My first steps into espresso making have been informative, a little
painful, a little frustrating, and good. The recommendations from the
list for research and reading were excellent. A big thank you to miKe
mcKoffee, Michael Dhabolt, Jim Mitchell and Angelo!
I've been using Saeco's Via Veneto at home for the past 10 days and
have actually had several great shots out of it. I had no idea that
straight, black espresso could be sweet! Espresso really gives you a
different profile of the coffee than drip, moka, or presspot. No
really bad shots, but plenty of so-so shots. And, already, have had a
fit of upgrade (or maybe acrossgrade) fever for a lever machine.
Things that I've learned: only wipe down the frothing wand with a
damp cloth towel - scorched fingers are not fun; turn off the frothing
wand after priming the pump - where'd that puddle come from?; you can
overfill the portafilter - not a good thing to find out at 6:00 a.m.;
emptying the drip tray is a good habit to learn.
The Via Veneto has several positives that would recommend it for a
newbie: fairly easy to operate, fairly forgiving of variations in
tamping and grind, great pump, heats up pretty quickly, great frothing
wand, great hot water from the frothing wand for Americanos or tea,
short recovery period between shots.
Several negatives about it: its light weight makes putting in the
portafilter a full-body experience, odd sized portafilter doesn't work
with standard tampers, the pressurized portafilter, the crema enhancer
-- literally every shot is "crema", which makes crema relatively
useless as an indicator of shot quality -- but I've learned to read
the shot and have picked up some clues on which shot is better than
another.
For an entry-level machine, I think it's good (but I wouldn't pay more
than $100 total).
The automatic part of brewing is just lacking something for me,
though. The personal involvement in the roasting of the beans
probably informs how I want to handle the rest of the coffee process.
It just feels like giving away control over the brewed results after
pushing the button. After hours of web research, doing some hands on
pulls, and talking with a few folks who own lever machines, a lever
machine might fit my style better than an automatic. I'm hoping to
add a LaPavoni Europiccola to the equipment stash next week. Using
the Europiccola and having the Via Veneto as a "backup" (with a manual
portafilter) for multiple shots may work best for me.
Well, it should work until the next wave of upgrade fever comes along.
Isn't there a cure for this fever yet? ;)
Brent
Roasting in an SC/TO
For all kinds of coffee |