Espresso Perfecto

For ages I have been trying to make espresso's as well as they do in a cafe in Perth called, "Bean Good". I have a good machine, I use the same excellent coffee as they do - bought from "The Bean Shop" in Perth, who import, roast and blend their own fantastic coffees. Why then, were my espresso's less creamy and more bitter and why did I have to run enormous lengths to achieve the kind of creme that rose from the tiny cups at 'Bean Good'?

The cafe and the bean sellers have given me three tips. Firstly use freshly ground beans (this one isn;t possible in my case - but I've taken more care over the freshness of the grinds). Secondly they recommended harder tamping than I had been doing. My Gaggia machine came with a rather flimsy plastic tamper that was only adequate; the Bean Sho[ have sold me a lovely heavyweight metal tamp, with a slight curve to the base - which compresses the coffee perfectly into the basket. This has made a huge difference to the quality of the coffee that comes out; in conjunction with their third tip. After a chat with the folks in the Bean Shop about how my coffee was turning out, they diagnosed that the flow-rate through the coffee was to high. The first answer to this was heavier tamping. Finally though, they adjusted the settings on their grinder slightly finer, again slowing the water flow through the beans in my brew head.

The results have been stunning and highly addictive. Young Norris is a big fan of my coffee machine, and hugely enjoys helping to tamp, and press the buttons. If he had his way, I'd be flying on 20 espresso's a day.