And so it begins. A home espresso journey

[Tedolph]

While I have nothing against Medaglia d'oro, obviously it wouldn't be such a successful brand if it wasn't any good, I like to get locally roasted coffee beans, or at least beans that were roasted only a few days earlier, and grind them myself, regardless of brewing method. I'm the only coffee drinker at home and these days I have to limit myself to one or two each day, so convenience and speed aren't that important, but that one cup or two had better be good!

Have you ever tried it?

 

[mozartman]

Have you ever tried it?

Are you kidding? I'm from an Italian-American area of New York City, I've had gallons of it. It's one of the mainstay standard brands, if not the no. 1 mainstay, in cafes and restaurants (not to mention supermarkets), and has been for decades. But nowadays, you can get coffee that isn't necessarily inherently better (which is subjective, anyway), but that has been roasted locally only a day or two before, and grind it yourself moments before brewing it, which I see as an advantage. You can also get a very wide variety of beans and roasts, many of which, again, you might not prefer to Medaglia d'Oro, in fact some of the most highly touted ones are disastrous for espresso (imo), but imo variety is a good thing too.

But I'm not a coffee snob. I'll buy in a supermarket if that's more convenient or I'm in an unfamiliar area. Have you tried Illy? That's usually a lot more expensive than Medaglia d'Oro, and fine but not worth the higher price, again, imo. For a standard supermarket and cafe brand, I like Lavazza. Have you tried that one?

 

[Tedolph]

Are you kidding? I'm from an Italian-American area of New York City, I've had gallons of it. It's one of the mainstay standard brands, if not the no. 1 mainstay, in cafes and restaurants (not to mention supermarkets), and has been for decades. But nowadays, you can get coffee that isn't necessarily inherently better (which is subjective, anyway), but that has been roasted locally only a day or two before, and grind it yourself moments before brewing it, which I see as an advantage. You can also get a very wide variety of beans and roasts, many of which, again, you might not prefer to Medaglia d'Oro, in fact some of the most highly touted ones are disastrous for espresso (imo), but imo variety is a good thing too.

But I'm not a coffee snob. I'll buy in a supermarket if that's more convenient or I'm in an unfamiliar area. Have you tried Illy? That's usually a lot more expensive than Medaglia d'Oro, and fine but not worth the higher price, again, imo. For a standard supermarket and cafe brand, I like Lavazza. Have you tried that one?

Illy is fine but the charge an arm and a leg for the nitrogen packing. In my grocery store (Safeway) it costs twice as much as MD'O. Like you I grew up in an Italian household. I didn't know it at the time but our mother had one of those giant Bialetti pots and made us Americanos with lots of water and milk. I just thought that is how everybody made coffee. I remember being at a wedding reception when I was probably eight and saw one of those giant coffee urns. So I got some coffee and almost spit it out-tasted like dish water.

Anyway I don't see the advantage of what you do. MD'O is vacuum packed in a can immediately after it is roasted and ground so it is stable, and fresh when you open it. The can is small and gets used up in less than 10 days so I don't see much difference. I have tried local roasted been, used my own burr grinder, etc and I don't really see any difference.

Still make Americanos with milk!

I like Lavazza but it is hard to find here.

Lavazza is hard to come by but I like it better than Illy. I like the one in the gold bag.

 

[mozartman]

Illy is fine but the charge an arm and a leg for the nitrogen packing. In my grocery store (Safeway) it costs twice as much as MD'O. Like you I grew up in an Italian household. I didn't know it at the time but our mother had one of those giant Bialetti pots and made us Americanos with lots of water and milk. I just thought that is how everybody made coffee. I remember being at a wedding reception when I was probably eight and saw one of those giant coffee urns. So I got some coffee and almost spit it out-tasted like dish water.

Anyway I don't see the advantage of what you do. MD'O is vacuum packed in a can immediately after it is roasted and ground so it is stable, and fresh when you open it. The can is small and gets used up in less than 10 days so I don't see much difference. I have tried local roasted been, used my own burr grinder, etc and I don't really see any difference.

Still make Americanos with milk!

I like Lavazza but it is hard to find here.

Lavazza is hard to come by but I like it better than Illy. I like the one in the gold bag.

I see your points, but I am now the only coffee drinker in my household, and nowadays I have to limit the amount that I drink pretty strictly. I would never use up a can, even a medium-sized one, in less than a month, never mind 10 days. And probably not even two months. As our households and coffee drinking habits are probably quite different, it's not surprising we go about it differently.

I'm not about to argue with you about home grinding, either. It isn't easy to get a good espresso grind at home, nor is it cheap unless you are willing to do it painstakingly by hand, and really not even then. It sounds like you have a good routine for you. Do you have a good local bakery for biscotti? I'd be happy to stop by for brunch one day.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

My cardiologist forbid me to have any caffeine, so my coffee enjoyment has been curtailed. I have to be satisfied with my memories of espresso.

 

[Tedolph]

I see your points, but I am now the only coffee drinker in my household, and nowadays I have to limit the amount that I drink pretty strictly. I would never use up a can, even a medium-sized one, in less than a month, never mind 10 days. And probably not even two months. As our households and coffee drinking habits are probably quite different, it's not surprising we go about it differently.

I'm not about to argue with you about home grinding, either. It isn't easy to get a good espresso grind at home, nor is it cheap unless you are willing to do it painstakingly by hand, and really not even then. It sounds like you have a good routine for you. Do you have a good local bakery for biscotti? I'd be happy to stop by for brunch one day.

No argument here. I enjoyed reading your posts and learned something from them too.

unfortunately, there are no good Italian anything here in Seattle. Good luck tying to find decent canolli

!salute!

 

[mozartman]

No argument here. I enjoyed reading your posts and learned something from them too.

unfortunately, there are no good Italian anything here in Seattle. Good luck tying to find decent canolli

!salute!

!salute! right back at ya. And I can't feel too sorry for you being in Seattle, even if you can't get good canolli. Unless I ignore doctor's orders, I can't eat canolli here in NJ where they are plentiful.

 

[Tedolph]

No argument here. I enjoyed reading your posts and learned something from them too.

!salute!

!salute! right back at ya. And I can't feel too sorry for you being in Seattle, even if you can't get good canolli. Unless I ignore doctor's orders, I can't eat canolli here in NJ where they are plentiful.

I would have ignored any doctor's order to get a decent cannoli.

 

[linty1]

I found this and you might be interested, the Birchcliff coffee shop has freshly roasted coffee (their blend and espresso roast) coffee (local roaster, "brothers") from their website, free delivery, I saw it on blogto and was curious, bought a bag of their blend... I'm not even sure they charged taxes on it, I forget, but give it a gander

thebirchcliff.shop -&nbspthebirchcliff Resources and Information.

thebirchcliff.shop is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, thebirchcliff.shop has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for!

thebirchcliff.shop

Hope things are well and stay safe!

 

[linty1]

It was bugging me so I went back to look at the receipt, they did not charge me taxes nor shipping..

 

[facetime]

My cardiologist forbid me to have any caffeine, so my coffee enjoyment has been curtailed. I have to be satisfied with my memories of espresso.

Actually, if I may beg to differ. Being a few years your senior, I went thru the whole cardiology thing with irregular heartbeat, etc and was given the same “strong encouragement” from the doc. And I was a huge coffee consumer. Abided for quite awhile until 1 night, a colleague ordered decaf espresso - who knew! (And yes I’m aware it’s almost always not totally caffeine free.) Haven’t looked back and have been enjoying the heck out of decaf espresso beans for years now with no ill effects on the old ticker rhythms. There are some great full flavored dark roast options offered by a number of online sources. One of my favorite shops has been (and I love the name) wholelattelove.com with great helpful people. My new favorite decaf espresso is by Caffe dArte up in Washington state and you can order direct from them as well.
Hopefully you can find some flavorful enjoyment despite doc’s restrictions. Cheers

 

[Tedolph]

I can verify the decaf issue and irregular heart beats. I have PAC and SVT, sometimes really bad to the point where I swell up. Switching to decaf greatly reduces the incidence of PAC. Also, not going to work and having to deal with my staff makes a big difference!

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

Actually, if I may beg to differ. Being a few years your senior, I went thru the whole cardiology thing with irregular heartbeat, etc and was given the same “strong encouragement” from the doc. And I was a huge coffee consumer. Abided for quite awhile until 1 night, a colleague ordered decaf espresso - who knew! (And yes I’m aware it’s almost always not totally caffeine free.) Haven’t looked back and have been enjoying the heck out of decaf espresso beans for years now with no ill effects on the old ticker rhythms. There are some great full flavored dark roast options offered by a number of online sources. One of my favorite shops has been (and I love the name) wholelattelove.com with great helpful people. My new favorite decaf espresso is by Caffe dArte up in Washington state and you can order direct from them as well.
Hopefully you can find some flavorful enjoyment despite doc’s restrictions. Cheers

I didn’t realize how accustom I had become to decaf until the other day when I decided to finish off my wife’s pot of caffeinated coffee. I could not finish it. It tasted horrid. When I asked her why she didn’t say something about how bad the pot was, she remarked that it wasn’t bad, that it really tasted good. So, I guess I’ve made the adjustment because decaf tastes fine to me.

I also switched to decaf tea. I now love English Breakfast tea.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

I can verify the decaf issue and irregular heart beats. I have PAC and SVT, sometimes really bad to the point where I swell up. Switching to decaf greatly reduces the incidence of PAC. Also, not going to work and having to deal with my staff makes a big difference!

Working from home has been a blessing to me. My BP now stays in the 120/80 range. Before, while at work it would get up to 160/90 and once last October it hit 205/100.

 

[facetime]

Amazing how great flavored dark roasts have finally appeared in decaf.
And we too are English Breakfast (decaf) fans. Both Republic of Tea and a bargain brand Typhoo make some darn good ones.