What I find more interesting is how the nature of discussions on "The Geek" have changed in the past year: I remember discussions being more diverse, but it has descended into bottomless 'espresso-porn' and to a now lesser extent, latte art. Furthermore, I'm finding the tone on the BGA board to become extremely dominated by two people.


There's nothing inherently wrong with these two trends, but it's good to see some diversity of discussion. Hopefully HB's forum continues its current path.

cheers,
-j

As I sit here in my office reading this I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I want to chant GO DAN GO. Just to push the buttons a bit more I was seduced by Jon's espressoporn as well. Last night it came to a head, I can't take it any longer, so out came my spare portafilter and off to the garage we went.

After a half hour of drilling, cutting, grind, sand, fine stone grind and polish (yes I may be a bit anal, but it looks like the PF was made that way vs. the hacked open with a chainsaw appearance of some other homemade PF's) I had my very own bottomless portafilter. I smiled with excitement, like a schoolboy picking up his first date. I eagerly ran inside and powered up the machine. Then I ran upstairs and woke up the wife, 'honey, where did you put the digital camera!' yea, you know where this is going don't you.

So I impatiently sat there watching Letterman wishing this thing would heat faster. Forty minutes, that is 2400 seconds and I felt every one, it is ready to go. Flush, grind, flush, dose, tamp, get on my knees and focus the camera and flip the lever. WoHoooow! Let the love flow, click, click, click goes the camera.

After the shot, I sit there and stare at the shot glass, my GOD! Look at that crema! Got to take another photo!

Of course that is not good enough; off I go to the laptop to create a thread on CG to post my wonderful work of art. Then this morning I did the same thing, I was fifteen minutes late to work just because I wanted to take photos and stare at the extraction.

To Dan's comment about burning through more beans, I almost did the same thing. After that first pull, I sipped on the shot and thought, let's dump this one out and do it again! Alas, I spend too much time blending and roasting to just 'dump' shots.

I almost took photos of the process just to write another article for the swagfest. After Dan's post, I am glad I did not.

Hope this brings a chuckle to you.

ObieDan Canobi, may the Rosenthal be with you.

I had to dig this discussion out of the archives because it showcases exactly what I've been experiencing in past several days.

First yes Jon I want you to know, your espresso photography is what pushed me to purchase my first espresso machine. I had always been a coffee fan, but man your pours are what truly gave me the urge to take the espresso plunge. Now a year or so later I can't thank you enough. Espresso is truly something special. Jon you planted the seed, HB.com made it grow.

Anyhow I have recently begun some serious experimentation with my ridgeless triple basket and have been having very good results.

The espresso seems smoother with a silkier body. The flavor profile seems more mellow and drawn out. All in all I love the espresso. My pours don't look like Jon's but they are damn tasty.

If Jon is Darth Vader I guess that makes me...

TimEggers wrote:The espresso seems smoother with a silkier body. The flavor profile seems more mellow and drawn out. All in all I love the espresso.

this might be an entertaining thread.

The goal is great TASTING espresso, not great LOOKING espresso

jon

RegulatorJohnson wrote:this might be an entertaining thread.

The goal is great TASTING espresso, not great LOOKING espresso

jon

Oh I agree, as soon as Santa brings my LM portafilter I'm stuffing my triple in that and putting the bottomless back in the cupboard. Like Dave has said I too have stopped watching the flow and started enjoying delicious espresso.

Somehow I missed this thread the first time it came around, but I'm glad someone bumped it! If I hadn't finished this morning's cappa I'm pretty sure it'd have been split between my monitor and my keyboard by now!

I, too, wandered over to the dark side. I haven't put a fourteen gram basket in my PF for a while. The triple I bought from Jon's basket blowout (he organised a group buy of a great number of baskets, and then became a professional espresso tools distributor for a few afternoons, just because it was a nice thing to do!) hasn't seen the volume it has in the past, but I'm thinking I'm getting it out again.
I can't say who contributed more to my espresso knowledge, Dan, Mark, Jon, or a largely anonymous group of espresso hounds sprinkled amongst them. Jon, for sure, set me on the path of light and goodness when it comes to art. His patience and his careful instruction have been responsible for at least as many beautiful rosetti as ristretti.
So, let me take a moment and thank all those responsible. Jon, Dan, Mark, and all of the rest of you, thanks! My coffees this morning were excellent, and I owe it all to you guys! Shots are on me, anytime you're in Tucson, and yes, that means you, too. It takes a village to make great espresso...
I'll stand firm on the topic of looks vs taste, however. Great looking espresso may not be the goal, but it is one of the markers on the highway to great tasting espresso. I've heard the argument that not all great looking espressi taste great, and not all ugly pulls taste lousy, but I put that into the same category as the argument against seatbelts because you heard some guy got strangled or cut in half in an accident. It could, and has happened, but the odds favor those wearing the seatbelts. Most of the gorgeous pulls I've seen tasted great. I'm pretty sure that I'd be happy with nearly every single pull that JonR10 has posted to CG, too.
Nope, you can't always judge a book by it's cover, but if you can't actually read the thing, the cover is all you get. They do design the cover to let you know what's in the book, ya know! ; >

Psyd wrote:Somehow I missed this thread the first time it came around, but I'm glad someone bumped it! If I hadn't finished this morning's cappa I'm pretty sure it'd have been split between my monitor and my keyboard by now!

I, too, wandered over to the dark side. I haven't put a fourteen gram basket in my PF for a while. The triple I bought from Jon's basket blowout (he organised a group buy of a great number of baskets, and then became a professional espresso tools distributor for a few afternoons, just because it was a nice thing to do!) hasn't seen the volume it has in the past, but I'm thinking I'm getting it out again.
I can't say who contributed more to my espresso knowledge, Dan, Mark, Jon, or a largely anonymous group of espresso hounds sprinkled amongst them. Jon, for sure, set me on the path of light and goodness when it comes to art. His patience and his careful instruction have been responsible for at least as many beautiful rosetti as ristretti.
So, let me take a moment and thank all those responsible. Jon, Dan, Mark, and all of the rest of you, thanks! My coffees this morning were excellent, and I owe it all to you guys! Shots are on me, anytime you're in Tucson, and yes, that means you, too. It takes a village to make great espresso...
I'll stand firm on the topic of looks vs taste, however. Great looking espresso may not be the goal, but it is one of the markers on the highway to great tasting espresso. I've heard the argument that not all great looking espressi taste great, and not all ugly pulls taste lousy, but I put that into the same category as the argument against seatbelts because you heard some guy got strangled or cut in half in an accident. It could, and has happened, but the odds favor those wearing the seatbelts. Most of the gorgeous pulls I've seen tasted great. I'm pretty sure that I'd be happy with nearly every single pull that JonR10 has posted to CG, too.
Nope, you can't always judge a book by it's cover, but if you can't actually read the thing, the cover is all you get. They do design the cover to let you know what's in the book, ya know! ; >

Well said. For me the bottomless was really a step in my journey. Before it my espresso was just plain bad, then I chopped off my Gaggia's portafilter to see what was going on. That along gave me my greatest improvement. Since then I've come to be fairly consistent (per my tongue) and the bottomless has become less of a useful tool and more a vehicle of entertainment. I sold my Rancilio Bottomless and sent out my Quickmill handle to be chopped and in that time found new love for my spouted handle. Without the time with the bottomless my espresso now with my spouted portafilter wouldn't be what it is. I'm not knocking the bottomless at all rather I owe a lot to it I just have come to learn that it isn't the end all be all and looks don't mean everything. Like others have already noted I've had some not so pretty looking pours taste excellent and vise-versa. I also (like Dave Stephens) notice a texture change that I myself prefer.

I put 18.6 grams in my 18 g basket today, and fell in love all over again. I remembered what it 'felt' like to adjust from a sixteen gram basket on the Major, and got it right first try! Yummm...

Psyd wrote:I'll stand firm on the topic of looks vs taste, however. Great looking espresso may not be the goal, but it is one of the markers on the highway to great tasting espresso.

Got some Black Cat from Dan yesterday. It was tasting and looking pretty good. Couldn't help myself - just had to get a quick snap. I do agree, taste and looks do compliment one another.




Cheers

Ian