Espresso Enthusiasts

[Scepticalscribe]

New Orleans coffee this morning while reading the Off Duty and Exchange sections of the Wall Street Journal. Pleased to see a picture of Gianni Agnelli.
Also, had an early conversation with a moon landing denier. Very weak arguments on his part, I can report that I successfully converted him.

I can imagine refuting his arguments successfully, but "converting" someone from holding such delusions (which, after all, tend to be deeply held, and often conflated with one's sense of one's own identity) can be a challenge of a different order.

Anyway, what is New Orleans coffee like?

 

[yaxomoxay]

I can imagine refuting his arguments successfully, but "converting" someone from holding such delusions (which, after all, tend to be deeply held, and often conflated with one's sense of one's own identity) can be a challenge of a different order.

I have to admit, he was very open minded, and actually thanked me. I think that he was at the initial phase in which it’s more about doubting because of some evidence than an actual total delusion. I probably got him right on time.

Anyway, what is New Orleans coffee like?

Cafe du Monde. https://shop.cafedumonde.com/coffee-beignets/coffee-plan.html

I sense the need for a trip to New Orleans soon

 

[adrianlondon]

I think that a biscuit taken with coffee can be sub-divided further; when out, I will almost invariably have a biscuit (one is served on the saucer of the coffee cup in Belgium what an elegant, and supremely civilised practice) or perhaps, as a special treat, a slice of cake.

I don't put sugar (or honey or whatever) in my coffee. In the morning I'll make a latte and there's enough milk to give it a nice sweetness. For the rest of the day, when having an espresso or americano, I like to eat a chunk of chocolate immediately before. I find that the remains of melted chocolate coating my teeth provide a nice balance, and that it nicely wears off as I go through the coffee allowing the bitterness to slowly come through.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

If I am having an espresso, I'll have sugar most certainly.

Cafe latte, or a cappuccino, not so much.

But, for my morning coffee, I like to take it with (full fat) organic milk and (organic) sugar.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Enjoying a mug of rich, robust Bosnian coffee.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Few coffees during the week are quite as thoroughly enjoyable than Sunday morning's mug of rich, robust, hot (Bosnian) coffee.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My Monday morning mug of coffee - especially the first one - is also very agreeable.

 

[LizKat]

Two pounds of Brazilian Cerrado just showed up on my deck along with a pound of Honduran so of course I'm busting into the Brazilian since I was flat out of it. I'll be awake to the wee hours but that's ok, it's worth it.

I'm thinking to have the coffee iced with icy cold milk at the end of this day full of heat -- but it's been a day mixed with some wild, short t-storms, a breeze, a fallback to sullen humidity, rinse, repeat.. right now we're in one of those weird moments where it's so quiet you could hear a piece of farm machinery start up a good mile away. I have to assume they're trying to get home before the next lightshow rolls in here.

Sky was the color of dark green jade awhile ago, not every day you see that around here and I decided to skip whatever might whip in here after that and went down cellar for awhile!

Not sure I even need the caffeine after that experience, but.. "nothin' happened" so I'm back up here brushing off cobwebs and grinding the beans for my brew.

 

[0388631]

Two pounds of Brazilian Cerrado just showed up on my deck along with a pound of Honduran so of course I'm busting into the Brazilian since I was flat out of it. I'll be awake to the wee hours but that's ok, it's worth it.

I'm thinking to have the coffee iced with icy cold milk at the end of this day full of heat -- but it's been a day mixed with some wild, short t-storms, a breeze, a fallback to sullen humidity, rinse, repeat.. right now we're in one of those weird moments where it's so quiet you could hear a piece of farm machinery start up a good mile away. I have to assume they're trying to get home before the next lightshow rolls in here.

Sky was the color of dark green jade awhile ago, not every day you see that around here and I decided to skip whatever might whip in here after that and went down cellar for awhile!

Not sure I even need the caffeine after that experience, but.. "nothin' happened" so I'm back up here brushing off cobwebs and grinding the beans for my brew.

I was so thirsty this afternoon when I got home from work that I drank an entire half gallon of organic almond "milk" I usually have with my porridge (oatmeal). I've embraced wild cobwebs in some parts of the exterior of our home. It takes care of the crane flies which are a nuisance. I've been setting up DIY yellow jacket and wasp traps for a few weeks now and nearly eradicating it from our general area after I got the other neighbors to partake in it. Pretty eco friendly. I got the idea off of a YouTube video. I like the highlighter green or yellow traps, too. The best way to dispatch them after filling them up is dunking and soaking the trap in a container of soapy water then dumping them into a baggy, then the trash. No bees harmed. The gist of the trap is using some raw chicken bone or beef fat with a bit of meat and they love it. They'll go in and end up touching the water with the soap in it. Soap breaks the surface tension of water and they drown with their short memories flashing before their many eyes.

Expanding foam in a can is also a great way to encase a wasp nest and then cut it off a tree or scrape it off a wall. I got the idea from an arborist who lives a block down from my folks.

Though I'm fairly sure you could use an eco-friendly soap and warm water to flood a ground nest and kill them without damaging the environment, too.

 

[LizKat]

I haven't had much trouble w/ wasps here, one year some mud wasps built in a piece of pvc tubing a bro left in a corner of the deck (the eaves of my deck roof are open) so that was interesting... I finally exported them and their "house" out to the garden where I figure they might scarf up some aphids.

This year I had more little no-see-ums get into the house than usual... so any spiders I saw around the kitchen I figured were my friends and they were happy to oblige, spun webs all over the place by the windows.. but one idiot laid up a big web in the back of a freestanding pantry cupboard. I opened the door to get out a can of tuna and there it was waiting in the dark for a free lunch, the hopeless dummy. Darwin, wow. Some critters are going the wrong way.

Well that one's web I cleared away and maybe it found a way outdoors, but I gave up on spider help at that point and put up a few Catchmaster window traps to finish out the season. Man I hate those tiny little flies, they can even find their way through a slightly distended space in the mesh of a screen door.

I made my Brazilian coffee and it was great over ice with cold 2% milk. I usually only keep nonfat around but 2% hits the spot with iced coffee sometimes.

 

[0388631]

I haven't had much trouble w/ wasps here, one year some mud wasps built in a piece of pvc tubing a bro left in a corner of the deck (the eaves of my deck roof are open) so that was interesting... I finally exported them and their "house" out to the garden where I figure they might scarf up some aphids.

This year I had more little no-see-ums get into the house than usual... so any spiders I saw around the kitchen I figured were my friends and they were happy to oblige, spun webs all over the place by the windows.. but one idiot laid up a big web in the back of a freestanding pantry cupboard. I opened the door to get out a can of tuna and there it was waiting in the dark for a free lunch, the hopeless dummy. Darwin, wow. Some critters are going the wrong way.

Well that one's web I cleared away and maybe it found a way outdoors, but I gave up on spider help at that point and put up a few Catchmaster window traps to finish out the season. Man I hate those tiny little flies, they can even find their way through a slightly distended space in the mesh of a screen door.

I made my Brazilian coffee and it was great over ice with cold 2% milk. I usually only keep nonfat around but 2% hits the spot with iced coffee sometimes.

We don't have much of an issue with them either but they appear from time to time. I've been dealing more with spiders, the harmless kind that ball up into a pinhead when you kill them. I didn't use any granules or spray this year due to the late rain, and I'm not sure if I'll bother now when there's only a month left of summer. And honestly I don't want to do it now, especially in this heat.


I set up some smaller lights way out that go on when they sense motion at around 30-40 feet and it sets off animals back where they came from. As pretty as small deer are, they wreck everything and I'd rather not use a non-lethal round or ball of glued rock salt and fastball it at them.

The motion sensing flood light parts I bought and need to wire are pretty powerful. I got a 100 watt unit to start but they make everything up to 600 watts. But that's $3K I don't want to spend.

I've been following discussion elsewhere and modding those solar powered flood lights and rewiring them with a large panel and battery pack. Some even go further by swapping out the LED board. You're thinking why, what's the point, but it's the form factor of the unit.

I got the idea of using the cheapo small units in the multipacks because a neighbor bought a bunch and screwed to their tool shed. Half are on dim/powerful light and the other half are motion detecting with a 25 foot limit. No ones entering property unlawfully here unless they want to risk life and limb, but it's easier to go out to the shed at night if you need to grab something without worrying about a skunk or coyote that somehow got past everything.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Relative visiting from Italy brought me some incredible Ethiopian coffee from an Italian roastery. I must say, it's pretty incredible.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Relative visiting from Italy brought me some incredible Ethiopian coffee from an Italian roastery. I must say, it's pretty incredible.

Ah, serious Ethiopian coffee!

Wonderful.

I am chastened to admit that I am a fetching green hue with envy.

Do enjoy - I love those clean, clear "bright" notes you get with really good Ethiopian coffee.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Ah, serious Ethiopian coffee!

Wonderful.

I am chastened to admit that I am a fetching green hue with envy.

Do enjoy - I love those clean, clear "bright" notes you get with really good Ethiopian coffee.

Let's put it this way, I woke up with some headache at 4am (no alarm, the headache woke me up). After my meditation and this coffee, the headache was completely gone! The miracles of good coffee.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Let's put it this way, I woke up with some headache at 4am (no alarm, the headache woke me up). After my meditation and this coffee, the headache was completely gone! The miracles of good coffee.

In my experience, some coffees are "muddy", but the 'clarity' of a good Ethiopian coffee (especially one from the Yirgacheffe region) is sublime.

Enjoy.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Purchased some Ethiopian coffee from a small, local roaster.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Just ordered a bag of this;

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Enjoying a morning mug of Bosnian coffee.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Enjoying a mug of splendid Bosnian coffee.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thoroughly enjoyed a mug of piping hot Bosnian coffee nearly two hours ago. A lovely way to greet a wet, windy, overcast, August morning.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

This morning, a welcome mug of piping hot Ethiopian coffee helped me greet and meet the day.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Enjoying another mug of Ethiopian coffee.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Woke up at 5 enjoying a nice cup of coffee from a local roastery, using one of my new mugs. Peacefully read the WSJ while sipping the smooth coffee; I was unable to read the other newspapers.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Enjoying an afternoon Ethiopian coffee in my volcanic orange Le Cresuet mug.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Typical morning, coffee and Wall Street Journal. Early morning quiet is good for recharging.