Tampering with the Tamper

I heart Tamping.

Tamping is the process of securing the coffee in the portafilter basket to ensure a flat surface for water to flow evenly through the coffee grounds. Water will find the easiest path through the coffee. Knocking the side of the portafilter to mid-tamp loosens the grounds in the filter basket. By knocking it, you'll have quality tamp without disturbing the "puck" when jossling it around.

The owner of a café in Denver I used to work for showed me this tamping method. I learned to tamp in four directions: north, west, east, south, with a center push to smooth the top surface. This is the best method because it pushes the coffee into the sides and bottom creating a solidly packed puck.

The LaMarzocco Swift grinder uses volumetric dosing and tamping to provide consistent and reliable service through shift changes and thousands of pounds of coffee. The screw-like tamper uses only 8 lbs of pressure opposed to the 30lbs recommended by hand. The Swift tamps along with the grinding so that it tamps all the way through with even 8lbs. The result is layers of perfectly tamped coffee forming the puck.

The Art of Espresso

To attain the best espresso shot - achieving that sweet, viscous, balanced espresso - is only possible with CLEAN equipment, proper grind, tamping (this is a whole chapter) and water temperature. Experience will also make you more comfortable with the machine. When I first tried using the machine, I remember how loud and daunting it was. Once you get used to it, it gets easier, although mastering the details can take years.

Extraction mostly depends on water pressure, water temperature grind, and tamp. Ideally, it should take 18-28 seconds to pour 1.5-2oz. Its appearance should be a cinnamon brown and uniform in color. If it's bubbly and has dark spots, this indicates that the water is too hot. If it only shoots .5oz the grind is too fine. If it could fill a 12oz cup, the grind is too coarse.

The caffeine content of a two ounce espresso is roughly 80mg. An 8oz cup of drip coffee has around 100mg. This figure varies depending on brew method. Espresso consists of three parts. In a cup, it would be the bottom, middle, and top. The base is the bottom and the “heart” of the espresso. It contains soluble particles suspended as viscous liquid. The moving part, called the suspension, settles like a Guinness beer. The top, called crema, is created by the dispersion of gasses, air, and carbon dioxide into liquid at high pressure. The emulsified oils form a foamy texture on the surface.


Espresso blends differ depending which coffee house you visit. At FreshCoffeeNow, I try to keep ours mellow and rich. I've played around with a bunch of different coffees blended in different ways. Now I have a simple blend which I think best suits my taste. Our espresso blend is very full-bodied and syrupy with a smooth bourbon and chocolate flavor.

Time for Another Espresso

Some days are a cloud aloft in transition, slowly creeping towards the next distant horizon. A vague point appears peering like a faint beacon. This is your goal. Munch on a little snack. Have an espresso. Talk about how tired you feel. Get some support. Be one with the countertop. Rest, fart, moan and distress on and on about how it’s unfair of the rain, and oh, the rain.

Perfect time in my opinion for another espresso. I look at the machine, shiny and familiar, sitting, watching, and waiting. The hopper is full. The coffee smells like caramel dirt.

“Push it Joe. Push the button.” I push the button. Screeching, numbing, pulsing, radiating, aching balding head. I dose, skimming the excess grounds off the top. I tamp; north, south east, west, center. Appropriate water temperature, correct grind, suitable tamp, acceptable cup, proper time criteria. The golden brown color of the cream works. The body is syrupy, the taste sweet and nutty. The aroma, deep and intoxicating. The day…a little better.

My Brother Larry

My brother’s name is Larry Greene. Woodworking and cabinetry are his trade. He said to me one time that he was thinking of changing his name to Lorenzo Verde. Something with more flair as to augment his businesses image to attract more clients. He started going over this in a deep Spanish/Italian/muddled fake accent. “bon journo, ima Lorenzo Verde! I mova da wooda with a sharpa toola.”

I am better at making fun of the French accent. Do French people drink coffee? They must. French press. French roast. French vanilla. Café au lait. Oui oui!

I have had a few compliments on the French roast I roast. It’s an organic blend balancing heavy, robust body with even, smooth acidity. I try not to burn out all of the flavor from my coffee so I set a desired temperature which exposes oils on the beans but not so much that they become saturated and sticky with oil. I guess you could say my French roast is a full city + with a robust characteristic. Giving the impression of a dark roasted coffee with hints of carbonization but retaining the complex, taste profile of the coffee. Give it a try, and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Steamed Milk

Milk comes from a lot of different animals; goats, monkeys... even pigs and giraffes. But here at the Blue Star Café, and many other cafés around the country and the world, we use milk that comes from an animal called the “cow”. These are large cumbersome animals who mope around grassy areas eating and chewing. They produce copious amounts of milk which we procure to use for many things including coffee drinks. Steaming milk can be done right and wrong. I believe foam belongs in the ocean and not in your latte or cappuccino. Textured milk is the consistency of paint, thick and creamy. What you don’t want is foamy milk with huge tasteless bubbles.

To make textured milk, you begin by plunging the steam wand into the milk and turning it on. Introduce air into the milk for the first few seconds of steaming, then use the rest of the time to incorporate the bubbles you made in a cyclone of milk to get velvet texture. You end the process by turning off the steam when you reach the desired temperature which is between 140 and 160 degrees. I spin the milk in the pitcher to make it shiny. I usually have time to make a “rosetta” atop my lattes and cappuccinos. I rock the pitcher side to side and it lies out across the mug and I give a stem by swiping through the top. If I have the time, I make butterflies, people, logos... you name it, I make it.


What would you like to see at your café? I make a delicious Earl Grey Latte. Earl Grey in a tea bag steeped in a little water to get the flavor moving and to warm up the cup. I introduce Vanilla flavor and a dash of cinnamon before pouring my perfectly textured milk. I would be interested to hear new recipes or ideas, so please feel free to post.

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Never a Bad Monday

It’s easy to see what all the fuss is about coffee. Wouldn’t you be aroused in the morning once you smelled the caramel aroma of organic Bolivian coffee? I roast and brew coffee for a living so I get to smell it all the time.

It’s one of those beautiful things no one thinks of, but coffee never has a bad Monday. Coffee can be bad – but no matter how bad it is, it makes the most terrible days a little better.

You look at your horse standing there in the morning light, its breath pluming, the glistening frost on its back. Bluffs and plateaus loom in the distance…it could be worse. You’re out in the middle of nowhere – You have nothing but a fire, a pot of boiling water, and some fresh coffee in your Bodum. Your handy, travel French press suits you well dosed with Nicaragua Segovia fair trade.

Keeping the tradition of the wild, you toss your cushy travel chair aside and sit on the rocks…

The Roast Master

I loved my little, red 1979 Volvo 242 - her two doors and wool seats and lack of air conditioning - she was always dependable; an absolute joy even in 100 degree heat. On sunny days, I'd get into my car and go to the café where I worked to amp up on some double espresso shots for an hour or so. When I got back into my boiling car, I was buzzing. Everything had that 60's high-school yearbook fantasy picture fuzz on it. Driving while impaired on caffeine, I tried not to hit anyone while flying through the city in my ancient, beat-up Volvo, singing and restlessly agitated by the caffeine.


That café had an unbelievable machine from space. The agtron control system and mass spectrometer used to determine roast degree was impressive. She was dialed in, roaring, turning, and exiting. Blue, silver, chrome, brass, and coffee oil. For some, a coffee-roasting machine is like a big steam engine.... like a huge tractor when you were a kid. Some people when they see it say, "Wow, that’s a big coffee maker!" or "Hey look, a gigantic coffee grinder!"

Roast science has been evolving for a while now, and people discovered that coffee is the most aromatically diverse food or drink on the planet. There are over some 850 volatile aromatic compounds, many of which are still misunderstood. The roast master controls the induction of heat and air over a time period, and this determines how these sugars,chemicals, and compounds react with each other, and ultimately determines the quality of the roasted product.

Density and moisture content are major factors when roasting. Also, barometric pressure and humidity effect how air and temperature work with the beans in a roast chamber. Whether you are using a drum roaster or a fluid bed air roaster, this technical information can affect the quality, finish, and degree of roast.

Each coffee from its different growing region has unique properties and is analyzed, tested, tasted, graded, and so on. I take information like density and moisture content and roast the coffee to magnify its individual characteristics. I try not to dark-roast coffee because it loses a lot of delicate aromatic and taste properties due to carbonization of sugars and other factors. Many customers favor a dark roast, so I do try to make a blend of a few coffees with different taste profiles and roast them a slight degree darker then a medium roast to get a rounded full-bodied cup while still preserving the aromatic and taste properties.

If this information is useless to you - don’t worry! My French roast rocks! Try it!