Tag Archive 'grinders'

High-quality espresso from low-end machines?

Posted by TheShot on 12 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Beans, Home Brew, Machine

The Boston Globe published an article today (OK, technically tomorrow) about making great espresso with cheap home equipment: High-quality espresso from low-end machines – The Boston Globe. The author experimented by buying cheaper, used home espresso machines, and he claims to have achieved decent results. The key to his results were a good grind, good [...]

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Home Espresso: Delving Deeper Into Coffee

Posted by TheShot on 02 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: CoffeeRatings.com, Home Brew, Quality Issues

Last month I mentioned an article on David Lebovitz’s site regarding his recent training at Illy’s Università del caffè in Trieste, Italy. David is a professionally trained pastry chef and writer, and recently he’s taken up a bit of an obsession with quality home espresso production. (Sound familiar?)
Today his site features an article and “Top [...]

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Consumer Delusion: ConsumerReports.org’s buyer’s guide to espresso makers

Posted by TheShot on 20 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Home Brew, Machine

Consumer Reports published a home buyer’s guide to espresso makers this month: ConsumerReports.org – Buyer’s guide to espresso makers 3/07. As with a lot of things in Consumer Reports, they often lack sufficient knowledge or background to offer educated opinions beyond winging it with what’s on the surface. (Well, beyond that and Consumers Union’s usual [...]

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Home Equipment: Getting Serious About Coffee

Posted by TheShot on 03 Jan 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Home Brew, Machine, Roasting

Today’s Edmonton Journal published a primer on the more sophisticated home espresso setup: Getting Serious About Coffee. In other words, what do you do when your $100 home Krups machine isn’t cutting it — because the espresso it produces belongs in the same landfill where your machine will deservedly rot its final days?
There’s an avalanche [...]

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CoffeeGeek – Editor’s Choice Awards 2006 – Espresso

Posted by TheShot on 20 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Home Brew, Machine, Quality Issues

A couple days ago, CoffeeGeek.com announced their 2006 Editors’ Choice awards for espresso: CoffeeGeek – Editor’s Choice Awards 2006 – Espresso. Award categories include espresso machines in different price ranges, coffee grinders, bean blends, and espresso-making accessories.
If you still need holiday gifts for that special coffee mutant in your life, get your credit card ready. [...]

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Know Your Coffee Reviewers

Posted by TheShot on 21 Sep 2006 | Tagged as: Local Brew, Quality Issues, Restaurant Coffee

A friend and CoffeeRatings.com reader, Jeremy Nisen, occasionally writes for SFist — which many rightfully recognize as San Francisco’s best local blog. (Jeremy interviewed me for it earlier this year.) Yesterday he pointed me to his most recent article on the site: SFist: Um, Yeah, But What Kind of Grinder Did They Use?.
In it, Jeremy [...]

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A cuppa perfection

Posted by TheShot on 24 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: Home Brew, Machine, Quality Issues, Roasting

Canadian Business magazine recently reposted a 2001 article on the deep and seemingly bottomless pit of home espresso perfectionism (something I can identify with all too well): A cuppa perfection | After Hours | Gotta Have It | Canadian Business Online. The article is even more accurate today than it was when first published.
It all [...]

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The story of Victoria Arduino #55

Posted by TheShot on 29 May 2006 | Tagged as: Machine

An article in yesterday’s ThePilot of the North Carolina Sandhills tells the story of how a Victoria Arduino espresso machine made its way from Torino, Italy to Incredible Edibles of Pinehurst, NC — placing the coffee shop on the noteworthy American espresso map: Dolce Vita Right Here at Home – The Pilot Newspaper – Local [...]

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5 Things to Ask About Espresso Makers

Posted by TheShot on 08 May 2006 | Tagged as: Home Brew, Machine

The May Kiplinger’s Personal Finance includes an article on how to get coffeehouse-quality brew at home: 5 Things to Ask About Espresso Makers.
As that cranky espresso guru, David Schomer of Espresso Vivace, has said for years, most machines built for the home cannot build up enough pressure or control the temperature well enough to make [...]

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An Obsessive’s Guide to Coffee

Posted by TheShot on 15 Feb 2006 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew, Home Brew, Local Brew, Machine, Quality Issues

It took a moment for me to dig up an online version, but here it is. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the March 2006 issue of Food & Wine Magazine has a special report on coffee: An Obsessive’s Guide to Coffee | Food & Wine.
The editors apparently “spent 410 man-hours tasting 157 coffees and [...]

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