Crema de la Crema: an espresso blog

I pulled a 45 sec double ristretto of ecafe Shilcho Sidamo just now. It tastes so creamy I’m going for my third today. Together with the crema, it hits just under the 1 oz mark. Heavily speckled with dark chocolate bits, it had a very creamy mouthfeel. I can definitely get used to these ristretto shots. My first shot of the day was Kenya Gethumbwini, which I roasted 2 days ago, together with my batch of Sidamo. So, both batches are just 2 days old. The Kenya could use another 2 days rest. It tasted a bit grassy. But the Sidamo was super fine. My Kenya shot was a bit fast though, so I turned the Compak K6 about 3 mm finer for the Sidamo. Perfect setting for a ristretto.

I should change the title.

I was jinxed yesterday.

I thought I had a good day ahead of me. I roasted a real nice batch of SM Italian Espresso blend 4 days ago. Yesterday would be peaking at 3 days. The roast was stopped at the start of 2nd crack, giving the bean a nice dark chocolate brown, with very slight hints of oil. Perfect day, right?

My bro requested an americano. I did the usual routine of DLT, pulled the shot, and it ran 55 seconds, volume around .75 oz. A super slow pour. No one’s going to believe this one. SO. I decided to vid it with my phone cam.

I pulled out my Espressoparts.com 4 oz Lined Measuring Glass, set up my phone cam, and proceeded with the pour. Everything was looking good, the same nice super slow pour, this one ran 60 seconds long, methinks I must’ve tamped slightly harder, the crema was beautiful, speckled with dark chocolate bits, the same volume of .75 oz, and the camera stopped filming at 0:11 because I had insufficient memory. ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!! I even narrated the whole thing through, not realising the faux pas. Btw, the ristretto was heavenly, even better than Part 1. The roast was just right, and I can taste the character of the coffee.

Not to be deterred, I slipped in a new 2 Gb memory card, should be sufficient. Damn. I was late for work. I put the beans in the grinder, and proceeded to dose the portafilter. As a habit, I would try to clean out as much of the grounds as possible, using a pipe cleaner. I inserted the pipe cleaner into the shaft and suddenly the grinder halted. ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! I managed to jam the pipe cleaner in the grinder. And it wouldn’t budge. After much wrangling, I gave up and decided to vid the pour with whatever grounds I could get out of the dosing chamber. Well, the vid was good. The pour was like the previous 2, around .75 oz. I came back after work and managed to pull out the pipe cleaner. Both the pipe cleaner and the grinder are fine now. WHEW!

(Although the vid is Quicktime, I can’t get QT to open the video. So, I may have to try and embed VLC player into wordpress.)

End note: It is the beans. SM Italian Espresso blend.

My saliva gland knows no bounds. Now I know what I want for Christmas 2007/8/9/10…

Pricewatch: The GS/3 (the regular one) will be retailing at SRP US$7,500 instead of the former price quoted at US$4,500 in the US. So, for those still wanting to get their hands on this baby, better head on over to the to get it at S$7,774 instead.

Today’s my first day as a professional barista. I started work at Gloria Jean’s at the Raffles City branch. Their setup is a La Marzocco 3 group GB5 and a La Marzocco Swift grinder and auto-tamper.

The La Marzocco GB5 is a beaut to work with. By the lunch hour, I was already pulling shot after shot. The Swift makes life easier. You get to skip the DLT (Dose-Level-Tamp). No need to worry about grinding too much or leaving grinds in the hopper, no need to tamp. The beans are ground to order. You just have to lock in the portafilter on the Swift, and push the ergonomically placed button to start the grind & tamp. It’s a one-hand operation. And it sure saves plenty of time. The one gripe I have with the Swift is when you disengage the portafilter, the portafilter will have clumps around the edge of the basket. I was advised to give it a tap. But as you know, this tap will introduce some uneven distribution, which would be more noticeable had I used a naked portafilter.

I was asked to memorize pages 8 to 15 of the ops manual, which included an explanation of espresso, the machine, the grinder, and the barista - the 4 M’s, as well as a glossary on coffee. I was a tad overconfident and skimmed through it in 5 minutes. I was then given a quiz on what I’ve read. Whoops! Not sure how I did, but at least I got the 4 M’s right.

It was really fun to be working on such a tight schedule, with orders pouring in, and the team of 5 constantly weaving in and out and around each other. All teamwork. I got a few take away orders mistaken as eat in’s. Newbie in the house.

An Australian couple was standing behind us, watching our routine. The guy was explaining to his companion. They later came over and ordered (2 caps, I think.) He began asking one of the staff on his opinion of the Swift. My colleague replied he’d rather have the Mazzer Mini. I asked the chap, “So, are you snob or a Geek?” He had to do a double take. I then explained the lingo, and he mentioned he has visited coffeegeek.com. Lucky me, if not, I’ll definitely be hearing from the manager on day 1.

Frothing milk was fast and furious. I wasn’t briefed on how to froth milk yet, but it seems I’ll have lots of practice in the days to come. The steam wand sounds like afterburners on, full throttle. My Quickmill Anita is a dainty lil lady, compared to Big Brother here. While the Anita makes a few ripples in the milk, the GB5 churns a whirlpool powerful enough to swallow the Titanic twice over.

I’m fulfilling one of my life’s ambitions: to be a professional barista. Can’t wait to see what’s in store.