PODcast #14 : Espresso Pods News

Espresso Elucidation

It's a Clean Machine...

"It's a clean machine," sang Paul McCartney in the Beatle's classic "Penny Lane." Unfortunately, mine wasn't. I should have known better. And I do know better. But somehow I let my office espresso machine go for over nine months without cleaning. It happens gradually so it's not like suddenly one day you notice it. What happened is this: I had tried our new Aloha Island Kona at home on a brand new FrancisFrancis! X6 and I was absolutely blown away by the flavor. Now, I don't drink much of it, because it is very expensive, even at wholesale price. But the other day I made some Aloha Island at the office on my Nuvola Terry, which I had always thought made great espresso. Where was that fabulous flavor? It was gone I tell you, gone! It wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic and it has to be fantastic. So I got out a package of Urnex Cleancaf and went to work. After cleaning I tried the Aloha Island again. The fabulous Kona flavor had returned. Lesson learned — don't let your machine build up coffee residue.
 

Espresso Tips

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

Tip No. 11:
This issue's tip expands on our Espresso Elucidation. To get the best results from Urnex Cleancaf, we recommend the following procedure. After you've mixed Cleancaf and poured it into the tank, don't just run it through the machine. I recommend running a few demitasse-cup-fulls then pausing for several minutes to let the Cleancaf work on dissolving the coffee residue. Then run a few cup-fulls again. Pause and repeat until the Cleancaf solution coming from the spout is clean blue. Be sure to let it rest long enough between pumping to allow the Cleancaf to work on the built-up residue. You should also scrub the shower screen and filterbasket with a toothbrush. Be sure to remove the filter basket and scrub the portafitler chamber. The shower screen can also be removed to clean on upstream of it. Residue gets up there too.
 

PodMerchant News

As Christmas approaches, shoppers are concerned that products ordered via the Internet won't arrive in time. That can be true, but we want you to know that PodMerchant usually ships products the day they are ordered or the next weekday as long as the product is in stock. If it isn't in stock we'll advise you immediately. Orders placed by 3 PM Pacific time generally go out that day. We ship orders Monday through Friday. PodMerchant is located in Southern California, so UPS Ground to the western U.S. is pretty quick while Ground times to the east coast are regularly 4 to 5 days. Note that delays can be expected due to weather and heavier Christmas shipping load. We do offer 2nd Day Air and 3 Day Select.
 

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That's all for this issue of the PODcast. Until next issue, wishing you a Merry Christmas — or a Happy Chanukah — and a Happy New Year!


Kevin Garrett, The PodMerchant.