Espresso Enthusiasts

SandboxGeneral · Sep 20, 2014

570934 said:
This thread is getting tooooo long lol.

Having worked in Italy on and off over the years I'm very much a bean addict. Only problem is whenever I return to the UK I just can't find that.....how can I put it, smile in a cup. The chains just don't cut it, well they are OK, I hate Starbucks, UK chain Costa isn't too bad, I do like my Flat Whites after several trips to Oz, but.

So I bought a Gaggia Brera a couple of years ago and love it. But, I still can't find that perfect bean blend which takes me back to Italy. Can anyone point me in the right direction of a authentic Italian blend which is available to purchase? I do use Lavazza Expresso which is very nice, but I need to find the zenith

Also, micro foam, full fat or ski skimmed ?

Welcome to the thread! As far as it getting too long, well, it's barely middle-aged. Once it gets to 10,000 posts, we'll have to shut it down and make a new one. That's when the server load gets to be a bit much for one thread.

As for your other questions about authentic Italian coffee bean blends, there are a few in here that should be able to help you out. I, as it were, cannot, since I've never been there and cannot draw from any experiences.

Scepticalscribe · Sep 20, 2014

570934 said:
This thread is getting tooooo long lol.

Having worked in Italy on and off over the years I'm very much a bean addict. Only problem is whenever I return to the UK I just can't find that.....how can I put it, smile in a cup. The chains just don't cut it, well they are OK, I hate Starbucks, UK chain Costa isn't too bad, I do like my Flat Whites after several trips to Oz, but.

So I bought a Gaggia Brera a couple of years ago and love it. But, I still can't find that perfect bean blend which takes me back to Italy. Can anyone point me in the right direction of a authentic Italian blend which is available to purchase? I do use Lavazza Expresso which is very nice, but I need to find the zenith

Also, micro foam, full fat or ski skimmed ?

Ah, welcome to Paradise; our very own lovely corner of caffeine fuelled, cheerfully deranged but stupefyingly well informed espresso and coffee related insanity.

But. Pay heed: A kind word of gentle warning: Put padlocks on your wallet and chains on your credit card. This thread takes a strange and wholesome delight in the glorious pursuit of vicarious expenditure…….of other people's money…………on anything and everything to do with coffee……...

570934 · Sep 20, 2014

Scepticalscribe said:
Ah, welcome to Paradise; our very own lovely corner of caffeine fuelled, cheerfully deranged but stupefyingly well informed espresso and coffee related insanity.

But. Pay heed: A kind word of gentle warning: Put padlocks on your wallet and chains on your credit card. This thread takes a strange and wholesome delight in the glorious pursuit of vicarious expenditure.of other people's moneyon anything and everything to do with coffee...

Sign me up, how much do I need to send to the bean god? :0

SandboxGeneral · Sep 20, 2014

570934 said:
Sign me up, how much do I need to send to the bean god? :0

Everything in your wallet, and any and all of your bank accounts. That's just to get started by the way.

570934 · Sep 20, 2014

SandboxGeneral said:
Everything in your wallet, and any and all of your bank accounts. That's just to get started by the way.

lol well I'll just have to get the wifey to work longer hours

mobilehaathi · Sep 21, 2014

570934 said:
This thread is getting tooooo long lol.

Having worked in Italy on and off over the years I'm very much a bean addict. Only problem is whenever I return to the UK I just can't find that.....how can I put it, smile in a cup. The chains just don't cut it, well they are OK, I hate Starbucks, UK chain Costa isn't too bad, I do like my Flat Whites after several trips to Oz, but.

So I bought a Gaggia Brera a couple of years ago and love it. But, I still can't find that perfect bean blend which takes me back to Italy. Can anyone point me in the right direction of a authentic Italian blend which is available to purchase? I do use Lavazza Expresso which is very nice, but I need to find the zenith

Also, micro foam, full fat or ski skimmed ?

Wish I could help out on the bean problem, but I'm not too sure about bean options outside of the US.

As for foam.....full fat, always.

570934 · Sep 21, 2014

mobilehaathi said:
Wish I could help out on the bean problem, but I'm not too sure about bean options outside of the US.

As for foam.....full fat, always.

Full fat confirmed

Still wish I could get that smooth cream though, can't quite do the patterns

Scepticalscribe · Sep 21, 2014

mobilehaathi said:
Wish I could help out on the bean problem, but I'm not too sure about bean options outside of the US.

As for foam.....full fat, always.

Agree on the choice of full fat; some individuals (I had to stop myself from committing to paper - keyboard - screen - other, less neutral words) disdain full fat, on grounds of excess calories, depth of taste, texture

For me, if you are going to try dairy products, well, try the real stuff, not the insipid tasting substitutes; if calories are an issue, make sure that the calories you eat taste good. And, for texture and taste, nothing touches full fat; better still is deeply rich organic full fat milk.

When I was a child, we had milk delivered to our door, the sort of milk where the cream rose to the top of the bottle, leaving a lovely little creamy moustache when you drank a glass of it. Yum.

Now, for foam, full fat; I'd be capable of using cream, and double cream when I can lay hands on it...

mobilehaathi · Sep 21, 2014

Scepticalscribe said:
Agree on the choice of full fat; some individuals (I had to stop myself from committing to paper - keyboard - screen - other, less neutral words) disdain full fat, on grounds of excess calories, depth of taste, texture

For me, if you are going to try dairy products, well, try the real stuff, not the insipid tasting substitutes; if calories are an issue, make sure that the calories you eat taste good. And, for texture and taste, nothing touches full fat; better still is deeply rich organic full fat milk.

Precisely my reasoning as well. Life is too short to consume reduced fat dairy!

Scepticalscribe · Sep 22, 2014

mobilehaathi said:
Precisely my reasoning as well. Life is too short to consume reduced fat dairy!

It is the old "I want the calories I eat to be good calories", i.e. the sort of calories that offer the experience of taste and texture - sensations usually sadly lacking from the supposedly healthy but insipid substitutes so often on offer.

SandboxGeneral · Sep 22, 2014

mobilehaathi said:
Precisely my reasoning as well. Life is too short to consume reduced fat dairy!

Scepticalscribe said:
It is the old "I want the calories I eat to be good calories", i.e. the sort of calories that offer the experience of taste and texture - sensations usually sadly lacking from the supposedly healthy but insipid substitutes so often on offer.

I've recently switched back to whole, "full fat" milk too!

mobilehaathi · Sep 22, 2014

SandboxGeneral said:
I've recently switched back to whole, "full fat" milk too!

Good call!

The fat helps with the creation of micro-bubbles too...

This weekend I started roasting the Moka Kadir blend from SM's that our dear friend Shrink reccomended. It needs another day or so to rest I think, but I'm looking forward to pulling some shots with some home roast.

SandboxGeneral · Sep 22, 2014

mobilehaathi said:
Good call! The fat helps with the creation of micro-bubbles too...

This weekend I started roasting the Moka Kadir blend from SM's that our dear friend Shrink reccomended. It needs another day or so to rest I think, but I'm looking forward to pulling some shots with some home roast.

Agreed it does make better bubbles in the milk. But I'm still not convinced that the wand on our Gaggia's are the best we could be using.

Scepticalscribe · Sep 22, 2014

A package arrived today; it is, as yet, unopened. (Other matters intruded, insane, grotesque, strangely stressful in other circumstances but yet hilarious domestic emergencies).

But, from the label, I believe that I can conclude that the contents may include a handmade grinder..

And, re what is erroneously termed the 'full fat' - versus 'other' - debate: Whenever did what was normal, cheerful, (that white moustache again) tasty, healthy milk - what we thought was milk when we were children - become this disgusting insipid excuse for milk?

I had forgotten how good the real stuff tasted until I attended an organic food fair in Bristol eight years ago, a visit which rekindled childhood memories of just how bloody good this real (preferably organic and properly fresh) milk tasted. Since then, it is only real, 'full fat', (organic) creamy milk that I will allow into my house, or coffee cup.

The other stuff I disdain; I'd rather drink my coffee black than suffer that ghastly insipid pallid excuse for milk.

mobilehaathi · Sep 22, 2014

Scepticalscribe said:
A package arrived today; it is, as yet, unopened. (Other matters intruded, insane, grotesque, strangely stressful in other circumstances but yet hilarious domestic emergencies).

But, from the label, I believe that I can conclude that the contents may include a handmade grinder..

And, re what is erroneously termed the 'full fat' - versus 'other' - debate: Whenever did what was normal, cheerful, (that white moustache again) tasty, healthy milk - what we thought was milk when we were children - become this disgusting insipid excuse for milk?

I had forgotten how good the real stuff tasted until I attended an organic food fair in Bristol eight years ago, a visit which rekindled childhood memories of just how bloody good this real (preferably organic and properly fresh) milk tasted. Since then, it is only real, 'full fat', (organic) creamy milk that I will allow into my house, or coffee cup.

The other stuff I disdain; I'd rather drink my coffee black than suffer that ghastly insipid pallid excuse for milk.

Oh joyous news! A new grinder has arrived, and, well, that's certainly cause for caffeination.

I don't consume too much milk, in fact when I do buy it it's entirely used as an ingredient in something else I'm making. I haven't drank a glass of milk in years.... This partly because I was severely lactose intolerant as a child and partly because I was always given 'skim milk,' which struck me as nothing more than cloudy grey water. Blech!

Organic whole milk, or as we in the US seem to like to call it 'Vitamin D' milk (LOL) is definitely the way to go. If you can find raw nonhomogenized milk, even better. Although I do enjoy picking the cream off the top....

SandboxGeneral · Sep 23, 2014

Scepticalscribe said:
A package arrived today; it is, as yet, unopened. (Other matters intruded, insane, grotesque, strangely stressful in other circumstances but yet hilarious domestic emergencies).

But, from the label, I believe that I can conclude that the contents may include a handmade grinder..

And, re what is erroneously termed the 'full fat' - versus 'other' - debate: Whenever did what was normal, cheerful, (that white moustache again) tasty, healthy milk - what we thought was milk when we were children - become this disgusting insipid excuse for milk?

I had forgotten how good the real stuff tasted until I attended an organic food fair in Bristol eight years ago, a visit which rekindled childhood memories of just how bloody good this real (preferably organic and properly fresh) milk tasted. Since then, it is only real, 'full fat', (organic) creamy milk that I will allow into my house, or coffee cup.

The other stuff I disdain; I'd rather drink my coffee black than suffer that ghastly insipid pallid excuse for milk.

Oh goody! Your new grinder has arrived. It's been a long time coming to be sure.

I look forward to hearing your review after using it.

Scepticalscribe · Sep 23, 2014

SandboxGeneral said:
Oh goody! Your new grinder has arrived. It's been a long time coming to be sure.

I look forward to hearing your review after using it.

Thank you. I know that the denizens of this thread thrill with a deep, heartfelt and utterly vicarious sense of fellow feeling whenever one of us acquires a new (I was about to write 'toy') piece of (coffee related) equipment.

Well, I'll use up the pre-ground (and excellent) stuff that I have from Intelligentsia first, and then place a fresh order.

This is a new experience for me, too.the land of grinding my own. (And no, I don't ever foresee the day when I shall roast my own)

SandboxGeneral · Sep 23, 2014

Scepticalscribe said:
Thank you. I know that the denizens of this thread thrill with a deep, heartfelt and utterly vicarious sense of fellow feeling whenever one of us acquires a new (I was about to write 'toy') piece of (coffee related) equipment.

Well, I'll use up the pre-ground (and excellent) stuff that I have from Intelligentsia first, and then place a fresh order.

This is a new experience for me, too……….the land of grinding my own. (And no, I don't ever foresee the day when I shall roast my own……)

I'm not so sure I'll ever end up roasting my own beans either, at least, at this point of my life. But we never know what the future holds.

mobilehaathi · Sep 23, 2014

Scepticalscribe said:
Thank you. I know that the denizens of this thread thrill with a deep, heartfelt and utterly vicarious sense of fellow feeling whenever one of us acquires a new (I was about to write 'toy') piece of (coffee related) equipment.

Well, I'll use up the pre-ground (and excellent) stuff that I have from Intelligentsia first, and then place a fresh order.

This is a new experience for me, too.the land of grinding my own. (And no, I don't ever foresee the day when I shall roast my own)

Just make sure to take the time and adjust the grind several times to get the grounds the way you like!

Scepticalscribe · Sep 23, 2014

mobilehaathi said:
Just make sure to take the time and adjust the grind several times to get the grounds the way you like!

Ah. Thank you, I'll most certainly bear this in mind.

Now that is an interesting instruction, as, I have yet to determine what form exactly is the one I prefer. Yes, I drink espresso (and a lot of it, as my fellow enthusiasts on this splendid thread know all too well).

However: I also drink coffee made with a French press, and also with my Hario drip cone.

So, it seems that adjustments will have to be 1) experimented with, 2) learned, 3) mastered, and - most important, this one - 4) remembered. This promises to be an interesting challenge...

mobilehaathi · Sep 23, 2014

Scepticalscribe said:
Ah. Thank you, I'll most certainly bear this in mind.

Now that is an interesting instruction, as, I have yet to determine what form exactly is the one I prefer. Yes, I drink espresso (and a lot of it, as my fellow enthusiasts on this splendid thread know all too well).

However: I also drink coffee made with a French press, and also with my Hario drip cone.

So, it seems that adjustments will have to be 1) experimented with, 2) learned, 3) mastered, and - most important, this one - 4) remembered. This promises to be an interesting challenge...

Yep, quite right!

The Blue Bottle preparation guides have some visuals of
'appropriate' grind levels for your guidance, which you may find useful.

Scepticalscribe · Sep 23, 2014

mobilehaathi said:
Yep, quite right!

The Blue Bottle preparation guides have some visuals of
'appropriate' grind levels for your guidance, which you may find useful.

Practical help along with moral support and encouragement! What more could one ask for?

Anyway, many thanks for posting this - much appreciated, and - needless to say - it is something which I shall find most helpful.

Scepticalscribe · Sep 23, 2014

Well, as I am perusing this thread, not quite idly, and contemplating some arrears of correspondence, I am also sipping a nice mug (yes, mug, not cup) of coffee, to wit, Organic Los Delirios of Nicaragua (courtesy of the Intelligentsia coffee company), which is one of a number of excellent suggestions and recommendations which have been made to me on this thread.

So, my grateful thanks to the helpful hints and advice proffered by my fellow coffee fiends and fanatics on this very thread; they have immeasurably enhanced my enjoyment of coffee, and I must say that the coffee roasted and shipped by Intelligentsia is truly excellent...

SandboxGeneral · Sep 23, 2014

As previously mentioned in another thread some time ago and with the knowledge that Scepticalscribe is quite fond of, old world style maps and such, I finally got around to ordering a second frame to hold the remaining map I had purchased a while back.

He is a photo of them together on my wall, albeit not a very good photo, but a photo nonetheless.

The one on the right, which is a modern day map is the one I hung today.

(oh yeah, and I like coffee)

mobilehaathi · Sep 23, 2014

SandboxGeneral said:
As previously mentioned in another thread some time ago and with the knowledge that Scepticalscribe is quite fond of, old world style maps and such, I finally got around to ordering a second frame to hold the remaining map I had purchased a while back.

He is a photo of them together on my wall, albeit not a very good photo, but a photo nonetheless.

The one on the right, which is a modern day map is the one I hung today.

View attachment 496031

(oh yeah, and I like coffee)

Sweet! I wish I could hang things on my walls, but the landlord gets angry if I put holes in the wall....

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