

Yo t-hoe, thanks for all the info.

You're right - a Silvia + PID really isn't in the same price range as those units that I mentioned. I guess I'm succumbing in the old ratchet effect - "well, for only $X more, I could get the next greatest thing." With the Silvia + PID approaching $1000, and having seeing some Izzo and Expobar deals for close to $1500, it becomes a game of "what that extra $500 could get me."

I've looked at the Watlow site. Looks to be a good option if I go that way. I might have phrased my comment regarding the boiler poorly, and without looking inside the Silvia or at a schematic, I'm not aware of whether the switch/thermostat can be serviced separately from the boiler. Perhaps I should have said "failure" rather than "burnout." I'm sure I read about it on Home Barista, Whole Latte Love forums, something like that, and as we know, everything we read on the internet is the Gospel truth...

Your report of good service from your setup with that type of use is only pushing me further towards going the PID route... Of course, there goes a decent machine-built wheelset!

All great info. Thanks again.

[t-hoe]

I've seen better deals for the Silvia too. I just stayed site-specific for price comparisons to eliminate the variation.

that "extra" $500 get you a Mazzer!

Over the years I've come to the conclusion ( as have many others ) that grind and thermal stability are the two most important factors in consistantly good espresso. A good grinder is essential.
My Diva has nice thermal stability simply due to it's massive group head and huge boiler, however, it's not easy to adjust the temp at the group head itself. I wish it had a PID so if I do venture from my favorite espresso blend, i can
easily fine tune the temp and grind to get the perfect shot.