Okay. I am intrigued. Where do I get Yirgachegge region coffee beans from?
I work in London, so if there's a coffee shop I should check out, I will.
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Espresso Enthusiasts
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Okay. I am intrigued. Where do I get Yirgachegge region coffee beans from?
I work in London, so if there's a coffee shop I should check out, I will.
The Ethiopian Coffee Company might be a good place to start........they are also in London.
I have ordered many coffees from them - and have also dealt with them on the phone - and I like them and find them very good, most helpful and engagingly enthusiastic.
The Algerian Coffee place on Old Compton Street (https://www.algcoffee.co.uk) sells it, although I bought some recently (like you, only because of this thread!) and wasn't impressed.
I'm not sure if the beans were old (unlikely, as everything else I've bought from there has been excellent and fresh) but I couldn't get a decent espresso out of it. Unfortunately I went through the entire bag trying to pull a decent shot and by the time I thought "hmm, maybe I'll just grind it coarser and put it in a French press" I'd none left
. I went back to my "old faithful" Formula Rossa blend. I mainly drink espressos and lattes, and Formula Rossa does a great job for both. I also drink a lot of Vietnamese drip coffee but I have special coffee for that.
The Algerian Coffee place on Old Compton Street (https://www.algcoffee.co.uk) sells it, although I bought some recently (like you, only because of this thread!) and wasn't impressed.
I'm not sure if the beans were old (unlikely, as everything else I've bought from there has been excellent and fresh) but I couldn't get a decent espresso out of it. Unfortunately I went through the entire bag trying to pull a decent shot and by the time I thought "hmm, maybe I'll just grind it coarser and put it in a French press" I'd none left
Hm.
Precisely because Ethiopian coffee tends to be neither full bodied nor dark roasted, it would not be my recommendation (and I write as someone who loves the stuff) for espresso.
You really want something with a bit more heft in it - and, if desirous of the subtlety that Ethiopian brings to the table - or pot - perhaps blend it with something that will complement it (such as a Kenyan or Rwandan) but not overpower it.
I would recommend Ethiopian unhesitatingly for dripper, Chemex, or French Press coffee, but not for espresso.
This is because espresso calls for something a bit more robust, or stronger.
Now, The Ethiopian Coffee Company do some excellent coffees, and they usually have a blend of Ethiopian beans which they sell as an espresso blend. This blend rarely (in fact, never, in my experience) uses beans form Yirgacheffe; instead, they tend to use beans from the Harrar or Sidamo - or other - regions of Ethiopia.
Powernap turned into five hours. Double espresso time!
Then, you clearly were in dire need of it, and it probably did you a lot of good.
What a wonderful megathread.
And, for now, I am sipping a mug (Le Creuset) of Ethiopian coffee (a blend of two Ethiopian coffees, one of which comes from the Yirgacheffe region).
Actually, I prepared two mugs - one for the substitute carer and one for myself, and I am sipping one of these as I write.
I am also debating with myself - reminding myself - all of the reasons why I do not want - or desire - or need - a beautiful, exquisitely crafted, coffee dripper made from wood from Japan.
The fact that I looked this up online, and read the (ecstatic, and positively glowing) reviews, is going to be used to harden my resolve.
I shall not succumb.
That might yet be amended to read, "I shall not succumb......today."
And, for now, I am sipping a mug (Le Creuset) of Ethiopian coffee (a blend of two Ethiopian coffees, one of which comes from the Yirgacheffe region).
Actually, I prepared two mugs - one for the substitute carer and one for myself, and I am sipping one of these as I write.
I am also debating with myself - reminding myself - all of the reasons why I do not want - or desire - or need - a beautiful, exquisitely crafted, coffee dripper made from wood from Japan.
The fact that I looked this up online, and read the (ecstatic, and positively glowing) reviews, is going to be used to harden my resolve.
I shall not succumb.
That might yet be amended to read, "I shall not succumb......today."
You don't want to know the sorry details of how I succumbed this afternoon to........temptation.....taking a Japanese wooden form.
No, you don't.
No, you don't.
And I think I shall wait until tomorrow before writing - in salivating swooning detail - about this Japanese objet d'art.
But it is gorgeous.
For years, I hunted in vain for a dripper - and I love them, as they are so convenient, - one doesn't always want to have to make a pot of coffee, sometimes, a cup, or mug, is all that is required.
Above all, they are also so utterly portable. One can squeeze one in a suitcase, and, along with filter paper, and a packet or two of coffee, and one is good to go, on a deployment abroad.
In the 90s, my mother brought me one (a plastic one - and damned grateful I was, too, as they were impossible to obtain at the time; I used that plastic coffee dripper for years) while on a short holiday to Amsterdam.
But it is gorgeous.
For years, I hunted in vain for a dripper - and I love them, as they are so convenient, - one doesn't always want to have to make a pot of coffee, sometimes, a cup, or mug, is all that is required.
Above all, they are also so utterly portable. One can squeeze one in a suitcase, and, along with filter paper, and a packet or two of coffee, and one is good to go, on a deployment abroad.
In the 90s, my mother brought me one (a plastic one - and damned grateful I was, too, as they were impossible to obtain at the time; I used that plastic coffee dripper for years) while on a short holiday to Amsterdam.
Actually, I have a number of drippers.
In the mid 90s - a time when they were extraordinarily difficult to obtain (I suspect, for economic reasons - they didn't justify the cost of production) - my mother brought me back a plastic one from Amsterdam - where she had been on a holiday - as a gift, and I was exceptionally grateful, and used it a lot.
Sometimes, you just want to make a cup of coffee, rather than a pot.
My other dripper are ceramic ones - from Hario - and - this past year, two gorgeous copper drippers from Kallita.
The copper one (and the ceramic one) are both easy to clean, and both make excellent coffee. Now, I love copper - some of my cookware is copper.
This exquisite wooden one is handmade, (by Yasukiyo) in Japan, and reviews had been glowing, gushing and absolutely ecstatic.
Reviews had raved about these qualities, (facilitated the making of delicious coffee, could cope with heat, looked stunning, and is amazingly portable), so I felt fairly safe in making the purchase.
[doublepost=1483227262][/doublepost]
Enjoy your Kenyan coffee.
In the mid 90s - a time when they were extraordinarily difficult to obtain (I suspect, for economic reasons - they didn't justify the cost of production) - my mother brought me back a plastic one from Amsterdam - where she had been on a holiday - as a gift, and I was exceptionally grateful, and used it a lot.
Sometimes, you just want to make a cup of coffee, rather than a pot.
My other dripper are ceramic ones - from Hario - and - this past year, two gorgeous copper drippers from Kallita.
The copper one (and the ceramic one) are both easy to clean, and both make excellent coffee. Now, I love copper - some of my cookware is copper.
This exquisite wooden one is handmade, (by Yasukiyo) in Japan, and reviews had been glowing, gushing and absolutely ecstatic.
Reviews had raved about these qualities, (facilitated the making of delicious coffee, could cope with heat, looked stunning, and is amazingly portable), so I felt fairly safe in making the purchase.
[doublepost=1483227262][/doublepost]
Enjoy your Kenyan coffee.
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Exactly, but the one - the version I bought today - is a lighter shade of brown (they used the adjective 'natural').
Beautiful, isn't it?
Unless I make a pot of coffee with the Le Creuset French Press tomorrow, I shall try out this lovely new dripper to see how it works. As it is handmade, each one is (ever so slightly) different.
It looks beautiful. Turned on a wood lathe. I used to use lathes at work many years ago and you can make some truly beautiful things if you have the skill.
As I mentioned in the other thread, (stuff you just bought), my initial plan (intended as a bit of deferred gratification, and a deferred reward) had been to defer this purchase until next Tuesday.
I has envisaged it as a New Year gift to myself, more to the point, as a post dentist visit reward - as a tooth will have to be reassembled, rebuilt, and reconstructed, and - even though I have huge faith in my dentist, one still needs a bit of comfort after a visit to one's dentist.
(That tooth disintegrated on Thursday evening - when I was stone, cold, sober! - a somewhat troublesome tooth, if memory serves; I wrote about it elsewhere).
There are, - I'm not one - but they will have to find their own way here to post a reply.
Why not read all of a 340 page thread - it is one of the most wonderful places in this entire site, and, among the many hidden gems that you may find, there are indeed, some enthusiastic home roasters.
The other thing is that people drop in and out, as their lives, or commitments, require; some of the enthusiasts might not appear for months at a time, and will then post prolifically for a few days or weeks.
Besides, as it is the Yuletide/New Year's break, some of the regulars are elsewhere.
This morning, I am watching the New Year's Concert (broadcast live) from Vienna, with a mug of freshly made coffee (Ethiopian, and piping hot) to hand.
Coffee and Vienna go very well together. The very first coffee houses in Europe appeared in Vienna around the middle of the 17th century, a tradition that probably arrived in the Habsburg lands from the world of the Ottoman Empire.
My father loved this concert, and whenever I was around, we made a tradition of watching it together.
Coffee and Vienna go very well together. The very first coffee houses in Europe appeared in Vienna around the middle of the 17th century, a tradition that probably arrived in the Habsburg lands from the world of the Ottoman Empire.
My father loved this concert, and whenever I was around, we made a tradition of watching it together.
And I managed to snatch time to prepare a second mug of piping hot (and very welcome) Ethiopian coffee, which I have finished just as the concert was coming to an end.
I decided on a cup of Rwandan coffee to bring in the New Year.
With Royal Dansk butter cookies, a Christmas present from friends.
Aha. Excellent.
I hope you enjoyed it.
A coffee to see in the New Year would demand something classy to accompany it; for me, Austrian chocolates, Scottish shortbread, or German biscuits will meet that need.