Friday, July 11, 2003


untaping the new expobar

it's hard for me not to feel a close kinship to the expobar so kindly sent me by todd and gary of wholelattelove. why?

because like myself, it just doesn't photograph well. once you unpack expobar and peel off the strange baby blue protective tape, a gleaming steel guy emerges.

large, sturdy, but not beefy or muscle-bound. if i met him downtown on broadway, he'd be wearing a square-cut gray brooks brothers suit and i'd bet he managed a desk.

no custom english shirt or bespoke shoes. red striped tie. he's earnest, plays racquetball, and wears ralph lauren's citrusy safari.

were i still single, i'd give him my phone number if he asked me for it, but i wouldn't swoon or call my best girlfriend to tell her who i just met.

he's just a friendly guy. and this is probably good, because you have to live with him in your kitchen everyday. . .hard to believe he's actually a steamy latin from valencia, spain. maybe once you get to know him his inner piazzolla reveals itself?

mr. right, who loves my rancilio silvia, compared her to an eccentric little italian sports car. finicky, charming, a unique personality. he's not attracted to expobar -- well, we wouldn't expect him to be, would we?

expobar is a completely different technology inside than silvia. he has what's known as a heat exchanger, a little bit of interior tubing that gains heat from the system. this means that you can pull espresso shots and steam milk without switching on a new button to heat up the system and waiting a minute, as you must do with silvia.

actually, you could steam milk while you pour a shot, which is impossible on silvia. so this saves time if you make a lot of drinks at once for friends and family, or like myself, have taken to having regular coffee parties.

further, he has a thermosyphon, an e-61 type grouphead. this means the system circulates water around the grouphead to keep it at an even temperature. so theoretically, he has a more stable temperature than silvia does when making coffee. and we real caffénauts believe that this contributes to better espresso.

also, expobar has a real pressurestat that can be adjusted. since we all remember our basic physics, we know that pressure affects temperature. so by adjusting the pressurestat, we can set the machine to different temperatures.

this is important because many people feel that different espresso roasts call for markedly different machine temperatures; darker roasts should usually have a somewhat lower temperature. finally, expobar has an automatic water fill, so you don't have to manually flip the switch to make sure the boiler refills with water; again, as you must with sweet silvia.

so now i hope you understand what's different about expobar and silvia. the expobar i have, the automatic office control, also has a manual mode, which is the one i plan to use. but i know many people feel more confident with the choice of automatic or manual, which is why i was interested in trying out this model.

further, the automatic has a pre-programmed back-flush cleaning mode, which is certainly an attractive feature. anything to make the machine easier to clean!

so here he is, sitting on my kitchen counter, next to sink, across the way from silvia. he's about 4 or 5 inches longer than silvia, but not much wider, and only about an inch taller. the new model i have has shorter feet, a reinforced frame, a one-piece solenoid, and useful modifications to the boiler. all of this makes him more attractive and sturdy.

todd and gary worked with the manufacturer to incorporate these improvements, which shows the kind of concern the wholelattelove crew has for the home user and the respect in which the manufacturer holds them.

an interesting thing about expobar is the water tank, which looks like a nice tupperware juice container with a handy flip lid. very easy to refill.

and this is the first task -- to put water in expobar -- he really needs a name, and i can't use eduardo, so right now i'll try out carlos -- to prime his pump. he needs soft water that still has some minerals. so distilled won't do.

carlos auto-fills. the instructions say, find a level surface and push the button. ok, in my historic brooklyn apartment this is a challenge. so i just go with the kitchen counter.

i add some poland spring mineral water to the tank, flip his switch, and wa-lah! in 1 minute 32 seconds he chuffs and chugs and fills himself. (actually, i'm still unsure if poland spring is the best water for him. must find out more about this.)

no problem. no work. he just did it. a reliable young man. i'm beginning to like carlos.

the new improved instructions todd sent with him say he heats up to serving temperature in just 10 minutes, whereas silvia takes 20 or 30. i don't believe it, and i let him heat for 30.

heat exchanger (hx) machines get really hot. so it's the usual practice to run about 4 or 6 oz. of water before you make coffee to draw off any steam or too-hot water. before i did this, i had to assemble the portafilter and basket.

carlos comes with a nice portafiler, with the spouts on the bottom unattached. i just left him that way because the more daunting task was inserting the little tension ring that holds the basket in place. i needed to fetch mr. right to get that done.

his portafilter is perhaps slightly better balanced and a tad sleeker than the commercial rancilio one i have taken to using on silvia. but his double basket is much different -- larger holes, unique pattern. this is important to note, because it will affect the grind.

silvia is known as a tad finicky on the grind; the larger holes of expobar's basket probably means less grind sensitivity; on the other hand, it might be harder to make a ristretto shot because if you're not careful you'll get mud in the cup.

i drag out my beloved mazzer mini and use some of the just-for-me gillies espresso don schoenholt makes. i grind as for silvia; why not?

dose, tamp, lock the portafilter, push the manual mode button, and start the timer. tick, tick, tick. in 7 seconds i get the first thick pompeii red globules. like motor oil! amazing. but the 7 seconds tells me the grind is probably too fine -- i'd rather the flow started at 5.

in 25 seconds, i get a nice 2 oz. shot. but i don't drink it -- there's a bit of white in the crema, which tells me since the grind was too fine, the coffee is probably bitter and overextracted. toss this shot.

i have to learn to think coarser. am i surfing carlos or the holes in his basket? if i changed his basket with my la marzocco ridged one, or the standard silvia double basket, would i require the usual silvia type grind? readers, that's an experiment for tomorrow!

so i pull several shots, always nudging the mazzer slightly coarser. . .the texture of all the shots is noticeably thicker than silvia, more syrupy. even with this imperfect grind.

ok, how does carlos steam? the learning curve on steaming with silvia is a couple of weeks, and then maybe months to get the perfect thick microfoam. this takes about 35 seconds on silvia.

carlos has a different steaming set up than silvia. he has separate hot water and steam wands; silvia you push a button to differentiate between water and steam. carlos' wand doesn't have silvia's elbow and for a moment this worries me.

i fear i won't have adequate clearance for the pitcher against the drip tray. but it turns out to be no problema. the problem is that carlos' steam tip has 2 smaller side holes instead of silvia's 1 larger center hole. so you have to angle the pitcher differently.

further, with silvia, you have all this time before the milk heats to 140 degrees. and before you steam, you have to drain off the water sitting in the wand. not with carlos! at first his steam seems weaker than silvia, but he steams quickly! about 17 seconds until my just-from-the-fridge skim milk is at 140.

this means you have to work faster to get the same thick shaving cream body to the foam. and i'm trying to figure where to put the wand in the milk to get the best whirling circulation.
so the first time, i produce sort of starbuck-y stiff foam, but the bubbles are micro.

this is unlike the first time i steamed with silvia, where all i got was burnt milk. must work with carlos on this.

in sum, i find on first use that carlos is just an easy-going guy. i think he has real boyfriend potential. could be a keeper, as single new york ladies like to say. . . .

posted by fortune | 7:30 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments