Walter wrote:So I switched to Plan B and decided to get the machine at the beginning of my vacation either directly from Elektra or a vendor nearby (since that is less than an hours drive from where I will be) and become familiar with it during my vacation. But now it looks like I'm in for an unpleasant surprise: that this experiment might result in frustration.

Mark's operation hints for the Microcasa will save you a lot of guesswork. To that I'll add some suggestions:

• Pick a forgiving blend temperature-wise
• Use a timer and scale to rachet up your consistency
• Dial in the grind with another machine you know well that doesn't overheat. The Microcasa runs about 3/4 notch coarser than my everyday machine; I can use this approximation to reach decent shot quality more quickly.

And of course the most important suggestion: You're on vacation, and as I understand it, you're in Italy. If it doesn't work out, share your woes with a sympathetic barista at a local cafe over some great espressos.

While my shot pulling mojo is still lacking, today's espresso wasn't bad:


Nice taste balance, but weak crema mars an otherwise good espresso

I thank Steve for this helpful suggestions -- the last few days have been closer to how the espresso was flowing on day one of my vacation. For those shots that fell short of expectations, well, I will continue to blame humidity.

As a mental exercise, I decided to formally rate this espresso using the SCAA sensory score sheet:

Color of crema (hazelnut, dark brown, reddish reflection): 2.25
Consistency and persistence of crema: 0.75
Taste balance (harmonious balance of sweet/acidic/bitter): 2.5
Tactile balance (full bodied, round, smooth): 1.75
Overall: 1.5

The lack of crema and its iffy persistence really marred the shot; it wouldn't be overly harsh to mark it as a 0.5. On the plus side, the espresso was balanced, smooth, and had lots of chocolate sweetness. High-body shots elude me on the Microcasa and this one was no exception; otherwise the tactile score would have moved up appreciably.

For the technical judges: Dried basket thoroughly, wasted a few grams of coffee in spillage, good distribution and tamping, no scale used (volume measure), medium speed thwack, two taps at just past 3/4 full, overfilled and leveled with Chicago Chop, no downward pressure; 12 minute preheat, half-shot blank to warm portafilter, ten seconds preinfusion, two pulls, approximately 30 second extraction.

no 1/4 scores, please.

You're joking, I know, but it's a question I need to keep in mind...

I remember that 1/2 points were common at last year's SERBC. I'll ask at the judging workshop if anything less is too hairsplitting. It was John Sanders who said there would never be a 0.0 or 6.0, and one would hope there are very few scores below 2.0. So if you went by halves, that leaves only 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5. It's not unlikely that the majority will score below 4.0, so only 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 remain. Only four numbers? Do 1/2 points still seem too coarse?

FWIW, the head judges were more concerned about consistency in scoring than anything. Last year was my first judging event, so the head judge shadowed all my scores. He "recalibrated" one of my espresso scores, which I still disagree with today. But that's a discussion for another day and another thread.

i'm poking a bit of fun at your personal scoring, that's all.

but no 1/4 points is serious in the USBC. danny o'neill would do it just to hack off sanders, but he's about the only one who could get away with it.