Posted Fri May 2, 2008, 9:04am Subject: Houston Newbie
Hi everyone, I just wanted to introduce myself, I am a English Houstonian who recently got hooked on the Espresso making experience, I think I probably enjoy making espresso more than actually drinking it.
I have started off with an Ebayed Delonghi EC-701, this is my learning machine and boy have I learnt a lot, it seems though that with every step forward there are two steps back. I have been up to yesterday buying beans at Whole Foods and using their grinder. Although I am sure there are better beans, I know for a fact that the grinder is terrible, so after a month of fighting the grinder issue I started to look on ebay for a Mazzer SJ or equivelant, so yesterday I finaly picked up a Mazzer SJ Timer off a local Houstonian from Craigslist, it came out of a restaurant and was rarely used, it is in perfect condition, i didn't even have to clean it, it looks brand new, so now I am trying to figure out how to dial it in to the Delonghi no easy task.
I have a few questions that I hope you all can help me with:
Where in Houston is the best place to buy beans, I would rather go and pick them up than have them delivered? I'm pretty sure the baristas at Whole Foods have'nt got a clue what they are doing, so even though they roast their own beans I am not sure how good they are at roasting. Any help with dialin the Mazzer would be appreciated, I am finding that now my tamping skills might be causing my grind coursness to be off, I guess I need to bring down the weight scales from the bathroom. What should I replace the Delongi with? including what excuss my wife would understand, I may skip the Miss Silvia and go straight for a HX machine:)
This is a great forum, I have learnt so much in such a short space of time, thanks to all the posters.
Check out Cuvee Coffee in Spring and Hopsoncoffee.com near Cambell and Hammerly for great fresh-roasted beans.
bbrl007 Said:
I'm pretty sure the baristas at Whole Foods have'nt got a clue what they are doing, so even though they roast their own beans I am not sure how good they are at roasting.
I am pretty sure I've never seen anyone working at any Whole Foods market that I would call a "barista" but that's just me. They roast in house in a few stores but the stores I've seen use a very aggressive roasting profile in a fluid bed roaster (not the best result for espresso)
bbrl007 Said:
Any help with dialin the Mazzer would be appreciated....
Go for the HX for sure if you can afford it and get spousal approval. Tell your wife that some guys spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fishing and golf so this hobby is relatively inexpensive compared to those....or you could bring her by my place, point to my coffeebar and say "hey - at least I'm not as far gone as THAT guy is!"
If you're interested in a get-together sometime shoot me an email. My place is near Hwy 290 & Hwy 6
Posted Fri May 2, 2008, 1:39pm Subject: Re: Houston Newbie
Hi Mark. I started out using WF beans and (at JonR10's suggestion, actually) switched to Cuvee and Hopson, with much better results. Being able to pick up your beans is nice, but it's a big town - what part of it are you in? Catalina Coffee also sells Hopson beans - I bought some just this morning, roasted 5 days ago. Of course if you order straight from Hopson, it'll be even fresher since he roasts to order. (BTW if you haven't been to Catalina, this is the perfect opportunity - Max was pouring some really nice latte art today!)
Further south, Antigua Coffee in Pearland roasts their own. I haven't tried their beans for espresso, but I've heard of at least one coffeegeek who seemed to like it - and I have used it for drip and liked it, though I'm hardly an expert. There's also Pax Coffee & Tea in Katy; I haven't tried their beans either, but I had a good "traditional" cappuccino there (they have both a regular and a "traditional" on the menu) and they seem to be quite serious about their coffee.
bbrl007 Said:
Hi everyone, I just wanted to introduce myself, I am a English Houstonian who recently got hooked on the Espresso making experience, I think I probably enjoy making espresso more than actually drinking it.
I definitely used to feel that way, but now my shots are getting better and I'm really starting to enjoy the drinking phase as well. :) OTOH, the "making" phase has gotten that much more fun what with new equipment & trying of different techniques...
(Heh, as soon as I saw the words "English Houstonian" I immediately thought of the Black Lab, maybe because I was just next door to it today at Kraftsmen Baking getting some food. I guess it's a measure of my growing coffeegeekhood that I didn't give a moment's serious thought to getting coffee at Kraftsmen (I used to... not anymore). Today I did notice them making a drink for somebody though... I didn't really start paying attention until the grinder noise finally got through to me, and I looked up to see the PBTC doing something to a portafilter full of grinds. What? I'm not sure... grooming the edges, maybe - she definitely didn't distribute, level or tamp. The PF she locked in was mounded up way over the top of the basket, and lopsided to boot. No wonder I never liked their lattes that much. :\ )
Posted Sat May 3, 2008, 4:07pm Subject: Re: Houston Newbie
I found a place on Bissonett in Rice Village called The House of Coffee Beans, I picked up their best espresso roast called India Premier, its certainly an improvement over Whole Foods, anyone heard of this place or tried their beans??
I got the mazzer close to dialed in, the difference was worth the money for the mazzer.
Petunialii, my favorite English drinking hole is the Red Lion Pub on Shepherd, I live close enough to walk there, I recommend going on Wednesday, they have Curry and a Pint night for 14 bucks, try the Vindaloo if you dare!!
JonR, After trying the new improved coffee experience my wife might just go for a more expensive machine, I have started the search for machine number 2. I might take you up on the get together sometime in the future, do coffee geek Houstonians ever get together for a meet?
Posted Sun May 4, 2008, 10:04am Subject: Re: Houston Newbie
I've been to the Red Lion once. Nice cozy place, but I think I favor the Black Lab's rustic atmosphere a bit more. Oh and "Vindaloo" and "dare", two words I fear to see in the same sentence... Some friends of mine got some takeout from their favorite Indo-Pak place, and I asked them to get me the least spicy thing on the menu - they knew just what to get, they said. I couldn't eat it... :( The best I could do was to take all the lovely blackened spices and skin off the chicken, and even then I needed a vat of Coke to get through it. My sinuses, however, loved it! :)
bbrl007 Said:
I might take you up on the get together sometime in the future, do coffee geek Houstonians ever get together for a meet?
Funny you should ask :) - we seem to have people coming out of the woodwork lately asking the same question. I'm going to post a new thread in this forum to try to get something organized. In the meantime, do take up Jon on his offer if you can, I highly recommend it!
Posted Tue May 13, 2008, 10:40am Subject: Re: Houston Newbie
thanks for the plug Jon!
we like to think that we are one of the best places to pick up fresh roasted beans in Houston. We are roasting M-F and at our roasting facility (in Spring) from 8am-5pm on those days. We also love to have visitors especially ones who like to geek out about coffee.
best of luck in your coffee quest!
Dan Streetman Cuvee Coffee Roasting Company Austin, TX
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