DIY Espresso Machine

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Isomac Tea Espresso Machine Review"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" -- perhaps, but if they called them "stink weeds" it might be more difficult to sell them by the dozen on St. Valentine's Day. We've all heard various funny stories about companies marketing products with unfortunate names in other languages. The Isomac Tea is one of the better examples. The story as I have it is that it's intended to be pronounced "Tey-uh", in the venerable Italian habit of giving neat pieces of gear women's names. Unfortunately, when they brought it out here, a lot of people apparently went "Tea? I want coffee, not tea!" and didn't give it another look. Which is a shame... The Tea is an amazing...


Isomac Tea Heat Problem (Solved)I had a brief panic yesterday when my Isomac Tea decided to quit heating. The pilot and heater light were on, but the group head was cold, and there was no pressure on the steam or hot water wands. The brew lever would activate the pump, but only pump cold water. Doing some googling around, I found some posts on alt.coffee that suggested the thermal fuse (aka "thermo fuse" aka "thermal cut off") that is mounted next to the boiler. After soliciting some additional advice from the good folks at CoffeeGeek, I tested the fuse, and sure enough, it was blown. I was able to find a replacement at Radio Shack, and am now back to having a machine that...


Clean that nasty machine!There's nothing worse than a funky coffee maker. Coffee is filled with essential oils. While these are superb in the cup, when they're left to dry on equipment, they turn into nasty, rancid, bitter oils that can render even the most finely ground, sublime bean into a hidious tasting cup of hot nastiness. Sure, you wash out your carafe, and all of the other removable pieces, but there are still places lurking in your coffee maker where the crud builds up, and awaits its opportunity to spoil your morning cuppa. What to do? Clean that nasty machine! The easiest way to deal with a case of the coffee crud is by using an off-the-shelf coffee machine cleaner. I personally like...


Gaggia Syncrony Compact Super-Automatic Espresso Maker ReviewAlong with all of the thrashing about the last week or two getting a working coffee maker and backup into place, I also went nuts and bought a super automatic espresso machine. If you're not up on espresso maker terminology, a "Super Automatic" is a machine delivers a shot of espresso (or a double, or an americano (espresso+hot water -- coffee, more or less)) at the touch of a button. It grinds the beans, makes the shot, dumps the grinds, etc. Of course, it also comes with a steam wand for frothing the milk. In the online world of coffee snobbery (such as CoffeeGeek, one of my favorite coffee-related sites), there is a special place in home barista hell for...


Single Origins, Melanges & Espresso BlendsFor me, one of the true joys of home roasting is exploring the vast array of flavors available in different origins of coffees. Each area (and even each farm, and each year) has its own predominant and subtle flavors and aromas. Most of the flavors of an origin are easiest to find in medium roasts -- from a light "City" roast (just at "first crack" when the steam flashes out of the bean, and it goes from a yellow or tan to a brown) to slightly above "Full City" (a darker roast, just into "second crack", and before the bean starts to get noticably oily). At each level of roast, different flavors predominate -- berries, citrus, floral notes, earthiness, chocolate,...