Life is good. I have an Olympia Cremina. I recently received my Elektra Double Basket. I have nailed down and simplified my dosing, tamping, and lever pull techniques. I fresh roast my favorite espresso blend (Cafe Doma's Vito's Blend) every couple of days. And I consistently get results like that in the video below.



I had planned to run the video until the crema settled out, but the song ran out first and I got thirsty.

Life is definitely good. Would you mind posting the weight of coffee (g), the shot volume, and the number of pulls?

PC

Volume: 2oz
Weight: 16 grams
Pulls: 1*

* If you do not include my mini pre-infusion strokes before actually pulling the shot.

The Vito's Blend is on its 6th day. It peaks for flavor and crema on day 3. As you can see it still holds together pretty well on day 6 with an extra click finer on the grind.

Great results Lance- life is good in Spokane..! Are there any good espresso shops in the downtown area of Spokane-? I am there for business often and have yet to find a shop that I like....

To tell you the truth, most espresso shops (if you can use that descriptor to describe them) scare me. I have very little faith in the coffee culture here--it is growing for the better however.

There is one place just south of downtown on the South Hill called Lindemans. If you look south from downtown you will see the spire of St. Johns Cathedral about half way up the hill--about a mile or two. Lindemans is just a block south of the Cathedral on Grand Blvd. They are a little Bistro-Cafe. Your experience will depend on which Barista you get. They have some very good ones though.

If you see a Black Tie coffee, they do a pretty good job for a fast serve cafe/drive through.

Both Lindemans and Black tie serve Cafe Doma coffee.

The best choice would be about a half hour east in Coeur d'Alene Id. That is where Cafe Doma is located on 5th and Sherman. You just get off on the first exit. It will take you toward the water and then parallel it. That will be Sherman.

I will be posting some picture of their cafe and roasting facility soon.

EDIT: I decided that the references I made to local coffee roasters whose coffee you should avoid when in Spokane was not appropriate and removed the reference. I think it is better to make more positive statements making recommendations where to go rather than where to avoid.

Just for fun I thought that I would post a clip of an espresso shot made just from the Colombian beans used in Doma's Vito's blend. I had quite a surprise. These beans were amazing. They had all the Crema, sweetness, body, and texture you would expect out of a high end dry processed Brazilian. These Colombian bean make a great stand alone single origin espresso. I will post a clip of the Brazilian used in the Vito's blend after I run through this Colombian. The specs are in the video. Sorry about the video quality (focus and lighting) I am still learning how to use my old Sony DSC-85 for video. This is only my second attempt.

I am attempting to improve my shot videos. This one is an improvement; however, I am still not satisfied. You cannot make out the striping or detail that well. If anyone has any advice on improving the image quality I would really appreciate it. On this one I am straddling the tripod and the camera is about a foot from the group. I can barely maintain even shot pressure due the the tripod and camera being in the way--as is apparent in the uneven stream in the pour. I am using a Sony DSC-S85 camera. I don't know if this is part of the problem or not. Please let me know.

One suggestion..... an assistant.. you are doing so many things, you should win the Oscar for multi-tasking. I mean Peacecup at least has a spring help him some.. oh and cameo's by the little princess for "eye candy"

I set the camera right on the counter, propped up on a box or book, as close as focus will allow if I want to get just the espresso. I also use manual focus when I remember, which isn't often. I've only videoed about five shots, and none have been very good quality. I've been more interested in impressions to date, either technique or just crema.

BTW, I can't seem to get a good video with the double-walled Pavina because of glare. My last two with the thick, clear shot glass were better.

PC

peacecup wrote:I set the camera right on the counter, propped up on a box or book, as close as focus will allow if I want to get just the espresso. I also use manual focus when I remember, which isn't often. I've only videoed about five shots, and none have been very good quality.
PC

I appreciate the feedback. I wish I had the space to place my camera on the counter. Using manual focus really sounds like the way to go. I cannot change focus once recording starts though.

mogogear wrote:One suggestion..... an assistant.. you are doing so many things, you should win the Oscar for multi-tasking.

You are right about the multitasking. It feels clumsy and I tend to make little errors--that thankfully I can edit out of the video. An assistant would be a real help. However, my wife is absolutely non-mechanical. I will have to bribe someone with dinner or something to come over and help.

peacecup wrote:I've been more interested in impressions to date, either technique or just crema.
PC

I have been so excited lately about consistently getting crema as good as any commercial machine I have seen that that is all I have focused on in my videos. It has been so disappointing to watch a beautiful shot and then watch the video of it fall short of what you witnessed. It seems that I am not the only one achieving great crema though. I really enjoy watching videos of great shots. It seems we all are really getting good at squeezing the nectar out of the sacred bean. Perhaps once I get my video quality a bit better I might focus on technique a little. After all that is how I am able to get such great shots that I want to record them.

peacecup wrote:BTW, I can't seem to get a good video with the double-walled Pavina because of glare. My last two with the thick, clear shot glass were better. PC

I really noticed that. This is why I was attempting my videos at different angles--with little success. I notices that the clarity of your video with the shot glass looked way better than mine. I think that I will start using my clear espresso cups.

I will be dumping my video experimentations here as I improve my video technique, try different beans, roast profiles, and generally improve my shot pulling ability--anything that yields a better looking shot. I really would like to get a video posted that replicates what I actually see when pulling the shot. And hopefully the flavor with be congruent with the beauty of the shot.

Best wishes,
Lance