Espresso...one year later

It has almost been a year since I bought my espresso machine and I wanted to share the things I have learned. Before I bought my Rancilio Silvia, I had never made a decent espresso in my life. Last year I wanted a machine, so I trolled the Internet looking for the right one to buy and believe me there were many choices, but I decided on the Rancilio because so many people recommended it and there wasn't a single negative comment that I could find out there.
I bought it off Ebay and I cheated a little bit because I bought one with a controller so that I could set the temperature and see what the current temperature is. The Rancilio Silvia is easy to modify, so many dealers do these mods themselves and sell the machine at a higher cost to turn a profit and get an edge in a market that is flooded with retailers.
Without the PID controller on my Rancilio, it would have required a lot of experimentation with timing the shot that it does with it. I also bought the Rancilio Rocky grinder in the deal as well because I knew one thing, to make espresso, you need the ability to fine tune the grind.
When I first got it, I probably made 5 or 6 shots before I "sort of" got the hang of it. Here is my process.

1. Let the machine heat for at least 30 min to 1 hour with portafilter attached.
2. Put some beans (Mocha Java from Whole Foods) in the grinder and grind at a setting of 10 into the portafilter, let it come above the rim of the portafilter a little. I used to measure with a gram scale, but after time I got to where I was good enough to see and feel how much of a dose was enough.
3. Level the grinds off with your finger and be careful not to pack the grounds.
4. Use a tamper and apply 30 pounds of pressure and turn and then spin lightly. After this, I take a give it a gentle blow to remove the excess coffee from the rim and the top of the cake.
5. Put the portafilter in and lock it around tight enough for a seal, but not too tight. You'll get the hang of this. If you see what coming our around the sides when you make your espresso, then are not tight enough. Too tight and you will ruin the seal gasket underneath and will have to replace it.
I make sure that my temperature is 218, before I hit the switch to pull the shot. It should already be there since, the machine has been warming for almost an hour. In reality, it only takes a few minutes for the temp to reach 218, but it takes 30 minutes or more for the entire machine to heat up since it is almost entirely stainless steel and believe me, you want it hot. I often hit the switch just before I take the portafilter out and let hot water run through the portfilter. This heats up the group head and the portafilter even more. I then switch off, remove the portafilter and dry it quickly before I grind. The temp will come back up before you are ready for your shot, unless you ran out a lot of water. (Make sure the glass that will be receiving the espresso is also hot.)
6. Hit the pump button and the espresso should flow in a few seconds, you should see tiger striping since the crema and coffee are coming out together into your espresso cup. Depending on what your portafilter is, you will have different cups.
A. Single Shot = 1 shot Glass
B. Double Shot = 2 Shot Glasses
C. Double Shot with naked portafilter = 1 Espresso Cup Glass
D. Triple Shot with nake portafilter = 1 Espresso Cup
7. Let the Espresso flow. If your making a double shot, you should almost fill the two shot glasses in around 25 seconds. If it comes out in less than 15 seconds, then you need to tamp harder or grind finer so that the water has to fight it's way through the grounds. If it comes out greater than 25 seconds and the machine is struggling, your grind may be too fine or the tamp too hard. This part is all experimentation, since all coffees are different. I went through about 5 or 6 different kinds of coffee before I settled on Mocha Java from Whole Foods. What also works well is Illy Espresso grinds in the can. It is not as good as a fresh grind, but it is the best you will get in a pre-ground format.

After the espresso has poured, you should see the thick crema on the top and it should look very golden with maybe some striping in it. The espresso should be consumed immediately. If you drink espresso straight, then enjoy. It should taste creamy and almost sweet. If it is bitter, then some part of the process has gone awry, probably extraction was too long. I mix in a little flavored cream and splenda into mine sometimes for something different. I frequently pull a double and then just drink that as a pick me up. I will pull a triple shot and mix it with boiling water to create Cafe Americano (Coffee). I'll make a Flavored Latte or Cappucino by using the milk frother on the Rancilio to create the appropriate mixture of steam and frothed milk.

Frothing milk is just as hard as making the espresso. You have to use a Frothing pitcher and a thermometer. On the Rancilio, I hit the Frothing button just as I finish pulling a shot. When the temp gets to 275, I put the wand into the milk and begin frothing. If you want a Latte, you'll froth the milk just below the surface, letting the milk circulate against the bottom of the pictcher until the milk reaches 145 degrees. Do not exceed 145 or your milk will taste burned. Don't let the wand come to the surface of the milk or you'll get very large bubbles. You want a pitcher full of micro bubbles. It takes practice. After you are done, put your hot espresso in a glass, add the milk slowly and if your really talented, decorate your latte with the last milk that comes out of the pitcher. A latte is 3 parts steamed milk and 1 part frothed milk technically, but it works best if you just have all four parts a fine microbubbled milk mixture. Bingo, you have a Cafe Latte.

If you want a cappucino, then all you have to do is bring your wand up a litter further when frothing to create a milk foam and you then use a spatula to hold back the foam when pouring. A Cappuccino is equal parts steamed and frothed milk, so the last part if to empty the foam into the drink.

Here are some tips for frothing milk:

1. Before your start your shot, pour your milk into the frothing picture and place it in the freezer. Ice cold milk froths easier since it has more time to froth before the temp can reach 145. The finished product after frothing should have an almost sweet taste to it.
2. Use the milk that suits your tastes, I use fat free to cut back on fat, but 2% is the best milk to froth. It has the right proportions of fat.
3. Whatever technique you use while frothing, the most important part if that the milk circulate around in the pitcher.
4. Don't try frothing a lot of milk at one time. 4-6 of ounces milk is plenty.

I told someone a while back that making good espresso takes hundreds of shots and lot of practice and they laughed and responded, "All that for a cup of coffee?". I replied, "Yes, an espresso done right will ruin you for any coffee you can buy in any store, cafe of fast food outlet."
I won't beat up Starbucks too much, but some of the worst espresso I made in the beginning, was better than the best day at Starbucks. Starbucks has many problems, but the simple fact is that they cover up the flawed espresso shots with the milk and flavors. My wife and I have been to Starbucks maybe 3 times in the past year and before I bought my espresso machine, we went 2 times a week. After I started making my own, I could no longer tolerate the taste of Starbucks. The truth is, I also have saved enough money that my espresso machine is paid for.
Ok enough about Starbucks. I plan to buy a new espresso machine soon. I want a machine that is more manual so I can control the pull of the shot. I want to learn to make espresso like the old Italian Baristas do. Matter of fact, when I ever get to travel to Italy, I am going to try to spend one day with a true barista.
I hope someone else can benefit from my year of Espresso because I have learned a lot and I enjoy every minute of it and so does my wife.