National Coffee Month

[mobilehaathi]

Anyone looking for an intriguing ten-minute read about coffee ought to take a look at Alexis Madrigal's Atlantic piece on Blue Bottle Coffee; its founder James Freeman; and its efforts to bring it particularly delicious New Orleans Iced Coffee to the wider world.



Even if you don't like iced coffee, its a fascinating portrait of a coffee idealist and his mission to bring his product - and his company - to the wider world.

Thanks for that! I have to admit I do enjoy Blue Bottle's iced coffee...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Oh, well, I don't drink. I despise the stuff.

SBG, as with coffee, with advancing age, (a process known to some as 'growing maturity'), I can attest to the fact that my beer, coffee, and wine preferences have all moved in the same direction, which is this: I will no longer willingly drink dross. Indeed, I will insist on having before me only the good stuff.

For it is a sad fact, that most beer on sale, as with most coffee on sale, is downright mediocre. I blush to recall some of the rubbish I happily imbibed in my student days. However, for both coffee and beer, (and, indeed wine), these days, I only allow the very best to pass my lips…..

 

[powerslave12r]

As a craft beer and coffee lover, I offer my condolences to anyone else who shares the same expensive lifestyles.

 

[Shrink]

As a craft beer and coffee lover, I offer my condolences to anyone else who shares the same expensive lifestyles.

Nah...my cheapie set up does the job for my espresso needs!🙄🙄

 

[Scepticalscribe]

As a craft beer and coffee lover, I offer my condolences to anyone else who shares the same expensive lifestyles.

Well, thank you. Your thoughtfulness is most touching. However, I see it more as a matter of setting high standards, acknowledging preferences, and then trying to find a way to achieve them, not least financially.

Now, matters become much more straightforward when you simply settle for the best.

Nah...my cheapie set up does the job for my espresso needs!🙄🙄

This is a whole new definition - a definition which allows for incredible elasticity - of what I have understood by the term "cheapie set up"…...

 

[S.B.G]

I just made my first Caffe Mocha and I think it turned out well. Though it didn't look quite a nice as some of the more professionals work. I need practice and a few additional accessories to aid in my presentation work. But, the taste is good, and that is the most important part! ☕

 

[shinji]

I got lazy over the summer, put away my French press and have been using K-cups all the time. Lately it's mostly 8 O’Clock Original (which makes a fairly strong cup that I doctor with a hefty pour of skim milk). I bought a 72-count crate of those things not long ago, but maybe in honor of National Coffee Month, I need to get back to grinding some selected beans myself, at least on weekends.

Haha, I have a French press too that I never use anymore. Seemed like a good idea when I bought it, but all I use now is my Keurig.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I just made my first Caffe Mocha and I think it turned out well. Though it didn't look quite a nice as some of the more professionals work. I need practice and a few additional accessories to aid in my presentation work. But, the taste is good, and that is the most important part! ☕

Well, you know what they say, 'practice makes perfect.'

However, of greater concern is your remark about the 'need' for 'a few addition accessories'……..You do know, don't you, that these coffee threads represent a deep, black hole where credit cards are known to vanish……..shuddering and shrieking…….

Haha, I have a French press too that I never use anymore. Seemed like a good idea when I bought it, but all I use now is my Keurig.

Well, all I can say is to observe that, in my (humble but extensive) experience, the French press method of making coffee is one of the most forgiving and least demanding ways of preparing coffee that I know of.

 

[S.B.G]

Well, you know what they say, 'practice makes perfect.'

However, of greater concern is your remark about the 'need' for 'a few addition accessories'……..You do know, don't you, that these coffee threads represent a deep, black hole where credit cards are known to vanish……..shuddering and shrieking…….

Don't I know it! Shrink has already promised to spend more of my money the next time I decide to upgrade my espresso machine!

Fortunately, the accessories I remarked about only cost a few dollars - this time!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Don't I know it! Shrink has already promised to spend more of my money the next time I decide to upgrade my espresso machine!

Fortunately, the accessories I remarked about only cost a few dollars - this time!

Ah, but this is only the start of the slippery slope, that long, twisting, winding, and enticing road (the end of which is quite, quite invisible) whereby your money is happily and wantonly and cheerfully spent by others, but - at the very least - you do get to use the accessories you have purchased and write about them here.

However; a note of caution must be sounded here. Precisely because that slippery slope is embarked upon rather gingerly, with an air of mild trepidation, the initial recommended purchases are generally those which require a fairly limited expenditure…….but that is only the start of the process...

 

[S.B.G]

Ah, but this is only the start of the slippery slope, that long, twisting, winding, and enticing road (the end of which is quite, quite invisible) whereby your money is happily and wantonly and cheerfully spent by others, but - at the very least - you do get to use the accessories you have purchased and write about them here.

However; a note of caution must be sounded here. Precisely because that slippery slope is embarked upon rather gingerly, with an air of mild trepidation, the initial recommended purchases are generally those which require a fairly limited expenditure…….but that is only the start of the process...

Indeed, you are correct! I already have two espresso machines and two grinders, plus many accessories. It only gets more expensive from here.

 

[Shrink]

Don't I know it! Shrink has already promised to spend more of my money the next time I decide to upgrade my espresso machine!

Just a little pro bono service that I offer.

I'm a full service shrink!😎

 

[S.B.G]

Just a little pro bono service that I offer.

I'm a full service shrink!😎

You're such a mensch!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Just a little pro bono service that I offer.

I'm a full service shrink!😎

Of coffee machines or of men (and women)? Those who have developed such a charming habit over the years…..

But advice and guidance on all sorts of matters is welcome….

You're such a mensch!

Yes, indeed. He is, he is…..

 

[Shrink]

You're such a mensch!

Of coffee machines or of men (and women)? Those who have developed such a charming habit over the years…..

But advice and guidance on all sorts of matters is welcome….



Yes, indeed. He is, he is…..

****/he blushes...becomingly😱****

 

[decafjava]

Well I returned from vacation at the right time it seems. Just spent 3 weeks, two weeks in Greece and one around home (meaning Geneva). Family reunion mainly. Some background: as I may have mentioned I am Canadian but born to Greek immigrants, still have family in Athens. Parents live in Canada. Sister lives in the US and married a fellow of Hungarian origin. So they left for 10 days to Budapest and various rural regions of Hungary before joining us in Athens for a week, then a fantastic sejour on the island of Milos where the famous "Venus" (really Aphrodite) de Milo was found. After that invited some family to visit here in Geneva to visit the city and surrounding destinations in France and French-speaking Switzerland.

Coffee? Yes! Some excellent Greek (err or Turkish, Ottoman?) coffee - some decent coffee here as well. Plus I make pretty good brew with Baletti. I must confess the heat especially in Greecemade me order some still enjoyable espresso freddo plus another alleged coffee-like cold beverage that will remain nameless (and was served very cold with milk and sugar to hide the fact it was not really err coffee). 😛

P.S. Although I was not there myself I have heard good coffee is to be had in Hungary.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Well I returned from vacation at the right time it seems. Just spent 3 weeks, two weeks in Greece and one around home (meaning Geneva). Family reunion mainly. Some background: as I may have mentioned I am Canadian but born to Greek immigrants, still have family in Athens. Parents live in Canada. Sister lives in the US and married a fellow of Hungarian origin. So they left for 10 days to Budapest and various rural regions of Hungary before joining us in Athens for a week, then a fantastic sejour on the island of Milos where the famous "Venus" (really Aphrodite) de Milo was found. After that invited some family to visit here in Geneva to visit the city and surrounding destinations in France and French-speaking Switzerland.

Coffee? Yes! Some excellent Greek (err or Turkish, Ottoman?) coffee - some decent coffee here as well. Plus I make pretty good brew with Baletti. I must confess the heat especially in Greecemade me order some still enjoyable espresso freddo plus another alleged coffee-like cold beverage that will remain nameless (and was served very cold with milk and sugar to hide the fact it was not really err coffee). 😛

P.S. Although I was not there myself I have heard good coffee is to be had in Hungary.

Sounds as though you had a terrific holiday.

Yes, the old Habsburg lands (the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire) which straddled central Europe down into the Balkans have all a culture of serving and drinking excellent coffee. To this day, Austria, Hungary, and further east down to the Balkan lands not just boast excellent coffee, but have a thriving café culture.

While there is Turkish coffee (the troops of the Ottoman Empire managed to get as far as the gates of Vienna) throughout the region, all sorts of other coffees are also to be found, and, (here, I heave a great sigh of nostalgia) the entire region is a veritable paradise for connoisseurs of coffee…...