Coffee Geeks

As many of you know, I am a complete espresso fanatic. I recently bought a new espresso machine, giving up something like 18 years of hard-won practice of making tolerable espresso on a steam-powered machine for the ease and joy of a pump-driven unit. The old Frankenbrewer, a patchwork of parts from my old machine from high school and Melanie's college years machine, was on its last leg. I had been looking at a decent espresso machine/burr grinder by La Pavoni, but we decided to go with a super cheapo pump machine, rather than a mid range one that will only make me long for the amazing thing of beauty that will someday sit on my counter. Anyway, after pouring about a pounds' worth of espresso down the drain (thank God for Trader Joe's cheap beans - the only option for learning the ins and outs of a new machine) and replacing one of the parts with something from the old Frankenbrewer, I have been able to get a consistantly excellent espresso.

Anyway, with my new espresso machine, I have been experimenting with blends, and that gets me back into the habit of reading coffee literature. So it was with great delight that our paper ran a story about home roasting that mentioned Coffee Geek. What a website! They are geeks. They review grinders and tampers and are the sort who use terms like "heat exchanger" in casual conversation. My kind of folks. Needless to say, I am adding them to the links section!