Intentions-

I want to include all the information necessary to make good espresso on the Presso

That is, all the information that is specific to the Presso- grind and tamping are the same for the Presso as other machines.

If you see anything missing or disagree please contact me, I will be happy to make changes and give credit for any additions. (lever dot related at gmail dot com)

Please read the entries in order as they (in a small way) build on each other. Note especially the last entry: Broken! (fixed)

I want to thank Jim Schulman for his page about the Presso, as well as the following posters on alt.coffee and home-barista.com - hazzmat, Paul Sack, Luthier, and those people who posted about the $5.99 Pressos!

-> This is not a real Blog, the dates have been altered to control the order in which the articles appear.

Tribute to Presso's designers . . .

The Presso is simple. It can be taken apart completely.

It is attractive.

It can make quite good espresso.

I think it's great.

I don't know who designed it. <-- scratch that-

It seems the Presso was designed by Patrick Hunt and Martin Riddiford of Therefore Design, a British design company. It won many design awards in 2004.

Riddiford and Therefore Design are best known for their work on the Psion PDA.

Warming (general)

Most Espresso machines brew at 92-96C. If you simply pour boiling water into a cold Presso the water will be far below this temperature by the time it meets the coffee. It will be further cooled while pouring from the portafilter basket through the portafilter and is unlikely to taste good.

How much you need to warm it depends on the ambient temperature and the temp of the water you are pouring into it. If you are making espresso in your unheated basement in the dead of winter you will need to do a fair bit of warming up. If your Presso has been sunning itself at the beach you could probably get away with no warm-up at all.

In any case the water you use for brewing should be as hot as possible, so work out a way to pour just-off-boiling water directly into the Presso's pressure chamber.

I've prepared two methods, for "The Dead of Winter" and for a comfortable room temperature environment.

Warming "The Dead of Winter"

There are many ways to go about warming it up, the important thing is consistency. The following is the procedure I use-

Note- it is necessary to use water that is fresh off the boil, and to bring water to a boil repeatedly, so work out a way to do this.

Note- Holding water in the Presso will warm more effectively then just pouring water through. To this end you will need a way to plug up the spouts of the portafilter (I use the ends of two bamboo chopsticks).

1. Begin with the piston removed (see the 'Cleaning and Drying' entry).

2. Bring about a Litre or 4 Cups of water to a boil. With the Portafilter (sans basket) in place, pour about two chamber's worth of water through the brewing system into a bowl.

3. When done pouring, replace the piston and re-connect the arms.

4. Push the arms down and insert plugs into the Portafilter's spouts.

5. With the arms in their lowest position, begin pouring boiling water into the chamber while raising the arms. Stop when the arms are at the highest position.

6. At this point the chamber is nearly full, but there is still a lot of air trapped in the portafilter. You need to 'pump' the arms to force the water through the dispersion screen and release the water.

7. Slightly lift one of the arms (to open up the holes in the piston head) and pour water through the piston head to fill it completely.

At this point you can begin boiling water for brewing and fill the basket with coffee.

This procedure can be repeated if necessary.

Warming from Room Temperature

With the piston removed or in place, simply pour a quantity of boiling water through the Presso into a fair-sized receptacle below the spouts.

This can be repeated by pouring the 'used' water back into your water-boiling device.

Yer all set to go!

Dosing into the basket

With most espresso machines it is common to grind, dose, and tamp with the basket in the portafilter.

However, if you are having trouble getting the temperature high enough then removing the portafilter for a long time should be avoided. The simplest way to avoid the pf cooling is to dose and tamp directly into the basket. This way the portafilter is only removed from the machine for the time it takes to drop in the basket and little heat is lost.

With this method it is important to remove the 'clip' that holds the basket tightly in the portafilter. If it is left in you are forced to 'snap' in the basket which can disrupt the tamped grounds and result in poor (uneven) extraction.

Portafilter cooling-
5 seconds - <5F
30 seconds - 5-10F
60 seconds - 10-20F
Home-barista.com thread and alt.coffee topic

note- unless the ambient temperature is very low or you are obsessed with temp stability (!) this technique is not necessary.