On the road with the espresso machine

[Fat Guy]

On our recent 3-week road-trip through the Southeast in our luxurious Plymouth Grand Voyager SE minivan we traveled with, among other things, a bulldog, a Tempur-Pedic pillow, and a carton full of espresso apparatus. We aspire someday to have a clothesline stretched across the back seat of our Buick.

Our DeLonghi "caffe espresso" unit, Solis Maestro grinder, Brita pitcher, a 1-pound bag of coffee beans, and the various attachments all fit snugly into a standard-size file box (like they use at law firms, um, not that mine was stolen from any previous employer) with the lid off.

I've just gotten to the point where, at home, with all the variables pretty well under control, I can pull a consistently acceptable shot with this setup. On the road, however, the challenges were greater. I often found myself discarding the first shot, recalibrating the grinder, adjusting the tamping pressure, and otherwise taking stabs at improving the situation. Usually after about 10 minutes of fiddling I was able to produce a decent second shot, despite all the variables introduced by setup, takedown, humidity changes, rapidly aging room temperature beans, etc.

In South Carolina we ran out of beans (consumption was much higher than expected on account of all the waste) and actually found a great little coffee place just across the border in Gastonia -- Blue Coffee -- where the guy (his name is Blue thanks to his hippie parents) roasts in-house in small batches and really knows his stuff. Still, I had to make adjustments for using a new product.

Then there was the time I packed up the apparatus and drove off without remembering to empty the drip tray. Oops. That was a little messy.

All in all, an interesting experience. I imagine we saved about $10,000 by not buying several $4 espressos everyday -- not that we could even buy a decent espresso without a 30 minute drive in most of the places we were visiting.

Thank you for listening.

[Schielke]

[GG Mora]

-- not that we could even buy a decent espresso without a 30 minute drive in most of the places we were visiting.

If my trip to eastern Oklahoma and the Arkansas hills is any indicator, you can't even get a decent cup of coffee. Good on ya.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for sharing.

[Jason Perlow]

I imagine we saved about $10,000 by not buying several $4 espressos everyday --

Yes, but I think its all a wash considering you need to spend at least that amount now in psychotherapy.

[Fat Guy]

For me, to use the language of business plans, psychotherapy is a "fixed cost."

[redfox]

I certainly have taken my trusty Moka pot and stovetop bullet steamer on many, many, many a camping trip. Survival is simply not possible without good coffee, I think.