Atomic coffee makers popularity

beanflying · June 2011

Hi Gary and welcome to the forum

I have an earlier Atomic I rebuilt and have used it a bit for fun. Need to do some more camping in my spare time then it will come into it's own I reckon. Just something I don't think needs excessive rehashing is the battle over "genuine" vs 'reproduction' Atomic Styled Coffee makers. This thread over at CS contains lots of debate and some of it heated http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1260377966 Better to talk about them, how to use them and get the best out of them than get bogged down the other. I have no problems discussing the other side of it either but would rather not see false or misleading claims made by anyone.

MoffeeCoff · March 2012

I have never heard about Atomic Coffee Maker. But I can see that it looks very nice in its beautiful curved lines and rugged mechanical utility. Cheers for the nice discussions!

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

on 1332158972:

I have never heard about Atomic Coffee Maker. But I can see that it looks very nice in its beautiful curved lines and rugged mechanical utility. Cheers for the nice discussions!

I'm still yet to fire mine up - works been crazy busy and I've had my hands full reassembling the sunbeam cafe series that I found!

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

well, just got the little beastie fired up ... only to find that there was no screw and washer at the back of the fill tap - so all the steam was blowing out of the back end of the machine instead of applying pressure to the extraction! went to find a replacement screw from my tool box (and admittedly limited selection) - but nothing seemed to quite fit - leading me to believe that its probably an imperial and not a metric fitting - so a fair amount of plumbers tape latter and - viola! first extraction with approximately 40g of coffee ground for espresso - and within two minutes I had a lovely brick red coffee pouring in a slow dripping motion from my machine and the result? indescribably delicious with very little pronounced bitterness or astringency - and lots of lovely caramelised sugars and berry fruit / dark chocolate flavours the milk was another story entirely however - the coffee was so naturally sweet (a blend of Nicaragua Diamond, Honduras Finca Marta, Brazil Bobo, and PNG Sigri) that it didn't really need milk - if anything the milk actually detracted from the coffee but what the hell... it was my first time playing with this baby so I wanted to fire it up and see what its got 'under the bonnet' so to speak so there's no question that there is plenty of steam power - but after having watched sone instructional videos it would seem that I put too much water in the machine - and this it seems can detract from steam production / quality whatever the case I just couldn't nail the milk on the first attempt - but nor am I convinced of the need to do so with approx 40g of coffee in the basket I'm confident of the Atomic's ability to produce a short long black - to which I'd be happy to drink as is - or else add a splash of unhomoginised milk prognosis: first proper attempt produced an amazing coffee without to much prompting or fluffing around - which always bodes well in my book but the milk production is an entirely different story - and is going to require a bit of work to get it happening to my satisfaction gave the Atomic a good clean after use and it still looks in mint condition - which leeds me to believe that so long as it's well and constantly maintained it should hopefully stay hat way will endeavour to get some photos up shortly!

FreshCoffee2 · March 2012

Worth a mention as I am not sure how well versed you are with aluminium stove top coffee makers Pat. The one thing that will kill your pride and joy stone dead is if you store it with the knob in place after it has been used and or rinsed out. Doing that will cause an explosion of canceroius aluminium oxide to block and weld everything up, usually resulting in inability to remove the knob if it isnt used for some time. This is very common with Atomics. Store with knob and filter holder off the machine, leave out to dry before putting away in dark enclosed unventilated places etc. Hope that helps, A.

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

That's very sage advise will make those changes now - probably why the stored unit was ventilated in the first place!

derrilex · March 2012

Bloody oath I should. Might have to offer appropriate storage facilities ;D :angel:

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

Well... Today's attempt was less successful - cooler weather combined with excessive tamping means that I choked the shot and upon inspecting the puck afterwards it was obvious where I had dosed, tamped, and then dosed and tamped again in order to pack more coffee into the shot The puck was intact almost completely dry but baked from being exposed to high pressure but not much moisture - oh well... I'll tone it down tomorrow and give it another whack!

derrilex · March 2012

Any chance of filming it ACG ?

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

on 1332755840:

Any chance of filming it ACG ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFrKv0IJTfo

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

And this is the first part of the pour on my Atomic - note that if you don't add enough water to start with all you will produce is steam So I actually had to stop this extraction, drain the steam, and add more water - so the resulting coffee was slightly bitter - but lets put this into perspective - its still a supremely rich and syrupy coffee with very little acidity and still hardly any pronounced astringency compared to espresso and milk is all but obsolete in the process - I poured approximately 120mls of coffee (perhaps slightly less) into a preheated ceramic cup and added just a dash of Tasmanian full cream unhomogonised organic milk on top - and it was just drlicious! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGDUItfRDmg

FreshCoffee2 · March 2012

A tip for newcomers to stove top espresso: .....DONT tamp.... Fill to top of filter with "correctly" ground coffee. "Settle" it only, say a couple of light taps of the filter on the bench, refill to the top of the filter, perhaps another settle to make sure, refill again if necessary to totally full to the top of the rim, fit filter holder to "machine" and brew. The way it behaves in the brew, will tell you how to re adjust your grind to a "more correct" place. Dont blast the thing with a hot plate on full or you burn the bollocks out of the brew. Learn how to run your particular hotplate so the temp ramp up is more gentle throughout. Hope that helps.

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

on 1332830127:

A tip for newcomers to stove top espresso: .....DONT tamp.... Fill to top of filter with "correctly" ground coffee. "Settle" it only, say a couple of light taps of the filter on the bench, refill to the top of the filter, perhaps another settle to make sure, refill again if necessary to totally full to the top of the rim, fit filter holder to "machine" and brew. The way it behaves in the brew, will tell you how to re adjust your grind to a "more correct" place. Dont blast the thing with a hot plate on full or you burn the bollocks out of the brew. Learn how to run your particular hotplate so the temp ramp up is more gentle throughout. Hope that helps.

Excellent advice - I've been tamping but this has overly compacted the puck and over extracting the shot - still tastes great though - And I start with a low flame then gradually ramp it up and then chop it back again once an audible hissing sound is produced by the Atomic Still plenty of room for trial and error but so far I am enjoying drinking the results

derrilex · March 2012

Wow, that looks like bitumen paint - way cool :thumb:

askthecoffeeguy · March 2012

on 1332843190:

Wow, that looks like bitumen paint - way cool :thumb:

and the taste is not disimilar - all tar and sticky!

FreshCoffee2 · March 2012

the result of too "heavy" an extraction I think, probably the result of tamping etc. It doesnt need to be that strong to be appreciated as a good / well made / stove top espresso.

askthecoffeeguy · April 2012

So I've been going the no tamp method with a slightly coarser rind and have been ettin some terrific results - do find that the Atomic is quite sensitive to the amount of water used though - not enough and it quickly turns to stem, under extracting the shot can say I've over-filled it before but I have had to re-fill it several times due to not having enough water in their in the first place took it away down the coast for a couple of says and paired it with my Turkisk Hon hand held grinder - worked a treat!

FreshCoffee2 · April 2012

on 1333380354:

So I've been going the no tamp method with a slightly coarser rind and have been ettin some terrific results -

Now that's the ticket! Well done

askthecoffeeguy · April 2012

well... the Atomic's had a good workout over the Easter break, as we've been on the road for a week, staying in an around Castlemaine and Daylesford, where the best espresso coffee I tried was on an old e61 two group machine in the industrial estate made by, ahem, myself needless to say the Atomic got a good workout most mornings here's a few things that I found help to produce the best results: 1 medium grind seems to work best for an even extraction 2 Try boiling the water first then adding it to the Atomic for a quick result 3 Dont skimp on the water or else all you'll end up with is steam - I use a full measure from the measuring cup provided 4 Likewise a slow ramp in temperature seems to get the best results - don't overheat or again you'll be producing mostly steam 5 When dosing I fill to the top of the basket and then give a light to firm tamp to compress the coffee - I find that creating a 1cm gap from the top of the basket seems to help with saturation and pre-infusion of the puck 6 Still haven't nailed the milk - I mean I can get a decent steam pressure and all and getting the milk up to temperature is no problem - but texture is another question entirely But this is not really an issue for me as the flavours that I'm after dont really lend themselves (IMHO) to milk anyway - I'll take mine 'straight up' thanks! I suspect that if textured milk was really a 'must have' with the Atomic - I'd be looking at replacing the steam wand tip with something a little more 'directional' as opposed to the old school 'bubble and squeak' method of milk frothing 7 As per previous posts always clean you machine and drain it thoroughly as soon as practical after each use And I'm loving the flavour profile that the Atomic produces - sweet, pungent, aromatic, with vaguely Asian inspired aromas on a sweet and juicy palate!

askthecoffeeguy · July 2012

Anyone else using one of these babies? I just love the flavour profile produced by the Atomic - it's unlike anything else I've tried - all rich, creamy, and syrupy and undeniably delicious! I've tried adding milk a few times but it just doesn't do justice to the complexity of the beverage Also I've altered my routine somewhat - I'm now using a coarser (than espresso) grind - more 'medium' than anything and I fill to the top of the basket and then lightly compress (but do not tamp or apply excessive pressure) I'm also using one and a jugs of water (being the milk frothing jug supplied with the Atomic) - for no other reason than this seems to generate the best result I'd be keen to have an Otto / Atomic smackdown - anyone got an Otto and wanna go head to head with a pro? Well... as soon as I find a pro I'll let you know - in the meantime I'd be keen to do a side by side comparison Cheers, ACg

Brett H · July 2012

I've never even sampled a brew from one let alone owned one. Some of the YouTube videos of them in action look dubious so I've steered away but your enthusiasm is infectious pat. Especially in regards to an atomic/Otto smackdown. So come on Cremaians, who has an Otto? Failing this, I wonder if Merlos do demos like this in Brisbane?

Ol Grumpy · July 2012

Oh Yeah....Bring it on! Go the Smackdown! I'd also love to see a battle royale... My money's on the Otto and I don't even have one yet. An Otto is on my coffee-bling bucket list... But there are a couple of other items I need to put on my shelf first... Biggest question is who decides the winner... It's a given the extraction will be different... But who will decide which is better? I suggest Vodka chasers- just to clear the palate, of course. After ten or twenty shots... Who will care, or even remember which one was 'better'... OG

beanflying · July 2012

on 1342019701:

I'd be keen to have an Otto / Atomic smackdown - anyone got an Otto and wanna go head to head with a pro? Well... as soon as I find a pro I'll let you know - in the meantime I'd be keen to do a side by side comparison Cheers, ACg

Chase up the designer I know he has been out and about doing some in store Cafe promo's from time to time so you might be able to do something about it

Otto is a very different brew process however. I love my Atomic more as art than the coffee it produces but the latter isn't all bad :coffee2:

derrilex · July 2013

Reviving this thread. Just made my first atomic espresso. Pretty bloody good for a first go. A bit over extracted but totally drinkable. Will post a short vid later.

Brett H · July 2013

on 1373430658:

Reviving this thread. Just made my first atomic espresso. Pretty bloody good for a first go. A bit over extracted but totally drinkable. Will post a short vid later.

GET OUTA HERE!!!! Details details details!!

derrilex · July 2013

Patience patience :D

shape_shifter · July 2013

no photos or vid = didn't happen :stir

hiphipharar · July 2013

on 1373430658:

Reviving this thread. Just made my first atomic espresso. Pretty bloody good for a first go. A bit over extracted but totally drinkable. Will post a short vid later.

Yes, I had to dust off my old Sorrentina Atomic recently while the Giotto was in for a calibration. Had some pretty good brews out of it but struggled to get decent textured milk out of it (usually too thick). Anyway, my tips are: Start with hot water. This will stop the brew head from overheating and shorten the brew time. I fill the jug a bit over half full to fill the Atomic. This provides enough to make a couple of shots worth but YMMV. I used a grind a little coarser than espresso grind and tap the handle to settle so it ends up about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Don't tamp. At the end of the pour when the Atomic starts to gurgle, take the jug away and stick something else to capture the last drips (I used a Duralex glass) I found there wasn't enough continuous steam power for a 600ml jug but was easily able to do two x 350 ml jugs worth. Then again, I might be preaching to the converted and you know more about it than me 8)

askthecoffeeguy · July 2013

I find I need a jug and a half of hot water with my Atomic - or extraction just doesn't happen - and a slow ramp heat or else it tends to over extract The milk steamer just sloshes milk everywhere - but that's ok coz I drink it black anyway. And I love the indescribable sweetness combined with lovely syrupy savoriness from this application - haven't found anything else like it!

mallacoota · July 2013

I had an atomic years ago passed down through the family..... fantastic coffee I agree it makes better coffee that most coffee outlets it got stolen years ago and I bought a bellman with gauge and milk steamer it also makes good coffee a bit fiddly but I take it on the boat and camping trips. The bottom line is use fresh coffee and the Bellman will make better coffee than the 4 outlets in town that have no understanding what good coffee is.

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