Coffee Roasting For A Cause

Photo Credit Laura Petrilla

So for several weeks I have been, in addition to my full-time job, spending time at La Prima Espresso. La Prima is a local coffee roaster, retailer and wholesaler. They have a very authentic Italian Espresso bar that has been in business nearly 20 years. In addition to serving some pretty tasty espresso, they are some truly great people.

I have been endeavoring to learn to roast coffee. Roasting is one of those things that you could learn to do in several months, but not learn all there is to know in 20 years. I have no intention of being a master roaster, but I hope to become a competent one. It is my intention to get to a point where the folks at La Prima feel I can roast well enough to produce a consistent quality product.

When I am approved and comfortable, it is my intention to volunteer two days a week to roast coffee for Building New Hope, a non-profit organization that serves communities in Central America. They primarily work in El Salvador and Nicaragua by selling Fair Trade organic coffee. Please check out their web site; it’s a fantastic organization. You can buy their coffee here.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress. I actually roasted my first batch of Building New Hope Coffee today and hope to be able to do more to help them out very soon.

Small Space Caffeine: Ascaso Dream UPDATE

So I went out and purchased all the items I needed to be a professional home Barista. I headed out to Williams Sonoma. I was able to get a great steaming pitcher there, but that was about it. I did love the Apilco espresso cups they have, but I thought $76.oo for 4 was a bit steep.

Since I still needed a few other things, I headed to The Strip District — the commercial market area of the city where I should have gone to in the first place. I purchased very comparable espresso cups made by Schmidt in Brazil for way less than the Williams Sonoma cups — only a couple of dollars each. In the Strip I also found Pyrex shot glasses and a frothing thermometer.

I promptly returned home and started consuming espresso. The Dream makes quite a nice espresso. I was able to produce amazing crema, which surprised me in a home machine.

I made a mocha for my wife and I think she liked it. I’ll continue to update on the use of the Dream and let you know how it holds up.

Small Space Caffeine: Ascaso Dream Espresso Machine

I love coffee, specifically espresso. At one time I had a pretty serious habit, some days eight shots before noon. I have somewhat weaned myself off the juice. That is until now.

I just purchased an Ascaso Dream. I had the opportunity to purchase the machine at an obscenely low price. The machine retails for $850 – $700. I have found refurbish units on the web for $499. The unit I purchased was an open box, but when all was said and done I paid $160.49 — that’s a pretty good machine.

The machine is very highly rated on coffee geek — check out a review here. I have yet to fire it up; I just cleaned it and set it up. As soon as I am able, I’ll let you know what I think.

I am hopeful that more high quality caffeine will keep me bouncing around and writing more — we’ll see how it all works out.

Small Space Espresso: The Atomic and La Sorrentina

love coffee, probably too much. I, at one time, had quite a serious espresso habit — often consuming eight to twelve shots most days. I have been able to wean myself off, ok not off, but down to a more acceptable level.

I have been looking at home espresso machines for some time. On many occasions, have come close to purchasing machines. Several factors have prevented me from buying. Not the least of which is the size and ugliness of many of the candidates. When I do find a machine that looks good, they are either too big or have bad reviews.

When I first came across the Atomic, I was impressed by it’s beauty. This machine is truly the perfect union of function and form. This machine was originally designed in the UK in the 1940’s. It looks like an object from the atomic age. It has a curved organic shape that fits much of the design of that era.

The machine is like many archetypes — simplistic in its design. It is essentially a small boiler that sits on a gas stove. Water inside the boiler becomes steam and is either directed through the filter group or the steam wand.

The Atomic can be purchased used, but they are highly collectible and sought after. There is also a new contemporary incarnation of the machine, La Sorrentina.

The La Sorrentina is very well made to the same specifications as the originals. No detail is left out; it has brass screws and bakelite knobs. This machine is constructed to last a lifetime. This may the perfect small space living espresso machine.