Things I learned about espresso making:

1. The grinder is the most important element. Without this, no good espresso is possible. Here we are talking expensive burr grinders, not cheap “whirlybirds” or pretend Chinese knockoffs. The best grinders are those made for commercial applications and may actually cost upwards of $600-$800 new, or even more. (One can find something perfectly acceptable for much less…see below).
2. Freshly roasted beans are also essential, which means you need at least a source close to you, or fast shipping from somewhere else. I was surprised and pleased to discover that, as ignorant and backward as San Antonio is, there are at least two local roasters here. Of course, you can also actually roast your own beans, which, needless to say, I haven’t tried yet, but it’s probably coming. By “fresh” here, we mean used within 7-14 days of roasting. Old store-bought beans don’t cut it; that includes Starbucks.
3. There is such a thing as “barista technique.” We’re talking here about how fine the grind is (varies according to kind of bean and roast), how full the basket is, how hard to tamp down the grounds, the stirring technique (yes, actually stirring the ground beans in the basket), how long it takes the pressurized water to go through the filter, and a host of other issues. Even the quality of the water is considered important. The term “coffee geek” surely applies here, since only people like me would be interested in this stuff. However, the miracle of the internets is such that one can connect with all these folks and receive their collective knowledge at your fingertips.

It’s odd to realize that the machine is perhaps the least important element of making espresso, since you’d think it would be first. It apparently is quite true, though, that with a few modifications, a cheap Starbucks machine can produce pretty good espresso. Of course, as ones taste becomes more refined, perhaps that machine will turn out to be inadequate. Forum posts on this subject refer to a disease called “upgradeitis,” which can end up with people paying several thousand dollars (!) for equipment. Yikes! I’m fairly certain that I’m not really subject to this, beyond a certain point, and in fact, my purchases so far have been of the outstanding bang for the buck variety, which we’ll get to in a minute. One of the things that really got me interested in the whole business was trying really excellent espresso at a local shop or two. Apparently, though, there’s quite a bit of bad espresso lurking out there in retail establishments, so watch out. A good indication, in my eyes, is if the place doesn’t offer a “to-go” option with espresso (this indicates that the owners realize that you really can’t have good espresso to go; the warm ceramic cup is essential).

Since the grinder was the first priority, I started there, looking at used ones, reading reviews, and generally getting up to speed. Strangely, although there are some values in used commercial grinders (the Mazzer minis, Super Jollys, Macaps), there was a recent entrant for home use, the Baratza Vario, which grabbed my attention. The advantages of the Vario were the small counter footprint (some of the commercial grinders are quite tall and imposing), the little to no wastage of ground beans (some grinders are notorious for retaining grounds; I’m looking at you, Rancilio Rocky!), and the flexibility of being able to switch from espresso grind to drip to press (many commercial grinders are primarily for espresso and switching is tedious). On top of all these advantages, I found an outstanding deal on fleabay with a 10% off coupon and was able to acquire this appliance for $359 shipped to my door. It’s value upon arrival was obvious; I had previously been using a Starbucks Barista burr grinder ($50 during a clearance sale), which could produce adequate espresso grinds for my Barista espresso machine (also acquired during clearance sale for $112.50), but the difference in quality between the two was vast even to my inexperienced eyes. Here’s a picture of my new grinder:

With the grinder out of the way, it was time to begin looking at machines. As I mentioned, I had a Starbucks Barista (rebranded Saeco) which produced what I thought was decent espresso (at least until I started tasting the really good stuff at the roasters here), but I really felt that I couldn’t get the full expression without some modifications (taking apart the pressurized portafilter, and installing a PID), some of which would cost more than I paid for the machine in the first place. My alternative was to shop for a machine with more potential, without really understanding much of what I was looking for. As sometimes happens in these cases, I stumbled almost by accident onto what I now think was my perfect first “real” espresso machine: the La Pavoni Europiccola. This machine is a “lever” type, which means that the user controls the pressure through pulling down on the lever, along with the timing and just about every other variable that a semi-auto or automatic machine might do for you. It is said that if you can learn how to pull good shots on a lever, you can pull them on anything else. Of course, the drawback is that you have to spend the time playing with these variables, and learning, but this didn’t faze me; I like messing around with stuff like this, and it seemed like a good fit for the way I like to make espresso (no milk drinks, a couple of shots in the morning, no shots for company, etc.). If I’d had different espresso “needs,” I probably wouldn’t have considered this machine. The other thing I liked (hell, fell in love with) about this machine was it’s intrinsic beauty: it’s a work of kitchen art. Shiny chrome little hissing dragon…I loved it when I saw the ad for it on craigslist, and it really makes a nice addition to the kitchen. It also appealed to my practical side: these have been made for many many years, with little modifications, and parts are plentiful. Easy to work on, and so forth. Back to this particular machine; I feel like I practically got it for the salvage value: $175.00! Unbelievable. That same week, I watched another one go on fleabay for $425, so I think I got a nice deal on this. Here’s a picture of the Europiccola:

I really can’t describe how much fun I’m having making espresso with this thing, except to say that several times now I’ve made espresso shots in the afternoon, something I’ve never done before. It is true, it does take some time to get familiar with this, but the potential is just enormous. Considering it’s something I pretty much do every day, it seems like money well spent.