Speaking of CoffeeCup - how I make...

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It is a work in progress. I am trying grinding finer it seems to release more of the oils. Too fine and too tamped down and the poor espresso machine just grunts. It is a fine line. We have a couple of good coffee houses that make a good cuppa. I haven't quite achieved the best yet. Getting there. It has to be made fresh. I do not think I will resort to roasting from scratch although I may try with a light roast style and see if I can pep it up. It is an art to get it between bitter and bland.
The Guy from OZ


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Most inexpensive home espresso machines are pretty bad. Gotta pay the big bucks to get something with good pressure and consistency.
I've found that the stove-top espresso pots come closest to what I make at the coffee shop (with an $8000 machine). Good crema, never over-extracted. It helps to have a good burr grinder too.
For cappuccino, I've got a stainless steel frother with a mesh and plastic plunger. Kind of like churning butter :lol:, but it creates really thick creamy microfoam – like milk pudding. I like to put a bit of vanilla and sugar in the milk before I froth it. Good article/explanation here:
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-C … B000H6VP2O

Melissa, most chain coffee shops don't make actual cappuccinos. They tend to think latte and cappuccino are the same thing :P
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/ever … omics.html

The short cappuccino has the same amount of espresso as the 12-ounce tall, meaning a bolder coffee taste, and also a better one. The World Barista Championship rules, for example, define a traditional cappuccino as a "five- to six-ounce beverage." This is also the size of cappuccino served by many continental cafés. Within reason, the shorter the cappuccino, the better.

The problem with large cappuccinos is that it's impossible to make the fine-bubbled milk froth ("microfoam," in the lingo) in large quantities, no matter how skilled the barrista. A 20-ounce cappuccino is an oxymoron. Having sampled the short cappuccino in a number of Starbucks across the world, I can confirm that it is a better drink than the buckets of warm milk—topped with a veneer of froth—that the coffee chain advertises on its menus
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Prism wrote:
It is a work in progress. I am trying grinding finer it seems to release more of the oils. Too fine and too tamped down and the poor espresso machine just grunts. It is a fine line. We have a couple of good coffee houses that make a good cuppa. I haven't quite achieved the best yet. Getting there. It has to be made fresh. I do not think I will resort to roasting from scratch although I may try with a light roast style and see if I can pep it up. It is an art to get it between bitter and bland.


Yeah, I understand making good espresso is like an art or something.

Melissa Rhiannon
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paintbrush wrote:
Most inexpensive home espresso machines are pretty bad. Gotta pay the big bucks to get something with good pressure and consistency.
I've found that the stove-top espresso pots come closest to what I make at the coffee shop (with an $8000 machine). Good crema, never over-extracted. It helps to have a good burr grinder too.
For cappuccino, I've got a stainless steel frother with a mesh and plastic plunger. Kind of like churning butter :lol:, but it creates really thick creamy microfoam – like milk pudding. I like to put a bit of vanilla and sugar in the milk before I froth it. Good article/explanation here:
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-C … B000H6VP2O

Melissa, most chain coffee shops don't make actual cappuccinos. They tend to think latte and cappuccino are the same thing :P
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/ever … omics.html

The short cappuccino has the same amount of espresso as the 12-ounce tall, meaning a bolder coffee taste, and also a better one. The World Barista Championship rules, for example, define a traditional cappuccino as a "five- to six-ounce beverage." This is also the size of cappuccino served by many continental cafés. Within reason, the shorter the cappuccino, the better.

The problem with large cappuccinos is that it's impossible to make the fine-bubbled milk froth ("microfoam," in the lingo) in large quantities, no matter how skilled the barrista. A 20-ounce cappuccino is an oxymoron. Having sampled the short cappuccino in a number of Starbucks across the world, I can confirm that it is a better drink than the buckets of warm milk—topped with a veneer of froth—that the coffee chain advertises on its menus


Thanks for this, paintbrush, very interesting.

Well the De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker gets a LOT of great reviews at Amazon.com and is only $80, but even to spend that, I'm gonna need to find a cappucino that wows me enough to want to make espresso.

But come to think if it, I even like the taste of a shot of espresso in my iced coffees. 95% of the coffee I make and drink here is iced coffee, which I prefer.

You wanna get treated like you just landed from Mars, go to a restaurant and ask for iced coffee. :lol:
About 70% of waitresses tell me they don't know how to make it! I tell them; you fill a glass with ice, pour the coffee over it ( just like iced tea! ) and bring me some cream with it please. :lol:


Melissa Rhiannon
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I grew up in an area where iced coffee was just as popular as iced tea. When i first moved to St. Louis ('89), one couldn't even get espresso at an Italian restaurant. As for iced coffee – I was once served a cup of hot coffee with 2 ice cubes in it :P

These are great for making iced coffee: http://www.toddycafe.com/
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paintbrush wrote:
I grew up in an area where iced coffee was just as popular as iced tea. When i first moved to St. Louis ('89), one couldn't even get espresso at an Italian restaurant. As for iced coffee – I was once served a cup of hot coffee with 2 ice cubes in it :P


Oh yeah. I've been given a cup of hot coffee and a tall glass of ice, and then had to dribble it all over the table trying to pour from one to the other. Those waitresses get a lot less of a tip.

We tip 0-25%, based on service.

I've only left 2 cent tips about 3 times in my life, and they deserved them!

A waitress friend years ago, taught me about that one. If you leave nothing, they think you forgot, or are cheap, but 2 cents tells them their service wasn't worth 2 cents but at least you left them that.



Melissa Rhiannon
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If I get bad service, I always ask why I got the bad service. Because it may just be the person is having a bad day... But I have left a few 2 cent tips myself, I know the business is hard work, but you have to give it your all at all times... When I do get bad service, the food does not seem to be good ither.
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This thread is way too long and too popular with too many people. Something is terribly wrong!




Of course, I'm the guy who takes the leftover coffee home after the Masons meeting and drinks it over ice for the next week. So what do I know?
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Halfnium wrote:
This thread is way too long and too popular with too many people. Something is terribly wrong!




Of course, I'm the guy who takes the leftover coffee home after the Masons meeting and drinks it over ice for the next week. So what do I know?


Seeing as CC started out as a Coffee Shop it seems this post is long over due. :P
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Melissa Brookstone wrote:
I'm a "freak" when it comes to making the best popcorn


Well, I know to use coconut oil and good-quality corn... and to add the (finely ground) salt to the oil prior to the poppage so that it's in the corn, not on it.

But I'm having difficulty locating the butterine, or Flavacol, or whatever, in less-than-gallon quantities (cough Amazon cough) - if that's even the right stuff. What do you use?

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