Hello! This is my 1st post. And I already have 2 questions!

[luca]

Hello everybody.
My name is Luca, I am a new member, I'm Italian and I live in Amsterdam.
Oh, and NO, I didn't move to Amsterdam for the coffee, thank you
To survive in this coffee-challenged city I bought a Vibiemme Domobar machine and a Rocky grinder and with time and patience I managed to get a decent espresso from my machine. It really depends on the coffee beans, I guess. I tried dozens of them, from freshly roasted to small family-run coffee brands in Italy, with mixed results. The best results were reached with some coffee beans that I got from a bar here in Amsterdam. The place makes one of the best espressos I ever tasted (even in Italy it's hard to find such a good one, believe me) and the owner accepted to give me some beans to try them with my machine at home. well, he didn't want to tell me where he got them from, but WOW, what an exceptional espesso! creamy, plenty of flavor, thick dark crema.
amazing.
the only thing I still don't get from my machine is good temperature. And I have no idea of why. I don't like my espresso too hot of course. but at least warm enough to enjoy it. Well, most of the time the espresso I get is not warm enough. The grouphead is super hot. the pressure is ok, but the temperature in the cup is not high enough. Any idea of what could be wrong?

the second question is about coffee beans. Can anyone tell me where to find (and easily get - like ordering from the internet for example) wood-roasted beans?


thanks for your help!

[ivdp]

Are you using hot coffee cups?
If you want wood roasted coffee beans you have to move to Ethiopia or do it yourselve.
BBQ roasting?

Ivo

[luca]

Hi Ivo. I do warm my coffee cups, yes. But it's still not warm enough. About the wood roasting, that's not true. Small italian brands like Kenon (www.kenon.it) still roast their beans with the traditional slow roasting method in wooden roasters. But they don't sell outside italy. I know other brands (mainly from the region of naples) that use the same mathod but they only sell to bars.

[MKSwing]

Hi Ivo. I do warm my coffee cups, yes. But it's still not warm enough. About the wood roasting, that's not true. Small italian brands like Kenon (www.kenon.it) still roast their beans with the traditional slow roasting method in wooden roasters. But they don't sell outside italy. I know other brands (mainly from the region of naples) that use the same mathod but they only sell to bars.

Ciao Luca and welcome
First of all, are you sure your cups are warm enough, mine are almost burning my fingers when I get them to put under my Nuova Simonelli. I put a piece of textile on the machine to get cups warm enough. And another important thing is to warm the spoon, I put it right aside the cups on the NS. If this isn't the problem, did you try to test the temp of the water temp coming out of the group with a thermocouple ?
Then coffee, I think you should buy a roaster and buy green beans. This is the only way, until now, I got a "italian like" cup of coffee.

[Raf]

The Vibiemme Domobar cup heater is not very warm, Luca, I think you should warm your cups by using water from the gruppa. I take a cup, let it run over with water from the group, then I unlock the PF, dry it, grind & tamp, lock the PF, dry the cup with a kitchen towel and only then make the shot. I think that's the best method with a machine like the Vibiemme.

[moccafaux]

Easiest thing to warm the cups is filling them with hot water from the machine. I always do this before grinding. After filling the PF the cups are emptied, dried with a towel and put umder the PF.

[zix]

Hi there, Luca! Welcome to TMC!
I second MKSwing on homeroasting. Try it, you´ll like it! Heatgun, oven, BBQ grill, popcorn popper... whatever method suits you best, someone here could give you advice or tips and tricks on it - if you need any, that is.

About the "super hot" grouphead - a searingly hot grouphead is only normal for the E-61 group (the boiler water circulates through the group during the heating cycles), but I wouldn´t draw any conclusions from this alone. The high temperature of all that brass helps temp stability - but it still could be too cold to begin with.
If you have had problems getting good espresso with many types of beans and blends, and your Rocky is OK I´d say you should definitely measure the water temperature. At some point of the heating cycle you should be able to reach 92-95°C, otherwise it is too cold.
Regarding temperature surfing to get consistent temps, I think Sunnyfield recommended pulling the shot just as the boiler lamp goes off after a full heating cycle. Also, it is preferable to give the Domobar around 45 minutes to heat up and stabilize itself before starting to pull shots.

You can control temperature on the Domobar somewhat, I have the Domobar myself but haven´t tried it yet so I can´t tell you how it´s done. Neku?

[matts]

The best results were reached with some coffee beans that I got from a bar here in Amsterdam. The place makes one of the best espressos I ever tasted (even in Italy it's hard to find such a good one, believe me) and the owner accepted to give me some beans to try them with my machine at home. well, he didn't want to tell me where he got them from, but WOW, what an exceptional espesso! creamy, plenty of flavor, thick dark crema.
amazing.

Hi Luca

You know I presume Brandmeesters on the van Baerlestraat? I think anywhere that has the roaster in the shop like they do is a good start for buying beans. Did you talk to the guys in there? They used to roast on a Tuesday morning always but that might have changed. Also big sacks of green coffee down the stairs which they'd let you have a few scoops of I would think if you decide to try homeroasting?

Cheers
Matt

[Joey]

My name is Luca....

Hi Luca!
And thanks - now I have this song in my ear from Susan Wega (or Vega)....can't get it out of my mind.....

Welcome at TMC! You have chosen a nice coffee place

Greetings from Vienna
Joey

>...my name is luca, and I live on the second floor...dum dum dee dum...<

[Danny]

Hiya Luca, Welcome!..

I am also curious where you found a good espresso in Amsterdam.
Let us know... Please

I've really not found someone who roasts often enough to be fresh. The Brandmeesters with the roaster *used* to roast every week in the shop but they are not allowed to anymore I think.

Now they roast out of amsterdam and you can never be assured how fresh the coffee is.

If you have access to a car then I would give the Golden Coffee Box in Baarn a go. http://www.goldencoffeebox.com/.

I've not been there myself, but it's on my list of places to try.

[luca]

Hey, thank you all for welcoming me!

matt and MrFollies: the place I'm talking about is the cafe' De Lelie on the Leliegracht in Amsterdam. They don't roast their coffee, they import it from Italy. BUT the guy knows his espresso when he feels like it. Just make sure he personally makes one for you and ask for a good dark ristretto. it's superb. He won't tell what kind of coffee it is, the only information I managed to get from him is that it's a slow (24h) roasting process in a wooden oven.

MKSwing et al.: wow, almost finger-burning cups uh? I definitely don't get that from my cups. so I will try to warm them with the water from the group. Hey, where can I get the thermocouple thing?


And about homeroasting: I really don't know a lot about it, so I'll try to read more.


Luca

[matts]

I've really not found someone who roasts often enough to be fresh. The Brandmeesters with the roaster *used* to roast every week in the shop but they are not allowed to anymore I think.

Now they roast out of amsterdam and you can never be assured how fresh the coffee is

Last time I was in there (a Saturday morning in july? I think) they had moved the roaster from the front of the shop where it used to be to the back, and had installed a lot more ventilation stuff. But as far as I remember there was roasting going on, in fact there definitely was because I had a chat to the guy roasting about the Costa Rican which was swirling in the cooling tray and then bought some cups. I would make an effort to chat to the roaster, they must have some sort of schedule??

Cheers
Matt