Author Topic: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!  (Read 68322 times)

Tex

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #645 on: July 31, 2010, 03:14:30 PM »
ECC- The Alexia is a fine machine made by a great company.  And that is part of the point.  Schulman STILL calls them pink elephants that he claims anyone with the means will replace within a year or two.  That’s a top of the line SBDU!  This is the expert that Tex called into play with false claims about his recommendations. I simply showed that as of two days ago his expert has the same view of SBDU machines as I do!  :o

But the fact is, you have no credibility in this thread because all you're doing is refuting what I post. Where's your counter argument about what you use & why you prefer it?

ecc

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #646 on: July 31, 2010, 03:30:34 PM »
From the Schulman quote:
"Nobody I know of has remained with one of these large single boilers for long, whether they drink only espresso or use the steam. "

This honestly confuses me.  I can understand the call to steam, but why would anyone upgrade if they drink only espresso?


Tex

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #647 on: July 31, 2010, 03:31:10 PM »
moved to its own thread
« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 06:10:44 PM by Tex »

GC7

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #648 on: July 31, 2010, 03:32:08 PM »
Good try but no cigar.  I did indeed give several arguments which you simply don't believe.  No problem with that because you are wrong.

You are the one with no credibility. Your expert agrees with me.  Do you believe Schulman's comments regarding SBDU machines that he made only TWO DAYS AGO?  :o  I'm not trying to sell anything here.  That would be you.  Most of my posts are comments on coffees I've experienced, blends I've tried or purchases of fine coffee.  Most of your posts are nonsense argumentative garbage interspersed with trying to sell something. Anyone with a mind can see right through you.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 04:09:21 PM by GC7 »

Tex

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #649 on: July 31, 2010, 03:35:22 PM »
From the Schulman quote:
"Nobody I know of has remained with one of these large single boilers for long, whether they drink only espresso or use the steam. "

This honestly confuses me.  I can understand the call to steam, but why would anyone upgrade if they drink only espresso?

Interesting point. If one isn't in need of steam to make milk drinks, where is the downside of a SBDU machine? Intra-shot temp stability isn't an issue, and with a large enough boiler, inter-shot temp stability won't be a concern either.


GC7

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #650 on: July 31, 2010, 03:35:31 PM »
From the Schulman quote:
"Nobody I know of has remained with one of these large single boilers for long, whether they drink only espresso or use the steam. "

This honestly confuses me.  I can understand the call to steam, but why would anyone upgrade if they drink only espresso?



For the Alexia there may be no good reason.  For smaller boiler SBDU units they simply don't have the thermal stability to compete.  Tex can argue till he's blue in the face (or pink like an elephant in his case) but those are the facts.

Offline staylor

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #651 on: July 31, 2010, 03:52:32 PM »
There you go again, crafting sentences. You commented on consistency earlier, I stated I've pulled hundreds of shots back to back in a day in a demanding retail environment, each shot a duplicate of the shot previous to it (within reason). I'm not sure how much more you want to argue your nonsensical position on consistency. I've done it, loads of it. Consistency was my middle name. Then I questioned yours...

There you go again, crafting sentences to create something that is false or minimalizing by stating "All I've seen of your work are a handful of latte art photos". You've probably seen well over 100 of my latte art photos because you have participated in threads where they sit next to or very near your own comments. Maybe your hands have well over 50 fingers per hand... then I guess you would be getting closer to stating fact.

There you go again, manipulating comments as if they were fact. You haven't just seen 'a few videos of badly over-extracted shots', you've seen quite a few videos of mine which show correctly extracted shots, you will have also seen some great pours, mediocre pours, decent pours, you've seen pre-shot weights, post shot weights, crema results, you've seen milk steam, milk pours and lots of other stuff. That's just fact. But now I'll get on to your comment on my badly over-extracted shots... do you know what over-extracted means? Really? How about we get it out in the open so there's no misunderstanding other than your attempt to throw a boogieman term at my videos, how about this definition: "Over-extraction occurs when too many coffee solids are extracted, resulting in a strong, harsh flavor. The visual signs are a low-volume extraction having a dark, thin crema. A dark "halo" at the edge of the cup is another classic indictor of an over-extraction, or of brew water that is too hot." Care to point out 'a few videos of badly over-extracted shots' that I've put up that fall into that definition? I can wait for the crickets if you want. How about this definition: "Over Extracted: term used to describe coffee or espresso that has had brew water exposed to ground coffee for too long. Over extracted espresso and coffee can taste bitter or burnt." Care to point out 'a few videos of badly over-extracted shots' that I've put up that fall into that definition? I can wait for the crickets if you want. Sad.

Are you kidding, this is absurd... "In your defense, I do believe you intentionally spoiled those shots to produce effects for the camera (artistic license?)." Dude, I don't need your defense, what I need is for you to state fact not distort reality.

Wait a minute here... is this a retraction of your earlier statement where you pronounced to the world as fact that the only thing which should ever be changed is grind - nothing else gets changed but grind... "I pull shots that extract the flavors I want from the beans. I play with temp & pressure to do that. For instance, I'm currently working with a blend that I roasted to a light Vienna level, which I find produces a good balance of sugars and chocolate at 196°F.  While there are variables in each shot that must be accounted for, I strive to make each tamp the same, removing it from the variables that must be controlled. " Now you are playing with temp and pressure, madness, want to throw in dose weight while you are at it, or some other variables other than just grind, but that would be silly, right?

What fact checking tool did you use to get this one put together "If you want to play with all the different factors, more power to you. But from everything I've read about the espresso making process, you're in the minority. " Which minority would that be, the minority that makes espresso by taking into account the espresso making process? And what exactly is your point when you say "If you want to play with all the different factors, more power to you." Have you a list of 'all the different factors' that I'm excessively employing that you don't? Or are we back to you just playing with grind and only grind and I'm doing wacky things like grind... and gasp... amount of grams of beans for a shot... or can you believe it he just... observed the flow in order to know when to kill a shot... etc, etc, etc... the espresso making process, etc.

Geez guy, how about an executive summary next time?

What you're doing with those slooow shots may be interesting to look at, but it's not espresso. In fact, it's more akin to what is made with the steam toys than espresso as it's known throughout the world: You show no concern for proper pressure & extraction.

Espresso is a drink made within pressure, temperature, and time constraints. You're trying to redefine espresso to suit your interests, rather than learning to make it within the existing norms. You can call it whatever you want, but it ain't espresso unless you follow the rules.



Still ducking all the question I ask you previously, eh? Makes sense, because you've said some embarrassing stuff and tried to make it sound like facts.

Be sure to duck all this stuff I'm about to write as well, then after this post go on to make some other random comments and please try to make them sound like fact... yawn...

"What you're doing with those slooow shots may be interesting to look at, but it's not espresso." Let's get to it shall we, your comment about it not being espresso... really? And what is espresso? Don't answer right away because it's a pretty big question and one I'm not so sure you have fully contemplated, I state that because your sense of espresso seems extremely rigid and perhaps defined only by what you pull at home. For me, I pull all kinds of shots, across a very wide spectrum and have experienced the same things in several highly respected third-wave coffee shops. My definition of espresso is inclusive because I keep an open mind.

This is pretty poor, even for you... "In fact, it's more akin to what is made with the steam toys than espresso as it's known throughout the world: You show no concern for proper pressure & extraction." What proper pressure and extraction technique are you talking about? Do you mean the pressure variable of a lever machine which has a decaying pressure profile across the entire path of the lever pull allowing for realtime pressure profiling? Do you mean the pressure at the headspace between the tamped coffee and the lever coffee screen and the ability to adjust the extraction process via spacing? Or do you mean the pressure I'm putting on you as I try to extract facts because that's what interests me, not your predictable attempts at redirective argument as a way to bolster some of the nonsense you've spouted in this thread?

Crickets...

"Espresso is a drink made within pressure, temperature, and time constraints." And what exactly are those constraints, you can't be relying on the SCAA golden rules as the only thing espresso is allowed to be, right? If you are talking about the SCAA golden rules I suppose you could be on to something if we are talking about beginner espresso or unimaginative espresso, which camp do you fit in?

"You're trying to redefine espresso to suit your interests, rather than learning to make it within the existing norms." If I had have been drinking something when I read this it would have shot out of my nose. How do you pull shots? I pull shots that suit my interests and in so doing they also interest others. Step out of the tar pits, it's pretty interesting out here.

"You can call it whatever you want, but it ain't espresso unless you follow the rules." Your 'facts' range from absurd to humorous, I'm not sure where this one falls. Let me help you out with this... I think I follow your logic here I did call it espresso because I didn't think a rock, or a potato, or a marble, battery, or tree would be the right name for it. I called it espresso because I do take coffee beans, extract them using a technological device called an 'E s p r e s s o Machine'. Let me know what rules were broken somewhere in the preceding sentence. You can be sure if I use a pourover I won't call that espresso but in until them let me know why I should call what I'm doing something other than espresso.

Here's where you respond to my questions and logic...

Or you can state some new mumbo-jumbo.

Maybe use another boogeyman comment.

Or the strawman argument.

Distort some more reality.

State opinion as facts.

Take facts and distort them as opinion.

Complain about the length of time you had to read factual responses.

Complain.

Tex

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #652 on: July 31, 2010, 04:20:58 PM »
From the Schulman quote:
"Nobody I know of has remained with one of these large single boilers for long, whether they drink only espresso or use the steam. "

This honestly confuses me.  I can understand the call to steam, but why would anyone upgrade if they drink only espresso?



For the Alexia there may be no good reason.  For smaller boiler SBDU units they simply don't have the thermal stability to compete.  Tex can argue till he's blue in the face (or pink like an elephant in his case) but those are the facts.

More BS from someone with no personal knowledge of what he's discussing. Or do you have a graph of the intra-shot temp stability of the Alexia? Me? I'll stick to known facts about temp stability, thank you.

Tex

  • Guest
Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #653 on: July 31, 2010, 04:35:53 PM »
There you go again, crafting sentences. You commented on consistency earlier, I stated I've pulled hundreds of shots back to back in a day in a demanding retail environment, each shot a duplicate of the shot previous to it (within reason). I'm not sure how much more you want to argue your nonsensical position on consistency. I've done it, loads of it. Consistency was my middle name. Then I questioned yours...

There you go again, crafting sentences to create something that is false or minimalizing by stating "All I've seen of your work are a handful of latte art photos". You've probably seen well over 100 of my latte art photos because you have participated in threads where they sit next to or very near your own comments. Maybe your hands have well over 50 fingers per hand... then I guess you would be getting closer to stating fact.

There you go again, manipulating comments as if they were fact. You haven't just seen 'a few videos of badly over-extracted shots', you've seen quite a few videos of mine which show correctly extracted shots, you will have also seen some great pours, mediocre pours, decent pours, you've seen pre-shot weights, post shot weights, crema results, you've seen milk steam, milk pours and lots of other stuff. That's just fact. But now I'll get on to your comment on my badly over-extracted shots... do you know what over-extracted means? Really? How about we get it out in the open so there's no misunderstanding other than your attempt to throw a boogieman term at my videos, how about this definition: "Over-extraction occurs when too many coffee solids are extracted, resulting in a strong, harsh flavor. The visual signs are a low-volume extraction having a dark, thin crema. A dark "halo" at the edge of the cup is another classic indictor of an over-extraction, or of brew water that is too hot." Care to point out 'a few videos of badly over-extracted shots' that I've put up that fall into that definition? I can wait for the crickets if you want. How about this definition: "Over Extracted: term used to describe coffee or espresso that has had brew water exposed to ground coffee for too long. Over extracted espresso and coffee can taste bitter or burnt." Care to point out 'a few videos of badly over-extracted shots' that I've put up that fall into that definition? I can wait for the crickets if you want. Sad.

Are you kidding, this is absurd... "In your defense, I do believe you intentionally spoiled those shots to produce effects for the camera (artistic license?)." Dude, I don't need your defense, what I need is for you to state fact not distort reality.

Wait a minute here... is this a retraction of your earlier statement where you pronounced to the world as fact that the only thing which should ever be changed is grind - nothing else gets changed but grind... "I pull shots that extract the flavors I want from the beans. I play with temp & pressure to do that. For instance, I'm currently working with a blend that I roasted to a light Vienna level, which I find produces a good balance of sugars and chocolate at 196°F.  While there are variables in each shot that must be accounted for, I strive to make each tamp the same, removing it from the variables that must be controlled. " Now you are playing with temp and pressure, madness, want to throw in dose weight while you are at it, or some other variables other than just grind, but that would be silly, right?

What fact checking tool did you use to get this one put together "If you want to play with all the different factors, more power to you. But from everything I've read about the espresso making process, you're in the minority. " Which minority would that be, the minority that makes espresso by taking into account the espresso making process? And what exactly is your point when you say "If you want to play with all the different factors, more power to you." Have you a list of 'all the different factors' that I'm excessively employing that you don't? Or are we back to you just playing with grind and only grind and I'm doing wacky things like grind... and gasp... amount of grams of beans for a shot... or can you believe it he just... observed the flow in order to know when to kill a shot... etc, etc, etc... the espresso making process, etc.


Geez guy, how about an executive summary next time?

What you're doing with those slooow shots may be interesting to look at, but it's not espresso. In fact, it's more akin to what is made with the steam toys than espresso as it's known throughout the world: You show no concern for proper pressure & extraction.

Espresso is a drink made within pressure, temperature, and time constraints. You're trying to redefine espresso to suit your interests, rather than learning to make it within the existing norms. You can call it whatever you want, but it ain't espresso unless you follow the rules.




Still ducking all the question I ask you previously, eh? Makes sense, because you've said some embarrassing stuff and tried to make it sound like facts.

Be sure to duck all this stuff I'm about to write as well, then after this post go on to make some other random comments and please try to make them sound like fact... yawn...

"What you're doing with those slooow shots may be interesting to look at, but it's not espresso." Let's get to it shall we, your comment about it not being espresso... really? And what is espresso? Don't answer right away because it's a pretty big question and one I'm not so sure you have fully contemplated, I state that because your sense of espresso seems extremely rigid and perhaps defined only by what you pull at home. For me, I pull all kinds of shots, across a very wide spectrum and have experienced the same things in several highly respected third-wave coffee shops. My definition of espresso is inclusive because I keep an open mind.

This is pretty poor, even for you... "In fact, it's more akin to what is made with the steam toys than espresso as it's known throughout the world: You show no concern for proper pressure & extraction." What proper pressure and extraction technique are you talking about? Do you mean the pressure variable of a lever machine which has a decaying pressure profile across the entire path of the lever pull allowing for realtime pressure profiling? Do you mean the pressure at the headspace between the tamped coffee and the lever coffee screen and the ability to adjust the extraction process via spacing? Or do you mean the pressure I'm putting on you as I try to extract facts because that's what interests me, not your predictable attempts at redirective argument as a way to bolster some of the nonsense you've spouted in this thread?

Crickets...

"Espresso is a drink made within pressure, temperature, and time constraints." And what exactly are those constraints, you can't be relying on the SCAA golden rules as the only thing espresso is allowed to be, right? If you are talking about the SCAA golden rules I suppose you could be on to something if we are talking about beginner espresso or unimaginative espresso, which camp do you fit in?

"You're trying to redefine espresso to suit your interests, rather than learning to make it within the existing norms." If I had have been drinking something when I read this it would have shot out of my nose. How do you pull shots? I pull shots that suit my interests and in so doing they also interest others. Step out of the tar pits, it's pretty interesting out here.

"You can call it whatever you want, but it ain't espresso unless you follow the rules." Your 'facts' range from absurd to humorous, I'm not sure where this one falls. Let me help you out with this... I think I follow your logic here I did call it espresso because I didn't think a rock, or a potato, or a marble, battery, or tree would be the right name for it. I called it espresso because I do take coffee beans, extract them using a technological device called an 'E s p r e s s o Machine'. Let me know what rules were broken somewhere in the preceding sentence. You can be sure if I use a pourover I won't call that espresso but in until them let me know why I should call what I'm doing something other than espresso.

Here's where you respond to my questions and logic...

Or you can state some new mumbo-jumbo.

Maybe use another boogeyman comment.

Or the strawman argument.

Distort some more reality.

State opinion as facts.

Take facts and distort them as opinion.

Complain about the length of time you had to read factual responses.

Complain.


More blather about your definition of espresso - maybe even a third-wave definition, but no thought given to what you're saying? Espresso, whether defined by the ITALIAN ESPRESSO NATIONAL INSTITUTE , or just someone making this crap up, has norms to be observed if you wish to call what you make espresso. Otherwise anyone with an Aeropress or Bialetti can claim to be making espresso.

Flaunting the norms, while proclaiming oneself the expert, is hardly the sign of a rational mind. I personally find the Golden Rule too restrictive, but when I'm teaching someone to make espresso I do use it as a starting point on the espresso road. And when i diverge from this rule it is by small increments; taking into consideration that if I disdain these norms I'm likely to be called on it, because espresso is a rules derived process.


Tex

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #654 on: July 31, 2010, 04:50:32 PM »
From the Schulman quote:
"Nobody I know of has remained with one of these large single boilers for long, whether they drink only espresso or use the steam. "

This honestly confuses me.  I can understand the call to steam, but why would anyone upgrade if they drink only espresso?




For the Alexia there may be no good reason.  For smaller boiler SBDU units they simply don't have the thermal stability to compete.  Tex can argue till he's blue in the face (or pink like an elephant in his case) but those are the facts.


More BS from someone with no personal knowledge of what he's discussing. Or do you have a graph of the intra-shot temp stability of the Alexia? Me? I'll stick to known facts about temp stability, thank you.


Oh, wait a minute, here's a graph of the Alexia's intra-shot temp stability.


Hmm... Not much difference to my eye.



Let's see, you can't argue against facts, so what's left for you? Maybe a bit more histrionics?

GC7

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #655 on: July 31, 2010, 04:56:57 PM »
Show me 5 in a row spaced at two minutes apart. If you can do that then I know you falsify your data.

You're gasping your last breath.

Do you believe your expert Schulman?  Yes or NO?  You brought him up with your false claims.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 04:59:47 PM by GC7 »

Tex

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #656 on: July 31, 2010, 05:00:20 PM »
Show me 5 in a row spaced at two minutes apart.


I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to ask a question to which you didn't already know the answer. BTW, these aren't my graphs - Jim Gallt, the top PID guru did for a Gaggia Coffee that he PID'd, using the same test methodology used here: http://pidkits.com/thermofilter.html

edited: In no way am I suggesting that Jim Gallt supports any of my positions. In fact, it's the other way around - I endorse his work without reservations.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 05:12:08 PM by Tex »

GC7

  • Guest
Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #657 on: July 31, 2010, 05:11:40 PM »
Your joking right?

That's poor reproducibility.  Really poor.  Also, I don't see time between shots even for that poor reproducibility for three not five.

You keep bringing up HB and some of their experts.  Why don't you post those graphs and your claims over there and see if Galt, Schulman or any other of your experts agree with your argument that SBDU units are better then HX or oter DB alternatives for ANYONE.  Please do that. You wil be laughed out of the forum.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 05:14:49 PM by GC7 »

Offline staylor

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #658 on: July 31, 2010, 05:14:23 PM »
Ok Tex, I'll play your game and look at how you define espresso, it's not how I define it but it'll be fun to look at. This one from the ITALIAN ESPRESSO NATIONAL INSTITUTE (as defined by them in 1999):

"What is Espresso?
It is the best way to obtain from knowledgeably roasted coffee beans all the pleasure that they are able to give. More practically, espresso is the drink-in-a-cup obtained by forcing adequately pressurised water through coffee powder. Espresso coffee should not contain any additive or flavouring and should be free of any artificially added water."

When looking at your source definition let me know where I went wrong when I called what I do espresso. Let's see, I used a cup, I used pressurized water through coffee powder and I didn't put in any additive or flavoring, it was also free of any artificially added water. Alright then, one down and one to go.

Now let's look at what you use as another guiding beacon of espresso knowledge the link from Whole Latte Love which you endearingly titled "just someone making this crap up", you sure know how to pick 'em:

"DOUBLE SHOT: Equals 2 to 2.5 fluid ounces of water pulled through approximately 14 grams of ground coffee in about 20 to 25 seconds.

Start timing your “extraction” (the shot you are making) when you hit the brew button, and always tamp (pack the coffee into the portafilter basket) with about 30lbs. of pressure."

Interesting, no mention of killing a shot upon early blonding, just a simple little definition of weight and time. When was the last time you drank a 2.5oz straight espresso? Go out into the retail world, high-quality retail coffee shops that is, are there even such things as espresso cups that can hold 2.5oz of espresso? How about you watch 50 or 60 World Barista Championship videos, you know what those are right, the guys and girls who are in the industry and pull tens of thousand of shots per year with all kinds of coffee and collaborate with hundreds of other baristas and thousands upon thousands of their customers and all of them operate at a world caliber level, let me know when you see a 2.5oz shot pulled and served. You can start learning here: http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=obM&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&tbs=vid%3A1&q=world+barista+championship+video&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Why does the word 'third-wave' scare you so much? Do you fear change? Or are you uncomfortable in a world that has evolved around you? You can do something about it.

"Otherwise anyone with an Aeropress or Bialetti can claim to be making espresso." There you go with a distortion of facts again.

"Flaunting the norms, while proclaiming oneself the expert, is hardly the sign of a rational mind." What norms, yours? Who are you referring to that proclaimed them self to be ab expert?

"taking into consideration that if I disdain these norms I'm likely to be called on it, because espresso is a rules derived process." That's opinion not fact, espresso has guidelines but please feel free to show me the 'rulebook'. And dude, you are being called out on it, all day long...

Pyment

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Re: Good or great espresso machines? Let the arguing begin!
« Reply #659 on: July 31, 2010, 05:15:21 PM »
Does the OPV affect flavor? here is a thread from CG that seems to imply that Jim from 1st line doesn't think so.

I don't have to read that thread to answer.....yes it does.

Thanks for answering!

 
Quote from: John F
It's really obvious in several ways.


OK How is it different and how does it happen?

And are you buying that 2 group Lusso? ;)