My espresso machine wouldn't work this morning so I made coffee in a Bodum tea press

I have to take my espresso machine to some guy called "Rudy" on the upper West Side. Not many places service La Pavoni machines.

Wait, I know you're not Chris, he's someone totally different. Huh, that's the first time I've mixed up ILErs like that.

Perhaps you're not the only one who didn't the get right coffee dose today.

Your plight reminded me of an article I read in Gastronomica. You can download it here:

http://www.gastronomica.org/issues0603.html

It's called "make mine a ristretto".

Not this article: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/atoz/article_981622.php

Many people say they make very good coffee, but they don't make "true espresso" by snob standards (the pressure isn't high enough). For that matter it's not easy to make proper espresso even with some very good machines, so it's not unlikely that you got better results with the moka than with the other machines, especially if they were fully automatic (meaning more expensive and much shittier). Good espresso requires good beans, properly roasted and [referably within a couple weeks of roast, freshly ground in a proper burr grinder to an appropriate fineness, tamped with a considerable amount of force into a firm, level "cake" and then shot through with adequately hot water at a high level of pressure, not to mention extreme cleanliness of all parts that touch water/coffee, and filtered or bottled water. Considering all that room for error, odds are usually in favor of bad to mediocre espresso unless someone really knows what they're doing.

In some ways I think the comparison to wine is apt (though wine is probably considerably more difficult to get right than espresso). And imagine someone having tried only wine that had been heat-damaged or made with unclean equipment or with poor-quality grapes all their life and basing their opinion of wine on that.

I used to love ristrettos and short machiattos but I dont drink a lot of coffee anymore - caffiene messes with my hypoglycemia :( *grumble*

how can you tell if you have a decent machine - have the multiple thousand dollar one at work. you press yourself - i use full body weight practically, has good pressue but shot amount comes out in less than a minute probably. have special detached grinders tho. we use peet's espresso blend beans and filtered water... i don't think end product is mind blowing tho. slightly flavorless to bitter. i'm thinking its the beans.

I used to have a tiny stovetop one that did one short black: you sat the cup on a platform and the coffee dribbled down from a brass spout. I called them short machiattos even though they were probably a lot weaker (and a bit milkier) than the proper thing.

Of course the problem is that he comes home and complains endlessly about all the people who don't know anything about using the machine, but at least it's properly caffeinated complaining.

He makes excellent coffee (or so it seems to me).

coffee is my last addiction and i'm never giving it up everrrrrrrrrrr!

We recently got the Senseo. I don't want any other coffee now.

;-)

I used to be happy with that too, until suddenly, one day, it started tasting like cardboard instead of coffee. A couple of weeks later (nothing helped, all the flavours all tasted flat and fake), I ordered an espresso in a quite expensive pizza place where they had a Real espresso machine. Gave the Senseo away and got me a Gaggia Classic. Addicted to espresso now.

i will get a proper espresso machine next year. :-D

I've always been Senseo-curious, but they are banned from our house.

Why? I know that a Senseo is not the proper thing but for now it'll (have to) do.

BTW, this morning I made coffee in this fine MESH tea filter thingy, and with the coarsest grind possible, and it's actually quite good! Hooray!

I make mine in one of those waisted italian stovetop things (i'm sure i used to know a name for them that isn't moka); we've got a gaggia knocking about, in fact, but it never got enough use to justify having it constantly out since it's such a fuss to clean. In fact mine isn't stovetop: it's got a little electric element it sits on, like a cordless kettle, which turns itself off automatically when it's ready, so it's really really easy -- but I think it overcooks the coffee slightly so it isn't as good as you'd get from a normal one you have more control over. Also it's a six-cup (six espresso cups, though): ah, it's a good thing I don't get hyperactive. I need to start grinding my own beans, though, it takes me a a really long time to get through a pack of pre-ground lavazza and all that sitting around can't be good for it.

I got my Capresso burr grinder for $80 - there are much more expensive ones, but this one seems to do fine.

I pulled the trigger on an Aerobee Aeropress a couple months ago and it's my hands-down favorite right now.

(xpost)

BAN US

:-)

My Italian grandmother called it a macchinetta and indeed, the first thing that comes up in GIS is a stovetop coffee maker.

I have started using Illy preground espresso coffee in a pressurised tin through my Krups espresso maker - what's the verdict?

The main problem is that once you've opened those tins the shelf life is short. It will be fairly fresh when you open it though.

I always thought they should make some kind of vaccuum jar for coffee that can pump all the air out of itself and reseal. Do they?

VacuVin Coffee Saver Vacuum Jar

http://www.judyofthewoods.net/pump.html

Sad thing is she didn't even drink coffee and I've given up. Still, our colleagues like it.

re-vaccuuming a tin every time you want coffee seems like so much fuss, though, even compared to grinding fresh and cleaning up after.

I can see how a person might think this, but in fact it is not true. There are no lengths too great, apparently.

My favourite, favourite thing about the coffee in our house is that I never, ever have to make it myself, giving it all the advantages of restaurant coffee with all the advantages of home coffee.

We use Palombini beans, ground as needed. They are very good.

and if you can't find the pump you can suck the air out. TRUE LOVE FINDS A WAY.

http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/nirenberg/images/photos/instruments/06_fpress_pu.jpg

Seems a bit excessive, Derrick.