Perhaps I understated where I am in the process.
- Before purchasing my first grinder and espresso machine, I spent countless hours on HB and CG reading -about technique and scouring hardware reviews, and viewed dozens of You-Tube videos of distribution techniques, naked extractions, steaming, latte art, etc. I've probably studied harder than I ever did in school for any particular subject.
- I bought a 0.1 gram scale before my first espresso machine arrived and have weighed every one of the many doses I've prepared over the past couple months. It's time consuming, but I'm not ready to eyeball doses yet, though I may experiment with my new grinder's timed dose feature.
- Mostly due to stuff written by Ken Fox and Jim Schulman, I've focused on pulling 13-14g doses of Terroir SO coffees, and have had good success (so far, I like the Ethiopian Adame Bedane best.) If this is what Ken means by simplifying, I've done plenty of that. But I've also experimented with 14g-21g doses blends like Black Cat, WBC, and Belle, Machristay, partly to explore the different tastes and partly to learn what happens with bigger doses. Yeah, updoses have been harder to handle than 14g doses, but I've been able to dial them in with an appropriate basket and some extra attention to distribution. So far, I'm not a huge fan of ristretto triples prepared with these blends. Too intense, too dense and bit too much caffeine for me. In fact, yesterday I pulled a yummy 17g shot of Belle that was the best shot of a blend I've pulled yet. Who knows? Maybe I can down dose these monsters even more. Heather Perry may like pulling 25g-28g of this stuff, but I'm not going in that direction.
- It took a while, but I got to the point where I could pull a good 14g shot with a PID Silvia and Macap M4 (updosing wasn't particularly successful with that combination.) Then I saw the clearance prices on GS/3s and went slightly insane. Not long after, I brought in a Baratza Vario, which better matches my single-shot prep style, frequent change of coffees and represents an improvement in both grind quality (no WDT) and taste (as baffling as that may be for such a diminutive grinder.) This combination is much easier to work with, especially for experimenting with updosing. I'm sure I spend way more time dialing in shots than the experts, but once dialed in, the shots are generally good to very good to occasionally excellent (plus sink shots when I screw up.) The Vario is too new to be certain about day-to-day consistency, but it's certainly consistent on any given day. My own consistency is a work in progress, but there's been real improvement since the beginning.
- Let me hasten to add that I'm not a cupper. So far, I don't know whether I'm really capable of distinguishing a bouquet of flavors in the cup. I'm mainly at the level of "(really) good or (really) bad", "rounded", "mellow", "laid back", "smooth", "intense", "in your face", and "bleach", "nutty", "chocolate (sort of)", "bright (acidic)", "bland", etc., as well as the usual bitter or sour due to extraction problems. I think with more practice and tasting I may get to a somewhat deeper level with flavor. But judging from my experience with wine, it probably won't be at the individual component level. I tell a great wine from a good wine from a mediocre wine from a bad wine. I can taste the tobacco flavor in a Chateau Margaux (probably because it's so overpowering.) I know when a wine is fruity, but I can't tell you if it's black currants or blackberries or strawberries. Maybe I could learn to do that, but it's not my style. I'm mainly in it for the "Ahhh" moment.
To summarize, I'm not an expert by any means, and have many years and shots to pull before I could be called experienced, but I'm well on the way. As Ken says, it's not rocket science -- especially after the first few days and weeks of frustration. I avoided a lot of problems by starting with a decent grinder, weighing my doses, and using a naked PF to learn about grind, dose and distribution. I'm fortunate that the machines I have now are simplifying the process even more. I'm not a cupper and probably never will be. I'm looking to make a good cup out of any good quality coffee I choose, but I'm not looking to bring out a particular flavor that a particular coffee is supposed to have (at least, I'm not there yet.)
I asked about the books because I'm interested in learning as much as I can about making great espresso, not to learn the basics. I was just curious about the value of the published material. In particular, I had read some of the things Jim pointed out about the Schomer material, and specifically wondered whether the DVDs would be worth their very high price. Evidently not. I haven't received the Rao book yet, but the Illy book has arrived and looks like it will make a nice addition to my library (and may take a few trips with me to the WC
)
by Peppersass on Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:04 pm 
). This would be to invest $11 dollars or so in an accurate gram scale, to weigh your doses, to use doses at "lower end" of the N. American range, e.g. what they use in Italy most of the time, e.g. around 14g, and this will reduce channeling and the other sorts of problems that newbies usually face.
Contact Us