Espresso Enthusiasts

[0388631]

About to sit down with a nice, smooth dark Kenya AA. Which is absolutely appropriate for a roast lamb dinner. Which was meant for Sunday but issues came up. Love dinner, lovely wine, and soon to enjoy; lovely coffee. I may have had too much to eat. I hate fridging lamb as it never really tastes right the next day.
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However, not all of LavAzza's offerings are equally uninspiring; they, too, have gourmet versions of their coffee, sometimes to be had in tins.......

I... I don't think I've had the pleasure of having it in a tin, Sceptical. I may have seen it... assuming it comes with an easy opening strip that separates top from container, but I'm not too confident with my guess here. I've bought the bricks of Lavazza in a jam. Though, one must use those up within 36-48 hours of opening before it spoils in the fashion of souring. I believe the YouTube channel of Seattle Coffee Gear did a special testing of Lavazza coffee in the Summer of 2009, in regard to how long the bricks of ground espresso last.

I've only seen Crema e Gusto and something with a green brick bag that I'm not sure about. I've never paid attention to it. I don't even grind my own Turkish because even owning a quality and expensive grinder won't mean you'll get a very good Turkish. I don't think Efrau will appreciate the fact I'd spend at least $1000 on a grinder that does a quality Turkish.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

About to sit down with a nice, smooth dark Kenya AA. Which is absolutely appropriate for a roast lamb dinner. Which was meant for Sunday but issues came up. Love dinner, lovely wine, and soon to enjoy; lovely coffee. I may have had too much to eat. I hate fridging lamb as it never really tastes right the next day.
[doublepost=1473743284][/doublepost]
I... I don't think I've had the pleasure of having it in a tin, Sceptical. I may have seen it... assuming it comes with an easy opening strip that separates top from container, but I'm not too confident with my guess here. I've bought the bricks of Lavazza in a jam. Though, one must use those up within 36-48 hours of opening before it spoils in the fashion of souring. I believe the YouTube channel of Seattle Coffee Gear did a special testing of Lavazza coffee in the Summer of 2009, in regard to how long the bricks of ground espresso last.

I've only seen Crema e Gusto and something with a green brick bag that I'm not sure about. I've never paid attention to it. I don't even grind my own Turkish because even owning a quality and expensive grinder won't mean you'll get a very good Turkish. I don't think Efrau will appreciate the fact I'd spend at least $1000 on a grinder that does a quality Turkish.

I have only ever seen the tins in specialist shops - or occasionally, a PX, - when abroad; the quality tends to be far better (and they are marketed as 'reserve' or 'gourmet' and priced accordingly) than the more 'normal' stuff. And yes, they do come with that opening strip that separates the top from the container.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A day of meetings, preceded by espressos (very good) and interspersed with exceedingly good coffee at the (all too brief) breaks during the actual meeting.

 

[JamesMike]

A day of meetings, preceded by espressos (very good) and interspersed with exceedingly good coffee at the (all too brief) breaks during the actual meeting.

Good Coffee is vital to any meeting.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Good Coffee is vital to any meeting.

Absolutely essential, agreed, if only to ensure that you are able to endure proceedings.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Good Coffee is vital to any meeting.

Sure, good is great, but any coffee is vital...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Sure, good is great, but any coffee is vital...

A key distinction, and one very well expressed.

 

[0388631]

"Cold" day here today. It drizzled in the morning. Beautiful fresh air this morning. Woke up early to take the children out with the strollers. They seemed to enjoy it, especially when a troupe of hummingbirds flew by. I had green tea this morning. My first cup in many months. Enjoying a nice cappuccino now.

Will probably head out in a bit and go to a chocolatier several cities over and buy their blended drinking chocolate. I can do the same with Valrhona or even better products but it always turns into a messy ordeal.

I have only ever seen the tins in specialist shops - or occasionally, a PX, - when abroad; the quality tends to be far better (and they are marketed as 'reserve' or 'gourmet' and priced accordingly) than the more 'normal' stuff. And yes, they do come with that opening strip that separates the top from the container.

I will have to keep my eye out for those then. Thank you for the info! As I said, I do suspect I've had them before or a company that sold its grounds in such a manner.
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Sure, good is great, but any coffee is vital...

What if it were instant? Or from the supermarket and was roasted 8 months ago?

 

[Shrink]

What if it were instant? Or from the supermarket and was roasted 8 months ago?

BLECH!

GAG!

FOOEY!

RETCH!

Never!

There are limits...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

"Cold" day here today. It drizzled in the morning. Beautiful fresh air this morning. Woke up early to take the children out with the strollers. They seemed to enjoy it, especially when a troupe of hummingbirds flew by. I had green tea this morning. My first cup in many months. Enjoying a nice cappuccino now.

Will probably head out in a bit and go to a chocolatier several cities over and buy their blended drinking chocolate. I can do the same with Valrhona or even better products but it always turns into a messy ordeal.


I will have to keep my eye out for those then. Thank you for the info! As I said, I do suspect I've had them before or a company that sold its grounds in such a manner.
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What if it were instant? Or from the supermarket and was roasted 8 months ago?

Quite candidly, I doubt that 'instant' qualifies as 'coffee', not for the purposes of this discussion. As I am quite certain @mobilehaathi will agree, what we mean when we refer to 'coffee' does not include that underwhelming product that starts with the letter 'i'.

Likewise, when we refer to what we mean by the word 'coffee, we are not referring to something stale from the supermarket (few who subscribe to this thread would choose to purchase their coffee in a supermarket), something that had been roasted eight months ago.

 

[0388631]

Sceptical, I was being facetious. I don't quite fancy a horse's head in my bed anytime soon. Besides, instant if often made of inferior robusta and blended with carcinogens to preserve and dry the product out during the spray process. Yuck.

FOOEY!

One of my favorite terms of expression. Sad it's not used in literature as much as it was in the olden days. Long before I was born mind you. I have my evil ways.

 

[Shrink]

One of my favorite terms of expression. Sad it's not used in literature as much as it was in the olden days. Long before I was born mind you. I have my evil ways.

Thanks...

Thanks so much...

 

[0388631]

Thanks...

Thanks so much...

I was lucky enough to enter this world when disco was just about blossoming. I'm quite thankful as it allowed me to appreciate disco music at a very young age before it became the "in" thing globally several years later. I can't recall the last time "fooey" was used in a book that wasn't written "recently" and used dated lexicon purpsefully or portrayed an older individual. Now the last films I recall seeing it used genuinely were in various Rock Hudson films during his WWII film period. Phrases like "fooey" or "some chum John" (I think...) were common in the early 40s.

 

[Shrink]

I was lucky enough to enter this world when disco was just about blossoming. I'm quite thankful as it allowed me to appreciate disco music at a very young age

DISCO...


BLECH!

GAG!

FOOEY!

RETCH!

Never!

There are limits...

 

[0388631]

DISCO...


BLECH!

GAG!

FOOEY!

RETCH!

Never!

There are limits...

Such harsh words require forced consumption of Starbucks dessert frappuccinos.

 

[Shrink]

Such harsh words require forced consumption of Starbucks dessert frappuccinos.

...and defense of disco requires forced consumption of "i" Folgers for life.

And back on the thread's actual topic...I had three wonderful cups of FP coffee today.

It isn't my beloved espresso, but it is wonderful to have good coffee again.

 

[0388631]

Touché.

I love FP'd coffee but it's a chore to clean out the sieve and the plates. I use a natural soap but even then it's a pain to get everything squeeky clean. Mind you, I was regularly pressing from 2007-2010 until I got tires of the cleanup 3-4x a day. It's really a fine game between getting it just right and hoping you never scratched or bumped the vessel into something and hope it never shatters with 205* liquid inside.

 

[Shrink]

Touché.

I love FP'd coffee but it's a chore to clean out the sieve and the plates. I use a natural soap but even then it's a pain to get everything squeeky clean. Mind you, I was regularly pressing from 2007-2010 until I got tires of the cleanup 3-4x a day. It's really a fine game between getting it just right and hoping you never scratched or bumped the vessel into something and hope it never shatters with 205* liquid inside.

Cleaning FP no chore at all. As my FP makes one 10 ounce cup, I simply put the top, plunger down, into a bowl with a solution of water and baking soda and allow it to soak while I drink my coffee.

When I am done, just rinse the plunger under running warm water. No disassembly, no scrubbing...and the screen is out-of-the-box, pristine clean.

No problem scratching a glass FP...use a bamboo stirring paddle. And borosilicate won't shatter with hot stuff in it if you very gently, carefully avoid bashing it with 3G force into anything.

 

[0388631]

What about the grounds in between the plates?! For a couple of months, I'd loosen the plates and pour in hot water into the FP and then plunge it up and down. It got it clean and I was able to wipe down the plats with a hot towel. But this ruined the metal filter. I frayed the ends, which I suspect led it to shatter later on near the end of that time period. Thankfully I'd just poured the water in and not filled it up.

 

[Shrink]

What about the grounds in between the plates?! For a couple of months, I'd loosen the plates and pour in hot water into the FP and then plunge it up and down. It got it clean and I was able to wipe down the plats with a hot towel. But this ruined the metal filter. I frayed the ends, which I suspect led it to shatter later on near the end of that time period. Thankfully I'd just poured the water in and not filled it up.

No grounds between the plates. No staining of the screen. Will post a picture in a couple of minutes.

 

[0388631]

No grounds between the plates. No staining of the screen. Will post a picture in a couple of minutes.

I must have the worst luck then. It's always happened to me.

 

[Shrink]

The FP plunger below has been used since I started drinking coffee again...about 4 months.

Never disassembled, never scrubbed...just soaked in baking soda solution and rinsed under running water.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Sceptical, I was being facetious. I don't quite fancy a horse's head in my bed anytime soon. Besides, instant if often made of inferior robusta and blended with carcinogens to preserve and dry the product out during the spray process. Yuck.


One of my favorite terms of expression. Sad it's not used in literature as much as it was in the olden days. Long before I was born mind you. I have my evil ways.

Yes, I know. But, facetious or not, any mention of the 'i' word will lead to an instant response and immediate retribution.

BLECH!

GAG!

FOOEY!

RETCH!

Never!

There are limits...

Wonderfully expressive.

 

[0388631]

The FP plunger below has been used since I started drinking coffee again...about 4 months.

Never disassembled, never scrubbed...just soaked in baking soda solution and rinsed under running water.

View attachment 651261 View attachment 651262

My my, what nice closeups. I'd be interested to see how it fares when you disassemble it down the line. I think the common theme among FP owners is to scrub it under hot water, and in the process washing out any residual oils or flavor any remnant grounds may hold that found themselves stuck.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

DISCO...


BLECH!

GAG!

FOOEY!

RETCH!

Never!

There are limits...

Agreed.

Ah, @Zenithal , the vocabulary of what you so charmingly describe "as the 40s" (and yes, I love 'phooey' - British spelling, I'm afraid, - you might find it written in the works of Enid Blyton) is wonderfully expressive and a lot less crude than some of the poor excuses fro language that disallowed to assault our ears these days.

Actually,I'm rather partial to these sounds and those words, I must admit.

Thank you, @Shrink, for stirring my memory to life.....with such a welcome echo from the sound vaults of the past.

My mother used to remark that "Elvis put her off the dance floor" and so, she couldn't stand him.

But, in truth, there was never a time in my life when disco appealed......I just wanted to discuss politics (and literature and history) all night long, and was astounded that my peers failed to share my visionary reforming zeal.

...and defense of disco requires forced consumption of "i" Folgers for life.

And back on the thread's actual topic...I had three wonderful cups of FP coffee today.

It isn't my beloved espresso, but it is wonderful to have good coffee again.

Real coffee is excellent, and always welcome.

I have written about the trails and tribulations of our (enforced) hotel moves this past week or so.

However, the readers of this thread will - no doubt - suppress a shiver of delight when I inform them that our French press and Ethiopian coffee survived each and every move as - like troubadours - we found ourselves in a state of perpetual motion.

Cleaning FP no chore at all. As my FP makes one 10 ounce cup, I simply put the top, plunger down, into a bowl with a solution of water and baking soda and allow it to soak while I drink my coffee.

When I am done, just rinse the plunger under running warm water. No disassembly, no scrubbing...and the screen is out-of-the-box, pristine clean.

No problem scratching a glass FP...use a bamboo stirring paddle. And borosilicate won't shatter with hot stuff in it if you very gently, carefully avoid bashing it with 3G force into anything.

Ah.

Now, that is worth book marking for when I return home.

The FP plunger below has been used since I started drinking coffee again...about 4 months.

Never disassembled, never scrubbed...just soaked in baking soda solution and rinsed under running water.

View attachment 651261 View attachment 651262

Works of art.

My my, what nice closeups. I'd be interested to see how it fares when you disassemble it down the line. I think the common theme among FP owners is to scrub it under hot water, and in the process washing out any residual oils or flavor any remnant grounds may hold that found themselves stuck.

Yes. That is more or less what I tend to do.