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 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 quick end...

Dear followers and fans, two days ago a dream almost came to a crashing end.  After many, successfully pulled shots and and frothed milk, the La Pavoni has met an untimely demise.  As you can see from the picture the handle broke off of the lever.  This happened during the course of making my friend Scott a latte. During the shot pull, I must have packed it too much, when all of a sudden, snap! The handle broke off, leaving me slightly embarrassed and a little flabbergasted.
After a quick panic, I remembered that every piece on the La Pavoni is replaceable, as is most machines.  After a couple Google searches I came upon a $60 dollar price tag.  Which, if one is made of money is not a bad price.  But, since I am not made of money, I suddenly remembered that my good friend, Robert Meredith, was a welder.  Calling him up, i asked if he was willing and/or able to assist in the fix that I was in.  To my great excitement Robert came to the rescue and welded the crap out of the handle.  Now we are back  in business and ready to continue pulling shots.  Check back tomorrow, to see Robert's amazing welding job.  Thank you Robert.  This blog is dedicated to you, Robert!