Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Espresso Enthusiasts
- Thread starter eric/
- WikiPost WikiPost
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
Nope, I haven't. I just looked through my order history and that is one country I haven't tried yet.
How do you find them? Have you any particularly strong recommendations?
Honduras Silver Hills coffee is a good start. It is a medium roast with a hint of nuttiness and slight coca finish.
Since you had mentioned Honduras coffee, I re-visited Intelligentsia Coffee's website this evening, and yes, as I had thought, there were one or two coffees from Honduras available.
Okay, thank you very much; I'll keep an eye out for this coffee.
@Scepticalscribe The beans from Intelligentsia arrived this afternoon. I brewed a cup ad have already enjoyed it. The smell of the beans is wonderful and so is the taste of the brewed cup. They do have an ever so slight tinge of acidity to them, but its not bad, just noticeable. Overall I like it and thanks for the recommendation! 
@Scepticalscribe The beans from Intelligentsia arrived this afternoon. I brewed a cup ad have already enjoyed it. The smell of the beans is wonderful and so is the taste of the brewed cup. They do have an ever so slight tinge of acidity to them, but its not bad, just noticeable. Overall I like it and thanks for the recommendation!
View attachment 632954
They arrived quickly, and thanks for letting me know how you got on with them.
I'm delighted that you liked them - my memory is of a smooth, rich and sweet coffee, and while there was some acidity, they struck me as bingo a lot less acidic than many others that I had also bought.
Yes, I remember the aroma - it was fantastic. And delighted that you replay liked the taste, too.
And you served them in your Le Creuset French Press? Wonderful - gorgeous images, and thanks for sharing them.
Last edited:
Yep, I love that Le Creuset French Press and mug. I use them all the time. Such a beautiful piece of art work and high quality craftsmanship.
Oh man, that press pot is seriously tempting me. If my current press ever breaks, I may have to indulge...@Scepticalscribe The beans from Intelligentsia arrived this afternoon. I brewed a cup ad have already enjoyed it. The smell of the beans is wonderful and so is the taste of the brewed cup. They do have an ever so slight tinge of acidity to them, but its not bad, just noticeable. Overall I like it and thanks for the recommendation!
View attachment 632954
IIRC, you do have a tendency to break things on occasion, right?Oh man, that press pot is seriously tempting me. If my current press ever breaks, I may have to indulge...
Heehee, it has been known to happen...IIRC, you do have a tendency to break things on occasion, right?
Oh man, that press pot is seriously tempting me. If my current press ever breaks, I may have to indulge...
Well, as I write, I am making a fresh pot - in my Le Creuset French Press of (freshly ground Ethiopian beans - a blend of my own devising and invention of two different varieties) of coffee.
You know, @mobilehaathi, you don't have to wait until you break something before replacing it.......
And yes: In common with @SandboxGeneral, the Le Creuset French Press (and its accompanying mugs) are seriously beautiful objets d'art - I love using them, making coffee with them and drinking from them.
Last edited:
El Salvador makes wonderful coffee. Shame it's such a violent country. On the Le Creuset front, I've made it a goal to try and avoid @Scepticalscribe's recommendations. Friendly jest, of course. Only because I've managed to buy Le Creuset equipment I really didn't need, and did so because the glowing review and descriptions of daily use.
El Salvador makes wonderful coffee. Shame it's such a violent country. On the Le Creuset front, I've made it a goal to try and avoid @Scepticalscribe's recommendations. Friendly jest, of course. Only because I've managed to buy Le Creuset equipment I really didn't need, and did so because the glowing review and descriptions of daily use.
Well, Le Creuset pans and casserole dishes are excellent - I've used them, but my coffee pot gets almost daily use, and is loved to bits. It is a pleasure to use, and looks fantastic. What more could I ask?
Mine is not the volcanic orange that @SandboxGeneral posted, - as that was not in stock when I bought mine in the winter sales three years ago; rather, mine is the 'cerise' (a sort of raspberry colour), whereas the mugs, yes, the mugs are that wonderful, classic, volcanic burnt orange colour.
On the stove, or, on the table, they look stunning - and the coffee tastes great, too.
I'll take your recommendations re El Salvador coffee. Actually, your post reminds me that it might be time to revisit Los Inmortales, as I didn't order any last year (having lost my heart in the meanwhile to Ethiopia).
Last edited:
With the Le Creuset French Press do you use the already ground coffee you can buy in supermarkets or do you grind your own?
Both. Well, both to a certain extent.
Well, I never buy coffee in supermarkets (not when I am at home, at any rate).
However, I do buy from specialist coffee shops and importers (such as the Ethiopian Coffee Company, Intelligentsia), or from actual small coffee shops that import from small producers, and roast their own coffee, so that it is fresh. From the sources - bricks-and-mortar as well as online, I will order both beans and pre-ground (sometimes I buy the exact same coffee in both forms).
Personally, I always have both beans and pre-ground at home, kept in airtight coffee tins; some mornings, if I have to catch a plane or train, I don't have time to use the OE Lido, so I use the pre-ground coffee. Other times, - when less pressed - as I was this morning, I will grind it myself (the aroma is wonderful).
So, I use both in the Le Creuset press, usually ground to something between you pour over (my Hario dripper) and French Press, and that works fine for me.
Re the OE Lido Grinder, I sincerely wish that it has numbers on its rings, - they are far easier to remember - as I find adjusting the settings to be a pain sometimes.
Last edited:
I always grind my own when I'm ready for a cup. It guarantees the freshest coffee I can have.
Yes, I appreciate this, and readily concede that the aficionados on this thread recommend nothing else.
However, when time is pressing, and I am trying to ensure that my briefcase has everything that I need, that I have forgotten nothing, and need to catch a train or plane, well, then, I am not in a mood to wrestle with my OE Lido.
In such situations, pre-ground (usually roasted in the previous week) will be more than perfectly adequate. There are days when perfection is not possible, and then, the 'merely' excellent will have to suffice.
Absolutely right. We have to do what we have to do and sometimes that means compromise.
Oh, yes, agreed.
My Other Brother paid a flying, fleeting visit to my mother yesterday, and teased me about my marked preference for what he called 'caressed beans from Ethiopia', last night and this morning, (though he is more than happy to drink the coffee that comes from these beans.)
I do think, however, that there is a significant difference between the carefully grown (and ethically sourced) coffee that comes from small producers, is roasted in small batches, and is pretty fresh when bought, to some of the mediocre, stale stuff one can get in supermarkets.
Nevertheless, when abroad in some of the places where I have worked, I have been ecstatic and have given heartfelt and profound thanks to have been able to lay hands on a few sealed packets of LavAzza at over three times the price I would have expected to pay for them in western Europe.
So, circumstances and contexts vary........
Last edited:
Do you Espresso enthusiasts take your coffee black? I only ask as some of my colleagues in the office say it's the only way to drink coffee. I usually like a latte or flat white but have always thought of taking the jump and going black. I suppose it'd just take a period of time for the old taste buds to adjust?
Depends on my mood, or the coffee. While I note what purists say, I don't allow it to rule me. Or, most of the time, to even guide me.
Personally, I don't like bitter, tannic, burnt, astringent or over-roasted coffee, so, sometimes, there is a very good reason to add sugar. And milk. (Starbucks, I'm looking at you, among others....)
And sometimes, in the mornings, I want milk (or cream) in my mug of coffee (Hario dripper, or French Press). But then, I come from northern Europe, where we have a long tradition of consuming dairy products.
With espresso, I will usually take it black, when I am out, - or abroad - but at home, I will sometimes serve it - and drink it - with a teaspoon of milk.
In fact, the only time I almost always take my coffee black is when I am serving overseas in the sort of place (Caucasus, central Asia) where milk and cream are distant dreams. Then, I simply completely forego dairy products such as cream, or milk, and seek to banish even the thought of adding some to a coffee, or espresso.
Last edited:
I drink my coffee black.
However, I used to do espresso-based drinks like latte's and other styles, but I don't do that anymore.
I remember a long time ago (come to think of think it was October 2005. I remember the time as I'd just lost my wife and travelled down to London to visit my sister) I went to the London Film Festival (I even remember the film, it was "Be Here to Love Me" A film about Townes Van Zandt) and afterwards we went into an lovely Italian Coffee shop somewhere in Soho (I think) and had the most delicious coffee. I remember my sister's partner telling me it was one of the oldest (if not the oldest) coffee shops in London. I drank that black and it was wonderfully smooth and easy to drink. Not bitter at all.
I sometimes try an espresso at home but find it too quick to drink. I also find I need a dash of milk to take away the bitterness. I also find that they taste better after a few drinks!
I sometimes try an espresso at home but find it too quick to drink. I also find I need a dash of milk to take away the bitterness. I also find that they taste better after a few drinks!