cafeIKE wrote:Psyd wrote:I mean, truly, this is what most people do, and quite a few of them end up with dreck in a cup.
Agreed if you change "quite a few" to "most" and make the reference to tamper twiddlers, professional or otherwise.
Anyone reading who thinks espresso is complicated, please do not invite me for dinner.
Several won't already.
Assuming adequate and non-defective gear, ignoring temperature and pressure, if the "First-a..." method fails:
1 - the coffee is crap - easy to rectify
2 - the grind is incorrect - two choices
3 - the dose is poor - make sure it's level and try more or less
If someone can't handle a simple iterative loop on 2 and 3, I trust they don't drive or vote.
They may not be pulling gShots, but I shouldn't be clamoring for a cuspidor either, which is most often the case after some 'pro' has dazzled me with his dosing dexterity. As the missus once remarked, "What DOES he think he's doing?"
Earlier this year I spent some time in Nice and Cannes, hanging about with Italians. The only bad shot I had using the "First-a..." method was when someone made the mistake of thinking me American and ordered espresso with sugar.
Call me a cynic, but the truly "selfless" do not include a link to a commercial web page.
"Leo Durocher"
Okay. You're a cynic.
Why did I start espressotrainer.com?
Let's see. There is zero good coffee where I live. None. I get tired of telling people "my apartment?" when they ask where they should go for a good cup.
I've worked at two different shops here, and spent more effort and energy on butting heads with the owners while pushing for quality than I actually spent on the work itself.
How many people do you know who will take advice on how to run their own business from someone they hired at near minimum wage?
How many people do you know who will take advice from someone who specializes in training and consulting for that particular field?
I'll let you do the math and figure out the difference.
I tried to help improve the local coffee culture from the inside. It didn't work. If nothing else, it just made it more difficult.
I don't make hardly a thing from ET.com. I do have another job that I rely on for income. ET.com is just an attempt to help raise the standards locally in my ~200K population college down.
If you think espresso is as simple as those three variables, then you, my friend, have a long long way to go. Sure.. you can get passable espresso that way. But you will never get a God shot that way, and you certainly won't be impressing any competition level baristi or their customers.
It's the attitude of "good enough" that you're so adamant about that's the primary problem I face when trying to improve the level of quality. As Chris has said already. If it really is just that simple, then why do I cringe every time I taste an espresso from a new coffee house? Why are so many people getting it wrong if they're following your method to a T? (which, they are)
There is more physics, more chemistry, and more thermodynamics going on in a single extraction of espresso than most are willing to try to wrap their head around for something as trivial as coffee. For me, and pretty much everyone else on this board it seems, espresso is something special. It's not something to be taken for granted when it's done right.
You can be pissy about my posts for whatever reason you care to invent. My link is there because it's part of my association with "coffee". Not because I'm trying to train anyone here. Nobody here needs anything I have to offer. If they're here, more than likely, if they don't already know, they can pretty easily figure it out on their own.
Have I tried to sell anything to anyone here, or anywhere else in this network of specialty coffee forums?
Did I get paid for running a milk frothing workshop at the TX Jam, or for giving an espresso seminar at the AZ Jam? quite the opposite, actually. I had to pay to get there, and I didn't get paid a thing... unless you want to count the waving of the attendance fee payment.
You are entitled to your beliefs, though you should know what you're saying before you say it. Personal attacks aren't something I would expect to see on H-B. Debates, yes. Arguments over specific techniques or methods, perhaps. Personal attacks because you have some idea you created on your own are something else.
No Charge.
"passable" 
