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This seems very interesting, at least from a pure coffee nerd standpoint and what it could mean for improving espresso brewing in general. However, I'm going t
by kowalej 4mo ago
This seems very interesting, at least from a pure coffee nerd standpoint and what it could mean for improving espresso brewing in general.
However, I'm going through the research paper, and am a bit skeptical of the energy savings angle, especially considering the many variables with espresso machine in terms of how they heat and brew (single vs dual boilers, heat exchangers vs dippers, spring lever machines vs pump driven). I'm weary of how they are doing a baseline comparison here, especially because the paper states that the comparison was done between a modified Ascaso machine (with the ultrasound gizmo) vs an entirely different machine (Sanremo Cube); and also that they swapped the Ascaso machine's original brew pump and put in a seemingly expensive, but more efficient "positive displacement magnetic gear pump". They still use the pump to drive about 11 bar of pressure during brewing with it run on some sort of interval schedule throughout the 3 minute cycle. They did factor out the initial heat up times which I guess makes sense.
However, another thing (on top of the obvious "room temperature espresso" problem) is that you'd still need steam / heat to produce milk based drinks (relevant for both home and especially cafes). Depending on the machine (including the Sanremo Cube they tested with) some of the "idle energy" usage is to support on demand steam generation. This doesn't seem to have been factored into their energy model which is pretty sketchy.
- kowalej 4mo agoOk, I just looked it up and the Ascaso Uno is a thermoblock design, while the Sanremo Cube is an HX machine with a full on steam boiler. Therefore, the Ascaso wouldn't even have instant on steaming and has basically no stand-by power usage. So yea... their comparison is bogus, unless I'm missing something from the paper.
- hdndjsbbs 4mo ago"room temperature espresso" was the first thing I thought of - espresso is meant to be drunk hot, right away. If you let a good shot cool off and compare it to a bad shot you're not going to notice the difference as much because you made them both worse by letting them sit and cool. For industrial processes it probably doesn't matter - look at how nescafe is manufactured.
- Skunkleton 4mo agoIf your goal is to understand the quality of the espresso shot, rather than experience a high quality espresso shot, letting it cool off provides a useful data point.
- brian-m 4mo agoWould be awesome for industrial processes if it can be scaled, is comparable in price to heating water, and preserves what makes a good espresso a good espresso. Was talking with a roaster who was providing espresso to a distillery recently. The distiller had tried a range of other products but only espresso shots were giving the flavour they were chasing. Needless to say, it ended up being a pretty limited run because the guys grew tired of pulling litres of shots for a batch!
- pfdietz 4mo agoI wonder if this process would work if the water were replaced with milk. Milk would degrade at high temperature, but this (at least in bulk) is at room temperature.
- LtWorf 4mo agoYou think people who drink espresso would be ok with drinking milk? Also a majority of humans are lactose intolerant.
- __alexs 4mo agoThe majority of people that drink espresso drink it with milk.
- drawnwren 4mo agoThe majority of Americans that drink espresso drink it with milk.
- maplethorpe 4mo ago
- brendoelfrendo 4mo ago"Wary," not "weary." I try to suppress my pedantic urges online, but wary is a great word and it gets misused a lot! I hope the feedback is helpful and not annoying.
- kowalej 3mo agoThanks, I'll know for next time.
- aftbit 4mo agoIt seems like most of the energy associated with espresso would not come from the brewing step, but rather from the cultivation, processing, and transportation of the beans. Similarly, the brewing energy is likely 100% electrified, and could be supplied by carbon neutral sources, while the energy from earlier in the process is more likely to be from fossil fuels.
- aaron695 4mo ago[dead]
- erikerikson 4mo agoRoom temperature espresso is very intriguing to me. One of my coffee complaints is the heat involved.