espresso making mags?

[m1e448]

Some think its too strong, some think its for starbucks yuppies. But since I've been hooked, I make my own every morning with an old Gaggia Baby I found at a yardsale.

I recently picked up a Grimac La Valentina that is in need of some work, and will hopefully pull a fine shot. I can make a bunch of drinks but usually just a double shot gets me going in the morning.

Anyone else rock the espresso from their house rather than starbacks?

[beaterdit]

Every day for me. Triple in the morning and if I'm working I'll pack another triple for the 4am-8am stretch. I usually drink it Americano style with a little milk and sugar but sometimes not.

I use the little stovetop italian style ones, I've got a small and a medium one. They rock, I've had the little one for over 10 years.

[halcyon]

I recently picked up a Grimac La Valentina

That's a nice looking little machine. You going to plumb that badboy in? And what grinder are you using?

I've been out of the home espresso game for a while now but if I were more stable here, I'd buy another machine in a heartbeat. I had a salvaged old italian thing, similar to the Baby, but I was able to coax a pretty decent shot out of it after a while. My girlfriend at the time did not think so highly of the idea of spending a couple grand on a Sylvia and Rocky combo. Bitch.

I don't even order milk based drinks here in North Vancouver despite having about 6 cafés in a 4 block radius. Mmm, I have to go across the water to run an errand later... that means a decent macchiato from Caffe Artigiano.

[Lev]

Dude, tell your ex that the sylvia rocky combo is only about a grand Isn't good coffee enough justification? You spend about $850 per year going to Starbucks to get your daily latte. So in a few years, you actually saved a few bucks (minus the cost of buying your beans).

I only know this in theory. I have not yet bought my espresso machine, but I have one on the wedding registry for next year. Now it's just the waiting game... Come on Sylvia!

[halcyon]

This is about 4 years ago, so I thought I remembered it being more expensive.

I actually have a fully automated Saeco thing that my roommate owns. It steams okay, but after adjusting the grind as fine as it goes, I have no control over the watery shot that comes out. A latté outta the Saeco still beats asking for one from anywhere around here though.

[somegeek]

I'd dig on an espresso machine eventually. Plain ol' espresso and water for me with some 1/2 & 1/2. Good stuff.

For now I'm slummin' it with Costco Starbuck's French Roast... it's not that bad actually(to my palette at least) and it's hard to beat for $4-5/lb when you get it in the big bags.

[Tippster]

I'd dig on an espresso machine eventually. Plain ol' espresso and water for me with some 1/2 & 1/2. Good stuff.

AKA an "Americano." I gave our espresso maker to our babysitter (we had gotten it from my MiL who never used it.) I don't need to jack myself up that hard every morning.

Oh, we found that using a medium roast Central American bean and grinding it fine tasted better than traditional "Espresso Roast" beans.

[moose pit]

Rockin' the stove top. $22 and nothing will break or go wrong.

Usually with a french roast, I have been drinking Bean North coffees they are pretty good. Although I am fickle and tend to buy what ever med-dark to dark roast catches my eye.

The only starfucks bean that I have enjoyed recently is the Italian roast, although the Gold coast is passable when desperation takes hold.

[Lev]

AKA an "Americano." I gave our espresso maker to our babysitter (we had gotten it from my MiL who never used it.) I don't need to jack myself up that hard every morning.

I've been told that a cup of normal drip coffee contains more caffeine than a double shot of espresso. Getting "jacked" on espresso actually requires a little more substance, surprisingly.

[halcyon]

The longer you roast, the less the caffeine. A 16 oz (grande) medium roast can have anywhere from 200-300 mg of caffeine, whereas a single shot of espresso tends to be around 40mg.

If you drink your 'spro I-talian style (2 packets of sugar in a single espresso), then it's probably the sugar that gets you jacked.

[stapes]

Used to have a little machine that I gave to a friend when I moved.

We have one at the office for my daily mid-afternoon pick-me up shot. If I don't go with a straight shot, I'll put 1-2 shots in my coffee. I've heard it called either a Shot in the Dark, Redeye, etc. I'll usually only do that in the a.m. though.

I could go for a shot right now.

[tigerstripe40]

I used to have a Gaggia machine that my parents had in their restaurant.
It was fully mechanical. No electronics save for the pressure switch that turned the pump on and off.
I think it was 30 years old when they got it. You had to turn knobs to make the machine do it's work, so there was quite a bit of 'feel' to making espresso and other drinks.

I still think that machine made the best espresso.
It's gone now. It broke and the replacement parts were no longer available.

[skibee]

Little stove top beastie that pumps out a triple shot, Mntlion is the wimp in the family and uses the single shot mini, we have our own stove tops because neither one will wait for the other to have their coffee and let the machine cool to fill their own.

We have been drinking Domonican Republic import and need to return soon to do a refill. hence the campaign for baseball gloves... but who really needs a charity excuse to go veg on a beach for a week following a semester form hell in nursing school!!!

[Patches]

I have a lower end home machine with an E61 head - similar to your la valentina but not as nice. I've been making 10 shots a day for 5 years... love it.

Once you get it working definitely toss the reservoir and plumb it in to an undersink filter/softener ... you can get the parts from chriscoffee.com . You want to soften the water or junk will eventually ruin the heat exchanger, and as long as you are doing that ditching the reservoir is a no brainer. Hopefully all you need to do is connect the line from the softener to the intake of the pump.

I had to do two other things... put a solenoid ($40) valve on the line, otherwise water would slowly leak through the pump. Easy 30 minute job, just piggyback off the pump leads so when the pump turns on the solenoid opens. The internals on mine also had a hose that dribbled excess water back into the tank, so I had to drill a hole in the front of the machine to run it into the drip tray. Another 30 minutes. No biggie.

The biggest thing I did to get better coffee was roast my own... I get the beans green from sweetmarias.com (Liquid Amber blend, $5/lb in 20 lb bags). Not only does it taste way better than anything I could buy roasted but its 1/3 the price and the green beans keep for 6 months so you don't have to buy them every week. The drum roaster was $500 or so when I bought it and it paid for itself in a couple of years.

[comish]

Rocking an Expobar which has done me pretty well. Had the Rialto, often described as the poor mans ugle duckling silvia. Occasionally had an amazing shot, but was very inconsistent. The Expobar probably hasn't had one shot as good as the couple of amazing ones I got out of the Rialto, but its consistently good. Using Peets Italian roast these days. Buy 1/4 lb of beans and get a free espresso = pretty good deal and I like the beans themselves...