Ken Fox wrote:You don't need a book to make good espresso; you don't even need a course....My suggestion would be to cancel your barista training course, toss your Schomer book in the dumpster, and spend $30 on a precise digital scale....Assuming you have decent coffee, a good grinder, and a reasonably good espresso machine, you will easily make good to excellent shots as long as you limit your PF doses to a range of 12 to 15, maybe 16 grams....Set your grinder to be fine enough to make a shot that starts blonding at around 25-30 seconds with a produced volume of 1-1.5 oz when the blonding starts.....You will need to adjust your grinder, either finer or coarser, to reach these extraction parameters over time as the coffee ages or the humidity in the air changes....The rest of this barista training stuff is shear nonsense, and all it is going to do is to teach you how to make mediocre and unbalanced espresso shots from too much coffee....There you have it, everything I have learned in the last 5 or 10 years of espressomaking, condensed into one post.

You have yet to account for how James Hoffmann won the Barista World Championship using 16+ grams, or how Heather came in second and won World's Best Espresso doing the same. Apparently the international judges didn't characterize the espresso served by James, Heather and most of the others as "inconsistent shots that have no balance and that overwhelm your sensory apparatus."

Perhaps you should judge at the next WBC and convince the rest of the sensory judges that your taste in espresso is the only correct taste. Please keep in mind that the art of espresso is not advanced by merely seeking to replace Schomer's dogmatic approach with an equally dogmatic approach from Ken Fox.

Re: Schomer's book, published in 1996: It is easy to pick apart this eleven year old work. Much of what he wrote about is specific to his coffee style or is simply unsubstantiated myth. But, unlike you, I learned a lot from his book, such as:

Influence of humidity
Importance of sharp burrs
Importance of machine cleanliness
Importance of water purity and mineral content
Importance of coffee freshness
The crucial significance of lighter-roasted coffees in espresso

After visiting Vivace a few times, I'm certainly no fan of his espresso or of him personally. But to say, as you have, that his book is good only to place under the shorter leg of a dining room table is silly, as well as being a really cheap shot.

AndyS wrote:
You have yet to account for how James Hoffmann won the Barista World Championship using 16+ grams, or how Heather came in second and won World's Best Espresso doing the same. Apparently the international judges didn't characterize the espresso served by James, Heather and most of the others as "inconsistent shots that have no balance and that overwhelm your sensory apparatus."

Perhaps you should judge at the next WBC and convince the rest of the sensory judges that your taste in espresso is the only correct taste. Please keep in mind that the art of espresso is not advanced by merely seeking to replace Schomer's dogmatic approach with an equally dogmatic approach from Ken Fox.

Re: Schomer's book, published in 1996: It is easy to pick apart this eleven year old work. Much of what he wrote about is specific to his coffee style or is simply unsubstantiated myth. But, unlike you, I learned a lot from his book, such as:

Influence of humidity
Importance of sharp burrs
Importance of machine cleanliness
Importance of water purity and mineral content
Importance of coffee freshness
The crucial significance of lighter-roasted coffees in espresso

After visiting Vivace a few times, I'm certainly no fan of his espresso or of him personally. But to say, as you have, that his book is good only to place under the shorter leg of a dining room table is silly, as well as being a really cheap shot.

I would not limit the book to propping up table legs; it can be used under recalcitrant washing machines with stuck legs as well. I think you have credited him with "discovering" things that were widely known elsewhere, if not maybe as well known in the USA. Since the gentleman basically stole the idea for PID temperature control from you (Andy) and Greg S, then treated it like it was his own, for him to take credit for the ideas of others would be entirely in character. To those things he added an entire mythology that is quite honestly Near Total BS and which in my opinion has set back fine espresso preparation as much as it has advanced it. He has helped to create the overoaked chardonnay version of espresso over here in N. America and maybe also throughout "third wave" territory.

The entire "3rd Wave Espresso Industry" is based upon the "myths" that I have laid out in previous posts in various threads here. You have told me before you are tired of hearing them so I won't repeat the details. The myths include that you have to do all this fancy stuff with too much coffee in portafilters in order to make good espresso; you don't. Since his book purports to be a primer, he should have approached the topic with the real basics and then presented his own method as being a variation that he prefers; he didn't. The "real basics" needn't include a ramekin or a 1/10th gram scale, it could simply have been oriented towards cafe use and instructed the proper use of a grinder doser as a means of dispensing a dose of coffee designed for the machine in which it was being used.

I have not tasted James' coffee nor that of Heather (although I did try and enjoy her USBC version), and therefore have no comments on them nor observations to recount on how those coffees might taste at lower doses. The two you have mentioned are serious professionals about whom I care not to give any criticism; they are not responsible for the system in which they are asked to perform.

Being entirely honest, I also don't much care what a group of self appointed "WBC taste sensory judges" think constitutes a good espresso and what does not. There are huge differences in the way that straight shots are made and served in competition, that favor certain blends and preparation approaches that would not be reflective of how I make, serve, and enjoy espresso. I for one do not wait until 2 or 4 of them are made before serving the first one, a procedure that favors only something that can last through that waiting period, e.g. something that was presumably overpowering when it was first made a minute or two earlier.

People should make whatever sort of espresso they want to drink, and I hope they enjoy it. In that vein, and in my opinion only, they should at first be taught how to make a basic espresso with the equipment in a way that ensures success and that utilizes the equipment within its design constraints. After mastering that, which might take a couple of hours, they can go off on whatever sort of tangents you or anyone else recommends, with hopefully some sort of basic knowledge on how to make what amounts to "foolproof espresso."

And no matter how you want to paint it, putting mega quantities of coffee into portafilters and them tamping them with excessive force, is not basic espresso preparation, it is affected espresso preparation. Period.

ken

Ken Fox wrote:The entire "3rd Wave Espresso Industry" is based upon the "myths" that I have laid out in previous posts in various threads here....Being entirely honest, I also don't much care what a group of self appointed "WBC taste sensory judges" think constitutes a good espresso and what does not....The person who's advice I've been taking the most, over this period of time, is none other than Jim Schulman. He has told me to buy particular SOs close to a YEAR before they started showing up in blends baristas were using in the various competitions.

Now I finally understand.

1. The 3rd wave espresso industry is comprised of a bunch of deluded idiots who are too stupid to adopt Ken's Rules of Proper Espresso Making.
2. The incompetent WBC judges appointed themselves and don't know what good espresso is anyway.
3. Jim Schulman created the single origin espresso movement.

Thanks for clarifying these important points.

AndyS wrote:Now I finally understand.

1. The 3rd wave espresso industry is comprised of a bunch of deluded idiots who are too stupid to adopt Ken's Rules of Proper Espresso Making.
2. The incompetent WBC judges appointed themselves and don't know what good espresso is anyway.
3. Jim Schulman created the single origin espresso movement.

Thanks for clarifying these important points.

#3 is largely true.

ken

I have to say that for me single origin espresso started back in late 2004 when I walked into Mercanta for the first time and Anette handed me an espresso from a single estate (in El Salvador I think) that was better than anything I had ever tasted up until that point.

I had read Schomer's book before that, and it had made me aware of the things that Andy mentions above, some of which I now worry about less (humidity) and others I worry about even more (machine cleaning).

I don't like Schomer's espresso blend, though I found him very friendly when I met him and not too militant in his views. I tasted quite a few Vivace shots whilst in Seattle and they were very consistent barista to barista, except the one that he pulled me that was significantly better (I am not going to try and explain it).

I don't think there is much else out there in book form that will push the curious barista forward into exploring beyond the cafe.

King Seven wrote:I have to say that for me single origin espresso started back in late 2004 when I walked into Mercanta for the first time and Anette handed me an espresso from a single estate (in El Salvador I think) that was better than anything I had ever tasted up until that point.

I had read Schomer's book before that, and it had made me aware of the things that Andy mentions above, some of which I now worry about less (humidity) and others I worry about even more (machine cleaning).

I don't like Schomer's espresso blend, though I found him very friendly when I met him and not too militant in his views. I tasted quite a few Vivace shots whilst in Seattle and they were very consistent barista to barista, except the one that he pulled me that was significantly better (I am not going to try and explain it).

I don't think there is much else out there in book form that will push the curious barista forward into exploring beyond the cafe.

Hi James,

Once again, congratulations!

In 1995, I bought my first *real* espresso machine, a Cimbali Junior S Pourover, which I own to this day and which I've modified with a PID in the last few years (also, I have a rotary version of the same machine). When I purchased this machine back in 1995, I was given a xerox copy of an old set of instructions for maintaining the machine, including detailed chemical backflushing instructions detailing how often this was to be done depending on the service level, plus a 1kg tub of backflush detergent. Other instructions on this faded xerox copy detailed other aspects of maintaining the machine and proper hygiene and cleaning of it.

This was very much old hat and simply an afterthought to give me with the machine. The salesman, who was working in Boise Idaho of all places (population at that time was around 120,000 persons), gave me an hour's worth of one on one instruction in how to use and clean the machine.

To me, the idea that David Schomer invented machine hygiene and all this other stuff is simply preposterous. Maybe he was among the first to put it into a very tedious and opinionated book, but none of this stuff is original to him.

I wouldn't be commenting on it further other than because Andy seems to want to believe that Schomer invented this stuff.

ken

Ken, I don't think anyone (with the occasional exception of Schomer himself) ever claimed the stuff was original to him.

The book is basically a detailed manual on how to make espresso the Vivace way; and like any detailed manual, it is valuable in itself. The problem is he wrapped the book in a well worn scholar's fiction ...

"I went to the original home of X, and learned their secrets. But, alas, that home has become decadent and unworthy of X, so I'm renewing the tradition and creating a new home for X." Off hand, I recall Plato saying this about the Egyptians priests, Maimonides about the rabbinic academies outside Babylon, Renaissance humanists about scholastics like Maimonides, and 19th century German scholars about renaissance humanists.

For Schomer to play this same trick on Italian espresso is ridiculous too many ways to discuss fully. However, one aspect does impinge on this discussion: in his book, he doesn't adequately distinguish between things unique to Vivace and things that are common to all espresso prep. All of it is presented as the unified and correct system for making the only true espresso. More importantly, many people read the book in this spirit. Ken's objections are largely from having seen too many discussions being ended with somebody quoting Schomer as if it were holy writ.

AndyS wrote:Now I finally understand.

1. The 3rd wave espresso industry is comprised of a bunch of deluded idiots who are too stupid to adopt Ken's Rules of Proper Espresso Making.
2. The incompetent WBC judges appointed themselves and don't know what good espresso is anyway.
3. Jim Schulman created the single origin espresso movement.

Thanks for clarifying these important points.

Ken Fox wrote:#3 is largely true.

In scientific exploration, you display a commendable passion for accuracy.

In historical perspective...not so much.

Ken Fox wrote:To me, the idea that David Schomer invented machine hygiene and all this other stuff is simply preposterous. Maybe he was among the first to put it into a very tedious and opinionated book, but none of this stuff is original to him.

I wouldn't be commenting on it further other than because Andy seems to want to believe that Schomer invented this stuff.

Not sure where you ever got the impression that I think Schomer invented "this stuff."

Ken Fox wrote:The entire "3rd Wave Espresso Industry" is based upon the "myths" that I have laid out in previous posts in various threads here.

I humbly suggest that your argumentative style has more chance of success when you stick to merely insulting one person at a time, rather than an entire industry.