I corrected the abbreviations in the post above.

You know, the high point of the morning after the double debacle reported above was getting to use a real knockbox for the first time, the so-called Chuckabucket. Such a snap after the makeshift things I have always used.

I just got connected to your story of the Cafethema restoration. Wow, great job! We imported CAFETHEMA from CMA starting in 1978 and that body style would have remained until approximately 1981 or 82. (as near as the old brain cells can remember) By now you have obviously learned EVERYTHING about the machine but if I can be of any service, don't hesitate to ask. This is my first post ever so I am not familiar with how it works.
Again congratulations on a beautiful restoration!
Kent

Kent,

Thanks for posting, your kind comments and your work in providing great espresso machines on the market.
The utility of the machine and the quality of its product are what thrill me. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process and learned a few things. I would be interested to see a picture of one of these machines from original. I did encounter one, I believe, in a cafe in Spokane and SAS, another HBer, had the logo off one of them that was beyond repair. I have scrounged drip trays, made my own surround, lever handles, base legs and a rolling cart for the thing. Do you know of any still in service that you all imported?
Thanks for importing my machine, by the way!

I'll also report here on the Portacaffe at the Prosser Farmer's Market today. Within the past week the city personnel restored power to my little corner so I was able to roll over to the market, plug in and pull some shots, share some coffee. (Thank you, Prosser City Staff.)

Baratza had sent me the parts to fix the vario which I managed last night, but I borrowed an SM-90 grinder from some friends. I had a dosered grinder like I had never used before to grind the Vivace Vita and the repaired Vario for the Dolce. My few (let's see, 8 who gave donations, and 4 more to whom I gave coffee that would otherwise have gone to waste) customers had very kind remarks to say about their beverages and the little event garnered $50 for the local Parent Teacher's Association. The first session (or second if you count last week's rollout and rollback) was an exercise in how to arrange things in my space. The county food inspector spent the requisite time making sure that my activity matched my application and sanitary practices and cleanliness were given their due. She shared some useful tips in the process, as well.

And now some final result pictures:





As much as possible, this resurrected lever machine relies on reused items: wood, wheels, axels, and some stainless steels parts to replace missing drip trays and cuptrays. After painting the frame orange, I thought it fitting that my friend (who let me use his lathe for the handles to the 16 mm threaded rod I cut down for levers) gave me some aluminum road signs that were not being used. From these I was easily able to design and piece together a surround. I put together the axels and wheels from a cart that had been rotting in the field next to a neighbors house. The casters make it easy to move the cart indoors, but did not turn out so useful for relocating the cart to the nearby farmer's market.

Very cool. Great to finally see the finished product.

I enjoyed another Saturday morning Portacaffé session at the Prosser Farmer's Market. The shots were tasty and everything worked out pretty well. Thanks to generous customers the effort raised a bit over $100 for a local after school program that needs bus tickets for the students. Red Bird is a tasty espresso which I'll use again next weekend for the same purpose, but then I'll take a break until late August. We still are enjoying pleasant weather, but iced cafe latté are refreshing later in the morning at a market.

I completely filled the Chuckabucket with used pucks!

Nice, Flint. Let's see some pics of the market. A full Chuckabucket is a lot of pucks. I've run a couple thousand pucks through mine and it still looks new. The Redbird is a fantastic blend.

Took the Portacaffé out to the farmer's market again. Showcasing Velton's Bonsai blend. I really enjoyed dialing in the espresso and found that 17 grams with 5-6 sec preinfusion and 26 seconds extraction pulled a really nicely nuanced espresso. I thought the milk based drinks were great too. Chocolate and caramel. Right now I only use the CMA lever at the FM. After not pulling shots on it for 4 weeks it was lots of fun.

(Edit: Here you go, Clint. A customer was nice enough to take a pic of me and the machine.)

A wee report about this week's Portacaffé:

Proceeds this month will benefit the Prosser Boys and Girls Club.

Benjamin's Fresh Roast Coffee supplied his espresso blend which I chose because I thought it was great to hear about a high school student roasting and selling coffee.

It was a slight departure from the style of espresso I typically enjoy and the other blends I have taken to the farmers' market in that it is roasted fully into second crack. The beans have a uniformly oily sheen.

Since I stopped generally using Peet's Garuda blend a few years ago I haven't found another dark roast espresso that I really like. In fact I took some other dark roasted espresso beans to the market to warm up the groups before getting into Benjamin's Espresso. This was a blend that I had pulled with three different machines (Cremina, Pasquini Livietta and Brasilia lever) at a friend's house and was unable to produce anything but bitterness. I was hoping to get some sweeter shots from the blend by pulling it with the groups a bit cool. I failed but it made the process of dialing in Benjamin's go a bit quicker.

19 grams pulled for 26 secs after 8 secs preinfusion produced a thick, bitter ristretto, whereas 14 grams (looser grind) pulled for 20 secs after 8 secs preinfusion resulted in a more rounder but somewhat flat lungo. I settled into 17 grams with 8 secs preinfusion with a technique of delaying the full release of the lever by 2 secs in order (I think) to cool the extraction a bit. With this method I produced the shot I found most pleasing, sweeter, a bit spicy and with the bitterness of the dark roast rounding out the shot.

All that being said about my personal taste and today's extraction technique, the comments I received from the customers, who consumed about 25 beverages over the 4 hours were all positive. There were two guys who roast their own at home even. No one is too likely to complain when some hobbyist is making coffee for charity I realize, but since I wash the cups I can also say that only two had any coffee left in them. One man, who ordered the second machiatto I've made this summer said, "Is there some cinnamon or other spice mixed with this coffee?" No, just a nice espresso blend. Return customers who are usually very flattering with their comments seemed to like this one even more than some of the others I have brought out.

As usual I had a lot of fun. Unfortunately the force was not with me as regards steaming the milk and pouring latte art - lots of rorschach designs.

Shorter days and longer nights. 6 am rollout in the dark to have the machine hot and running and the cups, milk all set. Velton's Colombia Boyaca Guayatá roasted Oct 10. I found it to be a single origin that comes close to some of the blends as far as complexity and caramel. However, I rarely drink single origin Colombian. I look forward to working with it a few more days at home to see how it develops.

The idea of bringing out a Colombian coffee was suggested by a customer (should I say patron, since this is donations?) who worked in the industry in Colombia for a number of years and then at a University in Colombia and now is living here. He and his wife were appreciative and I learned a little coffee geography. The town Guayatá is not in one of the 7 coffee growing regions of Colombia. So we were both puzzled.

I textured milk and poured a bit better today. A few drinks were probably the best I've done. Definitely one big plus to all this effort this year has been the whole dialing in process with different coffees and practicing with milk. Some time ago, I wasted a half gallon of milk to the purpose, but I much prefer sharing the tasty drinks as I practice (even if some look more like Casper than a heart!)

Edit: October 27. As I have continued to use up what was left of the Boyaca Guayatá I would say that it has been very enjoyable with a nice spiciness with and without milk. Velton knows how to choose and roast a single origin to great effect for espresso.