Friday 4 January 2008
Whilst I'm usually happy with coffee made in a cafetiere, I do like a good espresso. So the second coffee machine I bought was a cheap espresso machine. The nice thing about this particular machine is that it has an attachment for making frothy milk. Now I never have milk in my coffee but I know someone who does like a good cappuccino. This usually means that I make a full cafetiere of coffee and a full carafe of espresso so that I can also froth enough milk to make a nice cappuccino using the cafetiere coffee so that everyone is happy.
I just got one of these at a yard sale, but the person had to instructions and had never used it. Now I used to work in a coffee house and make espresso drink, but this thing makes me feel like a complete dumbass.. I can't get the damn espresso to brew? Can you possibly help me with some instructions? Thank you -Emily
Hi Emily, I can try and help. Here are the steps I usually take.
If it has a milk frother attachment make sure the valve is fully closed. Use the glass pot to measure the correct amount of water and then pour it into the tank through the top of the machine. Make sure the screw top is tightly closed (I add the water first as the extra weight makes later steps a little easier). Now remove the coffee holder from the machine -- usually requires quite a firm twist of the handle to get it off. Pack the holder with ground coffee and replace on the machine. Put the glass pot back under the machine and switch it on.
You should start to get coffee appearing within about 30 seconds or so but it will take quite a while to finish.
If coffee doesn't start to appear then there are a few things that could be wrong. Firstly is there any steam escaping from anywhere? If you have a leak then there may not be enough pressure to force the water through the coffee. Can you hear the water boiling? If the water isn't getting hot then the heating element may have died and I doubt that can easily be replaced.
Hope that helps,
Mark
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