Regular K

So, after UPS shipped my package from Texas to Colorado to Utah to Washington to British Columbia, they decided to send it on a week-long detour over to Illinois (?) before shipping it back to Washington to British Columbia to my front door.

But finally, I’ve got my Gaggia Carezza in my kitchen and it’s awesome. I was so busy Wednesday night that I only had enough time to free my little espresso machine from its packaging. Thursday night, I was equally busy, having only enough time to pull a couple questionable shots out of it, not yet having a good understanding of how to operate it to its full potential.

So today, I went to Specialty Coffee Solutions to pick up a 20 oz. stainless steel carafe, then to Starbucks for a cheapo steaming thermometer to add to my home barista kit. I forgot to look for a tamper - the plastic one that came with the Gaggia is passable, but I’d like a nice steel one. However, it shouldn’t be hard to find one, as I’ve got a standard 58mm portafilter. I practiced my skills by making a mocha for my brother, a latte for myself and a chai latte for my mom.

Although I’m using bad espresso that was ground a week (!) before usage, the Gaggia’s Perfect Crema disk was surprisingly able to produce some decent crema from it. I wasn’t impressed with the milk steamer at first, but after removing the “enhancer”, I was able to have more manual control over the frothing process, creating better foam.

I’m still in the process of figuring out how to get the most out of my Gaggia, but it’s already proven to be a great machine with my mediocre skills. Maybe some day I’ll get good enough to create latte art.