Yep, I love it, but still working towards the perfect crema. It’s not happening for me yet. I’m thinking of just calling 1st line, tossing the machine in the car and heading to the shore for a day of espresso tutorials and beach time.
You don’t even have to think about going back and forth between milk steaming and espresso, and I have done both simultaneously without a hitch on the Bricoletta.
I miss it terribly. Unfortunately no espresso for me ever. ![[swearing.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8a0d3f3461d40641d294442fc2be78039bf94d19.gif "[swearing.gif]"){kind=small}
btw, what’s the steaming milk for? ![[tease.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/c/c5b32b76bebaa359b0452ae247b61189ffe5fa7e.gif "tease"){kind=small}
Well, if you’re not making the perfect shot, the taste of steamed milk and foam really evens it out. Honestly, there is such a huge difference between pouring cold milk into coffee/espresso vs. steamed milk. The steaming caramelizes the sugars and it’s such a different taste/texture/flavor. I could never both pull a shot and steam milk effectively with Yaacov’s Gaggia Classic. I have done it with the Bricoletta, though as I said the great crema is still elusive. Most of my shots have minimal crema. There are so many variables (grind, tamping pressure, extraction pressure, my timing from the initial water prime to extraction, pre-wetting the grinds or not), I’m at the point where I feel like I need a professional tutorial and a machine/grinder tune-up. Option B is trying to barter with a barista at some good NYC coffee place for some in-home instruction in exchange for wine.
and of course freshness. I actually preferred using sumatra for my shots. preferred the taste over Joe bean’s espresso blend. damn good crema too
a few tips i’ve learned over the years to get consistent shots:
even distribution is key – this is a life changer: Improve your Espresso with Weiss Distribution Technique • Home-Barista.com
find the coffee that works for your machine and stick to it. i love experimenting, but after a while, you realize that even on a $2,000 home setup, you can’t pull shots like they do in the shop with the Strada, etc. Just can’t be done. For my machine, I get best results from La Colombe’s Nizza blend (both straight and w/ milk) and recently Stumptown’s Hairbender and House blends. find your blend and master it.
The only variable should be grind - everything else should be constant; brew temp, tamp pressure (they say 30 lbs, but you just get a feel after a while), amount of grind, volume of shot, duration of shot. You will likely get better results by over dosing a bit (18-ish grams) and under brewing a bit (around 1.75 fluid ounces). If you can make an over-dosed, under-pulled shot last 25 seconds, I bet you’ll have a pretty good shot. stop the shot when it just gets past the blonde stage.
do not obsess about crema. in fact, forget about it - if you get the above right, you’ll get sufficient crema and balance.
I make a number of coffees using my Rancillio Silva that are better than most coffee shops.
Did you ever get this? It looks very intriguing and I would be interested in any quality comparisons to high end machines.
Thanks!
Chris
A Burr Grinder is critical no matter what other machine you buy, so +1 on the Rocky Rancilio which is what I use.
http://www.amazon.com/Rancilio-ROCKY-Burr-Grinder-Doser/dp/B0007XY7MM/ref=pd_sim_k_4
That being said, I opted (as my first machine) for an inexpensive automatic machine from Cuisinart
It was a lot less expensive <$200, and I thought it was a good idea to get some experience before spending big bux on the Italian machines. Also, I like the auto features, for when I’m in a hurry, or hung over.
I am guessing June of this year based on issues with manufacturing
Here is an update that talks about performance a bit:
http://zpmespresso.myshopify.com/blogs/news/7413274-incredible-for-a-home-machine-honestly-amazed-and-other-great-soundbites-from-our-demo-with-jason-dominy
Some bits from that link:
This past week we took our pre-production Nocturn to Batdorf & Bronson’s Atlanta roastery for a meeting with Batdorf’s Jason Dominy and Mike Ferguson. For those of you who don’t remember, Jason is former Chair of the Barista Guild of America Executive Council, SCAA Espresso Subject Matter Expert, and current outreach maven for Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters. Early in the project, he reached out to us to see what a few engineering-minded kids thought they knew about good espresso. (It turns out he knows way more.)
We were consistently getting great complexity and repeatability out of the shots, andthe feedback we got was that they were better than those from a Nuovo Simonelli Oscar and even comparable to shots pulled from their PID’d La Marzocco Linea!Wowza!
If it performs this well it may have to be the home machine
Gene - after doing a lot of reading, I think I might take the plunge with you on this machine. I only want it for espresso (at least for me) and it looks like it delivers the performance of the very top machines for a fraction of the cost.
Chris
Oh great…this thread comes up right as I have again grown tired of Nespresso (despite enjoying daily cortados lately), and fresh off their price increase (but with free shipping if you order 100 capsules!!!)
I really don’t want another machine, and all that goes along with it. Perhaps I’ll have a month of AeroPress again, as a break from Nespresso…
todd
i’m really going to do it this time. i just can’t take going to a good shop and having a real espresso while knowing that tomorrow morning i’ll be popping yet another crappy nespresso pod into my machine. i just called a store and they recc’d a gaggia titanium all automatic for about $750.
i’m going to give it a try unless someone here tells me why i shouldn’t.
btw, $700 @ costco
Mark,
My teacher friend who loves espresso but doesn’t want to deal with the hassle at 6am every morning has a Gaggia Brera and loves it. I’ve had espresso from it and the result is excellent. I’m sure you’ll love the titanium.
FYI, Whole Latte Love has the Titanium for the same price, free shipping & no sales tax.
Check out this Vine vid of the crema:
Vine can be annoying the way it plays but that crema: wow
The new nespresso napoli is fantastic, especially short…
It looks great! I have heard that they had issues with their UL approval and some QC issues with suppliers which has delayed them recently. Some guys over on home-barista board seem a bit skeptical they will ever deliver the product and how reliable it will be over time. I really hope it delivers the goods they are claiming.
Chris
I have read that forum too but I disagree with the naysayers. The UL issue was really minor. The QA issues with suppliers is normal for a new production run. As far as longevity. That remains to be seen but they have been pretty diligent in looking at failure points which is why they decided to dump using the off the shelf Arduino board and go with a custom built board that can withstand heat over a long period of time.
We had one. It was a nice machine. And then it died with pump issues. Had it serviced. Worked for 2 days. Died again. Totally unrelated electrical issues. Of course just out of warranty.
Ironically, I got a Nespresso and think it actually produces better espresso. That said, 90% of the time I head a few blocks away to a small, local coffee shop that makes better espresso than I will ever be able to in my life…
And that’s where you code with your laptop!
Is it the same place we went to with Saxon a couple years back? That place smells like heaven (provided you enjoy the smell of coffee, of course)