GLENNZ Senior Member Joined: 27 Aug 2002 Posts: 73 Expertise: Intermediate
Espresso: la pavoni europiccola Grinder: bodum antiqua modified Drip: krups moka
Posted Sat Oct 12, 2002, 9:07am Subject: request a recommendation for coffee
i have been using illy expresso medium whole bean which is very good. as an altenative would Peets be as good a "quality" which is readilly available at whole foods and which style is recommended for straight expresso. thank you
Posted Wed Oct 16, 2002, 10:37am Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
Coffee recommendations can be tough since taste is subjective, but in terms of generally agreed upon quality definitions, Peet's is a good choice.
They do roast darker than some people like, although I've actually compared their beans visually and they don't all look as darkly roasted as I've heard claimed, but most of their blends are quite suitable to espresso and their best feature, even in the store (I always go to their local outlet instead) is that they put their roasting date on the coffee bag.
Buy whole bean, don't buy anything older than a week or so (some say two is ok), and you should only buy what you can use in a week or so.
FWIW, I'm partial to Major Dickasons and the Arabian Mocha-Java for espresso, but the Sumatra and others are good as well.
GLENNZ Senior Member Joined: 27 Aug 2002 Posts: 73 Expertise: Intermediate
Espresso: la pavoni europiccola Grinder: bodum antiqua modified Drip: krups moka
Posted Wed Oct 16, 2002, 11:23am Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
thanks Tarik and that is helpful! yes i liked major dickenson in french press so i will try it. i agree on the oily roasting and that's why i like the Illy. I tried the expresso from coffee bean ands leaf and it was to overoasted which is a shame as they are right here near where i am in woodland hills. how do you like your grinder? Glenn
Posted Thu Oct 17, 2002, 12:52pm Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
GLENNZ Said:
thanks Tarik and that is helpful! yes i liked major dickenson in french press so i will try it.
I must admit its a favorite of mine and I can pretty much tell what the espresso of the day is purely by taste.
i agree on the oily roasting and that's why i like the Illy. I tried the expresso from coffee bean ands leaf and it was to overoasted which is a shame as they are right here near where i am in woodland hills.
It's always worth asking them if they have a lighter roast.. or what I did with my local micro-roaster.. buy some green and experiment. My wife knew I was curious and actually goaded me into asking when we went in one morning for coffee and I started inspecting the industrial roaster he had in his shop.
how do you like your grinder? Glenn
I love it. I believe I posted a review of it with a lot of details if you check my profile. I mainly use it for press pot and vac pot brewing and the occasional arabic style turkish coffee. I plan on taking it to a wine dinner at my sisters this weekend to show them how to make espresso from their pump Krups. We'll see how that works.
I do plan on getting a Mazzer or something similar when I finally have a place to put an espresso machine such as the Tea or something comparable.
GLENNZ Senior Member Joined: 27 Aug 2002 Posts: 73 Expertise: Intermediate
Espresso: la pavoni europiccola Grinder: bodum antiqua modified Drip: krups moka
Posted Thu Oct 17, 2002, 4:47pm Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
sounds good and thanks!! by the way i got this inexpensive krups "gusto"($69 on sale at bed and bath!) to practice on and not bad. it does have a stainless boiler and a non pressurized filter baskets so you can practice tamp and grind. francis,francis has a new machine X5 i want to get that is getting some good feedback and coffeekid gave a good review on X3 and this is even better. thanks,glenn p.s. tarik - as a recommendation regarding peets coffee for expresso do you feel the 2 you mentioned above would be the least "bitter" and the "sweetest" so to speak of the lot still with nice thick "body" as that is my preference? i like to make ristretto and i like that syrup texture without any bitterness. the illy is pretty good but i am looking for others to try that are easily available like peets and seattles finest etc and also lavazza but i can only get that pre-ground.
Posted Fri Oct 18, 2002, 9:21am Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
GLENNZ Said:
sounds good and thanks!! by the way i got this inexpensive krups "gusto"($69 on sale at bed and bath!) to practice on and not bad.
I'll have to take your word for it although that may be what I'll be working with at my sister's house this weekend.
I've used a lot of 'home' machines and have long since come to the conclusion that the frustration factor is MUCH lower and ability to make better espresso is simply greater with a machine along the lines of a Livia, Tea, or similar sort of system.. and their longevity is better. The only smaller machine I enjoyed using was the Rancilio Rialto (pre Silvia, I think).
At work, we trashed a replacement Krups and then a ~$400 La Pavoni after our commercial unit was destroyed by UPS while being shipped for service. I will say that I thought the cheaper Krups was a better performer than the La Pavoni with it's fake metal plastic, but it died faster too under heavy usage.
p.s. tarik - as a recommendation regarding peets coffee for expresso do you feel the 2 you mentioned above would be the least "bitter" and the "sweetest" so to speak of the lot still with nice thick "body" as that is my preference?
Probably Major Dickasons and the Sumatra are the least bitter. Arabian Mocha-Java has more bitterness (but I like it a lot) and they have a new blend called Espresso Forte that is growing on me, but I haven't tried it straight yet. I haven't tried their Kona yet, but I did have some awesome espresso made with Kona while in Hawaii. A little more bitter, but very chocolaty (sp?)...
If you're in Seattle, you should try Espresso Vivace. I would love to make a field trip to try that.
GLENNZ Senior Member Joined: 27 Aug 2002 Posts: 73 Expertise: Intermediate
Espresso: la pavoni europiccola Grinder: bodum antiqua modified Drip: krups moka
Posted Fri Oct 18, 2002, 10:00am Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
thanks tarik and i appreciate the info! yeah i am a jazz musician and seattle is a good jazz town so i wouldn't mind getting up there again and checking out the coffee scene. regarding Krups i have not been impressed with there products for sure. i have had several low end machines and my briel started to leak so i began researching an upgrade more professional. i bought a starbucks barrista and the quality of the shot was terrible with the spring loaded portafilter. starbucks were very nice and apologetic and took it back. i will say it was solidly built though by saeco. so i bought this Krups gusto just to practice as it was easy to find and coffeekid had it on his website as bottom line recommendation for pump/boiler machine. I was going to get a Silvia but this new Francis X5 might be where i will end up, as it's small for the counter and looks great and will take the pod option which i want and comes with 3 baskets short,medium and long for pod handle and 2 for grounds and a brass boiler and brass portafilter and coffeekid gave the X3 a good review and i think this one is better with upgraded electronic temp control. so that's the current scene !! Glenn
spence Senior Member Joined: 15 Aug 2002 Posts: 103 Location: TivertonRI Expertise: Intermediate
Posted Fri Oct 18, 2002, 1:29pm Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
I was a die-hard Peets drinker and was making good espresso with the Peets until I tried the beans from Espresso Vivace...a totally new experience. While not starbucks burnt, the Peets espresso friendly blends were still too dark.
More towards the end of my Peets phase I also noticed a lot of bags that were over roasted. Perhaps a symptom of fame.
Overall they make great coffee, but if you get the espresso technique down I would recommend trying a variety of coffee to experience the difference - spence
GLENNZ Senior Member Joined: 27 Aug 2002 Posts: 73 Expertise: Intermediate
Espresso: la pavoni europiccola Grinder: bodum antiqua modified Drip: krups moka
Posted Fri Oct 18, 2002, 6:33pm Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
spence thanks and i agree ! i bought the major dickasons back and went back to my illy whole bean. Peets is good coffee for sure and truly it's a matter of taste but i am not into that burnt and over-roasted style anymore which is interesting as when i used to do french press i really liked that "bite". i only drink straight expresso now and ristretto and i and getting better and better on pulling shots. when it's right the illy gives me that nice high quality "syrup" that stays on your taste buds but not bitter or burnt. i see lots of options on geek on different coffee i never heard of and i never have ordered on line but would like to know more about what you are talking about. i would like try some lavazza whole bean but can't find it in a store here only pre-ground. tell me more! glenn
Posted Wed Oct 23, 2002, 11:44am Subject: Re: request a recommendation for coffee
GLENNZ Said:
Peets is good coffee for sure and truly it's a matter of taste but i am not into that burnt and over-roasted style
I tend not to be into dark roasted coffee anymore either, but for some reason Peet's manages to maintain distinctive varietal flavors well enough that I still like some of their coffee.
i only drink straight expresso now and ristretto and i and getting better and better on pulling shots.
Last weekend, I used Kona Mountain Coffee that I bought fresh medium roasted peaberry down the road from the farm when in Hawaii a few weeks ago. It made an truly amazing cappa on my sisters Krups (which I taught them how to use correctly). Not bitter at all and my wife drank the stuff straight while we were tasting at the farm. She NEVER drinks coffee straight, if at all.
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