I admit it, I am a caffeine addict. I drink 3-4 times a day coffee, or tea. Depending on the time or occasion I go for a different kind: strong black tea in the morning, double greek (turkish if you prefer) when I arrive at work, espresso after lunch or dinner. At least that’s the combination that does the trick for me at present, although I tend to change my coffee habits frequently.

Pursuing perfection in these everyday cherished moments of caffeine intake I was able to offer a quality tea or greek coffee to myself using carefully selected ingredients and strictly following the preparation ritual (based on tradition, facts and personal experience). No special equipment needed there and preparation admittedly simple.

But I didn’t have it all. Espresso was and still is for me the absolute coffee experience. It holds a special place in my gourmet psyche. If at the right time (never in the morning!) and right taste and smelling senses acceptors state (that is why espresso is at best after a good meal), a quality espresso can be a sensual experience. But it was hard enough to get a decent shot in the job with the mediocre equipment and silly espresso pods. And even in a cafe, the shots vary widely, more often that not being simply satisfactory. Never top quality. That’s why I made the decision: I would buy all I need and train myself to prepare a shot. Then, at least when I was home, I would be able to enjoy an espresso shot of high standards (high expectations!!)

The quest was on:

• I had to educate myself in the espresso world.

• Select the proper equipment (given a rather tight budget) and procure.

• Find a way to buy decent coffee. You see here in Athens the best you can find are standard, industrial Illy, Lavaza and the kind.

To cut a long story short:

• Reading and browsing the internet, a lot of sites helped me. To mention a few Coffee Geek, Home Barista, Whole Latte Love and many others, as well as the always bewildering Wikipedia.

• Reading reviews in the sites, searching online shops and thinking about it for more than 2 months, finally I did it. A Gaggia combo: Gaggia Classic, Gaggia MDF and base from La Gondola

  (thanks for the great service guys):

• Again thanks to good advice from many internet coffee fans my prefered coffee provider now is Has Bean Coffee. A great selection of coffee beans and espresso accessories, with good service and respect for the delecate coffee product.

It’s now more than 2 months I am a happy owner of the equipment. And it takes time to experiment and learn. In the beginning I was devastated. I couldn’t get a decent shot by no means. Then you start to learn how to control the variables of a good espresso. The beans, the grind, the tamping, the time. Not difficult to understand, but tough to successfully combine. Being persistent I think I have reached a good point for a novice. That’s why I dare present a few photos of my shots. I have finally managed to be persistent enough in my shots, to be able to photo the outcome during the shot :-) I still believe I have a long way to go:

0 sec (on):

6 sec:

12 sec:

18 sec:

25 sec (off):

One last thing: Brewing espresso at home leads you into another never ending trip of gadgets and accessories. What I want next? Check it out: The espro tamper :-)

(Some months and a lot of shots after the original post: Ok now I know this one was under-extracted. It is obvious from the crema color and texture. I didn’t know any better. Cause? most probably grind level and tamping.)