Espressification

After discovering how good coffee can be at Four Barrel Coffee (actually at the Rapha SF shop, which makes Four Barrel), Chloe and I have been kind of disappointed with coffee in France.  Especially when you discover that even the smallest roadside cafe in Italy makes espressi that are leaps and bounds better than even the best French restaurants.  I had assumed that since most French cafes use the same Italian Espresso machines as the Italians, that the difference was in the beans.  Having convinced myself that I could make decent coffee just using an Aeropress, but with good beans (e.g., Four Barrel or Artis), I set out trying to find non-burnt beans in France:  not an easy task. I still haven't heard a good explanation why French roasters incinerate their beans, but the best I can come up with is that it is just what people in France expect, taste wise, burning beans requires less expertise than not burning beans, and finally, burning beans can hide defective beans.  But really, I have no idea, and it seems like a terrible waste to me.  Anyway, I went to a "good" roaster in town, bought several types and brought them home.  Side by side tasting not required: burnt.  Next, I ordered several varieties from Maxicoffee:  less burnt, but still bitter,.  Finally, I found the savior of French coffees:  Cataldi!  The Cataldi Yirgacheffe is fantastic -- I would say almost as good as the Artis Yirgacheffe Aricha, but more similar than different.  Finally, some decent beans!  And Cataldi has several other varieties which are also excellent as well.

Having happily found a source for excellent beans in France, I eventually decided that it would be a good thing to start making our own espressos.  It might surprise you to know that this started am avalanche of research on Espresso machines, but eventually I decided upon the Nuevo Simonelli Oscar.  Sure, it has a vibration pump, and does not have an E61 group, shiny stainless steel cladding, and beautiful gauges, but it is well known for producing great coffee.  Paired with a Grinta grinder, we are now in business!  The first shots were pretty awful, but I am making progress, dialing in the grind, dose and tamp and am now pulling ok shots.  The slightly unwanted side effect is that I am super-caffinated all the time now, since I have been practicing a lot, and that requires tasting coffee.  And coffee has caffeine.