The May issue of our monthly newsletter, The Grind, has hit the bricks! Including the Turkish Dee-Lite recipe, our process for making excellent french press coffee, tips on how to brew a strong shot in a superautomatic espresso machine and a directory of all the recent YouTube videos we've done over the last month, May's news is a sweet little compendium of a lot of the content we've shared with you here.
But what you won't find here is The Grind Special -- this month: $10 off the Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker! Get this special and all future specials by signing up.
We have a deep love for and commitment to the home espresso enthusiast, but as our passion for making excellent espresso at home has grown, we have been exploring commercial-grade equipment, too. Obviously, comparatively few of us can afford to drop $15k on an espresso machine for our homes, but if you're looking to either upgrade your business' existing setup or thinking about launching a new espresso-based business, we have a wide selection of machines that is going to continue to grow.
Currently featuring primarily Faema and Rancilio commercial-class espresso machines & grinders, we've also included a few of the prosumer class of machines that could work well in a smaller-scale business that has espresso as a complementary service -- such as a bookstore or an art gallery. We also have tons of quantity discounts on accessories and wholesale pricing on coffee and syrups, so just ask.
We're excited to venture into a new realm within the coffee world and look forward to talking with you more about it! This blog will also expand as a resource and start offering up information that may be of interest to cafes and other small coffee businesses, so stay tuned.
We've said it before and we'll say it again: Temperature, temperature, temperature. For truly great espresso, there is a fine balance between too hot and not hot enough -- and maintaining the temperature from portafilter to lips is very important. Oh yes, yes it is.
The first step is to let your machine warm up all the way; often, folks think that as soon as the light goes out (generally around 1 - 2 minutes after turning it on), the machine is ready to rock. Not so! In fact, all that means is that the machine has reached ideal boiler temperature, but all of the other parts of the machine have not, so if you pull espresso right at that time, the water is going to cool significantly as it travels through colder apparatus to reach your cup. Depending on your machine, we recommend waiting anywhere from 10 - 30 minutes to allow your machine to reach an even heat.
Next step is to pull some water through the system to warm up the brew head, the portafilter and -- if it's a heat exchange -- the copper tubing that pulls water from the reservoir to the brew group. Let it run through and fully warm up all the metal components.
Finally, make sure you're pulling into a preheated cup; you can easily preheat by using the cup as the container to catch the water you just pulled through the brew group, or you can keep your cups on top of your espresso machine and let them toast as your machine warms up.
Do you have any tips on how you maintain ideal temperature for your espresso extractions? Drop us a comment here if there's something we didn't cover that you think is essential.
