Putting the knife to Gaggia · Wednesday August 2, 2006 by dave
After long and faithful use, I was finally sufficiently fed-up with the shower plate in my Gaggia Espresso to do the unthinkable. I hauled it out and within moments had filed down the exaggerated ridge that surrounds the shower screen.
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But is it espresso? · Wednesday August 2, 2006 by colin newell
Adam Tindale of CoffeeCrew(left) listens to Alan Adler (center) explain the aeropress to Sam Jones of Discovery Coffee (right)
Alan Adler came to town for 5 days with his wife and grand-daughter.
They saw the sights and sounds of Victoria, B.C. Canada. They took my wife and I to dinner.
We gave them a walking and driving tour of the city and its surroundings. They have been here before but they loved it all over again.
Alan was kind enough to come down to Discovery Coffee and pit the Aeropress coffee maker against the Clover Coffee maker… and the Synesso espresso machine.
That’s right readers: He wagered his 39$ coffee maker against an 8000$ single cup coffee brewer and a 12,000$ espresso machine.
The Aeropress won hands down!
No. Sorry. Only in your dreams.
The Aeropress is a wonderful product for those who love a full bodied cup of coffee. Perfect for campers, hikers and traveller’s, the aeropress is the solution for those far and away from a decent cup.
What is it exactly? It is a paper-filter coffee maker press-pot. Without the sediment of course – the Aeropress brews a cuppa at a strength suited to your taste.
We found it brews a modestly comparable cup to the Clover Coffee maker. The Clover won out in extracting more of the subtle flavors of exotic coffees like Yirgecheffe.
Still, for 39$, noone is complaining.
Does it make espresso? Most certainly not. Part of the brewing process involves creating a slurry by pouring hot water into the brew chamber and stirring for a preset time period.
Yes, it makes a beverage as “thick” as espresso. Alan used a digital device known as a Brix refractometer to measure the amount of suspended solids in the brew.
Yes, the brew was as concentrated as the espresso from the Synesso. But it is not espresso. It is drip coffee with a gentle push.
Plain and simple.
All good stuff. Curious? Buy one. What have you got to lose other than 39 dollars?
Cheers.
Learn the drinks before you serve them · Thursday July 6, 2006 by colin newell
My wife was served a lousy specialty coffee the other day.
The World needs to know.
To start with, my wife does not drink coffee. She drinks Tea. When she has coffee, it is a special occasion.
What was the occasion?
Uhm. I had just bought some hiking boots at Mountain Equipment Co-op in Victoria, B.C. and I needed to run down to Lens & Shutter to grab some film for the West Coast trip on the weekend.
The occasion you ask?
Well. She was in work shoes and wanted to chill while I flew, sub-light speed, down to L&S to grab my film. It is about 8 city blocks. By the time I would get back, the microfoam on her coffee would have hardly settled.
Wrong.
She stepped into Fresh Cup Roastery Cafe on Government at the corner of Pandora. Great location.
New staff apparently.
As I buzzed off toward the camera store, she ordered a Cafe au Lait. Now we all know what a Cafe au Lait is right? Yes we do.
She listened to the barista ask the manager how to make a Cafe au Lait. That was the beginning of my wife’s Cafe trip into Doom.
The manager said: “First you take a shot of espresso”...
Wrong!
“Then you take some hot water and put it in the cup.”
WRONG!
“Then you add foamed milk to it.”
Wrong wrong wrong!
By the time I came back from Lens and Shutter, she had taken one or two mouthfuls.
She said: “This is the worse cup of coffee I have ever had.”
Although I do not drink milk, I had to try it.
Sure enough. It sucked. Big time.
Look people – if you are going to make a beverage and charge me for it, do it right.
Fresh cup roastery will be installing a roaster shortly at this location.
Hopefully they will get their shit together.
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Great coffee - start from the top... · Tuesday July 4, 2006 by colin newell
Synesso, Aeropress, Clover, Baratza Virtuoso, Cup-of-Excellence, Panama hat…
huh?
The last six monthes have been a wake-up call for me. There has been an endless stream of things to get a handle on and a mouthful of words and terms to file away with suitable explanations.
All the while, we have been thinking about branding our website some, if only for fun.
Ok. Well, ball-cap? T-Shirt? Coffee-mug?
What would people want, if they wanted a piece of our online thing?
How about a hat? Something with style?
A Panama hat.
Haven’t you always wanted a Panama Hat?
Truth be told – my hair is not getting thicker as I get older.
And the ozone layer is not getting thicker either.
Seems I burn way quicker.
And if I ever want to spend a day or a week picking coffee, I will need some protection.
Well here it is.
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