a post on 'cool hunting' about espresso.

Reading posts on "cool hunting" I came across this one:
http://www.coolhunting.com/food-drink/a-guide-to-pro.php?

Nice, informative, good photography. But it leaves out the crucial issues of prosumer espresso. If you want to do solid, consistent espresso in your house, you have to be willing to sacrifice time. That's the short version. The longer version breaks it down into space, the beans, the money, and the time. Feel like reading some more? Okay, come on then!

The space: a mid-level espresso machine is bigger than a toaster, and so's the grinder. Chances are they're two or three times as tall, too. Not something you can just whip out from under the counter, it's more like a KitchenAid. And you need room to work, too. Better get a separate kitchen or a separate closet because everything will just smell overpoweringly like coffee. Which is great until you can't sleep at night or taste anything else. The grinds and the oils get into your clothes, your hair and follow you around for days.

The beans: are you getting them freshly roasted? if not, after a week they won't be the same- inconsistent. As good? Maybe, but the point is they'll taste different, which is the thrust of the article. Different ≠ consistent. Different how? well, 5-7 days after roasting, the beans have fully degassed.
'Scuse me? Say what?
Degassing is a cool-down period for the beans to sweat out oils and release trapped (ahem) gasses inside, which will change the flavor profile. You've then another 4-5 solid days to grind and pull. After that, well... I like to think of roasted coffee like any baked good: there's a shelf life to bread and cookies. Maybe they're more like peanuts than cookies, but I never grind peanuts and make hot beverages from them. (Hm, that might be a fun experiment- a tangent to be continued another day).
So if you're not roasting at home yourself (I am NOT covering roasting here, this is long enough for one of my rants) you've got to buy beans fairly regularly, fairly fresh. And those tend to be pricey. Most of the shops I go to that sell espresso-quality coffee (no, not Whole Foods, sorry) don't sell in small quantities. So you're looking at $15-20 every week you want to be able to make coffee at home- and that's our segue into money.

The money: considering beverage prices, it could pay for itself in a few years, depending on how much you drink. Honestly, after a couple years you'll have spent more on beans than the machine, grinder, and all those cute toys like tampers and knockboxes. You can easily spend $1200+ on a good setup. I last seriously considered this on my own between 2006-2008, which is why I've so much to say on the subject) and those were rock-bottom prices then. $15 a week on coffee beans is that much in eighteen months.

The time: this is the most important dimension. It takes more time than making a pot-o-joe. You have to warm up the machine, and grind a few test shots to make sure it's calibrated, and then start pulling. This could take awhile. Sorry to kill the fantasy, but you can't just roll out of the shower and pull an "I just saw God" shot with the Washington Post in one hand while waiting for your toast to warm; you have to taste your way through it. To use another baked goods metaphor, if you want a piece of fresh apple pie, and you don't want to bake it yourself, you're really better off going to a place that is set up to make it and is expecting you (eg. a bakery, hopefully right next door to a Gimme! Coffee or other.

It seems the home espresso thing is best set up for someone who has no job to rush to, or is ok with just doing it on the weekends. You picked up fresh beans on Thursday or Friday. Espresso for you and your friends or spouse, no rush; because when your coffee moment is over you'll have to clean up. Clean out the portafilter, group heads (the oils will get funky and you won't have great coffee next time if you don't) and maybe even the grinder. There are coffee grinds everywhere. Oh look, a stack of dishes, too!

Let's face it. If you have that kind of space, money, and time- you're already living in a swank neighborhood and went to the local espresso joint- you paid someone to make it for you and got on with the day doing something more jet-set than (no offense to all my friends who are amazing Baristas and amazing people) a Barista's job in your house. Some people really enjoy it. But it's a real labor of love and a minority calling for those who can afford it since it's essentially skilled, manual labor.

The worst news of all: I find that most people don't want straight espresso, they want to drown it in steamed, textured milk; so they can barely taste the difference between all that hard work, and what you got yesterday from Starbucks. So what was the point of all that?

I've had some really great moments with coffee at home with a $100 burr grinder and a french press. No reason you can't do the same, or even cheaper with fresh beans ground at the store once a week.

Long day...

Dear Diary,

Today I woke up at 5:30- a daylight savings day. To the gym for some bicycle-riding. Not bad except for the fella who wouldn't stop whistling.

A long walk to breakfast at the Milk Bar. Delicious food but awful coffee.

Then a walk downtown to a random turning point; Starbucks coffee on Jay St.

Slow meander back through MetroTech, Fulton Mall and Carrol Gardens to the train, I started some laundry. I hate the laundromat sometimes. Crowded, laundry doesn't feel clean enough, and I got my stuff out of the dryer before it was dry, so I spent a good twenty minutes hanging and spreading it all around the apartment.

Some quick advice for a love-forelorn friend... a half hour later, off to the city to do a little juggling. Always wish that goes better, but it's fun while it lasts. Hied me back homeward for really good coffee and a couple of groceries to make some turkey-sausage-risotto. Sidetracked for dinner at Brook-vin instead- always a perfect experience there- hell- I'll call it quits early and cook tomorrow. That bottle of wine in my bag can wait and so can I.

Best bit of continuity to the day was reading this: Milo i volshebnaia budka / The Phantom Tollboth by Norton Juster

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A one-day read. I really needed this book today. Wish I'd read it at age ten.



View all my reviews

Good night, I'm freakin' DONE. You know what would make today perfect? Knowing I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow. Well, there's still room for improvement!

On bolstering the economy

Definitely doing my part- more than, it would seem.

Think I just spent myself into a hole. How did that happen? Why did I just shred all those convenience checks? I haven't literally been broke in a long time; this will be an interesting month. Good thing I like eating in.

biggest shelf you've ever seen

I didn't post this on another blog because it's irrelevant but enjoyed it enough to not want to throw it away.

Ben said:

Subway cars, for instance, have a shelf life of around 40 years before they’re up for replacing, and in the interim, it’s possible that hundreds of newer and better models have hit the rails since then.

And I thought: Shelf life? lifespan?

I pictured the shelf large enough for a fleet of R-160s, with crossbeams, supports, lights, and price tags; train sets wrapped in a dozen miles of cellophane shrink wrap untouched for forty years.