Going to law classes, getting ready for some legal research... it has become a habit of mine to grab a cup of espresso coffee before those activities to keep my mind alert. I always find those 3-in-1 instant coffee where we can get from almost any shop, is somewhat lacking in the taste. Furthermore, upon reading food articles from magazine stating how frequent is manufacturer resort to taste enhancer or artificial coffee flavouring substance, I really suspect how those coffee rich aroma is able to survive after the coffee was grinned, packed and sold in a period of time no less than a month.
Let's face it, we all spend a little more on something that is able to give us optimum satisfaction, and that vary from person to person. Some spend it on clothing, some spend it on food, some spend it on toy collection and me, just happen to choose to spend it on coffee.
Let's get back to the topic. There was one day in the office, I've invited my boss to grab a cup of coffee after completing a file for celebration, then he had this to reply :"Why would I want to spend RM12 on a cappuccino? It's smaller in size and more expensive than a Stout!" (Actually I peeked at the menu once, the stout is about the same price as my coffee, except larger quantity...) Well, the conclusion is, price and worth are really two different thing.
After learning a bit about coffee from Monkeycup's baristas, I was tempted to try to make espresso coffee on my own as now I'm outstation and unable to visit that cafe. So I've done a little research and found out about 3 methods of making espresso without the expensive and sophisticated espresso machine: (1) using ROK espresso maker, (2) using Handpresso and (3) using Aeropress. [infos was found on youtube]
As the ROK espresso maker and Handpresso is not conveniently available in Malaysia, Aeropress appeal to be a better choice to me. (The evaluator in that youtube video also found that Aeropress is the best tool to make espresso without the espresso machine) But I didn't buy it as I think that equipment is above my budget. So, I've decided to build my own DIY equipment adopting the theory of Aeropress.
My DIY Espresso Maker
I bought this stainless steel cream presser at about RM12. They got the plastic one, but given that to make espresso, the heat required is at about 96'C to bring the taste out, so it's really not advisable to use plastic (especially when the type of plastic is unknown as it was not even printed on the equipment itself).
What I use for the filter is the paper filter for coffee drip (you can get about 90pcs of them at only RM5 from Daiso) and secure it at the exit end.
As for the coffee ground, I bought the whole bean coffee bean from Starbucks (espresso blend) and have them grind half packet of it for me. Unfortunately they gave me only a fine grind instead of microgrind, so I have to use the sesame grinder to break it into smaller grounds. (Got this at Daiso as well)
 |
| I grind the coffee grounds directly into the chamber to avoid too much transferring of the grounds (as it already been transferred for no less than 5 times) for the aroma to further escape. |
Milk
A cup of coffee is incomplete without its milk chemistry... obviously I don't have any milk steamer, so I find this tool quite handy as it able to generate the foam milk quite well.
Bought this electrical stirrer from DIY shop at RM3.90 (the AA battery is separate purchase)
The mug warmer my buddies gave me as B'day present has become really handy to warm up the milk to 64'C.
The Extraction
I'm quite surprise when I finally extracted the espresso with crema.
I said "finally" for a reason, I'll explain later in this blog.
If you look at the espresso extracted from an espresso machine, the crema is rich and very smooth.
When you compare the manually extracted espresso and the machine extracted espresso, the reason to pay extra for it is really obvious.
If you go through some other articles on the internet about Aeropress espresso, some espresso enthusiast had commented that the "espresso" extracted using Aeropress is not espresso per say because it is only pure and clear coffee (ie without the crema).
End Product - dwarf Cappuccino
Behind the scene story...
That cup of dwarf cappuccino is not my success at first attempt, it was only came close to something you can buy from a standard cafe after numerous trial and error. Here I'll humbly share the unsuccessful product with you all...
This cup is a total failure as the temperature I used is too cold (about 80'C after I left the boiled water for 10mins) It's far below the ideal temperature for the coffee grounds to emit any coffee taste.
In a naive attempt, I thought putting the fine grinned coffee grounds into the cup will make it like the chocolate chips [thought I would enjoy it :-( but uhm... no]
The coffee grounds is normally filtered out for a reason... cause it literally taste like sands...
This time I use the dripped coffee and add milk to it... obviously the dripped coffee is not thick enough and immediately washed out by the milk...
This time I finally got the taste alike espresso (I forgotten to take the picture of the espresso before pouring milk into it), but like what those espresso enthusiast said, the Aeropress method gives you only a clear coffee, without the crema...
This time the espresso got a little bit crema, but the bubble is too big and disappear too fast, and the volume is too little, thus again, washed out by milk like the dripped coffee...
After numerous trial and error, cutting my finger modifying the equipment, hours of thinking on how to improve the DIY equipment... my conclusion is: It's really better and easier to pay for a nice cup of espresso coffee at a cafe.
Now I can appreciate a cup of espresso coffee more after going through all the hardship trying to make my own cup of espresso coffee using DIY method.
A good cup of espresso coffee is not just about the equipment (yes I admit my DIY equipment is really far fetch from an espresso machine). Even with an espresso machine, a rookie barista can easily spoil the espresso... (I have personal bad experience at Starbucks before when they allowed a trainee to pull the espresso)
First we need to understand what is an espresso all about. It is a coffee, concentrated as it was extracted with rather short time (compared with conventional dripped coffee) and with smaller volume of water. Under that circumstances, adequate pressure is required to force the particles to vibrate faster in order to extract the right coffee taste.
A machine can make the work much easier and faster for us, but without the skills of striking the balance on the right temperature, right tamping force, right amount of time to brew and the right volume extracted, there won't be a good cup of espresso to begin with. So paying RM10 for a good cup of espresso coffee, I would think I'm in effect paying for the qualified barista's expertise and skills, in a way to show my appreciation for their professional art.
My suggestion: attempt making an espresso manually yourself, then you'll start appreciate the espresso coffee you can buy from a cafe ;-)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
