PODcast Newsletter, Issue 10

Frothing Milk
I drink my espresso straight, but for many espresso lovers, it's all about cappuccinos and lattes. And that means frothed milk. I get occasional emails from users who aren't getting the kind of frothing performance from their new machine that they expected. For the most part, this is because they are holding the end of the steam wand too far below the surface of the milk. Steam wands have a small hole in the side of the tip whose purpose is to suck in air and introduce that air with the steam into the milk. To make this work correctly, the tip of the steam wand must not be lowered to the point where the air hole is under the surface of the milk. That can be difficult as the air hole is frequently very close to the end of the tip, making it harder to hold it at the right level.

There's much more to learn for those who want superior frothing results. I, however, am not qualified to teach them, and I will instead refer you to the following sources:

• Your espresso machine's manual — yes, if you haven't read the section on using the steam wand, you will almost certainly find something valuable there.
• CoffeeGeek's excellent Milk Frothing Guide - Frothing for Newbies & Intermediates
• Cappuccino Secrets: Creating the Perfect Foam

For your maximized espresso enjoyment, we present this issue's tip:

Tip No. 9:
illy Caffe may have invented the E.S.E. espresso pod, but their pods look a bit different from other company's pods. I've heard from several users who were having trouble getting them to fit into their espresso machine — apparently due to the rectangular shape of the paper. Please note that the paper "flange" of illy pods is perforated and detachable. Just remove the extra paper and the pod should fit with little trouble. Also note that illy marks the "down" side of the pod.
 

We've finally implemented a customer log-in screen in the checkout process. This means that repeat customers (thank you so much) can save the effort of repeatedly entering their billing and shipping info. We do not, however, save your credit card number — that must be entered each time (your credit card number is not stored nor can we read it. It is transmitted securely through an encrypted connection — shopping with PodMerchant is safe!).

If you don't want to create an account, or if you've forgotten your username / password, you can always bypass the log-in and choose "Place Order Without Account" and fill in your information just like before.

Commercial Account holders no longer need to log-in before adding items to your cart. Just add cases to your cart and log-in in the checkout process.
 

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