Tom's Espresso Bar

Hello, I'm Tom, and here is my story on learning how to make proper espresso coffee. I'm a proud owner of a Gaggia Classic espresso machine and a Baratza Encore grinder.

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New descaling setup:

500 ml bowl, 50 ml descaling solution.

Pour 1 glass.

Wait 15 min with descaling solution in machine.

Repeat with 3 min wait periods until completed.

Rinse system with 1000 ml water.

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Cortado porn

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Home-made icepresso, inspired by Cafe Esaias in Stockholm. Espresso, ice, sugar.

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Best. Crema. Ever! Caffè Molinari “Oro”.

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Time to descale and clean my Gaggia Classic.

I used 1 bag of Melitta Anti Scale Espresso with 0.5 liters of water.

Tools:

Potato brush for cleaning shower head.

Mini screwdriver to detach shower head without moving the machine.

Bowl to rinse from both shower head and steam wand.

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Blossom Coffee

Co.Create (@FastCoCreate) 2014-08-24 12:15 Can @BlossomCoffee's MIT-enhanced brew win over skeptical baristas? f-st.co/fEihxoN pic.twitter.com/hWBsoeTbFm

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Late evening espresso. Finca las Delicias from Johan & Nyström.

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Espresso drinks chart

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Today I begin the burdensome journey of switching from cappuccino to single-shot espresso as my go-to coffee drink.

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The best coffee beans you can find in Stockholm: the special blend for Mellqvist Kaffebar (http://www.facebook.com/MellqvistKaffebar) made by David Haugaard (http://haugaardcoffee.blogspot.se).

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This video is too awesome to miss: how to use soap and water when training to make microfoam milk.

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It's getting about time to buy an electric grinder, and I'm leaning towards this one. It's the sequel to the Maestro Plus.

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I did a small experiment today; tried some coffee beans from Bali that my mother-in-law bought. It’s been lying in my fridge for a bit too long perhaps. As you can see the beans are quite large.

I tried it on the 3rd step setting on my Hario grinder and I immediately saw that it was much too coarse - probably the beans were too dry.

As expected, the coffee went through the machine in probably less than 10 seconds. The resulting coffee was almost transparent, no crema at all, and very bitter.

Update: I tried again the day after, with the grinder on setting 1, and this time I got perfect crema and the coffee tasted better!

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A robot that takes your picture and prints it on your latte.

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Unfortunately, the Gaggia Classic ships with two items that will prevent your barista training and must be replaced: 1) the pressurized filter basket, identified by the singular hole on the bottom. Buy a new filter basket for $15. 2) the plastic "turbo" steam wand. Replace it with a Rancilio-style wand for $30. I purchased both my replacement parts on eBay.

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I think I'm getting closer to perfecting the frothed microfoam milk. The spout should be deeper in than I expected, and less sound produced.