The Uphill Journey

The more you know, the more you realise how much you don’t know. Insert “about espresso” after each know. This certainly is an uphill journey towards the Perfect Cup. Some days the espressos are good. Some days the milk is fantastic. Some days the latte art approaches something recognizable. Usually this does not all happen on the same day!

To get anywhere near to perfection with an espresso (and cappuccino) one must have fresh beans. (By the way I’m nearly out of Black Cat!). The beans must then be ground to the prefect size. Bear in mind that each bean blend will have a different optimal grind size. Even if one knows the optimal size for a particular blend, significant variations in humidity can change the optimal size. Humidity??! Jeez!

So let’s assume freshness and optimal size have been achieved. Dosing and tamping now come into play. That’s a whole other story. And don’t even ask about achieving the perfect temperature on the Silvia- I swear I have read almost a bible’s worth on that over the last two months! I think I may have the temperature thing down though- thank you Mark Prince.

Anyway, I’ve decided I should spend an entire weekend pulling and troubleshooting espresso shots. No milk added. No sugar. Just plain unadulterated espresso shots. Each shot must pass a sight test and a taste test. Any taste volunteers? Be warned though, the caffeine buzz is inevitable!

Defection

Husband has defected. As if he wasn’t bad enough weeks ago when he chose to have a Lipton over a Silvia brewed espresso [read about that horrific incident here], yesterday he went to… to… to… Rituals!!!!! Oh the shame! I had even sent him off to work all fuelled up on the El Machete, but the lure of a mid-morning caffeine break was too much to resist.

Must open my coffee shop soon. We need access to good coffee!

Little Feet, Little Brother and LaLa

We’ve had a very busy house this weekend. The nieces spent a couple of nights and the nephews stayed with us last night. You met Deron (a.k.a. Little Feet) in a much earlier post. Little Feet has a Little Brother named Daniel; and they have a cousin, living in St. Lucia, who calls herself LaLa… She really does call herself that. Little Feet, Little Brother and LaLa (who visits Trinidad often) are all quite familiar with Aunty Kim’s- or rather Aunty Pim[’s] depending on which one you’re speaking to- coffee making procedures.


Little Feet and Little Brother went with me to the kitchen this morning to make some “hot hot coffee”. I had just started the kettle for the French Press process, when I was accosted by Little Feet who asked, “Why you not using that one?” while pointing to the Silvia. I explained that I was making another type of coffee this morning as it was quicker. I showed him the French Press and asked if he remembered making coffee in that before. He gave a quick nod, a forlorn look at the Silvia and then ran off to tell the doggies good morning! I guess he wasn’t too keen on the ‘boring’ French Press this morning.

While Little Feet is interested, most times, in the brewing of the coffee, Little Brother likes to serve the coffee. This morning was no different. I finished making Granny’s coffee, gave the cup handle to Little Brother and held the other side. Off to give Granny her coffee! If Little Brother ever serves you a cup of coffee, please be prepared to grab your cup as soon as he approaches you. He will shove the cup at you if you don’t put your hand out soon enough. Granny was quick.

Lovely morning in the end. The adults had some El Machete from the French Press and the under-3s enjoyed some “hot hot” Milo!

Iced Latte

It’s another hot Sunday afternoon. Too hot, in fact, to properly enjoy a coffee or cappuccino. An iced, caramel latte sounds like just the refreshing drink to enjoy while watching the Mexico-Argentina game. One of these teams will face Germany in the quarter-finals. Having just watched Argentina score their 3rd goal, it looks like this game is already decided… Kind of like when Germany scored their 4th goal to England’s 1 (sorry… 2)     ;o)

Anyway, back to the coffee! I’ve managed to create quite a mess in the kitchen between using the espresso machine, blender, ice box and drink shaker.

Into the shaker: 1 tablespoon of caramel syrup, 7 ounces of cold whole milk, 1.5 ounces of espresso and 6 ice cubes;
Vigourous shake;
Pour into serving glass;
Blend, to thicken, 3 tablespoons of half and half (or whole milk) and pour over top.

See finished pics below.

Reactions: Husband’s friend liked his latte- thought it was quite refreshing on this hot afternoon.
Husband said he didn’t want any because he doesn’t like cold coffee drinks. I gave him a taste of my latte and that was the last I saw of it!
I’ll take that as two happy customers.

My Brewing Methods

saturday.26.june.2010

As I was preparing a French Press brew this morning, my niece noted, “Aunty, you make coffee a long way sometimes and a short way sometimes.”
(She thinks the cappuccinos take too long)!
She’s absolutely right, though. There are very many ways to brew a cup of coffee, and I seem to be amassing quite a collection of brewers. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, some have significantly more advantages than others. Some brewing methods can take only a few minutes, including clean-up, while others can last well over half an hour.
My Drip Coffee Machine can brew four cups of coffee in about 7 minutes.
My French Press brews in just under 4 mins.
My Moka Pot takes about 10 minutes to run its cycle.
My Vietnamese Coffee Filter takes almost 6 minutes to produce 6 ounces.
Last, but certainly not least, my Silvia takes only 23 seconds to release a shot of espresso; but at least 15 minutes from switch on to foamed milk!
The joys of coffee preparation.

Withdrawal

Going through a slight caffeine withdrawal right now. I woke up ridiculously late this morning so didn’t have time to make my morning cup. Rituals is right around the corner from my office but… exactly! There was also the ever available Nestle instant in the office pantry but again… exactly! By mid afternoon I was getting pretty desperate for something coffee-like. I even considered breaking my ‘no tea fast’. From somewhere within I found the strength to resist. I also couldn’t find the tea bag I keep stashed in my drawer. The next best thing? Chocolate cake! That did the trick. Thank goodness for leftover birthday cake.


I’m currently waiting for Husband to get back home with dinner. I’m really looking forward to after dinner coffee tonight!

Tea Fast

wednesday.23.june.2010

Happy Birthday to me! Germany won their game and is on to the next round, where they will face England for a chance to appear in the quarter-finals. I will be drinking absolutely no tea this week in support of my team. Kaffee und Kuchen all the way!