The ritual of fine espresso & coffee snob discussion

My attention-seeking toddler finally gave me 5 minutes peace this morning... enough time to pull a fantastic espresso - in fact, the nearest to "God Shot" that I have ever made. The beans were roasted on Wednesday morning and the result was a thick, honey-dripping pour that produced amazing crema and a full bodied cup. Wow!

These moments are rare for me. I love the ritual of espresso - roast, grind, tamp and brew. Reading the CoffeeSnobs post (see below), I wish I could spend more time and waste more coffee just clocking up hours on my machine. With my toddler and my budget, I don't have the time or money to 'dial-in' the grind each day, or stuff around making three or four espressos until I get it 'just right'. So when I fluke a great shot first up, it's a moment to be savoured! And blogged about!

CoffeeSnobs - Dose size discussion.: "I was privileged enough to hang out and pull shots with Hazel - the aussie barista champ - recently, and when she made me a coffee, I learnt so much about dosing and grinding and all that from watching. (Because I raost in small batches at home, I don't know how good this will be for a home setting so...)

Basically, she ground, dosed/distributed, tamped and extracted a shot. She took a sip, dumped it and started again, adjusting the grind to either slow things down or speed them up. Then she did it all again. And again. And again.

Finally she got a shot she was happy with, steamed some milk and handed me one of the best piccolo's I've ever had. "

Tags: coffeemaker, grinder, beans, coffee beans, coffee