interrupting all the travel-yammering to talk about coffee. the important stuff of life!
i’ve had a lot of coffee since being here. well, a lot of cappuccino (and some lattes + this too!). and while my cushy sofa and slippers are really speaking to me right about now, my drip coffee-maker has me a little less excited to return home to. i’ve enjoyed my foam-on-top hoity-toity cappuccinos for almost three months! it’s been the sweet stuff of life before the day begins full force on the hunt’s european tour de force! i mean, not a day (NOT A DAY) has gone by when the six (okay, four–anders and parker haven’t joined in… yet) of us haven’t fought/discussed whose adapter belongs to who so, as you see, i needed my morning cappuccino badly, soooo badly!
so, what do you do for coffee in the morning? chemex? keurig? french press? some other form of hipster coffee that’s so exclusive i won’t even be able to pronounce it? why? how? what should i do? help me i’m poor.
that beautiful mug up there can be found here!
I used to be a french press kind of gal until I randomly tried a Bialetti (link: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/bialetti-moka-6-cup-espresso-maker/s555765) and I'll never go back unless my espresso maker is dirty or too hot to clean to make another batch immediately. It brews a piping hot, STRONG espresso in less than half the time it takes a french press to do the same (waiting for the water to boil, waiting for the coffee to steep…) and it's stronger and bolder.
DUH, I used a Bialetti over here too–I totally forgot (just added that to my post).
I'm not reeeeeeeally an espresso gal though. I'm too weak for it :-/
This goes great with a Bialetti if you want a bit of frothed milk in yours to make it weaker 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/Cafetiere-Bialetti-Tuttocrema-Frothing-Surface/dp/B0001IXA4Y
I am a Chemex girl. Although I will occasionally break out my French press, too.
Bodum chambord french press in copper (the colour might not be that important though 😉 ), a Bialetti when the italian family comes over and a not so fancy coffee-maker because my husband is so used to it and doesn't do well with change when it comes to coffee.
The Breville cafe roma (http://www.breville.ca/cafe-roma-espresso-machine.html) is my choice for the morning cup of joe! It's wonderful because you can make anything from a regular cup of coffee to a double shot expresso. The milk frother on this machine also works well and ads a bit of fancy when you want to class it up! It's a bit of an investment at first but it's one that keeps on giving. Whatever you decide, happy brewing!
I love my nespresso but my husband swears by his chemix
My husband has a chemex and a french press. He uses the press allllllll the time. Chemex just doesn't do enough at one time. We have twice bought the press at Starbucks, can't remember the name, it's popular, standard, still can't remember. Buttttt we were at ikea a year ago and bought 2 presses, 10 dollars each and they are so much better than the other, Bodum, that's what I was thinking. The Bodum got broken twice, it's just so fragile. The ikea one is better wrapped and has a sturdy bottom. My husband considers himself a connoisseur and this is what he prefers.
Chemex! We started this post baby so I could drink decaf while hubby caffinated away, so the single serving/few servings doesn't bother us. The coffee is delicious – and we used to make lattes at home. Another key aspect is grinding at home right before or a few days before brewing, so whatever you choose be sure to get a coffee grinder. Our grinder is vintage (what a basic sentence that was). Our chemex is by hario on Amazon. It was cheap! Buy the hario disposable filters too.
My husband and I both use the Aeropress. It is quick, easy, and the coffee is delicious. (The biggest downside? The Aeropress itself is really ugly.)
I drink my coffee black but my husband has a milk frother. He just heats up milk, froths it, and adds it to undiluted Aeropress coffee. Easy latte every day.
Keurig! I love it–no apologies. Fits our family perfectly.
No joke, you need to buy the Keurig Rivo- it is about $200 but WORTH EVERY PENNY. It makes perfect, perfect, cappuccinos, lattes, cold brews, espresso…it foams the milk for you and froths the coffee- its the most amazing thing and I promise you that you won't look back…Do it!
We've had the Technivorm Moccamaster for the past 8 years and I LOVE it! It's a super simple design and it heats the water to the perfect temperature for brewing (according to one of the coffee aficionado websites. It's not cheap, but I think it's worth it!
My husband and I treated ourselves to a Nespresso machine a couple years ago and haven't looked back. It's our coffee baby and we love it! It makes lattes, espressos and americanos. HIGHLY recommend it!
so, we actually have one and i LOVE it but i find that i only keep it for fancy occasions because the pods are pricey. right?! i need to get my priorities straight. morning coffee!!
We have a Nespresso too and love it. After spending time in Paris I can't do drip coffee anymore; I have one Caramelissimo Nespresso each morning and miss it on the days I don't have one. My husband, on the other hand, likes coffee in volume. To prevent us from having to purchase hundreds of pricey Nespresso pods all the time, he starts his day with a Nespresso, and then switches over to drip coffee. He buys fancy-ish beans, grinds them himself, and makes it a little stronger than most people to make the drip coffee better.
I have a Clever Coffee pour over – similar to a Chemed but way easier and kinder to moms who are trying to manage littles in the morning.
Aeropress all the way. Taste the closest to espresso and I warm up milk separately and use a frother I got from IKEA. As close to a homemade latte without an espresso machine.
Yes, Aeropress! My hubby is a coffee snob and loves it. It takes all the bitterness out of the coffee. Use it as espresso or add water to the pressed coffee for Americano.
Moccamaster is an amazing machine. It's still a little tricky for us to get right with the correct grind and ratio, but when we do it's unreal.
We are Australian and the most common way to do coffee at home here is with what I think you would call a "cappuccino machine" — essentially a shot of espresso with steamed milk on top (however much froth you like). My husband and I make a coffee or two each day this way and we love it. I don't understand how Americans drink their coffee; a filter drip thing, is that right? Anyway, all of that to say: it's totally do-able to have a machine on your bench and do that every day. You don't have to compromise your Euro flair 😉
and some machines are SO beautiful!
I drink tea (posh, I know), but my husband drinks coffee. He loves his chemex a bit more then the French press. And let's be honest, I do too. It means that I don't have to deal with cold coffee grounds in the bottom of the french press. 😉
Love your blog and following your trip on Instagram! Bee house pour over and Chemex are my faves! Once you do pour over coffee it's really hard to go back. We keep our drip coffee maker put away now unless we have a large group of people over. My husband actually has a blog with brew guides and info for beginners that might help. http://www.brewingcoffeemanually.com. Happy coffee adventures!
The worst part of leaving Europe is the loss of cappuchino's!!! Well at least that is how I feel about it and i still miss them. You will forever be a coffee snob as a result. 🙂
As a latte lover, I can't recommend a Nespresso enough. There are usually good deals during the holiday season!
Chemex is where it's at for regular coffee, and I loovvveeeee my baby Nespresso for fancier drinks. I have a wee milk frother that I use gratuitously as well
We mostly use our drip machine but on the weekends when we have more time, we use a stove top espresso maker it's honestly the best for flavor. My moms best friend worked in a coffee house in the early 90's with all the hipsters before hipsters were even called hipsters. Cappuccinos made with stove top espresso was the most ordered item, even though they had a huge fancy espresso machine…at least it was used to steam the milk. Ha ha!! We also use our french press on the weekends.
We are Melitta pour over fans at our house. My husband made me get rid of my electric coffee pot when we got married. I now love it…but some days I do miss the ease of just pouring my coffee into my thermos on my rush out the door.
It's all about a chemex with freshly ground beans– and having an electric kettle like this one makes it super easy. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cuisinart-perfectemp-electric-tea-kettle/?cm_src=AutoRel And havign that encourages me to drink more tea too, since it's so easy.
Get a nespresso – so easy, the cappuccinos are so delish (better than any US coffee house) and seriously lifechanging. I look forward to mine every morning 😉
I use the Bialetti daily, but I mix with boiling water to have coffee rather than espresso. I top with some milk and sugar. And you can grind whatever beans you'd like.
"help me I'm poor." -Bridesmaids and a phrase relevant for everything in life. Ha ha. I love that you used it.
My husband is a die-hard espresso drinker so I can't help you with the coffee part if that's not what you want. But he has an awesome, super low-tech frothing system that has been developed over many years of trial and error: a tiny french press. I know, that sounds silly, because it's not meant for milk, but it actually does an awesome job of frothing. You pour the milk into the glass carafe, microwave it to however hot you want (he usually does twenty seconds or so), then put the plunger in and push it up and down really fast. Definitely not its intended use, but it works darn well. We've tried many, many methods of frothing milk, and this one is a winner. No batteries to run out, no motor to die, no steam spraying into your milk and watering it down.
Well, I officially feel super lame after reading all of these other comments. I pretty much make brewed coffee on a daily basis. French Press is my bubble bath of coffee…and the two pretty much tend to go together. If I'm throwing all caution to the wind, I have a cheap Costco espresso machine that I make a honey latte with. I'm saving up my household budget to buy a more expensive espresso machine, but we are still a few months out. My sister gave me a little keurig before we had our baby girl so that I could make coffee in the bedroom during the non-stop nursing days. I liked it for the portability, but its basically a one cup brew and I thought grinding our Costco espresso beans and using a regular old "Bed Bath and Beyond" coffee maker achieved the same flavor. I know. High Class.
This is like a serious topic in our house hehe, about 2 months before I fell pregnant my husband had his first cup of cappuccino, and what well in the last year and a half has become the most insane coffee addict ever.. The plus side to this is how broad my coffee spectrum has gotten which is awesome cause variety is always awesome:) So we have a Moka pot every morning, my husband has it down to an art! I have my black, he has cold milk.. This method of brewing makes the coffee so light and almost biscuity I love it! Then at work I usually have french press with cold press coconut oil in it yum.. and then treat afternoon coffee if I see friends is usually a cappuccino or a flat white.. Oh and I'm definitely an African coffee over South America coffee person, don't know why just prefer the taste. Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee for the win! 😉
You need a DeLonghi! We have the Magnifica , and LOVE IT!
You need a DeLonghi! We have the Magnifica , and LOVE IT!
So, there is this thing called Bulletproof Coffee that is apparently very popular right now. I found the recipe on The Fresh Exchange blog. It's an odd combo of ingredients, but supposedly very delicious. I've been meaning to try it.
—Lauren Michelle
—www.thecoffeejournals.com
PS: Promise I'm not some weird spambot thing. I haven't setup my Google+ profile yet. Oops. Here is the coffee link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/210613720051992011/
We want to be coffee snobs, but who's got time for that ish? (A lot of people, actually.) We bought an automatic pour over machine (Kitchenaid makes it) from Sur la Table and it makes damn good coffee. Automatically. On a timer. Before you wake up. We feel fancy and lazy all at once. Here in the 'Stan, I make French press (Amazon prime for the win!) some days and others, I drink delicious Green Bean coffee bestowed upon me by mysterious and generous benefactors. (;
I need need need something new. I've got a Keurig but the coffee doesn't taste as fresh as when you get it out at the cafe, you know?
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