Next dates for our school on espresso and cappuccino perfect! You can find the new dates here
As always are full immersion courses for a day, from 10 to 17 with no more than 5 members.
The program of the latte art course includes a brief theoretical part in which he talks about the right milk, the right mix of coffee cappuccino (exist, a cappuccino made with coffee bad feels!) of milk to the milk just art. Then follows a long part practice that mounting of milk you care the versaggio to get the basic figures: the heart and the leaf, and learn the basic rules that will allow us to do the other figures like the Dragon and the butterfly. All with the help of video and the “dry” technique.
For those who were interested in the world of Café quality course the program is as follows:
- History and geography of coffee
- Botany and plant knowledge
- Systems for collecting and processing.
- Picking and stripping. Natural and washed method
- Roasting and Blending. How do I create a mixture
- Knowledge and maintenance of machines
- The preparation of the espresso, grinding and pressing coffee
- Introduction to wine tasting coffee; taste of some coffee in single source for its organoleptic differences. The sweetness of the central body of the Indonesians.
- Cappuccino in theory and in practice. The frame of the Italian latteLe classic preparations: latte macchiato, Café latte, espresso macchiato etc.The latte art.
- Video, “dry” technique and a lot of practice for the realization of the leaf, the heart and the Dragon.
For any interest in course please contact Gabriele at gabriele@mokaflor.it
You can find reviews and opinions about our school here:
http://www.tripadvisor.it/Attraction_Review-g187895-d1182366-Reviews-Espresso_Academy-Florence_Tuscany.html
gabriele
Having had this gem in my possession for a month now, I can give it highest marks for quality, performance and value. In reading the many other reviews that steered me to this unit, I think I might have a few solutions for common concerns.
1) Buy the Bodum cups, Terry’s tamper and the Krupp’s 20 oz short squat milk frother. You owe it to yourself to have some nice accoutrements and these will give you much bang-4-the-buck enjoyment with this unit. As you have gathered, the range of the nozzle and clearance of the cup space are compact; these items work perfectly with the EC155.
2) The coffee pods work well but are not the end-all be-all and I find grinding some French roast to a fine consistency (Mr. Coffee grinder) filling the “double” filter basket and tamping firmly provides a better cup of espresso.
3) I am currently using distilled water and do a flush run (basket with no coffee) once a week. Yes, some gunk will flush out.
4) I use the nozzle to pre-warm the Bodum cup as it shoots a bit of water when first activated. Once clear, I use the steam for cappuccino if desired.
5) I keep the Krupps frothing cup in the freezer and use Soy milk. I’m sure neither of these are essential but my wife is lactose intolerant. This works well for small quantities of foam and hot milk.
6) I pull a ~1.5oz shot with the crema being a ~1/2 inch in the cup.
Total time runs around 20 seconds (but who’s counting)
6) Unlike other reports, I have yet to find a nasty puddle of grinds in the filter basket; a damp solid plug remains.
7) I may have a defective filter holder but when I use the thumb lever to hold the basket in place to dump the grings, a sharp piece of plastic is exposed. I plan to Dremmel grind this to avoid further cuts.
Well, there you have my review. I figure payback on a unit like this is 35 nice cups. I have 2 to go, never have to stand on line and the Bodum Pavina cups beat paper in function, form and style. While reviews of these cups suggest fragility, I have yet to ding one and wash them by hand. Don’t imagine you’d want them near the microwave.
This is the fourth espresso machine I’ve owned since 1983 and by far, the best. The espresso consistently comes out dark, rich and very flavorful. I use a pinch of sugar and a twist of lemon peel to round out the flavors. My last Krupp’s ran ~$200 and was problematic after a month of use. Reports here suggest these units have a reasonable life-span if cleaned and used correctly. Given the cost at gourmet coffee stands these days, I consider this both a luxury and an investment.
Ah, during the course I have tested very good Italian almond biscotti with the cappuccino, veeeeery nice, thank you.
I think this is the company of biscotti:
http://ghiottbiscotti.wordpress.com/
Do you think we can start to sell them in Ireland?