[WalkGood]

Here's my old school eco-friendly coffee sock drip gear made from ceramic, wood & naturally with a reusable cotton filter ...

 

[Pangaea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Depends upon what your needs are. I just made this decision for myself a week ago. I decided to go with Nespresso. My thought process: I wanted a very convenient way to make one outstanding cup of espresso or coffee. I thought I also wanted the ability to use my own roasted coffee to feed the machine. The Keurig K-cup design allows you to use your own coffee if you desire, but of course you then have the muss and fuss of packing your own coffee into the Keurig "My-cup" mini filter basket and all the concomitant clean up. After consideration, I decided I already had the ability to make the best cup of conventional coffee, one cup at a time, wit perfect control of coffee quantity, water temperature, grind fineness, and brewing time, but I still lacked the ability to turn out outstanding espressos. Since there was no substantial way to improve my single coffee process, I turned my attention to the perfect espresso. I have a fairly expensive semi-auto espresso machine with double boilers, etc, and I have never really ben satisfied with the quality of the espressos from it. (it's probably my lack of skill as a barista rather than a lack in the machine itself.) None of the single serve machines/systems make real espresso except Nespresso. I read every review I could find on all the single cup machines on the market and then I went to the stores to look at all of them. WRT fresh coffee, Nespresso grinds and hermetically seals their coffees in the capsules, all while in an oxygen free environment so the coffee keeps its fresh character much longer than otherwise possible. I didn't believe the efficacy of their process until I sampled it for myself. At one of the stores, I was offered a sample from a Nespresso machine and that pushed me over the edge. The espresso was excellent! I went with a Nespresso CitiZ&Milk. It is a superb system. If you're after quality and convenience, get Nespresso, if quality and convenience aren't at the top of your objectives list, get whatever else appeals to you. With the Nespresso system, I get the near perfect espresso or cappuccino every time with no effort of skill required on my part @ $0.55 per shot. On top of all this, I can stock over 16 different varieties of coffee blends and roasts simultaneously, with no worries of freshness, and choose what suits my fancy any time.

I hope you have better luck than me with Nespresso, and I certainly do not mean to rain on your new toy but what brought me to this thread is 2 broken Nespresso Machines in 3 years. When the second one broke (it started dispensing the coffee somewhere internally rather than the intended spout) I contacted Nespresso by phone and email and got nowhere. It did make a nice cup while it lasted, but all in all I found (beyond the broken machines) the coffee was too expensive and too limiting. Admittedly I am more of a Venti guy.

 

[SiBurning]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WalkGood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here's my old school eco-friendly coffee sock drip gear made from ceramic, wood & naturally with a reusable cotton filter ...

Fancy!

Here's me in my wife beater shirt making coffee with a REAL sock. Adidas, I believe.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiBurning /img/forum/go_quote.gif Fancy! Here's me in my wife beater shirt making coffee with a REAL sock. Adidas, I believe.

nice slacks.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hope you have better luck than me with Nespresso, and I certainly do not mean to rain on your new toy but what brought me to this thread is 2 broken Nespresso Machines in 3 years. When the second one broke (it started dispensing the coffee somewhere internally rather than the intended spout) I contacted Nespresso by phone and email and got nowhere. It did make a nice cup while it lasted, but all in all I found (beyond the broken machines) the coffee was too expensive and too limiting. Admittedly I am more of a Venti guy.

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I bought my machine from SurLaTable, so hopefully, both the store and the manufacturer will stand behind the product. Up until your post I've not seen hardly a thing negative about Nespresso yet.

keepin' my fingers crossed!

 

[JadeEast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WalkGood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here's my old school eco-friendly coffee sock drip gear made from ceramic, wood & naturally with a reusable cotton filter ...

That's pretty sweet where did you find that?

 

[beerguy0]

I may have to get one of these. I like the occasional espresso, but I don't see spending $500+ for something that likely wouldn't get all that much use.

Presso USA - Espresso Coffee Maker

 

[doubtfulbroom]

heres my setup

Attachment 25606

 

[beerguy0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doubtfulbroom /img/forum/go_quote.gif heres my setup Attachment 25606

Nice. I'm gradually building my coffee gadget collection - I've got the wife persuaded to let me buy a roaster, so as soon as they are back in stock at Sweet Maria's, I'm getting one of these:

I've been roasting with a heatgun and bowl for almost two years, and already have a good stash of green beans on hand (and another 16 lbs due in next week. I ordered my first Kona beans, but I'm not touching them until I get the roaster and have it figured out. Also, SM ships the GC roaster with an 8 lb. sampler.) I need to make my roasts more repeatable. I'm definitely not getting the most out of my coffees, and the beans I buy are too good for haphazard roasting techniques. I live in Western NY, and have to roast in the garage in the winter. The ambient temperature has a huge effect on my roasting times, and it shows in the cup flavors.

I'm still doing manual drip for most of our coffee, but we also have two Moka pots and a couple French presses. I figure my next item will be a Tecnivorm drip pot, then maybe a Rancio Silvia. (Of course, that means a grinder upgrade, the Baratza Virtuoso probably won't cut it for a real espresso machine.) I may also throw in a vacuum pot at some point, just so all coffee making methods will be represented. (African coffees are supposed to do very well in vacuum pots, and I buy mostly Ethiopian coffees. I especially love the funky DP coffees.)

 

[odontastic]

Aeropress coffee brewer
Cona vacuum coffee brewer
FreshRoast home coffee roaster, original model
Zassenhaus Knee Mill manual grinder

 

[pat1006]

I just got a Keurig. Does anyone know of any good places to buy k-cups?

 

[beerguy0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerguy0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Finally got my GC roaster yesterday. Already did two batches, 1/2 lb. each of Ethiopia FTO Oromia Yirga Cheffe (City roast) and El Salvador Finca Matalapa (City+). Loving it so far, much more fun to roast indoors.

 

[dfkt]

Can you spot the machine?

Ok, that was easy...

The La Pavoni Professional will be replaced by a Ponte Vecchio Lusso 1 soon...

 

[Pale Rider]

Very pretty. I have had several months with my Alex Duetto II now, and am quite pleased with it.

 

[Pale Rider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerguy0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice. I'm gradually building my coffee gadget collection - I've got the wife persuaded to let me buy a roaster, so as soon as they are back in stock at Sweet Maria's, I'm getting one of these: I've been roasting with a heatgun and bowl for almost two years, and already have a good stash of green beans on hand (and another 16 lbs due in next week. I ordered my first Kona beans, but I'm not touching them until I get the roaster and have it figured out. Also, SM ships the GC roaster with an 8 lb. sampler.) I need to make my roasts more repeatable. I'm definitely not getting the most out of my coffees, and the beans I buy are too good for haphazard roasting techniques. I live in Western NY, and have to roast in the garage in the winter. The ambient temperature has a huge effect on my roasting times, and it shows in the cup flavors. I'm still doing manual drip for most of our coffee, but we also have two Moka pots and a couple French presses. I figure my next item will be a Tecnivorm drip pot, then maybe a Rancio Silvia. (Of course, that means a grinder upgrade, the Baratza Virtuoso probably won't cut it for a real espresso machine.) I may also throw in a vacuum pot at some point, just so all coffee making methods will be represented. (African coffees are supposed to do very well in vacuum pots, and I buy mostly Ethiopian coffees. I especially love the funky DP coffees.)

I tried the GeneCafe, but in the end, I chose the Behmor. Quite a bit cheaper, double the capacity [very nice when making gifts of roasted coffee], low noise and nearly smokeless [so now I roast in my kitchen with my family], and very reliable and repeatable. BTW, the Sweet Maria's folks are very close by in Oakland and great to do business with.