Mmmmm Espresso
A few weeks ago, I finally took the plunge and bought a home espresso machine. I've always been a little hesitant to buy one just because in all the research I've done in the past it seems every machine breaks frequently, they make sucky coffee, and/or they are just pretty pricey.
Well, I said fuck it, and bought one on impulse when we were at Macy's a few weeks ago. It's the Saeco Classico. It was $350, but I got a 15% discount for opening a Macy's account.
Some impressions:
* It's pretty noisy when you're frothing the milk.
* It takes about 2 minutes or so to froth the milk up to 140 degrees (F). You have to stand there and do it, so it's pretty labour intensive as far as making coffee goes.
* It comes with a "pod" adapter and a few "pods" of coffee which we used. I like the option of being able to use pods.
* It has a cup warmer on the top, but it doesn't really warm anything.
* It can be pretty messy with the frothed milk between 140-160 degrees right there close to you, steam coming out of the frother, hot water coming out of the pump, coffee grinds being tamped into the holder, but with a little practice I've managed to minimize the mess.
Before I ran out of pods, I went and bought some espresso coffee so I could see what the grind looked like. Then I bought some fresh roasted coffee and ground that up myself. I get excellent crema from all 3 forms of coffee.
I don't have an official tamper yet, they didn't have one at Macy's or at the kitchen store in the mall, which was lame. So I'm still using the back of my coffee scoop to do the job.
So far I'm totally in love with it. But how long will that love last? I'm just hoping it doesn't break soon. Give me at least 2 years out of it, and I may be happy.
If you're not into making coffee, you might be better off getting those new single serve machines that use the pods. My friend Jay started a website, Single Serve Coffee that covers the market. It's part of the reason why I finally broke down and got a machine. Jay and I always talk coffee, and seeing those machines kick started the urge again. I came close to buying one last year, but my wife's family has an auto coffee behemoth (not espresso) and said they use to have an espresso machine that always broke...
As far as single serve pod machines, I consider myself more of a purist though and enjoy the act of making the coffee and being able to choose my own beans, etc., so I'll probably stick with the espresso machine. Since I've got the machine, I haven't made one pot of brew coffee, if that's any indication of how much I like this coffee...
I wonder if this thing makes good coffee Coffee System
from Miele.
Well, I said fuck it, and bought one on impulse when we were at Macy's a few weeks ago. It's the Saeco Classico. It was $350, but I got a 15% discount for opening a Macy's account.
Some impressions:
* It's pretty noisy when you're frothing the milk.
* It takes about 2 minutes or so to froth the milk up to 140 degrees (F). You have to stand there and do it, so it's pretty labour intensive as far as making coffee goes.
* It comes with a "pod" adapter and a few "pods" of coffee which we used. I like the option of being able to use pods.
* It has a cup warmer on the top, but it doesn't really warm anything.
* It can be pretty messy with the frothed milk between 140-160 degrees right there close to you, steam coming out of the frother, hot water coming out of the pump, coffee grinds being tamped into the holder, but with a little practice I've managed to minimize the mess.
Before I ran out of pods, I went and bought some espresso coffee so I could see what the grind looked like. Then I bought some fresh roasted coffee and ground that up myself. I get excellent crema from all 3 forms of coffee.
I don't have an official tamper yet, they didn't have one at Macy's or at the kitchen store in the mall, which was lame. So I'm still using the back of my coffee scoop to do the job.
So far I'm totally in love with it. But how long will that love last? I'm just hoping it doesn't break soon. Give me at least 2 years out of it, and I may be happy.
If you're not into making coffee, you might be better off getting those new single serve machines that use the pods. My friend Jay started a website, Single Serve Coffee that covers the market. It's part of the reason why I finally broke down and got a machine. Jay and I always talk coffee, and seeing those machines kick started the urge again. I came close to buying one last year, but my wife's family has an auto coffee behemoth (not espresso) and said they use to have an espresso machine that always broke...
As far as single serve pod machines, I consider myself more of a purist though and enjoy the act of making the coffee and being able to choose my own beans, etc., so I'll probably stick with the espresso machine. Since I've got the machine, I haven't made one pot of brew coffee, if that's any indication of how much I like this coffee...
I wonder if this thing makes good coffee Coffee System
from Miele.
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