Clean is good

For awhile now our poor little portafilter kept leaking when we pulled shots. At first we thought we just weren't tightening it enough, so we changed that and sometimes it worked, other times not so much. Basically, the gasket was shot and wasn't containing the water as it brewed the espresso in the portafilter, which caused it to leak out by the handle and run into the cup. This of course ruined the espresso. I resorted to wrapping a towel around the handle to stem the leak which worked, but also annoyed the hell out of me. I kept telling him that it didn't matter how tight I cranked the handle there was always water leaking out. Finally, after he tried putting the filter on himself and it leaking, he believed that it wasn't a result of my puniness. Then it dawned on us. We hadn't cleaned our machine since we got it back in Oct./Nov. Ewwww.

And duh.

Before the cleaning process could begin he started digging around in the drawers to see what all had come with the machine. He found an extra set of screens, another gasket, more portafilters, and all kinds of good stuff that we had forgotten even existed. Next he started the process of taking the machine apart to clean it well. I really wish I would've taken pictures, but at the time I just didn't think about it. Mea culpa. When he pulled out the screens we couldn't help but shudder a little. They were quite caked with remnants of brewed espresso. The stuff you can't get to despite wiping down the entire machine (screens included) after each brewing. I guess that's what happens when you don't remove and scrub them for nine months. We couldn't help but wonder if this has affected the taste of recently sampled beans. Removing the gasket was much tougher. For one the machine was quite hot. I think he turned it off, or maybe he didn't. You would think he would've shut it down, yet I'm not so sure that actually happened. Go figure. Meanwhile I placed the screens into a special solution of cleaner and water so they could soak. Somehow he got the gasket out and it was indeed cracked. This would've been a complete disaster had we not had the extra one, let me tell you. I can go a day or so without my daily cappuccino but more than that and well, I may be on the news saying, "I don't know what happened, I just cracked!"

After everything was cleaned and put back together the machine looked like the day it arrived. Shiny, pristine, and ready to crank out the perfect cuppa. We both vowed to tear it apart every month to clean the screens and gasket to get more life out of the latter and were convinced that our espressos would be absolutely amazing now.

The following day I ground up some Strictly Organic Quickstep Espresso (review coming soon), frothed some milk, and pulled a nice shot. I lifted the cup to my lips and sipped. Taste-wise there wasn't much difference from the day before (a.k.a. when the machine was a dirty girl). Go figure.