By all means let's learn whatever gadget strikes our fancy. But for someone just trying to make espresso with as little fuss as possible, I recommend the moka pot. A staple in Italy and Latin America, this little miracle makes delicious espresso-style coffee on the stovetop. It doesn't technically make espresso because it can't reach the brewing pressure of an actual machine, but in flavor, intensity, and serving size it gets the job done well, all while being cheap and totally accessible. Might be a good investment for a center if they feel strongly about it. Carley Mullin, NOMC, NCRTB ________________________________ From: NOMC <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> on behalf of Jane Lansaw <widearc2000 at gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2023 8:59:40 AM To: Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu> Cc: nomc at lists.nbpcb.org <nomc at lists.nbpcb.org> Subject: Re: [Nomc] Nonvisually Making Espresso Id love to see blind people working at Starbucks and places like that. We have a place in Oklahoma called not your average Joe that employs people with disabilities but so far we have not gotten any wind people working in there. Maybe if we can answer Justin?s question we would have an avenue to get some blind folks working at Not your average Joe. Maybe even getting espresso?s for their business Enterprise stands. Oh, Justin, that?s an avenue. Have you tried any BP folks? Sorry, I?m no help. I made coffee in a Keurig machine at home and when I go to Starbucks, I don?t drink straight espresso anyway. I drink lattes, but I still don?t know how to milk a cow. I know there are blind people out there milking cows, or at least used to be back in the day. If we can?t find somebody in business, Enterprise, who is running an espresso, maybe we can stir up enough interest so that somebody will get together and invest in an espresso machine and develop the skills. It is time after all, we?ve been drinking espresso in this country for 30 years. Years ago when I was a young teacher, I had to teach a young man, around 15 to 16 years old, how to mow a yard, because that has been one of his household chores before he lost too much vision. Unfortunately, my parents would never let me near a lawnmower when I was growing up as my kid brother did so that meant I had to go out and learn how to mow the yard. Whether my parents had gender bias, or blindness issues I was the rehabilitation professional as an adult, and had to go figure it out for myself. I grabbed a friend who had enough philosophically in common with me to let me play around with her lawnmower. Then I had to learn how to start the darn thing. Then she had one with a deadman switch so I had to learn that I had to clamp down on the bar and keep it clamped the whole time I was pushing the mower or the damn thing would quit. Then of course I am 4 foot nine and the handle was up to my chin. I don?t know why it just was. That?s the equipment I had to work with. I did learn that I could pull it backwards and it would still cut. This allowed me to investigate the yard first with a rake, and then treated like a vacuum cleaner. Once I had learned how to work the lawnmower, and then cut the yard and even segment it apart so I could make a grid I was good to go. Young man?s yard wasn?t quite so big and his lawnmower was newer so he had an easier time of it than I did. If we can?t get somebody in the business of selling coffee professionally to get involved, perhaps you could find a philosophically aligned friend with an espresso machine and see how they do it. They will say that lights will go on and you do this. So then we figure out. How can we tell when those lights are on maybe they will say that a pressure gauge will get up to a certain amount. If we can figure that out, we can find a way to mark it. I?m just spit balling here because I have no idea how they work espresso machines but I know people have them in their homes. if you get someone is willing to take the time and work with you on it and develop the techniques with their machines. My recommendation is to look for two or three of these people so you can experiment with different machines. Despite all the weird noises, you hear in the back of the Starbucks and all the jokes on TV, I don?t think we?re really going to blow the darn thing up. Although there is something to be said for being the first blind man on the moon, if you would like to Grab some EVA gear and just climb in. Lol. I kid but yes, this would be a good problem to solve. Grab those sighted friends and promise to clean up the mess. I think you are probably the best one to solve this problem. Especially if you like espresso. Oh, don?t forget to let us all know how it turns out. You can make some extra money running around the country training, business enterprise people in espresso machines. Sent from my iPhone On Jan 14, 2023, at 7:08 PM, Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu> wrote: ? Hi everyone, First off, this isn?t a normal cane travel question, but it is a blind rehab question. I?ve tried this question on Facebook and was disappointed that I couldn?t find an answer there. I want to ask about something that I think needs to be more broadly understood in our network. We teach students how to go to Starbucks in cane travel. We teach them how to make coffee in home management, but not espresso, as far as I know. I also just want to know about this personally. As our society has evolved, consuming espresso has become very normalized. I have been trying to learn a way to make espresso nonvisually. We teach students how to make coffee, but why not espresso? I have found that espresso machines can be sorted into two major categories: Manual and automatic. Manual espresso machines typically require a person to turn a knob on and off while the espresso is brewing, and all the manual espresso machines I?ve encountered have required that a person look at a light that blinks to indicate when it?s time to turn off the machine. A few baristas (coffee shop employees) have told me that they?ve heard of espresso machines that chime to communicate this same information, but then the customer service lines at major espresso machine companies seem to say that their products do not include this feature. Automatic espresso machines, like a Nestle Nespresso machine, basically do all the work for you once you push the right buttons to tell them to go. Nespresso machines require a person to buy the Nespresso-specific pods, which can be limiting. Other automatic espresso machines ask you to pour in milk, etc., and then they make entire drinks for you, often after entering prompts on a touch screen. So far, I cannot find any blind people who make their own espresso. Are people using manual machines and just anticipating the timing, or have we figured out a way to get other nonvisual feedback on when the shot is done? Also, should we consider teaching this in training because of how common it has become to make and consume espresso? Surely, we don?t have to teach every single skill in training; a training center graduate with this interest should be able to come ask this question like I am asking it here. It struck me that this is a skill that seems to be much more common among sighted people than blind people, and I?d love to close the gap. Woliwoni ? Thank you, Justin Justin Mark Hideaki Salisbury he/him/his Phone: 808.797.8606 Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury ?Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.? Cesar Chavez _______________________________________________ NOMC mailing list NOMC at lists.nbpcb.org http://lists.nbpcb.org/listinfo.cgi/nomc-nbpcb.org