I prefer a more of a tungsten taste myself, but that was more of a 2010 vintage character.
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Espresso Enthusiasts
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I prefer a more of a tungsten taste myself, but that was more of a 2010 vintage character.
This is clearly a man of iron will and unbending resolve. How can one fail to be impressed with this display of intestinal fortitude!
To all you lovely folks my best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year.
To all you lovely folks my best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and well caffeinated New Year.
I lift my cup to you all!
This is clearly a man of iron will and unbending resolve. How can one fail to be impressed with this display of intestinal fortitude!
To all you lovely folks my best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year.
I lift my cup to you all!
Ditto! Happy New Year all and best coffee wishes!
A happy and safe new year to you all. I really do enjoy everything about this thread. Thank you.
++++++
Unfortunately, the Shrink Roast experiment has produced unremarkable coffee. The too-steep heat curve during the last 45 seconds (a product of my laziness more than anything else) baked the outside of the beans. I will try again, and have ordered up a range of SOs from SM, and this time I won't be lazy and will take the time to program up a Vienna-specific roasting profile (I have found many on the various Hot Top-specific websites). But, I learned a few things and that's what matters.
++++++
Unfortunately, the Shrink Roast experiment has produced unremarkable coffee. The too-steep heat curve during the last 45 seconds (a product of my laziness more than anything else) baked the outside of the beans. I will try again, and have ordered up a range of SOs from SM, and this time I won't be lazy and will take the time to program up a Vienna-specific roasting profile (I have found many on the various Hot Top-specific websites). But, I learned a few things and that's what matters.
An impressive ambition; however, what I really like, is the subsequent qualifying, amending - and perhaps, nullifying - clause.......
On first sight, perhaps. However, I think it has been drafted with a sufficient care to detail to allow for yet cover all eventualities......while simultaneously permitting possible lapses.
May I take this opportunity of wishing all of the wonderful denizens who dwell in this civilised corner of the forum a peaceful, prosperous, happy and fulfilling New Year......
I have been back at work for the past few days, so, an update is in order.
1. In the interim, the boys in the espresso bar have been amply supplied with proper espresso beans, and their coffee shop espresso is back to what it was before the two sad lapses of December. (The first, you will recall was the occasion of deep tragedy when we ran out for five whole days; the second, which I decided to forego posting about, was their replacement by a fantastically inferior product, acquired locally, of dubious provenance, and dreadful taste. However, we are back to normal.
2. My boss, in my absence, persuaded those funding, financing and furnishing his office that an espresso machine was an utter necessity. So, while I was celebrating the Yuletide break in western Europe, a Jura machine appeared miraculously, perhaps a gift offering from a benevolent bearded entity of twinkling eyes and bountiful disposition.
3. The temperature here is dropping to a perfectly hideous -20 (celsius) at night and a veritable cascade of snow fell the day after my return. Ideals of White Christmas notwithstanding, I am one of those who thinks that snowscapes, like most country vistas, are best viewed through the windscreen of a motor-car. Cue a cold, and (yuck) green tea. But, I am resisting the lure of the obscenely healthy stuff, or, rather, I am drinking both (but not together, needless to say). Espresso is still being consumed, but I am now down to about four or five a day..........
Scepticalscribe, if you are not a secret agent, buying secret missile blueprints over a Turkish coffee in a kashkek shop just outside Tarabya, tapping the NSAs data feeds from your laptop on a table in the back of an Origo shop in Poiana Brasov while sipping a triple ristretto, teaching "the boys" how to pull shots by night while by day they support your secret team by building satellite laser blasters out of toothpicks and spent espresso pucks, please do not ever disabuse me of the notion that you are.
I laughed out loud reading this.
Sorry to disabuse you, but the truth is a lot more mundane. This is funny, though. No, truth to tell, I am an academic - a European academic - who has drifted into public service (not the other, exciting though it sounds)....
Normally, on New Year's day, I watch the New Year's Concert from Vienna, and sip coffee while so doing; those who have been to Vienna will happily attest to the fact that this is a city which takes its coffee houses, coffee culture and everything to do with coffee (along with Sacher-Torte) very, very, seriously, indeed.....
Joke if you will, but be aware that SS can have you disappeared with a flick of her wrist.
Gone...poof!...and no record that you ever existed!
All that will be left behind would be a few well roasted coffee beans and an empty demitasse cup!
Joke if you will, but be aware that SS can have you disappeared with a flick of her wrist.
Gone...poof!...and no record that you ever existed!
All that will be left behind would be a few well roasted coffee beans and an empty demitasse cup!
Ah, Shrink, how little my friends on this thread truly know me: 'Tis sad to relate, but I am one of those wimpy, spectacle-wearing, characters, once described (with derision) as a pacifist......
The sort wedded to concepts of human and gender rights, rule of law, good governance, transparency, and so on.......
'A few well roasted beans and an empty demitasse cup'.......well, that is a better, more civilised, and more enduring footprint to leave than anything left through most of recorded history by most of humanity.
Indeed, apart from a few well-thumbed books, if that was my singular farewell footprint, 'twould not be a source of regret......
Oops. Going to have to rely on that fine print today.
That was really good!
Thank you.
All that will be left behind would be a few well roasted coffee beans and an empty demitasse cup!
Or, more likely in my case, recently, burned beans.
Happy New Year and remember, life is too short for bad coffee
Amen, brother (or sister). And, what you said proves that you are, in fact, not crazy, at least when it comes to the bean. Beyond that, the jury is still out.
Right. Got it, that's a good cover story. We won't blow your cover. And, no doubt your academic think tank is the research arm of Universal Imports. Got it. We have M, and Q branch. I guess you are "S"?
Wink.
Can I tell you how much I love Vienna? I have enjoyed many operas at the Wiener Staatsoper, most recently earlier this (oops, I mean last) year. Mrs. Kurwenal and I seriously considered a trip only last month to see Tristan und Isolde, but her father's health precluded the trip.
Growing up, in my house, Strauss was basically the family hero (my father was an opera singer, my mother a pianist). On my first visit to Vienna, the first stop, required by family fiat, was the golden statue in the park. For most tourists, I think it is about the 50th stop.
I am very jealous of your New Year's Day plans.
A couple of shots from a recent visit.
No, I wasn't (alas) in the Wiener Staatsoper, though it has long been a dream of mine to be able to attend the annual New Year's concert, there. (Instead, I'm back at at my desk, at work, cue the music of John Barry.....but not dissecting the balance sheet of Universal Imports...)
What a wonderful and charming family background - I am impressed. That tradition of 'light' classical music and 'light' opera, (Strauss, Berlioz, Waldteufel, Verdi, etc) which used to form the staple of much of the output of the more popular classical music radio stations, is, most unfortunately, a lot less heard these days. A huge pity, to my mind.
Anyway, J. Strauss was a hero in our house, too, (and was especially revered by my father) and for years, my New Year's ritual, and tradition, (even when suffering from a grumpy undergrad hangover, as a result of excessive indulgence the previous night) was to watch the New Year's Concert, on TV, with my father, who rejoiced in such exquisite music.
In recent years, the New Year's Concert from Vienna has expanded their repertoire, to include more than simply the music of J. Strauss.
What a wonderful and charming family background - I am impressed. That tradition of 'light' classical music and 'light' opera, (Strauss, Berlioz, Waldteufel, Verdi, etc) which used to form the staple of much of the output of the more popular classical music radio stations, is, most unfortunately, a lot less heard these days. A huge pity, to my mind.
Anyway, J. Strauss was a hero in our house, too, (and was especially revered by my father) and for years, my New Year's ritual, and tradition, (even when suffering from a grumpy undergrad hangover, as a result of excessive indulgence the previous night) was to watch the New Year's Concert, on TV, with my father, who rejoiced in such exquisite music.
In recent years, the New Year's Concert from Vienna has expanded their repertoire, to include more than simply the music of J. Strauss.
The New Year will start well for me.
My new Baratza Vario is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.
I'm ready for the next level
-t
Starting the New Year right!
Enjoy your new toy, and the improved coffee you will produce!
Thanks. It's funny, my wife just shakes her head.
But like someone said: a good espresso is the most affordable luxury someone can enjoy.
-t
Well, your wife is obviously a mature and sensible person...since posting on this thread pretty much defines total coffee insanity!
As for the most affordable luxury...you haven't seen my collection of credit card bills for all my espresso stuff!
As for the most affordable luxury...you haven't seen my collection of credit card bills for all my espresso stuff!
I guess it depends on what else you define as a luxury.
Espresso is certainly cheaper than a yacht
-t
I guess it depends on what else you define as a luxury.
Espresso is certainly cheaper than a yacht
-t
Very nice rationalization, Mate!
It's also cheaper than a Maserati, a Patek Philippe watch, and a large collection of gold bars.
However, compared to the luxury of a box of Mallomars... not so much.
Your wife is still right...we're all a bunch of silly people here!
Your wife is still right...we're all a bunch of silly people here!
Not so loud. The NSA, uhm, wife might hear you.
-t
I have just subscribed to this thread
Great input from all. I currently have a Sunbeam Grind Fresh and Crema II. Not sure if the equipment is great especially the espresso machine but I occasionally wow myself when I get the extraction right
I think I need to buy a proper tamp, using the plastic stick provided in the box
Great input from all. I currently have a Sunbeam Grind Fresh and Crema II. Not sure if the equipment is great especially the espresso machine but I occasionally wow myself when I get the extraction right
I think I need to buy a proper tamp, using the plastic stick provided in the box
I have just subscribed to this thread
Great input from all. I currently have a Sunbeam Grind Fresh and Crema II. Not sure if the equipment is great especially the espresso machine but I occasionally wow myself when I get the extraction right
I think I need to buy a proper tamp, using the plastic stick provided in the box
Welcome!
You are now officially doomed to a life of slavery to coffee. All who enter here are lost!
Just a suggestion...much more important then the espresso machine is the grinder. In descending order of importance:
the beans
the grinder
proper tamping
the espresso machine.
The plastic tampers that come with the machines...even fairly expensive machines, are a joke. You can get a decent tamper for not much money, and it should make a difference.
Here are some links where you can look at some good tampers. Just be sure you know the internal dimensions of you filter basket...most are either 53MM or 58MM...make sure to get the right size!
http://www.wholelattelove.com
http://www.espressoparts.com
https://secure.seattlecoffeegear.com
http://www.chriscoffee.com/default.asp
I'm partial to Whole Latte Love...and the have great tech support for stuff beyond accessories. But I've bought stuff from all of these places, and they are all reliable.
Glad to have you join the thread...and any information you can share, or any questions you have, are always welcome.
GREAT...we hooked another one!