How do you prefer your coffee?

[Iain]

Three espresso machines, one at home, one in the car when I'm away and one in the shed.
I like Brazil Rex and Harris #5.
Instant coffee I cannot stand anymore, bit like diluted anaemic cats pee.
Thats just an opinion, no corespondence will be entered into.
Incidentally, Coles and The Warehouse have a 15 bar espresso machine for about $70 that works as well as the $500 machines. Called an IQ.

[simon c]

Can I be a spelling nazi and a coffee snob at the same time and point out that the word is ESPRESSO with an S which is based on the Italian word for pressure as it is preesure that is used in an espresso machine to get the coffee out of the beans and not EXPRESSO with an X which doesn't mean anything in Italian at all.

Regarding coffee, I buy mine from a coffee shop in Melbourne who roast it on the premises (it's called groundshot). They emphasise that the coffee is best drunk 7 days after it has been roast when the oil starts to appear on the beans and the beans look as though they are wet. If you use it too early then the flavour stays trapped in (rather like not leaving meat to stand) and if you use it too late then the oil has started to dry off. They keep their beans in daily drawers and rotate them so the beans are always at their peak. Quite a strong blend though.

Simon

[himzol]

I chose expresso,

this seems to be the strongest there, I normaly have instant at work (it's free). One suger Two Coffee's and a dribble of milk.

At home the burperlator comes out and keeps the engine running. We are planning on getting a expresso machine but at the moment other things are chewing into the budget.

Himzo.

[himzol]

Instant coffee I cannot stand anymore, bit like diluted anaemic cats pee.

How do you know? :confused:

[Grunt]

Should I buy a machine, or will it become another pain in the butt tinker toy which is more hassle than it's worth?

Absolutely. I bought one of the Nespresso (www.nespresso.com.au) machines on special. They use these little pods that contain the ground coffee. A little bit more expensive but no mess, no grinding and great coffee every time. Best thing I've bought since my TSC-10HB!

Choice had a test of Espresso machines. Here is the highlights:
What to buy :

Brand Price
KRUPS Nespresso 893 $499*
SAECO Magic Espresso $349
BREVILLE ESP8 $194

[Caliban]

How do you know? :confused:

Oh come on Himzo, you don't expect him to drink undiluted anaemic cat's pee do you?

[Cliff Rogers]

.... you don't expect him to drink undiluted anaemic cat's pee do you?

I wouldn't....... - :eek:
http://www.catclinic.co.uk/health/anaemia.htm

[AlexS]

Chernobyl strength plunger, white + 2 please. First one after brekkie while I read the paper & do the cryptic, 2nd one sometime in the morning if I take a break, 3rd one mid afternoon. Any later than that and I can't sleep.

[Sturdee]

The question of how do you prefer your coffee reminded me of a long time ago when an old flame used to ask " Coffee, tea or me? "

Now coffee should be like a women, mine is white and sweet others have it hot and black and some even have it bitter and frothy but without substance. :eek:


Peter.

[bloggs1968]

For me it's espresso and bloody lots of it.

Freshly roasted beans that have "outgassed" for a few days to get the flavour just right. I used to be a Vittoria man until it was explained to me that the vacuum packed beans in the shops are "old" beans. Beans actually continue to outgas for quite a few days after roasting and if they were fresh when they were vacuum sealed, the packets would explode!

A coffee mad mate got me on to the absolute best coffee machine on the market - the La Pavoni Professional Lusso - a beautiful chromed lever job that uses brute force not steam pressure to pass the water through the grinds (see http://www.lapavoni.com/Shopping/Sho...item=22&lang=2). Totally bitter free taste. Very reliable and in nearly 4 years, I have only had one small seal go in it. Same design since the 50's or 60's I believe. I cringed at the cost initially but my wife, who also likes her coffee, easily justified with a breakdown of cost per cup over the life of the unit.(Now if I could just apply the same argument to some new tools!)

I even get up half an hour early so I can squeeze in three before I walk out the door plus some more when I get home.

regards,

Andrew

[Cliff Rogers]

The question of how do you prefer your coffee ... coffee should be like a women...

the way I heard it was "white with 2, or strong & black"

[silentC]

Can I be a spelling nazi and a coffee snob at the same time and point out that the word is ESPRESSO with an S

es·pres·so (-sprs, -sprs) also ex·pres·so (k-sprs, k-)
n. pl. es·pres·sos

A strong coffee brewed by forcing steam under pressure through darkly roasted, powdered coffee beans.

[simon c]

Hi silentc

Probability, spelling - why don't we just stick to easy subjects like politics and religion?

[simon c]

A few people have asked whether it is worth getting a decent coffee machine. I bought a very expensive machine about 4 years ago and my main question was: will it end up like like our juicer or our friend's bread machine and get used everyday for 3 months and then end up in a cupboard.

What I bought was a Saeco fully automatic machine. It cost about $2,000. You fill the water reservoir and the bean holder and when you want a cup of coffee you press the button and it grinds the coffee, outs the coffee in the holder brews the coffee and throws the grinds into a small bin. You empty the bin once a week and clean the mechanism once a month. I have had it for 4 years and it has dispensed 3,500 shots of coffee (note that I normally have a double shot). I no longer drink instant coffee, not just because of teh taste but because I can make a real cup of coffee in less time that it takes to boil a kettle. In addition, my version has a tube taht you put into a bottle of milk that sucks up the milk, froths it and squirts it into a cup. It's basically a smaller version of the type of machine you find in the Qanta club lounge and the like except that I put decent coffee in it.

Saeco is the main brand for fully automatic machines but a few other companies are getting on the bandwagon recently.

When it came down to it, I had the choice of spending $800 on an ordianry machine that would be a novelty or $2,000 on the real thing. After 4 years my coffee machine plays as fundamental a role in my kitchen as the kettle.

Simon

http://www.saeco.com.au/

[silentC]

My machine is an el-cheapo Sunbeam. I've got two actually, one at home and one in the office. I've had the one at home for about 3-4 years and it is used a couple of times on the weekend. The one in the office I've had for a year and is used at least twice a day during the week.

There's no way I would spend more than $300-$400 on something like this. I'm fussy enough to prefer expresso but not fussy enough to spend more than I spent on my tablesaw! Besides, it would do me no good to be fussy because where I live, I'm lucky I can get beans for it at all, let alone have a choice of what type.

I always wanted to get one of those big jobs like they have in the Cafe's but never had the opportunity. They're not cheap either - even second hand.