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More Tips 'n' Maintenance
Tips 'n' Maintenance
Nespresso Lifestyle & How to Order
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I couldn't tell you if these were tips I read from Nespresso or just sort of picked up on my own, so pick and choose at will!
Fair warning: I LOVE NESPRESSO! There, I've said it. So, let's get to it...
Problem: Cappuccino/Espresso not hot enough.
Answer: run water into the coffee cup first with no capsule inserted. The hot water heats the cup and cleans the machine. Then toss the water, add the capsule and Voilá, you have hot espresso. The other answer is that American coffee is boiled until it burns, which is not really a good flavor. Try it *not* scalding and you'll find true flava!
Problem: Foam not sticking around, collapses after frothing milk.
Answer: Try sliding the frothing sleeve up and then down to "prime" the frothing mechanism, right after you start to froth. Oftentimes, you'll hear a different sound afterwards, and get much better froth.
Also, don't lower the frothing jug to the point you are just blowing bubbles in it because the tip is barely in the milk. These bubbles aren't thick and won't stick around. They're just a bunch of hot air :-) It is the foam created from the super-heated steam of the nozzle being submerged that cause the right thick foam that "sets" or stabilizes and makes a thick, rich froth.
Other froth tips: Keep frothing jug in freezer, or put it in fridge with the unused milk as I do between uses. Colder jugs are good jugs. Hmmm...
I think this keeps the milk from heating up too fast before the froth can be generated. Also, keep the froth nozzle clean!
One final tip: Froth first, then let the milk foam "set" while you make the espresso. (see below for why you may not want to do this.)
Problem: Cleaning sucks.
Answer: Clean as you go! I always have a washrag handy, so I can turn the steamer on for a few seconds to clear it after use, and also to run the espresso maker a few seconds after discarding the last capsule.
Problem: Not as fancy as café-prepared cuppas...
Answer: Get a shaker and add chocolate powder. Sprinkle on top. You're a star! Add a small spoon (World Market has bunches of neat ones) and you're a big star. Add Nespresso's Mikado sugar straws, yer a gene-yus!
Just a few tips from your friendly neighborhood Nespresso Afficianado!
Updated February 27th, 2005: More Tips!
I usually suggest frothing first, because it allows the foam to "set" and become thick and wonderful. But, if you have a problem with grounds shooting out of the capsule and sort of getting all over, or it seems the coffee is spraying out too hard then read on...
Using the frother first, and then making espressos, causes the D150--and all the machines but Nespresso's very latest and most expensive model--to overheat in the sense that it can't make espresso correctly. If you do choose to froth first, try running some water through on the "cup" setting to cool the machine down after frothing. You'll see a lot of steam for 3-5 seconds which is the overheated water coming through and cooling off.
This tip came courtesy of the Nespresso 800 number hotline.
Bad Milk?
Don't froth/heat the milk past the point where it burns your hand if you put your finger on the bottom of the frothing jug. You'll simply start burning the milk and the flavor starts rapidly changing profiles from sweet and wonderful to sort of burnt and rancid and bitter.
Speaking of milk... it's the combination of fat and protein that creates the foam, so 1% is a good compromise for people looking to cut down on fat, whereas skim milk is going too far. Your foam won't be very good. Whole milk, of course, works fine, but can realllllly start adding the calories to that zero calorie coffee.
More on Cleaning
I ran into a problem where coffee was starting to spray out instead of coming out in a nice, foamy stream. Turns out I hadn't "descaled" the machine recently enough. So, about every 6-9 months, descale your machine with the little packets from Nespresso, and this instantly fixes the problem!
Lungo coffee capsules
It isn't obvious from Nespresso, but the Lungo coffee capsules are the same size as the regular capsules. They are simply designed to pour a bit faster as they have a different grind, and they have 20% more coffee in the capsule, which results in the ability to pour a 4-5 oz "Americain" coffee instead of the normal 1.5 oz espresso shot.
The Lungo blends are a great way to keep from having to make two shots for a big coffee to go in the morning, and they are only 4 cents more than the regular capsules (i.e. 49 cents instead of 45 cents per capsule).
Shipping: note that shipping costs have increased to $5.95/order as of January 1st, 2005. So, add this to the price of your order to determine cost-per-capsule, but if you assume about $.50 per cup of espresso/cappuccino, that's about right.
Posted by BilFish at May 5, 2004 10:05 AM"Tride and True from Italy to You" or other parts of the world...
I recommend the Guido Bergna "Musa" stainless steel espresso maker or "cafetera" meaning coffee maker in Spanish.
See what it looks like at http://www.guidobergna.it/musa.htm
This is a site with similar coffee pots for great deals with cups included and coffee http://www.cafecubano.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4 You just have to make sure you get stainless steel and not aluminum.
It is easy to use and portable too. If you want to take it with you to the office, fire station or on vacation it is small and easy to carry and you can use any espresso coffee of your choice. It is economical and produces the same "crema" of the big expensive coffee makers and doesn't have to be plugged in taking up space. These little stovetop makers are used all over the world from Europe to Cuba.
I use Cafe Bustelo Cuban coffee in mine: http://www.javacabana.com/products.asp?catid=4&prodid=10 for a picture. I buy it at the grocery store.
I also found a website on the Internet with hundreds of articles about coffee at http://www.aboutcoffee.net/