BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

I grew up around old Cubans in the 1950s. They liked the Lemon peel. My dad preferred a teaspoon of Bols Anisette.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

You can call that espresso, but this is really espresso. I have two of these bought 30 years ago.

https://www.olympia-express.ch/en/products/cremina

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

I want the works in mine. I think Im ready for a coffee fit about now.

etcraig Loc: Chandler, Az

I make dark Turkish coffee with cardamom seed and sugar. It's strong, dark, and sweet

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

That doesn't make espresso.

Espresso is made under specific conditions and that pot cannot supply those conditions. It might make really strong drip coffee or something, but it doesn't make espresso.

Just FYI.

Having said that, I like Americanos or just straight espresso.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

This company when out of business, and the company that bought it is now making the machines with stainless steel tanks. Gone are the days of pinholes in the copper tanks. I had one with the pump as opposed to the lever. It made very good coffee. Now I have a Wega Mininova with the rotary pump and I get similar results. The key, as you know, is to start off with good coffee, ground fresh, and pull the shot in 17 sec, and the shot should be no more than 1.25 oz, using not more than 7 gr coffee. Dialing in the correct grind, volume, tamping pressure and pre-infusion on the grounds is a daily labor of love, isn't it? And a change in the weather - relative humidity, pressure, temperature - will require recalibrating the entire process. And forget about it when you get a new batch of coffee.

The Sambuca/Anisette and the lemon peel are used to mask the flaws in the coffee. I take mine short (1 oz) and neat -

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

berchman Loc: South Central PA

I appreciate your perfectionism (fanaticism?), having myself haunted coffee forums for awhile and read about the excesses that enthusiasts go to. I do mail order my beans from 1st-line in NJ and I used to get them by UPS two days after roasting and ordering. Now UPS has gotten so expensive that I get them by USPS six days after ordering. I do grind the beans just before I use them, but I don't weigh them and I don't time the pull and I don't change anything in accordance with the weather, the batch of beans, or any other variable. I do use a Reg Barber custom made tamper. Like you, I do prefer my espresso made ristretto. I suppose that if I were truly fanatical, my coffee would taste even better than it does, but I'm satisfied and I don't need to introduce any more craziness in my life.

happy sailor Loc: Ontario, Canada

I am too lazy, went with a super automatic, beans in the hopper water in the tank, push the button, grinds the beans and then the brew group does its magic. Makes very good expresso. I drink my as it comes nothing added thanks