World Class Espresso at Home?

[module4330]

I just can't abide the disposable pods for nespresso. I think that if I ever need to blow some dough I'll try a serious espresso setup. I start most days with a pourover at home these days. Not much equipment required

 

[audreyh1]

It's pretty easy to find decaf pods in Europe. That's what I do for Nespresso back at the Airbnb/hotel. I'm pretty sure that the Peet's and L'or decaf pods on Amazon are the same as I buy in Europe, and in the case of Peet's, rebranded for the US.

Well sure, but we have the pods at home, and it saves me finding a store that carries our favorites as we don’t spend that long in any one location. We used to buy pods in Europe but it became too inconvenient.

 

[audreyh1]

I just can't abide the disposable pods for nespresso. I think that if I ever need to blow some dough I'll try a serious espresso setup. I start most days with a pourover at home these days. Not much equipment required

We send all of ours in for recycling, never throw in the trash.

 

[RetiredHappy]

We send all of ours in for recycling, never throw in the trash.

Same here. We use their return label bags and mail back to them to recycle when we fill up the bag.

 

[FD1000]

Espresso vs Coffee: What's the Difference?

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world, enjoyed by millions of people every day. Yet many coffee drinkers still wonder: What exactly is the difference between espresso and coffee? Are they made from different beans? Does espresso contain more caffeine? Why does it taste so much...

kismile.com

After more than 20 years of traveling in Europe, one thing still frustrates me: ordering coffee.

All I want is a cappuccino with one shot of espresso in a large cup—at least 12 ounces, and preferably 16 ounces. I don't want stronger coffee; I just want more hot water and steamed milk.

I also don't mind paying for a larger cup but only one shot, but in many places they simply won't make it that way.

Italy was actually the easiest. I discovered I could order an Americano and ask them to add frothed milk, which was almost exactly what I wanted.

In most other European countries, I can usually find a café willing to accommodate my request.

Greece was different. We spent about two weeks there, and only one café made it the way I wanted. Everywhere else, they refused to serve a large cup with one shot, even though I was willing to pay extra. The language barrier didn't help either.

My wife and I jokingly call the typical 6-ounce European coffee "spit coffee" because it disappears in just a few sips.

As a result, I usually drink coffee at the hotel. In the morning, I make a cappuccino in a large mug and add hot water to get the size I like. At night, I make a decaf using a bag or a pod.

What I really miss is a convenience store like QT or RaceTrac. For a couple of dollars, I can make my own 16- to 20-ounce coffee exactly the way I like it.

My $10 drip coffee maker from Walmart has served me well for years. We also have a simple milk frother.
Those two inexpensive items are all we need to make the coffee we enjoy.

People can become obsessed with expensive coffee machines and gadgets, but my philosophy is KISS.

 

[tulak]

Well sure, but we have the pods at home, and it saves me finding a store that carries our favorites as we don’t spend that long in any one location. We used to buy pods in Europe but it became too inconvenient.

I always swing by the store when I arrive, to buy pods and soap/shampoo. Lol.

 

[Just_Steve]

Growing up my Italian friends grandparents and parents used to make what some people call "stove top espresso" in Moka pots.
I know its not espresso but it's a good alyernitive.

 

[explanade]

The Airbnb in Girona had a Nespresso machine. I'm not a coffee aficionado, but thought it was pretty good. The only had one pod a day, and I wanted a couple more, but the store had boxes of 24 or something...I lived with one a day.

Traveling in Europe is what exposed us to the Nespresso machine as almost all the hotels we stayed at had one in our room. It was so consistently good. After a couple of trips we ordered a machine for home use. We now take extra pods with us when we travel to Europe - we always need extra decaf.

It's pretty easy to find decaf pods in Europe. That's what I do for Nespresso back at the Airbnb/hotel. I'm pretty sure that the Peet's and L'or decaf pods on Amazon are the same as I buy in Europe, and in the case of Peet's, rebranded for the US.

Yeah you can get a box of 10 pods in most supermarkets for €3-4, all kinds of brands.

People aren't that familiar with most of these third-party brands I think Lavazza and Illy sell them.

There are also other pod systems, like one from Nestle, which also owns Nestle.


I stopped buying Nespresso brand because of association with Nestle. The brand I bought was Peet and only because they had a recycle program -- they will send you prepaid mailers if you order pods from their site, otherwise, the mailers are a couple of bucks.

I viewed a lot of Youtube from James Hoffman and one or two others. One guy went through a supermarket in Italy to show all the beans sold there, a lot of varieties of some of the brands we have here like Lavazza but many more varieties.

One thing that's big in Italy are ginseng coffee, both available as pods and beans or maybe it's grounds. I never tried it though, the bars don't use mostly standard roasts.

 

[explanade]

Growing up my Italian friends grandparents and parents used to make what some people call "stove top espresso" in Moka pots.
I know its not espresso but it's a good alyernitive.

View attachment 64549

Moka pots, huge in Italy and you can get them here.

But I didn't want to deal with the cleanup, so for the same reason, I avoid making coffee with french press when I travel. Too much time taken up and no easy way to dispose of the grounds.

 

[NanoSour]

Profitec Pro M54 Coffee Grinder

The Profitec M54 is a sleek and polished steel burr grinder with phenomenal performance and accuracy suitable for any home user.

www.wholelattelove.com

Used every day for our espresso habit. Don't ever make lattes, but the espressos and americanos are excellent and at time exceptional depending on the beans. Be advised the espresso machine is less important than the grinder. If you're not spending $$$ on the grinder your espresso making will suffer big time. Also, we learned the hard way not to use britta filtered water, especially if you have hard water in your area. Now we only use jugs of Crystal Geyser in our Bezzera Hobby. Good luck in your search. It's a vice we're not will to give up.

 

[wannabefire]

Breville Barista touch impress is pretty awesome. The reason I like it is b/c it operates the functions in a similar way to a barista.

Grind the beans, tamp the portafilter, then “pull” your shot.

The cool thing about the touch impress model is that if your grind is not enough or too much, the machine will tell you. Then when you pull your shot, if it comes out too fast or too slow, it will tell you to increase or decrease your grind size.

So for someone like me who does not have the patience or do enough volume to just know the right grind size or amount of ground beans for a perfect shot, this kind of takes the guess work out of it.

Just get some quality sans and you’re good to go!

 

[audreyh1]

I always swing by the store when I arrive, to buy pods and soap/shampoo. Lol.

Lately the stores have not been convenient when traveling.

 

[tulak]

Moka pots, huge in Italy and you can get them here.

But I didn't want to deal with the cleanup, so for the same reason, I avoid making coffee with french press when I travel. Too much time taken up and no easy way to dispose of the grounds.

I used a Moka pot when in Europe, but it's extra work. I don't drink that much coffee and Nespresso is good enough for me. If I want something better, I go out.

I did think about getting a machine where I could use my own beans, mostly for a cost savings. But I'm willing to BTD considering I only drink a cup a day.

 

[tulak]

Lately the stores have not been convenient.

I get that. Especially a problem if you're arriving later in the day.

 

[Trailwalker]

I have world class espresso 2-3 times a week out (actually Breve), at $6.50 + tip a pop. Their La Marzocco machine cost about $15,000 plus grinder.

Years ago we had a cheap espresso maker, but the product it made was frankly awful even when I bought espresso beans.

So I asked ChatGPT and it said

• $500–800: Excellent espresso that's better than most chain coffee.
• $1,000–2,000: Café-quality espresso is very achievable.
• $2,000–4,000+: You can produce espresso that competes with top specialty cafés if your technique is strong.

It went on to recommend a specific grinders, espresso machines at each level and guidance on coffee beans, water quality and technique.

Anyone here mastered espresso/latte at home? I’m concerned I won’t have the discipline to do what it takes…

My opinion is that if you have world class espresso at your local cafe, you should blow that dough and enjoy it. Very few coffee shops make good espresso. It requires the right blend of beans, freshly roasted, and a dialed-in coffee grinder, along with an espresso machine that's capable of quick heat recovery, well-maintained and cleaned, and with a water source (usually filtered) that doesn't produce scale. It also requires some skill to make, although once you know the parameters for making a crema-filled shot, that part isn't that hard.

At one time, espresso was my passion. I have a commercial espresso machine designed for catering, along with a refurbished Starbucks commercial espresso grinder (Mazzer Super Jolly). And yet, I've fallen back to one cup of brewed coffee per day, made with an Aeropress. Can you replicate it? Sure, with some time and money, but why not enjoy someone else doing it for you?

 

[audreyh1]

I get that. Especially a problem if you're arriving later in the day.

Visiting family in Europe we’re on the outskirts of the city. Other places these days we’re usually joining a group.

 

[audreyh1]

We still have a high end ceramic burr grinder. Pretty old now but still works great although a couple of settings are taped in place, ha ha.

 

[thnsn]

I’m really happy with the home setup that I’ve had for years: Eureka Mignon Specialita grinder and a Profitec Pro 700 dual boiler. There’s nothing that would make me any happier when I pull my first shot of the day at 5 am.

 

[justlikebike]

Just to be different, I'm going to suggest roasting your own coffee beans. Done properly, you coffee of any style you want will be sooooo much better.

 

[audreyh1]

Just to be different, I'm going to suggest roasting your own coffee beans. Done properly, you coffee of any style you want will be sooooo much better.

I have done this, and the results were just awesome. I used a small, inexpensive popcorn popper like device and learned to listen and count seconds after the second crack.

Sweet Maria’s is a good source for folks interested in coffee roasting at home. https://www.sweetmarias.com/

 

[big-papa]

I got a Francis Francis machine years ago and used it for quite a while. Great retro look and it made great espresso and Lattes. It's in a cabinet in the kitchen and I do plan to bring it out again. I better because my wife wants me to get rid of it to open up more cabinet space.

 

[pjigar]

I have the Breville Barista Express that isn't bad for every day. Usually found on sale for about $500. Includes a grinder and you can adjust strengths, grind smoothness, etc. I'm on my 2nd one (pump died about 10 years on the first one).

No, it's not going to taste the same as that nice little non chain cafe with a 15k setup. And no I don't bother to try to get it perfect.

I have the same machine for over 10 years. I would say it makes a good enough espresso (aka better than some Starbucks). I roast my own green beans in an air popcorn maker. IMHO the age of the roasted beans is the biggest factor for making a good expresso. Next level of factors are the grind consistency (burr grinder does this job), coffee-to-water ratio (handled by Barista Express), water quality, extraction time (handled by Barista Express to a degree if you maintain the extraction pressure with grind size and/or tamp pressure manipulation), in that order.

PS: I did a heavy research before I bought Breville Barista Express. My conclusion was: You need a multi-thousand dollars setup (real coffee roaster, fully automatic espresso maker, etc.) if you want to make a perfect cup of espresso. Those fully automatic espresso makers break easy for whatever reason. So I settled for a good enough cup of espresso and I am still happy.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

OP, I am learning a lot from this post. Thanks.

DW thinks I am too fussy/demanding/opinionated about coffee. I do espresso style k-cups, then switch to decaf espresso in a $300 Breville.

Y'all are in a whole different league. Thank you for educating me. Years ago, I learned about burr grinders from ER.

 

[Aerides]

I think the natural thought is "yeah I could do that" how hard can it be?

But it's not unlike asking if one could become a world class chef at home. You can certainly get better, perhaps very good, but not world class unless you are going to make it a full time job, invest in training and equipment, and put in the old 10k hours or so.

 

[thnsn]

I think the natural thought is "yeah I could do that" how hard can it be?

But it's not unlike asking if one could become a world class chef at home. You can certainly get better, perhaps very good, but not world class unless you are going to make it a full time job, invest in training and equipment, and put in the old 10k hours or so.

I agree. I'll never be 'world class' at anything. For me, my interest lies in learning new things. Thankfully, once my interest has peaked (piqued?), at least I'll be able to make a decent oat milk cappuccino.