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Best Coffee Maker
- Thread starter eric/
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Yes, making coffee with it is a strangely pleasing experience, and I really enjoy the slow, immensely relaxed pottering about during the actual preparation of the coffee in the moka pot; then, there is the waiting for the pot to heat on the stove, the pleasure of delayed gratification, and all of that…..
And finally, I must say that I really love the gurgling, spluttering sound it makes when the coffee is finally ready…..an unmistakable signal which is telling you to get up off your chair and pour yourself a cup - or three - of exquisite espresso….
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Ah, no. I beg to differ.
Now, I must confess that I rather like the ambience of SB cafés, they do stuff such as atmosphere, ambience, fittings, high ceilings, proper tiles, comfortable chairs, wifi, all rather well, and, indeed, it can seem an attractive place in which to while away an hour or two….
However, my problem is with the actual coffee for sale in SB, it is not very good - and I am writing as one who lapsed, and actually bought a double expresso in a SB this very week (my first in, oh, about two years), out of sheer, driven need.
This would not matter were it not for the fact that a coffee shop ought to be able to stand (or fall), or be judged, primarily, on the quality of the coffee it serves, and here, I regret to say, I think that SB falls rather far short, as the coffee is too insipid, burnt, and bitter, (all rather significant drawbacks to my - perhaps overly demanding mind and coffee desiring tastebuds...)….
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I must agree with you. Although I do drink Starbucks fairly often, I can't say their coffee is very good. It does tend towards the burnt side. Not my preference. But something about the place keeps me buying it. Not sure what it is... Might be all the things you mentioned... Ambiance, atmosphere etc. Somehow they make me buy their coffee, and it's not because of the actual coffee.
But the poor quality of the coffee is precisely what has driven me away from the place, because (splutter, splutter), as my fellow denizens of the coffee and espresso threads here will readily attest, coffee actually matters.
In fact, I agree that the ambience, furnishings and fittings in SB are indeed, rather attractive - I just wish that the coffee (after all, the whole - or, at least, the main point - of a coffee shop) - was an awful lot better. As it is, not only is it not good, it is, in fact, bloody awful ..
The funny thing is that I have tea-drinking friends, who, knowing that I like my coffee, keep suggesting SB as a place to meet (hoping to please me), and are surprised and, perhaps, a little discommoded - as I am, in turn, a little embarrassed - when I suggest alternative venues .
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For great affordable good quality coffee there are two ways to go
1 - If you like filter coffee
Cuisinart DGB 900BCU (replaced the DGB 600 BCU some years ago). The beans and water go in the top. The coffee comes out into a thermos carafe. The parts are easy to clean and replaceable with Cuisinart.
People can get very protective of their preferred brand of machine, but it's the beans that count far more than the machine. With this machine, you can tell your good beans (with the flavours you like) from the bad (or stale).
2 - If you like espresso, or espresso based drinks
Nespresso pods. Yes, purists will say the freshly ground beens of an old fashioned espresso machine taste better, but not everyone has ten minutes to spare to make an espresso, and then another 5 to clean up afterwards. Just put the pod in, get your shot (or double shot) and get on with your day. You have to have quite a refined coffee palate to tell Nespresso pods from very good quality non-pod coffee.
1 - If you like filter coffee
Cuisinart DGB 900BCU (replaced the DGB 600 BCU some years ago). The beans and water go in the top. The coffee comes out into a thermos carafe. The parts are easy to clean and replaceable with Cuisinart.
People can get very protective of their preferred brand of machine, but it's the beans that count far more than the machine. With this machine, you can tell your good beans (with the flavours you like) from the bad (or stale).
2 - If you like espresso, or espresso based drinks
Nespresso pods. Yes, purists will say the freshly ground beens of an old fashioned espresso machine taste better, but not everyone has ten minutes to spare to make an espresso, and then another 5 to clean up afterwards. Just put the pod in, get your shot (or double shot) and get on with your day. You have to have quite a refined coffee palate to tell Nespresso pods from very good quality non-pod coffee.
Yep, we will!
However, Shrink's Law dictates that if you like it, that's what counts.
For me, a French press is at least as easy, (or, failing that, a Hario ceramic drip and filter paper) as anything else, and is a lot more solidly authentic.
I'm with SBG and the others on this (but will readily concede the point about the dictates decreed by Shrink's Law); while the moka pot stove top method will take a few minutes, a nice Gaggia espresso maker takes a few seconds, and…….yes, I suppose we do think that the 'real deal' beats Nespresso…….
Yep, we will!
However, Shrink's Law dictates that if you like it, that's what counts.
Yes, agreed.
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Post of the Day!
My experience suggests otherwise. Over the past 30 years of pulling my own shots and (mostly) roasting my own coffee, I have introduced at least 100 people to their first taste of properly made espresso, which I define as high quality beans, properly roasted and consumed within 2-5 days of roasting and with the shot pulled, etc., within 15 seconds of being properly ground, with high quality water, etc.
Out of those 100* or so, I have never had a single person say they could not taste the huge difference.
When I operate in the reverse, going from a properly made espresso to stale coffee, the taste difference is staggering.
Not trying to pick a fight....just an observation. I agree with your other points, for the most part. To some people, convenience is more important than taste. I just wish more of those people had the opportunity to taste freshly and properly made espresso, and then I think most would change their tune. Coffee is an agricultural product. The difference between fresh and stale coffee is akin to the difference between fresh and stale tomatoes. Compare a store bought tomato, which has virtually no taste, with a tomato picked fresh from your garden. That's the difference between fresh and stale coffee.
* no, I have not kept track of the exact number. It could be many times this estimate.
"Best" is totally dependent on your goals in making your coffee. While I have admittedly gone the extreme manual route, I love my Londinium I lever machine.
Convenience is not an issue for me...I roast my own coffee, manually grind what I need, and use the lever machine to produce my espresso.
My goal is the freshest, best made espresso I can manage...not convenience.
If convenience is the issue...my way is is at the far opposite end of the continuum. If the best possible espresso, with maximal manual involvement is the goal...then I can't recommend the L1 enough.
And as the eponymous law states...if you like what you're making, that's all that matters.
ROTFLMAO!
Convenience is not an issue for me...I roast my own coffee, manually grind what I need, and use the lever machine to produce my espresso.
My goal is the freshest, best made espresso I can manage...not convenience.
If convenience is the issue...my way is is at the far opposite end of the continuum. If the best possible espresso, with maximal manual involvement is the goal...then I can't recommend the L1 enough.
And as the eponymous law states...if you like what you're making, that's all that matters.
ROTFLMAO!
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Somehow, I overlooked this .brilliant. Just brilliant.
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Yes, I too overlooked it as I was in a period of transition at the time it was posted.
Very good indeed!
Wait, I noticed a post y'all missed? That's.......incredible. I read threads backwards and often miss posts.
Anyway, I am so proud of our mobile friend. Witty, funny, and it shows the other thread in good regard.
Hehehe, I suppose it is bound to happen once in a while.
Oh, Lordy...now he'll never get his head through the doorway!
Oh, Lordy...now he'll never get his head through the doorway!
He'll now have to use the back entrance like you do!
No back entrance, but I find if I grease my ears and bolts I can slip through the front.
Yep.
No back entrance, but I find if I grease my ears I can slip through the front.
Don't underestimate the importance of that flat top of yours...
It's not easy being a man made monster...a little sympathy here!
Is your avatar a live shot?
Your neck must be killing you.......