my coffee

March 23, 2007 in Uncategorized

almost every morning there is a ritual that i perform in front of my coffee shrine. when i wake up and thirst for caffeine, i switch on my Dalla Corte Mini espresso machine. after about 2 minutes, the brew group is ready. i grind some coffee to purge old ground that resides in my Anfim Best grinder. i dose this old ground into the 54 mm portafilter and run couple of shots to heat up the portafilter, solenoid valve, and shower screen to a proper temperature. after 5 minutes, the steam boiler is also ready.

then i brew a double ristretto shot, roughly around 15 grams of my “caffe crema” blend (3/4 double washed thai arabica, and 1/4 of washed thai robusta, handsorted, full city roast). i found that the best temperature is around 95 degree celcius. the cup is smooth, slight acidity, bittersweet, warm spice, nutty, and red-brown crema. i find that it’s pretty balance and clean. i give it 7 out of 10. when i have more african coffees, i’ll blend them to improve the aroma and high notes.

so this is the baseline for any comparison i’ll enjoy in the next posts.