cheers to me .. er, .. You

I think you’ll find there are a lot of similarities between the practice of “tasting wine” and “tasting coffee”. In either case, there is a “tasting vocabulary” that we collectively try to agree on, and reach a consensus on what these terms mean.

The best approach is just to practice “tasting” coffee. That’s what we try to do with the coffee tasting course. I think you’ll find that the more you “taste” coffee, exploring and looking for the characteristics you’re reading about, the more it will open up for you.

Some of the coffee tasting aspects will literally jump out at you with a certain coffee, and others are more subtle, like the hint of “blueberry” fruit tones in a good Ethiopian Harrar.

Enjoy the coffee, and thanks for your comments.

Mark

My problem with the Pikes Place roast is that it tastes like I made it at home. And, why would I pay $2 for coffee that I can make for less money at home? It’s flavor is slightly metallic, and reminds me of a slightly better McDonalds “Premium” coffee, which is also terrible by the way.

It’s Bold for me, and if more stores stop carrying a bold option, then I will stop getting coffee at Starbuck’s. Unfortunately, around me, Starbuck’s is pretty much the only option for a Bold option.

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you join our coffee tasting course. We cover the characteristics of various coffees, single-origins and blends throughout the course, learning about tasting vocabulary, roasts, and the differences between coffees from the different regions as we go.

Let me refer you to this page on our site about coffee bean varieties. I’ll give you a hint. We start with a South American, an Indonesian, and an African to show some the differences and contrast between these regions.

Mark

OK, let me try and answer a few more of your questions directly. I think it really does take a book

Is blending done for the machine or are espresso machines designed to suit a particular coffee or blend?

Answer: Espresso machines are not designed for a particular coffee bean or blend. Nor are coffee blends designed for a particular espresso machine. I think this will only confuse you to try and make this kind of connection or correlation between coffee beans and blends and espresso machine design.

I hope you took a look at the page on our web site I provided - more details about espresso machines. This should give you a better idea about the different classes and category of machines.

http://gourmet-coffee-zone.com/espresso-technique.html

If I can help a bit more with your questions about the different classes and categories of espresso machines.

Consumer level machines.

• Price range ~ $200 to $1000 USD
• Most affordable for consumer home market, but less capability
• Single group head (not producing high volume of espressos per hour)
• Smaller boiler, need more recovery time between shots, temperature control can be a challenge
• Smaller boiler also means you are limited to steaming a smaller quantity or volume of milk at one time, and usually takes longer to steam
• You can learn to produce great shots of espresso with a consumer machine, often steeper learning curve to ramp up on proper technique. But a perfect way to learn the fundamentals, something every great barista has to cover.

Prosumer machines

• price range ~ $1000 to $2000 USD
• single group head
• More capability, but still designed for the consumer/home market. A small commercial operation or restaurant can use a Prosumer machine if the volume isn’t too high (number of espressos per hour you have to produce)
• Usually has somewhat larger boiler, which enables a bit more stable temperature control, faster recovery between shots, more steam volume for steaming milk, etc.
• Should be more rugged and durable design for somewhat heavier usage.
• Requires technique as always, but can be a little more forgiving, can be a little easier to produce more consistent shots once you get the hang of it.

Commercial level machines

• price range ~ $5,000 to $15,000 USD and up
• multiple group heads - 2, 3 or 4 so you can produce more espressos simultaneously, at the same time. In a commercial application, it’s about handling the volume of espressos per hour that you have to produce (so you don’t keep your customers waiting forever).
• larger boilers - able to produce higher volume of espressos per hour, much less recovery time between shots, ample steam capacity to steam larger quantities of milk in faster time, more boiler capacity also means better temperature stability. Lot’s of ample steam volume also helps produce better steam results, hit that ideal micro-foam consistency for latte art, etc.
• Technology - PID is common (progressive integral derivative temperature control). The deal is, temperature control is tricky. To produce consistent espresso, shot after shot, you want to narrow in on a tight temperature range at the group head. PID technology does a good job of keeping the temperature consistent (say around 200 to 204 degrees F) at the group head for optimum extraction. Note, you can find PID on some prosumer level machines, but adds to cost. Without technology like PID, the barista needs to master the technique of “temperature surfing” (flush after shot, time the recovery interval manually, perhaps look at the boiler and group head pressure if you have the guages, better if you have a group head temperature guage but not always equipped). And there is one guy who actually offers a PID attachment for the Rancilio Silvia - requires a mod to the machine (these are remarkable engineering accomplishments brought to market by some very dedicated and passionate home enthusiasts).

So to net it out a bit more. The primary characteristics that separate the different categories of machines mostly deal with the following:

• Volume and capacity of the machine to handle more espresso shots and steamed milk per hour in a busy commercial environment.
• Durability of the machine to hold up under heavy use in a commercial environment (typically don’t need this ruggedness for a home consumer machine).
• More advanced technology like PID in the more expensive systems to provide better temperature control and insure more consistent results, shot after shot.
• There is also the aspect of manual, semi-automatic and fully-automated (computer controlled, one-button crank out the espresso). Both for the home/consumer market, and the commercial environment such as a restaurant perhaps, some like the fully automatic computer controlled machines, because these systems require less skill and training to learn how to produce good espresso results. However, when you let the computer take over, you generally forfeit some control. A true barista with passion will almost always choose and prefer the semi-automatic systems (and some die-hards will only go for the manual machines), that let you drive and retain control.

Hope that helps.

So, the big question. Are you in the market for an espresso machine?