Progress
Yesterday was a day of progress. With warm weather in the morning, I was able to do two loads of laundry and take a shower before heading out to the shop. Good thing, too. At the moment the temperature is 13°F and does not promise to get above freezing until tomorrow. I am getting smarter, however, and now saved containers of potable water before draining the garden hoses.
Progress was also made at the coffee shop.
I'm now an official sales tax collector for the NC Department of Revenue. For a brief moment I had hopes of not being one. Seems that as of January 1, 2009 artisanal bakeries can sell their goods tax-free. But, as usual, there was a "if" as in "if 80% of revenues are from sales of baked goods". That would be bit of a stretch for me.
I also complete the plumbing yesterday and plugged in the La Pavoni espresso machine for the first time. Actually. I plugged it in and quickly unplugged it because I thought the world had come to an end. Fearful of having wired the 230 vdc supply line, I checked the connection from end to end. And, the circuit breaker had not tripped. So, I plugged the beast in again. Bang! Now, folks, an Italian 230-relay will scare the crap out of you when it closes. Sounds like the hammers of hell as I would imagine them.
An espresso machine is something like a steam engine in reverse with a heated pressure vessel into which water is pumped under pressure by an electric pump. (This has the effect of increasing the boiling point of water.) The thing is a maze of piping, valves, switches, heaters, controls and meters. For making espresso, pressurized hot water is volumetrically metered through the two coffee filters by electronic controls. For warming milk and making froth, a manual valve lets steam off the top of the boiler. And, for obtaining hot water, a second manual valve takes water from the bottom of the boiler. At the moment, opening the hot water valve produces half water and half steam which I suspect dictates a temperature adjustment to account for the 10°F difference in the boiling temperature of water in Raleigh and Sparta. Be it espresso machines or automobiles, some tinkering is required for proper operation if it's designed and manufactured in Italy! At any rate, it's an improvement over the old days when water from the boiler was manually pressurized for each cup of espresso with a hand pump. And, yes, you can still buy them with hand pumps if you are a purist with a strong arm.
The licensed electrician came yesterday to inspect the two 230-vac lines a ran for the oven and the espresso machine. As I suspected, all my work met code and he will sign-off if the county demands to inspect them. The "job" only took ten minutes but I dread to see the bill!
John Harmon, a photographer living in Roaring Gap, called yesterday, inviting me to enter Backwoods Bean in the 2009 Yadkin Valley Studio & Wine Tour. It's sponsored by the Foothills Arts Council down in Elkin and will include dozens of wineries and artist studios and shops. So, that will be our first special event. More later.
John has also agreed to exhibit some of his photography at Backwoods Bean where it will be sold on commission. He's originally from Berea, OH and actually makes his living these days from photographs other than "people" pictures (wedding, portraits, etc.) You can see some of his work (but not the really good stuff) at JohnHarmon.com. John is truly a photographic "jack of all trades" in that not only does he do the photography but also the printing, matting and framing as well. He's a great addition to the shop.
Progress.
Progress was also made at the coffee shop.
I'm now an official sales tax collector for the NC Department of Revenue. For a brief moment I had hopes of not being one. Seems that as of January 1, 2009 artisanal bakeries can sell their goods tax-free. But, as usual, there was a "if" as in "if 80% of revenues are from sales of baked goods". That would be bit of a stretch for me.
I also complete the plumbing yesterday and plugged in the La Pavoni espresso machine for the first time. Actually. I plugged it in and quickly unplugged it because I thought the world had come to an end. Fearful of having wired the 230 vdc supply line, I checked the connection from end to end. And, the circuit breaker had not tripped. So, I plugged the beast in again. Bang! Now, folks, an Italian 230-relay will scare the crap out of you when it closes. Sounds like the hammers of hell as I would imagine them.
An espresso machine is something like a steam engine in reverse with a heated pressure vessel into which water is pumped under pressure by an electric pump. (This has the effect of increasing the boiling point of water.) The thing is a maze of piping, valves, switches, heaters, controls and meters. For making espresso, pressurized hot water is volumetrically metered through the two coffee filters by electronic controls. For warming milk and making froth, a manual valve lets steam off the top of the boiler. And, for obtaining hot water, a second manual valve takes water from the bottom of the boiler. At the moment, opening the hot water valve produces half water and half steam which I suspect dictates a temperature adjustment to account for the 10°F difference in the boiling temperature of water in Raleigh and Sparta. Be it espresso machines or automobiles, some tinkering is required for proper operation if it's designed and manufactured in Italy! At any rate, it's an improvement over the old days when water from the boiler was manually pressurized for each cup of espresso with a hand pump. And, yes, you can still buy them with hand pumps if you are a purist with a strong arm.
The licensed electrician came yesterday to inspect the two 230-vac lines a ran for the oven and the espresso machine. As I suspected, all my work met code and he will sign-off if the county demands to inspect them. The "job" only took ten minutes but I dread to see the bill!
John Harmon, a photographer living in Roaring Gap, called yesterday, inviting me to enter Backwoods Bean in the 2009 Yadkin Valley Studio & Wine Tour. It's sponsored by the Foothills Arts Council down in Elkin and will include dozens of wineries and artist studios and shops. So, that will be our first special event. More later.
John has also agreed to exhibit some of his photography at Backwoods Bean where it will be sold on commission. He's originally from Berea, OH and actually makes his living these days from photographs other than "people" pictures (wedding, portraits, etc.) You can see some of his work (but not the really good stuff) at JohnHarmon.com. John is truly a photographic "jack of all trades" in that not only does he do the photography but also the printing, matting and framing as well. He's a great addition to the shop.
Progress.
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