Espresso Enthusiasts

[Scepticalscribe]

I've heard people rave about their aeropress, but I don't yet have one....yet! This and a small chemex.....

Yes, I have heard of the enthusiasm of Aeropress owners for their machines, too. But not for me, not just yet..

For now, I have a French Press, a Hario ceramic dripper, and a Bialetti moka pot. And that lot does me fine.

Someday, I will add a Chemex to that.

And, someday - of the sort of some other day - in the sort of future tense that is defined by the word 'indefinite', a La Marzocca is written in my future; whether that shall take the form of the legendary GS/3, or the more recently developed Linea Mini is, as yet, unknown.....

 

[AVBeatMan]

I, too, have never used an aeropress. Do you have any idea of the advantage of the aeropress, aside from portability which is good for travel, over a small (17 ounce) french press? I have a 17 ounce French press which makes one large (10 ounce) cup of coffee.

 

[mobilehaathi]

I, too, have never used an aeropress. Do you have any idea of the advantage of the aeropress, aside from portability which is good for travel, over a small (17 ounce) french press? I have a 17 ounce French press which makes one large (10 ounce) cup of coffee.

Ease of use and quality of coffee is usually what people mention. I get the impression is gives a deep full bodied cup like FP but a bit cleaner due to the filter.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Ease of use and quality of coffee is usually what people mention. I get the impression is gives a deep full bodied cup like FP but a bit cleaner due to the filter.

Everything I have read about coffee made with a Chemex also points to it being 'cleaner' (again, possibly on account of the special filters that are used with the Chemex).

I have only had coffee once made by a Chemex - and it was excellent, - actually, it was so astonishingly good, I still remember it, despite having consumed at least two bottles of wine with the cheesemonger - first rate, fresh, Ethiopian coffee, which was served in a superb restaurant as I dined there with my friend the cheesemonger the week it opened; whether it was the Chemex, the fresh Ethiopian coffee, or the attention to detail of the very impressive chef/owner (who won a Michelin star within 10 months), I cannot say.

Suffice to say that ever since then, I have been a devotee of Ethiopian coffee. And have been thinking about the purchase of a Chemex.

 

[S.B.G]

$229!! Think I'll go to bed.

Only joking. This subject needs revisiting tomorrow with some revised price limited recommendations!

Here is the grinder I have and use for French Press, its one step down from the one @Shrink is currently using. Baratza Encore. I also have a Rancilio Rocky that I bought used from @Shrink with which I use to make espresso.

 

[Shrink]

Ease of use and quality of coffee is usually what people mention. I get the impression is gives a deep full bodied cup like FP but a bit cleaner due to the filter.

Everything I have read about coffee made with a Chemex also points to it being 'cleaner' (again, on account of the special filters).

I have only had coffee once made by a Chemex - and it was excellent, fresh, Ethiopian coffee, which was served in a superb restaurant as I dined there with my friend the cheesemonger the week it opened; whether it was the Chemex, the fresh Ethiopian coffee, or the attention to detail of the very impressive chef/owner (who won a Michelin star within 10 months), I cannot say.

Suffice to say that ever since then, I have been a devotee of Ethiopian coffee. And have been thinking about the purchase of a Chemex.

Thanks for the information.

It appears that the aeropress makes a cup of coffee similar to a regular press. With the grind that I am using, and the Bodum press, I don't get any grinds in my cup.

Here is the grinder I have and use for French Press, its one step down from the one @Shrink is currently using. Baratza Encore. I also have a Rancilio Rocky that I bought used from @Shrink with which I use to make espresso.

I'm sure that the Baratza Encore that @SandboxGeneral is using is also an excellent choice.

 

[S.B.G]

I haven't made an espresso in more than a year and have been contemplating getting the equipment off the shelf and giving it another go around. I'm thinking just regular espresso and not any kind of latte, milk-based drinks.

I may need some refresher tips from @Shrink when/if I do that.

 

[Shrink]

I haven't made an espresso in more than a year and have been contemplating getting the equipment off the shelf and giving it another go around. I'm thinking just regular espresso and not any kind of latte, milk-based drinks.

I may need some refresher tips from @Shrink when/if I do that.

I live to serve...

BTW...I just ordered a new scale. It's a Bonavita http://www.highwirecoffee.com/collections/sale/products/bonavita-electronic-scale

Being the compulsive that I am I wanted to scale with 0.1 gram accuracy, rather than the scale I have which is only accurate to 1 gram. It is also nice that the scale has a built-in timer so I don't have to mess about with a separate timer.

That timer thing is such a burden...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Sipping a nice (freshly made, with freshly ground beans) Ethiopian coffee....
[doublepost=1465820485][/doublepost]Today, as I only wished to make one cup - for now - I used the ceramic Hario dripper, rather than the French Press. However, the OE Lido 2 grinder was pressed into action, not least because I ran out of pre-ground beans last week and haven't yet managed to replace them.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Just spotted this comparison between the Aeropress and the French Press;

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Just spotted this comparison between the Aeropress and the French Press;

Thanks for sharing this; in general, I dislike watching videos, but this was quite instructive.

 

[Shrink]

Just spotted this comparison between the Aeropress and the French Press;

Thanks so much for the effort you took to find this interesting video.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Here is the grinder I have and use for French Press, its one step down from the one @Shrink is currently using. Baratza Encore. I also have a Rancilio Rocky that I bought used from @Shrink with which I use to make espresso.

Someday, I expect that I may have to contemplate the purchase of an electrically powered (but yes, of course) burr grinder. Not yet, though.

However, it is always helpful and useful to be kept appraised of what is available, and how those of you who use them actually find them.

I haven't made an espresso in more than a year and have been contemplating getting the equipment off the shelf and giving it another go around. I'm thinking just regular espresso and not any kind of latte, milk-based drinks.

I may need some refresher tips from @Shrink when/if I do that.

Tips which I have absolutely no doubt that he will be more than happy to supply.

I live to serve...

BTW...I just ordered a new scale. It's a Bonavita http://www.highwirecoffee.com/collections/sale/products/bonavita-electronic-scale

Being the compulsive that I am I wanted to scale with 0.1 gram accuracy, rather than the scale I have which is only accurate to 1 gram. It is also nice that the scale has a built-in timer so I don't have to mess about with a separate timer.

That timer thing is such a burden...

Ah, @Shrink, obsessing over the minutiae of coffee (and, while most of my friends and relatives think I am a monumentally intolerant fanatic on this subject, nevertheless, beside my peers, colleagues and friends on this thread, I am but a mere dilettante), it really is true, then, that you are back with us, and are not some imposter, or doppelgänger....masquerading as @Shrink.

 

[Shrink]

Ah, @Shrink, obsessing over the minutiae of coffee (and most of my friends and relatives think I am a monumentally intolerant fanatic on this subject, beside my peers, colleagues and friends on this thread, I am but a mere dilettante), it really is true, then, the you are back with us, and are not some imposter, or doppelgänger....masquerading as @Shrink.

Cast aside fingerprints or DNA as an absolute method of identification.

@Scepticalscribe has provided proof positive of my identity…

 

[AVBeatMan]

I made a gorgeous espresso (by accident) with my Nespresso machine. It was a Carte Noire Arabia pod of medium strength and I popped a thimble full of full fat milk in. Really lovely. The only thing with espressos are that they're gone too quickly. Sip, sip, sip and it's gone.

Ps, I hope my Nespresso machine qualifies on this thread!

 

[Shrink]

I made a gorgeous espresso (by accident) with my Nespresso machine. It was a Carte Noire Arabia pod of medium strength and I popped a thimble full of full fat milk in. Really lovely. The only thing with espressos are that they're gone too quickly. Sip, sip, sip and it's gone.

Ps, I hope my Nespresso machine qualifies on this thread!

My attitude has always been, and continues to be, if you like it then it's fine.

As to my personal opinion of the Nespresso machine... well… I am a devotee of the semi automatic machine or, as was my method of espresso production, the manual lever pump machine.

As for the use of pods; as pre-ground coffee only remains fresh for seconds, coffee in pods (unless they are self loaded pods with freshly ground coffee) is always stale.

But that is just me. Once again, if you like it, then enjoy!

Edit: Just had my afternoon coffee... A nice big cup of Intelligentsia El Diablo Dark Roast. Feeling quite jolly and peppy.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My attitude has always been, and continues to be, if you like it then it's fine.

As to my personal opinion of the Nespresso machine... well… I am a devotee of the semi automatic machine or, as was my method of espresso production, the manual lever pump machine.

As for the use of pods; as pre-ground coffee only remains fresh for seconds, coffee in pods (unless they are self loaded pods with freshly ground coffee) is always stale.

But that is just me. Once again, if you like it, then enjoy!

Agreed, re the Nespresso machine.

However, re pre-ground coffee, I will say that there are degrees of 'staleness', or rather, degrees of less than optimally fresh.

I used to buy - and sometimes, when abroad (beggars cannot be choosers), I will still buy coffee in those tins with dates of expiry set in the far distant future. A suspiciously far distant future, but I shall not complain. In this context, a date in the future is better than one located in the past. And, sometimes, that is all that one can reasonably aspire to.

However, in recent - ah, years - most of the (pre-ground) coffee I have bought has been roasted within that very week, or even day, and when that is pre-ground, the difference in taste between that and the stuff that has been sealed away in tins for years, is, let us simply say, quite strikingly marked.

 

[AVBeatMan]

@Shrink I see that you are based in New England, one of my favourite places in the whole world. I spent a few weeks there with my late wife many years ago and have always wanted to return....maybe some day....

Anyway, what I'd like to ask you is, how do the average American take their coffee? I mean at home. I'd (unscientifically (very!)) say that in Britain the majority just use instant coffee, although this has changed over recent years. You only have to look in our supermarkets to see the instant/ground coffee is around 60/40. In a lot of American TV shown and movies you see the big round pot of coffee (always seems to be ready to drink!!) on the kitchen counter. I just wonder if this is a true representation of the average American home? I remember drinking some really great coffee whist over there and indeed Canada where we were based, not bitter but strong enough to please. Anyway, can you enlighten me?

 

[Shrink]

@Shrink I see that you are based in New England, one of my favourite places in the whole world. I spent a few weeks there with my late wife many years ago and have always wanted to return....maybe some day....

Anyway, what I'd like to ask you is, how do the average American take their coffee? I mean at home. I'd (unscientifically (very!)) say that in Britain the majority just use instant coffee, although this has changed over recent years. You only have to look in our supermarkets to see the instant/ground coffee is around 60/40. In a lot of American TV shown and movies you see the big round pot of coffee (always seems to be ready to drink!!) on the kitchen counter. I just wonder if this is a true representation of the average American home? I remember drinking some really great coffee whist over there and indeed Canada where we were based, not bitter but strong enough to please. Anyway, can you enlighten me?

First, if you're ever able to return to New England we will certainly arrange to meet.

As to how the average American takes their coffee I, too, will speak unscientifically and in broad, over- generalized, strokes.

Ignoring what I take to be the tiny minority of coffee aficionados, most Americans drink crap. As I don't consider Instant to actually be coffee, those folks immediately fall by the wayside in the consideration of coffee drinkers. Instant is some form of foul brown hot drink suitable only for scalding enemies and killing houseplants.

It is my observation, which is scientifically worthless, that the majority drink supermarket coffee. This generally ranges from horribly stale to terminally corroded. but at least these folks are drinking coffee… sort of.

As it takes some effort to make decent coffee, and few care to take that effort, most coffee is made down the road of least resistance. This pretty much rules out properly made espresso, pour over, or even press… leaving drip as the easiest method. This is not to say that one cannot have very good coffee made by the drip method but that requires buying excellent fresh whole beans and going to the bother of grinding them. Most resort to putting stale, mostly or wholly Robusta stale junk coffee in a drip machine...walking away and returning some time later to drink what has been sitting on the hot plate for who knows how long quietly turning to sludge.

Final note... Never take too seriously what you see you in the movies. That said, seeing a pot on the counter suggest that the coffee has been made a while ago and is just sitting there turning to foul tasting gunk. In an exception to my suggestion not to take what you seeing films seriously, that may very accurately reflect how coffee it is treated in the average home.

To make a long story short (man, has that train left the station!) my personal, biased, unscientific, un-researched, over-generalized, and undoubtedly useless observation is that Americans (and, undoubtedly others) know nothing about coffee per se... nor it's production.

Be aware that the usual contributors to this thread are a strange and exotic breed who love making coffee, drinking coffee, and talking about a coffee.

Not your average coffee drinkers…

 

[S.B.G]

Hear, Hear!

I totally agree with all that @Shrink has said regarding "how the average American takes their coffee." My dad falls into that group with the dreaded 'I' word commercially labeled as "coffee".

 

[AVBeatMan]

First, if you're ever able to return to New England we will certainly arrange to meet.

As to how the average American takes their coffee I, too, will speak unscientifically and in broad, over- generalized, strokes.

Ignoring what I take to be the tiny minority of coffee aficionados, most Americans drink crap. As I don't consider Instant to actually be coffee, those folks immediately fall by the wayside in the consideration of coffee drinkers. Instant is some form of foul brown hot drink suitable only for scalding enemies and killing houseplants.

It is my observation, which is scientifically worthless, that the majority drink supermarket coffee. This generally ranges from horribly stale to terminally corroded. but at least these folks are drinking coffee… sort of.

As it takes some effort to make decent coffee, and few care to take that effort, most coffee is made down the road of least resistance. This pretty much rules out properly made espresso, pour over, or even press… leaving drip as the easiest method. This is not to say that one cannot have very good coffee made by the drip method but that requires buying excellent fresh whole beans and going to the bother of grinding them. Most resort to putting stale, mostly or wholly Robusta stale junk coffee in a drip machine...walking away and returning some time later to drink what has been sitting on the hot plate for who knows how long quietly turning to sludge.

Final note... Never take too seriously what you see you in the movies. That said, seeing a pot on the counter suggest that the coffee has been made a while ago and is just sitting there turning to foul tasting gunk. In an exception to my suggestion not to take what you seeing films seriously, that may very accurately reflect how coffee it is treated in the average home.

To make a long story short (man, has that train left the station!) my personal, biased, unscientific, un-researched, over-generalized, and undoubtedly useless observation is that Americans (and, undoubtedly others) know nothing about coffee per se... nor it's production.

Be aware that the usual contributors to this thread are a strange and exotic breed who love making coffee, drinking coffee, and talking about a coffee.

Not your average coffee drinkers…

Thanks for your reply. This is a sort one as I'm up at 6am and my 10:30pm bedtime is fast approaching but I will say this; I am well on my way to becoming one of the said strange and exotic breed! Goodnight.

 

[Shrink]

Hear, Hear!

I totally agree with all that @Shrink has said regarding "how the average American takes their coffee." My dad falls into that group with the dreaded 'I' word commercially labeled as "coffee".

The real issue, in it's simplest form, is that good coffee takes some effort. Most folks are unwilling to make the effort...convenience is all.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The real issue, in it's simplest form, is that good coffee takes some effort. Most folks are unwilling to make the effort...convenience is all.

Yes, but.....there is effort, much effort, extraordinary effort, excessive effort, and the kind of effort that might have been classed as masochism.

While I love my coffee, - and I do, most who know me think my standards are impossibly demanding - and I have corrupted the carers (of my mother) on this topic of properly sourced and served coffee to the extent that they will drink nothing else - in common with much else in my life, my view is that it is there to serve me, - and my needs for mental clarity in the morning - rather than vice versa.

 

[Shrink]

But there is effort, much effort, extraordinary effort, excessive effort, and the kind of effort that might have been classed as masochism.

While I love my coffee, - and I do, most who know me think my standards are impossibly demanding - and I have corrupted the carers (of my mother) on this topic of properly sourced and served coffee to the extent that they will drink nothing else - in common with much else in my life, my view is that it is there to serve me, - and my needs for mental clarity in the morning - rather than vice versa.

Your approach to coffee is far more reasonable and sensible than mine.

And as you have pointed out, entirely correctly, my approach is completely beyond the pale.

The best part is… we both enjoy our coffee.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Your approach to coffee is far more reasonable and sensible than mine.

And as you have pointed out, entirely correctly, my approach is completely beyond the pale.

The best part is… we both enjoy our coffee.

Every once in a while she can't help but remind me that I'm completely mad...