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| Espresso / Latte / Cappuccino (C)AKS2022 |
Get out your analytical balance & bespoke Espresso machine made in Italy & similar Italian made espresso grinder configured with a setting so tightly tuned that the grind resulting has a uniform particle size that a communist party official would approve! How do I know about going off the deep end with coffee? I did!
The 1st wave, 2nd wave, 3 wave, 4th wave, 5th wave, like nuclear fission reactors, the coffee industry keeps being revolutionized! Not that pre-ground coffee in a can that my grandparents brewed repeatedly until all that remained was weak battery acid flavor, they drank by the cut, 20+ per day! I am talking about flavor experience coffee made like a competition winning level barista!
It started with an Aeropress a few years ago, buying whole beans & using a cheap high speed electric motor blade grinder to crank out 65 grams of freshly ground coffee grinds with a 10 second press of the grinder's start button. Tap, tap, & a small plastic brush to remove what did not tap out into a sealed container. An 8 gram scoop or two of grinds into the Aerospress rig already setup with a tiny filter paper disk in the screw cap assembly.
Many forays into online "Best way to brew with an aero press blog posting & YouTube videos" - arriving at the vacuum 1.45 minute hold using 175 F water and medium corse size grind, then low pressure extracting by resting the an arm casually on the plunger. The resulting coffee somewhere between coffee & espresso in flavor, of course depending on your grind & what kind of coffee beans you started with.
I am not sure where the espresso machine inception occurred ideologically, except that a number of my successful friends & family have such an alliance on their kitchen counter & use it every day! When visiting & staying with some of these people, they let me try their espresso shots, sometimes with milk to make latte or cappuccino.
Yummy, these drinks were bitter or had notes of dark chocolate & coco & wood smoke, tannin, bitterness with subtle fruit notes & other middle notes, a bouquet of flavors I never got from the Aeropress. I still use the aerospress to make that nostalgic premium coffee that got me in the game in the first place.
Something about precise digital gram scales gets me excited. I love technology & science! To make the prefect espresso shot seemed like a nice balance of art & science, with room to play around to get it just right. The beans I use really affect the flavor. How roasted they are, darker giving more charred notes & complex bitterness that I like, think espresso roast levels. Lighter roasts with more fruity notes.
I went fully on coffee crazy & bought a Eureka Mignon Notte from Seattle Coffee Gear vis Amazon.com. I went with a Chinese made Italian hybrid espresso machine called a GEVI 5403, also via amazon. I custom 3D printed in white PLA an espresso tamper & holder, cup holder caffeine molecule themed & upgraded my 51mm espresso machine with a stainless steel & wood brewing basket, instead of that plastic & steel unit that came with it.
I made a YouTube video about how I make espresso every morning https://youtu.be/4Q9kHIAHuTE, early around 5am. I wake up early like boss & grab life by the horns & make it happen! Productivity, doing more than I think I can, always chased by the idea "Your running behind, move faster", "You need to do this & that right away", "Lets go, your not a loser, hurry up & make" it happen faster, with precision & excellence like a boss, you can & know you should, so do it & stop complaining! This samurai warrior spirit inside me moves me to make things happen fast & precise.
I think perfect hygiene & sanitary when hand washing dishes & utensils & kitchen gear. I try to fold my laundry, after washing & drying it, like a boss, fast & effective & precisely. I try to drive with perfection. I aim to write & speak, clearly & without studdering or ever uttering the word "ummm". No filler words, just the meat, the action, the core of what I am saying IRL"
I don't care if I am farting around on my bicycle, walking, hiking, working out, any time I do anything, I aim to do it in a way where I would be proud to sign my name to it & be publicly associated with it, whatever it is that I am doing. I make mistakes, am not perfect, but I try! Sometimes that means doing the best with what I have trying to be the most frugal & smartest about not spending money!
Sometimes that means not trying waste any water or electricity, to make good use of these resources. Be it cleaning the cat box or anything else I do daily, I always aim for excellence, even if I know its not possible, I always try harder, work smarter, do what I can to do the best job I can! Especially with safe food handling while cooking.
I try as much as possible to never cross contaminate any surfaces. Thats had when working with raw eggs & raw meet & fruit & nuts & veggies at the same time! Get out that UV light & inspect, the steliziation UVC lamp to clean up. Wipe it down with diluted bleach, hot water & soap. I probably waste electricity, hot water & soap being overly OCD clean, going overkill.
I have a natural propensity to be overkill, to talk too much, to say too much, to do to much, to chase myself around until I am exhausted, my underclothes soaked with sweat that yellows my T-shirts! I hate mediocrity, obesity, being lazy, sleeping too much, not staying hydrated, eating garbage or junk foods, I hade mediocrity & wish the world had more excellence!
So making the first good espresso shot was a huge undertaking, with hundreds of trials dialing in the grinder, being over caffeinated, and not sleeping well as a result. A few weeks were harder, stressful, then finally I found the right settings, the right operating procedure, the right timing, the right procedure! I dialed in my espresso shot & have since experimented with other settings, one at a time, to see what changes the the flavor, aroma or mouth feel. Now its fun, sorta automatic, I can do it without thinking much & the resulting espresso still delicious :)
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