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Part I
The second most traded commodity in the world --second only to oil-- turns out to be coffee. Though I don't gas my car (or even drive it) every day, I always drink coffee. It is my beverage in the morning, my dessert after lunch, and my 3 PM pick-me-up of choice. I have even begun drinking it in the evening now that I have been able to source high quality decaf beans that I can roast myself. Spending so much time with one commodity over the years, my interest in (and appreciation of) coffee has grown...to the point of obsession.
My home consumption began with a leftover espresso machine my father gave to me and a cheap burr grinder. The Briel served me nicely for a year before it died and I moved onto what would be my first prosumer machine: Oscar (by Nuova Simonelli). The first thing Oscar taught me was that my grinder was terrible. The first shot I pulled on Oscar was a watery mess; it was like pouring hot water through coffee gravel. That led me to Rocky which, though not as high end as say a Mazzer Mini, is serviceable and still going strong nearly a decade later. Rocky and Oscar teamed up on (and took up nearly all of) my counter. But though Rocky was always prepared to do his part, Oscar spent many months out of commission while it was sent back to the East Coast for repairs: pumps, pressure-stats, over-pressure valves...the list went on and on but the espresso, and my patience for Oscar, did not...to be continued
Part II
Having grown weary of the (over)complexity of modern espresso machines, I was drawn to the idea of lever espresso in which the barista supplies the pressure that forces the near boiling water through the ground coffee placed in the porta-filter. My first investigation lead me to La Pavoni machines which matched simplicity and elegance. What I was not prepared for was the price of a La Pavoni --which was higher than most home automatic machines. Apparently fewer moving and electrical pieces did not make for a less expensive machine...but did it make for a more reliable one? The verdict on modern La Pavonis was not then settled (it is now...and not favorably) but my investigation continued onto another machine: The '67 Cremina, by Olympia Express. The Cremina combines Swiss craftsmanship with Italian passion and translates that into a couple of hundred espresso machines per year. Each one is hand-made and priced (as of this writing) at nearly $4,000!!! Luckily I was able to find a vintage, 1983, machine that had been refurbished by what was to become my favorite on-line source for coffee and espresso equipment (Orphan Espresso) for a much more affordable (though still shocking) amount of money. After much hand-wringing, I pulled the trigger on what has turned out to be one of the best purchases I have ever made...to be continued
matthew