Nespresso Alternative

As a 8+ year Nespresso owner I'm excited to finally find an alternative source for the proprietary espresso capsules. Highline Coffee now offers Nespresso-compatible capsules filled with nearly a dozen different flavors.

The Highline capsules are notably cheaper than Nespresso - .50 cents per shot vs .65 or .70 for Nespresso depending on the flavor. Highline also offers free shipping on orders over 15 sticks making the total cost advantage much greater.

I ordered a small variety of their stronger flavors (and a couple of decafs for Kathy) this morning and hope that in addition to the cost savings the coffee will be fresher that the Nespresso capsules that are made in and shipped from Switzerland.

Working a new machine

I've been doing a little consulting work recently and one of the side benefits is the place has a very nice semi-pro espresso machine and proper grinder, so I've been able to practice my espresso kung-fu on something new. It literally took me a year to learn how to use my Expobar well so I'm quite proud that with a fresh bag of Intelligentsia Black Cat I was able to produce acceptable shots almost immediately and great shots within a couple of days.

The machine is a double boiler Vibiemme and since it's in an office environment it gets much more use then my Brewtus and was filthy. Has no one hear of the portafilter-wiggle? I spent a little time each morning cleaning the machine and the Mazzer grinder to rid them both of the burnt Starbucks crap they've been eating for years. Now on a steady diet of Black Cat the pair are clean and happy and producing very good espresso. Now if I can just get people to replace the portafilter after they use it instead of leaving it on the tray.

Espresso Porn

I still haven't gotten the wiring at the house upgraded so we can use the big espresso machine, so I'm in the middle of a serious case of espresso machine jones. Sure, I have a Nespresso at the office or I could turn to a pro. But none of those satisfy the urge. I find myself ont on the net lusting after all manner of machines.

This morning I found a picture of this sexy number waiting in my inbox. The espresso pimps at WLL sent it over.

I've only used a lever machine once but I will admit to more than a passing interest in really working with one.

The fully manual lever machine offers the skilled barista an additional method of control by subtly varying the pressure during the shot by varying pressure on the handle. Since stability-of-pressure is one of the hallmarks of any good espresso, a manual lever that wildly varies the pressure can obviously be a little dangerous. But used correctly it can be used to extract a specific flavor by altering pressure at specific times during the shot.

Coffee Duck for Nespresso

If you own a Nespresso brand espresso machine there is a new part available to allow you use your own coffee. It is a reusable capsule that is form and fit compatible with the small plastic Nespresso capsules.

It's available on Ebay and for less from a number of web sites in Europe like this one.

I also noticed that Nespresso coffee capsules are now available on Ebay although at a significantly higher price thatn direct from Nespresso.

Bay area espresso

Since the house needs a little electrical upgrade before we can use our machine I have been sampling a number of local shops to find good espresso. Today was a notable success as I sampled a spectacular shot at Caffe del Doge in Palo Alto.

Prepared in the classic Italian style, the results were pure Rome; a light tan crema over smokey chocolate syrup that smells of fresh straw and licorice. Not my favorite style but very well done and a real treat after weeks of mediocre attempts by my regular barrista.

Espresso Beans

I buy my Espresso here:

Inteligentsiacoffee.com — Black Cat Espresso, Old Faithful
Stumptowncoffee.com — Hairbender Espresso, My current favorite

Other famous roasters

Vivace — I use both their espressos, this is super traditional Ialian, not my fave.
Blue Bottle — Excellent new roaster, I’ll try them when I get tired of Stumptown.

Local Denver Roasters

Kaladi Brothers, University Blvd. -- Best Local beans
Crowfoot Valley, Castle Rock — Even localer for me.

New York City Espresso

What a spectacular place. I made the mile-plus cross town walk from the hotel to Everyman Espresso. The windchill made it feel like all of 15 and I considered buying earmuffs at each sidewalk vendor until I realized I'd have to stop walking and risk instant hypothermia to do so.

The espresso made every frigid step worth it. Oh glory, what a shot. I had two and wanted 10. This is a shot that grabs you by the balls and twists -- hard. A good amount of Ethiopian lends the signature dirty flavor that is perfectly balanced with nice residual sweetness. When it was over I positively floated back to the hotel -- I don't even remember it being cold.

I'm beginning to suspect there is a unidirectional correlation between Tattoos and Good Espresso. That is: Every good barrista seems to have visible tattoos, but not every barrista with tattoos is good. The guy at Everyman is good (and tattooed).

Everyman Espresso
136 East 13th Street (Union Square)

Espresso Stuff

In addition to 2 pounds of Intelligetsia Black Cat Roast, I received a couple new Espresso toys on Friday. Two are new products from Bumper, a tamping stand and a knock-box. The tamping stand is really nice. I use a Naket Portafilter exclusively and have been using the edge of out kitchen sink as a makeshift stand. The bumper stand is perfect for either Naked or Traditional PFs. The notch for traditional PFs makes a nice place to hang my tamper.

The Bumper Knock-Box is a great upgrade from our old one. It's much larger, has a raised rear area to prevent slosh from soupy pucks from going everywhere, and has much thicker rubber. It reeks of quality.

Our old box was the traditional low, square stainless box with black wood frame. It has a couple of problems. The edges of the stainless insert dig into the wood and trash the paint on the corners of the box. I installed small rubber feet to the wood but they only reduce the wear, not prevent it. Also the bar is lower than the front edge so it is easy to hit the PF in the edge at the same time as the bar - denting the stainless insert. It was a good starter box, but the Bumper box is much better. As shown in the picture, the Bumper has a large rubber base so it feels very solid -- a "good thing" when whacking it with a heavy E61 PF. The Bar is about twice as thick.

The only thing I would change about both is the finish, both products are finished in brushed stainless. Everything else in the Espresso world is polished. Nit picking for sure. Chris Coffee has the whole line of Bumper products

The last thing I received was a 53mm tamper for a friend. He has a classic LaPavoni hand pump machine and continues to use the plastic tamper that came with it. It's really hard to get a consistent tamp with a plastic tamper so I got a nice all steel model. It is surprisingly heavy. I didn't weigh it but it must be twice as heavy as my Aluminium/Stainless Reg Barber.

Espresso Machines

A friend recently called me from a Starbucks and asked for my advice choosing a new Espresso machine. He was looking at machines in the $200-$300 dollar range and thought a few of them there looked pretty good.

First of all, there are very few machines for less than $500 capable of making "real" Espresso and those that can have difficulty to do it repeatably. Now some may argue that their XYZ machine makes fine espresso for $100 or whatever. There is simply an inverse ratio of machine cost to preparation complexity. Even machines in the $500-$600 range require a pretty complex process to produce really good espresso. Not everyone has the patience to develop the process and repeat it accurately to produce good espresso.

So if you are looking for a machine that makes "Real" Espresso, here are your choices:

The least expensive are "Capsule" machines. Don't confuse these with "pod" machines. Capsules are hard plastic and air tight, pods are soft paper like tea-bags. One makes Espresso and the other doesn't.

Here is a easy tip for identifying "real" Espresso -- when you look at a recently made espresso, if the liquid inside is black -- it isn't espresso. Espresso is golden brown. Part of the magic of espresso is the exctaction of carbon dioxide from the beans -- that is what makes to golden cream or Crema in the cup. Without it, you have coffee.

I have a Nespresso capsule machine in my office, and it makes a pretty good cup of espresso. I generally don't make milk drinks (Latte, Cappuccino, Etc) so the lack of steaming capability isn't a problem. There are other Nespresso machines that can steam. Learn more about them here

A friend describes it's output as "Swiss" Espresso, which implies that it is not as strong and rich as "Italian" Espresso. He's right. But for less than $200 and 45 cents a shot it makes a pretty good cup without the considerable mess of a traditional machine. Nespresso frequently lists refurbished machines on E-Bay for a 15-20% discount.

Moving beyond the capsule machines you can choose between a semi-automatic machine and a super-automatic machine.

Semi-auto machines require the operator to grind coffee, dose, tamp, pull and froth milk manually. Super Auto's do all that automatically, only requiring the operator to keep the beans and milk topped-up. These are more expensive than semi-autos, but compared with a semi-auto and the required burr grinder, the difference gets pretty small.

If you are interested in producing the highest espresso quality possible and are willing to spend some time learning the technique required to achieve that; then semi-auto is the right choice. If you just want to produce good espresso with little or no practice, then get a super-automatic.

Good Espresso = Super Auto
Great Espresso = Semi Auto + Technique

I have used the $700 Gaggia Syncrony Logic super-auto extensively and am very impressed by it's performance. As noted above It makes good espresso (better then my Nespresso) at the push of a button.

Gaggia also makes very good semi-auto machines. Two friends have smaller Gaggia's (a Baby-D and a Compact). Both are very happy with them. These machines are ~$500 each and will require another ~$300-$400 for a good grinder. These are all good starter machines.

The next level in the quest for espresso perfection is a dual-boiler semi-auto. This is the biggest, baddest machine you can get without rewiring and plumbing your kitchen. My current machine is a dual-boiler Expobar Brewtus II. A dual-boiler has one boiler for brewing espresso and another for steaming milk. Single boiler machines (also called heat-exchangers) have one boiler for steaming and plumb the brew water through a heat-exchanger in the steam boiler to heat the brew water. This makes it difficult to achieve the kind of temperature control necessary to produce spectacular espresso. Dual-boiler designs offer the performance of a large commercial machine in a smaller footprint, and without wiring and plumbing. Prices for dual-boiler machines range from $2000 - $4000. With time and practice these machines make espresso better then almost any coffee shop and every Starbucks.

The pinnacle is the full Commercial machine. These require 240v power (like your clothes dryer) and a plumbed in water supply and drain (like your washer). Hmmm... Never thought of using the laundry room for Espresso...

I've had my Expobar B2 for over 18 months and am very happy. It took almost a year to really understand how to operate it properly. During that time half the shots were drinkable and the rest were bitter or sour and ended up in the sink. I don't remember my last sink shot. If you aren't ready to spend months learning to make great espresso, think about a super-auto.


There are many variables in the quest for perfect espresso and with time you can understand many of them and produce espresso that is better than anything you can buy at a almost any US coffee shop.

So, how committed are you?

Saturday Espresso Blogging

I turned out some of the best espresso shots ever this morning. After using Vivace Dolce for the last few months we are trying Black Cat from Intelligentsia. David Schomer's Dolce blend has proven a little difficult to get a handle on, frequently resulting in a "woody" or "grassy" taste in the cup. I've tried temps from 92c to 98c (standard 7c offset) and reduced these flavors a bit but never completely eliminated them.

My first shot with Black Cat was really good but took almost a minute for 2 oz. I adjusted the grinder a little coarser and the next shot was spectacular, rich chocolate aroma and flavor. We tried this blend about a year ago without much success. In truth we were still learning how to use our machine. I am now a big Black Cat fan and encourage anyone looking for a forgiving blend to give it a try.