Joy's Project 365: The Rocket

With every shot pull we get closer and closer to perfection.
Look at that crema!
Adjusting the grinder, as well as, weighing the grounds contribute to the crema consistency and therefore the final taste outcome.

If the grounds are too fine and the pull exceeds time, it will have a bitter, burnt taste or if the grounds are overly coarse and it pulls too fast, the results will be watery and a little bit sour.
Oh, the pressure!

Also, we had a small delivery; a couple items the good Dr ordered online. This time from Espresso Parts.

1 - A new frothing pitcher, which will allow "us" to practice our latte art. Notice the pointy spout? Our current pitcher has a plain ole round spout. You can't make latte hearts for your lovely wife with that.

2 - A new tamper head. We like our current tamper but it's for a 55 mm portafilter basket (the dear departed Francis Francis). Luckily, we have the tamper with an interchangeable head. So it was just a matter of ordering the larger size to fit our new portafilters.

In my free time, I am watching videos from Seattle Coffee Gear. Perhaps, I've seen them one to many times, since I've come to consider Pat and Gail to be dear friends...
This infographic explains it all...

January 25, 2013

Glad Delaney and Rett were able to help me with this massive box. 65 pounds of love. A new espresso machine is my dream come true. The timing couldn't be more perfect. Remember the party to top all parties? Well after dragging myself out of bed the next morning, which came way too early I must say, I found my old faithful to be not so faithful. (As a total side note, how do I not have a post dedicated to the Francis Francis?! The only picture I could find was this one. ugh! *edited* found it) I could have made due with my other lovie, but I really needed a latte after the previous night.
Now I'm rambling, where was I? Oh, right, timing. Enter my 40th birthday. Such a huge achievement deserves to be commemorated, does it not? And this...machine, is a monumental way to pay tribute to my 40 times around the sun. We can celebrate, every single morning. Bravo boys!