Coffee from Java Jo's, Day Dreams blend

I recently received, from my good friend Travis Lehman, a fresh pound of coffee from the coffee house that he works at.  Travis works at Java Jo's which is in Berlin, Ohio.  I would like to add that Java Jo's is a lovely establishment that has a desire to make a great cup of coffee which I can attest to.  Upon receiving receiving the coffee, I instantly fired up the LaPavoni and prepped everything for this great opportunity.  The time had finally arrived to try out my recently handcrafted naked portafilter.  (Which I just realized I have not yet posted).  That is to come, so without further to do, here is a small series of pictures displaying the workings of the naked portafilter.

Water is being infused into the coffee

The extraction has started

All the drips have finally clumped together, creating one unison pour, which is what is desired.

The nice color and even flow of the shot, shows the true beauty of the naked  portafilter

The end product which resulted into a latte, of course.  It tasted rather delicious.

Day 23,

I had a conversation with a friend today regarding lattes.  Over the course of the conversation I realized that all the questions he was asking and the ones I was responding too were specific to how to texturize the foam and the creation of the latte art.  Of course that was the whole reason why I started this blog, to practice making latte art.  Thus I need to add some of found experience to the blog to help those in the same predicament that I found myself in.  I have decided that after this Thursday, which is my last day of class, I will write a post or two specifically on milk texturizing.  It might include some interviews with the pros and from other amateurs.  I think it would be cool to also try out some other machines.  Therefore, if you read this and have an espresso machine at your house, or your friend has one let me know so that i can add it to the blog.

Day 20 The Modification

Before

After

Dear readers, the last couple of days have been somewhat of a whirlwind, it being the end of the semester.  Today, I finally got enough motivation to attempt a homemade modification for the LaPavoni espresso machine.  The modification is with the steam wand tip.  Most LaPavoni's have a tri-tipped wand, which can sort of be made out in the picture; other wand tips that I have seen have only one hole.  So in an attempt to create the perfect foam, I thought it was time to try a modification.  I saw this done on my favorite espresso  youtube video.  Please not that the dude is using almost the same machine.  Instead of buying his I decided to create my own.  So I went to Home Depot and bought a $0.60 cap nut and drilled a 1/16 hole in the bottom.  You may think that this seems like a relatively easy project, which it was. However, the difficult part of the project was the motivation behind it.

Silky smooth Microfoam

     After my first steaming test, I immediately regretted my laziness.  The foam that resulted from the single hole tip was incredible!  Unbelievable, it was like I hardly had to do any work to steam the milk.  As a result I had to share the brilliant endeavorer.  The whole while, I had John Mayer in the back ground encouraging me with his Trio band, with members Pino Palladino on the bass, and Steve Jordan on the drums.  The John Mayer Trio makes for some great background coffee music.  I've realized that not many people have heard of John's trio band, so here is a link to Amazon to either listen to it or purchase it.  It is recorded live and sounds quite good.

Day 19 Lattelicious!!

     I was once told that when you start making good lattes you will stop going to coffee shops for the coffee.  Well readers, today I reached that point.  I realized that there are two and a half coffee shops that I would rather get a latte at then make my own.  This realization happened after going out to coffee this morning with my sister and Titus Leger.  Instead of griping I will just say that I will most likely never be going to that shop ever again...maybe.

     Anyways today is a good day, not just because I made a delicious tasting coffee or because it looks awesome, but because I was listening to Does Anyone Really Know What Times It Is?, by Chicago!  Click on the picture to listen or purchase from Amazon.  Also today was the great Pizza Feed for Coeur d'Alene High School.  The first Monday of the month, CDA Bible Church invites the high school over to enjoy some "Jesus Pizza."  That is what the students call it anyways.  That time with the students always turns into a good time.  The following Thursday and Friday we invite them over to discuss the question of the month which was "What do you think God thinks of you?"  Well if you have any input please post away.  Drink more coffee!

Day 15, may look bad but taste pretty darn delicious

Well here we are, a Wednesday, and again a blob of latte.  However bad it may appear the taste more than covers the looks!  Which I have come to find is a quarter of the battle.  For those that are curious, I finally figured out the proper method to make the frothed milk taste delicious.  For a spell I found that the milk always tasted a little spoiled.  I recently found out that the taste of milk is based on the final temperature it reaches before cutting off the steam and pulling out the wand.  The exact temperatures, according to numerous sources, especially one source being Scott Rao, is between 150 - 160 degrees F.  Before I would pull the wand out around 120-130 leaving it a little cold to the lips and pretty foul to the taste buds.  

In the spirit of defining what makes a good coffee shop, I have decided to continue with that question for today as well.  Some of the comments mentioned are as follows; a good friend, a good tasting drink (for my mom, it was a mocha), a comfortable atmosphere (in Java's case that would be an organic feel), and a somewhat laid back staff.  So, if these are it what takes to produce the right coffee shop experience then what would be some specifics for those answers.  For example, what defines an 'organic' atmosphere, is it a certain type of music, wall colors, a distinct style of furniture, etc.  For those that already posted thanks for your input, for those that haven't weighed in, here is your chance again. 

Day 10, and a closer look at the welding job

For those of you who have been following along, I promised a closer look at the amazing welding job my friend, Robert, did for the La Pavoni.  Here you can see the handle is attached to the lever, almost flawlessly.  Robert was telling me that his teacher also hooked him up with a spray, that was applied, which prevents rusting.  So thank you Robert and a job well done!!

In the next picture, is todays glorious, latte!!  I was sad that I had no one to share it with in person.  It is a partial Rosetta.  For those interested, after doing a 3 second search on latte art and who is known for it's development, or at least its publicing it, is a man by named David Schomer, from Seattle.  Though this information was gathered on the highly controversial website, Wikipedia, it still serves as a start to any good researching.  I will do more verifying on this topic for the next blog tomorrow.  Until then, drink lots of coffee and stay safe, assuming it doesn't get in the way of having fun.

Day 7

Well today was a very special day for latte making, because my good friend and blog follower Travis Potter was in town and ready for a tasting.  Unfortunately, the art was no good, but the latter was drinkable.  The best part was the company.  Travis Potter, former Hayden Paramedic and Ironman finisher, now hails from Friday Harbor, up on the San Juan Islands.  He still saves lives as a Paramedic.  It was too appropriate that I made him coffee because we have frequented Java many many times.

A new machine for a new week!!

This morning was like being in at the North Pole, the North Pole where Santa lives.  At my church they have several nice espresso machines made by Rancilio Epoca machines, which are a little more industrious then my LaPavoni.  As the story goes I was at the church, a little too early this morning, and decided to practice.

To my astonishment, the lattes turned out really well!!  Of course Titus Leger, was disappointed when I made his latte with no sweetener in it, but that was quickly remedied.  An interesting side note, is that the milk frothing on this machine was quite a bit slower then my own machine, why that might be, I have no idea.  Perhaps I should look into that.  But, despite the slowness, it made some nice micro foam, that I was able to attempt some art.  As you can see from the picture to the left, I made a little heart.  I have noticed that whenever the frothing turns out right, I am not ready when I start pouring.  So the next step it is being patient when I pour.