espressoDOM Senior Member Joined: 1 May 2003 Posts: 2,189 Location: Bay Area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: WEGA Lyra (vibe) Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: (no more coffee equipment) Drip: French Press Roaster: Hot Top Roaster; Fresh Roast...
Posted Tue Dec 23, 2003, 2:42am Subject: Pain of La Marzocco ABUSE...
I guess I can look back to when more commercial coffee shops used LM machines and the coffee was still crap, but I am averaging about 2/5 GREAT shots on La Marzocco machines
#1) pretty average shot @ Pete's in Dublin #2) good god horrible double @ Honolulu coffee Co. on Oahu (which sucked because the cups they used were AWESOME looking) #3) ok shot on the way back from Hana @ a street coffee shop Alberts or something ( most coffee shops in Hawaii sell more food than espresso) #4) good shot @ Honolulu coffee Co. on Maui (much better... cappa was better but this was a SINGLE) #5) another crap coffee shop on Oahu that I can't recall
these were all LM Linea's I believe.... user error, bean quality, tamp pressure can DESTROY even the best machine
my best shots I got in Hawaii were on a Faema Diplomat from Mr. Espresso which operates out of the Bay Area go FIGURE....
ps... I look like GEEK material taking picks in coffee shops in Hawaii.... Mark I can only imagine what you feel like....
DOM...evil genius ...Up to no good in espresso at all times... VIVA la parts de Espresso
malachi Senior Member Joined: 5 May 2002 Posts: 1,758 Location: SFCA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Monster Mia (for now)_ Grinder: Monster Cimballi Junior Vac Pot: Not any more Drip: never Roaster: Ecco, Stumptown, Intelli,...
Posted Tue Dec 23, 2003, 10:56am Subject: Re: Pain of La Marzocco ABUSE...
a good barista can pull god shots out of a piece of crap machine no machine can enable an uncaring or untrained barista to pull even decent shots
if i could choose one thing to educate the coffee buying public about, it would be that, contrary to what they think, making good espresso is not simply setting up a machine and pushing buttons
sigh... this is a rant i could seriously go off on. as an example...
in one area there are three coffee bars... one has a weird funky not well cared-for two group brasilia machine. the second has a brand-new three group LM FB70. the third has a malfunctioning two group astra. coffee bar #1 produces inconsistent and usually horrid espresso. coffee bar #2 produces consistently mediocre espresso. coffee bar #3 produces inconsistent and sometimes very good espresso.
the machine means nothing. nada. zip compared to almost everything else. care, passion, training, expertise, focus, committment... that's what makes great espesso. the human factors.
far too much attention is paid (not only among coffee bar owners but also here, among coffee geeks) to the brand and model of equipment being used. it is especially frustrating to see coffee bar owners who are willing to spend thousands of dollars on equipment but balk at spending a couple hundred having their staff trained.
sorry... this is a sore subject for me. rant over.
Posted Tue Dec 23, 2003, 11:52am Subject: Re: Pain of La Marzocco ABUSE...
Rant all you wish - it's justified. I travel quite regularly here in the US and although it hurts to admit it, I'm now relieved to see a high end superauto when I walk into a Starbucks (the 'bucks is often the only viabel option for coffee or espresso when I"m traveling in most places). A inexperienced or uncaring barista is far better off on a well maintained and properly adjusted high end super auto than they are on the best LM. Sad but true.
When I visited Cozumel last year the best cappa I had on the entire island during my week there was made on an old Gaggia Classic. More recently I visited Ireland. I had the displeasure of having crappy cappas in Dublin, Galway, Dingle and Kilkenny. Just before giving up on my way out of Kilkenny I stopped at a little Internet cafe on impulse. They were using a little one group - looked to be a plumbed in Euro 2000 - not much different than the Isomac I use at home. Fresh grind, decent tamp and not a bad cappa - actually way better than average for Ireland and acceptable given the circumstances. Interestingly enough.... they had a sign up indicating that they were a Matthew Algie supplied location. He's a UK based coffee wholesaler who does an above average job of training and quality control..
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