My best, worst cup of coffee

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norwood
Posts: 23
Joined: 10 years ago

#1: Post by norwood »

Hello folks!

Praise God! We made it! At long last, I am thrilled that a few days ago, I produced a cup of espresso with the following attributes:

- 5 second extraction
- No crema whatsoever
- Tasted vaguely like dark-colored water

So why was I so excited about what was surely the worst cup of coffee I had ever tasted? Because it came from my finally-complete Rancilio S27, which produced it without leaking! I want to thank all of you who took the time to answer my questions along the way, and especially to thank Stefano, who went through his shop and found another Rancilio pipe to replace the one that had failed. He was upfront that it would require modification, but the only modification it needed was some custom bending - the ends worked just fine.

Just to recap the project briefly, this started as a $50 (!) Rancilio S27 from Craigslist, bought in known broken condition from a cafe whose new manager wanted to de-clutter. She commented that she'd heard there was "corrosion," which made me concerned what I'd find inside. Opening it up revealed that the Procon pump had seized and fallen off of the motor; we sent it to JC Beverage, who rebuilt it very promptly at an excellent price. Unfortunately, remounting the pump did not fix the problem, because the triac that drives the motor had also failed - probably, I'm thinking, because the seized pump stalled the motor and caused the triac to attempt to flow too much current. We struck out attempting to find a replacement locally, but fortunately I remembered Houston's excellent Electronics Parts Outlet from living in Texas years ago. EPO mailed us two replacements, we got out the Weller soldering station, and - we were in business! The machine powered up, heated, and flowed water - albeit slowly and with a few leaks. It was clearly time to take apart the machine, descale it, and rebuild it with new gaskets.

Thus began a summer-long project, featuring an assortment of packages from Espresso Parts (thanks to Ryan, too, for helping me to track down some of the little bits and pieces), generous quantities of citric acid from a local Italian food shop, and even more generous quantities of patience from my Wife - who never complained, even when her kitchen counter featured a large bowl of parts taking a dip in Cafiza prior to the acid bath. (Fortunately, she loves coffee too!)

So now begins the next stage of a journey that started over 20 years ago, when I was a high school student and Mom and I could not afford to buy cappuccino at the La Prima shop as often as I wanted to drink it. She bought a little Braun steam espresso machine, and although it was not fancy, I have had many, many coffees from that machine. (Like La Prima, it's still around!) As much as I loved the machine, any time we were at La Prima, I thought about how much fun it would be to have a big, powerful espresso machine like they used to make drinks. And now... wow!

OzarkTroutBum
Posts: 52
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by OzarkTroutBum »

Good story. Something about pulling a shot through something you wrenched on is particularly satisfying. Reading the description of the first shot, I can imagine that its only going to get better from here.

norwood (original poster)
Posts: 23
Joined: 10 years ago

#3: Post by norwood (original poster) »

OzarkTroutBum wrote:Good story. Something about pulling a shot through something you wrenched on is particularly satisfying.
Amen! Although the project took much longer than I had initially expected, having to reassemble the machine taught me how it works and gave me a real respect for the engineers who designed it. It's beautifully made.
Reading the description of the first shot, I can imagine that its only going to get better from here.
It would be difficult for it to get any worse! :D Joking aside, there is still plenty of room for improvement but I'm able to pull something drinkable at this point. My extraction now is around 15 seconds, with a nice crema - and this is with a rather improvised tamper, namely the bottom of a 1/4-cup measure!

User avatar
bluesman
Posts: 1594
Joined: 10 years ago

#4: Post by bluesman »

You're an inspiration for sure, Charles! Although very happy with my Lelit and pulling very fine shots, I find myself cruising the "for sale" boards and an occasional thrift shop looking for a project like yours.
It would be difficult for it to get any worse! :D
Just remember my first rule of life: it can always be worse. That thought has seen me through the bad times in my life (which, fortunately, haven't really been that bad despite how they seemed at the time).

David