The Magic Of Coffee

We lived in Bella Napoli back many moons ago which is where I developed an affinity for good coffee. I still have the first La Pavoni Europiccola machine that Dad bought ~ '78. Dad was stationed at the NATO base and the building where he worked had a bar that made excellent espresso & cappuccino. The bartender there taught my Dad & I how to use the La Pavoni. I've been meaning to get the seals replaced, but it takes too much room on the counter in our tiny kitchen, so it resides in the shed. I quit drinking cappuccino years ago, but I love espresso.
There's no need for an expensive machine for a great cup. I go old-school.

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skinsmarydu said:
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One of the toughest things that I had to do, years ago, was give up caffeine when I was having some medical issues, (which have since passed), but I was off caffeine for almost a year, or something like that. It was as tough as quitting cigarettes and talk about dragging ass! The worst part is that I had a headache for almost a week as I withdrew. Funny thing though...after a few weeks, I found that I had more energy. Didn't matter....I love coffee so much that as soon as I was allowed, I started drinking it again, but not in the copious amounts as before. One 14 oz mug over the course of the day. It used to be pretty much an entire pot every day.....
 
My son does not drink coffee. I cannot imagine starting my day without a hot cup of coffee. It's one of the few things I would never give up.
 
You mean that little kid I met in Seattle in Jan 2006? Haha. Yeah I have a good friend who doesn't drink coffee. I cannot imagine it. I started drinking it in boot camp. I never would have made it through service week without it.
 
Mark The Homer said:
You mean that little kid I met in Seattle in Jan 2006? Haha. Yeah I have a good friend who doesn't drink coffee. I cannot imagine it. I started drinking it in boot camp. I never would have made it through service week without it.
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I was on a steady diet of chocolate milk that first week! ('84)
 
Since 99% of my coffee making to date has been 'I just got up and want coffee to drink on the way to work' we have been doing the Keurig route for a number of years. It's not awful, but it's not really 'coffee' either. Since I am hanging it up at the end of April and will have all the time I want to make and enjoy my morning coffee, I bought a 'pour over' set up with a scale, carafe, water heater, and grinder. I ordered some Kaʻu Morning Glory from Big Island Roasters on your recommendation Mark The Homer and will report back. Good coffee is apparently expensive :)
 
Wow! Sounds like you're going all in! Yes, the good stuff is very expensive, and that's why you want to extract as much flavor - and the best quality of flavor - as possible from every ounce. That way you can minimize the ounces of coffee beans you use per cup. It does take a lot of practice and learning and patience and a lot of trials and adjustments to get it perfect, but it's kind of fun, I think. It's educational. And maybe a little nerdy. Look and listen to Walter White in this scene.



That's exactly how I felt when I had that first great cup of coffee at Phiz Coffee in San Francisco about ten years ago. It motivated me to figure out how to make coffee like that at home. It basically changed my coffee-drinking life. Good luck in your journey!
 
Mark The Homer said:
Wow! Sounds like you're going all in! Yes, the good stuff is very expensive, and that's why you want to extract as much flavor - and the best quality of flavor - as possible from every ounce. That way you can minimize the ounces of coffee beans you use per cup. It does take a lot of practice and learning and patience and a lot of trials and adjustments to get it perfect, but it's kind of fun, I think. It's educational. And maybe a little nerdy. Look and listen to Walter White in this scene.



That's exactly how I felt when I had that first great cup of coffee at Phiz Coffee in San Francisco about ten years ago. It motivated me to figure out how to make coffee like that at home. It basically changed my coffee-drinking life. Good luck in your journey!
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Amen!
It's damn near impossible to find a better cup of coffee than one you make yourself.

With the exception of an occasional cup of espresso, I don't order coffee out. I can't abide a bad cup of coffee. When we travel, the collapsible electric kettle & pour over filter & coffee gets packed. I used to bring the beans and a small hand grinder, but it takes forever for that damn thing to grind enough for a cup. If it's just a couple of days, I'll grind some right before we leave. If we fly, I'll buy a bag of Major Dickason's ground locally and bring whatever is left home. It's good coffe and the ground works well with the pour over filter.
 
Did some pour over this morning for my first cup - waiting for some quality beans to arrive in the mail and my grocery only had 5 O'clock beans... one thing I noticed - my pour over set up has a metal mesh strainer, but the water ran through it in 30 seconds. There was no time even for 'the bloom' - it just ran right through the grounds, so I will be putting a filter in it going forward to slow things down. I have a lot to learn in terms of 'how much coffee to use', how hot should the water be, etc... My scale comes with some kind of ratio measuring ability (I assume it allows me to set a desired coffee to water ratio and tell me when I've added enough water, not sure and will have to play with that.

I don't want to overthink it all but I'd like to be able to brew a really good cup of coffee consistently.
 
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