Espresso News and Reviews – TheShot.coffeeratings.com

Today’s L.A. Weekly featured an interesting bio-piece on father and son L.A. espresso pioneers, Ambrose and Guy Pasquini: Q & A with Ambrose and Guy Pasquini: L.A.’s Single Espresso Origin – Los Angeles Restaurants and Dining – Squid Ink. You might recognize the Pasquini name for some of their excellent home espresso machines. But the [...]

Tags: caffe_trieste, coffee_milkshakes, coffee_roasting, espresso_machines, faema, la_cimbali, la_marzocco, nespresso, pasquini, sightglass, Starbucks, superautomatic_espresso_machines

1 Comment »

This unusual, two-story café resides at the base of the ultra modern, five-star 15 on Orange Hotel. On the upper floor, it has a serving area with a two-group Saeco Steel SE 200 at a bar, a number of black tables and chairs, a branded lit display, a couple of Saeco home machines on display, [...]

Tags: bodum, cape_town_cafes, espresso_machines, espresso_review, home_espresso, nespresso, saeco, segafredo_zanetti, south_africa_coffee

No Comments »

In today’s, er, tomorrow’s news from London’s The Independent, classic Italian stove-top/moka pot coffee manufacturer, Bialetti, announced that they are closing shop in Italy and moving their operations to Eastern Europe: Rivals too hot for Italy’s classic coffee pot – Europe, World – The Independent. In Italy — where the Bialetti has enjoyed decades of [...]

Tags: bialetti, coffee_culture, espresso_machines, home_espresso, moka_pot, nespresso, superautomatic_espresso_machines

2 Comments »

The mainstream media barely understand that qualitative differences exist between really good coffee, good coffee, and average coffee — let alone that some of the differences might be worth shelling out a few extra bucks on. CNN is one of the more recent outlets to ponder the differences: $13 coffee worth the brew-haha? – CNN.com. [...]

Tags: Barista, coffee_prices, coffee_quality, jay_caragay, kopi_luwak, media, nespresso, panama_esmeralda, portafilter.net, restaurant_espresso, spro

4 Comments »

It’s the kind of statement sure to earn protests from many a New Yorker: some consider Yountville, CA to be the culinary capital of America. An outrageous assertion? Not necessarily. At the heart of the Napa Valley wine country, Yountville is home to what many call the nation’s greatest restaurant in The French Laundry. It [...]

Tags: coffee_chains, french_laundry, nespresso, restaurant_coffee, restaurant_espresso, Starbucks, wine_analogy, yountville_coffee

2 Comments »

A little over two years ago, we lamented the state of populist retail home espresso by reviewing what we thought was one of the better options at the time, the Nespresso C180 Le Cube: The Home Espresso Machine Blues: Rating today’s state of consumer espresso machines. Besides having a name that sounded regrettably familiar to [...]

Tags: home_espresso, maxwell_house, mcdonalds, nespresso, sanka, Starbucks, superautomatic_espresso_machines

75 Comments »

For the better part of a year, a running gag from the casual coffee lovers who know me is to ask, “So have you tried McDonald’s espresso yet? How does it rate?” Mostly they ask as a curious, sick joke — knowing that I subject myself to the worst kinds of coffee punishment. But now [...]

Tags: coffee_blending, espresso_review, fast_food_coffee, franke, maxwell_house, mccafe, mcdonalds, nespresso, restaurant_espresso, Starbucks, superautomatic_espresso_machines

6 Comments »

How ironic that an organization called GreeNow is now affiliated with a product line, Nespresso, that has defined a consumer lifestyle centered around maximum environmental and manufacturing waste by individually wrapping every single serving of coffee that they sell: GreeNow Powers New York Launch of New Nespresso CitiZ Machine. Nespresso calls it “highest-quality premium portioned [...]

Tags: coffee_marketing, environmentalism, greenwashing, nespresso, nestlé, single_serving_coffee

No Comments »

What will those wacky Swiss think up next? Apparently, it’s an espresso-tasting machine: A machine with a taste-for espresso. Yes, it’s the latest invention from the people who brought us yodeling and clandestine overseas bank accounts. But with the Swiss, it’s not all good stuff. They have also brought us brain-dead, monkey-operated, superautomated espresso machines [...]

Tags: espresso_tasting, nespresso, siphon_bars, Starbucks, superautomatic_espresso_machines, swiss_espresso_machines, verismo

4 Comments »

In the “unclear on the concept” department, this weekend’s Toronto Star published an article that, in its opening paragraph, mentioned “coffee’s elevated status as the new wine.” However, it then proceeded to discuss coffee-pod-based home espresso machines in the same context: TheStar.com | living | Specialty coffees become the new wine. This is as incongruous [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, coffee_pods, home_espresso, keurig, nespresso, panama_esmeralda, paper_cups, single_serving_coffee, wine_analogy

2 Comments »