phaelon56

It's also worth noting that simply chilling regular hot brewed coffeee does not. achieve the same effect. It's the cold brew process itself that yields the "acid" reduction. Also - chilled hot brewed coffee keeps well only for a day or so in the fridge before there's a noticeable reduction in the quality of the flavor profile whereas cold brew coffee, properly stored, is good for up to about one week.

Integrated grinders are rarely if ever as good as stand-alone grinders and never better. And if/when the grinder goes you're out of luck - it's typically cheaper to replace that sort of thing than to have it repaired. Here's a vote for either Britta filtered water or bottled spring water as the best choice for home coffee brewing. For all practical purposes one can consider reverse osmosis and distilled water to have all of the mineral content removed. The result is a sort of flat taste to the water and the brewed beverage. To some people it's more noticeable in espresso than in brewed coffee but go to any progressive coffee/espresso establishment that's in an area where water quality is really bad. They'll typically use RO or some other heavy duty filtering system that totally removes all foreign matter/compounds but have an additional stage to the filter system that adds back in appropriate amounts of certain minerals. If you're trying to duplicate at home the quality of the drip coffee you get in your favorite local cafe... and you're using a good grinder, proper brew temps etc. but it still doesn't taste the same... look at your water.

The proprietary roasting process that supposedly reduces the acidity of the coffee by a significant degree is questionable. If I recall correctly the claims made by the companies involved have been debunked. I'll nose around tonight when I find time and post a link to the article or discussion. Coffee in general is not as inherently acidic as some people think - it has a much lower acid content than... for example... orange juice. But for some reason the type of acidity it has seems to affect suspsceptible people in a noticeable way - especially those with any acid reflux issues. Possible avenues to pursue 1) Indonesian coffee in general and particularly Sulawesi have a much smoother lower acid flavor profile than central American and African coffees. 2) Properly made espresso has far less acid than drip coffee - you can mix it with hot water to make an Americano. 3) The Cold Brewed Coffee methods such as the Toddy system yield a concentrated extract that can be stored in the fridge and then mixed with hot water to yield an extremely low-acid brew. 4) Best of both worlds is most likely to try using the AeroPress Coffee Machine - a new press style device that uses a radically different concept to extract flavor than regular press pots - and the result is said to be very low acid. When in doubt turn to an authority no less than Ken Davids of Coffeereview.com whose comments include

At age 10 or 11 my dad let me make coffee for him one day when he was working in the yard. I'd watched the process many times and was confident in my abilities. But in the excitement I left the metal basket out of the percolator and ended up bringing him a steaming mug of grounds saturated mud. And he laughed his as* off in a nice way.... then he took me back in the house and showed me the right way to do it.

There are mixed opinions - mostly naysaying - about the Kitchenaid's suitability as an espresso grinder (although I suspect it's as good or better than the Solis in that regard). But the overall consensus is that it's a fine general purpose home coffee grinder for drip, press pot, vac pot etc.. And I have a friend who had pesky issues with his Solis (I had none when I owned one) but he dumped it, got a Kitchenaid and is thrilled (and he's fairly picky). No question about the fact that it's got beefier more rugged build quality and is a more heavy duty machine. I suggest going up to a Rocky or its equivalent if your focus is espresso grinding but otherwise the Kitchenaid, especially at the prices I've seen mentioned, appears to be the top dog in the $200 and under category.

I don't recall ever seeing or trying Miracle Whip until I was in my teens. I didn't even know there were brands of mayonnaise other than Hellman's - much less imitation mayonnaise like Miracle Whip. But if the sandwich premise is that one has started with Miraclle Whip (a given because the recipe is coming straight off the jar) then I think it's safe to assume that we're working with thinly sliced "turkey" (i.e. generic turkey loaf from the local grocery store deli or perhaps straight from an Oscar Mayer blister pack). That doesn't mean I have any interest in eating a sandwich like that. But recipes printed on processed food containers are always fun to read. Especially the one I spotted here on the office on our jumbo sized container of generic dried creamer (aka fake "cremora" - a bit of redundancy!). That recipe describes how to make "whipped cream" from dried powdered creamer. yum . Fake Kool Whip.... hey... wait... that's no redundant - it's a double negative. Does that mean it's real?

Not sure that I agree with this. I've met (and dined) with peopel who really can't seem to tell the difference. To them food is just fuel. They can recognize stuff that's clearly "bad" - e.g. spoiled, overly salty, totally bland, burnt to a crisp etc.. But the nuances of better quality ingredients, a more deft touch with seasonings, morte inventive combinations of ingredients, taste contrasts etc. seem to elude them. Perhaps they could do a bit better if they really cared but I do know people who really just can't taste the difference - they're not wired that way. Lady T said: The motivation for a Fair Trade Certified coffee purchasing decision is a sound one but Fair Trade does not inherently mean that the quality will always be high nor does it always offer the best opportuntities to the smallest farmers. But that's fodder best left for a different thread - which I'll post later today in the Coffee & Tea Forum.

A coffee business discussion thread I'm involved in elsewhere on the 'net raised an issue that warrants discussion. Nearly anyone who's made good espresso at home or observed the process of grinding, packing, tamping, pulling and milk steaming in a well run cafe most likely realizes that it's much more labor intensive and time consuming than "pushing the buttton" on a Starbucks superauto and waiting for the counter person to pour off some milk from a giant pre-steamed pitcher that's been sitting on the counter for awhile. But at what point will a long wait time prompt you to go elsewhere or switch to some other kind of beverage on that occasion? How long a wait can you tolerate on weekdays? Five minutes... ten... a bit more? How about weekends? Perhaps a bit longer than that? And would there be value in having an "express line" that was for orders consisting of drip coffee only? (assuming that the rule was strictly enforced).

I won't wait in line outside a grocery store just to get in the door. I've been in Trader Joe's in places other than NYC and it was okay. They had some excellent private label items that I really liked. And if there was one close to me I'd go there regularly - not for all my shopping but they'd certainly get a fair percentage of my food budget. And 20 minute lines inside the store? Surely you jest. Wegman's has spoiled me. They have a magical way of producing extra cashiers and openign more registers in synch with customer flow. I don't recall ever waiting more than 3 to 5 minutes to get to the cashier in a Wegman's.

1) I live in Syracuse and it's downright scary when people refer to it as "the Big City" 2) Which Korean restaurant? Have you tried the little one on East Fayette Street between Walnut and University? The chef at La Cena told me he's been there numerous times, described the food as inexpensive and authentic and said he and his dining partners are usually the only non-Koreans in the joint. I've been meaning to try it as it's only five minutes from my house. 3) Have you considered a wooden bull nose on the front edge of the laminate? I had Onondaga Laminates up on North Salina (near Assumption Church) do the counters for my previous house. They came in, measured, built to order and included a flat maple bull nose with top and bottom bevel. I was going to pass on the bull nose because it added about $4.50 to $5.00 per linear foot to the price. When he noticed me choking on that price he mentioned that it's costly because they ahve to pay a guy to stay later after the dust int he shop has settled in order to do the finishing on the raw wood. If I bought with the bull nose unfinished it was only $1.25 per linear foot. After installation I masked off with blue painters tape and did three coats of Minwax Wipe On Polyurethane. It's pretty amazing stuff. A clean piece of cotton cloth, a steel wool rub down and tack cloth between coats and I ended up with a finish that was indistinguishable from the factory satin finish on my maple cabinets. As a matter of fact - that gave me the confidence to finish an entuire cabinet door. I had a local cabinet maker build me a false door for the back side of a cabinet I put under a peninsula (the cabinet line I used did not have a suitable dual sided base cabinet). I did the entrie door with the wipe on product and it too looked like a factory finish (unlike any other wood finish I've ever used except tung oil).

Oh so random and I'll try to do it by year... 1956 - breast milk - which I immediately rejected much to my mom's disappointment 1962 - Strawberry Quik (I still remember how disgusting it was) 1966 - Incredible Edibles 1967 - tacos and hot sauce 1968 - gefilte fish and red wine (Manischewitz) 1970 - Chinese food (just short ribs and fried rice), beer and vodka etc. 1971 - bagel with cream cheese (first time for both) 1973 - peanut butter, chocolate and walnut omelet 1974 - cheesecake 1976 - espresso and caviar 1978 - French Onion Soup, raw clams and oysters, French champagne, and chicken liver mousse 1979 - 1988 - things got very blurry during this time period but I'm certain that I tried both a pickled hard boiled egg and also pickled pigs feet in some skanky bar late at night 1989 - lots-o-soul food - collard greens, cornbread, downhome style mac 'n cheese, sweeet potato pie, banana pudding, ham hocks, black eyed peas etc. I'll have to get back to this to cover the 90's and beyond. Now I'm tired AND hungry!

I suppose I don't watch enough TV but I never seem to stumble across RR anymore. But I have seen "$40 a Day" and they actually show a copy or simulated copy of the bill for each meal. If I recall correctly there is always a 15% tip added to the actual food subtotal before tax. I'm in agreement that in most cases, particularly where there's no pricey alcohol bumping up the tab by huge amounts or it's a meal where the total tab is small (e.g. breakfast in the average diner), 15% is not enough. But the fact remains that in "middle America" (meaning most places in the US outside of major metro areas and pockets of high affluence or high education levels / cultural awareness) 15% is considered to be a "standard" tip. RR is from the area near Troy NY or thereabouts. I'm from a similar type of area and what she speaks to is the average folks who live in such places and other communities like them throughout the US.

It's not that I'm ignoring the chocies I make - I was just choosing to leave that out of the discussion. I think we all do that but priorities being what they are I try to leave time for the actual process of sitting down to eat the meal and then... when the schedule permits it... stay awake to let the food digest for at least an hour before going to sleep. I also have many other priorities that don't involve cooking or food consumption. And when it comes to some of them... e.g. coffee or espresso.... I'll forego having any rather than take shortcuts. But even in that area I'll make reasonable compromises when it's appropriate. If I have some espresso blend in my airtight countertop storage container that hits ten days after the roast date I freeze it. And if I wake up some Saturday morning and discover that I forgot to bring home a fresh roasted batch of espresso blend I'll pull out the frozen stuff rather than get dressed, drive ten minutes to the shop, blend a batch and drive home. It's unquestionably a compromise. I have access to free fresh roasted beans that I can blend to my specifications but sometimes the trade-off is worth it (nto to mention that my ten day old deforsted blend is better than anything I can get elsewhere in town in any shops or stores). I overstate the case when saying that I use red sauce no more than twice per week. It's more like one or twice per month. And for me pasta with red sauce is usually fuel that should taste good rather than being the focal point of a special meal.

Please tell me they didn't change it for political correctness I actually wonder if they changed it for marketing reasons since the average non-food oriented person who is not of Italian extraction likely doesn't know what's in a Puttanesca sauce.

You and me both. I also can't believe the argument of "no access to tomatoes" and "no time". ← Let's assume that you get up at 5:00 AM to head to work and get home between 6:30 and 9:00 PM on any given day. And you work one day on weekends. And it's a minimum 15 minute detour on the way home to stop for groceries. Add to that the time necessary to chop some herbs, mince and sautee garlic, cop and sautee onions and then prepare the tomatoes before cooking the sauce. And you're doing all of this for one person (yourself) who will consume no more than one cup of sauce a maxiumum of twice in a week. Jarred sauce has a place in my household. Did I mention that fresh tomatoes are expensive and generally of mediocre quality in my area for ten months of the year?

A few updates: 9th Street espresso, which I mentieond upthread as using a faema machine, now has a Synesso. And after finally visiting there (twice in the same weekend) I can state with confidence that you can finally get really good espresso in Manhattan. Although they're nto open on weekends I did manage to sneak in a double ristretto at Blue Spoon on Chambers Street the Monday mornign that I was leaving. Thy're using Intelligentsia's Black Cat blend. Love that stuff - very complex and the flavors lingered onthe back of my tongue for a good twenty minutes after consuming the shot. And I owe a visit to Grumpy in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Theyr'e using Victrola's Streamline blend (from Seattle) and some coffee business folks I'm in contact with rave about the espresso that's being produced there.

Comparing the valet parking rates for hotels to that of a restaurant is a bit of apples vs. oranges. In most hotels, NYC included, the daily valet parking charge is for 24 hours - not just an evening - and it includes unlimited in and out privileges.

If you're talking about yellow rice flavored with Goya Sauzon - you are 100% correct! It's widely used in much of the Dominican take-out food that I eat on a weekly basis and also figures prominently in Puerto Rican cusine that I have enjoyed greatly in the past. There are very few foods if any that have any noticeable physiological effects on me apart from satisfying my hunger and my desire for taste sensation. I don't much care for MSG in anything other than Caribbean style yellow rice with beans. But even that is far less flavorful than good Jamaican rice 'n peas made with cooked onions, some garlic, a bit of Scotch Bonnet pepper and some fresh thyme. Plain white rice can usually stand to be punched up a bit for my tastes but there are batter ways than MSG.

I'll guess that it all tastes liek flavored coffee because a) They're using magnetic "coffee type" tags on airports and swapping them in and out without decontaminating the pots between coffee types or b) More likely they are using the same grinder for both flavored and regular coffee - and any shop that's so cheap and/or so clueless as to do this does not deserve your business!

Just call room service and order. In fact, order as many orders of it as you want. They'll deliver. ← Thanks Dave. I got the impression from all the info I've read that the 24 hour room service was kind of a limited menu ← It depends on the cruise line. I think that if you get "Concierge Class" on Celebrity you may get the option to choose anything from the menu for room service. I'm not sure about room service options on Radisson Seven Seas but definitely Princess, and most likely Carnival, Royal Caribbean etc. - the main stream non-premium lines - have more limited room service menus. They'll have a soup, a basic salad or two, some sandwich options and a simple dessert item but not the dining room menu. Seabourne, Crystal, Radisson and SeaDream all seem to get fairly high marks for food. The Cunard QEII gets a similar rating for "premium level" but they have two distinct service classes, room levels and separate dining rooms. I thought the food on my first Princess cruise two years ago was better than expected - good diner food gussied up is an accurate way to describe it. I even had a few surprise like some rack of lamb that was truly outstanding. I sailed with them again more recently and was less impressed with the food offerings. Far more misses this time but the Italian specialty night was good and one night the buffret had caribbean style stewed goat that was quite possibly the best goat I've ever had.

What you have is a lever style espresso machine - a traditional design intended for straight espresso only. There are many other great espresso machines available, the better "pro-sumer" models being in the category generically known as "E61 grouphead" design. This means they have a thermosyphon that circulates hot water inside the fairly massive brewing grouphead to maintain brewing temp in the right temperature range. It's a good design and by drawing off about 6 to 10 oz of water before pulling a shot (assuming the machine has been idle for more than ten minutes) the average user can get fairly consistent brew temps and very good results - much easier than lever machines. And most of the models have the HX (heat exchanger) featuire - meaning the brew water is heated spearately form the bolier water that is used to produce steam. Thus one is able to steam milk immediately before, after or during the shot rather than waiting to get the boiler water lowered to the right temp for brewing after doign the milk steaming. But you still have to grind, dose and tamp. I love it and don't mind the small bit of mess (easily cleaned up) but it's not for everyone. There are stand-alone steamers on the market but the good ones are pricey and nearly as large as the E61 espresso machines. The Aerolatte, Froth au Lait and other such devices are good at what they do but are not a substitute. Those products make frothed milk not microfoamed milk. Properly steamed/foamed milk for a traditional cappuccino will have a silky, velvety feel and texture with a nice sheen on the surface. Rather than having meringue-like peaks that are whipped up it has a pourable texture. It takes some practice and also the right equipment. It's next to impossible to do it well on espresso machines in the sub $500 range (the Rancilio Silvia at $495 being the exception). If you want to seee milk that's foamed the wrong way go into any Starbucks and look at the layer of foam sitting on top of the steamed milk in their giant steamign pitchers. Now go to a place like 9th Street Espresso or head out to Williamsburg to Gimme or over to Greenpoint to Grumpy and order a cappuccino. You'll get latte art poured onthe surface of your drink and you'll also see milk texturing the way it's supposed to be done. I'm not denying that the really frothy light foam piled on the surface of a milk based espresso is appealing to many people - I accept that it is. But if you want milk that melds and sort of folds into the espresso's crema in a way that creates superb mouthfeel and a textural beverage experience - you need properly foamed milk.

I haven't ordered one yet but plan to do so when the money is freed up and hope to have it before the year is out. Although I anticipate that there will be a waiting list and backorder situation. I've heard mixed reports on the GB5 - a multi-group PID's / preheated water version of the FB70 (aka Linea withy a sexy body). Some say it rivals a Synesso but a larger group seem to indicate some notable shortcomings. The GS3, OTOH, is a new design from the ground up in most respects but does incorporate the famous "paddlewheel" grouphead (thus the GS designation).

Member Edsel said: I was fortunate to test drive a beta model GS3 back in January. Espresso PID control guru Andy Schecter of nearby Rochester had one on loan for testing and evaluation and invited me there top pull some shots. It still had a few minor bugs because it was a test machine - not a production model. But it rocks! It produces phenomenal results with great consistency and although it's unassuming on the outside it's a brilliant design. It can easily be adapted to either directly plumbed or run from an internal user refillable resevoir. has a realtively easy to adjust brew temp control that's is rumored to be accurate to 1/10 of a degree and has the dual boiler design that has made La Marzocco justly famous. The price does not surprise me nor does it dissuade me. I expect to see one appear in the ultra-secret Phaelon Coffee test lab before year's end. Seriously... this is a really good machine. There will be a surprisingly large number of home users who buy the GS3 but there's an even bigger market of specialty bakeries, chocolatiers, bistro's and other commercial clients who need to produce perhaps 30 - 60 drinks per day and have limited space available. And those of you who have not had the opportunity to taste several shots of espresso intentionally pulled at predictable temperatures ranging by only a 1/2 or 1 degree would be amazed at what a difference a single degree or less can make in flavor profile. The pundits and guru's are already discussing pressure profiling now that consistent, highly granular and relatively stable temperature control is available.

I think the "flat white" term is specific to Australian coffee culture as are a few other terms such as "long black". By the way... American style drip coffee is almost non-existent in Oz but espresso is widespread and typically of fairly good quality. Starbucks open about 30 stores in Australia over a 4 - 5 year period and ended up closing aout 10 of them becuase they weren't doing enough business. I love those folks (the Aussies that is). From our languishing Coffee Glossary Project (that I promise to revive) we have this definition contributed by Eric Malson who lived in Portugal for several years: That seems to indicate a similarity in ratio between the coffee drink you're seeking and a "flat white". I'm thinking that the varietals and percentage sof them used to make espresso blends in Spain and Portugal may be quite different form thsao used to makme espresso blends in the US. It's already been noted elsewhere that the true Vietnamese coffee has a very distinct flavor unlike any other. Spain, Portugal and certain other European countries with a history of colonization sometimes have existing relationships with certain coffee growing countries and an established market for certain varietals. I know what goes into a number of Italian espresso bloends but am unsure about those of other countries. This theory is supported by a comment in the Favorite Local Coffee thread in the PA forum. Member Capaneus comments on the fact that a few small cafe's in Philly brew espresso that tastes like what is served in Lisbon and quite unlike what is typically served in the US.

"Flat White" typically means 1/3 espresso and 2 parts of properly steamed milk - i.e. milk with a smooth silky texture but no extraneous extra foam. In the Syracuse area the closest thing you'll find to this is to order a Machiatto at Gimme Coffee or Carriage House Cafe in Ithaca. That will have closer to a 1 to 1 ratio. Or order a cappuccino at either place and have it there in a china cup. You'll get about a 1 to 3 ratio. I'm going to be getting some proper porcelain demitasse cups soon of a size suitable for machiatto's. I round up a few area folks including you for a tasting once I have a proper place established where the beans are of my choosing and roasted exactly as I want them to be. That should all be falling into place over the next few months.