Coffee

Over the past couple of years, coffee has grown to be a more than a quick caffeine fix in the morning. I started seeing coffee as less of a consumption good and began enjoying it more consciously, informing myself about its cultivation, the origin of the beans, the roast and of course the brewing processes. I’ve tried many different variants and tools, from pour-overs using paper filters as well as re-usable ones, over Moka pots and the famous Aeropress up to the supreme discipline of pulling shots on a portafilter machine.

While I enjoyed these different hand-brewing variants over extensive periods of time and dialled different knobs – like the bean origin and the roast – to vary the cups of coffee I was getting out of these preparation methods, at the end of the day I kept coming back for a good espresso from my Rancilio Silvia.

I loved the Silvia for being a very compact yet powerful espresso machine. Even though it had its shortcomings, like the lack of a pressure gauge or its unstable brewing temperature, I managed to get some very decent cups of coffee out of it. The Macap M2D I had standing next to it did a good job at grinding the freshly roasted espresso beans consistently enough so that the Silvia would not only work with the coffee grounds but also produce some very thick and stable crema along the way.

Unfortunately a full-size espresso machine is not exactly cabin luggage, so I had to give it away when I got rid of my apartment. Forced to find an alternative, I tested a few options and eventually ended up with what’s now part of my essential travel equipments list: The Aram Espresso Maker.

Beautiful Espresso, No Electricity Required

The Aram Espresso Maker (or Coffee Maker, how it was still called when I got mine) is a minimalistic and very high quality tool for extracting genuine espresso using a fully manual process. To do so, ground coffee and some boiling water is required.

Info: While I still own my Aram Espresso Maker and would still recommend it to others from a purely qualitative aspect, I have learned that when something should break - like it did with the gasket on mine - it will a lot of trouble to get replacement parts to fix it, especially during these times.

My Aram has been out of order since the beginning of 2021. There aren’t many parts that can break on this device, but if even a single of of them does you’re basically screwed and have to wait for Aram to have the part in stock as well as be able to receive it.

I’m not even mad about Aram not being able to offer a quicker way to get replacements, but what I’m mad about is the fact that especially at the price of ~$500 one could expect that they would at least add replacement parts for the parts that will experience the most wearing, like gaskets. These parts cost basically nothing in bulk and it would save customers in case they fail.

Update: It turns out that other gaskets have also deteriorated and broke. I’m yet on the hunt for replacement parts. Communication with Aram has become tedious, simply because it takes ages for them to get back and even when they do, misunderstandings seem to happen. I’ve tried finding the broken parts at hardware stores nearby, but haven’t had any success so far.

Update: It’s January 2022 and it has been almost a year since I had to put the Aram out of service due to broken gaskets. Communication with Aram is bad, like really bad. At some point they simply stopped responding. I was trying to order (and pay for) the replacement gaskets from them, but it seems like helping out their customers is not their top priority at all. Eventually I found an online hardware store that’s located somewhere in Europe, that had gaskets that are similar to the ones used by Aram. I gave it a shot, ordered them and was able to fix my Aram just recently.

The gaskets don’t fit 100% though. While the Aram works and the pressure seems fine, I’m still very disappointed by Aram support. It’s possible to fix the Espresso Maker using third party components, although it’s less than ideal, especially at the price at which Aram positioned their device. It feels like fixing a Ferrari by using scrapped components from an old Fiat - it’s certainly possible but definitely not the experience you’d expect.

Step 1: Grind coffee beans

The first thing you’ll need to get a good cup of espresso from the Aram is obviously a handful of good quality roasted beans of your liking and a good grinder. To make it clear upfront: The Aram won’t work with most pre-ground coffee (e.g. from supermarkets or maybe even from your local coffee shop) as it’s quite pretentious in terms of grind coarseness. You will definitely need a decent grinder that will allow you to fine-tune the grind level, otherwise you won’t be getting anything close to a good espresso out of it.

I use a Comandante C40 hand grinder. I tried cheaper hand grinders (like the Hario Mini Slim) with the Aram but couldn’t get a satisfiable result with those grinds. Even with the Comandante it took me a few cups until I got the flavour on point.

As for the amount, I would suggest going with approximately 19g. I used to use a scale for getting the right amount, but eventually I got the feeling for it and could spare an expensive scale. I found that as soon as I dialled the grinder to a good setting, small variations in the amount are totally okay and in fact produce very interesting taste profiles.

Step 2: Boil water and preheat

Preheating is key to success with the Aram. It’s a chunk of 304 stainless steel that absorbs an incredible amount of heat, hence it requires a few rounds of how water running through it before the actual brew can happen. I usually boil the water, pour it into the Aram (with its valve fully closed) and let it sit for two to three minutes, while I keep the rest of the hot water at a near-boiling temperature. Then I turn the crank to open the valve and let the water run back into the pot/boiler/kettle, where I make it boil just to pour it back into the Aram and let it stay for a bit again.

I repeat this two to three times, until I can feel that the Aram’s exterior got close to being uncomfortably warm. You could stick a thin thermometer through the holes on the top to measure how the water temperature changes, but, duh, nerd.

Hint: Don’t use tap water unless you know the mineral content of it. As I’ve detailed previously (search for TDS), not all water is the same, hence the resulting cup of coffee will taste differently depending on the water that you use. I usually prefer bottled water for which I can look up its mineral content, to make sure it is in the acceptable range for espresso.

Step 3: Pull the shot

As soon as I drained the chamber, I use a cloth to dry the bottom part and attach the filter containing the tampered coffee and connect the glass underneath. Then I pour the boiling water into it and turn the crank as quickly as possible until the screw thread reached its upper end. After that I quickly turn the crank the other way around until I can feel the pressure building up, which is when I start slowing down. At that point the espresso starts flowing and becomes brighter and brighter with every turn.

I usually stop the extraction as soon as I got the desired amount of coffee in the cup. This is done by spinning the crank back up until you hear a slurping sound, which is when the negative pressure kicks in, stopping the coffee from flowing. The glass can then be removed safely and the rest of the water inside the chamber can be drained afterwards.

Coffee beans

In addition to the tools that I use and the actual espresso brewing process, I’m also beginning to maintain this list of some of the coffee beans that I’ve had so far. This list will grow over time and I will try to look up older roasts and add them as well.

These are all espresso roasts. The rating is my very personal rating for the individual roasts. Keep in mind that coffee is seasonal and hence not constant in availability nor flavour.

Roaster	Name	Origin	Altitude	Flavours	Info	Date	Rating
Five Elephant	La Dulce Memoria	Guatemala	1800m	Nougat, chocolate	Finca La Dulce Memoria	28.11.2016	✪✪
TODO						2017
TODO						2018
TODO						2019
Roeststaette Berlin	Sinfonia	Brazil, Peru	1100m, ####m	Milkchocolate, hazelnut	Part from Farm Fazenda Santiago in Patos de Minas; Part from Cedros Cafe Cooperative in Cajamarca	07.08.2020	✪
The Barn	Bosques de San Francisco	Guatemala	1600m	Chocolate, Almond	Finca Filadelfia in Antigua, varietal: Caturra, Bourbon	07.08.2020	✪
Square Mile	Todos Santos	Guatemala	1750m	Cherry, dark chocolate, blueberry	A washed process Caturra variety produced by various smallholders in the Huehuetenango region	01.10.2020	✪
Square Mile	La Cuesta	Costa Rica	1750m	Dried fig, chocolate, hazelnut	A white honey processed mix of Caturra & Catuai varieties produced by Marco Tulio Naranjo in Tarrazú region	02.10.2020	✪✪
Combi Coffee	Combi Blend	50% Brazil, 30% Colombia, 20% Guatemala	####m, ####m, ####m	Caramel, chocolate, vanilla	Various farms in Brazil, Colombia & Guatemala	28.10.2020	✪✪✪
Combi Coffee	Indonesia Mandheling Sumatra Triple Picked G1	Indonesia	1300m	Black currant, black tea, blueberry, lemon	Various farms in Mandheling, wet hulled, varietal: Catimor, Kent, S795	28.10.2020	✪✪
Bajareque	Elida Estate	Boquete, Panama	1850m	Honey, hazelnut	Lamastus family estates, Catuai variety	27.11.2020	✪
Bajareque	Elida Estate	Boquete, Panama	1850m		Lamastus family estates, Catuai variety	08.12.2020	✪✪
Monkey Fruit Coffee	Fuerte	Piedra Candela, Panama	1600m		Finca Don Bosco, Catuai variety	18.12.2020	✪
Island Grind Aruba	Colombia Antioquia	Colombia	####m	Cocoa, cane, citrus	Medium roast	06.01.2021	✪
Island Grind Aruba	Peru	Peru	####m	Apricot, grapefruit, molasses, chocolate, syrup	Medium roast	14.01.2021	✪
Island Grind Aruba	Brazil	Brazil	####m	Creamy, caramel, chocolate, fruity	Medium roast	24.01.2021	✪✪
Island Grind Aruba	Ethiopia Harrar	Ethiopia	####m	Blueberry, strawberry, cacao	Dark roast	07.02.2021	✪
Unido Coffee Roasters	La Harpia	Panama	1300m-1600m	Dark chocolate, toffee, cherry	Espresso blend, Catuai, Caturra veriety	26.03.2021	✪✪
Unido Coffee Roasters	House Blend	Panama	####m	Nuts, chocolate, citrus	Boquete, Catuai, Caturra variety	30.05.2021	✪✪✪
Don Pepe Estate Coffee	Bourbon	Panama	1600m-2000m	Nuts, chocolate	Boquete, Bourbon	29.07.2022	✪✪✪
Bajareque	Espresso Bajareque	Boquete, Panama	1000m-1300m	Chocolate, almond, spice	Lamastus family estates, Palmira Boquete, Catuai variety	12.08.2022	✪✪