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Main Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: Bogie on February 08, 2022, 01:50:53 PM

Title: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Bogie on February 08, 2022, 01:50:53 PM
I used to do that occasionally... Was dating/living with Wendy, who I met via THR, and she liked coffee... I had never really been a fan - My mother couldn't cook beyond baking, and that included coffee, so I hadn't really been exposed to stuff that wasn't... not all that good...
 
And Wendy liked coffee. So I got coffee stuff. Including an espresso maker. I still have the grinder, but I gave the pump machine to a guy I was driving for back around 2012 or so...
 
Is anyone into that sort of thing? Considering getting another, preferably capable of single cups of american-style coffee too...
 
FWIW, when I had the house in the suburbs, my kitchen had a commercial Bunn coffee maker - gave that to my buddy Rich when I was out at the lake. Fair coffee, very fast, but on all the time...
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: K Frame on February 08, 2022, 01:52:59 PM
I do but haven't in quite awhile.

My brother and sister-in-law gave me a Mr. Coffee espresso maker for Christmas some years ago. I used it until it burned out and never replaced it.

I like espresso, but when I want coffee, I want a LOT of coffee.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: charby on February 08, 2022, 01:54:34 PM
I have a stove top expresso pot and I have a Starpresso device when I feel like an Americano.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: zxcvbob on February 08, 2022, 01:58:53 PM
We have one but haven't used it in years.  We have a Keurig and actually use that; I buy filtered water for it so it doesn't mineralize.  If I want more than 1 cup, I brew a pot of coffee on the stove.  With the espresso machine, I would buy dark roast regular-grind coffee and whiz it in a blender-type coffee grinder before use.  It worked well but was more trouble that it was worth, which is why we retired the machine.  It's still in a cupboard somewhere, I might even know which one.

If I *really* drank a lot of coffee, I would use the 30-cup electric percolator.  It makes really good coffee, but you need to brew at least a half a pot for it to work right.  It would probably brew 10 cups if I added some ice to the urn before starting it, but 10 cups is what the stovetop drip coffee pot makes.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Ron on February 08, 2022, 02:14:04 PM
My bother in law has a Nespresso machine. That thing makes great cups of coffee, and the Nespresso cups are Starbucks! Really a surprise because I don't care for their coffee generally.

In storage I have one of the original Krups individual expresso makers. Still works and it's been run hard. Occasionally, I get on a Cappuccino kick and make them for a month or two and then it gets put away. I used it enough to where it made the cut when I was packing up and moving.   
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: charby on February 08, 2022, 02:15:29 PM
https://staresso.com/

I picked mine up 2nd hand for $5. I drink a lot of hot tea so it's no big deal for me to boil a kettle.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Bogie on February 08, 2022, 02:38:13 PM
My coffee cup thing uses k-cups, and if I set one of them at 12 oz and the next one at 10 oz, I can add just the right amount of half and half to the purple coffee cup I bought myself back when I bought coffee stuff to have for Wendy.
 
I'm not weird. Really.
 
(I also have some Santa coffee cups that friends gave me, etc.)
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: MillCreek on February 08, 2022, 02:58:20 PM
I have several french presses, a Zojirushi drip coffee pot, a Chemex, a Rocky grinder, and a Pasquini Livia 90 espresso machine.  I roast my own coffee for all of them. We are serious about coffee in my household.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Bogie on February 08, 2022, 03:22:31 PM
I used to have a Chemex. Last time I saw it, it was on a high shelf at Jen's...
 
My grinder is made by some outfit called Capresso.
 
I do not understand why these outfits all make their stuff round. Square, and wall-mounted, would be a great idea.
 
Idea: Modular setup to hang stuff off of cabinet doors...
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Big Hairy Bee on February 09, 2022, 05:49:05 PM
French press for multiple cups, and an Aeropress for single or good work coffee.

https://aeropress.com/

https://youtu.be/tRIX9G7D_9Q
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Bogie on February 09, 2022, 06:49:04 PM
Looked interesting, but... Lost me when they said "10 ounce cup."
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: K Frame on February 10, 2022, 07:22:17 AM
I have a Nissan insulated French Press a friend got me for Christmas many years ago. I've not used it in some time, though, but it makes a really good cup of coffee and it keeps the extras warm for hours.

Mainly I use my Black and Decker autodrip machine. The first one I had lasted over a decade with almost daily use so I figured I'd give B&D another shot at it.

It makes a decent cup of coffee, but I'm not running top of the line beans through it. I'm brewing Wegman's store brand ground coffee, which is surprisingly excellent.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Bogie on February 10, 2022, 07:39:02 AM
What I'd really like? Something with the convenience of the damn k-cup dealie that I got from Wally World on an impulse a few years back, but capable of brewing a larger, and decently strong, cup of "don't kill my cow orkers" without a lot of drama.
 
I mean, I have a Cuisinart "grind and brew," but it sucks at the grinding part, does okay at the brewing, but is a hassle to clean. And you have to be accurate in pouring water in.
 
Mornings are generally not the finest moments of my day...

Prediction: Someone is gonna invent a larger k-cup dealie. I don't understand how that has not happened so far.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: charby on February 10, 2022, 08:23:10 AM
I got a Hamilton Beach single cup coffee maker that will hold 1/4 cup of grounds and make a 22oz cup of coffee. Probably a bigger cup if you cover the weep hole in the back of the cold water chamber.
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Bogie on February 10, 2022, 07:42:48 PM
That's an idea... And that was pretty much the recipe I had been using. I might try one of those.
 
I got some Gorilla Tape...
Title: Re: Anyone use an espresso maker?
Post by: Kingcreek on February 23, 2022, 04:56:37 PM
We do coffee here.
We have a cuisinart coffee maker for up to 12 cups.
Often use a poor over filter holder for a mug of good coffee with a #2 paper cone. Works great if you don’t mind heating the water in a tea pot.
French press- only use occasionally.
Espresso in an antique alessi stove top or a krups electric haven’t used much since I got the hang of the alessi.
At an auction I purchased the alessi because it had a set of 4 nice espresso cups/saucers I wanted. I didn’t know anything about the Italian espresso pot at the time. Found out later it’s over $200 (I paid $10)