A Rosetta Forming

Recently I’ve been trailing a new technique for getting your latte art spot on. I call it cutting the crema. To cut the crema you pour a small amount of milk into your espresso shot just after it has finished pouring and as you pour you move your jug around the cup so to create a layer of silky milk below the crema so that it rises up and settles just under the crema. This gives you a nice canvas to work with as you free pour your Rosettas, leaves and hearts.

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The format of the competition goes like this

• 15 minute time limit
• 6 minutes to adjust the grinder so your shots pull perfectly.
• 9 minutes to produce 2 Short Black’s and 2 Cappuccino’s, with each pair served simultaneously.

Points on the Short Blacks were awarded based on the following

1. Colour of the Crema (Hazelnut, Dark Brown, Reddish)
2. Consistency and persistence of crema
3. Taste balance (of sweet vs acidic vs bitter)
4. Tactile balance (full bodied, round, smooth)
5. All espressos served simultaneously
6. Correct espresso cups used (Hurr Durr)

Cappuccino points were awarded on a similar standard, though the criteria reflects the drink

1. Visually correct cappuccino
2. Consistency and persistent foam
3. Temperature of cappuccino (not too hot or cold)
4. Taste balance (rich sweet milk vs espresso)

Additional points were awarded for how technically correct the use of the espresso machine was, as well as the workstation tidiness. As you can see very few details go un-noticed.

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Beville-BES-860

I’ll step you through what I do and use to make my coffees and I’ll take some pictures of the ones I make tomorrow and post them up, but it’s a bit late now.

The machine I use at home is a Breville BES-860. I really like it because its got a conical grinder built in, which is fully adjustable and pretty much everything is adjustable. The notable exception here is the temperature of the water. However I don’t see this as an issue. It would just confuse people and outside of the hands of a skilled barista, whose coffee technique was good enough to make full use of this feature it would just confuse people and provide another way to muck up their shots. Although I recommend this machine I’m sure that there are other systems on the market that will do just as good, if not better, I’m simply not familiar with them.

I use a 600ml steaming jug, with a pointed spout. The Breville comes with one, but I find that it’s not as good as a more traditional shaped jug. Having said that, use what works for you, I’m not out to tell you what to do, I’m just writing about what works for me.

One thing I would recommend for everyone is a tamp pad. Also known as a barista mat. This is a piece of rubber that sits on your bench, near your machine. You rest your group head on it as you tamp so you don’t damage the spout of your group head. A tamp pad will also allow you to lightly tap the group head without damaging either your bench top or your group head. I’d recommend a tamp pad to anyone, regardless of your skill level.

I don’t have an external grinder because my machine has one built in that does a darn fine job.

With these appliances in mind I’ll now step out exactly how I go about making my coffees.

1. Turn on the machine (durrr); make sure it’s got enough water and beans in it. Assemble anything that is in pieces.

2. Get your milk and steaming jug out of the refrigerator. Pour into your jug enough milk for one cup. This machine isn’t big enough to make more than one cup at a time.

3. Purge the steam wand and get your milk going. With this machine you can rest the jug against the wand so that you don’t have to hold it.

4. While your milk is steaming away you should have enough time to grind your beans and tamp them down.

5. The Breville has a little quirk where it purges the steam so that you can pull shots within seconds of the time when you finish steaming, and this is enough time for you to load the group head into the machine, get your cup ready and wipe down your steam wand.

6. Pull your shot, pour your milk, and enjoy your coffee.

It’s as simple as that. You’ll notice in this method that I steam the milk first, this is because with the Breville it takes a while to steam the milk, and in this time the shot has gone off, so to avoid this I do the milk first, which leaves it enough time to settle but not too long, avoiding it separating.

Now that I’ve said all that go, enjoy your brilliant and fantastic coffee from home.

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Unfortunately, a proper tamping method is rarely performed by most baristas in the United States. At most, you will see a mild flattening motion where the server gently lifts the dosed basket up to a tamping plate mounted on the outside of many grinders. Some baristas have heard that firm tamping is important, but really don’t understand the mechanics. In this case, you will see the barista pressing firmly on the coffee and than rapping the side of the portafilter violently and repeatedly, as if it were necessary to kill the coffee before brewing it.

Tamping is necessary because the brew water is under major pressure (8 to 10 times the weight of gravity) and will have an almost intelligent ability to find the path of least resistance through the coffee. If it does find channels that are easy to get through it will rush through these areas, overextracting the coffee surrounding the channels and underextracting the coffee in the channels. The resulting beverage is the worst of circumstanceswhat flavor does get into the cup is bitter and astringent, and so much of the coffees potential good flavors remain behind in the portafilter basket. With firm and even tamping, the water has no choice but to flow through all of the coffee uniformly, and if the barista has adjusted his or her grind correctly and the espresso machine is in good order, the resulting coffee beverage represents the best the coffee has to offer.

So how do you tamp correctly? Well, now that you know why you tamp, you can apply your intelligence and sense of feeling to the challenge. You can try this at home or politely inform a misinformed barista on these steps of proper tamping:

Step 1: Having dosed the proper amount of coffee into the portafilter basket, even it out so that it is level in its distribution in the basket. Any “high” points will result in areas more compacted than “low” points after tamping, so it is important that the coffee be packed full and level in the basket.

Step 2: Use a flat-faced hand tamper and a counter that is low enough so that you can lean into the tamper with your body weight and arm straight. The tamper should be held in your relaxed hand as an extension of the arm. The tamper face needs to always be applied straight into the coffee, without an angle, because any canting will result in an area where the coffee is thinner.

Step 3: Note that the diameter of the tamper is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the basket. If you just tamp in the middle, the outside perimeter will still be loose, exaggerating the tendency for the water to flow between the basket and the coffee. I recommend employing the “Staub Tamp” where you tamp the coffee four times riding the tamper up against the inside of the “North, South, East, and West” edge of the basket. Tamp with 30-40 pounds of pressure (in training we tamp on a bathroom scale on the counter). This evenly compacts all of the coffee giving the water a uniform bed to percolate through. Do not tap the portafilter handle between tamps, as this will just tend to loosen adhesion between the packed coffee and the basket. When releasing pressure from each of the four tamps, give a slight twist to the tamper to polish the surface of the compacted coffee.

Step 4: Inspect the result of your tamping to make sure that it was even and there is a good polish. If you notice that one side is deeper than another, you should really knock out the grounds and start over again. If everything looks acceptable, then mount the portafilter handle into the espresso machines group head and begin the brewing cycle.

Step 5: Your final step in tamping is quality control assessment. Noting the quality of the extraction (and of course the best duty of all is tasting the coffee!) is critical to improving your tamping skill. Also examine the spent coffee in the basket after brewinglooking for “worm holes” which is a sure sign of channeling where the water found a weak spot in the coffee pack. The knocked out grounds should have the form of a puck; if it’s mush then the grind and the tamp were off.

Ultimately, the quality of the espresso will be a reflection of the training and the consciousness of the barista. Nowhere is this more apparent that in the tamping technique of the barista.

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Home coffee roasting is now having a renaissance!

This renaissance is due to coffee lovers’ return to taste. A growing number of people are realizing that they are drinking mediocre coffee and that there is a lot more in coffee that could be enjoyed that they are missing in exchange for convenience.

While the goal of the early commercial roasters is to produce quality roasted coffee, the goal nowadays is mainly to maximize profits. To maximize profit the commercial roasters could:

• buy the cheapest raw coffee beans
• choose roast level with minimum shrinkage
• use outrageous practices like quenching roasted beans with more water than is necessary to make the end product heavier
• use of dishonest labeling (i.e., calling a blend a Kona Blend when only a minute amount of Kona is in the blend)

Reasons why it is good to roast your own coffee

Thanks to the Internet, people now have information on their fingertips. Better informed people makes better decision, and many are making the decision to roast their own coffee. Although this may seem a step back to the mid 19th century, this move will give the home roasters the following advantages:

• Most of the home coffee roasting machine available today utilize the state-of-art technology.

For Gene Café, the home-roaster only have two knobs to operate. One for the temperature and another for the roasting time (just like most oven’s control) and both could be modified anytime during roasting to giving the home-roaster total control all of the time.

• You can buy the best quality raw coffee beans (that suits your taste and budget). This also gives you an option to buy Fair Trade (to financially help the coffee farmers) and/or organic coffees (to help the improve the ecological health of Mother Earth).
• Home-roasters could choose the roast level that he/she likes (from light to dark roast level).
• Fresh roasted coffee on demand (most roasted coffee starts to deteriorate in taste after 10 days whereas raw coffee beans could remain at its best for a year or more)

Drinking instant coffee is analogous to eating microwave-ready frozen meal, they are convenient but it could not offer the taste and aroma a freshly roasted coffee could offer.

The Internet is a home-roaster’s friend

There is a wealth of information about home coffee roasting in the Internet. And to get you off into a good start in your journey into home coffee roasting, the Gene Café home coffee roaster is now available in Australia. Gene Café is a home coffee that could evolve with you. Thus, its ease of use would make your initial foray into coffee roasting enjoyable. As your coffee knowledge advances, its feature of total control is there for you to tap. There is a growing community of home coffee roaster that exists in Internet forum that would gladly welcome you into their community.

Some pointers for making a good cup of coffee

The following are things that are absolutely essential for a good cup of coffee:
Quality green coffee beans.
Freshly roasted coffee
A good grinder to ensure the correct and uniformly-sized grind for your preferred brewing method
A good brewer. This could range from the simple (like French Press or AeroPress) to sophisticated (like prosumer espresso machine). Any of these brewers could produce good coffee as long as the following variables are correctly factored in the brewing process:
Water temperature (usually between 90 to 96 degrees Celsius)
Extraction time relative to grind size
Amount of ground coffee to use
Reputable manufacturers of coffee brewers would give you recommendation on the above-mentioned variables. The Avacuppa team will be happy to guide and help you in your pursuit for good coffee.

This article was taken from AvaCuppa

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When Magimix first introduced their food processors about 30 years ago, they came in strong, providing home owners in Burgundy, France, a feel of professional kitchen but in a smaller scale. It is no happenstance as well that such introduction was in the area where gastronomy was noted to be glooming well.

Food and culture and Magimix appliances pretty much mix well together. Their production of coffee makers gives additional illustration for this.

Quality, simplicity, practicality and appearance being their four main values, they do not compromise when it comes to these things, even with people’s coffees. Having owned their Magimix coffee maker machines, users can not describe them something lesser than brilliant.

Brilliance is no accident, though. Their well acclaimed design does not stop at their great facade and stylish colored capsules. The feeling of exclusivity is the product comes with their brilliant marketing, as well, of course. The coffee machine accessories even extend this, as well. Although the cups would require a little more cash out, they provide that feeling of exclusivity, as well as the capsule design.

Exclusivity has its price, though. This is perhaps the slight downside to this. It costs a little bit more than the regular coffee makers you’d find around, and you generally can’t find them in mall stores, rather you have to mail order them.

But as they are backed with a really good system and machine make-up, you’ll get that freshly brewed coffee right at your home counter. After all, that’s what is most important, right? The coffees are great, so much so that this is likely an understatement. Creating them would not be a problem, as well. Be it espresso, capuccino or latte that you’d like, expect to have it fresh and just right – as real as it can get.

As every brew is fresh and consistent, your expectation would not go astray. Imagine waking up to fresh cup every time and anytime of the day you’d want your fresh coffee.

For heaps more coffee maker reviews check out CoffeeMakerCritic.com where you will find reviews and ratings on all the leading coffee machine brands including Zojirushi coffee makers, Black and Decker, Breville, Delonghi, Kitchenaid, Krups, Mr. Coffee, Capresso and more. Get your FREE ‘Coffeemaker Buying Guide’ full of tips and tricks on how to buy the best coffee maker for your needs.

This is a guest review, If you have any experience that you’d like to tell us about, leave a comment below.

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Vibiemme Domobar Super

In the world of home espresso machines, few features are more prominently recognizable than the saucer-shaped E61 grouphead. Its expansive chrome surface certainly offers plenty of eye candy, but the popularity of espresso machines based on this design owes as much to its well-deserved reputation for “forgiving” minor errors in barista technique as to good looks. Because the market has been flooded with such a variety of machines designed around the E61 group, buyers are frequently torn between what seems to be indistinguishable choices.

In the world of home espresso machines, few features are more prominently recognizable than the saucer-shaped E61 grouphead. Its expansive chrome surface certainly offers plenty of eye candy, but the popularity of espresso machines based on this design owes as much to its well-deserved reputation for “forgiving” minor errors in barista technique as to good looks. Because the market has been flooded with such a variety of machines designed around the E61 group, buyers are frequently torn between what seems to be indistinguishable choices.
Beginning with the specifications, the standout features of the Vibiemme Domobar Super include:
Original E61 grouphead (more on that later),Stainless or black powder coat housing,Choice of manual, semi-automatic, and electronic (automatic) volumetric dosing,Three position power switch,2.7 liter boiler and a huge 3.8 liter water reservoir.

Vibiemme Domobar Super
This review will look closely at the characteristics that separate the E61-based competitors to help you decide.
First ImpressionsThe Super is larger than your average E61 clone home espresso machine. Front to back, it measures 20 inches deep (not counting one inch for the drip tray handle), 10-1/2 inches wide and 15-3/8 inches tall. Height should not be an issue for standard overhead cabinets, but do measure to confirm the extra depth will leave enough working room in front of the Vibiemme.
The Super is outfitted with both a boiler pressure gauge and a brew pressure gauge mounted across the top front of the machine, reminiscent of the style of the popular Isomac Tea. There are three indicator lights:
Next to the boiler pressure gauge illuminates amber when the heating element is energized,Amber on the left side of the brew pressure gauge for low reservoir water,Green power indicator right side of the brew pressure gauge.On the semi automatic and automatic versions of the Super, the brew control buttons are located across the face of the machine between the two gauges. Our evaluation espresso machine is the manual, or lever actuated version. The lever is mounted on the right side of the massive E61 grouphead.
The Domobar Super is a reservoir type espresso machine (often called a “pourover” or “water tank”). Located under the cup warmer and at the rear of the machine is a whopping 3.8 liter reservoir. Many pourover espresso machines have a water reservoir with open top; the Super’s is a closed tank with removable refill cap. The cup warming tray extends over the top of the machine and has two handles; you must remove the cups and try to refill the tank.
The Super includes two portafilters, one double and one single spout, a Faema style double basket, single basket and a blank basket for backflushing. Among the other accessories are the traditional black plastic tamper toy suitable for tossing and an angled “burn my hand, please” grouphead brush for cleaning the shower screen and gasket. When ordering, be sure to select a proper 58mm tamper. Finally, Vibiemme includes a typical, less than informative owner’s manual. You still need to read it prior to using the machine but as with most espresso machines, it is relatively bland and poorly written.
The Super is commercial UL rated and requires a 120v outlet capable of delivering 17.5 amps of power for the 1600W heating element and a 41W vibratory pump. Verify your kitchen circuits have adequate power for the Vibiemme (most modern kitchens have several 20 amp circuits, but older kitchens may only have 15 amp circuits). The Super also has a longer than average 7 foot electrical cord that extends from under the machine, emerging from the center of the undercarriage.
Getting StartedThe Domobar Super, which is “home bar super” in Italian, needs no special hookups, just a suitable electric outlet. Note: Vibiemme (pronounced “Vee-bee-m-may”) sells two models, the Domobar and Domobar Super. These are different models with very different specifications; this review discusses only the Super.
Tipping the scales at 70 pounds, the Domobar Super is a heavy espresso machine. I recommend having a helper when lifting it out of the box. The stainless steel feet must be screwed onto the base of the machine; they have non-skid material on the bottom so once the machine is in place, it will stay there. If you don’t have an assistant, I recommend gently laying the machine on its side on a soft pad to gain easy access to the bottom. Once on the countertop, the remaining setup is easy:
Remove the cup warmer protective film,Fill the water reservoir,Fill the boiler.

The last step, filling the boiler, is where you’ll first appreciate one of the Vibiemme’s unique features: A three-position power switch. This is a feature most often found on commercial equipment. In the first (I) position, the system is powered on but the heating element is not energized. The pump will prime and start filling the boiler. You can also run water through the heat exchanger and group without engaging the heating element. Once the boiler has filled and you have filled the heat exchanger, rotate the switch to its final position (II). Once there, the heater will kick on and the amber ‘element energized’ light beside the boiler pressure gauge will illuminate.
The three position power switch is a very smart feature. Most semi-commercial espresso machines have simple on/off power switches, so powering the pump to fill the boiler means the heating element has power too. During the first-time fill of the boiler, owners must pay careful attention to avoid burning out the exposed heating element if the boiler doesn’t fill fast enough (instructions for such espresso machines typically advise to fill the boiler for 30 seconds, turn off for five minutes, fill for 30 seconds, turn off for five minutes, etc.). In contrast, the Vibiemme’s first boiler fill is anxiety free because the (I) power switch position only powers the pump.

Credit Home Barista

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There are two basic categories into which all species of coffee trees can be sorted. Although there are several varieties of each—each variety having its own character—this division into two large categories is useful for understanding the difference between a gourmet cup of coffee and an ordinary cup. High quality blends consist of 100% Arabica beans. Lower quality, cheaper blends may have some proportion of Robusta beans, or they may consist entirely of Robusta. Arabica beans produce a superior taste in the cup, being more flavorful and complex than their Robusta counterparts. Robusta beans tend to produce a more bitter brew, with a musty flavor and less body. This distinction being made, you can see why high quality coffees should consist of 100% Arabica beans.

So why use Robusta at all? Well, there are several reasons these beans are grown and used. First of all, we have the economical concerns driving the farmer to grow the crop. Robusta coffee trees produce their first crops within about two to three years of being planted. Arabica trees require about four to five years to produce any fruit. So the farmer has an inducement to grow the faster growing variety to take advantage of upswings in the price of coffee. Also, the Robusta coffee tree can grow under a larger variety of environmental conditions than can the Arabica. It is more tolerant of cold and grows well in a wider range of altitudes. Second, roasters buy the beans because they are generally cheaper than the Arabica beans. They can be sold to less discriminating consumers in the pre-roasted, pre-ground, pre-staled cans of supermarket “coffee”. They can be brewed and freeze-dried to make instant “coffee” without worrying about degrading an already questionable flavor (sorry to use the quotes again, I just can’t help myself). They can be used in blends with Arabica beans to make the blend cheaper for the roaster while still being able to make the claim that the blend includes Arabica beans. Finally, Robusta beans are higher in caffeine than Arabica beans and fuel the addiction many of us already suffer from. Of course, all of what I write here is a gross oversimplification but since it’s all I know about these beans, it will have to do.

But I haven’t quite exhausted my knowledge yet. I do know a little about Arabica beans and how they differ from Robusta. Arabica beans grow more slowly than Robusta but demand a higher price on the coffee commodity market. They are more limited in terms of where they can be grown, demanding a very precise temperature range and annual rainfall. I don’t know the exact range or I would tell you what it is. Also, they tend to do best, and produce the best bean, at higher altitudes. In fact, high altitude beans carry an extra premium because they are thought to contain more of the substances that make coffee so complexly flavorful than beans grown at lower altitudes. Perhaps this is because they grow more slowly the higher up the mountain they are planted. Varieties of Arabica beans are grown all over the world and the different flavor characteristics produced by each growing region are distinctive. Flavor can vary within a growing region due to factors such as weather, altitude, soil type, soil richness and whether there are shade trees on the finca (or coffee plantation). In addition, a coffee’s flavor can be affected by the processing methods used to separate the beans from the fruit. It is these varietal characteristics of the Arabica bean that makes it such a sought after product and many of the finer small roasters cup (that is, roast and taste) batches of coffee before purchasing it. For all of these reasons, the Arabica bean is good coffee.

But hold on, you say, don’t the French and the Italians use Robusta beans in their fine blends of coffee? Actually, yes they do, and I’m delighted that you pointed it out. This is where we leave the realm of the coffee drinker who believes there is one true

way to caffeinated salvation and enter the realm of the coffee agnostic. I know intellectually that coffee I don’t like can be good, but I’m just not sure I believe it. In France (so I have heard) they sometimes use a blend of beans that is 55% Arabica and 45% Robusta. To each his own. This is also the country where they willingly add roasted chicory root as an adulterant. They like it that way so for them it’s an acceptable blend of coffee. The Italians, too, use Robusta in their blends, probably because of its purported ability to improve the crema head on a cup of espresso. I don’t know what blend is most common in Italy but I have read that a 10% inclusion of Robusta can have the desired effect on the crema of your espresso.

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Coffee is second only to oil in terms of dollars traded worldwide.

While this isn’t likely to be true, it does make a point; coffee is big business to many countries. The countries that produce most of the world coffee (70%) are largely Central and South American. Asia an Africa produce 20% of the worlds coffee beans and the rest comes from places classed as “Coffee producing islands”.

South and Central America

Ol’ Blue eyes wasn’t just singing sweet Dixie when he estimated Brazil’s beans to be in the billions. Brazil is the biggest grower of coffee beans in the world, and by a long margin. Its arabica beans are of a high quality and are a component in many commercial and boutique blends.  Brazil also produces a vast quantity of robusta beans, coming in second after Indonesia. Ipanema Argo Industria is Brazil’s chief producer as far as corporations go, coming in coffee production in Brazil and the rest of the world. Their fields cover some 12,350 acres with 12.5 million trees planted. This company produces almost 7 million kilograms of green coffee anually, twice that of Hawaii and Jamaica combined.

Following Brazil, the next most prolific coffee producers are Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador, which supply mostly washed arabicas. Coffee production also plays a strategic role in the economy of Mexico, Panama and the islands of the Caribbean. Their coffees, also washed arabicas are generally very high quality.

Asia and Africa

India, New Guinea and Indonesia have adopted modern growing methods over the years, thereby increasing their supply of washed arabicas, as well as washed and natural robustas, which are then sold on world markets.

African nations, with some of the vastest and hottest tropical areas in the world produce robusta beans as well as arabicas, though the robusta accounts for the bulk of their coffee export. In the higher altitudes of Kenya and Tanzania, arabica coffee grows very well, yielding large quantities of washed beans.

Coffee Producing Islands

“Other Islands” is a catch-all coffee trade phrase that encompasses Hawaii, Jamaica, Puetro Rico and the Galapagos Islands. Coffees growin in these regions are mostly mild, neutral without much acidity. These producers dont contribute quantum export quantities on world markets as most of their produce is consumed by the locals! Most of the profit of these crops comes from tourists.

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Factors that impact on a grinder to give the perfect grounds for your brew are the ability to adjust the fineness of the grounds, as well as the uniformity of the grain size.

Grinder Adjustability

Brewing coffee involves two time factors, the time the coffee should brew for, and the time it does brew for. In espresso coffee the finer the grind, the more the coffee puck resists the flow of water, taking longer to brew the same amount of espresso. However a grind that is too fine will over extract the soluble components in the coffee. This means that there is only one correct setting for any particular blend. Even small discrepancies will change the quality of your shots. In practice, good baristas will make many small adjustments to ensure that the grind is on target as atmospheric conditions vary. Its supprising how a temperature change of a few degrees can throw off your espresso pours.

Over time baristas have concluded that the optimum timing for espresso is one ounce for single shots, and two for doubles in 25-30 seconds. Adjust your grind to run these times. Varying the preassure of your tamp will compensate to a degree, but these will only take you so far, having an adjustable grinder is the only sure fire way of getting it right every time.

Common household grinders have between 10-20 settings to cover the coarsest grinds all the way to the finest. This is generally insufficent as the espresso range is a very small band, and in grinders with relitavely large increments only 2 or 3 of these will cover that range. A grinder with stepless adjustment or one with at least 40 settings will work just fine.

Grind Quality

If the world was perfect, and our grinders ground our coffee to small particles with every one of them being the same size, then we could set the grind to the perfect size and have perfect coffee every time. But alas the world isn’t perfect and coffee beans are brittle and shatters as the grinder plates hit the bean, producing coffee grounds of varying sizes. This is an issue because the smaller grains tend to be over extracted where as the larger grains are thus underextracted, resulting in imperfect coffee. Even the best contemporary grinders produce grains with a variety of sizes, however this isn’t all bad. A wide distribution of sizes makes a tightly packed puck which allows the water to flow through it in a uniform way without gushing.

The cream of the crop in terms of grinders are the commercial conical burr grinders. These grinders produce elongated grains which pack very well. This method of grinding also produces less fines, the smallest dust-like grind particles. These particles over extract and can affect the quality of the shot. Unfortunatly they’re quite expensive, though they are coming down in price.

Commercial flat burr grinders are nearly as good, although they produce slightly more fines and a little more metallic taste with high grown coffees. However, they’re much more affordable than their conical counterparts.

Finally there are contraptions falsely called burr grinders, available very cheaply that are rubbish. These are not actually burr grinders, they have a series of knobs to crush the beans. This produces a large quality of fines which will cause your shots to be acrid, even with the best beans. In short they are a waste of your beans, not to mention money and time.

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