Craft Your Own Coffee Podcast

Find out what happens when a coffee person quits coffee for a month. Spoiler alert: IT'S NO FUN. Shout out to Chris Baca and Matt D'Avella for producing a cool video recap of their own 30 Days Without Coffee experiment...check it out here!

Instagram

Two weeks of at-home espresso trial and error (mostly error!) with at-home espresso have produced this week's episode. If you missed it, check out @craftyourowncoffee on Instagram to see a recap.

Listen in for my Top 9 takeaways from the past couple weeks as I try to level up my at-home espresso game...and hopefully help others do the same in the process. Many of these takeaways have come from fellow Coffee People like you, so thanks for weighing in and helping me out!

1) Instagram is good for feedback
2) Making Espresso is hard
3) Data AND Taste should complement each other in seeking ways to improve the craft
4) Even bad pulls from a data standpoint can still taste yummy
5) I need an espresso-specific grinder
6) Espresso-specific grinders are expensive, so maybe I need to just get creative
7) Distributing the grounds evenly before tamping is so important and takes practice
8) Crema is important but not the most important sign of a good espresso
9) It is humbling but helpful to put your failures out there and ask for help!

Stay connected!
IG: @craftyourowncoffee
Email: [email protected]
Voice Message: click link below and I'll add your voice to an upcoming episode!

John is a pretty big deal in the specialty coffee world and we are super honored to have him as a guest on the Craft Your Own Coffee podcast!

Decent Espresso is a game-changing espresso and technology company focused on helping amateur (and professional!) baristas figure out how to pull an incredible shot of espresso Every.Single.Time. John Buckman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Decent Espresso and joined the podcast to share how he got interested in coffee, how his frustration with making espresso led him to the desire to create a solution, plus he gives some great tips and insights for the home barista whether you have a Decent machine at home or not.

If you want to learn more about Decent Espresso, you can check out all the socials (of course), their website, and a couple really good product reviews (this one and that one).

Oh, and please consider voting for the Craft Your Own Coffee Podcast for a 2020 Sprudgie Award for Best Coffee Podcast! Voting ends on January 3rd 2021.

Channeling. The word which incites fear in the hearts of the coffee people. If Good is the enemy of Great according to Jim Collins, Channeling is the Enemy of Coffee according to...well, me.

What is it? Why should it be avoided at all costs? And most importantly, HOW can we avoid channeling in our espresso craft at home?

Thanks to this sweet article/resource by Clive Coffee, we'll dig in to the first two questions first.

Thanks to Jonathan Pascual, the owner of Taproom Coffee & Beer in Atlanta GA, we'll spend most of the episode digging in to the all-important "HOW" question. My biggest takeaways from Jonathan's advice were:
--> Get rid of clumps!
--> Even distribution of grounds in the portafilter is probably the #1 most important technique
--> Learn the "palm tap" technique (see Clive Coffee article!)
--> Don't overthink the Tamp

Big thanks to @TaproomCoffee and Jonathan Pascual for the time he took to share such great advice. If you're local or visiting Atlanta, you need to check them out!

Oh, and Here's another article by Barista Hustle if you want to get a little more nerdy with the science of coffee extraction!

Justin is an at-home espresso enthusiast and shares his experience with us on:

- How a brewed coffee lover can become an espresso lover
- Why he loves manual/lever espresso machines...especially the Flair Classic
- A start-to-finish look at his espresso-making process at home
- Some of his favorite espresso-based drink recipes

Follow Justin (@fresh_ground_methods) to see and learn more from his expertise!

Also, to hear more from Justin listen (or re-listen) to CYOC Season 1 Ep 12 where he shares about how he brews coffee when he's on the road/away from home!

This is a family (and podcast-light) week! Returning to the Espresso content next Monday.

Practice the discipline of gratitude this week and head over to @craftyourowncoffee for how your expression of gratitude could also win you some sweet @Baratza swag!

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

Here's a deep dive into your options for at home espresso machines. While this is definitely not a comprehensive list, it should be enough to get you started. Plus a couple articles about bars of pressure and "stovetop espresso." Cheers!

How Pressure Affects Espresso Quality article

Moka Pot vs Espresso Machine article

A few Automatic/Pod options ($)
Nespresso
Lavazza

A few Manual options ($-$$)
Article with "Top 3"
Robot (CafeLat)

A few Electronic options ($$-$$$$$)
Breville ($$-$$$)
Nuova Simonelli ($$$)
Decent Espresso ($$$$)
La Marzocco Linea Mini ($$$$$)

Getting started with making espresso at home is easier than you might think! If you brew coffee at home, you might have most of this stuff already. Check this episode out for the most essential equipment you'll need to get your espresso journey going.

1) Burr Grinder (recommend Baratza)
2) Something to make hot water
3) Gram Scale (here's one option)
4) Tamper (size will be determined by your espresso machine's portafilter)
5) Espresso Machine (this is the one I have...but there are LOTS of options to choose from)

Head over to @craftyourowncoffee to participate in this week's giveaway, compliments of Baratza!

Is it a bean? Is it a drink? What makes it taste so different? Is it hard to make? Kicking off this season with a brief Espresso history lesson (mad props to Luigi in Milan!) and some busting of the most common myths about Espresso.

Myth #1: Espresso is a type of coffee bean
Myth #2: Espresso has more caffeine than other coffee drinks
Myth #3: Espresso shots taste gross
Myth #4: You have to buy an expensive machine to make espresso at home
Myth #5: Making good espresso at home requires no skills and no practice

Send in questions, comments and At-Home Espresso advice to be featured in a future episode!
@craftyourowncoffee
[email protected]
Voice Message

A shot-sized preview of Season 3 of the Craft Your Own Coffee Podcast: At Home Espresso! Don't tamp down your enthusiasm for this season. I'm pulling for you!