After reading on this board about coffee for so long, I finally took the plunge a month or so back and bought a slyvia and a mazzer mini. Oddly enough a week or so after I got it all in, my new (less than 6 months old) K cup machine died (again). I decided to just take it back and get my money back from costco.
So I ordered a tecnovorm and have been grinding and brewing coffee ever since.
On the silvia, I have now gone through about 3 lbs of beans. Much of this is waste with me trying to learn how to grind, tamp, and brew. I think today, I finally got what would be considered a decent shot. Not great, but actually had crema and took about 30 seconds to fill my double glass.
Overall I can say making esspresso is a lot of work (perhaps its because I dont know what I am doing really) and a lot of clean up.
On the other hand the Tecnovorm is a joy to use. I have settled at weighing my water and coffee. I use 750 g water and 45g coffee and make the perfect pot (for me). I run a cup or two of water through the machine with the filter in place to warm it up and pre wet the filter.
I then throw that out, and put in the weighed water and coffee and hit the switch. I keep the gate closed on the brew cup and wait till it fills up about half way, and do a quick 30 second stir then open the gate and walk away till its done.
I get what I consider to be excellent coffee this way.
At this point I am questioning if I want to keep going on esspresso. With it being christmas I suspect I coudl recoup almost all my money on the silvia but probably take a hit on the mazzer.
I may keep trying, but its wearing on my so far.
Anyway, I highly recommend the tecnovorm as its been great so far and the difference between that an my k cup machine are not even on the same scale. I never knew what I was missing.
i agree on the tecnivorm, and love ours.
interesting about running water thru it to warm it up and pre wet the filter.
as to espresso, i got rid of my nespresso about a year ago and have been using a jura superautomatic since. it is not the highest quality shot, but clearly is about 10 steps up from nespresso, and, it’s easy.
We just got a Technovorm a few weeks ago after someone staying at our house when we were gone apparently ran some sort of flavored coffee through our old coffee maker. We couldn’t get rid of the smell no matter what we tried. We love the Technovorm. Our coffee is much better now. We use a gold filter instead of the paper.
I too dumped the espresso machine in favor of drip via Bonavita…
Mark - you are WAY more committed than I am with your daily process. I consider it a triumph that I actually use a burr grinder and whole beans - given that I’m often half asleep when starting everything up. Sometimes folding the seams on the Melitta filter correctly can be a challenge…
I just grab a cup and throw in some water (whatever amount) and a filter and hit go. I then wander off to the laundry room where my grinders and espresso machine are, zero the scale with the grinder catch bin onit, hit grind (guess at time but I have a slider switch on my grinder that gets me anywhere between 40-50 grams at a shot) and then weigh it. usuall I am a bit over so I simply add a bit more water.
I go dump the pot, turn off the machine, throw in the coffee into the wet filter, and then I have a cup that has a line on it where 750 ml is so I do that by sight now.
dump in the water and hit the brew button…stir 30 seconds and open the chute and walk away…actually takes me all of 5 minutes and I only have one eye open.
I just pulled a shot with my bottomless PF and actually weighed the coffee…shocking 21 grams…I know thats way too much but thats what it takes to fill that PF to the top. I have to figure out what I am doing wrong when most people say they are using 16 grams.
Espresso is hard freaking work…but I like a challenge
Espresso does take some practice but with your machines I’d say your grind has more to do with your shot than the machine. Weighing is also equally important; take it from a guy who eyeballs a lot, overfilling really makes your shot worse, especially if you’re trying to get good crema.
Brent here is the part I cant figure out. If the 16 grams doesnt come up to the top of the PF how am I supposed to level it out before I tamp…thats why I keep filling till it has a slight mound so I can do the nsew swipe thing.
Another technivormfan here. I’ve found that the beans I buy make a big difference. Hello, master of the obvious, right? But this from someone who used to buy preground beans I’ve had the best luck with intellegencia.
What does the prewetting of the filter do?
And what’s this about folding the filter? I just put it in there.
Lots to learn. But I don’t think I have it in me to make espresso in the morning. If have to make a regular cup of coffee just to get ready.
So funny that your grinder is in your laundry room. So is mine. Can’t be waking up the family.
On the other hand the Tecnovorm is a joy to use. I have settled at weighing my water and coffee. I use 750 g water and 45g coffee and make the perfect pot (for me). I run a cup or two of water through the machine with the filter in place to warm it up and pre wet the filter.
I then throw that out, and put in the weighed water and coffee and hit the switch. I keep the gate closed on the brew cup and wait till it fills up about half way, and do a quick 30 second stir then open the gate and walk away till its done.
I get what I consider to be excellent coffee this way.
what is the goal with all this hocus pocus? I’ve had a Technivorm for nearly a decade, like it fine, etc…but…infer that you think just putting coffee and water in and letting it flow is insufficient? (I do sometimes stop the brewing to let the grinds “bloom”, though I’m not sure it really improves anything I’ve detected. Are you looking for even hotter coffee from the Technivorm? is that your goal?
adjust the grind so that it takes about 30 seconds to pull the shot from when you press the brew.
Silvia is a HX machine, so learn about temperature surfing - basically, the water is too hot naturally and you need to do a cooling flush to bring down to approx 200F.
do not worry about crema. it’s not that important.
silvia is probably the most popular machine out there, so infinite resources on home-barista, etc. where folks have posted tips, etc.
Ian, most of the artisanal roasters will do 5lb bags as that is how they sell to coffee bars. Call your local roaster and ask. I know that Handsome Coffee in LA sells 5 pounders…
Yaacov knows what he’s doing. I have a Fiorenzato Bricoletta which is semi-auto and also a HX machine. As he suggests, read up on temperature surfing. Once I have my coffee tamped I pre-wet my grounds. After that I count off one-thousands and watch the pressure gauge until it gets back up in the green, then I pull my shot. It’s usually about 8 seconds.
if you don’t have access to local coffee you love, i highly recommend red bird espresso. it’s a very easy shot to pull, very consistent, and pretty cheap. it’s shipped the day it’s roasted and arrives 2 days later. i find it peaks at day 5 and lasts easily another week. i buy 1lb/week. he sells 5lb bags for $52.
I was hoping you were going to respond. Here is my problem I am doing exactly what you showed in that video, the issue is when I stir like shown and pull the cup out the coffee is WELL below the top of the PF with only 16-18 grams I have to go to 21 or so to get it even to the top so I can do the swipe…is my PF just somehow too big? I bought a bottomless one . My PF that came with the machine is about 16 grams to the top however.
Oh on the temp surf, I bought a PID and insulated the boiler so the the guy that sold me the PID set it at 219 and its right there when I pull.
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I’ve had the best luck with intellegencia.