An hour and a half, a bruised lip, and a pound of coffee later . . .

Finally, this coffee lover has bought her first espresso machine!! It's a Rancilio Silvia with the Rocky doser grinder, bought from seattlecoffeegear.com. (And aside from my college education, this is the most expensive thing I've ever bought. Eek!) These machines are pretty much the same price everywhere online, but Seattle Coffee Gear offered the most "freebies" with it. Like: shot glasses, a thermometer, cleaning supplies, a milk steaming pitcher, a tamp, and a free pound of coffee. Everything to get you started as a home barista. Thanks Seattle Coffee Gear!

It came in the mail yesterday and I spent the afternoon figuring it all out. Espresso is a very temperamental thing, even the slightest change of bean, grind or temperature can change the way the shots pull. My first shots were really bitter, but an hour and a half and a whole pound of coffee later . . . I finally had some semi-usable shots!

And the bruised lip? I was washing the tray and when I was drying it, somehow I pushed my hand off of it, and then the tray swung back and the edge hit me in the lip. So then I had a painful bruise, coffee and coffee grinds splattered all over my walls, counter and floor. But it was worth it! The learning curve can be pretty steep with a machine like this . . . but I was thrilled with the progress of one afternoon. It's only going to get better from here!

I can't wait to make you some coffee! Come on over :-)

So excited that my espresso machine is here!

This is the first time I've tamp'ed espresso since I left Coffee Bean 2 1/2 years ago. It was a great feeling!

The first lattes

Progress. These aren't perfect shots, but after a pound of coffee worth of bad shots, these looked really good and tasted waaaay less bitter than the earlier ones!

The fabulous duo!