Are High End Coffee Makers Worth the Cost?

[Jim Becker]

I don't know how espresso is made, exactly, , but at the very least, espresso beans are a very different roast.

The flavor would surely be different.

Espresso is made by forcing the hot water under high pressure through a measured and packed amount of coffee ground relatively fine...about 1.5 oz at a time. That would be a so-called "shot" of espresso. Contrary to popular belief, the stronger flavor of espresso doesn't necessary mean higher caffeine. (although adding multiple shots in a single drink can "get you there". LOL A good "pull" of espresso will also have this wonderful "crema" on top...a caramel colored liquid that does eventually blend with the rest of the coffee.

Many of us actually don't use beans for espresso drinks that are labeled "espresso roast", although in most cases, it will be a darker roast. My current favorite is a locally roasted bean called Papua New Guinea from The Coffee Scoop. The flavor is complex and really wonderful for the latté that I make and drink.

[Jim Koepke]

I don't know how espresso is made, exactly, , but at the very least, espresso beans are a very different roast.

The flavor would surely be different.

Espresso is roasted differently, then the grounds are packed into a special holding compartment and steam is forced through to do the brewing. It is a different flavor and a stronger kick. That is likely why an espresso is served in a much smaller cup. I like espresso in some beverages. I do not like espresso mixed with hot water.

I have had coffee that is brewed very strong to be kept for mixing with hot water later and that has been good at times. I am not sure if it is a cold process or what. Like so many other cups of coffee, it depends on the quality of the original ingredients.

jtk

[Mark Blatter]

Reading what everybody has to do for a 'good' cup of coffee makes me glad I don't drink the stuff. I heat up some water, throw in some hot chocolate, mix it up and call it good. I think life is too short to worry so much about it. Now if you want to talk about making bread from your own ground wheat, we can talk.

[Gary Yoder]

Reading what everybody has to do for a 'good' cup of coffee makes me glad I don't drink the stuff. I heat up some water, throw in some hot chocolate, mix it up and call it good. I think life is too short to worry so much about it. Now if you want to talk about making bread from your own ground wheat, we can talk.

We all have our own interests don't we? There are some things in life that I feel are much more important, so I decided that I will enjoy inexpensive black coffee, or not drink it and spend the money/time on other things. But that doesn't mean I feel badly toward anyone that does!

[roger wiegand]

I don't know how espresso is made, exactly, , but at the very least, espresso beans are a very different roast.

Espresso is made by extracting compressed, finely ground coffee with hot water under pressure, typically 130 to 220 psi (9-15 bar) for a relatively short exposure time, typically 15 to 25 seconds. The short extraction is said to capture a lot of the readily soluble aromatic components of the coffee and less of the more bitter, less soluble components. The same coffee brewed by espresso extraction and by a french press or drip method will taste quite different. For my favorite coffee, I like it both ways (drip and espresso-- I don't like the french press version). One is not better than the other, they are just different.

"Espresso beans" is just marketing, there is no such thing. You can use any kind of coffee in an espresso machine, very often with dramatically better results than the beans labeled "espresso beans". Commercial espresso beans tend to be bottom-of-the-barrel quality beans over-roasted to hide the defects.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

This has been an interesting thread. I have been kind of a "closet coffee snob." I hate coffee snobs, but yet probably I have become one. Well, not a snob- I can still down a Styrofoam cup full of black sludge at a truckstop, but at home I'm probably pretty picky about my coffee. I totally understand those that say, "I just drink what is in front of me and don't care about all these technicalities." I used to be you. In fact, I was the guy that would reconstitute the sludge at the bottom of the pot and drink it. What happened? Italy. Italy happened. That was my first time to experience coffee the way it should be. It was so good- so rich and creamy. Oh my, is this what coffee is? I never knew. I thought it was some brownish colored water that you added milk to, but no- this is something different. This is emitting flavor and aroma. So THIS is what all the hype is about? I'm in. "Un café con crema per favor!"

I guess one could equate it to having a cheap plane that you tweaked a little and you think you're just fine with your Craftsman hand plane with the mouth you could drive a truck through; then one day you try a Lie-Nielsen, properly sharpened and set up, and it sings as you push it through some figured maple. The thinnest onion skin shaving flies straight up to heaven, and at that moment you realize what you've been missing all along. A few years and a few thousand dollars in tools and Japanese Waterstones later, you're too deep into it to turn back. - that's pretty much how it is with coffee.

[Al Launier]

I have a Cuisinart Extreme brewer and also frequently (daily) use the Keurig brewer for K-Cups. I guess I'm not as particular about coffee as many are, and I'm not into the more sophisticated coffees or brewers. However I much prefer a hot cup of coffee, in fact I sometimes request that a cup of coffee served in restaurants be microwaved, especially when served from a newlybrewed pot. The two brewers noted above do provide a hot cup of cofee and my preferred brands are New England, Duncan Doughnuts, and Kuerig Nantucket Blend.

[Robert Delhommer Sr]

I buy the cheapest one in the store, use Community Coffee & filtered water.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

A shot of espesso in a cup of drip is called a "red eye." LOML's favorite drink.

my favorite is two shots: "Black Eye"

[Kev Williams]

I didn't have time to read this whole thread, but I did search "cuisinart" and found a few, but didn't notice anyone mentioned the "Grind n Brew" maker. We've had one for around 5 years, and I swear we're keeping the bean growers in business because of it. It's the only coffee maker I've found that will grind the beans (with an actual burr grinder, not bean pulverizing spinning hooks), deposit the fresh ground beans in the filter and brew your coffee. It will set from 4 to 12 cups, and 3 strength levels for each setting. We don't care for strong coffee, we brew ours from a 6-cup 'strong' setting. And it'll make jet-black coffee too! The only drawbacks to the thing is, the grinder is noisy, and you MUST clean the grinder-dump out about twice a week, which is a 2 minute job. Other than that, just keep beans in the top, add water, filter, press "power".

I just bought another one last week. The grinder is much quieter than the other, but we're not sure it was always that noisy. The reason I bought the new one is because the old one would keep cycling the disk above the basket several times before it would brew. After checking into it, there's a door that cuts off the coffee supply to the filter that must close, and it wasn't closing. The reason turned out to be a slot in the plastic housing that a pin in the door rode in seemed tight against the pin, and the door would hang. A couple of minutes shaving the slot with an x-acto knife and the door opens and closes freely, and it works like new again...

The first one was a re-furb I got at a kitchen store for $85 or so, the new one was $140 on ebay. Not exactly 'high-end' I suppose, but I haven't bought a can of ground coffee for years!

[Tom Stenzel]

Generally speaking, flat bottom coffee makers give a poorer quality brew than cone drip or french press. I am unimpressed by Keurig.

Admittedly, I am a bit of a coffee snob. For good brew you need three things, good beans freshly ground, proper water temperature, and a good machine to marry the two. Most drip machines don't give the proper water temperature or right contact time between bean and water; either resulting in an incomplete brew or release of bitter esters. I found cone shaped filters with highly precise water temps give a good brew. There are a few machines out there that deliver this. You can go manual with a french press or a Chemex.

I've found that when brewing 10 cups or more a flat bottomed works OK. It's making 2 or 4 cups where they fail. Cone filters rule on the lesser amounts.

Back in the '80s I went on a bicycle tour from Munich to Vienna. Asking for a coffee there got a cup of what we call expresso. When I got home I wound up getting an expresso maker. Goes to show that when most people travel, they become cultured. Me, I just pick up another bad habit.

-Tom