It's a draw.

Anything worth while in life requires a little suffering.  A good hand drawn espresso is a zen-like experience which requires a skilled barrista who knowns his/her machine intimately.  This posting is by no means meant to be a history of espresso machines or the art of the pull.  My purpose is to describe what it is that attracts me to the mysterious "hand-pull" machines and their lovely golden eagles.

To begin, lets travel back to NYC in the early part of the 20th century.  There, at cafe Reggio in fact, you will find one of the first hand-pull machines in the US, a beautiful La Pavoni machine that uses a pulling force to draw water through the coffee.

 

La Pavoni circa 1927

As you may know, most modern machines, both industrial and the ones for home use, extract the flavors of the espresso using a pump to push the water through the grinds.  The mechanical machines, like the Pavoni, use the physical force of the barrista to draw the water through the grinds.  Most often this is done with a large lever handle like on this beautiful copper Gaggia machine:

 

Brevetti Gaggia once owned by Michael Jackson

You don't have to be MJ to own a hand draw espresso machine, however.  In fact, I lust after these on eBay on a regular basis.  The most common one you will come across is a little single shot La Pavoni machine that usually retails for around $700:

Home Use La Pavoni

As I was looking around for images of hand draw machines, however, I came across a little beauty with a fine looking eagle on top that is my new obsession at $1499:

The goddess Elektra

So what does all of this have to do with good espresso?  As I said at the onset, great things often come from suffering.  These are not plug and play machines.  It will take time and practice to draw a perfect espresso from even the home use models.  These machines take the "automatic" out of your shot and put the skill back on your hands.  The speed and pressure of the draw, as well as the quality of the beans, the grind and the temperature of the water, will all influence your ability to draw a perfect shot.  So why bother when you can push a button?  You bother because the journey is important.  You bother because sometimes you should stop and do something that isn't so easy.  You bother because the craftsman who designed and made these beautiful machines bothered as well.  Take a moment out of your button pushing day and draw a perfect shot.  It will even taste better if you do it yourself!