Expresso !!!

[DrDan]

Years ago when down in KeyWest I got in the habbit of having a Double Expresso at a little Cuban walk up convenience store at the start of each day. Had a little pot to brew it in which wasn't very good (gasket was always going bad). Sooooo to make a long story short I forgot how good it is.

Just bought an expresso maker and wow! Had three doubles tonite and got the basement cleaned, etc., etc., etc.

Any of the rest of you ever try it?

Boondox do you have any recomendations for good tasting coffee to use for expresso?

DrDan

 

[MChalkley]

I love expresso, but haven't ever made any myself.

Whadja git?

 

[looch]

I just counted my coffee machines - I have 8! My favorite is one of the more simple designs. It's an old Italian model. It's basically a cup with a screw-on top/compartment which holds about 2 tablespoons of coffee. Another section, almost identical to the bottom, screws on to the top of this assembly. You end up with a cylinder that has coffee grounds in the center. You put water in the bottom and put it on the stove. When the water is hot enough, you flip the whole thing over and the hot water passes through the grounds and ends up in the top (now on the bottom) compartment.
As for the type of coffee, I really like the Nabob Dark Roast. I don't think it's possible to make coffee that is too strong for me.

 

[rdln]

It's "Espresso" sillies. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[looch]

It's been long and arduous, but my wife has taught me that sometimes it's better not to correct people /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif.

 

[Knight9]

<font color=blue>It's been long and arduous, but my wife has taught me that sometimes it's better not to correct people</font color=blue>

Except when it comes to Canadian Geography....<font color=blue>By the way, it's Quebec - not Ontario</font color=blue> /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

From the Alberta guy,
Kevin

 

[looch]

Very observant, Kevin.

Old habits die hard./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif When will I learn?

 

[Knight9]

Just funnin' with you Paul!!! My wife has been trying for 10 years to teach me things like that. I'm pretty sure she has just about given up /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Kevin

 

[RobertN]

We have four coffee makers... One drip, one press, one steam espresso, one pump espresso. Takes up half the counter!

One of the fun things was at the place I used to work. They opened a coffe bar a few years back, right after I had my first Mocha. One of the guys gave me free Mocha's and Latte's while he tried different flavor additions(Torani flavors). There was the white chocolate mocha, strawberry, rasbeery, banana, one called a snickers bar... It was fun.

My tummy can't handle more than a double shot; too acidic. I tried a qaud shot mocha one day. It just about made me sick!

We found that expierimenting with beans for the perfect espresso is fun. We use Starbucks beans, and beans from a couple local shops. We try different flavors a s fancy dictates/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

I have to have Mocha's. One, it serves my urge for chocolate. Two, I just can't drink espresso staight. I have a friend who does, but to me it's like motor oil.

I like the pump machine we got at Starbucks. It makes a really nice pour. My wife likes our older Krups steam machine though. The new one is faster and easier. It is especially nice for follow up shots. The old steam one makes a couple nice drinks, then you have to weait for it to cool, and start over.

I have found that I get in the espresso/mocha habit, and then grind the beans to fine for the drip coffee maker. Makes it too bitter.

Our machine see daily use. The Krups machine is 10 years old now, and keeps cranking them out.

 

[DrDan]

I blew it big time... Bought a Rancilio Silvia with a Rocky grinder. It does a wonderful job, but I'm using pre-roasted beans so I know I can do better when I get some green beans and start roasting my own.

Now what the heck do I do with all this energy? Just finished a cuppacino and I'm ready to "rock"!

DrDan

 

[MChalkley]

DrDan - You did go for the gold, didn't you? No sense getting a lousy one and having to buy another one just to correct the first mistake.

Like you said, you'll really notice the difference when you roast your own beans.

 

[DrDan]

Oh yes this coffee was free with the machine and "I know better" than to use pre-ground and pre-roasted coffee. It is a little bitter and they say the Espresso from God doesn't have that bittter pang. Oh well - got years to play with it.

Boondocks got me all strung out on La Minita Terrazu green beans and now I waiting for his recommendations for an Espresso blend. He knows his stuff!

I did learn one thing already - no espresso at 2AM!

DrDan

 

[Boondox]

Dan -- With access to pretty much every Arabica bean on the planet, I prefer making my espresso out of a slightly overroasted (darker roast, but not like French Roast with all the coffee character burned out) Latin American bean. Now and then our roasters make a mistake and over-roast something -- and we have a lot of fun with the green samples sent in by hopeful suppliers -- but for my taste I prefer our La Minita Terrazu Dark or our Colombian Popayan Dark. Another reason for a less dark roast is the higher caffeine content = more of a morning pick me up.

My wife and I are addicts! We've started every day of our lives together with an espresso drink, and have two emergency backup machines should our primary pump go down!

Pete

 

[Boondox]

Robert -- If you like chocolate try using Yemen Mocha beans. No flavors involved, just a solid coffee with a hint of a chocolate aftertaste.

Pete

 

[MChalkley]

Pete - Seconded!!!! The coffees from Yemen are wonderful. My favorites, by far. I envy you for having so many different kinds of green beans at your 'disposal', though. (I know that's a poor word choice to use here - I can't think of a better way to dispose of them...)

 

[RobertN]

Pete,
That sounds good! But, where do you look for these types of beans? I have never seen anything like that, or the other beans you mentioned in this thread.

 

[DrDan]

Pete

So are you saying just take the La Minita Terrazu Beans and roast them through second crack?

I bought some from Sweet Maria's cuz I was despirate during the holidays (noone was answering your line), but will get them from you next time.

Thanks

DrDan

 

[Boondox]

We have them at www.greenmountaincoffee.com. For those of you in the south, Caribou Coffee is an excellent micro-roaster. Out west, try Bad [censored] Coffee. Actually, there are a lot of excellent roasters all over. Look for one small enough so the passion for coffee still controls the passion for profit.

Pete