espresso machine (shiny)

The variables are seemingly endless:- bean roast, bean lineage, granularity of the grind, grind time, water pressure, water temperature, tamping factor, timing of shot pull, design of porta-filter; to name but a few! In playing, refining and adapting all these variables, it is easy to get lost in the infinite possibilities abounding.

Ultimately, it comes down to preference and in some ways care factor. As with many crafts, it is easy to get caught up in the never ending quest for perfection and satisfaction. For me, I think it has come down to reaching a steady state balance between mediocrity, consistency and reproducability. The ritual of pulling a shot of espresso plays an integral part in appreciating the outcome.

By the summer Aaron had found THE machine, a “next generation” 2 group Synesso Cyncra, proudly made in that most exotic locale…where else but the new center of the coffee universe….Seattle! This machine looks very different than most, with exposed brew groups, lever steam valves, cool touch steam wands and DigiZone™ PID controlled electronics amidst all it’s shiny stainless steel. As our purveyor of espresso excitement Rob Goble of Elysian Coffee puts it … it’s industrial chic at its finest. Or…Java Nirvana.

Once the procurement decision was made, the journey to our nirvana began with some pre-machine-installation tasks. First we needed to get 220vAC power into the kitchen. Thankfully the breaker panel had room and we got an excellent electrician at a really reasonable rate. We can heartily recommend Lance Fleming Electric. Next came the all-important water lines and filtration. Rather than paying $600+ for filters and installation and being responsible for maintenance, we decided to kill two birds with one stone and switch to a bottle-less water cooler. This “going green” move eliminated the stack of water bottles and weekly deliveries, avoided us having to own and maintain the filtration system, plus shaved off $20/month on our drinking-water bill to boot! Gotta like the program from MicroClear. The last pre-installation task was routing the new drain line, handled by yours truly.

Bright and early Friday morning, Rob Goble and Matthew Kolehmainen from Elysian Coffee arrived with the gleaming beast. This baby weighs in at 154 lbs. dry, so the beads of sweat were already running before the install got underway. Installation involved machine set-up and prep, along with water and power hookups and was complete by late morning, with Rob and Matthew fawning lovingly over the Synesso. But the machine had to wait until the following week to show it’s stuff, for our commander-in-chief wanted to be among the first to pull a shot…and he was on vacation.

Matthew arrived promptly at 8:30am to start the training, however only Geoff and yours truly were on hand, so we took full advantage of the small class size! This machine has more state-of-the-art functions than our previous so we had a few things to learn, especially me. Geoff on the other hand was already schooled in the fine art of espresso making and so was out of the gate first with his own shots. Others began to arrive and we all revelled in using and watching each other concoct the magic elixir.

Among the features I appreciate are the one-armed-slot-machine style pull levers with the omni-directional cool touch steam wands for quick and variable milk steaming, and the pre-infusion function on the brew groups, which makes for a more thorough extraction. The high capacity heating systems are great and even the hot water spout is a convenient touch. I also like the new grinder with it’s pre-set grinding timer, which helps make the shots more consistent…and consistency is the goal.

After a long wait for an operational espresso machine, the buzz is back!