Latte workflow with the Breville Barista Express

Here’s a quick post about my process of making latte’s at home using the Breville Barista Express. Please note that this is just my own workflow developed over 6 months of owning a BBE. I love this machine especially the color that we got. Good vibes all the way.

First we start with turning the machine on. This is important as you need to warm up the machine well to get the best out of it. Maybe 5 minutes will do. I usually lock the portafilter on to the grouphead while warming up and you’ll know when the machine is ready when the top is warm to touch and if the portafilter is warm too.

Second we prep all the materials needed. I have a scale, my foaming pitcher, of course the milk and coffee.

Third – measure the coffee dose that you need. In our case 20gms. I use the milk jug and tare it.

Fourth – off to the hopper the beans go!

Fifth – measure 200gms of milk using the same tare’d jug. Up to you how much milk you want, but for me and the Mrs., we’re happy with 100gms each.

Ugh. Extra 0.7gms

Sixth – grind em’ beans well. This is the feature that I really love about the BBE – the built-in grinder. Note my dosing cup – locally made 3D printed thing. Just in case you’re wondering what my settings are – normal grind amount, and 4-5 grind fineness depending on age of my beans. Don’t forget to level your puck and tamp well.

Seventh – lock the portafilter and express! For a 20gm dose, we extract about 54gms (2 cups at 27gms each) and takes around 30 seconds from pressing the button to preinfusion and end of extraction.

Flows like warm sweet honey

Eighth – steam your milk. This is where I find the BBE a bit lacking. The steam power is a bit weak and the sound… omg the sound is just horrible. It takes me about a minute or so to fully warm the milk – not very fast considering the ear pain you get out of this. One minute takes me to around 60 degrees Celsius – perfect for a latte.

Last step – combine your steamed milk with your espresso. I have a confession to make: I am not a big fan of latte art so we just pour and drink. Better to get to the good stuff now than going fancy fancy with latte art – at least that’s how we think.

So there you have it! A ‘simple’ and repeatable 9 step workflow to get you started.

Is it easy? Not really.

Is it fast? No.

Is it instinctive? Not at all?

Is it worth the time, money and effort to have a new hobby like this? Absolutely!

Hope you had fun reading this as much as I had fun writing up this guide. What about you? What are your steps? Any paraphernalia that helps your work flow? Should I switch the order of some steps? Let me know and I’d love to hear your thoughts too. Cheers and stay safe!

Coffee! Espresso!

A shot of espresso made using the Breville Barista Express

Ah the true nectar of the gods. Energy in a short shot of black liquid gold. No wonder coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, and we are so lucky here in the Philippines, that we are a producer of high quality coffee.

The pandemic helped change my view of coffee – from an essential beverage that gives a boost of energy in the morning, afternoon, just before working out, or after lunch – to that of a lovely possibly life-long hobby that is steeped in curiosity, discovery and fun. In the one year since we’ve been locked-down here in lovely Manila, I’ve since acquired a few paraphernalia – like the Breville Barista Express, the Delonghi ECP 35.31, a Hario V60 set, a local Cuppa grinder, a Phin set, an Aeropress and countless other accessories, and I’ve probably gone through over 100 different kinds of coffee from dozens of online sellers.

Maybe we can start a series here. We can begin by listing some of my favorite espresso coffee that’s available right now in Metro Manila (circa Q2 2021.) So let’s go.

This list is in no particular order – just a listing of good ones that I find myself going back to for my ESPRESSO fix.

• Yardstick – Golden Ticket – Php600 for 250gms or Php1,300 for a kilo – this is one of my go-to coffees specially for espresso. This is such an approachable one, a blend of two South American arabica beans, and expresses well for lattes. Extract this well and add steamed milk and you’ll be rewarded with a luscious, velvety drink that almost tastes like chocolate milk. mmmm. makes me want one right now!
  
• Everyday Coffee – Aerin – Php480 for 200gms – another one of my go-to blends. This is a “seasonal blend” offered for some time, and I really hope they keep this as part of their standard offering. It is another South American blend, which gives it a familiar coffee profile that is accessible and likeable. If you’ve had good coffee icecream before, then you’ll find that profile here. It is similar to the Golden Ticket, but has a little more brightness that gives it a little more tang. I prefer the aroma of this one more than Yardstick’s offering. Takes 2-3 days from ordering to delivery, and sometimes they ask you to wait for a few days before opening the pack to let the coffee rest. Order via their website at http://www.everydaycoffee.ph
  
• Freshbatch Coffee – Best Barako Blend – Php200 for 200gms – this is probably the best value for money coffee in my list here. Freshbatch Coffee believes that we should start brewing better coffee at home and this offering helps fulfil that vision. This is an interesting coffee that tastes amazing if you actually “break” the rules and over-extract it. It doesn’t “punish” you with a bitter over extracted espresso – but instead gives you a choc-nutty and well textured expression that makes for a mocha-tasting latte. The purveyor – Dennis – is a lovely chap. Easy to talk to, very knowledgable and can find ways if you badly need coffee. Look for his shop on IG/FB.
  
• Arabica% Blend – Php350 for 200gms – Arabica% is a Japanese coffee shop and as amazing as the coffee is, the branding, architecture and merchandise is a feast for the eyes too. This is a medium-dark roast, so there is a little bit more brightness compared to the first three. This is good coffee – but you have to make sure you’re extracting well lest you end up with a slightly acidic shot.
  
• Toby’s Estate – Woolloomooloo Blend – Php480 for 200gms – strong. earthy. spiced. chocolate and caramel. Another amazing coffee to try. I like the fact that you can order this via Boozy (of all places.) You do need some luck though if you get a fresh roasted one, or old stock. A freshly roasted bag is amazing – this is one bold espresso that rewards you if you extract well. And old bag will force you to grind finer and make extracting a bit harder.

That’s it for now. Am still trying to recall some earlier faves I’ve tried since last year, but this list is quite recent as I’ve had a bag or two of their offerings this 2021. We can expand this list as we go along.

You may have noticed that I talk about espresso and lattes, and this is how I prepare my usual morning coffee for me and the Mrs. But what about other coffee preparations? Fret not! Next up – my top coffees for pour overs!

Do you agree with my list? Have you tried the coffees listed here? Have I missed anything or a must-try? Please leave a comment below and I’d love to hear about your coffee experience too.

-chewy

Back after 10 years!

Rediscovered my wordpress blog. It’s been 10 years and a lot of things have happened, and changed. Let’s get this started again shall we?

my zpdee now hitting 1mbps

This is a very geek post for me, but I’m just stoked that my two-year old Zpdee connection suddenly gave me a speed boost, up to 1mbps.

We’re paying about 900 bucks initially for around 380++kbps two years ago. About a year ago, the speed went up to 512kbps while maintaining the price. Zpdee didn’t email or announce anything then, so I was really impressed with that.

About a week ago, I noticed that http://www.zpdee.com was redirecting me to the sky cable internet site, and the site was offering insane speeds of up to 12mbps. Went through the site and really, nothing was said about existing Zpdee clients and connections.

The past two weeks have been internet hell though. Speed was really inconsistent and torrenting was a pain.

Well, I just hope that this speed boost will be permanent and will be the norm for my internet connection of choice.

Things I want, 2008 edition

Last year, I posted this on my multiply site:

http://chewychua77.multiply.com/journal/item/33/Things_I_need…_alteratively_titled_as_things_I_want
“…  I decided to make a list of the stuff I think I need and not just want…

1. a nice dell/acer/hp laptop with at least a pentium core 2 duo at 1.66ghz (up to 2.0ghz) at least 1gb ram (2 better) about 120gb hdd, 128mb nvidia card, 4x usb 2.0 ports, firewire etc…
2. iPod video 30gb or bigger
3. 1 or 2gb flash drive (perhaps this can be a freebie when i buy the laptop?)
4. 250gb external hard disk (the big one)
5. 120gb external hard disk (the pocket sized one)

and since we’re at it… ”

Luckily, most of the things I lusted after, I actually got!

I now have a kick-ass laptop
a 160gb portable hard disk drive
a 500gb external drive
over 10GB worth of flash drives (who would have thought that they’d cost a little more than 2 starbucks coffees now??)
We now have a Wii back in sydney (with all the fun games and the Wii fit)
I got a free iPod video and a shuffle
a real fender strat
a real gibson les paul
several kick-ass amplifiers (marshall, line6, peavey)

these things aside… here are the things I want for this year:

minimum 32″ LCD TV
non-overheating xbox 360
a good condition playstation 2 (yep, i still love my old games)

hmmm. that’s not a very long list, ain’t it?  being 30 has been good to me 🙂

Wireless in the Philippines – leadership versus influence

Talk about wireless and mobile anywhere in the world and invariably, the Philippines will pop up as a model, a case study or a hot-bed of sorts. With 63 Million mobile subscribers (out of about 91 Million total population) and all sending over a billion messages per day, we still are the Text Capital of the World.

Being the leader of this massive wireless tribe is really an accomplishment if not a Herculean feat – so kudos to Smart for being the clear leader in sheer numbers, in ARPU and in total business. Globe isn’t a laggard either, with their excellently packaged 24ever campaign, their iconic iPhone 3G and their die-hard influential post-paid subscriber base.

But credit is due to what I sincerely believe as the most INFLUENTIAL player here in this field: Sun Cellular.

These guys are the true mavericks in the arena. Sure, they haven’t really brought in any new technologies or new products, but for some reason every move they make warrants either massive paradigm shifts or tectonic pricing movements across the industry.

They seem to have a knack of knowing what people *actually* want from their telcos – unlimited bucket pricing for calls and text (check)
call all you want promos for off-peak usage (check)
easy subscription plans (check)
less red-tape to get subscriptions (check)
bottomless 3G mobile broadband (check)

Sure, their GSM offering was years behind Smart and Globe’s, but the way they priced it was light years ahead of the curve – they effectively turned mobile telephony into the landline of old – Telebabad was back!

Again, there’s nothing special about their post-paid plans – in fact, purists complain about signal quality, dropped calls and other generation-one problems – but the fact remains that for people and companies who shift their telco requirements to Sun, they experienced massive savings on telephony.

Lastly, this bottomless 3g mobile broadband offering is so tempting – even Smart lowered their Smart Bro dongle cost. Globe did one even better and really dropped their prices to less than 50% of original price.

Market leaders and brand innovators are supposed to lead the pack in technologies, pricing and products, but why is it that the smallest reputable telco here is the one causing shifts in pricing and in consumer behavior?

Leadership versus Influence.

I imagine both Smart and Globe following suit by offering simple one-ID subscriptions, uber-cheap per minute calls, 3G rate cuts among others just to counter Sun’s offerings. Which is just fine and dandy for the much beleaguered Filipino consumer.

With that, hurray for Sun, hurray for Smart and for Globe. Thanks for taking care of the Filipino mobile customer. Keep up the good work

San Miguel Premium

There’s a new beer in town, and it’s aptly named San Miguel Premium.

 

Just had it in Mag:Net cafe earlier, and the group found it quite nice and agreeable.  To sum the experience up in one word…  

heineken

that’s the beer closest to San Miguel’s newest and supposed best.

San Miguel is the country’s oldest and largest brewery (and food conglomerate) and it has been known to be one of the world’s best brewers of beer.  How good? Well, let’s just say that some Spaniards (mostly my friends) think that this proudly Filipino brand is their own!

Going back to SMP (san miguel premium) it is a departure from the usual San Miguel taste.  Gone is that malty (aratiles) taste that goes well with fried and grilled foods… Gone is that “chico” aftertaste that makes our beer distinctly Filipino.

instead you get a very refined beer, and a very good one.  It has none of the usual bitterness that is associated with beer, and it has that “imported” vibe that can only be delivered by beers 3x the price of our much loved Pale Pilsen.

Heck, even the bottle looks sosy, and it’s actually green.

Verdict: If you’re a foreinger looking for the classical Filipino beer, stay away.  You’re better off with either pale pilsen, red horse or super dry… but if you’re a local looking for that imported taste then look no further.

hic*

Showing off the MSI Wind 100XP

Well, I’ve finally taken the plunge.  After almost a month of internal deliberations, countless websites visited, over 20 reviews read, 15 computer shops, 5 demos and hours of milling around Greenhills, Park Square and God knows where else, I’ve finally decided to get the…

MSI WIND 100XP

Honestly, it really wasn’t a difficult choice.  It’s just that I made it difficult for myself.  

4 weeks ago, it was the ATOM N270 1.6ghz that made it compelling (same as the aspire one and the eeepc 1000h.)

3 weeks ago, it was the “free upgrade” offer that made the hardware specs even yummier – 2gb RAM and 160GB HDD – though asus lowered their prices a bit.

2 weeks ago, after seeing all the netbooks side by side, the aspire’s smallish LCD screen let it down.

Last week, it was the realization that the asus eeepc’s keyboard was just awful and something that will be a painful stone in my shoes in the long run that made the wind the ONLY viable choice.

Then my much beloved Compaq Presario 2400 laptop finally crashed last Friday very early in the morning (when I forgot to bring home my Dell’s charger when I had to finish a friggin pitch presentation) – and that was the final straw.

Which version to get then??  The 100LX with DOS selling for 20K was really enticing while the 100XP with XP, 2gb RAM and Bluetooth seemed a bit expensive.  After chatting with a few laptop techs and sellers, I decided to get the all-in 100XP.  why?
Simply because I was too lazy to do some things that *could* have saved me money.  Like purchasing cheaper licensed windows (i know i could get away with pirated stuff, but i’m too old to be like that hahaha.)  Like having to purchase an external optical drive.  Like having to spend a good 2 hours of installing the OS… and the drivers… and downloading updates.

The toughest thing then was choosing the color.  White, Black, Pink or “love.”

Let the pictures do the talking…

 

the too-small orange bag

drooling with anticipation now

the most beautiful shade of blue

quick look at what’s in the box

the pink machine

girly looking machine

quick boot – quite surprising

well, hello there

compared to my massive 15.4″ dell

i can actually touch type

almost as wide as the span of my hand

happy camper. yay!

The fad that was known as Badminton

Five years ago when badminton was still in it’s upswing, it was quite difficult to get a court schedule in the Metro’s decent courts.  There were the old haunts, like Valle, Crame, Moro and the like, and a spattering of upstarts.  You had to call a week ahead of time to get a reservation – anytime from 6pm till 10pm -and boy, those court attendants were really sungit when you’d beg to be part of their waiting list.

Yonex was the hottest brand then, with the ubiquitous MP99 in it’s glorious yellow paint job commanding a saggering Php15,000 price tag… and it had to be a SP version… as the HK and TH version, though original, would fetch a lower price.

Shuttlecocks cost not more than Php50 for the top-of-the-line variants, and this was prior to the asian bird flu crisis.  RSLtourney 1, Silver Feather, Yonex AS 40 and 50, chao pai… these were the sosy shuttles then.

Shoes were pretty hard to find back then, as you’d either get those cheapo yonex shoes from indonesia (which were downright awful) or any cross trainer from Nike or Adidas, or perhaps a non-marking pair of tennis shoes jost to make do.  

The rules then were different.  1-15, side outs. Hence the games took a lot longer to complete.  I recall games where we’d get stuck with 14-all and the game would still take 10 minutes to finish!

The people playing then were different.  There were a lot of BABES then… in their skimpy outfits (skirts and sleeveless shirts)… models, pretty girls and actresses alike.  oh boy.

It was like a big sweaty party.  People had to have the latest and most expensive gear, the nicest tops and skirts or shorts, the shiniest shoes.  People who didn’t know $#!^ about the game playing it, katulong  style but still having fun.  It was the great equalizer – males, females, subordinates, bosses, clients, agency – all playing the same game.

ah the good old days of badminton.

There were some really exciting online communities to help feed your baddiction… pinoybadminton, baddicts and smash philippines, complete with it’s own dramas and political upheavals.  some really interesting personalities, like Kelvin Montalbo (and his bull horn during smashing all the way) and some other people I’d rather not mention…

Badminton was my life then.  

I couldn’t last a week without playing on Mondays in Centro,  Tuesdays in Olympic Badminton, Wednesdays in Aguinaldo, Thursdays in Battledore or Olympic, Fridays in Battledore, and Saturdays with the Baddicts crowd in Greenhills.

I actually went through over 30 pairs of shoes in 4 years

about 50 rackets in the same span of time, and incidentally wrote about 25-30 reviews of em giving me enough money to finance my passion.

The good old days.

 

The last time I actually played was in June of this year.  that’s over 3 months ago. 

How about you?

Netbooks on my mind

Asus EEEPC
MSI Wind
Acer Aspire One
HP Mininote

All amazing machines, weighing in at less than 2kg, powered by relatively weaker processors, meager ram and storage, but still managed to spark a new mobile computing revolution.

the past two weeks of my life has been about Netbooks… particularly about which one to get!  These buggers cost anywhere from 12K for the eyesight damaging 7″ asus 4g eeepc, up to almost 30K for the uber cool looking HP Mininote.  They come in several sizes, processor flavors, os, hard drive/ssd configurations, and it’s more than enough to drive anyone absolutely bananas.  

having done my net homework and actual hands on, here are my findings (in case anyone is interested)

For the best keyboard – HP Mininote. They keys are big enough to be really comfortable for long-use, and HP did not have to invent a sucky keyboard configuration to fit everything

Weight/Mass – hands down, the small 7″ screen asus EEEPC (but it’s horrible) so for something more humane, the EEEPC 900 for 9″ and the MSI wind for 10″

Pure computing power – MSI wind wins by a whisker.  You get the Intel Atom N270 running at 1.6GHz with Hyperthreading, you get a generous 2 GB Ram.  this is even better than my 5 year old Compaq Presario laptop running a Centrino 1.6Ghz +512ram (and i still use often for nostagia’s sake.)  Sure, the wind shares the same specs as the EEEPC 1000, but online reviews point out that the wind still wins in computing benchmark tests.

Storage – I’d give this to the asus eeepc.  you can install a “regular” 2.5″ hard disk if you want to.  though the wind offers a mouth watering upgrade for this month.. your 80gb hard disk can be upgraded to 160gb this september.  But still, I prefer the user-upgradable configuration of the asus.

Value – Oh boy.  It only gets tougher and tougher.  Here are the specs that i’m looking at:
MSI Wind 100XP – 10″ Screen, intel Atom 1.6ghz, 2GB Ram, 160gb HDD, Bluetooth, 3-cell battery, wifi (abg), Windows XP Home
Php26,000

ASUS EEEPC 1000H – 10″ Screen, intel Atom 1.6ghz, 1GB Ram, 80gb HDD, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, wifi (abg-n) , Windows XP Home
Php26,000 

finally, the coolness factor.  now this is a toughie.  Asus has always been a Taiwanese brand for me as I still remember the days when these guys didn’t sell assembled computers and they only offered parts.  MSI is a relative newbie player and still has to establish itself as a *reliable* hardware provider.  HP is a step above both brand-wise, but HP is still HP, and is devoid of any personality (hehehe)

You might want to ask why I find these netbooks interesting…  simple.  There were a bunch of people happily typing along with their netbooks during the recenly concluded SEMCON.  These guys only had to bring small bags with them to be productive, and I had to lug around this monster 15.4″ dell laptop and it’s equally massive bag (earning me a sore back after 2 days.)

Gadget envy. nothing more, nothing less.  

But i still want to choose well.  What do you guys think?