Monday, January 01, 2007


happy new year: programming the vibiemme

and may 2007 be fantanstic for us all! i began the new year most auspiciously with my usual cappuccino of jessica's batdorf dancing goats.

then i got down to one of the last tests of the caesar vibiemme: programming him. caesar is an electronic model, and unlike many other handsome chrome machines, there's a brain behind his sexy brow.

let's take another look at caesar's forehead:caesar vibiemme's forehead: the domobar super electronic programming panel
i've talked about his eyes previously. and his lights, too.

but now let's chat about his buttons. the right-most button is the manual pour and programming button, an arrangement common on these types of machines, and indeed, exactly the same on my dear carlos expobar.

the other buttons are, left to right, the volume pour buttons i set this morning. they are, as the icons indicate, a 30ml (about 1oz) single pour, a 40ml single long pour (lungo), a 60ml double pour, and an 80ml (about 2.75oz) double lungo pour.

programming these for automatic coffeemaking is dead simple. first select the correct portafilter (double or single), and fill with the correct amount of freshly ground fresh coffee for each type of shot, just as you personally prefer it, and would normally make it.

then pop your shot glass(es) under the spout(s), press-n-hold caesar's manual pour button for about 5 seconds, or until it begins to blink. immediately press the button you wish to program.

let's say you wanna start with the 30ml single. press the left-most button, and when 30ml has flowed into your shot glass, press the left-most button again.

bingo! repeat the process for each amount.

programming caesar in this way took me about 5 minutes in total. couldn't be easier; this is one time the fractured "engliano" the vibiemme user manual so charmingly delights in actually proves useful.

however, dear readers, please note that i would never, ever make coffee this way. uh-uh.

manual pour only for quality espresso please! what i will be using the buttons for is auto-flushing: that is, running out a set amount of water to regulate caesar's temperature, just as i would with carlos expobar or any other heat-exchanger (hx) machine.

this helps ensure that caesar's grouphead water will be neither too cold nor too hot for good coffee, depending on how long he's been sitting around on idle. so even if i don't use caesar's noble brow for automatic coffeemaking, his programmable features serve a useful purpose for automatic flushing, imvho.

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