Post Coffee Roast

Post Roast

This is some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe that has just finished roasting in my little IMEX CR-100 coffee roaster. This batch turned out a bit light because i stopped it too soon. I did another batch later and let it run for longer, and it turned out much nicer. I’m still refining my coffee roasting skills and experimenting with beans… but as a single origin Yirg is a top rated bean.

Green Coffee Beans

Green Coffee Beans

I recently ordered some green coffee beans online from a cooperative website. They basically conduct polls as to which beans are the most popular, and then based on how many people are interested, contact the distributors directly and place large orders for the green beans. This means i can get really high quality beans at pretty cheap prices.

These ones are Indonesian Bukhit… Also in the set i order was some Indian Tiger Mountain, Costa Rican SHB Tarrazu, and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

If that means absolutely nothing to you…fear not ! It means very little to me as well, other than that other people have said that once roasted they make some awesome shots of espresso… So we’ll see how it goes i guess.

Milk Frothing Guide

Having recently purchased a beautiful Rancilio Silvia espresso machine, I’ve started getting into espresso in a big way.

One of the biggest things i’m trying to master is the art of milk frothing, and how to create latte art.

For anyone else wanting to get into this pursuit, i will say look no further than the CoffeeGeek milk frothing guide.

It’s an excellent resource that covers the main points of steaming and frothing milk, as well as a bit of the science of milk, and what chemical reactions are involved in getting that velvety smooth microfoam that makes espresso taste so good.

It also covers how to use various grades of espresso machines (basic home machines to full commerical machines) in order to get the desired result.

Now if only i can put some of it into practice.

You can see the results of some of my efforts here.

Category change

I’ve changed the name of one of my categories from “Coffee” to “Espresso”. I think i’ve reached the point where i need to make the distinction between something you might find next to the drinking chocolate and sugar in the supermarket, and the stuff i spend hours reading about on the web, and pouring countless amounts of time and money into perfecting in my little home cafe/science lab.

Look forward to a few more “espresso” posts in the near future. You may have already seen some of my shots in the sidebar section or in the photo gallery… there’ll be plenty more of that too.

Now…time to go make one…

Hello Miss Silvia & Mr Rocky

Miss Silvia

Yesterday i welcomed two new friends into the household. They were Miss Silvia and Rocky, both of the Rancilio family.

After a long time reading reviews and searching through websites for information about espresso machines, grinders, and all the assorted paraphenalia that goes along with using and maintaining them, i finally decided to jump in.

I found the Silvia and the Rocky both on ebay, via a private seller. The photo’s looked good, the price was reasonable compared to what i’ve seen and the dealer seemed reputable and so i went for it. I dropped my bids in with a week left to go, and lo and behold if a week later i had won both auctions !

So yesterday they arrived and after a quick check to ensure they were in good working order Sharon and I got them working.

The first few shots left a lot to be desired, and after some grind level changes on Rocky and a few back flushes on Silvia we
were back in business. I won’t say the espresso is great yet… but it’s definitely on its way.

Rocky

Update: Got some great info from Dan the seller, and done a lot more reading on how to get the Silvia setup right for consistently good shots. Sharon is kicking my butt so far… She made an awesome short macchiato for me last night, don’t think i’ve tasted one as good in recent memory.

Check out the photos if you want the real deal :)