phaelon56

We had a can of some "herbal" coffee at work for awhile. It also contained chicory - can't recall the brand but even those who just love the swill such as Folger's and Maxwell House that gets served in the company lounge said it was horrid. If the can is still there I'll try some out of curiosity but I'm not hopeful. If caffeine is the issue there is such a thing as high quality decaf but you have to look around to find it.

It won't take six months - trust me on that. Best bet is to get a couple gallons of milk and some weekend or evening when you can get some time alone with the machine just start practicing. Do lots of steaming before you even bother making the espresso shots to pour the milk. Try pouring the milk after steaming and look for a sort of velvety silken texture in which the milk pours as a continuous stream of dense foam rather than milk with a separate layer of fluffy foam. Once you get "over the hump" with one or two half decent pours you'll find that it's not so tough to pour rudimentary latte art. It really helps to have a relatively shallow bowl shaped cup to do the pour. Deeper cups with straight sides (e.g. like take-away paper coffee cups or conventional coffee mugs) are not good. You might try calling Terry Z and his staff over at Espresso Parts and see if the 30 degree 2 hole steam tip will fit your machine. It's also possible that the newer style La Marzocco 4 hole tip will fit but check with them to confirm. Many people find the 2 hole tip a bit easier to work with on high end semi-commercial home machines (rather than the stock 1 hole or 2 hole tip that comes with the machine)but I'm not sure how well that transfers to commercial machines.

Whole milk generally makes better micro-foam in my experience. Mixing whole and skim is an easy way to get 2% (we do it in our cafes as we don't stock 2%). Skim milk makes light fluffy foam but the milk and foam separate very quickly. A few key things.... - always purge the steam wand of excess water just before steaming - start with the tip at the botom of the pitcher when you activate the steam and quickly lower the pitcher to get the tip so it's just below the surface of the milk - you should hear a sort of ripping sound as the air is introduced into the milk and then keep lowering the pitcher as the milk expands or "stretches" so the tip remains just below the surface and you keeo hearing the same sound - at all times and particularly during the final phase, try to angle the steam tip and the pitcher so that a swirling motion is occuring in the pitcher - when the milk reaches about 80 degrees or so it should have increased in volume by about 25%; now raise the pitcher so the tip is almost at the bottom and get the swirling motion going as rapidly as possible - this final phase will help reduce the larger bubbles into the tiny bubbles that comprise true micro-foam which can be poured in one motion - at about 140 - 150 degrees stop the steam, remove the pitcher and immediately wipe down the steam arm with a wet towel then turning it back on for a brief second or two to purge any remaining milk from the tip - it's often helpful to tap the pitcher a few times after this to break up any remaining larger bubbles The ultimate source for links to milk foaming tutorials and some really good short movies illustrating the process: Thomas Gauperaa's Blogspot Scroll about halfway down the page and look for the links on the left.

Correction - they were barracuda steaks. I asked the dive shop prorpietor for a food recommendation and she suggested I keep my eye peeled for barracuda because it's so delicious. She was absolutely right - I can only imagine that the reason it's not more popular here in the US is due to image reasons as it is a scary looking fish. But so tasty.

If I eat at a friends' homes and they choose to serve on paper plates I smile and enjoy my food - it's their call. I never ever use them at home. The entire aesthetic experience of eating anything... even a simple slice of pie for dessert... is so much more pleasurable for me from a "real" plate (my reaction to plastic plates like Correlware is very similar to the way I feel about paper plates - not quite but almost like a nails on the chalkboard thing). I don't sue them for prep either. I keep a whole stack of stainless steel bowls in all sizes on hand - small to large. I use those for prepped ingredients and just give them a quick hot water soap scrub and rinse after using but before I finish cooking or serving. My dishwasher is tiny and I hate to waste space for those bowls, especially because they ridiculously easy to clean. But don't ask me to take real china on a picnic - paper plates do have their place!

If my math is correct you should be using about 90 grams of ground coffee in the French Press for 51 ounces of water. My vacuum pot is a Bodum and they recommend 7 grams per four ounces of water for that product. I use 40 grams for a full 25 ounce pot and it gives me the body and flavor profile I find most desirable. YMMV may vary contingent on your taste. Another way to look at is this: the standard SCAA coffee scoop is roughly two level tablespoons of ground coffee (about 7 grams). If Bodum calls their "cup" 4 ounces you'd need 12.7 scoops or 88.9 grams. Let's round it off to 90 grams or just over 3 ounces. If you don't have a kitchen scale that's accurate down to about the gram level it's no big deal - just grab one of those "standard coffee scoops" like the one that might have come with the press pot and start scooping ground coffee into a larger cup measure. You'll very easily arrive at a correct measure and be able to use something like a standard measuring cup to scoop out your coffee. In my experience, using the standard coffee scoop for whole beans before grinding is reasonably accurate for most beans - I just leave it slightly rounded and find that after grinding it's about one level scoop. I repeat and stress that YMMV (your mileage may vary). Depending on your tastes, how finely you grind and how long you steep the coffee before pressing the plunger... you may want to adjust the weight/volume of beans slightly. It's also worth noting that vacuum pots and press pots typically require a bit more coffee per ounce of water than drip makers but yield results that many of us find to be vastly preferable.

Obviously I'm chiming in on this a bit late but here's my take based on a trip to both the Cayo district (for caving at Ian Anderson's Jngle Lodge) and also some diving off Caye Caulker. The food in general does tend to be very disapointing - stewed chicken with rcie 'n beans is the "national dish" and the amount of coconut milk (and posisbly some other form of fat) in the rice makes it a bit on the heavy side. I did try Cow's Foot soup when I was in the interior and wouldn't care ot have it again. The large amoutn of gelatinous material was made palatable only by adding heavy doses of Marie Sharpe's hot sauce (belize's best food product). On Caye Caulker I tried two "beach meals" from the ladies who sold food on the beach in early evening. Both sold for $4 US with two side dishes but the sides were typically potato salad of some sort and the ubiquitous rice 'n beans. My first dinner was barbecued conch - it was rubbery beyond belief and disappointing. The second try was stewed chicken - acceptable enough but no comparison to Jamaican stewed chicken or many other simple chicken dishes I enjoy. Look for small neighborhood places that have fresh fish if you're in Placencia or on any of the cayes. Local folks will often set up a barbecue grill in the front yard and a few pcinic tables. A "dinner" consisting of a bottle of Fanta, a nice sized hunk of fish and two sides (you can guess what the sides are!) was about $9 - $10 US. I had swordfish steaks - they'd been grilled in foil with an herbed butter mixture and were fresh caught. Unquestionably some of the best fish I've ever eaten. If you happen to be there in the right season you might find some good spiny lobster barbecued on the beach but it's seasonal (by law). Despite the mediocre food I will return - it's a beautiful country with friendly people.

That's very likely the case. I rarely had coffee before 9 AM on this trip (actually usually never had it before 10 or 11 AM). We visited Cafe Danton at about 5 or 6 PM and they were probably using coffee that had been ground a few hours before. Even world class coffee that has been ground for espresso and left to sit in the doser for a few hours will become flat and a bit lacking in character with that length of exposure to oxygen. By the way... I did nose around back by the bar and the espresso machine on my way to the bathroom but could not discern what brand they were using - no cans or bags were visible. Based on the flavor profile I suspect that it was Illy.

Just curious. Has anyone seen green dumplings like these in NYC? They seem nearly ubiquitous in the nicer Chinese take-out places in Paris - most all of the window displays have them. We were already stuffed when I took this pic and never had a chance to try them. The label indicated something about "legumes aux ravioli". I couldn't tell whether the green color was due to the contents or if the dumpling skin itself.

Great story and so sadly true. I recognize the wroter Onocoffee (aka Jay of Timonium MD) from some of the coffee forums that I haunt. It was an entertaining read and really truly struck home. especially because I just returned from France a few short days ago after experiencing a week of the best food I've ever eaten and the worst coffee and espresso I've ever experienced. No offense intended but, as we'd say here in NY, the French don't know from espresso. Anyone who looks to the French as a source for equipment or technique regarding espresso has IMHO really missed the point.

I can't speak to the circumstances in other markets but here in the US, black tea is typically a component of chai but not the only one. Most cafes offering chai prepare it by mixing a liquid chai mixture with equal parts steamed milk. The chai misture is also available in a powdered form. Ingredients typically include vanilla, a sweetener such as honey and a variety of other spices or herbs. These will often vary from supplier to supplier as will the overall sweetness level. It can be consumed cold and soy milk is often used in place of cow's milk but a hot "chai latte" seems to be the most popular form for consumption. When I first tried it years ago the taste was explained to me in advance as being aking to "liquid pumpkin pie". At the time that description seemed quite apt but the chai I've tried on occasion since then has been markedly sweeter with a somewhat different range of spices. I think I might actually enjoy it as a straight tea beverage without milk if the sweetness was brought down quite a few notches but the commercial preparations I've tried are just way too sweet for my taste.

The term "good food" is relative. Living in a small city in central NY state and traveling regularly to other parts of the country, I can safely say that the overall quality of food in Paris is far superior to what one encounters in most parts of the US. It's not to say that one can't find comparable food here in the US but IMHO in most areas, even Manhattan, it takes a bit more looking around than in Paris to get good quality take-out food or moderately priced casual meals. Additonally, once out of the touristy areas and sometimes even within them, meals were often a better bargain than in the US. Rather than continue to stray OT I'll reserve that discussion for a separate trip report thread and return to coffee. My first Paris coffee experience was the coffee we received with the Continental breakfast our first morning at the hotel. It was abysmal - about like bad US restaurant coffee. Perhaps a step above gas station swill but not tolerable as anything other than a basic caffeine delivery vehicle. We switched to tea the next day but the assortment of breads, rolls, croissants etc. that comprised the breakfast were so insipid that we passed on breakfast for the remainder of our stay. I bought decent fruit from a metro station vendor and ate that in the room each morning followed by a coffee break during our wanderings. We tried cafe and even a cafe serre or two in a variety of places and found the following to hold true as a general rule: º The espresso blends are most often Illy, Lavazza, Segafredo or other types that typically have a mild flavor profile º Large amounts of beans are pre-ground and sitting in the doser of the grinder for lengthy periods - no one is grinding by the shot. Beans ground for espresso that are not used within a few minutes after grinding become stale and flat - that's a fact. º No one - I mean no one - is doing real tamping. Only in an Italian cafe did we see tamping and that was of the most cursory variety using the built in tamper on the side of the Mazzer grinder. Most places didn't even level off the grounds in the portafilter before pulling the shot. º Shot pull times were often short yet the volume was larger than I'd expect. Most of the drinks I ordered were about 1.5 oz for a single shot. º One might expect a "serre" to be akin to an Italian or US "ristretto" (a "restricted pull" espresso shot that uses a finer grind with the standard amount of beans - the result typically being a denser, sweeter shot of reduced fluid volume if all other factors are carefully controlled). What I received appeared to just be a shorter shot - reduced pull time and less fluid volume - no substantive difference in the characteristics of the espresso itself. º Body of the coffee I tried was thin. The crema was close to non-existent and was tan in color. This fact, combined with the overall flavor profile points to under-extraction as a typical practice. Is all of this a bad thing? If you're looking for the true espresso experience that many of us appreciate it's certainly not a good thing. I can attest however, that apart from a shot I had at a small Metro station take-away counter, none of that coffee was bitter or acrid asStarbucks espresso tends to be or the way much of the bad espresso served in the US often ends up. One morning midway through the week I succumbed to curiosity and tried the Starbucks around the corner from our hotel. The staff was truly baffled and amused when I ordered a "tall quad shot latte". That is - two double espresso shots with about seven ounces of foamed milk - a 2 to 1 ratio of espresso to milk. I was disappointed to see superauto machines in use and an auto-frothing system but the drink was very consistent with what one can expect to receive at Starbucks in the US. The bitterness of their espresso cuts through the milk effectively but was a bit of a shock after several days of experiencing the mellow character of a standard cafe noisette drunk straight black. Interesting facts about Starbucks in Paris: all the crazy "dessert drinks" that dominate the US Starbucks were not hyped or listed on the menu board (excepting frozen Frappuccino). The only "machiatto" they had listed was a true Italian style drink - espresso marked with a small bit of milk foam - not the caramel flavored whipped cream topped abomination foisted on the US market. Press pot coffee was available at $4 Euros per pot (appeared to be a 16 - 20 ounce pot) and china mugs/cups were available for on-premises consumption The best cafe creme / cafe au lait we had was at a small neighborhood creperie (Le Quimper) where we dined on our first evening in town. Although it had a bit too too much milk there was a decent although not robust robust enough flavor from the coffee. The cafe I tried subsequently in other locations ranging from brasseries and bistros to restaurants was consistent in that it was similar from one place to another. The overall qualities were disappointing to me and likely would be to anyone familiar with and enamored of traditional espresso. I might best describe the coffee I had as a sort of concentrated version of a good quality drip coffee but at $3.50 to $5.00 US for a demi-tasse.... a good deal it's not. On our way to the Musee Picasso in the Marais district we spotted an Italian cafe -can't recall the name but the theme of the decor and the name were based around Italian scooter culture - pictures of Vespa's adorned the walls etc. My excitement mounted when I glanced in the window and spotted a classic Faema espresso machine - an oldie but truly a goodie that appeared to be in good working order. The double cafe I received at the bar was better than any other espresso I tried in Paris but fell far short of matching the quality of espresso I've consumed countless times at independent cafe's in the US. You might note that the crema pictured has hints of the deep reddish brown color typical of great espresso but it fell short in the cup. The one place I held out hope for was Cafe Danton, suggested by an eGullet member who greatly enjoyed the coffee there. It's across from the Odeon Metro station but apart from some excellent stinky cheese purchased at the fromagerie next door our visit there was for naught. The coffee there wasn't bad but was more of the same. The real surprise came from a food court operation in the underground mall adjacent to the Louvre entrance. Cafe Muffin has the usual assortment of commercial baked goods, inc some cases not dissimilar to what one sees in the US. Like the other places we tried, there appeared to be little attention payed to process quality but they did offer "cappuccino" in addition to cafe creme. After a bit of struggling to make my desire clear.... that I wanted a double dose of espresso in the cup with the foamed milk.... I enjoyed a cappuccino that was by far the best milk based drink of the entire week - far from outstanding but greatly superior to a Starbucks drink to say the least. I was also a bit shocked to visit the neighborhood Monoprix, which had a large "specialty foods" section in the basement, and discover that the only coffee in stock was pre-ground - not a single back of whole bean to be had. What's up with that? The good news: On Thursday we had the exquisite pleasure of enjoying the best hot chocolate I'm ever likely to try in this lifetime. A trip to Paris is not complete without a visit to la Charlotte de l'isle at 24 Rue au 'lisle on Ile Ste. Louis. Open Thursday through Sunday from 2 PM onwards, Charlotte serves a drink I've seen described elsewhere as "the absinthe of hot chocolates". It was so stunningly sensuous, rich and layered in flavor and texture that words are completely inadequate. Be patient - with five smalltables and the capacity to hold no more than 12 - 15 patrons at any one time you may wait for a seat but it will be worth it. If we'd visited Paris and done nothing but experience this one slice of pleasure I'd consider the entire trip to be a smashing success but it was far more than that. The cafe window is full of odd chocolate creations. The interior is decidedly eclectic but charming. Presentation always counts. Crackled earthenware demi-tasse cups accompanied by a carafe of water and delicate shot glasses for cleansing the palate were thoughtful and crucial accompaniments for properly savoring the nectar. As usual... I was blessed and charmed by the company of my fiancée (yes - it's true - we are now officially engaged and you heard it here first!). It's doubtful that I deserve to be this lucky but I don't question destiny.

Latte art is tres cool and although it doesn't really have anything to do with taste, it's a very useful pursuit for the home espresso enthusiast - even klutzes like me who have trouble making a good rosetta. Why? It's really very simple. The processes and techniques required to get one to the point where it's even possible to pour latte art inherently require that fresh roasted beans be used that are ground for each shot... properly tamped... pulled at the right temperature... the milk must be perfectly foamed... etc. This means that even if the resulting "art" is not of the highest order the drink will tend to be better than what you might have produced previously. In short, in the pursuit of latte art forces you to improve your espresso techniques. Good and abundant crema is essential in order for the balance of espresso and milk to develop properly on the surface as the pour fills the cup and the silken, velvety texture of properly micro-foamed milk also makes this possible. Most interesting to me is the fact that the sum is truly more than the parts. I find a properly made cappuccino or latte (i.e. 2 parts or 3 parts foamed milk to 1 part espresso respectively) to have characteristics that aren't discernable in either plain old foamed milk, straight espresso or millk based espresso drinks that lack good espresso or the right texture of milk. As a matter of fact I'm drinking one right now

Yes... it is indeed good news. I'm still catching up on office work, shoveling out from under the storm etc. but promise to post back soon on both this and my other Paris prep trip thread. For now to keep things simple: I was overwhelmed by Paris - the people, the pace of living, the pure aesthetic pleasure of drinking in the surroundings, the food, the food and again... the food. I'd move there tomorrow if circumstances permitted but I'd also open a real espresso bar. Admittedly, we did not visit any upscale tea salons nor did we get to Cafe Flore or the basement of Colette's but I tried "cafe", "cafe serre", "cafe au lait / cafe creme" and even a cappuccino in many places. With only two exceptions none of it was horrid but it was nearly all best described as flaccid, uninspired, lacking in real character and grossly overpriced relative to the quality. That said... I'm being a bit unfair here as I'm comparing Parisian coffee (meaning the cafe or noisette one orders in a brasserie, bistro or restaurant) to Italian espresso or the best of North American espresso. The two drink styles are made with similar beans (in many cases) and using similar equipment but that's where the similarity ends - I'm not certain that there's any real desire on the part of those producing or drinking that coffee to have things done differently. More later.

If only it were so easy. What is a "normal" mug? Here in the US a very common mug style and size holds about 12 ounces of liquid of filled to the brim but about 10 ounces if actually being used for a hot beverage. That doesn't make it a defacto standard as I regularly see mugs in use (both in restaurants and in private homes) that range from 8 ounces to 16 ounces.

Can't see any reason why there would be. Perhaps someone more familiar with thermodynamics theory and issues relating to surface area and heat loss could comment. It would seem.... in theory.... that making 30 ounces of cofee in the larger press would result in more surface area exposed to the air without the insulating effect of the glass around it. Might this cause the temperature of the brewing coffee to drop just a bit quicker than when the 30 ounces is brewed in the press that's closer to 30 ounces in size? This shaky theory is predicated on the notion that the larger press has a wider diameter, therefore more surface area on top of the coffee for a given amount of fluid. That said... I think the possible effect of such a difference might be so negligible as to be undiscernable. If storage space is not an issue and you'll routinely be making 30 ounces of coffee or more but on occasion wanting to make 50 ounces or so.... just get the larger one.

The answer is not very well. You truly get what you pay for - a cheap burr grinder is never a bargain. Unless you happen to stumble across a used sem-commercial burr grinder (Anfim, Cunill, Rancilio, Mazzer etc) for a dirt cheap price... which is unlikely... the least expensive burr grinder worth buying will be a Starbucks Barista or the Solis Maestro "Classic" (same machine as the Barista). Cheap burr grinders produce an inconsistent particle size, tend to run very hot (heat is bad for the beans) and rarely do a better job than one can do with a whirly blade grinder. The trick of pulsing the blade grinder and also shaking it a few times between pulses will help to produce a reasonable consistency in particle size but the only way to get really good uniformity is with a grinder of the proper quality level. That's an important point. The SCAA (American) standard is a six ounce "cup" per standard coffee scoop (which should be roughly 7 grams of coffee) but Bodum dictates a four ounce "cup" for their press pots and vacuum pots.

Paris. We only have a week and at this time of year it seems to make sense to just focus on that - as if a week will allow us to do more than even scratch the surface

Others have pointed out and it's worth reiterating - the typical lard one finds in a grocery store will be of the hydrogenated variety and won' offer the same advantages as the lard that you made Viva. For those of us who are time challenged I'm told that it's worth seeking out a market that sells Amish food goods as they'll often have non-hydrogenated lard.

Yes, as John pointed out - it's a brand and is, along with LaVazza, the largest or best selling brand in Italy. It's far better than average for a canned espresso coffee but that is its primary use - for espresso. It's also helpful to seek out a vendor who does a large sales volume (e.g. a store where expatriate Italians shop). Illy is pretty good when it's fresh but they're so large and ship in such volume that in many places, especially here in the US, it's easy to get some that's been on the shelf for too long. Thanks to all for the helpful info. When traveling in unfamiliar locales I've always looked for the Illy sign and have more often than not had better than average or at least acceptable espresso in places where good espresso is not common. Imagine my pleasure when I spotted this little cafe in Cozumel Mexico (an island full of bad coffee and even worse espresso). And the drink was good. It was the Illy sign that lured me in.

Last minute request for suggestions. 1) best places for coffee in Paris (both generically and specifically) 2) what to order if I want good robust drip or presspot coffee? (the French word/phrase) 3) Where is good espresso available if anywhere? (Cafe Danton off Rue Ste. Germaine was suggested as one possibility) 4) Is there such a thing as a truly high quality Italian style cappuccino in Paris? (i.e. made with great espresso and properly steamed milk in the right proportions)

The Roji Tea Lounge opened some months back right here in my hometown and I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't yet visited. Imagine my chagrin upon discovering that one of the owners is the brother of a young woman who works for us in our espresso cafe! I'm impressed that a place with this sort of dedicated approach to aesthetic issues and beverage quality has opened in a small city like this and hereby vow that I'll get in there sooner than later and report back. Are tea lounges becoming popular in larger metro areas and just now appearing in smaller cities such as ours or is the entire trend itself one that's relatively new in the US?

My feelings exactly. It's okay... actually pretty good for breakfast (but I'll take the Candlewyck Diner in East Rutherford in a heartbeat for breakfast over this place). I went in the evening about six months after they started opening for dinner and was very underwhelmed. Never tried Corrado's but the menu looks decent for Italian. I had a so-so meal at the Greek place underneath Eros Cafe on park but it was when they were first open and we did not order Greek items (I think that was our mistake). I suspect they're good for Greek food. If you're into big portions, friendly service and decent Portuguese food that's generally as good as what you'll get in Ironbound, just head down Ridge Road and cross over into Lyndhurst. Tero's is on the left just past the corner of New York Avenue actross from the cemetery. When I was moving out of Rutherford (summer 2003) they were just about to open a second dining room (this one non-smoking). I awlays got consistently good food there and great service (a few of the waitresses spoke limited English so pointing things out on the menu was sometimes helpful).

I don't think the NYC Dino serves Carolina style vinegar chopped pork. Somewone who's been there please correct me if I'm wrong. They do serve pulled pork with a light dose of sauce but also offer a "Pork Carolina" with is the same pulled pork sandwich served with coleslaw on top. Perhaps that accounts for the confusion? And in all fairness... I don't think Brunswick Stew would sell very well in the Northeast - just a guess.

Of course not. It's totally reaosnable and more than just a bit possible to accept that. If I've been reading most of the dissenting viewpoints correctly (mine excepted since I can barely read my own writing much less make sense of what I've said ), the rub mostly seems to be the reference point that the two reviewers in question are operating from. That includes * the preconceived notion (and explicit implication) from the Voice review that indicates a) good BBQ is impossible with long smoking over a heat source that includes only wood b) the protracted "search for evidence" of wood being used was fruitless and indicates that perhaps it was just smoke flavoring in the sauce that substituted for real smokiness from wood * the supposition that good barbecue simply cannot be produce outside of a region known for barbecue (by the way - I'm a native of Syracuse and it is NOT known as 'barbecue region' by any strecth of the imagination despite there being some good barbecue here. I'm not sticking up for the Dino just because I'm from Syracuse and if the reviewers don't like their food that's fine. I do see a bias that exists in both reviews that almost seems to push them through to predetermined conclusions.