George_espresso Senior Member Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Posts: 3 Location: Stockton, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Marzocco Linea 2AV Grinder: Mazzer Mini Roaster: Hottop digital
Posted Fri Dec 24, 2004, 1:38pm Subject: Re: What's goin' on? Lookit all the new member signups!
Yup, another new member. I've lurked around this site on and off for the past couple of years. It's time to come out of the husk. My espresso experience started about 2.5 years ago when I bought a Krups machine of the simple boiler variety. As bad as the shots were, it intrigued me to the point of wanting to upgrade equipment and see what this magic brown liquid was about. Well, being single and not having a female spending regulator present, I started what has become a journey into the espresso machine world.
I started out with a Bezzera BZ99S, purchased on ebay in Sept. '02. Of course, I needed a grinder and visited coffeegeek.com for the first time to read reviews. Again, lacking the spending regulator, a new Mazzer Mini arrived at the door soon afterward. Now I'm set, right? Well, a few tampers and cleaning supplies were added promptly, along with Schomer's book, and a willingness to turn up the heat.
Well, as you can guess, the first few attempts with all this new gear were pretty awful, but way better than anything I could do with the Krups. Once in awhile the shot even tasted good! The BZ99 turns out to be a pretty good machine, but without pressure gauges and a noisy vibe pump, I wasn't completely staisfied.
My career is in mechanical engineering as an engineering associate (read: no degree in engineering), having started out as a mechanical technician at a large National Laboratory in California. I actually have a Biology degree, but in the late 1970's that and a quarter would get you a cup of coffee. Inflation has sure changed things! I have worked in many areas of technology from ultra high vacuum and thin film coating processes to high pressure (30,000 psig) systems to lasers and sensors for satellites to diagnostics for underground nuclear testing to industrial robotics, plus a bunch of related stuff to go along with it. This spans a career of about 25 years.
Being scientifically inclined, it was natural for me to want to progress into the fine points of espresso brewing. With Schomer's book as a guide, I began the quest for stable brew temperature. I knew right off that the Bezzera, with its small boiler capacity, conductively heated brew group, and tiny heat exchanger wasn't the right place to start. What comes next are a collection of machines that I want to work into stable brewers. I went for boiler capacity initially and ended up with a Faema Special 3-group commercial machine. With an 11 liter boiler it would improve stability immensely. Add PID control and things would be even better. It's turned into a work in progress...
I bought a new house - signed the contract in Feb. '03 and moved in Late Sept. when it was completed. I sold the other house early and had all my stuff stored (including the espresso machines) for the better part of a year. Getting moved in and established again turned out to be a longer task than I had planned, but things are coming together. I have my espresso workshop running again and am beginning to get excited about the machines after the long break. The Bezzera has been the workhorse during the past year after the move-in.
I need to get away from ebay! A couple of months ago I started thinking about the PID controller for the Faema. That led me to Watlow controllers on ebay and now I have several. I've steered toward the ones with 4-20 mA outputs feeding into proportional SCR power controls. It grows... You need a limit controller to prevent thermal runaway in case of a shorted SCR or thermocouple malfunction. Add a mechanical contactor to break the circuit, semiconductor fuses to protect the SCR in case of short circuit, temperature datalogger to monitor things, pressure transducers to measure the pressure during the brew cycle, the list goes on. I've gotten many great deals on ebay. The problem is the MANY great deals. I've got to sell some things to offset the outgoing cashflow (remember, no spending regulator). Oh yes, I recently picked up a Faema Compact of early 1990's vintage with the same E87 group as the Special. You ebayers might have seen this a few weeks ago. I thought it would make a good replacement for the BZ99. And them along came the La Marzocco...
I had purchased some laboratory cabinet base units (found on ebay) from a place in San Francisco to go into the espresso workshop. The price was right. The company was an auction house that mainly specialized in food service equipment. I got onto their mailing list and, lo and behold, what shows up in the mail last week, but an auction announcement. Listed among the items was a La Marzocco Linea 2AV machine. I went to the auction on Monday, Dec. 20th., hoping to have a chance at this machine. What I found was a 1989 machine in excellent cosmetic and mechanical condition. It had been in a restaurant (probably several in its lifetime) that had gone out of business. Generally these machines have seen the brillo pad and have all their stainless steel scoured beyond recognition. Their cabinets are dented, scratched, and otherwise abused. This one made it through life with better treatment. No dents or dings, clean on the outside, scaled up pretty good on the inside, but well worth the $700 I paid. The auction catalog had 735 items listed. The bidding started with item #1 and went consecutively until the auctioneer reached the 500's. Then he would ask if anyone had interest in items listed on each catalog page. Of course, the LM was no. 657 on the list. It was late, everyone was cold from standing in a warehouse all day, and when he got to the right page I spoke out. Item 657 opened at $700. I bid. Nobody else said anything. It was all over in about 10 seconds. I paid and took my treasure home.
Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Faema 3-group machine. I will probably work on it like I planned, but not immediately. I am half way through the rebuild on the Faema Compact and I'm adding a rotary pump to it. Landing the big fish, so to speak, has caused me to change focus (once again).
Sorry for being so long winded. I could go on for hours.
I hope I can contribute my experiences to the group. I will post occasionally as I progress through these machines.
Q: Can a man have too many espresso machines? A: Only a crazy one!
Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 7:13pm Subject: Re: What's goin' on? Lookit all the new member signups!
Hi there, I found this website by doing a search on "consumer reviews on best espresso machines". The "Consumer Search" website said you guys knew what you were talking about.
I have no experience in espresso making!
Also, just talked to a guy from espressoparts.com & he said this was the site to go to for answers.
Anyways, I'm very fed up with the poor quality of coffee served at Starbucks! I don't know of any decent coffee places & even if I did I'm tied at home with my 2yr old.
I don't want to rush in & make a mistake with my purchases so I'm doing my research (using this site of course) & will hopefully be upgrading my krups steamer to a better machine & buying a decent burr grinder.
Groovygear Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Posts: 71 Location: Montreal Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Elektra Deliziosa Grinder: Mazzer Major, Zassenhaus... Drip: What'd you call me? Roaster: Grain D'Or, Terra, Toi Moi...
Posted Thu Feb 3, 2005, 2:05am Subject: Re: What's goin' on? Lookit all the new member signups!
This all started at the It Store cafe and novelty shop on Bloor St. W. at Bathurst in Toronto...
(wavy image filter, harp glissandi - flashback sequence:)
circa 1988: I was taught to grind in some beans, and tamp them with the built-in tamper, and steam the milk to such and such temperature, etc. Being the inquisitive 16 year old, I played around, experimenting with what the 3-group (don't remember anything else) pro machine could do. Pretty impressive power to play with. Didn't keep the job for more than 6 months, but I loved the feel of using the machine, though, and began to acquire a taste for Italian style coffee.
Grew up near and amongst one of North America's largest Italian communities, and was treated to all manner of different coffees in cafes.
1990: Practice my skills, with no intervening experience, on essentially a saeco basic, single boiler, dual thermostat pump machine, with preground 'espresso'. Why does this thing actually RUN OUT of hot water after only a couple of coffees, and take an eternity to get to steam? WHAT a hassle! I will not use this, it is junk. I imagine that machine ended up in a garage sale. Previous to this dissapointing experience, all I had known of espresso was continuous power to play with. I was in high school, with no coffee culture in my family, so I never even thought to invest in electric home espresso. I remember being shocked when a friend, considering one as a gift to his parents, told me that such machines cost hundreds of dollars. If that was the case, I thought, no way I could afford something that does the real deal. High school ends, and I have forgotten all about making my own coffee.
As the years go by, I deal with university, life on the road as a musician, and refinement of sensibility and taste. Discover Umami (look it up), have always loved cooking, eating, and wine, and begun to develop further interest in the actual machinery of coffee extraction.
I remember a sort of pocket book at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art bookstore with a beautiful pictorial history of coffee extraction. Wish I had it now...
1992 First espresso from a Pavoni lever, Deep Cove, BC. Very good coffee, very cool machine owner, strong role model.
1998, helping my cousin move, I glimpse an orange base Pavoni Professional. This is very, very cool. A serious looking espresso beast.
Clearly these industrial sculptures have some sort of 'sex-appeal' to me, and I am drawn to them. Things remain safe at first with stovetop attempts invoving Atomic, Vesuviana, and even the exotic but ill conceived Elebak. But all fail to satisfy, with their boiled-coffee bitter, burnt taste.
2001 After cruising Pavonis on ebay, discover Coffeegeek. Oh lookit that, he's in Canada, no less. Of course, west coast. Home to those great places on Commercial Dr. But all these people are talking about pump machines as if they're the bomb, and they just look wimpy to me - I mean, they do the pumping for you? How wussy can you get? And a grinder? You're puttin' me on. Or...
Yet after some extensive research, and a couple of close calls on Pavonis on ebay (never pulled that trigger), I remembered more clearly the pain of that early attempt at home espresso, and subsequent gigantic plumes of refill steam (you steam toy people know what I mean if you've tried to make sequential shots) or long waits at the hands of friends home pump machines.
By now I am in Montreal, home to the great Cafe Italia, as well as the estimable Club Social, Open da Night (Cafe Olympico), and enough high quality chains and local roasters to challenge the best, and give the nasty green chick a run for her money.
But I still don't have espresso in my jammies - I'm still drinking stovetop (yanks call it moka pot) with cold milk in it. Not too terrible, but still boiled, no matter what I do.
So, I've been surfing the Coffee 'porn' (almost anything on the internet has a certain voyeur/porn quality, don't you find?), headed up by the consumer reviews and guides on this site, with ebay as a close second. Begun to realize that I am indeed a sailboat lover, meaning that I prefer a hands-on, traditional approach, so I ignore completely the super-automatics. This decision is reinforced at the houses of friends and colleagues who went that way - sorry, but the coffee is mediocre, with little chance of improvement. Ok, I am now a true coffee snob.
Just start to read some of the forums, not got too far in, and an Isomac Relax comes up near me, not too bad a price. I check it out with my girlfriend, who thinks I'm nuts, but I bid, and win the auction. After an expensive, month-long p*yp*l mess, I am a coffeegeek member, and I have realized that I absolutely need a grinder (what a newbie, eh?), but I finally have my baby in my hot little hands. A quick trip to the local gourmet shop for their semi-dark espresso blend the first morning I actually have the thing (a week ago now), and my very first shot was covered in nice crema, foaming milk while I brew, my gal looks at me like I'm some kinda freakin' coffee magician, and I'm 16 again, brewin' with power. This thing is not a toy. It does not seem to stop brewing or steaming at all. Now I have something good to practice on for a little while now, since I don't imagine I'll be having dinner parties or brunches for more people than it can handle. A good student instrument. We'll see.
So that's my story. I have a Zassenhaus 169DG waiting at the post office at this moment. Will post review etc. when I have some experience with it. The journey has begun.
AWholelattalatte Senior Member Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 71 Location: ma. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La Marzocco 3 group linea... Grinder: SJ mazzer
Posted Tue Mar 1, 2005, 12:34pm Subject: Re: What's goin' on? Lookit all the new member signups!
An introduction is not a bad idea. I live Coffee. My foray into coffee started when I was in the junior high and I was desperately trying to look cool. I eventually weaned myself off of the 50/50 ratio of sugar to coffee that I was drinking and began to drink my coffee black. This was about the time that I actually realized that I enjoyed coffee. By no means did I have a discerning palate and I would drink most anything put in front of me.
After high school I began working in what would be the first of many coffee houses. With every location came more knowledge. My last and maybe final destination was Starbucks. After five years I have left that company (I left when they replaced my LM). I was replaced with a robot that made awful drinks. My skills in the company’s eyes have become antiquated. But anyways, despite the time that I have spent in the industry, I realize that there is much more out there in this wonderful world of Coffee. As I read these posts, I see real artisans of Coffee. I joined this site to sit at your feet.
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