Sunday, March 25, 2012

Home Espresso

I know pod-based espresso machines are cheating; I should select, blend, roast, grind and tamp my coffee beans by hand, ideally using a tamper carved from century-old oak by a wizened tamp-carver deep in the Italian alps. It is not a substitute for a real espresso, drawn by a trained bartender.

But it is a lot better than no espresso at all, and as good in practice as the espresso in many chain stores. And I can get it at home, on a lazy Sunday morning, while wallowing in the Sunday newspaper. Remember, "perfect" is the enemy of "good enough".

4 comments:

  1. Our head chef is a licensed (!) barista and he says the pods are just as good or even better because the odds of getting a bad brew are reduced.

    He designed a custom pod/brew for our office. I'm sure you too could design "Joanne's home brew pod."

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  2. Yep, unless you want to make your own blend, using your own coffee.

    As far as I know, the Nespresso pods are still under patent for another year or so, so getting empty pods to fill is difficult. It would be fun to experiment, though.

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  3. Here you go:

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=nespresso+reusable+capsules

    Make sure it's fairtrade you put in them....

    ReplyDelete
  4. ddon, thanks! I have to try that. See if I can find a domestic seller, or the original maker, before I brave EBay. Buying domestic is safer, and as it's likely made in China, it always feels wasteful to have it shipped across the Pacific twice.

    ReplyDelete

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