phaelon56

Pics comments? They represent the overall look fo the spoace accurately but as youi've discovered - cell phone cameras have some seriosu limitations. I think some of them do okay outdoors in bright light - actually pretty good. But the sensors, chips, pixel count etc leaves them ill equipped to deliver good pics in indoor settings. I do agree about the service. Our waiter was terrific - young, engaging without trying to be overly friendly, had a sense of humor and really seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

If either Tonx or Kyle were somehow lured into settling on the East coast for awhile it would be Seattle's loss and our gain. With you guys open in Greenpoint... Gimme in Williamsburg... Ken on LES and even John Hornall showing up in Philly... rumors of Intelly coming to town... the espresso scene appears to be finally heating up. That's all good. You should expect to see an interesting new craft/artisan micro-roasting operation appear in the Northeast during the next six months as well. That's a definite.

It was Faygo if I recall correctly. There is still Faygo product being made but not the chocolate flavor. But you can get Canfield's chocolate soda. Annd if any of these chocolate flavors taste as bad as the "chocolate" syrup that Monin and Torani make for use in flavored latte's or Italian style soda's - they must be truly disgusting and artificial tasting. But some people like that Of course you haven't done that. Flat Coke left overnight on the nightstand is well known as a good hangover curative and I'm SURE you've never had one of those!

That's a shock. Tony is a great guy and highly respected in the roasting community here in the US as well as getting some props from overseas. I'm sure he'll land on his feet and hope to hear of his future position soon. Do you mean that sales at the Williamsburg store have skyrocketed and is the implication that better quality being produced by the GB/5 is a factor in this?Just curious. I have yet to try shots from a GB/5 but was mightily impressed by my experience with a beta model of the GS3 this past winter. Yet despite the advances in equipment... a good barista is still the key. I can drive an hour south to Ithaca and in a 1 mile radius go to three different shops where the exact same espresso blend is pulled on three different machines: a La Marzocco Linea, a Mirage and also on a Faema "no-stop". It's not possible to do a real side by side A/B/C comparison due to lack of physical adjacency but the shots in all three places are routinely of very high quality and consistency.

In a commercial enviroonment I'd choose a brand other than Rancilio but for a home espresso bar that S-24 could be a great choice if the price is right. I think the retail on the S-24 was likely a bit over $2,000 for the plumbed in version (they had a pour-over model as well) but $3,000 with a grinder? he pais too much. If you can snag the machine alone for $1,000 or so I'd grab it. Things to look for /questions to ask on a used espresso machine: - was it used with filtered water? - if the area where it was in use is known for hard water was the water also softened? - was it cleaned regularly with Purocaffe or Cafiza? - when it was taken out of service was it stored in a place where it was subjected to freezing temperatures and if so was it full drained before it was stored? Also - examine the outer appearance. People who take good care of the innards of their commercial machines are also usually attentive to the exterior.

Gimme Coffee just down the way in Williamsburg is very good but Victrola's Streamline is my current favorit espresso blend for straight shots or machiatto's. And the Synesso helps - that's what they make it on at Victrola.

Am I the only one who thinks that's a comically bad name for a coffee product? All I can think of when I see it is Cheese Whiz or "taking a wizz".

Yes indeed - we're very glad to have you here Paul. And delighted that you're joining in the conversation! When I finally got my first chance to visit Paris a few short years ago the coffee was mostly abysmal. When I ordered "un cafe" to have as an apertif before dinner while my girlfriend drank her Kir Royale the waiter looked at me as though I were from Mars! If I recall correctly a few guys even came out from the kitchen to take a peek at what kind of crazy American would do such a bizarre thing (it was a place frequented mostly by locals). You may find some helpful information here on the French Press Brewing Thread Thanks to our ever helpful pinned Coffee Topics index 7 grams of coffee (two level tablespoons or one standard coffee measure) to 5 or 6 ounces of water is the standard for drip coffee. Most folks use a trifle more than that for French Press but check the discussion - there are many other factors involved that will help you achieve best results. And just as I've had bad drip coffee and bad espresso in some very fine restaurants I have also been served some abominable French Press Coffee in a supposedly fine dining restaurant (which will emain nameless but it's just up the street from Gramercy tavern in NYC). Here's a place that's doing it the right way - Restaurant Eve in Oldtown Alexandria VA Here's an excerpt from another eGullet thread in a different forum section (cleverly edited to remove the part where I had made a fool of myself by insisting that there were no restaurants in which I could get really good coffee done the right way). Member T.Thrasher is Todd Thasher - the beverage Director at Eve.

Wow. You weren't kidding when you called yourself a "princess" I'd look into reliability factors and noise levels before I invested in any Sub-Zero - even the undercounter ones. A majority of the espresso bars and coffeehouses in the US that have undercounter refrigeration use True. It's about 35 - 40% cheaper than Sub-Zero and far more reliable. Most of their stuff is on casters but I think they make some built-ins as well.

I buy sauce in jars. I sometimes use it as a base to which I add canned tomatoes and my own seasonings (with about 1 part jar sauce to four or five parts of my own ingredients). But I also like having it around as a quick fix when I'm tired, arrived home late and need a quick dinner without a lot of fuss (that means every week Monday through Thursday!). Having experimented with different brands my conclusions are as follows: 1) avoid those with corn syrup or other sweeeteners 2) avoid those with oils other than olive oil 3) avoid sauces with pre-added meat and avoid at all costs those with pre-added cheese(s) 4) seek brands in which the primary ingredient is crushed or diced tomatoes rather than water and tomato paste 5) $6 - $10 jar sauces are rarely if ever superior to a carefully chosen $2 - $3 jar Like Jason, my experiences have usually been best with simple marinara sauce but I do opt for tomato and basil at time. And I've found Barilla to be very consistent and reliable.

With "all-in-one" devices and especially with high end "built-in's" one can not assume that there's a correlation between drink quality and price. I can make better espresso with a $200 machine and a $100 grinder and better cpffee with a $3 plastic filter cone and $20 grinder relative to what a shiny new Miele can produce. My equipment and methods will be messy by many folk's standards, not especially convenient and far from aesthetically pleasing to most eyes when parked on a countertop. Buit I enjoy every aspect of it - the process, the control, the actual 'doing" - it's about more than just the drink in the cup for me. Still.... rela time evaluation with a coffee you already know and like is crucial to ensuring that the Miele system will meet your needs froma taste inthe cup standpoint. As for the freshness of POD's.... some are fresher than others and there are even tricks like grinding and packing in a nitrogen enriched (thus oxygen deprived) atmosphere which may help ensure thatv the ground coffeee in the pod is as fresh as possible. But there is a deterioration timeline for the most crucial and most subtle flavor components in coffee. It is a function of oxidation and the oxidation occurs even in a vacuum sealed product. It can be dramatically slowed down but once that product is opened the time window for freshness is very short. That's one of the real benefits of POD's. For folks who've been accustomed to getting canned and pre-ground coffee that goes stale very quickly after openign the can... POD's represent a quantum leap in freshness. The convenience factor is also not be underestimated. But there's an equally large contingent of us coffee aficionado's who really can tell the difference between fresh whole bean that was ground just before roasting and a POD that may be fresh by POD standards but just not fresh enough. The anectdotal evidence I have from end users implies that Saeco and Jura superautomatic machines produce comparable results but that Jura might be more reliable.

Interesting comment and perhaps good fodder for a separate thread. This is an odd phenomenon that I've noticed in a number of restaurants in NYC and elsewhere.

There's both truth and error in the above perepctive (in my opinion). Mediocre or average espresso blends, especially those that are not fresh enough or are over-roasted, can never create great espresso even in the hands of a master barista with great equipment. But it is definitely true that bad equipment or a poorly trained barista or both factors can produce real swill even from the best and freshest beans. My latest results in NYC: I was there weekend before last and was unable to visit all the places I wanted to try but I did get to 9th Street espresso two days in a row and also made a visit to Blue Spoon. I had a few machiatto's and a cappuccino at 9th Street and was well pleased with both. They use good technique, the right machine (a Synesso Cyncra) and have a rich blend with just the tiniest hint of a bitter undertone (in a good way). The drip coffee I sampled from them was also pretty good. I really liek 9th Street but it's a bit of ahike for me when I'm in town as my business and personal travel never takes me to LES - it's a schlepp over there for me. Blue Spoon blew me away. They were using a Simonelli machine (not a great choice) but are pulling shots with Intelligentsia's Black Cat blend. I had a doubel ristretto and it stands out in my memory as the most complex and intriguing flavor profile I've ever tasted in an espresso. I knocked back the espresso and took a small cup of drip coffee with me. Twenty minutes later when the drip coffee was nearly all consumed I still had instense flavor artifacts lingering on the back of my tongue from the Black cat. The bad news is that Blue Spoon is closed on weekends.

I was at Bouchon Bakery weekend before last and shared some kind of citrus tart. It was very pricey but not unreasonable considering the location and overhead costs. But the espresso was truly mediocre. It was made with Illy pods and they actually tout the Illy brand on their menu as though using it is a good thing. Ludicrous.

I've only been to Casa Vasa once - back in 2002 - I was underwhelmed but figured that maybe I caught it on a bad day. I have been to many other places in Ironbound and Seabra's Marisqueria remains my favorite.

You will get a far better grind consistency from a kick-ass commercial grinder in a shop than you will from a cheapo-whirly blade electric grinder at home. Before I roasted my own coffee, back when my sole means of brewing was a $3 plastic Melitta pour-over cone, I used the same cheapo whirly blade grinder for a dozen years or so. IMHO a cheap grinder properly used with whole beans for filter drip coffee is still the best cheap system. Yeah... you have to grind a bit and then shake the grinder to get the particles re-distributed and then grind again. But it works and nothgin is freshe rhtn ajust ground whole beans (assuming the beans were fresh to being with. Unlike us human beans the coffee beans consider oxygen to be a mortal enemy. The minute you grind coffee beeans you've created a vast increase in surface area - just the thign that oxygen and moisture need to do their nefarious deeds. But can your current system be improved and still leave you with those precious extra few minutes every day to dream up new nicknames for me? Absolutely. Every time you take that bag out of the freezer, remove a bit of coffee and return it to the freezer... you're allowing oxygen and moisture into the ground coffee. Here's an easy fix: get the little Zip-Loc brand "snack bags", Same width as a sandwich bag but not as tall. Stuff each of those little suckers with just enough coffee for one day's consumption and drop 'em all in one larger bag. Take 'em out one or two at a time before you retire for the night with your romance novels. Or whatever it is that you read at bedtime. In the morning it's defrosted and ready to brew. With that small an amount you could just pull it out a few minutes before you brew since it's already ground. That's how Coffee Boys do it when they don't have a grinder handy.

The NY Forum "ISO Dining Friends" pinned topic is indeed the place to post a casual suggestion for such an outing and then make arrangements with interested parties by PM. But "eatmywords"... how soon we forget.... wasn't that you and your omnivorous dining buddyl Nathan who joined me at Sripraphi Thai in Queens just last weekend as a result of my ISO post? And we shared a bowl of Thai sauteed pork belly. It was prettty good... had a flavor slightly reminiscent of bacon (but less smoky or salty) and a texture a bit like conch.

← Bold italics added by me for emphasis. As a native Syracusan I'm understandably defensive and take umbrage (but only a small bit) at this remark. It's my opinion that the average NYC resident, albeit more informed about world matters in general and food in particular than the typical Syracusan, is no less parochial when it comes to barbecue. I'll guess that outside of a core group of food / dining enthusiasts such as those in these forums the vast majority of folks in Manhattan who taste something like the ribs at Tennesee Mountain on Spring Street will declare them to be "real barbecue". Do you agree?

Not that there's anything wrong with that Good call on the drip machine and grinder that you ordered. I'm with Ken on the appeal and qualitative benefits offered by grinding and brewing fresh. I was at a client site last week (for my day job - no my coffee job) and they had a Keurig system. It was a good cup of coffee for an office environment (I had the Sumatran) but still not as fresh tastingn or as good as the cup I just brewed here in my own office - from coffee that I ground a week ago (we have no grinder at work). As for the Bialetti "cappuccino maker" - the impression I get is that it's good for what it is - moka coffee (aka stovetop espresso) - but it should not be considered as a substitute for a traditional cappuccino made on an espresso machine. That doe snot imply that it's inferior - it's just different. There has been some recent discussion of this device on the Pleasures of Moka thread beginning with this post Bialetti cow print stovetop cappuccino maker

I had to chuckle at this comment in the linked article It goes on to mention that the ingredients consist of whiskey, sweet vermouth and a dash of bitters... and maybe a maraschino cherry. Three ingredients is "too many things? I'll take a Manhattan or a Martini order any day - you just aks the customer how they like their drink... sweet, dry etc. I will side with those who can't stand getting orders for sweet, sticky concoctions especially when it's busy. My rule of thumb as a bartender when we did events that drew large numbers of college aged clientele was this: if you can't tell me what goes into the drink then I can't make it for you. Tha simplified things greatly. Many years ago when i was waiting table our head bartender - apart from grimacing when people order Pink Squirrels, Grasshoppers or Brandy Alexanders - reserved his greatest ire for those who sullied any of his favorite liquors by diluting them with anything other than water or a splash of soda. We all knew to cringe when ordering a Whiskey Sour made with Crown Royal - the greatest sin of all.

I know the statement was made in jest but it's worth noting that piston lever style machines are totally unsuitable for a commercial environment where more thana few drinks are produced in any given hour. Piston lever machiens have a certain "window of opportunity after they're warmed up and can deliver several great (even stellar) shots within that time period. But then they get a bit too hot and have to be cooled off before you can regain that optimal window. One of the better cappuccino's I ever had in a restaurant was made with a piston lever machine but it was at a little Italian beach cafe in Central America where drink volume was very low. The owner, a native of Milan, had lots of experinece on such machines. And his shrimp seviche totally rocked.

Even I don't own a piston lever machine.... not because they're not cool but because I can't justify having two machines in my kitchen at present. Just make sure you don't sell it for too cheap or trade for too little. I can help you by PM with those valuation issues etc. if you decide to pursue this route.

The redeeming feature of the Francis Francis machine offered by Illy is that it comes in pink (this assumes that you just love pink). The Gaggia Achilles is a traditional piston lever machine and a really nice one at that. The Illy machine in question is to the Gaggia what a McDonald's fish sandwich is to lobster cooked sous vide from Per Se (perhaps not the best analogy as that lobster is hardly everyoen's favorite dish but I'm sure you get the idea). I'd either keep the Gaggia or find someone who has an extra E61 style semi-automatic who wants to swap. The benefit of the E61 style machine is that the learning curve for getting consistently good results is much shorter than with a piston lever machine. Think of the piston lever machine as a finicky classic sports car and the E61 as always-starts-and-runs and gets you there nicely like a basic Lexus. Given ideal circumstances the piston lever machines will pull fantastic espresso shots but they're not convenient for occasional users and won't allow you to steam milk while you're pulling a shot.

Hey.... that's pretty cool - I know Bob Arceneaux - the roaster for Orleans Coffee - nice story. As for shipping charges - they're all over the map. If you can find a place that ships via Priority Mail you can do okay provided their beans aren't outrageously pricey to beign with. But realistically... good quality roasted beans by mail will cost aboput $12 - $15 per pound including shipping depending on whether you buy one pound or a couple.

Get a Technivorm or Capresso with a thermal carafe and either keep the Gaggia or replace it with a Silvia. Not stylish but it's the best espresso machien you can buy for under $500. Unless you're willing to drink Americano's instead of drip coffee you need two machines. Avoid devices that "do it all" - especially when they have built-in grinders. As far as aesthetics go... if you're looking to impress someone with your finely attuned aesthetic sensibility and the zen of your home coffee process you can't do much better than a Porcelain Melitta Pour-Over Brewer And you need a good grinder. A Rancilio Rocky will do it although for just drip coffee the Kitchen Aid Pro-Line is stylish and does a great job (less so for espresso but it's a darn good grinder for drip coffee).