MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 5,138 Location: Vancouver Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Frankenstein'ed LM Linea Grinder: Anfim Super Caimano Vac Pot: 1922 Silex Drip: Krups Moka Brew Roaster: Hottop
Posted Wed Feb 5, 2003, 4:33pm Subject: Latte Art... from a Super Auto with frothing gizmos? !!! Yes!
Recently one of the wunderkinds from the new Capresso-Jura venture came into the "CoffeeGeek Labs", the new S9 machine, the dual thermoblock beastie which brews and steams consecutively (not at the same time, but one after the other with little or no "wait" time). It ain't cheap, but it's packed with some nifty convenience features, and probably pulls the best "super auto" shot I've tried so far in the home, uh, lab.
Included with the machine are two frothing "systems". One is a frothXpress plus system that's actually pretty cool, with some nifty controls for making the milk hotter or cooler, and the option to steam or froth (yep, true "latte!").
The second is a funky dojo wand that has a movable sleeve. Have the sleeve "down" and it works like any other typical "autofrothing" gizmo, drawing air from the top portion of the wand, and submersing the tip below the milk to do that amazing (not!) big air frothing.
BUT... move the sleeve up, and it's essentally a normal wand - you finess the position of the steam tip to induce air into your steaming/frothing (by lowering or raising your steam pitcher) or submerse it completely to just steam.
Well, after only four steaming sessions today with it, I got good enough with the positioning of the "sleeve up" wand that I was able to produce some decent microfroth. What the heck, I tried pouring some latte art, and walla, it did a good job!!! Either it's me or the machine - who knows :P
Steam performance is actually very good for this kind of system - it's extremely long lasting - I had the steam wand pointing at the sink and let it run for over 3 minutes with no loss in the "plume" or vapors coming out - it produces a lot of good, dry steam. My very early tests for the 7oz to 155F range show it to take about 45 seconds, which ain't shabby at all.
The First Look is still a long ways off - I'm backlogged, but I thought I'd share, and show you a photo of today's latte art... from a super auto! One last note - this latte art looks a bit muddy, but it was nice and "crisp" when I poured it. Unfortunately, I wasted about 4 minutes running around the house, uh, lab, looking for my digital camera, so it dissapated a bit. Still looks good though, I think:
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![MarkPrince: s9latteart.jpg](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/3263/s9latteart.jpg", 550, 413, "MarkPrince: s9latteart.jpg");)
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