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Eva Solo - A Simple Approach

Simply put, my first experience with the Eva Solo was memorable. I knew it must be mine for two reasons, simple and effective, which equates to less morning thinking more morning drinking. I can’t help but I feel I’ve slowly been getting lost in “the more you know the harder it gets to enjoy a cup” category lately, so it was great timing when Scott and Anthony from Café Myriad generously handed me over my very own Eva Solo to take home, yay!

This new toy is really about taking it back to basics. Keeping it simple without compromising quality, a newbie’s dream. Let’s face it, the amount of home-use espresso machines collecting dust in Australia alone would surely circumference the globe a couple times. So this is just a nice reminder of what can be achieved at home “sans” espresso paraphernalia.

In saying that, if you happen to be reading this and are new to the whole coffee gig at home, please remember the one investment that really is important, your grinder. If you need more information on grinders and their importance, I suggest checking out Ben’s recent article grinding at home

Besides it’s look, the Eva Solo is very comparable to the plunger. They are both “Total Immersion Brewing” methods which means the grinds are in contact with the water during the entire brewing process. The unit itself is made up of four components, a heat resistant carafe, a neoprene jumper, a removable filter/funnel with a carafe style stainless lip and a “tip-up” lid. The filter / funnel part is in-fact absolutely drip-free as they claim and the “tip-up” lid opens nicely as you pour and stays shut while you brew. It’s really quite simple yet very cleverly designed and probably the reason I’ve grown so attached to it, the whole process feels so seamless making it really nice to use.

So what is the difference? The idea behind the neoprene jumper is to reduce the amount of heat loss during the longer brewing process, achieving a more even extraction. For people that are accustomed to grinding for espresso, the grind particle size is much larger when grinding for the plunger/ES. Particle size and brew time are also directly related, therefore a finer grind for espresso equates to a shorter brew time (approx 30 secs) as opposed to a coarser grind for plunger/ES with a longer brew time (approx 4 mins). Getting the grind right is a matter of trial and error and a very hard thing to describe. A grind that is too fine in the ES will likely result in two things, over-extracted bitter flavors and lots of sludge. A grind that is too coarse, will have the opposite effect with under-extracted or underdeveloped flavors, which are often sour and watery. With trial and error I’ve found the perfect grind for me does still have a small amount of sludge on the bottom but with careful pouring I can reduce the amount of it that ends up in my cup. Getting back to the neoprene jumper, temperature that is too low during the extraction time can also produce the same under-developed flavors and is the reason why the jumper is more than just show. The goal is to reduce the amount of temperature loss during the longer brew time. I have not done any testing on temperature loss myself, however according to Mark Prince, who’s review on coffee geek helped me get started at home.

I still consider myself new to drinking it black and I am really only in the beginner stages of understanding the importance of all the different brewing parameters’. I’m certainly keen to the get back to the Academy (July 2009) and set up and record some physical tests myself to correlate with my final results.

The only real downfall to the ES is the that once your brew time is complete it needs to be transferred immediately to your cup as grinds cannot be separated from the water. I only have the 0.6ltr version and therefore am not really making any leftovers, but it would be nice to brew a larger one and have it on the table for people to help themselves. I guess it would mean buying another heat resistant flask or thermos, but not only is that pricey the whole “seamlessness” of it all starts to go down the tubes. What really could have been neat, would have been more of an hour glass design that once finished brewing in the bottom half it could be tipped over and filtered into another chamber. Who knows, maybe it’s in the works.

On a positive note, the cleaning of the EV is really simple, a quick rinse and it’s done, as new! I don’t know about you, but I always find it a pain to try and get the mesh wiring in my plunger squeaky clean.

They come in two sizes, 0.6 ltr and 1 ltr and in Australia retail for anywhere between $130 – $180. Their products do remind me a bit of George Jensen stuff, higher end, so you do end up paying for the unique and crafty design. If you check out their website you’ll see they won numerous design awards for this particular product. Does that make it worth it? I’m not sure, but I can’t seem to put mine down and have already allocated enough space in my luggage for my trip home. That means a lot when you’ve been overseas for a year!

If your interested in some great step by step guides with photos, check out the link above to Mark’s review. I’ve posted a couple photos on flickr as well if your interested.

Cheers,

Jen