First year of coffee

Last year, I was buying a latte or two every day. For something so routine, it started adding up. Between the cost and the time spent going to cafes, I was averaging around $8 per drink. I decided to look around for a few hours at the espresso subreddit, asked Claude a few things, and found a setup that was budget friendly, accessible, and easy to understand. I went out and got my setup together a year ago today. I went with:

• Breville Bamino Plus: $400
• Baratza Encore ESP: $150
• Timemore Black Mirror scale: $50
• Fellow Atmos vacuum canister: $40
• Acme Evo latte cups: $45

The machines have had zero issues. I’ve been following the cleaning and descaling guidelines, and it’s held up perfectly. I’ve averaged around 2 double shots per day, so I’ve probably crossed the 700 - 1000 mark recently. I haven’t been tracking too closely, but even in the worst case estimate, I’ve saved at least $2000 and over 100 hours by not buying 1-2 lattes per day from a cafe this year.

I just put the Encore’s cup on the scale, pour out 18g, grind it on one of 3 of the espresso fineness settings depending on the date of roast, put it flatly into the portafilter, and tamp. Then I steam the milk, put the portafilter in, press the two shot button, and then pour the milk on top. I started steaming the milk first because the jug has a bit more range of motion without the portafilter attached.

The first 8 months, I only made cold drinks, and never even used the Bambino’s steam wand. It’s just what I was used to, and had no complaints at all, so I kept it simple. Then, I saw some videos about peoples’ favorite coffees in Seattle, and noticed they all talked about “textures” that I didn’t really understand, having only made cold drinks the whole time.

I looked up some tutorials on the best way to steam using the Bambino, and started trying. I was horrible at it for probably a month or two for a few different reasons:

• Didn’t know how to really understand if there was too much air or not enough air in the milk. Not enough focus on the actual “feel”
• Starting the pour too early
• I’m pretty clumsy with small motions like pouring and couldn’t control the jug

Then, one day, it just kind of clicked and I was able to at least know if I messed up, and understood why. From there, I just had to start concentrating more on controlling my hand and wrist when pouring.

A few things that I like to look for now when I am steaming:

• How the milk “sticks” or falls off the wand
• The top layer thickness and transparency of the milk
• Air bubble size, and if I’m able to pop them or not

I still just do super simple designs, but now, I don’t have to think much about it and have been loving the taste and texture of the drinks every morning. My setup is very simple, so it’s just 1-2 variables to tweak over the weeks, and getting it perfect for me hasn’t been difficult.

The drinks are genuinely delicious, the routine works, and it’s better than the daily $8 coffees I was buying. I’m able to clean my machine and portafilters a lot better than a cafe can, so I notice that now almost every time I drink a cafe coffee.

I’ve tried a few different beans and roasts, but have stuck with ones near me in Tacoma, such as Bluebeard Roasters with beans from Colombia and Mexico. I also have the bag of matcha from Costco, which is lasting forever and tastes great. My photos page has some more matcha photos, and will definitely have more art that I’m proud of over time.

Since I have had no complaints with this setup, I’ll probably keep it for the foreseeable future. For now, I’m focusing on building more consistent muscle memory. I want to reduce the range of quality and get more uniform extraction regardless of bean or roasted date. That means getting all the materials ready beforehand and paying closer attention to how grind size needs to shift based on days since roast.