Sunday, January 27, 2002


ok, got up this morning, turned on silvia, pulled out the lux, confronted a 1/2 lb. of espresso vivace roasted on the 21st, which neighbor alan r gave me yesterday.

took me three tries to dial it in; that is, find the proper grind that will result in 1-1/2 to 2 oz coffee in 25-30 seconds. usually grind at 2 clicks past 3 on the grind dial (my grinder goes to 11! honestly!); had to grind at two clicks past 4.

then the miracle: nothing but crema in the shot glass. 3/4 oz of crema in 30 seconds. this is known as the guinness effect! just as when pouring stout, it means all head as you pour, with the beer and the head -- the coffee and the crema -- mixing and then separating in slow blubbly climb when the pour stops. big steam pouring out the edges of the portafilter -- much roiling in the shot glass. 5-10 seconds after pulling the shot i was left with just a tad less than 1/2 in. crema. nice dark pompeii red crema.

all good. but some mystery: there was a little tiny layer of sludge in the bottom of the glass. am i still grinding too fine for schomer's coffee?

i've never had sludge before. . .as for the bread; it turned out. i woke up this morning and baked it up. big crackly creaky crust and dense tender crumb. yum.

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