Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Moo
Germ'robs experiences will be interesting on this subject since he recently passed from low-tech mokapot to high-tech HX commercial-guts espresso maker with monster grinder. I am interested to hear how he'll compare a mokapot cappuccino to an Nuova Simonelli Oscar cappuccino.
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Moo, I believe you said once that going down the path to make real espresso and frothing milk is an exercise of insanity, or something like that. I agree, but man this is some good stuff!
20+ years of pretty much just using a moka pot, I love her dearly and her sisters as well. They are heart broken as they sit there and oxidize while Miss Oscar does her sexy thing. Miss Oscar is an animal, I can have friends come over and we play with her all night and she doesn't complain at all in fact she can satisfy all our needs. Maybe I am just being hard on the old lady since this fine young thing came around and I may long for the company of an old familiar, but at this point I just can't get enough. I visit Miss Oscar 3 times in the morning ( gotta get my 3rd cappa in before 10am) once or twice for a quicky after lunch and my wife joins in when she gets home from work.
Can a moka pot come close to a true espresso? NO, not even close. A moka pot is a great way to brew and should be enjoyed and figured out as exactly what it is, a moka pot.
I will say the AeroPress delivers a closer representation of an espresso taste. I will try one with some frothed milk from Miss Oscar and get back to that (Ha, it happened again, I thought about brewing a different way and it just isn't going to happen yet). The AeroPress, a microwave, and a battery hand frother should put you in the game for $50 if you have the microwave, $100 if you don't. I would not turn down a false cappa from this setup and would enjoy it as well if the beans and water are up to my standards that is.
Even if a person has money to burn and bought a great espresso machine (easily can spend $10k) if they don't know how to use their machine it is worthless. That is why there are super auto machines, they can't do it as well as a real person that knows what they are doing but they will do a good job. Now I am a complete newb to this espresso machine thing but as a roaster I am obsessed with the taste of coffee so it only natural for me to gravitate towards having my own machine. That's my story and I am sticking to it. Even as a newb I was able to get some of the local cafe's fresh beans and tune in after a few attempts the same shot the owner pulls (this is why you must have a good, no a great grinder). Frothing milk is a different story, I have practiced with 2 gallons and can only get decent foam 50% of the time and 10% of the time I can get some microfoam, so this is the hard part for me.
Something else about buying equipment at this level is the attention the good shops and the companies that make this equipment give you. They have been excellent taking their time and getting things working proper with a newb like me. N.S. is sending a smaller hole frothing tip to help with my piss poor abilities. Baratza has been working with me to re-calibrate the Vario fine grind, I am waiting to here from Kyle the designer of the Vario to get his help with tuning it just right. Kyra, the VP from Baratza just wants to send me a new one since it seems like I got one of first shipments that seems to have been calibrated for a coarser grind.
This has been a pleasure getting involved with the crazy world of espresso.