After one decade of asking if the espresso world is flat, maybe it's time to assume it isn't, jump in the boat and start exploring.

malachi wrote:Anyone who says that they have "solved the problem of consistently good coffee" is (IMHO - which means "in my humble opinion") smoking crack.

What a coincidence! I was just thinking that any semi-skilled barista who is finicky about his roasters and has good, well-tuned equipment must be on crack, if he can't consistently pull "good" (not great) espresso.

Marshall wrote:What a coincidence! I was just thinking that any semi-skilled barista who is finicky about his roasters and has good, well-tuned equipment must be on crack, if he can't consistently pull "good" (not great) espresso.

It's easy to pull consistently good espresso with a coffee you know on equipment you know. But after a month of one coffee, even a perfectly tuned shot is no longer a great shot for your own palate. Familiarity may not breed contempt, but it does breed comfortable affection, rather than awe and wonder. For those, you need to try lots of new coffees, and accept a very low batting average of well tuned shots. And that's true on an HX or DB.

Endo wrote:Not sure. Perhaps they were just going for a certain look for the cafe. The Mirage Veloce is one sexy machine and fits in well in a small cozy cafe.

The Synesso is more square and "Utilitarian" looking. It looks great in the "modern styled" bistro like Veritas where he used to work.

I may be wrong, but I think I remember overhearing that the Veloce wasn't their first choice.

With all due respect, please do not speculate about "bad advice" or the Mirage not being our first choice. I'd hope to get a little more respect than that.

The mirage was our first choice for excellent reasons, not the least of which is that Kees Van Der Westen is very responsive to our requests, and our particular Mirage achieves a temperature curve that is replicated shot-to-shot with a consistency of 1 degree F.

Endo, given that you are in Montreal, you are always welcome to come by the cafe and understand why we made a logical, intelligent choice, rather than speculating that we settled for our machine. Separately, it is a beautiful machine, but I'm not one to sacrifice our coffee quality for the sake of a machine's aesthetics.

P.S. Anthony has had plenty of experience on both La Marzoccos and Synessos and he is thrilled with the bad advice I gave him.

bigabeano wrote:The mirage was our first choice for excellent reasons, not the least of which is that Kees Van Der Westen is very responsive to our requests, and our particular Mirage achieves a temperature curve that is replicated shot-to-shot with a consistency of 1 degree F.

I am recently back home after a week spent in Vancouver, where I had quite a few visits to both of the Elysian Room cafes, as well as to the (sole) 49th Parallel cafe. While at 49th on one of my visits, I ran into Vince Piccolo there, who I've met on a number of other occasions and is the owner (perhaps along with his brother Michael, not sure on that detail). Last year I had an extended visit and tour of their roasting operation which is located at a considerable distance from the cafe.

49th uses a Mirage, and I had occasion to discuss this machine with Vince as he was doing latte art. He said they prefer it to the available double boiler machines, and that in his opinion it makes better shots, which he attributed to it being a heat exchanger. I have no opinion on the topic of HX vs. DB, and specifically don't believe one is better than the other for straight shots. For this reason (not believing that HX machines are inferior) I did not find Vince's opinion in favor of HX machines to need any further discussion, and hence did not go any further on the topic.

ken

bigabeano wrote:With all due respect, please do not speculate...

Sorry Scott! Absolutely no need to speculate if you read this forum and want to answer (by the way....I said nothing about "bad advice"...I think someone else meant it as a saracastic comment).

I'm actually VERY glad you guys got the Mirage. Now I can run back-and-forth from Veritas to Myriade to Cafe in Gamba and compare shots on the Synesso, Mirage and original E-61 Faema.

Just finished reading your book. Wow. Mind still spinning. Sadly, no chapters on machine asthetics though.

Ken Fox wrote:49th uses a Mirage, and I had occasion to discuss this machine with Vince as he was doing latte art. He said they prefer it to the available double boiler machines, and that in his opinion it makes better shots, which he attributed to it being a heat exchanger.

So Myriade and 49th use the same machine, grinder and coffee? Interesting.

I must say that I have a small personal preference for shots from the Synesso (but that's just me, I have no WBC ranking). That might all change when I start up my cafe with a Slayer! Yeah baby!

Oh...and just to keep this post OT......go DB!

Ken Fox wrote:I am recently back home after a week spent in Vancouver, where I had quite a few visits to both of the Elysian Room cafes, as well as to the (sole) 49th Parallel cafe.

Off topic, but what blends did you like the most?

Marshall wrote:What a coincidence! I was just thinking that any semi-skilled barista who is finicky about his roasters and has good, well-tuned equipment must be on crack, if he can't consistently pull "good" (not great) espresso.

I guess it depends on what you define as "good".

malachi wrote:I guess it depends on what you define as "good".

If you've invested serious time and money on home espresso and you're still not enjoying it on a consistent basis, it's time to find another beverage you will enjoy. Life is too short to spend it on a perpetual source of disappointment.