Dear Espresso Lover,

Thank you for taking a look at my archives. They consist of articles written from 1989 until the present in a variety of magazines and of course, cyber space. The subject, usually, is preparing a better caffe espresso using the best professional equipment. As the techniques apply to all espresso coffee, much of it will improve espresso preparation at home as well. I intend to launch a research project into home preparation equipment this year. Stay tuned to Lucidcafe.com...

But, best not to stray during an introduction. Here are a few notes on using these articles to help with your espresso program.

Please try to forgive my contradictions. The articles are a document of eleven years hands-on research and, inevitably, things I "knew", have changed under closer scrutiny. For a glaring example, packer shape. After championing the flat -bottom traditional Italian packer , I have learned that a slight rounding helps with particle distribution in the packed cake of ground coffee. The flat bottom is certainly better than a pronounced rounding, which creates the thin spot in the packed coffee, but a subtle rounding is sublime. So, there it is then.

Start with an article entitled "The Keys to the Church", to get a sense of a sequence to follow to improve the coffee. As you move about the archives don't forget my book. The only complete source of information to build a gourmet espresso program from the ground up, remains my book "ESPRESSO COFFEE: Professional Techniques."

Espresso improvements hide within each other like nested Ukrainian Dolls. Refine one factor and others appear that were affecting you, but hidden within a larger defect. For me it remains some serious fun, this pursuit of perfection, like chasing a feather in a windstorm. I offer these archives as a free source of hard-won espresso chops, with a sprinkling of cultural observations of varying merit, in the hopes that they will improve your control, and appreciation of the tricky coffee, caffe espresso.

David S.

Source	Title	Date
Coffee Talk Magazine	The Keys to the Church	04/1997
Café Olé Magazine	In Search of the Northern Italian Espresso Style	01/1990
Café Olé Magazine	The Art of Cappuccino	11/1990
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Extraction Techniques: The Machines	02/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Packing and Dosing	03/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Grinder Adjustments: Tuning Your Espresso	04/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Roasting: How Dark for Espresso?	05/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Lingo: Hot Terms for a Rainy Town	06/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Life's Finer Things: Creating Our Own Culture Right Here in Seattle	07/1991
Café Olé Magazine	A Glimpse of Coffee Styles in Seattle, Los Angeles and New York City	08/1991
Café Olé Magazine	The Espresso Cart Business: The Trials of Location	09/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Manufacturing Espresso Machines: A Trip to Florence	10/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Up Close: Ground Rules for the Grinder	12/1991
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Carts: Your Wintertime Barista	01/1992
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Machine Tips: Sweetening Up that Old Machine	11/1992
Fancy Food	Seattle's Style of Coffee	10/1993
Café Olé Magazine	Passion Cup: Training a Top Barista	12/1993
Fancy Food	Hot Topics in Coffee: Espresso	01/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Exploring Coffee's Ultimate Art Form	04/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Historical Perspective on Espresso Machines	05/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Espresso Machines in the Modern Era, 1947-1994	06/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: The Critical Grinder	07/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Factoring in the Environment	08/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Factors in a Perfect Cup, Part II	09/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Keeping Yourself Out of Hot Water	10/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Putting Grinders Through the Grind	11/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: A Clean Machine	12/1994
Coffee Talk Magazine	Latte Art 101	12/1994
Café Olé Magazine	Kees van der Westen: The Espresso Machine Sculptor	01/1995
Café Olé Magazine	Espresso Talk: Pure Water and Fresh Coffee	02/1995
Café Olé Magazine	Roots of the American Espresso Culture: Beginning a New Tradition	03/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Environmental Factors Affecting Espresso	04/1995
Café Olé Magazine	Latte Art - When Presentation Matters	05/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Avoiding the Path of Least Resistance	05/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Espresso Dosing - Consistency is the Key	06/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Extraction Rate - Elapsed Time for a Shot	07/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Rules of the Grind	08/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Espresso Shot Volume	09/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Innovation for the Serious Espresso Professional	10/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Espresso Machine Cleanliness: Next to Godliness	11/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Milk Texturing Basics	12/1995
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Milk Texturing and Presentation	01/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Measuring Your Brewing Water Temperature	02/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Temperature: The Snow White Syndrome	03/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Finding the Ideal Brewing Water Temperature	04/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	The Elements of a Customer-Friendly Barista	05/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Hiring and Training Baristas	06/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Creating a Culture of Excellence	07/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	A Day in the Life of a Macchinesti	08/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	A Day in the Life of a Macchinesti - Part II	09/1996
Specialty Coffee Retailer	Espresso Standards for the New World	10/1996
Coffee & Cuisine	The Science of Espresso: Engineered Mediocrity, Part I	05/1998
Coffee & Cuisine	The Science of Espresso: Engineered Mediocrity, Part II	06/1998
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #1	03/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #2	11/1996
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #3 ESPRESSO COFFEE: Shape Changer	01/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #4 The Keys to the Church: How to Unlock Espresso's Aromatic Secrets	04/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #5 Miracle Drain Cleaner Discovered in Mayan Tomb	03/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #6 Espresso Standards for the New World	04/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #7 Espresso Bar Staff Training: Part I - Customer Service	07/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #8 Espresso Bar Staff Training: Part II - Hiring and Training	07/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #9 Espresso Bar Staff Training: Part III - Creating a Culture of Excellence	08/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #10 Espresso Blending: The Robusta Effect	09/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #11 Innovation: Espresso Coffee Press	10/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #12 Innovation: The Dosing Hopper - A Work in Progress	12/1997
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #13 Engineered Mediocrity Part I - Measuring Your Brewing Water Temperature	04/1998
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #14 Engineered Mediocrity Part II - Test Results	04/1998
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #15 Espresso Coffee: The Denver Effect	05/1998
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #16 Espresso Coffee - A New Cuisine	11/1998
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #17	01/1999
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #18 Espresso Packing Technique '99	01/1999
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #19 The Perfect Pour	08/1999
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #20 Espresso Preparation for Restaurants, Caterers, and Hotels—What is Best for You?	11/1999
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #21 Espresso Tamper Shape—Web Synergy	12/1999
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #22 Caffe Espresso At Home—Giotto Machine Review	01/2000
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #23 Commercial Espresso Program Management—The Role of Quality Assurance is Best Handled by a Passionate Owner	01/2000
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #24 Caffe Espresso at Home—the Solis Grinder	04/2000
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #25 Innovations—Dosing Control: Timing Your Grinder	07/2000
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #26 An Open Letter To All Espresso Researchers (hello alt.coffee)	08/2000
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #27 Brewing Water Temperature PID Control (Italy meets Omega)	05/2001
www.lucidcafe.com	On The Table #28 How to Compete With Starbucks	10/2001
Fresh Cup Magazine	Roasting For Espresso: Implications For Coffee Retailing	06/2003
www.coffeegeek.com	Engineered Perfection In Espresso	01/2004
Fresh Cup Magazine	Espresso Packing Techniques Update 2004	07/2004
Barista Magazine	Barista Etiquette Seeking the Commerce-Atristry Equilibrium	Dec 2005/Jan 2006
Barista Magazine	Cafe Latte Art in the 21st Century	Oct/Nov 2006