As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Most espresso machines come with a milk pitcher, and it's usually the wrong one for a cortado. It's often a 20 oz jug, built for lattes. A cortado needs about 60 ml of milk. Pour that into a big pitcher and it barely covers the bottom. The steam wand tip can't stay under the surface, and you get loud, bubbly, dry foam … [Read more...] about Milk Pitcher Size for a Cortado: A 12 oz Jug Beats a 20 oz One for Small Drinks
Barista Tools
Bottomless Portafilters: A 58mm Handle Won’t Fit Every 58mm Machine
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A bottomless portafilter is a handle with the bottom cut away. No spouts, no metal underneath the basket. You watch the espresso come straight out of the coffee bed and into the cup. That sounds like a gimmick. It isn't. It's the cheapest way to see what your puck prep is really doing. What You See On a good shot, … [Read more...] about Bottomless Portafilters: A 58mm Handle Won’t Fit Every 58mm Machine
Cortado Glasses: The 4.5 oz Libbey Gibraltar, the 130 ml Duralex Picardie and Their Rivals
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A cortado is a double shot and about the same amount of warm milk. That comes to 4 to 4.5 oz, roughly 120 to 135 ml. Put it in a mug and it disappears at the bottom and goes cold. Put it in an espresso cup and it overflows. The drink has its own size, and a few glasses have become its standard. Libbey Gibraltar, 4.5 … [Read more...] about Cortado Glasses: The 4.5 oz Libbey Gibraltar, the 130 ml Duralex Picardie and Their Rivals
Espresso Scales: Why a Drip-Tray-Sized Scale With Auto-Start Beats a Kitchen Scale
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you only buy one accessory after the grinder, make it a scale. Espresso recipes are written in grams. A typical double is 18 g of ground coffee in and about 36 g of liquid out, a 1:2 ratio, in roughly 25 to 30 seconds. Without a scale you're guessing at two of those three numbers. Why not just watch the volume in the … [Read more...] about Espresso Scales: Why a Drip-Tray-Sized Scale With Auto-Start Beats a Kitchen Scale
Milk Frothers Without a Steam Wand: Which Ones Make Microfoam Good Enough for a Cortado
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A lot of good espresso gets made without a steam wand. Lever presses, moka pots, capsule machines and some compact machines have none. So the milk has to come from somewhere else. The good news for cortado drinkers: you need very little milk, and very little foam. That's the easiest job any frother can be given. The bad … [Read more...] about Milk Frothers Without a Steam Wand: Which Ones Make Microfoam Good Enough for a Cortado
Precision Espresso Baskets: IMS, VST and Pullman Fix Uneven Holes, Not Bad Grinders
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The basket is the cheapest part of an espresso machine and one of the most overlooked. It's a steel cup with holes in the bottom. On a lot of stock baskets those holes vary in size and spacing, and water takes the easiest exit. You can do everything right at the grinder and the tamp and still get uneven extraction … [Read more...] about Precision Espresso Baskets: IMS, VST and Pullman Fix Uneven Holes, Not Bad Grinders
Espresso Machine Cleaning Kit: Backflushing Only Works on Machines With a Three-Way Valve
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Two things make an espresso machine taste worse over time. Coffee oil builds up in the group head and goes rancid. Limescale builds up inside, where you can't see it, and blocks valves and heating elements. They need different cleaners, and mixing them up is how people break machines. First, Check for a Three-Way … [Read more...] about Espresso Machine Cleaning Kit: Backflushing Only Works on Machines With a Three-Way Valve
Espresso Tamper Sizes: Why a 58.35mm Tamper Beats a 58mm One in a Standard Basket
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A tamper looks like the simplest tool on the counter. It's a weight with a flat bottom. Buy the wrong size, though, and every shot pays for it. A gap between the tamper and the basket wall leaves a ring of loose coffee, and water under pressure takes the easy way through it. The shot runs fast and tastes thin and sour, … [Read more...] about Espresso Tamper Sizes: Why a 58.35mm Tamper Beats a 58mm One in a Standard Basket
WDT Tools, Puck Screens and Distributors: Which Espresso Puck Prep Tools Actually Help
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Between the grinder and the group head there's a small industry of tools. Needles, screens, spinners, funnels. Some fix a real problem. Some fix how the coffee looks in a photo. Here's how to tell them apart. The problem they're all aimed at is channelling. Ground coffee comes out of most grinders in clumps, and it … [Read more...] about WDT Tools, Puck Screens and Distributors: Which Espresso Puck Prep Tools Actually Help