Argh! No Crema!

[rfc]

Still messing with variables, trying to eliminate as many as possible. Problem: Little or no Crema on top.

Basic Info:

Mini Grimac. Temps are fine, Pressure is good. Have tried a number of pre ground coffees from Intelligencia. Also local fresh ground. Local restauranteur suggested and gave me some LaVazza Super Crema, which I ground and pulled some shots with. I pack hard/soft; I can hit blonding at 25secs no problem. All results the same. No (or little) crema.

My water is deep well; slightly hard (150); tried carbon filter; no difference. There is significant calcium however.

Can water hardness affect the amount of crema?

Any other ideas?

[chelya]

Have tried a number of pre ground coffees

This is your problem. Get a good grinder.

[JonR10]

Have tried a number of pre ground coffees from Intelligencia. Also local fresh ground. Local restauranteur suggested and gave me some LaVazza Super Crema, which I ground and pulled some shots with. I pack hard/soft; I can hit blonding at 25secs no problem. All results the same. No (or little) crema.

To get good crema you need FRESH beans (prefereably used on days 3-12 after roasting). And then you need to grind those beans just minutes (or seconds) before drawing your shot. So the LaVazza or any other commercial roast probably won't do very well, and the coffee from Intelligentsia (sp?) would need to be ground at home just moments before brewing. Besides, grinding at home allows you to make the minute adjustments necessary to tune your brew pressure/time/volume for best taste.

So I agree with the post above - get a good grinder - and I would add that using the good grinder with excellent beans wil give you more crema than liquid in your cup. If you run ristretto then it will be even thicker and longer-lasting...

[rfc]

Thanks. I should point out that the La Vazza was beans, not ground, and I ground it immediately prior to brewing. I don't know how fresh it was though, as it came from my friend's restaurant.

I've read about roasting coffee with a popcorn maker and that does not look like rocket science, and might be fun too, so I guess my next step is to find a good roaster company that sells both freshly roasted as well as green beens.

[JonR10]

Thanks. I should point out that the La Vazza was beans, not ground, and I ground it immediately prior to brewing. I don't know how fresh it was though, as it came from my friend's restaurant.

I may be mistaken, but doesn't LaVazza come from Italy? It could have been weeks or even months old by the time it reached your friend's place...

I've read about roasting coffee with a popcorn maker and that does not look like rocket science, and might be fun too, so I guess my next step is to find a good roaster company that sells both freshly roasted as well as green beens.

Roasting in a popper is quick, and easy, and can produce very good results. It's lots of fun and a great way to learn more about coffee. Check out http://www.sweetmarias.com for excellent advice and assistance (as well as green beans).

As for roasters: It's always great to find a local source, but even if you can't there are several excellent specialty coffee roasters who sell online and ship the same day as the roast so it arrives as "prime time" beans. You can get this service from http://www.coffeeemergency.com , http://www.caffefresco.us , Intelligentsia (try Black Cat) and a host of others...

[HB]

Thanks. I should point out that the La Vazza was beans, not ground, and I ground it immediately prior to brewing. I don't know how fresh it was though, as it came from my friend's restaurant.

I can't speak for your friend's place, but regrettably I cannot recall a restaurant that serves good espresso (I wrote about my recent disappointment in Wilmington). As Jon noted, LaVazza is roasted in Italy and shipped to the US. Add up the days for a long boat ride from Italy, time in warehouses, stocking rooms, and the grinder hopper. You may squeak some crema out of those tired beans, but it makes a lot more sense to source them locally.

PS: Also see The Best Way to Improve your Shot is a Popcorn Popper! and An Aficionado's Guide to Espresso Blending if you want to try uber-fresh coffee. Be warned though, it will ruin your ability to tolerate much else.

[rfc]

I have my order placed from Sweet Marias for both green and roasted today beans. Everything I have tried so far has been bitter, so these beans should rule out anything wrong with the coffee. I am pretty sure of my temperatures. Only thing left is the water, which is not super hard but does have a lot of Calcium in it.

This weekend I will compare both Sweet Maria's roasted and my roasted side by side with my well water and bottled water (probably from Poland Spring Me) to see what if any effect it has on both taste and crema.

[rfc]

I started with Sulawesi from Sweet Marias, roasted 4 days prior to grinding and pulling. Still not exactly prodigious amounts of crema, but at least there was a light brown film on top of the 'spresso, which to this point I had not seen.

I spent all day Saturday looking for a stupid West Bend Poppery I at yard sales, flea markets, to no avail. I was not going to be discouraged by this setback, so spent $9 at my local hardware store on some stovepipe, hardware cloth etc. and put together a respectable Barbeque Rotissery Roaster (Photos provided on request).

Fired it up, burned off whatever might have been on it, and first tried the same Sulawesi and nearly created a new roast level past Vienna--How do you say "Charcoal". I had all three burners and the infrared burner on high; unit was at 525 (inside the cover), but Whoa! Talk about Roast Coast!

After the local Fire Department was alerted to Stand Down, I tried again and got the Sulawesi into the colander at about 15 seconds before second crack.

Proceded to do the same with Sweet Maria's Monkey Blend, and also their Puro Scuro (or whatever it's called). Mopped up and waited 12 hours.

Of the three, The Puro finally gave me about a 1/4" of nicely colored crema on about a 1/3 of a cup double. First drops in 8 seconds, 26-30 seconds to blonding. Success?

Maybe not so fast.

During this little escapade I learned that the sheer number of variables doing this: The machine, the flush, the type of coffee, the roast, the grind, the tamp, the pull.....I am surprised I got anything drinkable at all.

I feel like a single engine pilot (which I am) reading the Boeing 747 chapter in "How Things Work", then getting in and expecting I could get the thing off the ground by randomly switching every lever in sight.

I'm still using a crappy Braun "propeller" grinder so I know I can't expect much, but now that I know that if I get enough of the variables close, I can get this to work.

My strategy will change, however. I am going to focus on a SINGLE blend--maybe the Monkey, buy some preroasted by Sweet Marias, use that as a baseline for my own roasting, then pull and pull and pull changing only one variable at a time until the crema gets plentiferous, the bitterness goes away, the pucks pop out dry, and I'm perpetually buzzed on caffeine.

[JonR10]

I'm still using a crappy Braun "propeller" grinder so I know I can't expect much...

Replace that grinder with a high quality burr grinder capable of grinding for espresso. You will then get copious amounts of crema from your 4-day old roast; assuming you have a decent machine with a commercial-style ("non-pressurized") portafilter.

...changing only one variable at a time until the crema gets plentiferous, the bitterness goes away, the pucks pop out dry, and I'm perpettually buzzed on cafeine.

If you invest in a good grinder all of the above will be attainable, so please consider changing THAT first.





Grinders capable for espresso grinding start new at about $170 (Nemox Lux), then move up to $200 (Cunill Tranquilo may be the best overall value for espresso grinding), then to $250-$300 (Rancilio Rocky) and ROCKIN-grinders start around $450 (Mazzer is awesome and extremely well-built)

The used market for Mazzer grinders is strong and you could get one from Tagex on eBay for $200-$250.

[HB]

I'm still using a crappy Braun "propeller" grinder so I know I can't expect much, but now that I know that if I get enough of the variables close, I can get this to work.

What!?! How did I miss this detail! The fact that you managed a drinkable espresso with a whirly-blade grinder is admirable, but I am with Jon 1000%: Stop everything until you get a quality grinder. The homeroasters may want to burn me at the stake for suggesting it, but I recommend sticking with a top-notch roaster until you are satisfied that your gear and technique are solid. For test purposes, I rotate through three blends until I get the hang of a machine: Black Cat and Kid O's Espresso (Intelligentsia) and Toscano (Counter Culture). Knowing what to expect eliminates a lot of guesswork.

By the way, re-reading the comments in this thread about LaVazza reminds me of a story. Once I received a sample of LaVazza and re-packaged it in glass jars for a "mystery blend" tasting at our weekly rendez-vous at Counter Culture's espresso lab. I told the attendees that it was a blend from a local homeroaster. Their comments were muted; sort of like the niceties your friends might placate you with when you ask them about your new clothes they in fact don't like (e.g., "Oh, very colorful."). Once I revealed the blend's true origin and they realized no friend of mine would be insulted by their assessment, they were far less charitable.

[rfc]

Well, after pondering the facts of the matter (no decent grinder) and the search for ultimate crema doomed until I could afford a grinder, I finally could not resist and popped $65 and change on a Zassenhaus.

After reading the directions from Sweetmarias, I cranked the thing all the way until the grinder blades touched and cranked away for 15 minutes. "Boy, that looks powdery" I mused. I put 14 grams in the Mini Grimac and pillow tamped because it looked real fine, and sure enough, not a drop came out the portafilter for more than 20 seconds, then the pump wound up to probably 12 bars huffing and puffing until after a minute I got maybe 1/2 an ounce.

OK, back to the grinder. This time I opened up the blades almost all the way; grind took much less time with my favorite Classic Itallian espresso blend from SM (about two days post roast). Still pillow tamped; Liquid seen after 12 seconds (it used to take 9 with my whirlyblade grinder), then....BA BOOM!

It looked like ALL crema coming out for a bit, then settled down to about 1/2 inch at the end of the pull and even that hung around down to about 1/4 by the time I finished drinking it.

Yeoie-Zaoie! Does the grinder ever make a difference!

Now I just gots to motorize that puppy!