A number of HB members are big fans of Caffe Fresco and its enthusiastic proprietor, Tony Sciandra. The order of Ambrosia Espresso Blend and Papua New Guinea that I was expecting this week arrived yesterday and today was the first day after its recommended rest period of five days. Generally I am reluctant to post tasting notes after only a few samples, but seeing that I'm on vacation and Tony asked for feedback in an attached note regarding the Ambrosia's darker roast level, I'll post some brief comments.

(Our own Abe Carmeli offers the love soliloquy Ambrosia by Caffe Fresco - A blend worthy of its name - I'm still a little dizzy: "As I watched it pour into my cup, I had a hunch something extraordinary is happening. It built slowly in the cup, as reddish dark brown crema, heavy and thick, like pouring melted chocolate. With the first sip I took I felt the consistency of buttery heavy cream. Complex and deep tones, balanced rich with a hint of dry fruit and strong bittersweet chocolate tone.").

First of all, I was surprised to see a slight sheen of oil already showing. I've only sampled his Ambrosia Espresso Blend once before and I remember it being roasted to barely Full City. The recommended maximum brew temperature is 201F, which translates into about 4-5 seconds past the end of the water dance on the Vetrano. Having only 14 ounces to work with, I avoided wasting coffee on a "garbage shot" by flushing the group once, waiting three minutes, and then a short flush-n-go before extracting; this extra step seems to improve the accuracy of the Vetrano's first shot of the day (*). To allay my concern that an apparently beautiful extraction would color my judgment, the last few days I've kept the bottomless portafilter in the drawer. This helps assure that I focus on the in-cup results, but today it's back out for confirming the AEB's extraction. The grind setting was about 3/4 notch coarser than the Kid O's from yesterday. After one iffy extraction, the pulls have come together nicely at around 28 seconds, 18 grams, 201F estimated temperature. Rich and balanced, its chocolaty creaminess lasts until the bottom of the cup. Really yummy.

However, I'm not entirely sold on the higher roast level. It may make for an easier pull and the chocolates are stronger, but I miss the added dimension the longer roast appears to suppress. Instead of the dark ruby red / brown crema, it's closer to mahogany / cherry wood; it still exhibits the sweetness I remember from the first batch from a few weeks ago. My hope is that another day of rest will enhance the complexity, especially in the finish, as sometimes happens with coffee.

Oh, I've been woefully neglectful of reminders to study single origin espressos, so later this week I'll report on the PNG that accompanied the same order (described in Caffe Fresco Brown Brindle PNG).

(*) In keeping with my promise not to pollute my early findings with diagnostic equipment, this judgment is based only on taste. I've noticed a darker initial crema and indications of over-temperature extractions if I simply flush-n-go straight out of the gate after an extended idle period. Later I will confirm this with in-basket / thermofilter measurements.

Teme wrote:As for results, I can manage microfoam with all of them and found the EPNW noticeably slower than the stock tip - good if you only want to steam a very small amount of milk.

skyryders90 wrote:I have also played with the old expobar "tube" tip - it works pretty well too - not too fast for the machine, but a bit too fast for my meager barista skills.

Jim's proposed "Goldilock's Guidelines" for judging the appropriate balance of steam output and boiler capacity is helpful, but there's no substitute for actually trying it yourself. Each Friday I join other locals at Counter Culture Coffee's espresso lab and play with their "big boy toys" (*) for an hour, so I'm comfortable working with equipment ranging from a Rancilio Silvia to multi-group La Marzoccos. Abe noted an extra sweetness to the milk in his Synesso Cyncra report today. Often home baristas focus on the texture of the milk and don't discuss the sweetness, something that I believe the big boys deliver more easily than their smaller siblings. Although I've not done side-by-side taste comparisons, my gut feeling is that the so-called "cheater tips" sacrifice flavor for texture. Returning to the Vetrano, I find it has enough ummph to approach commercial standards, but not so much that your average enthusiast feels compelled to wear protective safety glasses.

I've used the "tube" tip and it's certainly far from my favorite. The holes for the tip of the "no burn" steam arm are slightly smaller, which makes the difference between barely acceptable and one of the best. I'll come back to this point when I have the adapter, since I've not done an apples-to-apples comparison.


Close-up of the first moments of the "cinnamon cascade"
formed by the separating layers of a macchiato

(*) They've recently upgraded to the La Marzocco GB5, woohoo! We meet at their Durham location every Friday at 7:30am; contact me if you would like to join us.

Yesterday I received the 8mm female to 10mm male thread adapter mentioned earlier in this thread. Although I'm very satisfied with the stock setup, the adapter does offer the option of swapping in "low volume" steam tips. Below is a picture of the steam arm sans tip:


Teflon tubing insert of the "no burn" steam arm

Keep it clean! Gunky milk residue building up in the steam wand? Ewww-w! Remember to purge the steam wand before and after each use, especially with the no burn steam arm. While I've never had a problem keeping it clean, I see that the tighter confines of this wand could punish those with less circumspect habits. To avoid introducing milk into the arm, have a slight outflow of steam going when inserting and removing the tip from the pitcher. For good measure, I also purge a spritz of steam from the wand after wiping it down. With this regime, I've never seen any evidence of milk residue on the interior surfaces of the wand or tips.

Clearance shouldn't be an issue. You can see the back of the steam wand stopcock in this picture from Chris' Coffee: