Just found this thread -- really cool machine. I love the evolution of the project, and the different contexts the machine has been placed in. The trolley iteration was nice -- reminds me of a deconstructed kiwi sausage sizzle style fundraiser, but with a far superior product All the quirky details and uniqueness of it combined with the latest classy setup - what can i say? Great work! I one day hope to own such a charming coffee-space.

Chert has been to my house a few times, but I haven't visited him in Prosser; yet!

I quote Chert's tag line:

ectomorph with inefficient metabolism aided by capsaicin and caffeine
LMWDP #189

Now that I've seen his work area and other concoctions, I mean constructions, I want to add:
...with a proclivity for repurposing and reusing.

I really enjoy seeing what you have done in the roasting, grinding, and espresso department.

Thanks for the comments, guys. It has been a quirky and unique little coffee journey and thanks to HB I've encounter many other coffee fanatics and actually met a few in person. That has been a real treat, like the occasional visit to SAS. (He even sold me the Olympia Maximatic I've enjoyed the past 18 months or so -- soon to be on the Buy/Sell forum here...but that is another thread.)


Saturday November 16 the coffee in the thermos was Velton's Sumatra Tano Batak Aeknauli Microlot. 3 hours at our small winter market doesn't move much high grade coffee but the two liters in the thermos was finished within 90 minutes and still delicious. Others chose pourovers of Venia's Colombia Serrania de las Minas (Thanks to Keith at Venia!). The customer who purchased the Colombia described it as delicious. I tried it also and the 4 oz bag was gone. It was sweet and balanced in rich coffee flavor.

Here is the setup I am using for the coffee thermos. I try to have it brewed and hot as the market starts. I use 64 grams coffee in the #6 Melitta filter 1000 mL 93C water with grounds wet for 30 sec bloom them radial pour of the rest of the liter. Repeat x 1 and the thermos is full.


As long as the buckle, where the thermos top mounts, is beneath the edge of the Melitta plastic filter then it stays quite well, but one time I put that gap over the buckle and soon found my filter full of coffee and water fallen to the ground. Picture of the filter mounted on the thermos for brewing:



With Velton's current selection from Sumatra, this drip method highlighted the herbal, green bell pepper if you will, with a clean savory finish.

With the Sumatra this week I have tried it through its paces via Hario V60, trying to improve my extractions. I have focused on Tonx method of 94 C water 16 g coffee with a 30 sec bloom using 30-40 mL then 200 mL radially poured without stopping to raise float the grounds for < 3 minutes total brew time. Quicker extractions highlight the herbal brightness but when I managed the 3 min goal by adjusting the grind I found the cup to be the most balanced herbal/green pepper with leather/tobacco for a delicious cup.

I made an espresso shot with the Pasquini which was bright herbal citrus, interesting but not balanced. (EDIT: I subsequently pulled two normale shots with the large lever group that pleased much more.)

At lunch I shared a French press with a colleague today as well. The press cup displayed heavier body, more leather earthy tobacco and muted herbal character. I find I don't enjoy most coffees as much with food, but this one held its own nicely with a bowl of carrot soup and leftover pizza quite nicely.

You know, this savory single origin from Velton's Coffee is versatile through different preparations and delicious.

This week the buildings where the Winter Market takes place were a wee bit warmer, I'd say 50-55 deg F. Which brew method is best in such a cold ambient temperature? Probably a batch brewer into a thermos, but I went with the aeropress for individual cups of Velton's Holiday Blend or Ecuador Taza Dorada # 9. Rich complexity of the blend or clean chocolaty notes of the single origin brought a few customers back for a second cup, a gratifying experience for this enthusiastic home barista. I used the same coffees later to serve some friends cappuccino after dinner...nicely versatile roasts from Velton.

My espresso hobbyist project for next year is another modification of the Astoria commercial machine. With a hope to get it into a venue perhaps like the winter market, I wish to build a controller with the following capabilities: (1) sense the low water level to alarm and if not manually refilled, disable the machine (2) selectable timed on (3) PID type function of the boiler with programmable and selectable control of boiler temperature (4) LCD readout of temperature: ambient / boiler / group A / group B (5) programmed cold temperature limit element activation for prevention of freezing (see (3)). Based on what I have read and some queries here and there, I intend to use Arduino with TC4 shield, LCD shield, clock and solid state relay. Given my learning curve and time constraints I think fall 2014 completion might be realistic but I'll try for sooner.

Slow market day 11 customers in 3 hours. I featured Sacramento's Old Soul blend because the Ethiopian /blueberry red fruit shines nicely. It was a nice contrast to Velton's Nicaragua pacamara which has a more vibrant acidity and chocolate notes.

I'm enjoying getting into microcontroller technology. My soldering station is ready and with an LCD shield and Arduino Uno clipped together I begin to learn the coding that will be needed. Using the Uno as the controller I will put together my own LCD / buttons panel because the shield takes up too many pins.

Playing with it yesterday I learned that the push buttons are simple switches that vary the resistance across a circuit. The analog input senses the current or voltage and so the software can identify which button is being depressed. With small switches and resistors I could therefore assemble the pushbutton interface and with a little more study learn how to connect an LCD that requires less pin use than the Sainsmart pictured in my little image of today.

Thread continued on Portacaffé blog...