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Re:Neglected Food Bubbles: The Espresso Coffee Foam by js2 on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @05:51PM (#12492560)
American coffee snob here (not that I necessarily have good taste though): I was blown away by the espresso in Italy. On a two-week trip, every espresso I had there was better than any espresso I've had in the U.S. Which isn't to say I haven't had great coffee in America, just not great espresso. I think mostly Americans just don't care about espresso.

Pet peeve: high-end restaurants in the U.S. mostly don't care about the coffee they serve. A high-end restauarant will employ a bar tender, a pasty chef, a somellier, but not a barista. So you enjoy a fantastic meal and then when you order an espresso at the end, you get something the server pulled out of an automatic machine. Nooo, why!?

Re:Neglected Food Bubbles: The Espresso Coffee Foam by WilliamDhalgren on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @04:46AM (#12495040)
So if not espresso, what kind of coffee do Americans drink, but that's any good?

I'm just very used to italian-style espresso in the cafés and turkish at home, as that's the cultural norm around here (croatian adriatic coast; basically ex-venetian colony ;) ).

I'd like to give other styles a shot, but only provided they're worth a damn. Can't say I've been impressed by whatever the muck they serve at McDonald's is, or by home drip machines. Nor instant ofc...

Re:Neglected Food Bubbles: The Espresso Coffee Foam by js2 on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @10:56AM (#12497517)
My morning cup of joe is usually made in an Aeropress from freshly roasted and ground beans. Typically Counter Culture or Larry's beans (local suppliers), light roast. I use a burr grinder.

I sometimes also make Turkish w/o the cardamon, usually with a bit of sugar, maybe with a splash of cream (blasphemy I know). But I will also occasionally use a French press, a Chemex, or make cold brew. My wife uses a Moka pot, and I will sometimes use that to make a Cubano, though it's not nearly as good as a Cubano made in a pump espresso machine.

It just depends on my mood.

I gave up trying to make good espresso at home after getting frustrated with a Gaggia machine. My fault, not the machine's, but in the end I decided it was too much effort for 1-2 oz of coffee. :-(

To answer your question: as long as the beans are freshly roasted and ground, and the coffee made with care, I'm not particularly partial to any technique. You can even have a mighty fine cup of drip coffee. I think espresso is just a much more demanding technique to make well.

About instant: I know Israelis and South Africans who prefer it, but no Americans.

Maybe the worst way to brew coffee: percolators. Oh the horror.

Re:Neglected Food Bubbles: The Espresso Coffee Foam by mickeypi on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @08:11PM (#12493313)
Couldn't agree more on the pet peeve. I've stopped having coffee after a great meal at a restaurant because inevitably they'll ruin it with a cup of something awful. Even in places like Vancouver, SF or Seattle with a very strong coffee culture, and where pretty much anyone in the food industry knows a good coffee.
Re:Neglected Food Bubbles: The Espresso Coffee Foam by jowiar on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @10:37PM (#12493902)
Restaurants are starting to get it. I've been to a handful of places in the past couple years where I left thinking "somebody gave a shit!" (which is really all it takes) -- Places that come to mind are Vetri, Osteria, and Zahav in Philly, Agern and NoMad in NYC.
Re:Neglected Food Bubbles: The Espresso Coffee Foam by vvdcect on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @08:18PM (#12493341)
Yup the main reasons high end restaurants do this is because of consistency, a cup of coffee from a nespresso would always yield a 6/10 cup.