Yet again, we had another home barista jam at Irving’s place on last Sunday. Irving had just done a couple of mods to his Oscar espresso machine. So KF Chan, KK Yoon (finally met after some emails between us) and I was invited to come over to check out the differences.
So what are the mods that Irving made? First and most importantly, a new pressurestat was replaced over the original that came with Oscar. This mod made a huge difference to the quality of shot because the old pressurestat was tuned to 15bar of pressure, which is way too high to extract the espresso.
Now the Oscar is happily in its optimal brewing pressure and is churning way better espresso than never ever before. In the mouth, the espresso is sweeter, acidity is much more refined, has better body and overall balance has improved by miles.
The other mod is replacing the original 4-hole steaming tip with a 2-hole tip. The steaming power remains the same but there is more control and better vortex to create silky microfroth. This simple mod has definitely made steaming 12oz milk on Oscar easier than previously and made me happier as I am able to pour decent latte art on the espresso this time.
One last mod was replacing the water tube but that is optional. Forgot the reason why Irving made this change (probably you can add onto this). If anyone owning an Oscar and ready for the mods but is no DIY person, lrving can do that for you for a small fee.
Also in this home barista jam, KK Yoon brought some coffee beans that he brought back from Thailand. The coffee beans was store in a vacuum bag instead of Vacuvin. The benefit of this bag is less oxygen in the bag, space saver and can be kept in freezer without worrying the coffee beans will absorb other flavours.
Unfortunately, this kind of vacuum bag with pump is not readily available here in Malaysia. So for now, I will stick with my Vacuvin as it is serving me well in keeping my coffee beans fresh for a month or two. But most importantly, buying freshly roasted coffee beans is the only way to continue drinking better coffee.
